Budget Trapeze
Tab weld 360 degrees on both sides of tab. TIG welded. Quality of weld important.
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Eye splice finished with four full tucks.
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- Non U.S. buyers please be aware that this is a dutiable item and that shipping surcharges may apply.
Same quality bar as our standard trapeze, but elbow covers not included. Optional 23 or 25 inch (schedule 40 pipe / hollow bar) and 7 ft. white or black 22 mm 4-strand ropes reinforced with Amsteel core.
Price starting at $350 with two Link2 Black Steel Oval Autolocking Carabiners
Buying a budget trapeze - what to look for and why we design ours the way we do:
- I was convinced years ago by Ludwig to go with a 360 degree weld on the bar. Since once you cover that joint you can't inspect it, at least if the weld ever did fail the physical bar will hold you. I have heard from professionals who have had welds break. See the photo of our trapeze bar design and weld. Know how to recognize a good weld.
- If the top of the rope is spliced it should have a thimble to reduce wear on the rope (our thimble is inside - see photo). If it is a big exposed thimble, it should be whipped or secured to the rope.
- Look inside the rope below the thimble where the wire core is crimped. I have seen fabricators leave the sharp wire exposed below the crimp. The sharp wire cable ends should be covered with something like electrical tape to prevent cuts. If not, I personally think it shows poor craftsmanship and that the fabricator just doesn't care. We do a splice on our Amsteel core which doesn't require a crimp or have exposed sharp ends.
- Check the connector used to secure the rope to the bar. Make sure it is a name brand quicklink or shackle. We have upgraded to the Maillon Rapide PPE which include a serial number on the quicklinks. There should be a thimble on the wire or cable connecting to the bar too.
- An eye splice should have a minimum of 3 tucks. But since your life depends on it, we do four full tucks. See photo. We believe in backing everything up. So if the structural core ever failed ( and I have seen videos of failures ), our ropes provide redundancy for extra safety. Some fabricators just rig the cotton rope as a comfort not as a safety backup. Our trapeze ropes are certified to a minimum breaking strength of 5000 lbs.
Please Read Before You Buy
Why Amsteel? Amsteel, also known as synthetic steel or Dyneema, is a high-strength, high-tech fiber. AmSteel rope is flexible, spliceable, and resists flex-fatigue and abrasion. It is as strong as steel with one-seventh the weight. AmSteel allows us to provide you with the comfort of cotton and the strength of steel. If you want a more rigid rope we can do steel cable reinforced ropes. Steel is more prone to hockle or kink permanently when ropes are bent or wrapped.
Why integrated carabiner instead of traditional rope thimbles? How many times have you scrambled to find a carabiner that fits over a big rope thimble for a trapeze or lyra rope? I did one too many times! I decided I could use the thimble for the Amsteel inside the cotton rope and splice to connect directly to the carabiner and eliminate the big thimble. Plus most rope thimbles are marine items and anything marine means expensive. Whereas I can buy carabiners wholesale for a good price. Think of the carabiner like the thimble and do not remove it. That will keep the connection properly placed on the thimble and minimize wear and tear.
Why four-strand cotton rope from Holland? It is less likely to "hockle" or pull apart. Only one other fabricator in the US uses four-strand rope. This is a big deal. We buy a tight lay which is a bit harder and takes longer to break in but lasts longer too. Most cotton rope in the US is made for equestrian use and the lay isn't tight enough for circus use. I have never found black cotton rope in the US in a useful diameter. If anyone does, let me know please!
What length trapeze ropes do you need? We measure or determine the rope length from the top of the trapeze bar to the rigging point. So our standard 7 foot rope measures 7 feet from the top of the trapeze bar to the top inside of the carabiner (the rigging point) with 100 lbs. weight. This length includes the knotted splice. We make our ropes under tension to compensate for stretch and they may appear shorter than requested but will stretch to proper length when weighted.
Don't know what length you need? First, determine the height of your rigging point and subtract the height you need for your bar from the floor. This is your maximum rope length. Next, determine the length of 'working rope' that you need, which is measurement from the top of the bar to the highest point you will want to grip the rope below the top splice. Add 10 inches for the top splice and carabiner to get the minimum length of rope needed. You will choose your rope length between these two measurements depending on your personal preference and the requirements of your act. Remember, it is easier to add length using span sets and basically impossible to shorten. Aerial Animals will produce a matched set of ropes to within 2% of your ordered length as determined above, but cannot be responsible for miscalculations outside of the parameters stated here.
Why integrated carabiner instead of traditional rope thimbles? How many times have you scrambled to find a carabiner that fits over a big rope thimble for a trapeze or lyra rope? I did one too many times! I decided I could use the thimble for the Amsteel inside the cotton rope and splice to connect directly to the carabiner and eliminate the big thimble. Plus most rope thimbles are marine items and anything marine means expensive. Whereas I can buy carabiners wholesale for a good price. Think of the carabiner like the thimble and do not remove it. That will keep the connection properly placed on the thimble and minimize wear and tear.
Why four-strand cotton rope from Holland? It is less likely to "hockle" or pull apart. Only one other fabricator in the US uses four-strand rope. This is a big deal. We buy a tight lay which is a bit harder and takes longer to break in but lasts longer too. Most cotton rope in the US is made for equestrian use and the lay isn't tight enough for circus use. I have never found black cotton rope in the US in a useful diameter. If anyone does, let me know please!
What length trapeze ropes do you need? We measure or determine the rope length from the top of the trapeze bar to the rigging point. So our standard 7 foot rope measures 7 feet from the top of the trapeze bar to the top inside of the carabiner (the rigging point) with 100 lbs. weight. This length includes the knotted splice. We make our ropes under tension to compensate for stretch and they may appear shorter than requested but will stretch to proper length when weighted.
Don't know what length you need? First, determine the height of your rigging point and subtract the height you need for your bar from the floor. This is your maximum rope length. Next, determine the length of 'working rope' that you need, which is measurement from the top of the bar to the highest point you will want to grip the rope below the top splice. Add 10 inches for the top splice and carabiner to get the minimum length of rope needed. You will choose your rope length between these two measurements depending on your personal preference and the requirements of your act. Remember, it is easier to add length using span sets and basically impossible to shorten. Aerial Animals will produce a matched set of ropes to within 2% of your ordered length as determined above, but cannot be responsible for miscalculations outside of the parameters stated here.
Care for cotton ropes:
Trapeze ropes are a soft good and require maintenance. The current trend is too work more in the ropes and wrap up in the elbows. This is going to shorten the life of the ropes compared to when we did tricks on the bar and held the ropes. Covered rope artists replace their covers as often as every 10 months. We recommend any soft good like trapeze ropes be retired after one to five years depending on frequency and intensity of use, how they were stored and the environment in which they were used. To extend the life of your ropes, you will need to "milk" the ropes. With use, the cotton rope will tend to bunch up at the bottom. To minimize this, run your hands along the rope from bottom towards the top before each use. This is called “milking". Also, reverse how the trapeze is hung periodically to even out the wear. While you are at it, apply leather conditioner to your leather elbow covers periodically.
Our trapeze and lyra ropes have AmSteel cores. The AmSteel is there to keep the ropes even length and provide structural integrity. Look and you will see it. It is grey or blue colored. Cotton has stretch. We pre-stretch the ropes and AmSteel. So your ropes may appear shorter than you requested, but once you hang them and put weight on your apparatus, they will stretch to the requested length.
We do not recommend removing the carabiners or quick links from our ropes. They are intended to be an integrated system. However, if you must, be careful not to hook the carabiner gate on the ropes and when you replace the carabiner make sure you go through the thimble on the AmSteel core.
Trapeze ropes are a soft good and require maintenance. The current trend is too work more in the ropes and wrap up in the elbows. This is going to shorten the life of the ropes compared to when we did tricks on the bar and held the ropes. Covered rope artists replace their covers as often as every 10 months. We recommend any soft good like trapeze ropes be retired after one to five years depending on frequency and intensity of use, how they were stored and the environment in which they were used. To extend the life of your ropes, you will need to "milk" the ropes. With use, the cotton rope will tend to bunch up at the bottom. To minimize this, run your hands along the rope from bottom towards the top before each use. This is called “milking". Also, reverse how the trapeze is hung periodically to even out the wear. While you are at it, apply leather conditioner to your leather elbow covers periodically.
Our trapeze and lyra ropes have AmSteel cores. The AmSteel is there to keep the ropes even length and provide structural integrity. Look and you will see it. It is grey or blue colored. Cotton has stretch. We pre-stretch the ropes and AmSteel. So your ropes may appear shorter than you requested, but once you hang them and put weight on your apparatus, they will stretch to the requested length.
We do not recommend removing the carabiners or quick links from our ropes. They are intended to be an integrated system. However, if you must, be careful not to hook the carabiner gate on the ropes and when you replace the carabiner make sure you go through the thimble on the AmSteel core.