Can't believe what a difference 2 inch longer risers made!

[ccowden 0]

I knew it would make some difference when I changed my old risers out and put new ones on that were 2 inches longer, but wow! It was a totally different feel! I guess in reality, it doesn't effect it, but it certainly felt different. I assume it is just because of being so used to where my arm and hand move to when I am in the risers, but it was kinda like flying a different canopy all together.

Just sharing.

[Cajun 0]

Actually it does make a big difference. You are 2 inches farther from your parachute. I did the same thing last year, and it's a world of difference.

[gus 1]

What was the change you made, 20" to 22"?

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[ccowden 0]

I changed them to what they call 21 and 1/2. They seem to be about 2 inches longer than my old ones.

[sdctlc 0]

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I changed them to what they call 21 and 1/2. They seem to be about 2 inches longer than my old ones.

What was the problem you felt that caused you to change the risers?

Scott C.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[Jumpmunki 0]

i want to mine shorter so i can reach my damn slider without having to pull down on one rear riser at a time. must get shorter ones on my new container.

what difference does riser length make by the way?

[ccowden 0]

No problem. Just starting to get quite worn and was time to have them replaced. I wasn't aware that the old ones were shorter until I got the new ones.

[ccowden 0]

This is on a Velocity 103 loaded at about 2.0

If you are just flying your canopy with toggles and not doing high performance landings, then longer risers won't make any difference really. But when doing 270 degree front riser finals, I find the feel to be quite different than my old risers. Now I'm not talking about such a huge difference that it changes things dramatically, but I am talking about what the feel is when using the front risers. I don't get near as deep into the riser with these and it feels like there is more riser pressure. I assume it is because my arm isn't bending as much with the longer ones. It may not sound like much, but alot happens in those last seconds from when you start your approach to when you land and when you are so used to the way everything feels, even a small change can feel huge.

I feel like I am babbling, but I just wanted to try to explain it. In short, the risers feel much more responsive now. I am sure that in 20 jumps I won't even remember what the old ones felt like.

[stevebabin 0]

You can effectively bury your toggles 2 inches deeper. On some canopies, it can help you get that last "nugget" of lift at the end of your swoop...
Steve

"Science, logic and reason will fly you to the moon. Religion will fly you into buildings."
"Because figuring things out is always better than making shit up."

[davelepka 4]

Your longer risers put you further away from your canopy, and increase the amount of time it takes for your body to swing through the arc under your canopy. This translates into the canopy spending more time out in front of you (increased time in the dive).

This change will NOT give you additional lift or a longer control range as another poster had stated. Your control range is what it is. If you move the canopy further away from you, you will need to lenghten your steering lines by an equal amount. Not adjusting your steering lines will move your stall point up, and increase the likelyhood of a stall while you try to shut the canopy down. (This last paragraph was directed at the other poster, not ccowden).

Long risers are cool.

[ccowden 0]

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Long risers are cool.

That's what I'm talkin' about!

Seriously, thanks for the input! I always thought it looked like the Pro swoopers had longer risers than mine and was kinda curious about that.

[gus 1]

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This change will NOT give you additional lift or a longer control range as another poster had stated. Your control range it what it is.

Dave can you explain this further, how does it not give you a longer control range? If you change a set of 20" risers for a set of 22" aren't you now able to pull the brake lines down 2" more than you were before?

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[Samurai136 0]

No. The control range from full flight to stall point is the same if you have not lengthened the brake lines. Longer risers just bring the stall point 2" higher (or X") on your torso.

Ken

"Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian
Ken

[davelepka 4]

Look at it this way; if your stall point is down by your nuts, the distance from your toggles to the canopy is, say, 10 feet. If you move the canopy 2 inches further away from your nuts (which longer risers will do) your stall point will now be 2 inches above your nuts. If your arms are long enough to reach your nuts (and I feel sorry for the guy who's arms aren't), you will be able to easily reach, and pass your stall point when shutting the canpoy down. To avoid this, you let the steering lines out an equal distance to the increase in riser length.


Edit to add: Some of the pro swoopers are using 23 and 24 inch risers. I'm not sure how long you can go before reaching the point of diminished returns, but if you can still reach your slider, for now it seems longer is better (I've heard that somewhere before...Women's forum maybe?)

[garywainwright 0]

Jay Moledski told me that he uses 24s. I think 22s are standard on a Javelin.

http://www.garywainwright.co.uk

Instagram gary_wainwright_uk

[gus 1]

Ok, I understood 'control range' to mean the physical distance you can move the toggles but you mean the range of control that you have. So I agree with you! Unless the stall point was 2 inches past your reach.

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[AggieDave 6]

Something to think about is when you go the other way on distance with the risers. Some folks don't realize what changing the length of their risers does to their control range (read: flare point/stall point/etc).

This, I think, would be especially important to smaller folks that go to shorter risers so they're easier to reach.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[dterrick 0]

Nice description. I especially like the description of how to set brake lines. It does raise a question though...: If in setting your brakes for a no-stall condition you also shortened them so as to deflect the tail during anticipated front riser manouvers, which consideration would take precidence in a recreational skydiver scenario?

Dave

Quote

Look at it this way; if your stall point is down by your nuts, the distance from your toggles to the canopy is, say, 10 feet. If you move the canopy 2 inches further away from your nuts (which longer risers will do) your stall point will now be 2 inches above your nuts. If your arms are long enough to reach your nuts (and I feel sorry for the guy who's arms aren't), you will be able to easily reach, and pass your stall point when shutting the canpoy down. To avoid this, you let the steering lines out an equal distance to the increase in riser length.

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[ccowden 0]

I am also curious if anyone knows what length risers the Velocity steering lines are MEANT to be on. When my Velocity came from PD the steering lines are sewn at the ends, making a permanent length. There isn't just a dot showing where they are "supposed" to be set. I would guess there is a "general" riser length to which it is intended to be set for.

I would also asume that when flying a high performance canopy, I would prefer to have more length in my brake lines so that it doesn't interfere when pulling risers rather than making it easier to achieve the stall point? Any thoughts?

[twnsnd 1]

I don't know why the brake lines come sewn sometimes, because they are always set too short. My guess would be that they want the canopy to fly as conservatively as possible. But I sure wish they would at least give you the option of lengthening.

-We are the Swoophaters. We have travelled back in time to hate on your swoops.-

[RTB 0]

There is usually (always) some room for lengthening the steering lines.
And a canopy with short break lines can feel more responsive, so I doubt it is because of a flying conservative reason.
If they were really long I think that would create possible problems that could be worst than them being short.

[koz2000 1]

My Odyssey risers from Sunpath were 20". When a friend of mine was at CrossKeys qualifying for the PST, he said Heath was using 26". Maybe Bella can fill us in on that.

______________________________________________
- Does this small canopy make my balls look big? - J. Hayes -

[exwhuffo 0]

this concerned me aswell when i first got my velocity, before i jumped it.
however this is the first canopy i have owned that there is no need to lengthen the brake settings. i have tried short and long risers its all good.

Hopeless, velocity junkie.

[ManBird 0]

I've got 24s on my Wings and have put about 60 jumps on them. It does make the slider a bit tougher to pull down (a little double front grab gets it sliding down far enough to reach). I'm jumping a Sabre2 107, but the difference between my old 20s and these ones is pretty damn huge. Tons, tons, tons more range. These aren't stock on Wings... I specifically asked for "kickass" risers.

I'm flying a Sabre2 107 loaded at 1.7. I do 180s or 270s on final (and a couple of 540s in there), and have found that I have a lot more room and power left after my turn. Up high, I've found it pretty easy to throw even moderately paced 720s (over 5 - 6 seconds) before pressure starts to really build. On my 20s, it was somewhere between 360 and 540 (over 4 - 4.5 seconds) that I started to tug a little more.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

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