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Hey,

are there any people with advice for speedy unpacked jump setups? On the Potato bridge you tend to have lots of time and room to setup, but on other objects it's often less than ideal.

Me and Abbie once spend close to twenty minutes on the sidewalk of a less-than-legal span trying to untangle the lines so I could TARD it. Obviously that was about as bad as could be (it was the fifth object we visited that night and we had gotten pretty desperate), and since then I've been thinking about ways to fix this.

Here's what I do for my TARDs these days...

First, I do some quick flaking over my shoulder, making sure the lines are in the center and the fabric on the outside. I gently put it down trying not to disturb anything. I take quick peek in every flake and so some gentle redressing. Definitely not as clean as for a regular packjob though.

I then set the tailgate, making sure I only do two lose wraps (to avoid a hangup on low airspeed deployments). After setting the tailgate and making sure all the lines are in the center, I make the packjob a little less wide by rolling the flakes to the inside somewhat. I then put the tailpocket towards the bottom and figure-eight the lines into it.

However, I leave about two feet out of the tailpocket, because that's going to hang over my shoulder. I also tear of two corners of a napkin and put those on the velcro near the opening of the tailpocket. This makes sure the opening of the tailpocket is a little wider than usual, promoting line-dump (which you get on a regular TARD anyway) versus sniveling (this applies more on low jumps than on high TARDs, note that it's still slider-down).

I then carefully grab my gearbag and slide the packjob in. I make one fold and put that half in. I then slide my container on top of it.

When I get to the exit-point. I carefully take the packjob out, stash away my gearbag, step between the risers and put my gear on.

Done...

The tailgate helps avoid a line-over, and because most of the lines are in the tailpocket, climbing and one-handed TARDs are a lot easier (which is good for climbing over railings). You can do one handed TARDs with your lines in your hand, but it's a little trickier.

Does anybody have any other advice that'll make a TARD faster to set up?

Thanks!

Jaap

The tard stands for totally awesome rapid deployment, but at the same time it also has the connotation of being ya know retarded and nota smart or calculated way to jump.

you are doing very meticulously prepared manual deployments... not tards.

tards have to be more careless young man and much less prep.

You might as wellpack.

here is the deal with the tard:

stow and go

s fold the lines (2 or 3 or 4 or 5 grabs each at least a couple feet long) into one of yer hands and throw the wholoe deal above yer head as you step off.

as for McConkeys:

stow and go

dangle and dive.

McConkeys retardeds:

stow and go

S fold

dive over and leggo

NO FLAKING ALLOWED

thats about it.

and oh yeah... dont forget rule #1

not sure i understand what your writing so sorry if im wrong off here..
Your NOT sopoused to get line dumbs at TARDs,unless your really low or panic let go of the lines..
the idea about s folding your lines into your hand is so YOU deside howfast to let go and not just let go of all of them at once..If you just want to let go of it all your more easy just to S-fold them into the tailpocket..

I have no idea how to make the TARD"pack" faster but to get a more snug fit then just simply pack it into your harness,as you get to the exit point you open the harness(close it by a packing cord as you have no bridel),take out the canopy,take the harness to line strech,take it on s fold the lines and go...

I'm with Faber.

Jaap, why do you want to encourage line dump?

The whole purpose of stowing the lines in the pocket (i.e. doing a SmartTard, rather than a plain old TARD) is to stage the lines to reduce the chance of a tension knot or similar. If you are going to the trouble of stowing the lines, why do you want to then eliminate the main advantage of doing so?

I understand that the SmartTard is easier to launch (because you get a free hand) but that's kind of an extra benefit, in my opinion.

I may stand corrected. Here is my reasoning:

1. There is no pilotchute pulling the canopy away from your body.
2. With the lines in the tailpocket and using a primary stow, the canopy is going to be bundled together for a little longer (after releasing from your hand) compared to having a lines outside already.
3. On a low jump, I want fast inflation.
4. Ergo, I want my lines to come out quickly, so the canopy can start inflating.

Line dump maybe too strong of a word. But in the low altitude and low airspeed environment without a pilotchute yanking my canopy in the other direction, I want my lines to feed out of the tailpocket as smoothly and quickly as possible.

I don't want to waste valuable feet because the hole in my tailpocket is not wide enough. Mind you, I might be greatly overstating the effects of a pilotchute pulling in the opposite direction, or grosly underestimate the canopy's desire to catch air and inflate as fast as possible.

Btw, I have rarely seen a non-tailpocketed TARD that didn't show some form of line-dump. It all happens in a few short moments, but usually the canopy is inflating way before the lines are taut.

So to conclude; it is not line-dump I am after. But I do want my lines to be available out of the tailpocket as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Shouldn't that concern be addressed by simply leaving the primary stow off, which will allow the canopy to begin bottom skin expansion as it moves (or you fall away, depending on your perspective, with the real situation being somewhere between) to line stretch?

Fair enough, they're more like TLRDs; totally lame rapid deployments...

However, I think setting up a just jumped stashed rig for a TARD takes longer than doing some prep at home and having it ready to go when you're at exit.

Being able to setup as quickly as possible is absolutely necessary on this particular object, because twenty cars drive by every minute, every hour of the day.

Yes, possibly. I'll have to experiment with that. The primary stow does create a nice bundle you can grab, but it might be better to leave it off. Thanks for the idea.