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This question I thought of while reading the SL thread currently being discussed. How often are the anchors/cord that you SL with permanent? I mean, you jump, you leave a peice of hardware up there, do you normally go back up and get it? Or do you leave it for next jump? I guess this sorta depends on the location/sensitivity of the site, but would you say its normal to retrieve any hardware left from a SL jump after the jump is complete? Thanks!

EXACTLY, it does depend on the site, but the less 'evidence' you leave behind the better.

Normally, yes. I'd say that a "normal" SL is removed after the jump.

Hi Andy --

Generally, it's good form to retrieve your static-line attachment point after a jump, so there is no evidence left behind.

I don't like to tie the static-line directly to railings, etc. due to the sharp edges -- they may cause a premature breakage of the static-line. So most of the time, I use a climbing sling. If you have the luxury of time at your particular exit point, you can take the sling and wrap it around the railing so that both ends meet on one side, but are not wrapped around each other. (kind of makes a U shape) You can then tie your break-cord through your attachment point on your deployment system and through both ends of the sling. Then when you jump and the break-cord snaps, there is nothing left securing the sling to the railing anymore, and 99% of the time, it will fall off. (if the force of the break-cord snapping doesn't do it, eventual winds will likely blow it off)

And to take it even one step further, you can even use cord to tie off a loop -- just make sure the material you use is plenty strong and the knot you use is very secure. It's usually cheaper than climbing slings and even less likely to draw attention if found at the bottom of an object.

I'm sure there are other slick ideas out there, but that's one way to tie in without leaving the evidence hanging behind.

C-ya,

Bryan

Personally, I'm a fan of making your buddy drive back across the busy highway bridge, so that you can hop out and get the sling back...

let's say the sl is a loop of break cord larksheaded around a horizontal member.
If you were to take another piece of break cord that was say 2 or 3 times as long as the larkshead, and tie one end off to the bridle below the rapide link, and the other end of it to the top of the larkshead knot, then in theory the s/l loop would break as normal, and then when the other piece came under tension, it would pull the larkshead knot clean off the object. Since this piece is also break cord, if for any reason the larkshead decides to stay attached to the object, the second piece of 80lb (or maybe even less) break cord will perform as designed and break.

I'm not making sense, am I?

No you are not ... I understand perfectly.

But in the case you want to jump an B or similar,were you can´t just go back,and you dont want to burn the object for this jump,in case it could be jumped more..

Hey Blair,
I guess you better get hiking back up the hill because I know for a fact that there is a little piece of white nylon hanging from the hand rail of the "span" we jumped last sunday and I'll bet it has your DNA and a lot of sweat all over it

BASE 516

Personally, I'm a fan of making your buddy drive back across the busy highway bridge, so that you can hop out and get the sling back...
Ha ha...what's funny is the fact that I just had a dream about that excursion in a foreign land...what a fun trip in many, many ways...

C-ya!

Bryan