suit "damage" - don't laugh :)

[The111 1]

See attached pic. I'm one of the few who actually routes the ends of my cables into those little "keepers" at the end. But this one just popped right through I guess. Yes, I know it's no big deal. I'm just wondering what most people do with their slack. I could just leave it hang out like this, or I could stow it inside the wing, but I feel like inside the wing the end of the cable might fuck up the fine mesh on the inlet somehow. I don't want to see that mesh tear or anything...

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[speedformula 0]

I purposedly punched holes on those cable tippers
,
(the cables were about 1 cm too long, so now they stick out that much, ..
never had any problems ,

just my .02

paul

Keeping it real 22x7

[VectorBoy 0]

This is a good example of what can happen on the LQRS cut away cable end that somehow gets abraided enough to have metal sticking up through the teflon coating. It can cut the material or at the very least be very hard to wind through the tabs because the end is snagging on the material.

When walking about keep the cable ends protected so as not to abraid.

As far as the wing cables go every body I know sucsessfully keeps them within the keepers and don't personal know of a suit made with the cables too long. I'm not saying it doesn't exist but for the most part you just push the other end farther down into the handle. You get "bunching" when seated in the aircraft as you are bent over but not when standing or in flight.
Just my experience.

[fenceline 0]

I route mine up to the keepers but don't weave them in, just let them hang out the last loop. This way i can do a pin check on the wings and easily tell non-birds how to fix it if it pulls loose in the plane.

[fergs 0]

OK, here's the BirdMan magic.

I have loop handles - so this will work for loop - not sure about pillow.

First take a look at your arm wing cable handle. You'll see the cable disappear into a channel in the handle and another one come back out beside it. Guess what? It's the same cable that does a Uturn in the handle webbing channel.

Now the magic. The way the handle is designed, you can actually push the two cable lengths down into the webbing of the handle. The same goes for the LQRS cable.

So if it's too long when threaded, go back to the handle and milk the excess into it.

Problem solved.

Blue Skies,

fergs

[John4455 0]

I used to leave mine out also, because they seemed to be just a little bit too long. During a boogie Vladi Pesa told me that I should tuck them in and not leave them out. I can't remember his reasoning but it made since at the time.
About a month ago, we were crammed in the otter, and I was sitting next to an AFF student, and his rig was all over me. It was very tight. At about 11,000 ft getting ready and checking my handles I see that my arm cut away was pulled about half way out. There was nobody else on the plane that knew how to fix it for me. I quickly took the suit off, put my rig on and jumped without the suit. A waste of a perfect sunset wingsuit flight.
Since then I started leaving them out of the keepers again, so if I'm in a crowded situation again, I can keep an eye on them and give them a little tug if needed.
Is there anybody out there that knows of a reason that leaving them out is not a good idea?

How do ya like it Johnny?

[kevin922 0]

It doesn't really matter, some can argue it is safer that way because you can give yoru cables a tug from the top before you exit the plane (or while in the plane) just to ensure they aren't creeping down on you.

Some people intentionally do not even route them in those keepers for that very reason.

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[VectorBoy 0]

Quote

About a month ago, we were crammed in the otter, It was very tight. At about 11,000 ft getting ready and checking my handles I see that my arm cut away was pulled about half way out. There was nobody else on the plane that knew how to fix it for me. Since then I started leaving them out of the keepers again, so if I'm in a crowded situation again,

My cables came out ( back side only ) about half way, a few months ago. I didn't know it until already in the doorway when the guy that took the picture in my avitar told me. I decided to jump anyway. It flew fine. Its hard to see it in the avitar pic but you can see in the original a white line or upper wing separation. But no problems.

The only reason I wouldn't leave cables exposed is for fear of snagging them on something in a tight aircraft. As far as tugging them goes you can always pull some slack on the ones in the front to verify full seating. Someone else will have to do the ones in the back.

[kevin922 0]

I am not sure how you can snag the tip of a cable on something but okay.

[LouDiamond 1]

My student suits have extra long cables that I intentionally leave out so I can 1. see them easily when checking my students gear and 2. It makes it nearly impossible for the myrid of different rigs and body shapes and cramped cabins to cause a wing to unlace itself on the ride up.

As a side bar: This cable sleeve issue has alrady been resolved and the suits being made now and the new suits will not have this issue. Jari and I made this and a few other sugested modifications some time back and the current line and the future line will offer several upgrades and changes at no additional cost.

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

[Cloudi 0]

My God. You're a genius!

Oh yeah...if the Fergie Magic doesn't do the trick and they're still too long...trim them, use a lighter, candle, Florida climate in August, or any other available heat source to soften (not melt) the coating just enough so that you can "round" and "smooth" it over any exposed metal. Just remember to leave enough slack for sitting in and moving around in a small A/C where you may be packed in like a canned fish product.

Kim
Watch as I attempt, with no slight of hand, to apply logic and reason.

[The111 1]

I did trim my cables when I first got the suit and rounded the ends of the plastic coating. But the one still managed to wear a hole through the keeper as my picture shows, and the other ones are starting to do the same. No big deal though.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[Cloudi 0]

I hope you didn't think I was slamming you or making light of your question. I replied to Fergie's post to have a laugh with his smart-ass self while very discreetly slipping in some info to people who may not know what to do about excess cable.

Not subtle enough, eh? I'll work on that!

I guess the stows are like so many other things in life: If you poke at it often enough and long enough; it will eventually get worn out. Or broken in, depending how you want to look at it.

Kim
Watch as I attempt, with no slight of hand, to apply logic and reason.

[fergs 0]

Quote

I replied to Fergie's post to have a laugh with his smart-ass self reply]

Oh Kim, you flatter me .... hahaha

Anyhow, there is another very important issue here regarding correct cable length as well as wingsuit hazards whilst in the aircraft. It is the possibility of a cable being inadvertantly caught on the carpet inside your jump-ship (hook-pile velcro is very good at this for those who haven't thought of it).

Anyhow, I have some great pics to show what happens when you leave a cable inside the aircraft. Unfortunately they are all over the size limit of what I can attach here.

So can someone help me? How can I reduce the size of JPEG's? Help me out and I'll dazzle and excite you!!

Blue Skies,

fergs

• Quote

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

So can someone help me? How can I reduce the size of JPEG's? Help me out and I'll dazzle and excite you!!

If you dont have a program to resize them, email them to me and I'll do it for you and post them.



Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[fergs 0]

Ed,

Thanks for the offer - but I think I've now got the problem solved.

As I I think it to be a very important seperate subject, I'll start a new thread. Plus it will not then create the dreaded "thread wandering" in here.

Blue Skies,

fergs

[kimgriffin 0]

You can also cut the cable to the correct length (making 100% sure you won't make it too short at it's max extention) with cable/wire cutters, melt the rough end with a lighter (away from your suit). When the yellow material is soft and melty (but not scortching) you run your thumb and finger over it to smooth the plastic over the rough end. Sometimes you have to do this a few times before you get it smooth enough that it's snag free.

I did this when I shortened my LQRS eons ago (I'm way too lazy to stow it in the keepers) and I've done this when I've had no choice but to use long cables on a short demo suit. (Or you can stow the excess inside the wing... I've never noticed wing damage in doing so but you do have a good point there.)

Hopefully I'm not repeating what anyone else has said... didn't read all the posts.