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I have heard of some people using reserve soft links on integrated risers. Are people using tandem reserve slinks or regular reserve slinks? Seems like a good idea to have something aside from a riser or lines to cut through in the event of a major hangup or the like......

I don´t know if they are a different product (tandem reserve slinks vs. normal reserve slinks) but I have used those http://www.paragear.com/...asp?group=101#PDSR-1 for the last 500 jumps I guess on all of my rigs (both SU and SD jumps) and so far no problems or issues with them. I will equip all my rigs in future with SLINKS as well regardless if it´s an integrated riser or a 3ring.

Edited to add : It seems that there are no separated "tandem reserve slinks", at least not manufactured by PD. On the page above it says :

The Performance Designs' Slink® is available in two configurations:
One for main canopies (SM-1).
One for Performance Designs' reserves (PR-113 through PR-253).

i would make some kind of bumper to keep the slider from coming down and trapping the toggles when you make the change to the slinks.

if you are truly paranoid, the main slinks come with slider bumpers.

However being that 99.99999999% of BASE risers are the wide Type8, it would take some seriously fucked up timing for the slider to come down past the slinks.

Exactly. I would not be too worried about the slider being somehow able to go through the stitched type8 riser so far that it would be able to lock the toggle. Since I had an open rig lying around and my GoPro on the table, I took a photo of the setup : http://dl.dropbox.com/u/39314255/toggle.png. The slider is able to go over the soft link but there is still good 2-3cm gap to the tip of the toggle and the slider really cannot get lower as the riser is 3 layers of type8 stitched together and quite stiff. Even if somehow magically the slider would be able to slide over it, the pull for the toggle is still coming downwards and I´m betting there would be pretty good chance that they would release. Of course, in this scenario you could be facing some other, more serious, issues since I cannot really think how brutal opening it would need to create enough force to push the slider all the way to the toggle.

(Sorry about the super crappy quality of the pic but GoPro + dim lights don´t go that well together...)

and another, even more convincing data point :

As far as I know, all skydiving reserve risers are made from 1" 23/32 webbing, usually Type 8 or Type 7 material. PD ships Reserve (SR) Slinks without slider bumpers - obviously they don't feel that the slider is a concern with such setup.

Those who are paranoid can go ahead and argue that such setup is meant to be used very infrequently, as opposed to ones BASE rig :)

Slinks being the PD product, there are no tandem reserve slinks. Only Tandem Main Slinks, which are the same as Sport Reserve Slinks.

You would only want to use the Tandem/Reserve Slinks on BASE gear, but for the vast majority of BASEjumpers with their limited knowledge of gear and reliance on self checks, I would say Rapide Links (the metal ones) are the safer option.

Yeah, but you cant hack through rapide links with a hook knife. That leaves two options, both of which i'd like to avoid hacking up.

Does anyone know of them being used on slider down stuff, thats what I am doing at the moment, all slider down. I will shoot PD an email to see what they say. My prediction is that they do not recommend them for the BASE environment, so any input, being first hand FACT, would be great.

As I already wrote on my first post to this thread, I jump regularly SLINKS on all my rigs in all configurations (both slider up and down). I have maybe 500 jumps so far with them splitting maybe 150 SD / 350 SU (rough guess) and so far I have not experienced any problems with them. My regular SD jumps are around 2-3s E jumps and my canopies are 265 DW MDV Trolls.

Thanks!

How often do you replace them?

Soft links are made of UHMWPE ( spectra / dyneema ) which is basically more chemically stable and more abrasion-resistant than classic nylon risers.

It could just get damaged if you rip your container on sharp concrete and if the slinks are more exposed than the rest of the gear for whatever reason. Otherwise it will typically last longer (strenghtwise) than any of the other piece of your equipment.

Just pay attention to the closing tab and the thread sewn on it (and hide this part inside the riser loop) - and change it when really looks destroyed. In most of the cases you will change your canopy or your container first, and take the opportunity to change the s-links at the same time.

So far I have not replaced them, so cannot really tell. Hopefully before they break... :)

I have 3 rigs (all equipped with slinks) which I jump reasonably evenly, maybe the rig with most jumps on slinks has about 250 jumps with the slinks at the moment. I tend to take a look on the slinks every time I stow the brakes to give it a basic condition check (like any part of the gear). I also irregularly once I have a bit more time take a bit closer look on them and look for any signs of wear etc. So far with my usage I have not found any marks of wear on them what so ever. Still, as they cost a whopping $30 a set in paragear, I'll most likely change them once every 2 years or so just to feel good.

Edited to add : I also carry a spare set of slinks in my bag with tailgates, rubberbands etc just that I have an extra set always in hand in case I find even a smallest cut or abrasion mark on the slink so I can replace them immediately. I really think they are so cheap (30 bucks) that the treshold for replacement should be pretty nonexistent. If it looks suspicioius, replace it.

I have slinks on all my rigs with integrity riser. Up to now I only replaced one set of slinks after about 150 jumps. Never a problem so far.

Main reason for me to jump slinks was to have an easy way to cut the canopy away from integrity riser after a water or tree landing.

I have now seen, that it is neither fast nor easy to cut the slinks, nothing compared to a three ring system.

I was using one of the Apex poli carbonate hook knives - not the flimsy plastic one. The first slink cut relatively easy, but it got harder every time, for the last one some real force and movement had to be applied.

After the slinks you still have to get rid of your control lines, having wlo toggles is a good combination.

My resume for slinks after all is good.
Without them I would have had serious damage to harness or canopy. In the future I will combine them with WLO toggles and a larger hookknife.

That depends on your risers.

I have BASE risers built with a stiffener that stops the slider, and other risers that have no stiffener, where I have seen the slider come past the level of the toggle.

I can't recall which manufacturers build them which way offhand, but I know those risers are both from major manufacturers.

Is it still the norm to use Reserve Slinks and not main Slinks ?
Yesterday I saw a canopy with what seemed to be Vectran lines mounted "bare" main Slinks . I would at least install reserve Slinks and a sacrificial binding tape protection around the lins, like Icarus canopies have in skydiving.