Riser lift tabs

[rsibbald 0]

Apologies if this has been discussed before, but a quick search didn't yield any results.

I am looking for as many opinions as possible on the use of riser lift-tabs on student SL gear. Any pros and cons would be welcomed.

In case they're called something different elsewhere in the world.... by 'riser lift-tabs', I mean a tab coming off the riser on each side, which is bungeed onto the side of the deployment bag. This (ideally) causes the risers to be pulled vertical first, before allowing any lines to begin paying out from the line stows.


As far as my own knowledge goes:

Pros:

I assume they reduce the chance of getting lines snagged under the reserve tray if the student fails to arch and falls away in a flat, vertical position.

Cons:
Complicates packing slightly, it's another thing for a packer to forget to do.

Could possibly induce twists / funky openings if one side prematurely releases due to assymmetric pressure from riser covers.


Disclaimer: This is only my rudimentary understanding of their use after observing another centre using them.

Comments appreciated - thanks guys!

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

I have been skydiving for over 23 years and have never seen anything like you describe. I will further add that I have been a SL instructor for well over 15 years.

[councilman24 37]

Ditto skymonkey, only 26 years and 18 years SL instructor and 20 years rigger. I've never seen that either.

Either a Europe thing or unique to some DZ somewhere?

BTW I'll translate into American: by bungee I assume you mean rubber band, not bungee cord.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[rsibbald 0]

Yep, by bungee I mean standard elastic bands that you might commonly use for stowing lines on a D-bag.

It may well be a localised thing, if anyone else has heard of this practice then please say so!

I know that it is required on the equipment at two centres in England for sure, and was hoping to find out more of the reasoning behind it.

I guess if it isn't more widespread than I thought, I'll need to get myself back to one of those centres and talk to the riggers.

Cheers

[meatbomb 0]

One of the proposed solutions that the BPA RAPS Working Group are looking at involves a redesigned static line bag, which includes this feature.

The idea is that most entaglements on RAPS come from bad exits, where the jumper is one-side down. This may lead to one riser being held in place (temporarily) by the reserve tray. This causes the riser to bag distance to be different from side to side, which means that one set of lines (leading from the lower side of the jumper) is taut, and the other (on the higher side of the jumper) is loose. The loose lines are now in amongst the legs and arms of the tumbling jumper, allowing the possibility of entanglement.

The riser lift tabs ensure that the risers will both be lifted away from the reserve tray, prior to the line deployment, and keeps the riser to bag differing lengths to a minimum, which should help to reduce the instances of entanglement.

The other features this bag has include a Centre Base Tie, a more aerodynamic shape, and stows on the flap (rather than the sides of the bag). It has proven extremely effective in testing so far, but we still have a long way to go.

---
Swoopert, CS-Aiiiiiii!
Piccies

[rsibbald 0]

Thanks a lot for the info Rupert.
It sounds like the working group is making a lot of progress, I look forward to reading the results of the testing.

[riggerrob 643]

Quote

I have been skydiving for over 23 years and have never seen anything like you describe. I will further add that I have been a SL instructor for well over 15 years.

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

Ditto.

I suspect that this British invention is based on the old military practice of tying risers to the corners of the D-bag with 80 pound break cord.
Note: 80 pound break cord would be too strong for the low-speed civilian environment.

There are several other ways to solve this problem. The two that come to mind are line guides and IAD.

Line guides are found in Atom, EOS, Icon and Sidewinder containers. These little triangles are extensions of the reserve side walls that extend straight down into the main container. Initially they discourage packers from laying the risers anywhere except straight down the outboard edges of the main container. Their secondary function is to discourage main risers from wrapping under the lower corners of the reserve container.
If you are having a really bad day, a main riser can rip the reserve container clean off of the pack tray. Static-lines only complicate the issue dragging the main d-bag across the reserve. I have repaired this type of damage on several popular skydiving rigs.

This whole problem of main risers tearing off reserve containers cropped up 20 years ago when West Way and Roger Sport tested the first piggyback static-line rigs in Canada. After tearing off a few reserve containers, they concluded that they did not want to resew reserve containers on a regular basis, so when Canadian DZs converted to piggyback student gear in the mid 1980s, most of them also converted to IAD.
IAD's primary advantage is that tension on the bridle is applied downwind, usually at 90 degrees to the pack tray, eliminating the angle that causes the most damage to reserve containers.
Another advantage to IAD is that they get to line stretch so quickly that students do not have enough time to backloop before risers are extended.
Americans eventually saw this logic and most converted their static-line rigs to IAD during the 1990s.

So it sounds like the Pommies are re-inventing the wheel.
Hee! Hee!

[FrancoR 0]

What ist IAD, is that instrucor aided deployment?

If it does not cost anything you are the product.

[gerrcoin 0]

Quote

What ist IAD, is that instrucor aided deployment?

Yes. Instructor deploys a pilot chute for the student as he/she releases from the aircraft. No static line.