What is this canopy release? #1

[howardwhite 5]

Minutia time. Who made it, when?

HW
(I'm really tired of DB Cooper)

[wmw999 2,123]

Looks like a frap wrap. So then I cheated, and did a search on frap wrap . Strong, late 70's.

And yeah, I'll just bet they did hate the name frap wrap. But that's sure what it was called...

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[skybill 19]

Hi HW,
Frap wrap, Death wrap, what-ever, keep up the good work!! What's the next cooley thing you will find for us???

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[howardwhite 5]

O.K. This one is from an entirely different rig by an entirely different manufacturer. Is it the same thing?

HW

[DougH 270]

Were those as sketchy as they look??!! Who wants to school me on those funky looking things?

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[Jim_Hooper 4]

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Minutia time. Who made it, when?

HW
(I'm really tired of DB Cooper)

No more tired than I am, but I'm being polite (however difficult it's proving to be.)

Wasn't the first photo of the system designed by Bill Buchman, and subsequently purchased by Ted Strong, along with Bill's outstanding Eagle harness and container? The mass production of the latter never equaled Bill's work.
Hoop

[gjhdiver 0]

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Minutia time. Who made it, when?

HW
(I'm really tired of DB Cooper)

I believe this is what we used to call a Boothwell. Designed by Bill Booth obviously. Had one on a club cloud back in the day. Pre-runner of the 3-ring from Bill.

[jimjumper 25]

If you ever want a complete history of canopy releases contact Sandy Reid at Rigging Innovations. He has examples of everything from 2-shots to mini-3 rings and does a great job presenting it as a lecture. He showed me when I took his rigging course years ago and IMHO would make an excellent PIA presentation.

[howardwhite 5]

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I believe this is what we used to call a Boothwell. Designed by Bill Booth obviously. Had one on a club cloud back in the day. Pre-runner of the 3-ring from Bill.

Nope. This is a Boothwell. (There is a previous thread about the subject.)
The Boothwell used a fork to join the two pieces, whereas the wrap kind of device (sometimes also referred to as "tapewells") wrapped webbing to unite two closed rectangular rings.
And here (added) is the inventor displaying his product.
(I did say this was minutia.)

HW

[jonstark 8]

Once Booth introduced the Three Ring Circus there was a rush to invent more better mousetraps.

The first pair of "Frap Wraps" I saw were at the 77 Turkey meet. Bobby Gray, Mike Barbour, Smack McCallum and Jay Hilden were looking closely at them. Ted had a hanging harness setup under which you could see how they functioned. Not to spoil Ted's fun the Deland guys twisted themselves up tight and found the wraps wouldn't release. They would stick when head down too.

The other flappy releases were interlocking, stiffened flaps of webbing that would unlace when the tips of the outer flaps were released. They were bulky. I can't remember who introduced them.

Another area of innovation was in steering toggles. There had been difficulties in making secure yet reliably releasable toggles. Some guys up in Xenia, Ohio came up with "Zoo Toggles". They employed technology similar to today's LRT toggles where a loop is threaded thru a fingertrapped loop in the steering line then thru rings in the riser and toggle then secured with a straight pin. The pin was pulled when you grabbed the steering toggle. These proved to be very reliable and simplified the brake release system until the even simpler release found today was made commonplace.

BTW: I never had a more comfortable harness than my Buchman Eagle. Not before, not since. Ted's harnesses were really nice but the containers lacked cleanliness. Had he tightened up some of the manufacturing templates and considered packing cosmetics his rigs might have been more popular.

[skybill 19]

Hi HW,
Looks like kinda' sorta' without seeing more of the rig. Don't see any chest hardware (unless it's on the other side??) Looks like velcro-Death!! A hard oppening and all the Velcro lets go to lessen the shock!! Boy think of the next shock!! Who made that Rig??

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[howardwhite 5]

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Who made that Rig??

Since you asked, it was made in Fayetteville. Care to guess?
To help you, here's a picture of its pull-out pilot chute.
HW

[ryoder 1,384]

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Minutia time. Who made it, when?

HW
(I'm really tired of DB Cooper)

Looks a lot like this: http://parachutehistory.com/process/release/strongwrap.html

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(I'm really tired of DB Cooper)

Then kick him out of the house.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[howardwhite 5]

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Wasn't the first photo of the system designed by Bill Buchman, and subsequently purchased by Ted Strong.....

Yup, from a late '77 Para-Gear ad.
The ad copy is interesting:
"The Single Point Release was conceptualized in the early 70's and has been in development long before other units. Just the right combination of components had to be developed, like special teflon impregnated webbing that won't freeze or stiffen, bind or distort. Marketing of the Single Point Release has been restrained until day in and day out testing was complete."

(I didn't know people "conceptualized" in 1977.)

HW

[mark 102]

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Who made that Rig??

Since you asked, it was made in Fayetteville. Care to guess?
To help you, here's a picture of its pull-out pilot chute.
HW

I'm going to guess Rodriguez, based on the rainbow stripes and the suspension line reserve ripcord. Also, the chest strap in an earlier picture looks like it might have the internal friction adapter.

Mark

[howardwhite 5]

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I'm going to guess Rodriguez..

You guess correctly. Here's the rig, along with a view of the "Web-Lok Harness" ...."Secure, adjustable, comfortable, light."
What was the rig called? (Unusual name.)

HW

[mark 102]

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You guess correctly. Here's the rig, along with a view of the "Web-Lok Harness" ...."Secure, adjustable, comfortable, light."
What was the rig called? (Unusual name.)

HW

How about "Spanish Fly"?

Mark

[howardwhite 5]

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How about "Spanish Fly"?

Yup

HW

[skybill 19]

Hi HW,
That was w-a-y before I got here ('96)!! 'Heard about some Robb's Rebel Rig or something??? I'll have to ask Gene Paul next time I see him.

SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

[howardwhite 5]

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Heard about some Robb's Rebel Rig or something???

Probably "Rod's Rebel."
Anyway, Mark got it right. Rodriguez Parachute Systems was at 6107-A Yadkin Road. The ad ran in the September '78 Parachutist.
For the Spanish Fly ($325) custom built, delivery time 14 days!!!

HW

[gjhdiver 0]

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Nope. This is a Boothwell.

HW

Damn. One day I'll get one of these right. That picture of your was always described to me as a Boothwell. I've never seen the one you say is a Boothwell.

You learn something new every day, and that's annoying. I don't have any more room left for it.

[howardwhite 5]

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Were those as sketchy as they look??!! Who wants to school me on those funky looking things?

Just for you, Doug, here's another picture from the same ad, showing the wrap nearly unwrapped.
Happily for all of us, Bill Booth shortly thereafter introduced the three-ring release, and all of this funky stuff quickly disappeared.

cya,

HW

[howardwhite 5]

Here's another view of Booth with Boothwell.
HW

[fergs 0]

...and here's yet another - similar design, yet another manufacturer. Was on rigs for a short time until Bill Booth gave us the Three Ring (thanks Bill).

Yes, the rig still exists - all the pics taken today.

f