reserve cable has barely an inch of slack inside the D-ring.

[ludikris 2]

I recently called up Mirage and verified my D-ring length was OEM at 27" but Im not sure if I should be concerned. I barely have an inch of excess cable between the hole and the ball at the end of the cable. I've seen a few hybrids pop a reserve via the chest strap and I really don't care to imitate...
Im curious how the pillow reserves work vs the d-ring since it appears the pillow cutaway has next to no slack at all..

Thoughts ?

[councilman24 36]

Some/many/most reserve pillows have an oval metal ring inside that acts like a metal ripcord handle with the cable coming in the top and slack before the ball. The pillow is built around it. At least now. When they were first produced in the 80's they did not have any slack.

Lift up your rig by the reserve ripcord housing with your rig fully packed and swing it around. If your reserve doesn't pop your probably ok but I would not be satisfied with one inch of slack no even if it didn't pop. The ripcord can be replaces with a longer one.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[pchapman 261]

Interesting to hear that Mirage said the cable length is supposedly correct. Did they not have any comment on that amount of slack?

(For others: I've packed that rig a couple times.) The rig has been that way a long time I guess, and it has worked... but it still doesn't give one a really warm and fuzzy feeling.

If one can't stretch the rig in any way to lose all slack it should be ok, but it is hard to tell if one is loading the rig in every way it could be on a jump.

As I think you said Chris, the reserve size is indeed 'optimal' according to the Mirage sizing chart, so there's no overstuffing involved.

I checked another Mirage with a pillow handle and is typical for such handles, there's plenty of slack (about 2 3/4").

[riggerrob 558]

We are talking tolerances ....
Too little slack increases the risk of accidental deployment.

A little slack is good.
1" slack is normal on a Sidewinder reserve ripcord.
Other manufacturers want the ball to hang in between the middle and the bottom of the oval ripcord handle.

OTOH too much slack (e.g. ball hanging below the bottom edge of the handle) is bad because it increases the risk of accidentally snagging on the airplane.