Magnetic slider stops// Hand tack slider to canopy

[N24 0]

---noob without sky dives, but some interest in gear---

From my (very limited) knowledge many of the hard openings are caused by the slider not being perfectly at the slider stops, when the canopy leaves the bag.

I know that the slider is not pushed down by a lot of force during the opening, but i believe/think/assume ;-) that it should be enough if some weak cotton thread/ small magnets are used ( maybe only at the two front slider stops)

what do you think, has anybody tested it, why is it not done, could it help prevent some of the hard openings?

[Yossarian 0]

cotton thread would make packing even more annoying... dont know about magnets

[darkwing 4]

tacking sounds like a hassle, but the magnets are an interesting notion. Maybe just one in the top center of the slider.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[dgw 8]

I like the magnets idea. A couple of small rare earth metal magnets wouldn't add a lot of effort for installation or packing. However, I haven't thought this through, and there may be a catastrophic failure mode that will kill you

[MrHixxx 0]

This sounds like a very good idea. I would like to see them used in the slider stops on B and C out board stabilizers to the corners of the slider. Pretty innovative notion.

Might be a simple way to cure some old Sabres of the slammin' ways...

-Hixxx

death,as men call him, ends what they call men
-but beauty is more now than dying’s when

[shermanator 3]

you should go get a patent on that idea.. next thing you know Mr. Booth is gonna be making lots of money on your idea! heehee

CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08
CSA #720

[USPA 0]

No, already patented by a manufactorer who patented every magnet which comes near 30 inches of parachute gear.

The trouble with skydiving; If you stink at it and continue to jump, you'll die. If you're good at it and continue to jump, you'll see a lot of friends die...

[inextremis 0]

Early squares were flat packed, and so the slider was brought up after the canopy was cocooned. There was a small fabric loop (like on a bag) and rubber band installed at the center of the tail on the end seam right below the data panel, and the middle of the slider was pulled up through that rubber band. It helped keep the slider up until the tail deployed and seemed to work pretty well. Not sure where you would put the rubber band for pro-packing--a good pro pack seems to lock the slider up even higher in the pack job. Magnets sound like an interesting variation.

[hookitt 0]

A common place to add a small 1/2 rubberband was on the attachment point of an inner C-Line. You don't see it very often with skydiving parachutes anymore.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[VectorBoy 0]

I do exactly that on my CReW lightning, world of difference. Tip provided to me by Base guys where it is common.

[grasshopper 0]

Quote

I know that the slider is not pushed down by a lot of force during the opening, but i believe/think/assume ;-) that it should be enough if some weak cotton thread/ small magnets are used ( maybe only at the two front slider stops)

There is a major canopy manufacture currently experimenting with small plastic snaps on the slider. Other than a slight hassle packing, the feedback seems to range from no difference to better openings.

________________________________________________________
Abbie drove me to Idaho and all I got was this lousy sigline

[za_skydiver 0]

Quote

Might be a simple way to cure some old Sabres of the slammin' ways...

Just buy a bigger slider. I have not had a single hard opening since i got a bigger slider...

Back to the topic: I personally think that if it's not broken, don't fix it. This just sounds like something else that can go wrong...

Some dream of flying, i live the dream...

[iambeav2 0]

I mean yeah, this sounds like a wonderful idea, for I myself have a Sabre 1, though big, used to smack me good. I have tweaked my packing methods and now have a beautiful snivel w/ a little less than 45 degree off heading opening, less often than so. Pretty soon, if these magnetic riser stops come out, someone'll still have a hard opening and someone'll say "get stronger magnets" (in order to keep a small slider for pack volume) and something'll happen and the slider just won't come down at all. Hey, McDonalds commercial here...it could happen!!

...it's not the fact that you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone...it's the fact that you don't appreciate what you have until someone appreciates it for you!

[MrHixxx 0]

Yeah, but you can still get slammed with a bigger slider if it is not on the stops. This could make a canopy a little more goof proof from a packing standpoint. Seeing how a lot of novice jumpers (that maybe struggling with packing) have Sabre Is for first canopies, this could help them not loose the slider and get the daylights slammed out of them. Still an interesting idea I think.

Hixxx

death,as men call him, ends what they call men
-but beauty is more now than dying’s when

[eUrNiCc 0]

Don't forget, those rare earth magnets are going to be awful close to your Cypres How would you keep the magnets from sticking to eachother when all of the grommets are grouped together and rolled up inside the tail?

Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

[N24 0]

hmmm.... :-) thats true... maybe some pieces of the good old Velcro are better for this application.

Or these "plastic clips" which were mentioned earlier in this thread, does anybody have some pictures of them ?

[MrHixxx 0]

I think that could be handled by choice of polarity and the strength the magnets...

Hixxx

death,as men call him, ends what they call men
-but beauty is more now than dying’s when

[mbondvegas 0]

Atair...right?

- - -
I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.

[mr2mk1g 10]

Velcro eats suspension lines - you don't want it in your canopy rigging.

I doubt there's an issue with such magnets being in close contact with the a CYPRES given that Airtec has "signed off" on Bill's new Vector design which uses rare earth magnets in its riser covers.

As for slider grommets sticking to one another... well I don't know the answer for sure... but I would have thought the force of an opening canopy would far exceed the strength of the magnets - obviously something to be thoroughly tested though if this idea were to be taken up by a manufacturer.

[paulfries 0]

Is the idea that the slider stops will have the magnets and that the magnets will attract the slider grommets?

Slider grommets are usually brass or stainless steel, neither of which is magnetic.

So, there will have to be something additional added that will be attracted to the magnets.

[N24 0]

Quote

Is the idea that the slider stops will have the magnets and that the magnets will attract the slider grommets?

No/Yes :
At first I thought at some very small magnets sewed in close to the stops and close to the grommets.

I chose "Magnetic slider stops// Hand tack slider to canopy" as the topic because my english isn't very good and I hoped that most people will get what I mean (what they did) with this topic.
But I did not knew that slider grommets are usually not magnetic.

Hm... maybe the stops of some canopy(s?) are magnetic, I know of one manufacturer which uses some sort of metal "coins" as stops.