Stowless d-bags

[pchapman 261]

DSE

and some argue that they cause less wear on lines.

That is an interesting debate. We've already heard how the nylon pouch can create some line wear.

On the other hand, for many people, elastic bands are used on many normal d-bags. And elastic bands are so grippy that they may cause some wear. Consider that service bulletin that came out years ago warning about harness damage when people put elastics on their hip rings to secure t-shirts when jumping without a suit. Lines don't purely shear against elastics however, as elastics flip and invert as lines pull out of them.

Still, it is unknown to me to what degree elastics might actually cause line wear too. So one is comparing wear vs. wear, not wear vs. no wear at all.

[DSE 3]

pchapman

***and some argue that they cause less wear on lines.

That is an interesting debate. We've already heard how the nylon pouch can create some line wear.

On the other hand, for many people, elastic bands are used on many normal d-bags. And elastic bands are so grippy that they may cause some wear. Consider that service bulletin that came out years ago warning about harness damage when people put elastics on their hip rings to secure t-shirts when jumping without a suit. Lines don't purely shear against elastics however, as elastics flip and invert as lines pull out of them.

Still, it is unknown to me to what degree elastics might actually cause line wear too. So one is comparing wear vs. wear, not wear vs. no wear at all.

From purely an observational standpoint, I can offer this;
I have two identical canopies. One is in a container with a standard bag/four side and two locking stows.
One is in a container using Jerry Baumchen's NoStow Bag. They are approximately of the same use, if anything, the container with the NoStow has more jumps. Yet, the lines are more clean in color, than the standard D-bag.
How that relates to stress/damage, I couldn't say.

[vanessalh 0]

Sandy was kind enough to let me post his review of his semi-stowless d-bag for everyone.

Check it out here: http://skysmurf.com/blog/2013/7/19/going-stowless