Flying From Home
Why we are sharing this information
We LOVE aerials. We teach it because we are obsessed with it! We miss it and are struggling through this period of quarantine, just like you. We felt the need to discuss the topic of home rigging as we’ve received many questions (and seen lots of home set-ups on social media).
We do not recommend setting up an aerial point attached to the structure of your home. It is a lot of work to do properly/safely and requires knowledge that can’t just be sourced on the internet. In the studio, we had engineers and certified rigging experts design our rigging, our staff have received special training, and our rigging and equipment receive regular inspections and maintenance. In addition to the challenges of setting up a safely anchored rigging point, there are important differences in what a home practice should look like compared to what you are used to in the studio.
The only home set-up that we do recommend is purchasing a free-standing rig from a reputable supplier, and ensuring all of the hardware and aerial equipment you purchase also comes from reputable sources. The cost associated with this is $1,500 - $4,000+ including the rig, equipment and hardware, and a safety mat.
It is not our intention to make anyone feel bad if they have made different choices than what we are suggesting. We do want you to understand that any other set-up carries heightened risk. We are sharing the following information to shed light on some of the considerations of setting up an aerial point at home that you may not have considered, and to ensure that you have all the information we can give you in order to weigh the risks and make the best decisions concerning your and your family’s safety.
How do I know if it’s appropriate for me to practice aerials at home?
We don’t recommend practicing aerials at home unless you have a strong knowledge of your apparatus from regular classes with a knowledgeable coach.
Why? An live instructor is able to:
Notice any issues in your form that might lead to injury
Step in when you are struggling for support
Provide the relevant safety information for the poses you are working on
Ensure you are working at an appropriate level based on your demonstration of your understanding of pre-requisite skills and the strength and body awareness to execute skills without excessive risk of injury
Home aerial practice considerations
When you are training at home, you have to modify your practice to account for the absence of a coach to help keep you safe.
What does this look like?
Home practice should only include skills or movements that you have previously been coached in (and that your coach communicated comfort with you working on unsupervised)
Home practice should only include skills or movements that are appropriate for the rigging set-up and equipment you have
If you are on a set-up that isn’t designed for aerial, do not invert or hang above your own height (preferably don’t do aerial practice on it at all)
If you don’t have a proper crash mat (see recommendations regarding appropriate crash mats, below), do not invert or climb higher than your own height.
You should only practice at home if you have another person in the house/in ear-shot in case of an accident
These recommendations are intended for adults. We do not recommend setting up home rigging for children or youth who are taking aerial classes unless they have demonstrated a high-level of maturity in their aerial classes and parents are versed in how to safely supervise.
Considerations for setting up an aerial point at home
Space
You need both vertical height (ideally a minimum of 12 feet, but you can get by with less) and width (at least a circle with a 6 foot diameter)
Cost
To purchase the required equipment will be a significant cost, usually >$1500, up to $4000 depending on how you are rigging and the type of apparatus you are using.
Insurance
Setting up an aerial point that is anchored to your home may invalidate insurance policies that you have for your home (home owner, renters, etc.). This may even apply if you purchase a free-standing rig, as insurance companies will see it as a high risk activity.
Where can I rig?
Aerial equipment is...in the air! How we suspend our equipment is one of the biggest contributors to the risk involved in aerial practice. It can be tempting to think we could just hang apparatus on a tree, or around a support beam/joist in our house but you do not have the expertise to properly assess if that is safe (unless you are an arborist or structural engineer!).
Can I rig from a tree?
Not only do we not advise this, we heavily discourage it. This is both dangerous for you and can result in the death of the tree.
Here’s an interesting and enlightening video about rigging from trees from @the_aerialista on Instagram.
Can I attach a rig point to my house?
Structurally, houses do not usually contain the necessary re-enforcement of the structure to handle the types of dynamic loads that aerials can create. If you wouldn’t hang your car from it, don’t hang yourself from it.
Basements can sometimes contain exposed ceilings where you can see the floor joists/support. Although tempting, these are not usually designed to hold a hanging live load - they are meant to keep your floor up!
If you are passionate about aerials and really want to install a rigging point attached to your house, we recommend contacting a structural engineer to evaluate the structure and determine where you could safely install a rigging point. It is important that you explain that you are wanting to hang a ‘human live load’ and would be creating dynamic forces For example, a suspended chair or hammock, meant for curling up with a good book, may come with hardware that is cleared for hanging the weight of a person. However, when you swing, drop, tug on that attachment, it exponentially increases the forces and therefore the load on that point. Add to that the increased risk of injury in the case of failure (the attachment breaking, or your equipment falling) based on being upside down or much higher off the ground, and this completely changes the considerations. Even experienced structural engineers don’t always understand the very unique forces we as aerialists create until they are specifically brought to their attention
Free-standing Aerial Rig/Frame
This is the only option we recommend
Free-standing rigs purchased from reputable suppliers have been tested to ensure they can safely handle the load of an aerialist.
An important note on free-standing rigs: There are now a lot of “yoga hammock” or “children’s swing” frames being marketed online, and although they look similar to a proper aerial rig they are usually NOT rated for the forces generated from aerials. Even if the manufacturer gives a “maximum user weight”, that does not mean that it has been safety tested for aerial activities. A lot of these pieces of equipment are intended for gentle suspended yoga practice or for children swinging.
Even on a properly rated free-standing rig, most aerialists will modify their practice to reduce the amount of dynamic force on the rig (less frequent drops, avoiding large drops, etc.)
Canadian Suppliers we recommend for purchasing a rig:
Where to buy aerial equipment and what to look for
Just as all rigs are not built for aerial forces, the same applies to equipment and hardware. There are many pieces of equipment that look similar to proper aerial equipment, but that are not safety tested or rated for the loads applied during aerial practice. Any equipment you purchase should be rated with a maximum breaking strength (MBS) or working load limit (WLL) (otherwise it has not been safety tested), and these should be high enough to support the loads generated during aerials.
Buy your aerial hardware and aerial equipment from a reputable circus/aerial company. The two companies in Canada that we recommend are Circus Concepts and Juggle Gear. We recommend buying from Canadian companies as you can get hit with large unexpected customs bills when ordering from the USA. We DO NOT recommend purchasing equipment from Amazon, even if the description says it is designed for aerial use. Also, you might assume that equipment designed for rock climbing or similar activities would be appropriate for aerials, and in some cases this is true, however if purchasing from a rock climbing store, be sure to check the safety specs before purchasing.
To suspend an aerial silk from a properly engineered point you will typically need the following:
2 carabiners + a swivel
A silks anchor (referred to as: Anchor-8, Silks Anchor, Figure-8, Silks Bell, and many other names)
To suspend a hoop/lyra from a properly engineered point you will typically need the following:
2 carabiners + a swivel
If it is a tabless hoop: a rated spanset, choked around your hoop
If it is a tabbed hoop: a rated spanset or rated aerial rope for each tab, plus a rated quick-link or locking shackle to connect it to the tab
Crash Mats
Don’t forget the most important piece of equipment; a crash mat!
You want a relatively firm foam mat that is at least 8 inches tall. When you step on the mat you don’t want your foot to get absorbed all the way down to the floor, as this means the mat is ‘bottoming out’. Imagine your foot is your head: you want the mat to absorb your body and support it above the floor in the event of a fall.
Our studio mats were purchased from Apple Athletics in Orillia, Ontario.
Other Resources
If you have more or specific questions, one useful resource we recommend is a group called Circus and Aerial Safety on Facebook. You can search in there for information on sorts of aerial safety topics, and ask the group any questions you have. There’s also a guide to rigging at home by Steven Santos (Simply Circus) that is available to members of this group.
There was a recent online workshop presented by Constance Echo Palmer and Shannon McKenna about rigging at home, which can still be viewed for a PWYC donation.
Stay safe Butterflies 🦋 ❤️