rds question

[keithbar 1]

seen a few of them at the drop zone of course .but having no experience with it myself I thought I would ask a few questions from those of you in the know. if you want just a removable slider and not a full RDS do you just order the RDS slider and remove the lanyard? also what's the procedure post deployment I assume you have to maneuver the rings down past the slinks and cut it away and let the Rings drop to the base of the risers ? Is it important that you get it past the toggles before you cut it away? also if you don't use a full rds just the slider portion are there any known problems with using it for terminal jumps ?

i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .

[justme12001 0]

It's not really a matter of removing the lanyard, it's more of just not connecting it. (At least with the ones I've had)

For the rings, yes you want them below slinks on the risers. I don't think it really matters if they are placed there before or after you remove the slider. I personally usually pull them down before removal.

I think it is pretty common to use a removable slider for terminal jumps. As far as I know there shouldn't be any problems. At least I haven't had any.

[keithbar 1]

thanks for the reply man I had been reading that some people didn't recommend a full Rds for terminal deployments . but I knew had seen at least one tandem video guy using just a removable slider. But I'm sure he was jumping a cross braced sub 100 square foot too. I'm kind of thinking a removable slider would actually be less hassle than pulling the drawstrings getting it down the risers . over the toggle stowing it behind the head. and I have never been happy with the various techniques I've tried to keep it stowed.

i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .

[Willi91 0]

I've done a fair amount of terminal jumps with a removable slider on my velo and they tend to be a bit snappier than with the standard slider. I'm not saying that this will be the case on your canopy though.

I can see on your profile that you're not jumping the typical canopy for the use of a removable slider. Have you checked with the manufacturer that it is recommendable?

[skow 6]

A bit off-topic but not so much :)

I was curious about jumping terminal jumps with full RDS (i.e. slider + dbag). I was asking around and even created a post on dz. I have not received any information that it would be not recommended and quite much people do that on daily basis. Based on my (so far limited) experience I can also say that full RDS works fine on terminal jumps.

For me at least the biggest effort while packing canopy with RDS is the slider connection, not the removable dbag. So in my opinion there's no big difference if you use only removable slider or full RDS (in terms of additional effort while packing)

End of off-topic...

[DocPop 1]

justme12001

For the rings, yes you want them below slinks on the risers.

I think (hope) you meant below the toggles?

There is a concern that if you don't pull the rings right down to the bottom of the risers, they could interfere with the operation of the toggles.

"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

[justme12001 0]

Sorry, yes that is what I meant!

@ keithbar, I started using a removable slider for the same reason. I also was not on a small cross-braced canopy at the time, I think it was a "radical" 135. I was just never comfortable trying to put the slider behind my head/neck. (I think it has to do with not having a neck) :)

They can be a pain to reattach, especially at first, but once you get used to it, it's not so bad. Having the slider gone makes flying (for me anyway) camera lots better and opens up field of vision, not to mention letting the risers spread farther apart for better flight characteristics.

[Zlew 0]

Willi91

I've done a fair amount of terminal jumps with a removable slider on my velo and they tend to be a bit snappier than with the standard slider. I'm not saying that this will be the case on your canopy though.

If it is the PD RDS, the RDS slider is 2 inches on one side, and 4 inches on the other side SHORTER than the stock slider. It was explained to me that it was designed to make sub terminal openings faster, and that's one of the reasons they don't recommend it for terminal.

I put about 60 jumps on mine that way before taking with PD, and actually measuring the slider. Thought I knew better....I didn't. For me the openings were faster for sure. Usually ok, but some were too snappy for what I look for wearing camera. Put the old slider back on, and back to money openings.

I know some others make RDS sliders that are bigger than the PD model.

[Luck 0]

Velocity VC90
I jump it all the time on terminal with the removable slider from PD, not the full RDS. HMA 500 lines, wingload 2.5
I have no problems with the openings, not fast at all smooth and almost always on heading.

[Alexg3265 0]

http://youtu.be/vFzUCBVRdIQ
This is a few test jumps on different sized sliders I made. All of these are at terminal. This was From last year, and I've got now maybe 300 jumps on sliders I've made from scratch and almost all of my openings are at terminal. This is a safire 2 159 @1.4-1.5 loading.

I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

[hodges 4]

Complete aside (sorry) but you might want to consider raising your final alarm altitude.

It went off on most of those openings.

If you get used to hearing it and ignoring it, you might not act on it when you actually need to.

[dgw 8]

hodges

Complete aside (sorry) but you might want to consider raising your final alarm altitude.

It went off on most of those openings.

If you get used to hearing it and ignoring it, you might not act on it when you actually need to.

Lowering....?

[Alexg3265 0]

I was also pulling at 4500-5000' and alarms set at 5.5, 4, 3 and 2. Some of the snivels were 1500'+... I wanted some wiggle room. You never heard the final alarm in any of those. Only time I've heard it is when I got my helmet knocked off and watched the video of it spinning into the ground. The final alarm doesn't stop till you do. At least it wailed all the way to the last frame.
I do like and agree with the point of becoming desensitized to it and can see that happening. I don't know. I don't wait and listen for them but they have gotten my attention when break off comes just a little too soon... I guess I use it to mark, break off, pull, should be open-ish by, and fucking get rid of it. I have a Quattro so 4 alarms...

I was that kid jumping out if his tree house with a bed sheet. My dad wouldn't let me use the ladder to try the roof...

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

keithbar

seen a few of them at the drop zone of course .but having no experience with it myself I thought I would ask a few questions from those of you in the know. if you want just a removable slider and not a full RDS do you just order the RDS slider and remove the lanyard? also what's the procedure post deployment I assume you have to maneuver the rings down past the slinks and cut it away and let the Rings drop to the base of the risers ? Is it important that you get it past the toggles before you cut it away? also if you don't use a full rds just the slider portion are there any known problems with using it for terminal jumps ?

I've been jumping removable sliders/RDS systems since 2003 on all of my sport rigs (including my Sabre2 97 WS main). All to terminal, never a problem. Joe Bennet builds my sliders. The "full" RDS lanyard system is simply three pieces of Vectran line: two short ones which larks-head onto the back corners of my slider; and one longer one which larks-heads onto the two tails of the slider lines and then is slinked to the end of my bridle inside my D-bag. When I do NOT use the full system I just keep the lanyard lines rolled up inside my mudflap. I very-rarely run my "full" system these days, but I pull my slider off every jump.

Chuck