Swoop Chords-Lesson Learned The Easy Way

[jacketsdb23 45]

This past Saturday I received my new RW suit. The suit came with swoop chords that I've never used before. I was participating in 4-way scrambles so I decided not to use them. Most of the day I had the swoop chords simply tucked up my arm sleeve. They were kept in place by the spandex material.

To make a longs story short, last jump of the day we did a formation load 16-way. I went to track, I waived off and noticed about 4-6" of swoop chord hanging out along with the thumb loop on my deploying arm.

I grabbed the swoop chord and wadded it up in my hand and deployed. I can imagine that had the pilot chute gone through the swoop chord or the bridle been wrapped up in the chord that my day would have been more exciting than necessary. I have the ability to take my swoop chords out if I'm not using them as they are on a belt system. From now on this is what I plan to do.

Thought this might be a good place to place my experience so that others who may have not thought of this will. If you aren't using swoop chords that come with your suit make sure you have a secure way of keeping them from coming out in free fall. Thanks.

Losers make excuses, Winners make it happen
God is Good
Beer is Great
Swoopers are crazy.

[klafollette 0]

I wear gloves all the time, partly so I can wear my right hand swoop loop under the glove, to prevent just such a scenario, getting my pilot chute caught in the loop.

My swoop cord is one continuous line from left hand, up the arms, across the back, to right hand. I wear the left-hand outside the glove just in case I need to free up my hands for full motion. I can reach my toggles with the swoop cords engaged, but I take off the left hand when under canopy so I've got full reach.

Also, I wear the loop around my 4 fingers like a toggle, to avoid getting a broken thumb if something does get snagged. Your whole wrist is stronger than just your thumb.

[JohnRich 4]

Note: A "chord" is a word used to describe the shape of an airplane wing, or a combination of musical tones. The spelling you want here is "cord".

[gearless_chris 1]

I tie mine into a large knot inside my sleeve when I'm not using them. On my swoopsuit I wear them right hand under my glove, left side over my glove and Alti.. My bigway jacket doesn't have continuous swoop cords so I have to wear both on top. I also wear the cords around my hands like toggles, and I put some stitches in the loop so they stay tight on my hand.

"If it wasn't easy stupid people couldn't do it", Duane.

My momma said I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so I became an a$$hole.

[happythoughts 0]

I had a friend who was a cameraman for a team.
He wore both of his swoop cord hand loops under his gloves.

On opening, his canopy went into a turn and he could not reach his toggles. Since he was a cameraman, you see him working with it for 40+ seconds.

As a safety issue, never put both loops under your gloves.
Personally, I always wear both of mine on the outside.
I haven't had a problem with it.

[diablopilot 2]

Cord.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[georgerussia 0]

I attached an elastic string parallel to swoop cord inside, which is about half of lenght. This way my swoop cords are always in tension, which makes it harder for them to catch anything.

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[Fast 0]

Quote

I had a friend who was a cameraman for a team.
He wore both of his swoop cord hand loops under his gloves.

On opening, his canopy went into a turn and he could not reach his toggles. Since he was a cameraman, you see him working with it for 40+ seconds.

As a safety issue, never put both loops under your gloves.
Personally, I always wear both of mine on the outside.
I haven't had a problem with it.

Yep I agree. I only wear swoop cords on my camera suit and I would never wear them under gloves. If you wear the left one under a glove you have to in most cases, throw your alti away to get the cord off. If your swoop cords are coming off your hands they are not adjusted right. If you aren't using them ensure they wont come out or there is nothing they can tangle with.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[agent_lead 0]

does anyone care to explain what exactly these swoop cords are used for?

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www.facebook.com/agentlead

[klafollette 0]

It's a cord that goes up the arms to the waist of the RW jumpsuit. the jumpsuit has extra material between the elbow and waist. When in a RW boxman, and you stretch your arms out, the cord pulls the material taught, so you have a wing under your arm to act as a speedbrake. When swooping on a formation, they let you decelerate faster, and for us fatties they help keep us from sinking out of the formation, instead of de-arching hard and getting a bit unstable.

If you pull your arms back a bit, into a relaxed boxman, the cord goes slack, and the jumpsuit material just flaps around a bit. Still slows you down, but not as much.

Ultimately they're a crutch so we can keep drinking beer and eating cheeseburgers.

See attached pic, the red circles show 2 suits with swoop cords. I'm the one in blue.

[Shyandinnocent 0]

Quote

I had a friend who was a cameraman for a team.
He wore both of his swoop cord hand loops under his gloves.

On opening, his canopy went into a turn and he could not reach his toggles. Since he was a cameraman, you see him working with it for 40+ seconds.

As a safety issue, never put both loops under your gloves.
Personally, I always wear both of mine on the outside.
I haven't had a problem with it.

Or under your alti, for that matter...

It's never too late for a low turn!

[AFFI 0]

"Like rolling the nose" - Swoop c(h)ords are just not necessary.

I used to subscribe to them, then a belly flyer with a bigger gut/ass than mine with over 10,000 jumps says to me that I do not need them.

He showed me that - just by slightly dropping my knees and elbows to better trap air resistance in my midsection, in addition to what I was already doing was how to fall slow enough without them. With some practice, I was able to discover a range of speed that allowed me to broaden my range enough to feel comfortable, even to release lighter students with confience without the SCs (I do have a special suit for students below 140 lbs).

I used to worry about the potential complications they could create, now I do not have to worry about it.
-

Mykel AFF-I10
Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat…

[Elisha 1]

Quote

does anyone care to explain what exactly these swoop cords are used for?

For fat people to slow down during RW.

[gearless_chris 1]

I'm so fat I use my camera jacket for RW.

"If it wasn't easy stupid people couldn't do it", Duane.

My momma said I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so I became an a$$hole.