Rope Bridge for pirate ship

[themoon]

I apologize if this is the inappropriate place for this question so no offense taking if the mods deem it should be moved to another location.

I am building an outdoor pirate ship for my sons which is coming along quite nicely. One of the features I want to include is a rope bridge they can crawl across on. I'm finding it difficult to purchase one online and started looking into how I might just build it myself. Anyone have any experience on creating one of these?

Something along these lines:
Rope Bridge

[DaveR1]

You could make a net. See half way down this page. Use something around 1/2" or 5/8" in dia. Probably a synthetic double braid marine grade rope instead of the 3-strand stuff in your image. Marine grade double braid will have better UV resistance and it'll remain safe after a long time outdoors. Don't use nylon rope. It will degrade quickly in the sun. It's time consuming, though. Unless you have plenty of time, you might find it worth looking for a supplier of cargo net and use that instead.

[daddo]

You might need 50'-80' of rope per ft length.

That's going to be a LOT of rope.

[themoon]

Thank you for the excellent post Dave. I'm not too encouraged by the length of time it might take to actually create my own though. ha!

I found a company in the UK who makes these kind of bridges. Waiting to hear back from them. But nice to have this backup option in case they come back cost prohibitive.

[ianab]

Local playgrounds often use chain "bridges" sort of like that. More of a challenge for kids to cross as there are only three horizontal chains, and some V chains linking the three together. Basically they have to walk on the lower chain, using the other 2 as hand rails. It's a bit of a challenge, but it teaches the scurvy rats how to balance.

But it's something you can assemble with some bolts and D shackles.

[Lynden]

Did you check Google images for rope bridge ideas?

https://www.google.com/search?q=rope+bri...10&bih=1018

Regarding the rope, you could make your own using sisal binder twine. My dad used to tell us how they made all of the rope they used on the farm when he was growing up. When I was in scouts, he and I made a rope making machine. During my scouting years, we used that machine to make thousands of feet of three-strand rope for our projects at scout camp. The machine is easy to make. The diameter of the rope is determined by the number of wraps of twine in each strand.

http://scouts.aussieland.net/section/sco...ope.h3.jpg

http://www.woodtoyfun.com/zzzrope.html

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-42-x.../202048181

[Kudzu]

Here you go

They even make what you want.

[themoon]

Kudzu said:

---

Here you go

They even make what you want.

---

Yup, that is perfect. Thank you!!

[Cooler]

I would buy some netting: http://www.cascadenets.com/barrier_netti...hgod_MgAHA

Some heavy rope and webbing: http://www.knotandrope.com/store/pc/view...Category=4

I would weave a few strands of medium weight rope through the heavy netting for the "floor" and run two heavy ropes for the "rails".

The netting will hold the weight but has no shape. You need to build the shape in with the netting and rope.

You can "sew" things together by lacing some nylon line. Use black for everything as the black colorant adds UV protection.

These nets are used for sports barriers and were designed for outdoor use. If you use the #36 strand stuff it has a single strand tensile strength of 300 pounds, so the netting multiple strands will certainly be strong enough.

The "rails" (hand rails) need to be heavy enough to hold onto. They will be strong enough in 3/8 nylon but I think you want something more substantial to grab onto.

[Anak]

You may already have your solution, but given your proximity to a harbor I will throw this out too: Try to find an old cargo net from the docks.

I found a net that is something on the order of 10' x 20' for about $30 at a surplus/salvage shop. It is a retired lifting net. It is made of webbing rather than rope, but is still plenty climbable and might be a cheaper way to meet your goals.