Balance Community is dedicated to the progression of the sport of slacklining. They do offer a beginners' Primitive Slackline Kit. However, their focus is on helping you take your slacklining to the next level — whatever it may be.
We chose to do a first look of Balance Community's Titen Series Custom Pulley System because we know it is top notch and something serious slackliners want to know more about. There are a few different options for how to build your system. Our shopping carts above show the high-end version — which can be used for any line you could ever want to rig — and an "economy version" — which is still a very high quality rig, made up of less expensive parts. In this review we tested the more expensive version. You can, however, build a system for about half the cost. If you are a climber with a retired old Gri-Gri and some carabiners, you can purchase the pulleys, rope, and some webbing and be ready to rig a slackline.
If budget is not an issue and if you want to progress from walking to tricklining and super-long slacklines (400 feet or more), this is the setup for you. Balance Community's Titen Series Custom Pulley System allows you to create the most versatile, durable, safe-to-dismantle rig available today. This truly is the ultimate slackline rig on the market.
Likes
The quality of the equipment sold by Balance Community is superb. All of the components are rescue or climbing-quality gear. We've put it to the test with lines of 500-plus feet, super tight trick lines and leash-fallen highlines. Every part of the system held up, showing absolutely no sign of fatigue.
The major advantage the SMC pulleys we selected in this kit offer over the Slackline Brothers Tightening System is the absolute fluidity created by the ball-bearings in the pulleys. Very little of the 4:1 mechanical advantage is lost due to friction, making this the most efficient tightening system we reviewed.
The safe method of de-tensioning this rig puts it in a league of its own. By using the Petzl Rig as the brake we were able to release tension from our lines with total control. No abrupt, out-of-control, scary breakdowns. This is one of the reasons we like this system best. Safety while detensioning a slackine is a highly neglected subject when it comes to slackline gear. We hope to see other slackline companies follow this trend of safety as product development continues to evolve.
The process of selecting components on Balance Community's website is as easy as it could be to follow. They haven't overloaded their website with too many options. If you have any questions, their customer support is available to help.
Dislikes
You could build a system more economically than ours but either way it's going to be pricey. All in all, our rig cost over $700 (see our shopping cart in Image B3 below), and that does not include any webbing. Compare this to the price of a set of skis and you can see that if you're really into slacklining, it's not an astronomical amount of money to spend on a setup you will never outgrow.
