Opinions please: open corners for non wingsuit jumps

[gus 1]

I asked my friendly local rigger what he thought about open corners and his opinion was this: Fine if it's for a dedicated birdman rig, not a good idea on an all-purpose rig. Why? Because if your pin comes out prematurely the dbag will be held in place (to some extent) by the fact that you've squished it between the bottom of the reserve and the bottom of the container. If you open up the corners you loose that.

Does anyone have any opinions or experiences to the contrary? Would partially opening the corners give me the best of both worlds? Am I just wasting everyone's time? Asking too many question? Is the Moon really made of cheese?

Thanks!

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[LouDiamond 1]

If your pin comes out prematurely chances are your going to have problems even if your corners are sewn. Cut corners is not a bad thing as long as there is enough overlap of material that the D bag and lines are not exposed when the pack tray is closed. Wings builds a container with corners designed to prevent this as do other manufacurers. It is entirely possible to accomplish the same thing by having the stiching removed by your rigger on most rigs out there. and no, you are not wasting anyones time if it means even one person becomes a bit wiser And yes, the moon is made of cheese, superman wears tights and pink turtles have green ears

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[kevin922 0]

Turtles have green ears? Damn..

anyway, i'd say there is nothing wrong with having cut corners.. if you have a pin come out prematurely i seriously doubt having non cut corners is going to keep that dbag in there extremely well - yeah more chance of it staying in without cut corners but i'd say the benifits of having cut corners (for wingsuit) outweigh not having them.. even if you move between wingsuit and non wingsuit dives.

[craddock 0]

Packing open corners with a very tight fitting main may take a liitle longer. At least on my rig. There are many people who don't like to pack my rig. I have even been told by a very well known packer that it was "cut wrong" . It looked awfull when she gave it back to me. It is important to tuck the bottom flap as you close the side flaps. I have had some horrible looking pack jobs done for me although I rarely use packers because my rig is a pain. Even when I do, I end up trying to fix it a bit.
My problem is coumpounded my a tight fitting main in addition to not having a pack tray. Not all open corners are the same. I have seen some that are stitched up a small amount to form a tray.

Josh

That spot isn't bad at all, the winds were strong and that was the issue! It was just on the downwind side.

[gus 1]

So your open corners are completely open such that the bottom flap would lie totally flat against the ground? Is that the mod that Wings offers or did you have it done by someone else?

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[craddock 0]

Yes it lays flat against the ground. It was not a mod. It is a container that was designed for birdman flying for Jari. It was called the Birdman before they offered the "birdman" option on all the rigs they sell.
Josh

That spot isn't bad at all, the winds were strong and that was the issue! It was just on the downwind side.

[geanky 0]

bump

i would really like to see more comments on this topic

learn to fly in 3d

[skygod7777 0]

my personal rig that is pull out doesn't have corners. i unstitched them. i was getting a little bit of a delay, and i decided it was because it was too tight in the container (it was built for a 79 fx, not a 85 vx). i have no problems at all, and it fixed the little delay i had also.

later

[hookitt 0]

My side flaps don't wrap around so unless I make new ones I can't have completely open corners.

I dump in a full on track nearly every time, though I don't have a problem doing it, I can on occasion feel the bag staying in the container longer than it should.

Open corners are a good thing.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[maretus 0]

I have open corners "mod" made for my wings container and (so far) I havn't had any problems with it in non wingsuit dives. I'd say the same what most people have already said, if the pin opens preaturely you have serious problems in any case. And I wouldn't suggest any partially open corners, because in that configuration you take all the possible downsides of open corners but not all the benefits !

Markus

http://www.ufufreefly.com

[gus 1]

I had a good look at the pack tray of my container (Teardrop SF) last night, trying to imagine how it would pack up if I had the corners unstitched. My one concern is that without the stitching all the tension is running down the middle of the bottom flap and that will make the corners will bulge out, exposing the lines sat in the bottom of the tray. It's almost as if the bottom flap could use some 'ears' to tuck inside the left and right flaps to tidy everything up.

I suppose it's not an irrecoverable mod, you could have the corners stitched up again if you wanted? I'll talk it over with some riggers tomorrow.

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[gus 1]

Quote

It's almost as if the bottom flap could use some 'ears' to tuck inside the left and right flaps to tidy everything up.

What do you know - had a look at a Gargoyle with open corners on Saturday and that's exactly what it has! Spoke to my other friendly local rigger and he didn't see any problems in installing them on my SF. He did say that it would be alot easier if my reserve was due at the same time, something about making it easier to get the container under the sewing machine. Riggers eh, always complaining about something .

He mentioned the fact that the container would no longer 'grip' the dbag but didn't seem too worried about it.

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[jmfreefly 0]

I just got my new Wings, with the cut corners, and after two weekends of jumping it (no wingsuit jumps yet), I have to say I get much better openings. Much more on heading. I own two wings now, and my older one had been prone to hanging up a bit sometimes, even in non-wingsuit jumps. That is why my new one has cut corners. I am glad I got them.

I am going to have my rigger alter my older wings to destitch the corners.

That being said, it is slightly more of a pain in the butt to pack, as it requires a few extra pokes and prods to keep the lines and bag inside the flaps before you get the pin in. If the canopy is properly sized for the rig, it shouldnt be a problem.. if not, good luck!

[billvon 2,379]

I think there are several issues.

If you sink it out for a few seconds before deploying, the canopy will be pulled out in a more perpindicular direction, thus reducing the need for cut corners. If it is packed well (grommet up) this will help alleviate the problem of a tight container causing a 'stuck' bag, as will a longer bridle. A more docile canopy will help alleviate the problem of line twists due to a tight bag departing unevenly. If the container is loose to begin with, the problem is reduced a bit.

I think cut corners can help get cleaner, on-heading deployments, and might be a good idea for those with very high loadings who can't deal with line twist. If you don't want to cut those corners (literally!) there are other ways to deal with the problem.