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Hello so Ive tried out many different tailgate variations. Never had a problem. But I dont know about this one. Had some exciting 180ies from a low slider down object.. Which might have been unrelated though. Thoughts? Darvin Award?

I dont like it

I'm not sure if you are serious or not with this post but this I would say is a safety of flight issue.

Yea dont get your panties all up in a bunch. It releases on the ground pretty easily when i pull the lines apart. But I guess it might fuck with the staging of the opening just enough to matter. Made for some interesting jumps.

No thanks.

What is your theory?
Is this the best possible theory you can come up with?

Seriously?

Well my assumption is that since the used tailgate is an elastic rubber, it will expand substantially before it releases. This migh not be benefitial to symmetry and thus might give the expanding canopy a chance to turn while its tail is still tied tigether.. Like a fraction of a second. Also the friction between the rubber tailgate and the small rubber that ties it together is higher than normal. That said it releases very easily on the ground.. The small rubber just rolls off. Has anyone ever seen anything like this??

I have personally only ever used:
Rubber bands and Painters Tape.

I know a few guys who could use
zip ties to leave us all better off

You mean rubber bands like the way i did it in the picture?

Have you looked at high speed video of the openings? It seems silly to experiment with tailgate design and not watch video of the openings.

I used to use two wraps (conventional fingertrapped dacron and rubber band) but then switched to 3 and there was a very noticeable difference in the openings (on video). With 3 wraps I could clearly see the pretty nose-first / U shaped canopy inflation/expansion.

Also...why experiment with the tailgate? Watching high speed video of openings, my tailgate seems to so its job flawlessly without any drawbacks.

Yea well I sometimes have the tendency to think about shit after the fact just to end up with the conclusion that Im a fucking silly person.

In this case I just didnt have acess to tailgate material and thought it was a smart idea to use a normal packing rubber instead. I would probably have been better off nit using a tailgate at all.

 

It probably looks weird but im not using any knots at all just an extra small cut in half rubberband wrapped three times around the rubber tailgate just like with a normal tailgate. But as I said the 180 ies might have been unrelated. Ive kinda got used to packing a little sloppy from all the slider up jumping and im going back to the cleanest packjob possible for the slider down shit.. So far it has helped.

why not just use a tailgate? just curious, theyve been tried and true!

I normally do.. But I ran out of tailgates and tailgatematerial.. Should i have used a shoelace maybe?

I've used a tailgate rubber band tied around all the tail gait lines with a square knot several times when I had no tail gate. It broke with no noticeable difference in the opening.

Haha dude... Dude... Just don't pack like you will be tracking across the valley and your slider down openings will be better... Remember a long time ago when you used to make the same number of folds on both sides? ;-P


PS: im just about to close my winter 2011 pack job. Another coffee and I should be ready to hike... ;-)

Honestly, I don't see a problem with that set up. I don't think it needs to be wrapped super tight like when I put on a Magnum condom but then again you don't want the hole thing sliding down toward the risers either.

Would I jump that shit? No.

Is it affecting your heading on opening? I doubt it.

(In the words of a wise old BASE friend of mine) "You can't pack body position"?

I quit using tailgates and rubber bands 8 years ago. Nothing but tape now.

For some reason every time i flat pack i have a 90 left. Started pro packing and have no problems at all.

Check your brake lines, if they're good, stop flailing! ;)
~981

So the way you do it is to actually use a thin sliced in half tailgate rubber
and tie it with an actual knot around the lines so the rubber or the knot has to break in order for the tailgate to release?? It makes total sense to me I just wanna make sure I get it right.

not saying it's for everyone, like every decision in BASE... but i haven't used a tailgate in the last 100+ slider off jumps. that's not a lot of evidence, but of the testing i've done with the way i pack, they're simply not necessary.

I stopped using tailgates on slider-off also. I use them on unpacked jumps since i noticed a little line burnage, but i think that was from putting my feet in my lines, losing a shoe, and blowing both toggles on an unpacked triple. Was perfect on heading still though :)

Muhahahaha :D Also I wonder: Everybody seems to agree that offheadings are mostly caused by bad body position like dipping a shoulder or so. But its also very much the packing that can affect the heading it seems to me.. otherwise maybe also turbulence behind the object or an oscillating pilot chute. When I had the 180s It reaally didnt feel like I was having a bad body position. It felt like it came out of nowhere.
I did a standard pro pack over the shoulders then laid the canopy down and made sure all the lines are centered and without slack. The I did a tilly fold / bury the tail .. which is just basically one fold on each side. Does anybody think this packign method might not be the best for some canopies? In this case a blackjack. I went back to the original packing method and had a lot better openings and definitely more crisp in a way..

I usually pack the exact same way as you, but I jump a troll. I usually have really nice on heading openings, my most common occurrence is a 20deg left, but I think that has more to do with pushing off like im trying to jump to the moon.

pic posted is my go to tailgate. i have only double stowed. tape gate is my next choice with 4 wraps sticky side out 1 wrap sticky side in (5 wraps breaks easier than the double stowed rubber.) i don't use the dacron tail gate because i can put the rubber band/tape all the way up to the attachment point of the lines. the dacron, that goes thru an inside line, doesn't (without excessive fine tuning.)

Im crying

http://media.photobucket.com/...&sort=1&o=87
I remember the last time I double stowed a rubber?!