Rear risers, safety margin?

[lilchief 0]

After reading what happened to DSE, I thought through my way of approach on hookturns. I'm always aiming for rears after completing the turn, ready to level off.

My question to you out there is:

By mainly thinking to go on rear risers after the dive/turn and think on toggles as second, will you be more safe then relying on toggles to level off with?

Reason I'm asking is because if a toggle slips and you're already on your risers, you'll still be able to level out and land, even though you've got to run fast for a short while or imitate tumbleweed.

I'm not thinking about the scenario where you're to low, cause then you'll need toggles. And if they slip there, you'll be in pain. I'm thinking of a normal dive when you know your altitude and turn and you don't have to dig yourself out.

So what do you guys think?

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return." - Da Vinci
www.lilchief.no

[superstu 0]

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So what do you guys think?

i'm so confused at what you're saying. it seems like you're saying 3 different things.

Slip Stream Air Sports
Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

[lilchief 0]

Sorry for that. Let me rephrase my self:

Should we teach all fresh swoopers to use rears to plane out with after a dive to minimize the danger of slipping a toggle?

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return." - Da Vinci
www.lilchief.no

[Brains 2]

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Sorry for that. Let me rephrase my self:

Should we teach all fresh swoopers to use rears to plane out with after a dive to minimize the danger of slipping a toggle?

I think we would be better off teaching people how to hold toggles. This kind of stuff happens, the fact that you are trying to think through it is good, just re- think the way you hold your toggles too.

However, i suck and there are enough pros on here to give you a better answer.

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

[AggieDave 6]

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Should we teach all fresh swoopers to use rears to plane out with after a dive to minimize the danger of slipping a toggle?

Absolutely not.

We should teach them how to hold their toggles and properly grip their dive loops.

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

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Sorry for that. Let me rephrase my self:

Should we teach all fresh swoopers to use rears to plane out with after a dive to minimize the danger of slipping a toggle?

No because new swoopers are more likely to turn low, bail-out, and have a dynamic stall which injures them than they are to drop a toggle.

Steering line breakage can be avoided through equipment maintenance.

Toggles becoming detached can be avoided through proper finger-traps that get bar-tacked or have the stitch-less lock.

It'd be better to teach people to have their entire hand inserted in the toggle, to keep their pinkies and ring fingers closed when applying front riser, and to use their index and middle fingers on their dive loops.

[AdD 1]

I think new swoopers need to learn with toggles first because plainly they will bail out a lot and rears cost time and altitude to judge whether you will be able to level off before becoming one with the earth. Just don't drop the damn things.
Once a swooper's approach is consistent enough that they rarely use toggles to plain out then by all means start using rears every time. Sure it provides safety margin in case of a lost toggle or broken steering line but using rears also lulls us into a pattern of trying to use rears first which can be dangerous that one time you get really low.
The biggest thing I have learned is that your angle of travel between 100' and the gates needs to be shallow to conserve kinetic energy from the dive and maximize safety. It took a long time for this to sink in, gotta give some props to AggieDave's suggestion to use double fronts more after completing my turn.

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