Rig Modifications

[Bluhdow 31]

I've seen this topic discussed quite a bit, but I have some questions on my specific scenario:

Jumping a Mirage G4 without dynamic corners and a normal bridle. Just picked up a Phantom 2.

1. Can I have a rigger remove some stitching to make the corners more WS friendly or does it have to go back to PF?

2. Is the P2 a big enough suit to warrant a 9 foot bridle? Or can I get away with my current bridle for now?

3. Which is the more important upgrade for me currently, considering the suit and container choices I've made?

I still freefly quite a bit, but my understanding is that neither of these "upgrades" will negatively impact normal openings.

Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks!

Apex BASE
#1816

[roostnureye 2]

You can easily un-stitch the corners, leave about 1/2" so you can reinforce it with a few stitches, So it does not keep coming unstitched further. I did mine myself at sunrise, really easy and free if you have access to a sewing machine.
The 9' bridle will only help, and they are only about $60, I jump an x3 and just got a custom bridle 10' from the pin, made a world of difference even when flying a small suit.

you seem like you think this will cost you allot of $$, it wont, take a weekend off and get your gear set up for what you are doing, also it will not affect regular skydives, just got off a freefly jump with my big bridle, no problems, other than its a bitch to cock the pilot chute!

Flock University FWC / ZFlock
B.A.S.E. 1580
Aussie BASE 121

[The111 0]

With any suit, and any rig, the longer bridle is the most important modification, and the only one needed.

Also, how much you need a longer bridle depends how long your current bridle is. If it's 6', you really need a longer one. If it's 7.5', then you have a "less urgent" need for a longer one. 9' is ideal though.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[Bluhdow 31]

Noted. I'm due for a repack in a couple weeks. I'll have the rigger take care of the bridle and corners.

I've got a 6 footer now, so I'll upgrade to 9 feet.

I don't think it will be terribly costly, just trying to get a sense of what modifications are urgent and which are optional.

Bridle is more urgent than I had thought.

Thanks guys!

Apex BASE
#1816

[fasted3 0]

Quote

With any suit, and any rig, the longer bridle is the most important modification, and the only one needed.

Also, how much you need a longer bridle depends how long your current bridle is. If it's 6', you really need a longer one. If it's 7.5', then you have a "less urgent" need for a longer one. 9' is ideal though.

Agreed on all points. The bigger the suit, the more critical is the longer bridle. I don't see any big downside to a 9 footer on any other jumps either.

But what do I know?

[lurch 0]

This. I used an 8.5 footer for most of my wingsuit career- it was adequate for small to medium suits but required careful technique with medium-large suits. After some experimenting I found it was right at the edge of workability... if I pitched in full flight at max-low-fallrate (mid-30's) in a heavily modded Birdman S-6 (basically a homemade Mach 1), it would happily tow the pilot chute to the ground if I didn't at some point fold my wings up, at which point the PC would quit bobbling around in my wake and launch. This made me religious about having a very solid, practiced shutdown sequence to make damn sure I got a clean launch every time. This also worked acceptably well with an S-Bird. When I finally got a Rebel, biggest possible suit, the 8.5 footer was NOT acceptable under any circumstances regardless of technique and the burble started causing radically off-center openings. My canopy started appearing over my right shoulder instead of overhead, which required some really neat "try to fly under where the canopy is headed" games with the suit during deployment. I switched to a 10-footer inside of 4 or 5 jumps as soon as the dynamic became apparent, problem vanished. The Rebel still needs a carefully managed wingfolding sequence to ensure a good launch even with a 10 foot bridle but at least it launches cleanly and reliably. Flew it for almost all of this season except the bigway in Perris and the occasional student, and had no problems whatsoever.

I'd recommend just going to a 10-footer if you're planning to eventually get into the huge suits because 9 will be barely adequate and maybe just plain NOT adequate if you do, depending on just HOW big of a megasuit you're flying. Given how radical my deployments got with a Rebel/8.5 footer combo, a 9-footer would have been only a partial solution and I'd have had to go get another even longer bridle anyway.
-B

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

[The111 0]

It's important we clarify our measurement standard. In my posts, I was referring to the measurement from PC to pin. Not sure if anyone else was referring to an alternate measurement standard (for example, PC to bag).

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[DSE 3]

As Matt mentioned; the longer bridle is important IF you're going to be jumping bigger suits. P2; you're fine at 6' for a while. How you fold/pack the PC plays a very large role in this conversation as well.
Modding the corners isn't a big deal. It has benefits (this from a guy with all 4 of 5 rigs having cut corners)

PC size is another consideration. What size is your PC? What can your BOC manage? Simply adding a bigger PC is not optimal; have filmed a couple hard pulls and know of a few related to larger PC/tight BOC.

Any mods/longer bridle shouldn't affect your normal jumps. All of my rigs have long bridles; all are used for video and AFF jumps as well as wingsuiting.

[kallend 1,621]

Quote

Any mods/longer bridle shouldn't affect your normal jumps. All of my rigs have long bridles; all are used for video and AFF jumps as well as wingsuiting.

I do as much RW as WS, and the long bridle and cut corners are not an issue.

I used a 6' bridle without any problems (Skyflier, Mach 1) right up until I got my S-Bird, when I got occasional delays of 2 - 3 seconds. Then went to 10'.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[phoenixlpr 0]

Quote

I've seen this topic discussed quite a bit, but I have some questions on my specific scenario:

Jumping a Mirage G4 without dynamic corners and a normal bridle. Just picked up a Phantom 2.

1. Can I have a rigger remove some stitching to make the corners more WS friendly or does it have to go back to PF?

2. Is the P2 a big enough suit to warrant a 9 foot bridle? Or can I get away with my current bridle for now?

3. Which is the more important upgrade for me currently, considering the suit and container choices I've made?

I still freefly quite a bit, but my understanding is that neither of these "upgrades" will negatively impact normal openings.

Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks!

How is your canopy fit? Loose or snag? You might have better openings with a loose fit or open corners.

I'm jumping with TS X-Bird without extra long bridle.

I was jumping Phantom with short, normal and extra long bridle. It was no difference for me.

[Bluhdow 31]

Canopy fits snug in my container and the WS mod is cheap, so that's a quick and easy fix. I think the open corners will make a noticable difference.

I'll switch to a 9 foot bridle asap, might as well since I have a repack coming up soon.

Not sure on my PC size...I can take a look at it tonight though and see. It's on the smaller side (vs. other PCs I've seen at the DZ) and it's a ZP. Fits pretty snug into my BOC as is already...

Apex BASE
#1816

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

It costs zero dollars to cut the corners on that rig if you do it yourself. A rigger ought to do it for $20 or he's taking you for a ride. Like John K. said: having dynamic corners and a longer bridle does not affect your "normal" skydives in any manner. Both of my rigs are set up exactly the same (AFF/Swoop and Wingsuit) with dynamic corners and nine-foot bridles. PC size has never been a consideration to me in over 2700 wingsuit flights.

[BenediktDE 2]

I use a Vector3 without any modifications and flew the following suits:

Phantom1
Ghost 1
Ghost 2
Ghost 3
Stealth 1
Stealth 2

Typically i do not pull from full flight but close all wings and arch hard for 2 seconds before pulling.
When pulling in full flight I did have a slight PC hesitation occasionally. So I would either switch to a longer bridle or slightly bigger PC when pulling in full flight regularly. If you arch hard before pulling I do not see the need for any modifications.

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.

[phoenixlpr 0]

How is your canopy fit? Loose or snug fit?

[DSE 3]

Quote

It costs zero dollars to cut the corners on that rig if you do it yourself. A rigger ought to do it for $20 or he's taking you for a ride. Like John K. said: having dynamic corners and a longer bridle does not affect your "normal" skydives in any manner. Both of my rigs are set up exactly the same (AFF/Swoop and Wingsuit) with dynamic corners and nine-foot bridles. PC size has never been a consideration to me in over 2700 wingsuit flights.

You likely got the PC size right the first time....OTOH, we've had guys show up here with 24" PC's on 5' bridles. And at least two where they've got 32" PC's on 12' bridles (measured from pin) Neither end of the scale is optimal for WS.