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Does any one use electrical tape for SL jump's. If so what method do you use.

 
No, SL material is the perfect, right material for the job and it isn't high-priced; it's a no-brainer to use it. If you need more excitement on low jumps though, electrical tape or any other tape you want can give you more anxiety and tension.

works great 4 raps seems to work great much cheaper then break cord

dude, i'll give you some break cord

breakcord is about 75 e per 500yrds, so is that TOO expensive for you ??

FTF !!! :)

Chris, I've got rolls and rolls of break cord at work. I'll hook you up when i get back in town. If you need it before then ask jenkins, I gave him a bunch before i left.

Will

Just give the E-Tape a try and leave a 46" on it. It's freefallable anyway.


Or...I might be able to give you a couple inches of my precious breakcord.
I just have the feeling you really want to try the E-Tape....heck...you could always back it up with a Vons bag. :-)

3 wraps any time anywhere.

break cord is for super techy parachute geeks

where/how do you wrap it...specifically
do you use a 'preferred' ET ( as in quality) or any you can get...

I suppose, "tightly around your neck" isn't what you are looking for? (bad humor)

i'd go through the bridalaround the object... Then again I have used plastic shopping bags too...

Lol
No I mean Ive seen it used a few times now.
One person I know...only uses a specific CE (quality mark) brand...and the whole bridal, just below the PC knot to the object, going under/over .
Ive also seen it wrapped through the loop of the bridal to the object with a set number of wraps.

Its not a static line technique I've got much experience with...so am interested in others methods/practices and results..

I dunno how much E-tape costs but what I do know is that break cord costs $64,50 for 500yd roll on paragear (http://paragear.com/templates/parachutes.asp?group=462&level=2&parent=193). If you add some postage and say it totals at whopping 80usd and you use half an yard per jump you'll end up with cost per jump somewhere around 8 cents. :) If that's too much then I'd say you should find another hobby... Apart from the price issue I'd be very interesting to hear what other reasons there would be why one should choose E-tape over breakcord?

3 wraps around something solid on the object like a railing or something. i wrap it around the bridal about 1 foot or so below the PC.

black electric tape. you know, the epectric tape that you can buy that is black. I am not trying to be racist or stereotype here but most all electric tape is black.

I put my tape through the bridal PC attachment loop. I was put off doing it where you have as I was warned the bridle and PC could all slip through the tape. I realise it be pretty unrealistic for the PC to slip under the tape but if it was loose....Who knows??? Oh by the way....I used red

be very carefully with a joke like that, somebody could consider doing it...

Parky....I thought the same.
I think tieing around the top is an effort to stop damage to the loop in the bridal.
Is there another practical reason..?

Some points on e-tape (not a concise guide to SL):

* Use a quality brand - most e-tape (aka insulation tape) is good but some of the really cheap types can break like chewing gum. Test if unsure.

* Min 2x wraps around the anchor and then 4-5 wraps thru the bridal loop. 3x wraps is too little and will often break before full line-stretch is achieved. I usually use 4x wraps. Sub-150' I use 5x wraps. This many wraps may seem tight when you try and stretch it by hand but the full load of a canopy/human at line-stretch will snap it easily.

* E-tape is brittle in cold temps. Watch those cold rails.

* After "taping-off" pre-stress the setup by pulling on the bridal to slightly stretch the tape and allow any bridal to slide-thru to it's final point of tension.

* Tape over the side of the bridal loop that does not have the sewn-end. This minimises the load on the stitching that closes the loop.

* 3x wraps is not reliable - (a point worth repeating)

g.

Why 1 foot below the PC? Is that just an arbitrary figure?

You should attach your breakcord as close to your pins as possible without risking your canopy hitting object...

If you rig your shit right you shouldnt need a PC...its actually an impediment...swinging around waiting to catch on something and give you an offheading into an object with 5 feet to correct it.

The old school "California Static Line" actually solidly affixes the bridle to the object, with the break cord going between the bridle and the canopy attachment point. This method eliminates the possibility of going in with a closed container. It also means hiking back up to whatever you just fliked...which is fine off the local 173' rock where it was practiced the most, but would obviously have its drawback off a crane or a B.

Head down the hill to your local manufacturer and have him make you some shorter bridles made specifically for SL's.

like jt said break cord is for geeks E tape is for rad dudes and its black much cooler then white break cord

I prefer using break cord because:

1) It's much faster than setting up the tape--all the rigging can be done at home so that all you need to do at the object is screw one french link closed.

2) It leaves no evidence of any kind--even the broken bits of break cord can be carried along quite easily.

3) I'm not rad.

That's for sure, taping the railing and also wrapping it around your bridle and doing all the pretensioning shit mentioned above greatly increases the time you spend on the object and therefore greatly increases the risk of getting caught and in case of an antenna the amount of radiation you get as well. Way more rad, I agree. :)

You can also get the break cord from paragear in "olive drab" colour (costs a bit more though). I know it's not as cool as the solid black E-tape but way more ninja style than the white cord!

yeah, whatever dont tell me what to do.

those brak cord thingys are complicated and i eve hearrd of people crashing and dying doing that sort of stuff.

i jump big cliffs anyways, so the point is moot.

I have been using 4 wraps of black electrical tape for three years with no problems but we attach a carabiner to the bridal first and then tape the carabiner to the structure.

If you wrap the sticky side to the structure, there is a chance it will remain there after breaking and leave a trace. We have been leaving the sticky side out and it pulls off cleanly with no trace.

but would all the E-tape people not agree that breakcord is easier to use and easier to NOT leave on the object ???

I don't think they'd agree, because the folks using electrical tape generally do not know how to rig a fast carry on static line.

Virtually every taper I've shown how to do a good break cord static line has switched over. It's my opinion that the vast majority of tape static lines are taking place through ignorance--no one has ever shown these people how to rig the brake cord.

For the tapers--do you know how to do a carry on static line with break cord such that:

1) All the rigging is done at home, so that you only need to close one screw link at the object?

2) The entire static line rig, including the break cord, comes with you?

Tape leaves no trace when the sticky side is applied facing out.

I am not making an absolute statement about either. Nor did I say that tape leaves traces. I am just asking if you think that breakcord is easier overall. In my mind - yes. E-tape is produced in darker colors (i think) Breakcord that is used by most popular is WHITE - when rigging in the dark, I find it easier for that reason amongst many others pointed earlier in the thread. I also don't like how e-type sticks to things while rigging it up.

FWIW, quite a few of the static lines that I have done are little rocks. It would be very difficult to attach tape to these types of exit points. Often a long static line is used because the anchor point is a crack w/ climbing gear, bolt or a tree not right at the edge.

I think its important to keep the breakcord as short as possible, usually under two inches for me when the knots are tied in the end. Like Tom says, if you know the exit point set up you can do all of this at home and it can be very fast. Most typically my little rocks have not been illegal so there is usually little need to rush, or if illegal the man assumes you're a climber, until its too late.

Regardless, I'm sure you could still use tape at the end of a long static line through the PC attachment loop at the end of the bridle but it seems that would be getting difficult, and typically if the approach is at all invovled (read climbing) carrying a little piece of break cord and the smallest quick link is much easier than a roll of tape.

using a static line (with break cord or tape I suppose) has potential advantages over taping the bridle/pc to an object. there is less chance of the PC catching on something, ripping, getting damaged, or potentially causing an off heading as someone up thread said. I never leave the PC lying around on the structure/rock exirt point for these reasons.

I think its important for the static line on such objects to come out to the edge of the object (typicaly your feet, or even in front of your feet for some wierd exits). You can then s fold the majority of the bridle up to the PC in your hand between your thumb and index finger with both ends coming out the top of your hand. then its almost like normal HH freefall exit.

In this way everything is controlled, and staged, no loose loops to trip catch your feet on or unexpected snatch foces which could cause a premature break, or possibility of the PC catching on something sharp. as you jump let the bridle snake out of your fingers as you fall away, its easy, fast, and efficient.

I know people with lots of expericne who use two breakcords one as a backup in case of premature break but I have never done this and don't think its typically necessary.

one more comment for anyone who may not have much experience, for particularly low SL's be careful with too much much forward momentum (like a very aggressive poised exit), as this can cause a pendulum effect and diving canopy if you're not very careful with your unstowing.

its easy on many objects with a railing type feature to rig the SL so that it ccomes with you, but thats a different approach and not recommended if the static line is long.

Have fun and be safe, but not too safe.