# Zip-lines: Anything beyond the adrenaline rush? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458 "2014-05-14T18:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/21 "2014-05-14T23:11:53Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > paying $50 for three minutes of fun. That basically describes all of my sexual encounters. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/22 "2014-05-15T03:00:40Z")
My question for things like this is “How do you style it?” For sports like whitewater kayaking/canoeing, surfing and BMX, this is an easy question to answer… less so for guided rafting, and less so for bungee jumping. Are there forms of ziplining where technique pays off? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/23 "2014-05-15T06:21:58Z")
Flying open cockpit airplanes. View Thrills Usually capable of all the roller coaster moves you like at slow speed to break your neck speed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/24 "2014-05-15T06:37:06Z")
I’ve never zip-lined. It seems incredibly fun and interesting to me. How can’t it be? It’s not a normal physical sensation or experience. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/25 "2014-05-15T11:23:30Z")
The 360 unrestricted view is amazing. Some of them you must regulate your speed to 1: get to the platform 2: not crash into it. In shorter zip lines it can be challenging. It is also a transportation method, I used one that is a normal crossing of a river along a hiking trail. ---
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/26 "2014-05-15T12:57:15Z")
I did zip-lining on a group volunteer trip to Nicaragua a few years ago, my reaction was the same as **BetsQ** , it’s a cool way to see some scenery. I hadn’t heard of zip-lining before this trip, I just knew that there was a group activity scheduled. I’m not exactly an adrenaline junkie seeker so there were a few hair-raising moments for me, but overall what I remember is the view over the treetops, not the actual zipping. No one in our group was put off by the speed and heights. it’s possible we just did a really slow and simple course, if we did I wouldn’t know any better. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/27 "2014-05-15T13:24:29Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > All I see in it is spending a bunch of time getting into safety gear, then a tiny little time falling sideways, then a bunch of time getting out of safety gear. There’s safety gear? That’s not ziplining. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/28 "2014-05-15T13:26:46Z")
Another thread where someone asks why some people do something and the answer is “because they find it fun”? Seriously? “Smartest, hippest people on the planet” in action, chaps. Frankly, I heard it cures herpes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/29 "2014-05-15T14:04:16Z")
[This one](http://voodoozipline.com/) looks like it will be totally stupid. Plus the fact that it’s a lie. The Rio is a mile off the Strip, and the only view you are going to get is of parking lots and an on-rushing hotel tower. Much better views are to be had from the top of the Strat or the High Roller. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/30 "2014-05-15T14:21:04Z")
We’ve had a lot of fun ziplining. My wife is pretty scared of heights, so for her, it’s an overcoming fear thing. (Her first time ziplining was when the Super Bowl was here in Indy. I had gotten tickets for the zipline that went over the Super Bowl village downtown, and we hadn’t been dating long enough for us to have gotten out of the ‘Game of Chicken’ portion of the relationship. For me, it was more of a novelty, because I had gotten in early on the tickets, and by the time Super Bowl Week rolled around, the zipline was a hot ticket. It was a fun night.) We honeymooned in Costa Rica, and ziplined in the rainforest from hilltop to hilltop at the foot of the Arenal volcano - THAT was amazing. Massive 750m lines, pretty impressive speeds, and truly amazing vistas. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/31 "2014-05-15T14:57:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There’s safety gear? That’s not ziplining. Yup! The time I went in Costa Rica each person was given a thick leather glove. That was the one and only brake. In order to slow down or stop one grabbed the cable with a gloved hand. Made for interesting timing when approaching the next platform at full speed! ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458/32 "2014-05-15T21:53:46Z")
It’s been alluded to before, but when you go ziplining, there are usually 6 - 10 different zip lines you do on a trip. It isn’t just “get in harness; ride 1 zip line; get out of harness”. (At least the zip line trips I’ve been on have been.) J. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zip-lines-anything-beyond-the-adrenaline-rush/688458.md?page=1)