How exactly are cutaway puds constructed?

[jerry81 10]

I'd take a few apart if I had them lying around but, alas, the only one is on my rig and I have a feeling it might yet be useful for something other than education.
Anyway, a few questions;
-is the cable continuous or is it actually two lengths of cable held together by what, to my best knowledge (gathered from Paragear's catalog), is called an oval sleeve?
-how is the cable attached to the pud? Is it a simple matter of making the hole on top small enough so the sleeve holding the cable can't pass through it or is there something else in there holding the cables in?
-are puds subjected to some sort of pull testing before they're sold/put on a rig?

Thanks in advance.

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[darkwing 5]

single piece of cable with a metal fitting compressed to hold a loop in the middle. This metal clamping is called a "swage." (one syllable, soft g). Then I believe a sturdy tape goes through the cable loop and is sewn securely to the handle. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[MrHixxx 0]

Well I can verify that a soft loop is built that way. It just has tape around the cable instead of it being inside a pillow...

Hixxx

death,as men call him, ends what they call men
-but beauty is more now than dying’s when

[riggerrob 643]

Quote

single piece of cable with a metal fitting compressed to hold a loop in the middle. This metal clamping is called a "swage." (one syllable, soft g). Then I believe a sturdy tape goes through the cable loop and is sewn securely to the handle. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Yup!
And the fancier, newer cutaway handles have a plastic stiffener that prevents them from folding under the harness.
Then you stuff the pud with as much foam rubber as you can cram inside and finish it off with a piece of Velcro.

[rigging65 0]

The beefiest ones out there have a sweet little metal tube with appropriate slots cut into them to receive the cables (almost the same as on a "soft" pillow reserve handle...which is not really all that soft
Having experimented with several different handle designs, the metal inserts are definitely the nicest to get your hand around. Very sturdy, and with less tendency to roll under than a "soft" soft handle.

"...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.
For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

[dsbbreck 0]

Do the cutaway and reserve handles fall under the TSO on the rig? The real question I want to know is who can make them? Doe it have to be the manufaturer, rigger, or can I make one?

David

"Socrates wasn't killed because he had the answer.......he was killed because he asked the question."