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Encountered a group of jumpers recently who have been taught to use an elastic band for each SD jump, letting the elastic fly away from the tail gate (rather than larks heading to re-use).

Instructor who was teaching this method is experienced so thought some discussion useful..

I wonder how many rubber bands you should bring in your van during a base trip... :-)
From a technical point of view, which would be the benefit of that practice? Using larks could entangle something around?
My FJC Instructor never told me...

I use this method and teach it to people who I´ve been instructing in BASE. I also try to tell them the larkshead -method and let them choose themselves which one they want to use. The reasoning for me behind using the "lose rubberband in every jump" method is simply the fact that I do not think it is necessary to take the risk of anything snagging on the larkshead and creating a slight TG hangup. I do agree that the snagpoint -scenario is extremely rare and most likely in this extremely rare scenario the rubberband will brake but on the other side of things, a 1/4 pound bag of short rubber bands costs $3.50 in Paragear and you probably have enough TG rubberbands for your first 500 SD jumps on it so the cost of losing the elastic on every jump is quite well acceptable from my point of view. And I do not see any other downsides on the "no larkshead" -method besides losing the rubberband in every jump.

I do want to underline that I have no issues with jumping with the larkshead -method and do not see it as a huge safety concern. My personal choice has just been not to use it for the reasons mentioned above and to be honest, laziness to change the system that has been working for me perfectly for the last 10 years. :) (I have 600+ SD deployments so far but bought a 1lbs bag of rubberbands some years ago so I´m still only quarter of a way or something through my stash) :D

I have always larks headed the band but I also know a lot of guys that don't. So I think that not larks heading the band is a lot more common than you would expect. Either way I think the differences are extremely minimal.

I have had a few jumps where the entire tail gate goes missing on opening. I have always attributed it to some form of hang up that pulls the tail gate out of the finger trap in order to clear the hang up.

Losing the rubber band in every jump means more littering and less leaving things how they were when you found them. In busy spots this could mean thousands of rubber bands laying around and these things take a long time to desintegrate. Go for larks head

Depending on the type of rubber band you are using, there is the possibility of more than a "slight" TD hanger.

My first base jump:
Direct bag, tailgate, black rubber band with larks head resulted in a tailgate hanger. I had to clear it by pumping the control lines.
Took some time to clear, I hadn't heard of such a malfunction before, was scared to death.

Problem was mainly the black rubber band, made worse by the larks head, the high altitude and the direct bag deployment.

I use a larks head but only with large normal (brown) rubber bands, cut in half.

I do not larkshead, and advise my students not to do so. I discuss this every time I teach packing (and, as always, students make their own decisions on what techniques they will use).

My reasons (in order) are:

1) The tailgate system is a critical component of the pack job. The rubber band is the functional component of the tailgate system. I want a brand new, fresh rubber band on every jump to reduce the chance of a premature breakage. I have many jumps on video showing premature tailgate release, and I know it happens _far_ more often than most jumpers realize.

2) Reduce the chance of hangup (if the wraps are made inboard of the larks head). This is easy to avoid if you simply place the wraps outboard of the knot.


Tailgate bands cost $7/pound (which is more bands than the average jumper will ever use), precut to the correct width. I think the cost of the bands is a non-issue. I recently ordered 30 pounds from the manufacturer, so if anyone is worried about cost, feel free to hit me up and I'll give you as many as you want.

The number of bands you will need in your van for a BASE trip is certainly less than 1 pound, and will probably occupy less space (and weigh less) than a single granola bar. I think the space and weight are a non-issue.

The only argument for larks heading I've heard that is reasonably compelling is the "don't litter" argument. Personally, I just try to pick up a piece of trash on each hike out, to maintain my karmic balance with the earth, but everyone will make their own decisions on that. I have also hiked up to the bottom of several cliff exit points and cleared out old rubber bands, taking down many times more than the jumps I'd done off those cliffs.

I have seen on a few occasions where the jumper uses 2 rubberbands on the tailgate. One to lock the tailgate to the line, and one larksheaded on the tailgate itself. I'd like to hear opinions on this setup as well.

I do that sometimes and dont see any downside

best of both worlds : minimal littering - maximal safety


you can choose the type of the small rubberband - or just use 2x the classic half-cut TG band

even with the pictured fragile solution it's very rare to loose the rubberband

I don't like to larks head the main rubberband because depending how much you tighten the larkshead, the size of the remaining part of the rubberband varies a lot. Hence when you say "2wraps" it gives various results in terms of TG opening force - depending on how the people do it. I've also seen people wrapping the free side only - or both.

With this 2rubberbands method - or the classic one (where you loose the rubberband) - when you say "do 3wraps" you get an idiotproof and very reproducible result.

With a properly installed tailgate, I don't think the one around the line is necessary.

Tailgates cost what? 50 cents worth of materials and less than a minute of time? I honestly don't think losing one is an issue at all.

Do you tend to re-use the rubber band?

The re-use of rubber bands (which get progressively weaker over time) is my major objection to tying them on. The tailgate is arguably the biggest safety advance in the modern era of BASE. I don't want mine to be less effective because I've become stingy with rubber bands.

yes, I just change it when it shows signs of damage - i can easily do 20 jumps with the same rubberband while keeping it in good shape.

I've kept some until failure - it naturally breaks after a while (maybe 50 jumps or so) but it always shows many little broken parts on the sides of the band for the last half of its lifespan.

To play the devils advocate i would argue that a poorly cut rubberband will be weaker also - no matter what you do an adequate judgement will always be necessary..

For me not loosing it is more a matter of avoiding to litter excessively when it can be avoided - on a urban jump i don't really care, in the mountains it hurts me to leave shit behind.

I won't use a poorly cut rubber band either. I tend to inspect the band before putting it on.

Still, since you can buy them pre-cut from the manufacturer for $7/pound, it makes little sense to cut them yourself, and the cut quality from the manufacturer is pretty good.

I always just wrap to ensure the rubber band falls off. I dont larks head. I dont believe its a poor method, but there have been instances where the tailgate has hung up due to that. If you grab a piece of trash on the way out of wherever you are jumping, that should make up for the rubber band. Leave one, take one. Its all good. This way you dont do any damage to the site, and you ensure you dont get a hang up.

I hate littering like nothing else. Seriously I have fits about this... But in this case I think it's not really littering if you leave a tailgate rubber band behind, since it's a natural product and will rot away in a matter of a year or two.

I never larks head mine, I don't see a real benefit in doing so, a bit of the opposite (possible hang-ups and such).

Googled: 75% of the world’s rubber products are synthetic, made from crude oil. However, most rubber bands are still made from organic rubber because it is more elastic. Rubber bands are made from a renewable source - the sap of the rubber tree. They are not recyclable, but they are biodegradable and rot away naturally. (Anything you wanted to know about rubber bands you can find here:

http://www.madehow.com/...1/Rubber-Band.html#b

Kerkko
BASE1184

Tom, do you have a link for this manufacturer? I have always just bought "normal" small elastics via paragear for $15 a pound and cut them myself. I want in on this $7/lb deal.

Keener Rubber Company.

Their contact info is also on the side of that blue and orange box you see at every DZ.

You have to call them to order because they're pretty old fashioned, but they know exactly what size a tailgate rubber band is supposed to be.

I ordered 30 pounds of tailgate bands last week, so if you want to buy some of mine when they arrive you can just come by and get some.

Interesting discussion.
In my last 18 Perrine jumps, lost two tailgates due I believe to using a Larkshead on the main elastic. I figured the lines were snagging the larkshead secured elastic and pulling tailgate out.

For this reason I started using a second tailgate elastic (regular elastic cut in half) to secure the tailgate in place.

Had no problems with this so far but I've only a low level experience.
This discussion has me starting to think that I'd rather lose an elastic, and/or tailgate rather than have the lines snag enough to delay or worse, prevent canopy opening.

I was taught to not larks head by my asylum manual for my black jack.
Never have larksheaded myself but i know a few people that did but got tired of losing tailgaits now they all use painters tape.
I am still using the same tailgate my rig came with 100 jumps latter. Sometimes my rubber band sticks around for five or more jumps before it disappears, most times they fly off into space. Im still using the same bag of bands i ordered with my rig.

I quit using tailgates seven years ago. I used to larkshead the rubber band around the tailgate. I also used to sew my tailgate in place with a couple of stitches of cotton thread. Now I just use tape. Slider up or slider down. Always. Using tape is like using a new rubber band every time.

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Same here for always having all my Tailgates Tack-stitched permanently with #69 to all Canopy inboard-lines from day one .
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