RossDagley 0 #1 August 31, 2005 Is there a reason the bridle is a certain length? I can understand why you'd not want it shorter (higher risk of pilot chute in burble) but why is it not longer? I was just thinking about snatch forces etc in relation to pilot chutes in tow, and was wondering if a longer bridle would allow for a greater snatch force, possibly with the outcome of pulling an otherwise hard pin. Just thinking out loud really, but hoping for some input from the usual sages here Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites pbla4024 0 #2 August 31, 2005 Check wingsuit forum and basejumping forum. Bridle length is common topic there. Fido Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites piisfish 135 #3 August 31, 2005 some people need a longer bridle (eg. wingsuit) to help the PC clear the burble more easily. a longer bridle can have downsides too... "More risks" of having the bridle entangling anything in case of a lazy throw.... I Have a LONG bridle and a big PC on my Talon for Wingsuiting and I love it. I have a shorter bridle and a small PC on my Atom and it gives me surprises sometimes. Guess I must throw the PC more dinamically... scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Tonto 1 #4 August 31, 2005 Too short is bad. Too long CAN be bad. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites RossDagley 0 #5 August 31, 2005 lol. Id kinda figured that Tonto I'm just thinking if the standard length is what? 9ft? and wingsuit jumpers prefer something longer (picking a figure out of the air, 11ft) why not make them all longer? DOES it inprove snatch force and potentially reduce the chance of a P/C in tow or have I gone barking mad? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites nicknitro71 0 #6 August 31, 2005 Standard is 7. Given that the avarage human body produces 5' burble, 7' is the bare minumun. For normal BASE and skydiving WS 9' is the standard. For WS BASE some go up to 11-12. I like 9' for all my jumps.Memento Audere Semper 903 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Tonto 1 #7 August 31, 2005 Sorry... I think many people do fine with bridles as short as 75 inches. Back in the days of "everyload" CRW, where after cranking points and opening at 2000ft a team would bang together a 4 plane, break to two 2 planes and either land them or whip them into downplanes and take them to sub 100 ft, we were using bridles as short as 40 inches, but pilot chutes were F-111 and huge, and we threw those things "like our lives depended on it." I think there is little to be gained - even when flying a wingsuit - in going beyond 110 inches. At that point more effort should go into pilot chute design and limiting the weight on the apex of the PC. I know nothing of BASE or WS BASE. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites SkymonkeyONE 3 #8 August 31, 2005 Tonto is right. I very-clearly remember sitting in the loft drinking at the GB club on fort Bragg making bridles short enough that the PC just hung at the tail of the canopy after opening. This, so we wouldn't get them tangled with each other when we banged together our post-RW CRW formations. We all got away with that for many years prior to the invention of "real" CRW canopies with retractable bridles. These days I jump nine-footers on both of my rigs (even my swoop/AFF/video rig) as you never know when you are going to want to back-to-back with wingsuits. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites RossDagley 0 #9 August 31, 2005 Thanks for the replies. If the standard is 7, is the only reason its not longer (say 9 as standard) because of the (slight?) additional risk of entanglement or is there nothing in it? My thinking is (still!) would we (read "I") not benefit from a longer bridle as standard, and does anyone know about the snatch forces I was thinking about? All I can compare that to is a car being towed with a rope when the towing vehicle pulls away suddenly - the rope snaps because of the increased snatch force. (Obviously we dont want the bridle to snap, but hopefully you see my thinking about the additional force generated to pull an unwilling pin). Thanks again guys for the input so far. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites gus 1 #10 August 31, 2005 I see what you're saying about snatch force but if that's the determining factor over whether your pin pops or not then either (1) you have a severely lame pilot chute producing insufficient drag or (2) you have astronomically high pin tension. Generally, if you can close the container then a properly functioning pilot chute will open it easily. GusOutpatientsOnline.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites bob.dino 0 #11 September 1, 2005 Some related thoughts from Bill Booth. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites RossDagley 0 #12 September 1, 2005 I guess thats an example of the possible downside - the increased risk of bridle knotting. Bill states he spent some time deciding the optimum length for the bridle - I'd be interested to learn how he came to the decision he did. Bill? If you're out there Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites SpringVark 0 #13 August 14, 2007 QuoteStandard is 7. Given that the avarage human body produces 5' burble, 7' is the bare minumun. For normal BASE and skydiving WS 9' is the standard. For WS BASE some go up to 11-12. I like 9' for all my jumps. Is the length you're talking about here the total bridle length, or the length from pin to pilot chute? I'm guessing there's at least a foot of bridle from your canopy to the pin attachment, meaning that a 7 inch bridle (total length) would only give an effective burble clearance of a foot, given your average burble size of 5 feet. I ask because I was jumping a friend's gear this weekend, and noticed that the bridle was shorter than I'm used to. On my last jump, I was reaching for my handles while a PC flapped next to my head for an uncomfortable amount of time. Luckily the rest of the deployment sequence kicked in before I actually had to chop. It was not a lazy throw on my part, either. I'm thinking of getting my buddy a new bridle... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. 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pbla4024 0 #2 August 31, 2005 Check wingsuit forum and basejumping forum. Bridle length is common topic there. Fido Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 135 #3 August 31, 2005 some people need a longer bridle (eg. wingsuit) to help the PC clear the burble more easily. a longer bridle can have downsides too... "More risks" of having the bridle entangling anything in case of a lazy throw.... I Have a LONG bridle and a big PC on my Talon for Wingsuiting and I love it. I have a shorter bridle and a small PC on my Atom and it gives me surprises sometimes. Guess I must throw the PC more dinamically... scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #4 August 31, 2005 Too short is bad. Too long CAN be bad. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RossDagley 0 #5 August 31, 2005 lol. Id kinda figured that Tonto I'm just thinking if the standard length is what? 9ft? and wingsuit jumpers prefer something longer (picking a figure out of the air, 11ft) why not make them all longer? DOES it inprove snatch force and potentially reduce the chance of a P/C in tow or have I gone barking mad? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nicknitro71 0 #6 August 31, 2005 Standard is 7. Given that the avarage human body produces 5' burble, 7' is the bare minumun. For normal BASE and skydiving WS 9' is the standard. For WS BASE some go up to 11-12. I like 9' for all my jumps.Memento Audere Semper 903 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #7 August 31, 2005 Sorry... I think many people do fine with bridles as short as 75 inches. Back in the days of "everyload" CRW, where after cranking points and opening at 2000ft a team would bang together a 4 plane, break to two 2 planes and either land them or whip them into downplanes and take them to sub 100 ft, we were using bridles as short as 40 inches, but pilot chutes were F-111 and huge, and we threw those things "like our lives depended on it." I think there is little to be gained - even when flying a wingsuit - in going beyond 110 inches. At that point more effort should go into pilot chute design and limiting the weight on the apex of the PC. I know nothing of BASE or WS BASE. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 3 #8 August 31, 2005 Tonto is right. I very-clearly remember sitting in the loft drinking at the GB club on fort Bragg making bridles short enough that the PC just hung at the tail of the canopy after opening. This, so we wouldn't get them tangled with each other when we banged together our post-RW CRW formations. We all got away with that for many years prior to the invention of "real" CRW canopies with retractable bridles. These days I jump nine-footers on both of my rigs (even my swoop/AFF/video rig) as you never know when you are going to want to back-to-back with wingsuits. Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RossDagley 0 #9 August 31, 2005 Thanks for the replies. If the standard is 7, is the only reason its not longer (say 9 as standard) because of the (slight?) additional risk of entanglement or is there nothing in it? My thinking is (still!) would we (read "I") not benefit from a longer bridle as standard, and does anyone know about the snatch forces I was thinking about? All I can compare that to is a car being towed with a rope when the towing vehicle pulls away suddenly - the rope snaps because of the increased snatch force. (Obviously we dont want the bridle to snap, but hopefully you see my thinking about the additional force generated to pull an unwilling pin). Thanks again guys for the input so far. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gus 1 #10 August 31, 2005 I see what you're saying about snatch force but if that's the determining factor over whether your pin pops or not then either (1) you have a severely lame pilot chute producing insufficient drag or (2) you have astronomically high pin tension. Generally, if you can close the container then a properly functioning pilot chute will open it easily. GusOutpatientsOnline.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bob.dino 0 #11 September 1, 2005 Some related thoughts from Bill Booth. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RossDagley 0 #12 September 1, 2005 I guess thats an example of the possible downside - the increased risk of bridle knotting. Bill states he spent some time deciding the optimum length for the bridle - I'd be interested to learn how he came to the decision he did. Bill? If you're out there Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpringVark 0 #13 August 14, 2007 QuoteStandard is 7. Given that the avarage human body produces 5' burble, 7' is the bare minumun. For normal BASE and skydiving WS 9' is the standard. For WS BASE some go up to 11-12. I like 9' for all my jumps. Is the length you're talking about here the total bridle length, or the length from pin to pilot chute? I'm guessing there's at least a foot of bridle from your canopy to the pin attachment, meaning that a 7 inch bridle (total length) would only give an effective burble clearance of a foot, given your average burble size of 5 feet. I ask because I was jumping a friend's gear this weekend, and noticed that the bridle was shorter than I'm used to. On my last jump, I was reaching for my handles while a PC flapped next to my head for an uncomfortable amount of time. Luckily the rest of the deployment sequence kicked in before I actually had to chop. It was not a lazy throw on my part, either. I'm thinking of getting my buddy a new bridle... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
