Electra lineset

[sebinoslo 0]

I bought my first rig last year once off A-level and the canopy is an Electra 170. It now has close to 400 jumps.
From what I heard from few dealers/riggers, it is (nearly) impossible to get a new line set from PdF and once you do, it costs a ridiculous amount (even heard of £300 / $500).

A DZO of a major DZ in Spain told me they have been waiting over 6 months and still no news. And they have some purchasing power...

My question is simple but potentially sad: Should I, when the time comes to change the lines, buy a new canopy, which has proper support from its manufacturer? If yes, then what can I do with a canopy that is not fit to jump and which can basically not be fixed (i.e. no resale value).

Or should I order a lineset now and wait even a full year until relining becomes necessary - but at what cost?

All while knowing that the same issue will happen again in few hundreds jumps...(I plan on doing around 200 jumps a year going forward).

PS: I really like that canopy, my plan is to move to wingsuiting at some point so I don't plan on downsizing a lot (probably settle for a 150 - which should moer or less compare to a 170 from PdF)

[JohnRich 4]

A line set should be good for more than just "a few hundred" jumps. Manufacturers recommend they be replaced at 500-600 jumps. And that's about when lines will start breaking, in my experience.

You can have a rigger make your own new line set. Just get the specs from the manufacturer, buy the raw material, and fingertrap your own. You should be able to do that for much less than $500.

[Floflo 0]

Or you can ask a french dealer (A few have line sets in stock) to send it to you. PM me if you want their contacts.

[sebinoslo 0]

Hi john,

I actually asked that very question to a rigger this winter and he said this was not a viable solution. Replacing one broken line is fine but the whole line set was too "tricky" (for a lack of a better word).

Hopefully Floflo can get me in touch with a fellow frenchie who has a set on a shelf somewhere :-)

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

I actually asked that very question to a rigger this winter and he said this was not a viable solution. Replacing one broken line is fine but the whole line set was too "tricky" (for a lack of a better word).

That's kind of an odd response. Replacing the whole set is just a series of doing one at a time. So if he can do one, he should be able to do them all - it just takes longer.

Good luck on your search for the lines.

[sebinoslo 0]

What i got from his answer was that changing one line and having it close (+/- margin of precision) to the manufacture size would not affect flight a lot. whereas a whole line set all within the same small margin of error incurring when trying to replicate manufacture standard would have much larger effects.

Obviously I am not a rigger so I have no clue the type of margin we are talking about here...

I received PMs concerning contact info for French dealers who have some in stock apparently - 250€ the set. Seems like a problem solved :-)

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

What i got from his answer was that changing one line and having it close (+/- margin of precision) to the manufacture size would not affect flight a lot. whereas a whole line set all within the same small margin of error incurring when trying to replicate manufacture standard would have much larger effects.

Aha - I see. That makes sense. The manufacturers do pre-stretch the lines, and I don't know how well a rigger can do that in the field to match the manufacturers.