A helpful hint, I believe. . .A friend of mine helped me build this system. We did it a bit different, we used climbing rope. If you look at Home Depot, etc. these are not "fall rated" ropes. If you go to a climbing store, they are a few bucks more, but the larger diameter rope has some stretch in it. This will allow you to fall without breaking your back, like can happen with non-fall rated rope. I found a place online to buy 180 feet(60m) for $120 or about $0.67 per foot. I would guess at the local climbing store, they would have something for like $1-$2 per foot. Cord would be cheaper. For my climber setup, I use less than 10 feet. I carry a step or 2 so I can get back in the stand.