Riser length advantages/disadvantages Longer vs shorter

[champu 1]

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so there is no effect on recovery by changing riser length??
complete bs.
If one can have 50 inch riser does that not change its recovery arc???

and every canopy pilot i know who uses longer riser lengthens their break line accordingly to their own taste so range on toggle theory goes out the door. In fact I like it when I have no input with toggle until toggle is about shoulder level.

it is just matter of feel.
short riser makes me feel like I'm trapped inside the riser and harness vs longer riser with longer chest strap I can freely move my upper body and I can grab risers with full arm extension.

There's not no effect on recovery arc, but the change in feel of the canopy flight due to the fact that you're moving the control range of fronts, rears, and toggles relative to your shoulders is going to largely mask that.

You're right that the set up is more about personal preference than anything. And because you're freakishly tall and have long arms you can set up your brakes to do nothing until shoulder level and still reach the bottom of the control range with your hands all the way down.

I choose my riser length based on how long my arms are and what is a comfortable spot for the top end of the riser input control range. Then I choose my brake line length to put the bottom end of the toggle input range at a comfortable place. Then I (and this is the really important part) stop worrying about it and jump.

[primetime 18]

I agree that longer risers will increase the altitude of your recovery arc. When I have jumped canopies with short line sets, the recovery arc tends to be ridiculously short.

A friend of mine has a theory that longer risers will also increase performance because it helps spread the planform above your head, the same reason we remove our sliders and loosen our chest straps all the way. It helps spread the canopy to its most efficient profile.

The same philosophy resulted in the third riser set-up, a short-lived fad in the mid-90's sold as part of a "speed package" that included the brand-new technologies of kill-line pilot chute and collapsible slider.

The third riser was intended to allow the brake line to come more straight down in flight, instead of being constrained to an angle that put pressure on the brake lines. I'm jumping a circa-1995 third riser set-up right now, but I'm still deciphering its merits and disadvantages.

[Jiggs 0]

Howdy,

I used to run triple risers for a number of seasons and still have a few sets of triple risers around (still have one setup on a 84 velo); I used to love the feeling of the brake line not being constricted by the guide rings.

Anyway, the big thing for swooping is that triples are kind of crap as;

It makes the transition from rears to toggles generally much longer / more abrupt. E.g. you need to do a more agressive transfer as you won't have any tail input when you are on the rears with triples. This generally kills some of the distance that you get.

I get noticeably less distance on canopies with triple risers. Also the transition is noticeably larger between rears and toggles.

Now I just run normal risers but with an additional set of guide rings on the soft link and run the brake lines through it (still use the normal guide rings for packing).

Ohh and one other disadvantage is that it tends to confuse other people when packing or you lend them your gear.

"Don't blame malice for what stupidity can explain."

"In our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart and in our despair, against our will comes wisdom" - Aeschylus

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

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oh, and a word about super-short risers ... WHACK! the slider slapped me on the head with 17" risers. I had to pull them down past my nipples so I only did a few jumps with them.

Another note about short risers: Lot's of wingsuiters do/did use short risers because it makes it MUCH easier to reach your toggles right after opening. The trade-off is a shorter recovery arc.

Chuck

[phoenixlpr 0]

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oh, and a word about super-short risers ... WHACK! the slider slapped me on the head with 17" risers. I had to pull them down past my nipples so I only did a few jumps with them.

Another note about short risers: Lot's of wingsuiters do/did use short risers because it makes it MUCH easier to reach your toggles right after opening. The trade-off is a shorter recovery arc.

Chuck

My reach is limited in WS even with open zippers. I can get the slider down from the top of a 24" set of risers, but I don't want to use risers longer than 19-20" for wing suit.

[cryptocoin 0]

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I feel no difference in recovery arc when going from 21 to 24 inch risers, other than having to re-adjust my brake lines.

I do not understand why you have to adjust brake lines for different riser lengths?

The distance from the ring to the top of the riser is consistent on all risers?

[champu 1]

It's not about changing the location of the brake settings in the line, that would be if the guide rings were some weird location relative to the top of the risers. What this thread was talking about is the distance between the bottom of your toggle stroke and the top of the risers. Your overall brake line length should take this into account so you don't stall your canopy at your shoulders or still have the tail pinched down with your arms all the way up.

[JohnSherman 1]

Riser lengths also effect the arc-Anhedral, longer risers increase it and shorter risers decrease it. Also it changes the trim by moving the confluence point up you pull the nose and tail closer creating a slight curve to the bottom skin. By lengthening the risers you allow the curve to reverse.
Designers design to a specific riser length or they should.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

champu

It's not about changing the location of the brake settings in the line, that would be if the guide rings were some weird location relative to the top of the risers. What this thread was talking about is the distance between the bottom of your toggle stroke and the top of the risers. Your overall brake line length should take this into account so you don't stall your canopy at your shoulders or still have the tail pinched down with your arms all the way up.

This bears repeating. The location of the brake setting guide ring is standard throughout the industry.

People prefer longer than stock and shorter than stock for a variety of specific reasons:

For swooping, longer risers are desired because they increase the recovery arc of a canopy and thus allow it to stay in a dive longer (which helps maintain and generate speed). When you do go to longer risers you are going to have to take your control stroke into account. If you want your canopy to start flaring at the same control point relative to your body (lets say at shoulder height), then you are going to have to lengthen your lower control lines the same distance you lengthened your risers.

For wingsuiting, on the other hand, many prefer shorter risers because it aids the jumper in reaching the toggles after opening. I used to routinely jump 18" risers on my wingsuit rig. People jumping shorter risers must understand that this will also shorten the recovery arc of their canopy. People, like me, who jump "short-ish" risers in their wingsuit rig, but also routinely land on rears, almost always have "Top Rings" on their risers so when they transfer from their dive loops to their rears they do not bind up their control lines at the guide ring. Actually, all of my risers have top rings and anyone who swoops ought to be running that setup.

Chuck