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Vector 3 Packing Tips – or is my main just too big?

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I am ramping up to make some jumps after a few year hiatus and I am struggling to get my main neatly packed up. I’ve owned a Javelin before. When packing this up, the main (in bag) set nicely down into the main packing tray and I could close things up. With this Vector the main closing flaps more or less wrap around the main (in bag) creating the packing tray. My issue is that either my packing skills blow (highly likely), my main is too big, or I am missing some critical steps to neatly pull this off. I basically end up with gaps between the side and bottom closing flaps. I’ve gotten a few completed without these gaps but I’ve had to spend so much energy tucking the exposed lines under the flaps that I no longer trust that the line stows are in order for deployment. I’ve attached some pictures for reference.

I have lengthened the closing loop quite a bit.

I can get a ‘decent’ looking pack job if I place the lines to the back pad, however this does not appear to be a recommended packing method, and it puts a large amount of stress on the closing loop, exposing the closing grommets.

Does my main appear to be too large for the container?

Any comments or tips / tricks to closing a modern Vector that may be helpful?

Thanks.

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It looks like perhaps the 'bite' of your line stows are so long that they are extended way out to the side, making them hard to manage/tuck away.

Perhaps that is the only problem, but if you would let us know the canopies you have and the container size spec, then we could help you figure it out (something you can also do on your own), using this handy aid:

http://vos.uptvector.com/vos/v3sizing.html
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

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Looking at the lines to back picture it does not appear to be to big for the container. The first picture looks like it not in the bag very well and the wrinkles between the reserve and main seen to confirn this. Is it the correct main d bag for the container?
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Thanks for the replies – I’ve also received one offline indicating that the line bits look large. I should have given the specifics on canopy / container size. Looking at the UPT tool, it is appropriately sized. Sabre 2 190, PDR 176, and the container is a V350. Container was ordered new for these canopies, so I am assuming the bag is correctly sized. I will give it another shot paying attention to the size of the line bites.

Thanks.

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It doesn't look like bulk is being distributed evenly. Look at how soft the dbag corners are up against the reserve and all that wasted space.

When I was learning to pack I found a huge amount of extra room by just packing the canopy (dbag) as square as possible with nice solid corners. Once packed, push on the corners and if they are soft, you aren't distributing bulk optimally.

My setup is almost exactly the same as yours but my closing loop has been shortened several times as I got better at packing. With a 190 it should still be reasonably soft and easy to close.

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It doesn't look like bulk is being distributed evenly. Look at how soft the dbag corners are up against the reserve and all that wasted space.

When I was learning to pack I found a huge amount of extra room by just packing the canopy (dbag) as square as possible with nice solid corners. Once packed, push on the corners and if they are soft, you aren't distributing bulk optimally.



OP:

Looks like you're not filling out the top of the bag properly. Have someone work with you (rigger, experienced packer) and show you the easier ways. I'm guessing this canopy is new, and that it's getting a little frisky when you start trying to bag it.

Keep in mind, the binding tapes on the #3 & #4 flaps should be overlapping, not the grommets. (Read the manual if you're not sure what I'm talking about)

I think once you get the bulk better distrubted, and the line bites a reasonable size, you'll be shortening that closing loop ~1-1.5 inches and it will look WAY better.

Where do you live? If you're in the Tampa area, I can show you what I'm talking about.

I've got a V348 with a new OP 176 and new Safire2 169... and I bet I could probably pack that 190 in my container and still have it look pretty good. It's just a little technique you need to work on. :)
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
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Many rigs that were 'built for' a certain sized canopy are still very tight. The factories tend to offer a range of canopies that each rig will hold, and if yours is on the 'tight' end of the range, then it's going to be tight.

That aside, your pack job is mis-shapen, and that appears to be the problem. Note in your picture of the open container that the bag appears to be less rectangular and more like a trapazoid, with the wider end being where the lines are stowed. Now even if it was a perfect rectangle (aka, the shape of the container it's going into), adding the line stows on top will make that end a little bigger. It appears that your pack job is already too big in that area, then you add the line stows, and now it's way to big on that end. What you end up with is a rig that won't close up nice, and is bulging out where the 'fat' end of the bag is.

When you said that stows to the backpad gives you a cleaner pack job, that's why. The fat end is down in the pack tray, and the flaps can close cleanly over the small end of the bag.

Here's what you do - work on making the bundle (after you S-fold) roughly the size and shape of the bag. You want to shoot for just a hair larger so you have to 'squueze' it in there, but that will ensure that it will fill out the bag. Just make sure the cocoon is a hair wider than the bag, and that the S-folds are just deeper than the bag, and it should work out just fine.

It will take some practice, but you need to move forward from just 'folding' the canopy to 'shaping' the canopy to fit the space you want to put it in. It's like packing luggage, if you fold your clothes like you put them in your drawer, they might not all fit in your luggage. You have to fold them bigger and flatter so they use the space the bag better, and you can fit more in there.

It's worth the work, though. This is your rig, so develop a system for exactly how to fold the canopy to fit the bag/container, how many lines stows to make and how big they should be to leave just the right amount of excess line, and how to lay the exacess line in the bottom of the container so it all fits nicely. If you can fine tune the system to your rig, you'll pack faster and cleaner with better results. By the time you have 10 or 20 pack jobs on the rig, they should all look the same every time.

Don't change your line stows at all, they're fine. Every canopy has lines, and the rigs are built with them in mind.

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I can get a ‘decent’ looking pack job if I place the lines to the back pad, however this does not appear to be a recommended packing method, and it puts a large amount of stress on the closing loop, exposing the closing grommets.


Can you (or someone) explain what you mean by this? I do see that packing with the lines to the back pad (I assume what you mean by this is a 90 degree rotation from what you're doing now) is not what Vector recommends, but I don't understand how it puts a greater amount of stress on the closing loop, and am not sure what you mean that it exposes the closing grommets.

Thanks!

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Thanks for the replies – I’ve also received one offline indicating that the line bits look large. I should have given the specifics on canopy / container size. Looking at the UPT tool, it is appropriately sized. Sabre 2 190, PDR 176, and the container is a V350. Container was ordered new for these canopies, so I am assuming the bag is correctly sized. I will give it another shot paying attention to the size of the line bites.

Thanks.



A Sabre2 190 in a V350 would be on the snug side.

I have a Pilot 168 and a PDR 176 in my V350 and thats supposed to be an optimal config. Pilot 168 is listed as "Standard Fitting", and even then it can look a bit bulgy, though the canopy is still pretty new (25 jumps)

Your 190 is listed as "full fitting" in the V350 which would be a bit more bulgy but with practice you should be able to get it in fine...

I will also add that I keep my line bights a good bit smaller than you have there
in your photograph. Just make sure you dont make them so small they might slip out of the rubber bands when you stuff it in the container ;)
__

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I've got a Sabre2 190 and a PDR176 in a V350 and it goes in fine. Looking at your pics, I think maybe you need to try and get the canopy right down into the bottom corners of the bag before you put the locking stows in. I can get my D-bag completely closed and I never have gaps in the closing flaps like this.

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I can get a ‘decent’ looking pack job if I place the lines to the back pad, however this does not appear to be a recommended packing method



This is what I do, I was told you can pack the V3s this way but a lot of other rigs should not be. But my container is a little bigger than yours and maybe that is why your grommets are exposed and mine aren't.
The V3 manual on the UPT website has some good pics that contrast with the shape of your packjob (as others have mentioned)


http://www.unitedparachutetechnologies.com/PDF/Support/Manual/MAN_004___Vector_3_Manual_07_44_13%5B1%5D.pdf


p66-67

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I can get a ‘decent’ looking pack job if I place the lines to the back pad, however this does not appear to be a recommended packing method



This is what I do, I was told you can pack the V3s this way but a lot of other rigs should not be. But my container is a little bigger than yours and maybe that is why your grommets are exposed and mine aren't.
The V3 manual on the UPT website has some good pics that contrast with the shape of your packjob (as others have mentioned)


http://www.unitedparachutetechnologies.com/PDF/Support/Manual/MAN_004___Vector_3_Manual_07_44_13%5B1%5D.pdf


p66-67


His grommets are exposed because his closing loop is over an inch too long. His closing loop is too long because poor bulk management on the main. :P

But yes, vectors are designed to not overlap the grommets, look at the top flap, see how the grommet is offset to the right? That's not because the guys at UPT have bad aim! :P Generally if you manage to tighten up the closing loop so they do line up on top of each other, the pin cover flap will look funky when you try to close it.

Could also become a rigger, and learn ALLLLLLL about bulk management! :)
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

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