Packed my first racer....

[jumper03 0]

I MUST be missing some tricks....



if not - I'm charging double to pack those damn things!

Scars remind us that the past is real

[Miami 0]

Where did you run into problems?

Miami

[riggingplace 0]

Racers are very easy to pack.let me know what problems you are having and I'll see if I can help you.

Mike Gainey
Master Rigger
DPRE

[jumper03 0]

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Where did you run into problems?

reading the manual...

put the hemostat in the wrong grommet because I did it like the pic but when it came time to run the bodkin through - that couldn't be right...unbag it and do over.

flipping the damn over...and loosing the pilot chute

The biggest thing - getting the top pin in! It was way too close to the hard housing and it took a little wrangling (and two ppl) to get it in.

I will say the canopy went in the bag very easy.

Scars remind us that the past is real

[packing_jarrett 0]

yeah I packed my first one a month or too ago. The only beef I have with them is if they have a cypress then you have to use the soft bodkins with the pull up cord trick. I ended up getting the pullup cord around the wrong side of the cutter and had to do the whole thing over aaaarg. but when I did a 2K3 without a cypress the closing part was a breeze. I don't know if I like packing it in a speed bag. I couldn't imagine packing a power racer with a speed bag.

Na' Cho' Cheese

[skybeergodd 0]

Invest in a pair of removeable handle bodkins....Sunshine Factory used to sell them. They make packing Racers a breeze.

[riggingplace 0]

pm sent

Mike Gainey
Master Rigger
DPRE

[johnny1488 1]

I might as well jump in here to. I had problems figuring a way to keep the bodkins through the bag and getting the bag on the bodkins I had up through the back pad. I had the second set of pullup cords routed around the bodkin and got that ok, but just dont think I had the bulk right. I put about twice as much in the ears as I would in any other rig. It seemed like a really ridiculous way of putting a rig together to me.

But then again this is only about packing them. I don't have to like it.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[LouDiamond 1]

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I MUST be missing some tricks....

Check out these pictures to see how to do it the easy way.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[koppel 3]

Your not missing anything, It's a Racer

I found after the twenty'ith or thirty'ith it got a lot easier

Keep it up and just remember to go slowly until you get a rythym then its a breeze.

Congrats anyhow

I like my canopy...


...it lets me down.

[nicknitro71 0]

Packing racers is not that bad but it's true that you need to know few tricks.

I collpse the PC using a piece of webbing a bit longer than the PC itself with two gromments on each end. I collapse the PC with the webbing under it, and then route a rod through the gromments to keep it collapsed.

I find soft botkins to work better than hard ones. The ones I have were made my Dave DeWolf and have two loops at the end, one for the temp pin and one for pull-up cord. I think they were developed originally by a german rigger. It works like butter.

Memento Audere Semper

903

[davelepka 4]

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The biggest thing - getting the top pin in! It was way too close to the hard housing and it took a little wrangling (and two ppl) to get it in.

You are leaving the closing loops nice and loose, right? You can tighten them after the pins are in place.

If the loops are loose, use the part of the ripcord past the top pin to pull the pin into the loop. If you're trying to push it in (like every other pin you've ever seated) you're just asking for a hard time.

[Treejumps 0]

Same trick, but I made a strap with velcro to keep the PC compressed. I don't find a racer any harder than anything else. just uglier.

[riggerrob 558]

You are the only contributor to this thread who is close to knowing the secret to packing Racers.

The first step to packing Racers starts with throwing all your expensive, cumbersome, non-Cypres-compatible steel T-bodkins in the trash can, closely followed by your soft bodkins.
The second step on the true path involves asking Jump Shack to send you free "ghost loops."
Like jumper03 said, ghost loops were invented by a German rigger.
It took me forever to pack Racers before I started making my own ghost loops - a decade before Jump Shack started giving them out.

[sundevil777 93]

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You are the only contributor to this thread who is close to knowing the secret to packing Racers.

Apparently the secrets have been available for some time, but as you say, they still are not widely distributed. Are these secrets, including the use of ghost loops, included in the mfg instructions?

I think there is great value in a rig that does not require the knowledge of secrets to pack.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[jumper03 0]

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The biggest thing - getting the top pin in! It was way too close to the hard housing and it took a little wrangling (and two ppl) to get it in.

You are leaving the closing loops nice and loose, right? You can tighten them after the pins are in place.

If the loops are loose, use the part of the ripcord past the top pin to pull the pin into the loop. If you're trying to push it in (like every other pin you've ever seated) you're just asking for a hard time.

okay - THIS information would have been very handy last night...

Yeah, I had the loops cinched down and tight just like any other rig.

I'll know better in 120 days since this is the only racer on the DZ.

Scars remind us that the past is real

[nicknitro71 0]

I did not know there were called "gosh loops".

Pretty cool neat name.

As far as secrecy goes...I did not know it was taboo!

Jump Shack does have the "gosh loops" but those made from the cypres washer are superior, IMO.

I have to thank Dave Dewolf for all those lillte tricks.

Memento Audere Semper

903

[riggerrob 558]

The best ghost loops are made with steel rings on the bottom ends.
If you are smart, you will finger-trap and sew pull-up cords to your ghost loops and tie your pair of ghost loops together. This reduces six tools to one when you count tools at the end of every pack job.

I have even made a few adjustable ghost loops. This further reduces my tool count by allowing me to use one pair of ghost loops to pack everything from Power Racers (less than 3 inches) to Tandem Racers (8 inches +).

[teason 0]

Old habbits die hard, everyone at the factory uses steel bodkins. I guess it's because when you've done enough Racer repacks with t-bods, soft bodkins become something new to learn.

I've tried soft bodkins (packing an excaliber with a cypres and a round last year, it involved packing tape!) I kinda prefer how the steel bodkin holds the flaps in place and allows you to "shape" the container before you close it.

Just my observation, not saying one is better, t-bods are just the one I like best.

Here's a couple of tricks I like,

add 50% to the quick loop length on either side, it makes it easier to put the pin in the loops without allowing the spring to squirt (especially an SRP)

If you are using steel bodkins, put a standard pullup cord in the bodkin to help pull the grommets overtop. (it helps with the bottom flap.

Don't overstuff the ears, it'll deform the yoke flap and make it harder to put the top pin in as it puts bulk under the PC.

Shape parachute into a nest or catchers mit. It'l help seat the PC. When you close the side flaps, the nest my start to close up. With the flaps on the bodkins, shape the center with the palm of your hand, heel of you foot (take of your shoes!) or leave a shot bag on the center over night)

When tightening the pop top, make sure the shoulder of the pin is not on the grommet and make sure you are compressing the spring with weight and pulling it snug. Just yanking on the quickloops with mean that the quickloop is compressing the spring by pulling on the pin. Obviously not good.

When packing with a cypres, when you put your steel bodkins through the loops, pull the loop tool so it doesn't wrap around a cutter

Finally, a video is in the works for demonstrating the packing sequence. It involves the neatest rigger in the history of mankind, To Ligado. It would be worth getting. I'm about to pack a Racer Tandem and I seriously doubt I'll even break a sweat.

IMHO, with practice, a Racer is the easiest rig to pack.

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[LouDiamond 1]

Excellent post Tim. Just about every trick you mentioned can be seen in the photo link I inserted in my post above.

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Don't overstuff the ears

Probably one of the most commonly seen things.People want to jam the ears and the fabric on the yoke ends up looking like crap when it is done no matter how much you try to massage it.

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Shape parachute into a nest or catchers mit

Do this and your pop tops will always easily seat flush. The nest also affords you a space into which you can neatly tuck the pop top mesh and skirt with out causing a bulge.People who do this wrong inevitably end up yanking the quickloops later on in the closing process trying to get the pop top flush.

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make sure you are compressing the spring with weight and pulling it snug.

When done correctly, this requires about as much force as is used to pull ones shoelaces out of their shoes. I cringe everytime I see a rigger yanking and straining to close a pop top. This is how peoples pins get bent.

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IMHO, with practice, a Racer is the easiest rig to pack

I agree. IMO, the hardest part of the whole process is the point where you have to flip the rig over onto the pop top side, thats how easy it is to do when done correctly.

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a video is in the works for demonstrating the packing sequence

Good deal. Once people see how to do it the easy way I think a lot of people will change their opinion about packing racers.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[riggerrob 558]

I just wrap my molar strap around the pilot chute.

[nutinbutdust 0]

Other Racer Tricks.

This one is from a racer Jedi Master(Ken Neustel)

Go to a fabric store like michaels and get a small embroidery hook. I used a needle file to make sure there were no sharp edges. Use this in the hole in the hat to pull the running ends of the loop out. Using a hemostat to pull the running end out puts unnecesary wear on the cypress material. Remember it is much easier to pull these out before pulling the ripcord and opening the container.

Another odd racer tool(this one is mine) I use is a round wooden six inch clock blank. This fits perfectly on the top of the pilot chute. I place a knee on the piece of wood when pulling the pilot chute snug. This enables me to pull without putting the pull on the ripcord pins.

Please RiggerRob, Tell me how you made the adjustible soft bodkins or ghost loops. I have been trying to think of a way to make my soft bodkins adjustible. I use the type dave dewolf has instructions for.

http://www.paraloft.com/rt_wim_de_voss.htm

Sorry dont know how to make a clicky....

There are a lot of racers at my club, I pack a log of them. We even use the Racer Trainers for our students.

Alan

[riggerrob 558]

To make adjustable ghost loops, start with the Reflex manual. Make a pair of ghost loops similar to Reflex reserve loops. The only difference is a shorter distance (almost zero) between the metal washer and the start of the finger-trap.

[mjosparky 3]

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When done correctly, this requires about as much force as is used to pull ones shoelaces out of their shoes. I cringe everytime I see a rigger yanking and straining to close a pop top. This is how peoples pins get bent.

From the Reflex manual, page 29.

Step 28 Cinch the closing loop tight using a series of short, sharp jerks while applying full downward pressure on the reserve pilot chute. (Figure 6-30)

NOTE: It is not recommended to use a long, continuous pull on the closing loop as this may bend the pin or damage other parts of the system.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[LouDiamond 1]

Quote

From the Reflex manual, page 29.

From the RACER owner manual, page 29

K. Push the pilot chute down into position and take the slack out of the quick loop by pulling on the opposite running end. You will have to repeat this step several times until all the slack is out.

We are talking about Racers here and not any of the other containers where you have to grunt,groan and strain to close

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING