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BASE Technical

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Pin Tension
Is there such thing as too much pin tension?

I always thought high pin tension was a bad thing, but lately I've felt some pins that were very very tight and they seem to pull out just the same as my low pin tension rig. No PC hesitation, no difference in openings or anything like that.

The jumps were 330ft hand held with a 46" vented PC. When I PCA them I don't feel any difference in resistance either? is it doing any damage that I am not aware of?
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Re: [dan_inagap] Pin Tension
I've heard reports about high pin tension causing off-heading openings slider down/off - I can only presume as a result of the additional delay required to generate the higher force for extraction, the bridle/PC would be blown to a greater angle from the vertical in the event of a crosswind, raising the propensity to open into wind and/or the level of off-heading. Although theoretically it would be possible to have a PC in tow (put together the effects of a burble, small PC for delay etc etc) I expect this to be unlikely, or at least only result in a hesitation.

As a guide, if you pull the bridle just after packing and securing the container with the pin(s), the container shouldn't move in the slightest - the pin(s) should be extracted cleanly.
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Re: [Pendragon] I agree
You should NOT be able to pull the bridle
& make the container slide on the ground.
Saw this once w/ an inproperly closed SKY rig.

Also note, pin tension usually is more after you
have donned the rig and snugged the 3 straps.
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Re: [dan_inagap] Pin Tension
My pins have always been tight. Scared a few people who have given me a pin check for the first time, but never had any issues. Although as greeny says you should not be able to lift the rig off the floor without the pins coming out, and the tension is always higher after you have put the rig on and tightened everything down.
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Re: [Lonnie] Pin Tension
maybe fear of pin tension is just legacy of ye old straight pin days, and is not really an issue with curved pins (without being ridiculous obviously)
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Re: [base695] Pin Tension
My thoughts exactly. I've been asked to "prime" a curved pin a couple of times.... Who knows why Crazy
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Whatever Feels Good
I've been asked to "prime" a curved pin...

So, mental masturbation is part of the game!

Abbie had me prime his velcro at the Perrine Wink
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Re: [dan_inagap] Pin Tension
If you use draw cord(3 ring loop is made of), I would tend to go a little looser, but if you use Spectra Line (microline) you can go a bit tighter, as it has less pull force than Draw Cord, Cyprus Loop being the least pull force. A rigger friend of mine did a test between velcro rig, 2-pin using, cyprus loop, spectra line, draw cord using a fish scale. I went to spectra shortly after. His nick name is Stretch, and he has been a basejumper for about 20+ years.