blitzkrieg 0 #1 August 11, 2005 ok, i know this has been discussed before... but i'm looking for some feedback from the people who've been using Slinks for a while now and what they feel their benefitting. they seem like a good idea to me, especially if you're not doing any reconfiguring other than slider up or down. similar to the explanation from the post of base515 on this issue a couple years back. any new takers on the slink bandwagon? ?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
base736 0 #2 August 11, 2005 Maybe this is an obvious question... My impression was always that one of the big advantages of slinks was that they allowed one to more easily pull the slider down behind the neck, and perhaps that they resulted in less damage to the slider grommets. As I recall, there's some argument that they're stronger than quick links as well. I'd like to keep my slider at the links or above, though, and certainly don't want it coming down to say hello to my toggles under any circumstances. I've never heard of a properly-closed quick link breaking, and I'm not really keen on fixing what ain't broke. So what's the benefit for BASE that makes them worthwhile in principle? As I say, I'm probably missing something obvious... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
base689 0 #3 August 12, 2005 > but i'm looking for some feedback from the people who've been using Slinks for a while now and what they feel their benefitting I used (reserve) S-Links on my Fox for, let's say, 10 skydives while I was skydiving my Fox (deployed from my Javelin) learning how to fly it. The idea of using S-Links was that they are stronger than steel rapide links and they can disassembled/assembled quickly by hand, not using any mechanical tool (=wrench): this aspect of "quick assembly/disassembly" was (I thought) a big positive issue when you have to switch form slider off to slider up and back to slider off, once started to BASE jump. That, in theory, holds true. In real life, I was wrong. Yes, they are sligthly superior to steel rapid link as far breaking load is concerned (due to the much higher elasticity S-Links have got with respect to steel rapid link), but this is a non-issue because myself too have never heard of a failure of a type 5 steel rapid link properly assembled/tightned and maintained/checked. What made me convince that S-Links are not such a good tool in real life (for BASE) is the fact that, actually, it takes WAY LONGER to disassemble a closed S-Link; furthermore, everytime you have to disassemble the S-Links, you must "attack" them quite aggressively with your fingers/nails, taking same S-Links to a rapid wear and tear, granted that you do a frequent change between no slider and slider up. Steel rapid link, on the opposite, are very fast to disassemble (even if you are using a wrench) and are "eternal", provided that you tighten them "the right amount" every time you close them down ("right amount" of tightening being a bare 1/4 turn beyond the point you reached tightning them by hand). The above are my practical reasons why I use only steel rapid links. Another good reason for using steel rapid link is (as 736 noted) that they keep slider ABOVE links and make same slider NOT to come down to say hello to toggles.Stay safe out there Blue Skies and Soft Walls BASE #689 - base_689AT_NO_123_SPAMyahoo.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
