Tightening rubber bands?

[FrogNog 1]

OK, I admit that this post is about what may seem like minutiae. And it is probably in the 80th percentile of stupidest gear posts. Let's move on.

I've packed some rigs with thin lines (not sure what type, but they didn't look like dacron) and I have rubber band troubles: not all the bights, especially the ones below the cascades, will fill the rubber bands tightly.

It seems that new large bands grip right but with just a jump or two they're stretched a bit and no longer grip. Below the cascades sometimes they don't grip when I double-wrap them. At the grommets (which is above the cascades) sometimes they don't grip on a single-wrap, and I have been told not to double-wrap grommet stows unless I want to practice my EPs for real.

I've read that one can tighten rubber bands, and seen a link to a PDF on PD's website or something. I'm too lazy to go there with a PDF-viewy 'puter and I didn't find this info spilled into this forum already, so my big question is: How do you tighten a rubber band?

I think I packed a slammer on a Cobalt because NONE of the stows was tight enough. I don't want to do that again.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[Hooknswoop 19]

Another option is the smaller size rubber bands.

Derek

[CrazyIvan 0]

PD recommends the SMALL rubber bands for Micro Line.

__________________________________________
Blue Skies and May the Force be with you.

[D22369 0]

put the band on like normal, IE. one side in under the other which gives you the loop for the lines, then put it back under the tab on the bag and back through the loop you just formed..... this will give you a very small band, it also works for tube stowes.

roy

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[riggerrob 558]

Small rubber bands are the best, however I have double-wrapped thousands of large rubber bands with nary a malfunction.

[Hantzt 0]

Hi !

I´ve got the smaller Tubes for microlines, but I had the problem with the "spectra 500lbs" lines of my DEMON too. Just wrap the tubes or rubbers two times around the loop of the bag.

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[ZigZag 0]

Get Dan Poynters Parachute Manual, Para-gears' annual catalogue, and you should be on your way in
learning about the common materials used on skydiving equipment. Read as much as you can.
You sound like rigger material. Hopefully the jumpers you pack for will forgive the occasional "hard opening".

[Martini 0]

Eugene, you might keep in mind that the only stows that really need to be tight are the locking stows. (the first 2 grommet stows that keep the d-bag closed and the canopy inside) The rest of the stows are a convenient way of organizing the lines. The BIG thing that counts is that the bag stays closed until the lines are straight between the risers and the canopy before the canopy starts to inflate (i.e. no slack). The "organizing" stows need to be symmetrical in size and tension toprevent the bag from spinning. If there wasn't a high risk of the lines tangling they could be free-stowed in the container under the. locked bag.

Sometimes you eat the bear..............

[FrogNog 1]

Quote

Eugene, you might keep in mind that the only stows that really need to be tight are the locking stows. (the first 2 grommet stows that keep the d-bag closed and the canopy inside) The rest of the stows are a convenient way of organizing the lines. The BIG thing that counts is that the bag stays closed until the lines are straight between the risers and the canopy before the canopy starts to inflate (i.e. no slack). ...

Yeah, this is why I haven't packed a slammer before that one - I usually find the first two locking stows are tight enough because that's where there's guaranteed to be the highest number of individual lines, and that's where the bag tends to bulge the most. On the one that opened hard, the lines were just too small, the rubber bands too large, and the bag wasn't bulging. So the locking stows (like all the others) were pitifully loose.

While we're on the subject, is this a good understanding:
If the canopy gets out of the bag prematurely, i.e. while the lines are not yet straightened and beginning to really load up, a hard opening is possible because the canopy can spread "ahead of" the slider's influence by pulling un-stretched line on the riser side of the slider through the grommets without any resistance? This results in the canopy opening too far while the airspeed is too high and the user gets .

The bit about the canopy slipping lines through the slider grommet prematurely is the critical bit, because I guarantee I had the slider open and against the stops when I packed that one.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[FrogNog 1]

Quote

Hi !

I´ve got the smaller Tubes for microlines, but I had the problem with the "spectra 500lbs" lines of my DEMON too. Just wrap the tubes or rubbers two times around the loop of the bag.

OK, this is the post that finally made the band-tightening thing "click" for me. I was at a loss for how I would do a second lark's-head knot (I think that's what the rubber band knots are) when I put the band on the bag. Hantzt's phrasing ("wrap the tubes or rubberts two times around the loop") made me visualize, duh, wrapping the band an extra 360 before it passes under itself for the lark's head. "Double lark's head", not "one lark's head and then another."

I probably would have figured this out a lot sooner if I didn't schmoke so much crack.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[FrogNog 1]

Quote

Get Dan Poynters Parachute Manual, Para-gears' annual catalogue, and you should be on your way in
learning about the common materials used on skydiving equipment. Read as much as you can.
You sound like rigger material. Hopefully the jumpers you pack for will forgive the occasional "hard opening".

I have Parachute Manual Vol 1 and I've read Vol 2 (gotta get a copy of it). I'll check into that catalog(ue).

I'm not a packer. I just pack recreationally, if you know what I mean.

Good news is it wasn't the rig owner who got slammed. Bad news is it was the DZO.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[Hantzt 0]

Quote

Quote

Hi !

I´ve got the smaller Tubes for microlines, but I had the problem with the "spectra 500lbs" lines of my DEMON too. Just wrap the tubes or rubbers two times around the loop of the bag.

OK, this is the post that finally made the band-tightening thing "click" for me. I was at a loss for how I would do a second lark's-head knot (I think that's what the rubber band knots are) when I put the band on the bag. Hantzt's phrasing ("wrap the tubes or rubberts two times around the loop") made me visualize, duh, wrapping the band an extra 360 before it passes under itself for the lark's head. "Double lark's head", not "one lark's head and then another."

I probably would have figured this out a lot sooner if I didn't schmoke so much crack.

Glad that you understood my discription! Sorry for my bad English.
Hope it works.

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