I was thinking about this after talking to my brother. We want to take 2 telephone type poles at two sides of a pond with a platform on one.

Ok, so someone takes their turn and now the part on the line where the person holds on to is on the line in the middle of the lake.

How does the second person get it back?

 

Maybe it's still early, but your question doesn't make much sense.

 

OK...

I don't know what exactly it's called, but basically we have a pond.

We want to set up 2 poles, one on each side of the pond and have a cable connecting the poles above the water. On one side we'll have a platform where people can hang onto this pully or whatever they're called and glide across the lake and fall into the water.

So the next person in line, how do they get the pully back without the first person swimming back?

 

Just attach a rope to it. Then you can just yank on it and tow it back to the platform.

 

I was thinking about that, but we thought it would get caught up with kids who were on there since it would be hanging loose at the start.

Here's a visual of what I'm talking about:

http://www.outdoorfunstore.com/zip-line.asp

 

Why not use a pulley system. One continuous cable or rope with the handle attached. After one person drops off the other person could just pull it back.

 

Well, if you could keep some tension in it, so that it stayed behind the kids, that might work. But then again, knowing that kids don't always do things exactly right, maybe you want a more robust idea.

 

Well, I thought of something else. Could you maybe put a second zip line right about the first about a foot or so. Then you could put a rope from the zip thingy to another metal loop or something on the above line, and run a rope to the metal loop. Ok, below is a "drawing" of what I mean. The UU is the zip thingy that the kid holds onto. The 0 is sort of like a metal washer. You string a rope from the zip thingy to the washer, so they will travel together. Then another rope from the washer back to the platform. Now you can tow it back, but the rope won't get tangled with the kid as easily. I guess you still have to keep tension in the rope, so that it doesn't hang down too far. Maybe this idea is still crap.



---------------------------0-----------------------------
|
|
--------------------------UU----------------------------

 

ok, the drawing didn't work right either. the two lines on the left are supposed to connect the 0 and UU. I'm such a failure.

 

I was on one of those at a friends house as a kid. It went about 30 to 40 yards. Not sure who the manufacturer was but it was 100% metal (steel cable). You would push of of the platform and this thing would fly towards the far tree. The line was pretty much level, and the action so smooth that you would stop your momentum at the far tree, push off again with your legs, and it was enough to carry you all the way back easily.