How to hang gymnastics rings in a tree with height adjustable

I just made myself a set of gymnastics rings and have them hanging in a tree. The limb that I'm using is around 12' off of the ground. I tossed a doubled-over 36' rope over the tree branch, tied a BHK eight-on-a-bight at the end and attached the rings with a locking biner.

I'd like to make the setup easily height-adjustable and figured that a climbing forum would be the best place to find some creative knotmasters. I'd also like to easily be able to move the rings between different trees. Any ideas?

Here are the improvised rings

And the rings hanging

Close up

David Sahalie wrote:did you heat the pvc and bend it? they look great! i adjust the knots until they hang straight, then use shoulder length runners to go between hangs, low pulls, and pushes.

Yup. The project plan is here: instructables.com/id/How-to…

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying to tie the knots high and use runners to the rings to get various ring heights?

Rob Dillon wrote:Hang them from adjustable tie-down straps.

That's generally what I would do, but I had to buy 100' of cord (nylon / poly) to get the ~12' that I used to loop inside the rings. I'm hoping to use that cord to hang them so I don't have a sizable length of cord laying around doing nothing.

David Sahalie wrote: yes, but the tie downs look like a way better way to do it.

Sigh... you're probably right. Any ideas regarding clever rope rigging, though?

The purcell prusik is very easy to adjust...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCvRHHo1FxE

12 ft? Not much room to get above the rings or to swing. 16 ft is minimum I think. I used real gym rings, attached to 1" tubular nylon sling from the branches. Tried to add in some hardware store swivels for rotation to untangle. Clipped in with a carabiner from an extension ladder. They worked great, less stretch than a rope, and able to swing real gymnastics moves on them including handstands, giants, etc. The old plywood rings finally got too damp and self destructed after about 15+ years of use,,,plus I got too heavy and out of shape anyway to use them.

Tie-down straps are certainly the easiest solution, and the one used by all the commercial rings.

If you want to be 100% home-made, here is a possible solution. I'm assuming that you want to be able to continually adjust the height between exercises.

Rig your suspension rope so that one end is tied with a loop directly to the rings (or, if you are concerned about abrasion, to a second carabiner). The rope goes up over the tree limb and returns to the locker on the rings, where you tie a Munter hitch. Adjust the Munter hitch for the correct height, and tie it off with a mule knot, backed up with an overhand if you are paranoid. (This is the same set-up used in any climbing situation that calls for a load-releasable knot.)

You'll be able to adjust this up and down in a minute or two max.

rgold wrote:Tie-down straps are certainly the easiest solution, and the one used by all the commercial rings. If you want to be 100% home-made, here is a possible solution. I'm assuming that you want to be able to continually adjust the height between exercises. Rig your suspension rope so that one end is tied with a loop directly to the rings (or, if you are concerned about abrasion, to a second carabiner). The rope goes up over the tree limb and returns to the locker on the rings, where you tie a Munter hitch. Adjust the Munter hitch for the correct height, and tie it off with a mule knot, backed up with an overhand if you are paranoid. (This is the same set-up used in any climbing situation that calls for a load-releasable knot.) You'll be able to adjust this up and down in a minute or two max.

I like it. Any suggestions of what to do with the extra rope? Depending on the tree height I could have five to six feet of rope remaining.

Peter's got the right idea. Just tie two enormous purcell prusiks. Aside from tie down straps, the prusik is by far the simplest solution, in my opinion.

Taylor Ogden wrote: Aside from tie down straps, the prusik is by far the simplest solution, in my opinion.

We could argue about "simplest," but it isn't the best, and here are two good reasons why the Munter Mule set-up is preferable.

1. A Purcell Prussik is far more limited in adjustment than the Munter Mule system. Basically, you can't shorten a Purcell Prussik sling very much, the shortest length obtainable is basically half the sling length. If you have a long sling for relatively high branches, then you'll never be able to make it very short. By contrast, the Munter Mule system is continually adjustable from essentially 0" to the full length (minus what goes into the knot) of the rope.

2. Shortening Purcell Prussik would require you to keep pushing a knot up to shorten the straps. If you needed a lot of adjustment, you might need a step ladder to reach the prussik. The method I suggested has the adjustment point at the rings, no matter what length the supporting ropes are.

As for what to do with the extra rope, thread a beefy pony-tail elastic on each supporting rope. Wrap the extra rope around your hand, making a mini-coil, and stuff it up into the pony-tail elastic.

munter makes a lot of sense for this application.