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Soft opening at terminal jumps
 I need advice about a good set up for terminal jumps( more than 12 sec.)
I mean using a small mesh slider, 32 ZP vented PC, Troll MDV and using tracking suit = all that would make softer the openings?
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Re: [juanitos] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Canopy size?
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Re: [juanitos] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Well if it's really an issue for you you could use a solid slider. You could change your break settings. You could use some sort of positive control device, diper, sleave, bag.

Lee
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Re: [mr-a5] Soft opening at terminal jumps
 My canopy is 205 MDV Troll- my weight (witout any equipment) is 60 kg.
I had recently some back injury and I definetely need softer openings..SmileTongue
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Re: [RiggerLee] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Thanks for all advices...SmileI wouldn't choose a sail slider, though... I was told is causing too many off headingsShockedMad
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Re: [juanitos] Soft opening at terminal jumps
juanitos wrote:
Thanks for all advices... SmileI wouldn't choose a sail slider, though... I was told is causing too many off headings Shocked Mad

At terminal, who cares? You should be tracking well clear of the object, so an offheading isn't going to be life threatening.

You should also try increasing your direct slider control. Pull as much slider through the control stow as possible, and wrap it as tight as you can.
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Re: [TomAiello] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Ok-I'll do this waySmile

What do you think- the 32"ZP vented PC is ok using also my baggy trackingsuit?
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Re: [juanitos] Soft opening at terminal jumps
juanitos wrote:
What do you think- the 32"ZP vented PC is ok using also my baggy trackingsuit?

My experience is that PC size doesn't make a huge difference for opening shock. I use a 36" ZP for my terminal and wingsuit jumps. I would second Tom's advice about using direct control and making sure you pull the slider as high as possible. Also make sure your primary stow is close to the line attachment points. If the canopy starts to inflate before line stretch, then a hard opening is very likely. Use a double stow if you aren't already.

I have an old neck injury, so I also don't like hard openings. For direct control, I pull a large amount of the centre of the slider up, fold it back over itself, and then double stow with a small rubber band (cut in half, like you'd use for a tailgate). The forces on the slider are enormous, so don't worry if it feels too tight - that slider is coming down for sure.

I haven't found that rolling the nose makes any difference. On my skydiving rig I roll the nose of the outer cells into the nose of the centre cell - which works very well - but I wouldn't recommend it for BASE...
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Re: [juanitos] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Roll the shit out of the nose, , like cigar roll that shit, then tuck the center cell inside of it. It will look like a vagina when youre done.
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Re: [goking] Soft opening at terminal jumps
juanitos wrote:
I haven't found that rolling the nose makes any difference. On my skydiving rig I roll the nose of the outer cells into the nose of the centre cell - which works very well - but I wouldn't recommend it for BASE...

Yes, do not roll the nose on that canopy. If you take a shorter delay for whatever reason, the nose is likely to unfold one side before the other, leading to a violent surge in one direction, and a good likelihood of line twists.

Back to the OP: I jump a Troll MDV 245 / 265 and use a 36" PC on the type of jumps you are asking about. I would keep the coarse mesh slider and follow Tom's advice to pull the slider as hard as you can up against the slider stops and feed as much mesh (I actually s-fold the tape at the edge of the slider and feed this instead to avoid slider damage) into an elastic band for direct control. This should make the canopy open relatively softly.

I've used that technique from 6/7 s all the way up to 12-15 s, only changing the PC size (I use a 38" 6-8, 8+ I use a 36") and always exposing the nose centre cell to a greater or lesser extent (depending on delay). I'd ditch the 32" PC for BASE.

Don't overcomplicate it!
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Re: [Pendragon] Soft opening at terminal jumps
 
For years now i have used a 36AV pc on everything from 5 secs to moster 70 sec plus wingsuit jumps. I spent years suffering with hard slammer openings on terminal jumps. Even with a fine mesh slider i get some tasty openings.

I did order a fine mesh from Stane an i got a fine mesh slider that was double skinned, which really really slowed things down, on some jumps too slow.

However this year i only changed the way i packed in one way and dumped the fine mesh slider. I have been rolling the three outside cells three or four times and pulling the centre cell over the rolled cells. Its transformed the opening in to really nice soft but fast opening, doing nothing else has fixed the problem for me and in the last 80 slider up they have been perfect.
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Re: [hjumper33] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Wink.. Yep..imagination rules..Cool
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Re: [gazzoom] Soft opening at terminal jumps
after a back injury I pack quite similar on all my terminal jumps (mostly wingsuit): direct slider control, rolled nose, centrecell over the rolled outer cells. gives me smooth openings on both my flik and my trango... Smile
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Post deleted by juanitos
 
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Re: [juanitos] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Yo dude, here's what I do to slow down the opening on my troll MDV: Roll the nose, hide the center cell of the nose, use a small mesh slider, do a major bite of slider for direct control, (this part's kind of hard to explain) when I do my 45 degree folds just before I do my micro-reefing folds, I fold it over once more so it's more of a 22 and a half degree fold (hope that makes sense). If that's not soft enough of an opening, I have seen a custom modified slider that has an extra strip of f-111 around the outside of mesh so that it adds more surface area to the mesh without turning your slider into a full sail slider. Think of it as a "partial sail" slider. Also, don't fear using a diaper sleeve like riggerlee suggested. They work great, slow down your opening a little, and act as a completely fail proof "kill line" for your pc. If you do all of that stuff and it still opens too hard, maybe you should buy a raven 2 for a couple hundred bucks and start from scratch.
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Re: [tommyh] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Thanks a lot for all infoSmile
In case is possible maybe you could post some photos when you have some time
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Re: [gazzoom] Soft opening at terminal jumps
gazzoom wrote:
I have been rolling the three outside cells three or four times and pulling the centre cell over the rolled cells. Its transformed the opening in to really nice soft but fast opening, doing nothing else has fixed the problem for me and in the last 80 slider up they have been perfect.

+ 1
This should be the only thing necessary to soften an opening while remaining smooth, fast and on heading. All that stuff about slider control is good too.
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Re: [Fledgling] Soft opening at terminal jumps
I quit using the direct slider control. Instead I use a much larger bight of line through the primary stow. Then I ensure the bight primary stow is close against the slider to keep it up until line stretch.

I do roll the nose inward and hide the center cell but I believe it's less important.
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Re: [Fledgling] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Fledgling wrote:
gazzoom wrote:
I have been rolling the three outside cells three or four times and pulling the centre cell over the rolled cells. Its transformed the opening in to really nice soft but fast opening, doing nothing else has fixed the problem for me and in the last 80 slider up they have been perfect.

+ 1
This should be the only thing necessary to soften an opening while remaining smooth, fast and on heading. All that stuff about slider control is good too.

I actually use this technique (rolling the outside cells and tucking them behind the center cell) for _all_ delays. I've taken it down to about 200 feet with no problem. In my opinion it helps heading, which is worth sacrificing a few feet of altitude for.
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Re: [TomAiello] Soft opening at terminal jumps
TomAiello wrote:
juanitos wrote:
Thanks for all advices... SmileI wouldn't choose a sail slider, though... I was told is causing too many off headings Shocked Mad

You should be tracking well clear of the object, so an offheading isn't going to be life threatening.

that's a gem
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Re: [hookitt] Soft opening at terminal jumps
hookitt wrote:
I quit using the direct slider control. Instead I use a much larger bight of line through the primary stow. Then I ensure the bight primary stow is close against the slider to keep it up until line stretch.

I do roll the nose inward and hide the center cell but I believe it's less important.

I agree with the large bite of line as well. Started doing it after it was suggested to me in switzerland last year and was surprised how well it worked. I only roll my nose on jumps more than 1500 feet, but ive never had any heading problems caused by it on taller jumps at all. If you are pulling out of a full flight or full track, its my experience that heading rarely is off by more that 15 or so degrees.
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Re: [hjumper33] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Keeping the slider up until line stretch (i.e. properly staging the slider deployment) is important enough that I like using both direct and indirect control. What's the downside of using the direct control stow? It adds a backup to help prevent a potentially very, very bad situation.
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Re: [TomAiello] Soft opening at terminal jumps
TomAiello wrote:
Keeping the slider up until line stretch (i.e. properly staging the slider deployment) is important enough that I like using both direct and indirect control. What's the downside of using the direct control stow? It adds a backup to help prevent a potentially very, very bad situation.

Anyway, I noticed the opening is much softer when using trackingsuit than without it..slower fall rateWink
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Re: [hookitt] Soft opening at terminal jumps
hookitt wrote:
I do roll the nose inward and hide the center cell but I believe it's less important.

I don't believe this method to be as effective. Doing it like this will still result in all the cells hitting the airflow at the same time. I think that by rolling the nose and then physically tucking the center cell out around these rolls causes the center cell to catch air before the outer cells slowing you down that little bit more before the other cells begin to pressurize. Think of when you skydive and the cocoon hits the air and slows yu down that little bit before the nose catches air. We are of course talking about five tenths of fuck all in opening time but you would be surprised by the difference it makes. If it starts to snivel you have rolled them too much.
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Re: [juanitos] Soft opening at terminal jumps
juanitos wrote:
Anyway, I noticed the opening is much softer when using trackingsuit than without it..slower fall rate[;)

I probably don't have to say this but...even with your slow fancypantz shit still happens..

Take a look at 3:50 of this video-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7pYqz0eXDM

Not to be "that guy" but I figured this was a good opportunity to interject with a nice little premie. Your back would definitely not appreciate that after fracture.
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Re: [SPAWNmaster] Soft opening at terminal jumps
Not to be "that guy" but I figured this was a good opportunity to interject with a nice little premie. Your back would definitely not appreciate that after fracture.
That opening was absolutely mad...can't figure out what actually happened..-accidently coming out of the PC?Shocked

I am considering to wear always a backprotector when jumping again...Unimpressed
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Re: [juanitos] Soft opening at terminal jumps
juanitos wrote:
Not to be "that guy" but I figured this was a good opportunity to interject with a nice little premie. Your back would definitely not appreciate that after fracture.

That opening was absolutely mad...can't figure out what actually happened..-accidently coming out of the PC? Shocked

I am considering to wear always a backprotector when jumping again... Unimpressed

I'm not qualified to speculate but if you ask me it just looks like his PC came loose and inflated prematurely, thus starting deployment in a full (probably steep) track.