"Grim Rigger" - Blue Skies Magazine

[kkeenan 14]

The column, "Grim Rigger" in Blue Skies Magazine, presents a real-world view of the ancient, honorable trade of parachute rigging. It discusses some of the elements of a rigger's life, low pay, long hours, and ungrateful, abusive customers.

I think it's one of the best sections of this new magazine, which is in its first year of publication. If any of the denizens of this fine forum have read the column, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it.

Kevin K.

_____________________________________
Dude, you are so awesome...
Can I be on your ash jump ?

[kmills0705 0]

Hey, I don't believe I received a Jan or February issue of Blue Skies... everyone else getting theirs?!

Kim Mills
USPA D21696
Tandem I, AFF I and Static Line I

[Flyfast 0]

They combined the Jan/Feb issue into one. Mine just came the other day.

ZC OG

[kmills0705 0]

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They combined the Jan/Feb issue into one. Mine just came the other day.

Thanks FLyfast... I will be looking for mine...

Kim Mills
USPA D21696
Tandem I, AFF I and Static Line I

[pchapman 279]

When I saw the title in this post, I figured the column in the magazine would be like one that ran in Canpara many years ago -- Howard Sommerfeld's "Museum of Rigging Horrors", showing things to watch out for!

[Amazon 7]

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The column, "Grim Rigger" in Blue Skies Magazine, presents a real-world view of the ancient, honorable trade of parachute rigging. It discusses some of the elements of a rigger's life, low pay, long hours, and ungrateful, abusive customers.

I think it's one of the best sections of this new magazine, which is in its first year of publication. If any of the denizens of this fine forum have read the column, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it.

Kevin K.

Oh and here I thought the thread was about Ted Mayfield.

[JohnDeere 0]

I like the whole mag. Sky god is very funny and to the point.

Nothing opens like a Deere!

You ignorant fool! Checks are for workers!

[kmills0705 0]

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I like the whole mag. Sky god is very funny and to the point.

Yup! I got mine today. Great issue. I <3 Blue Skies!

Kim Mills
USPA D21696
Tandem I, AFF I and Static Line I

[riggerrob 643]

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When I saw the title in this post, I figured the column in the magazine would be like one that ran in Canpara many years ago -- Howard Sommerfeld's "Museum of Rigging Horrors", showing things to watch out for!

.........................................................................

Do you mean like the reserve I inspected today with hot-melted lumps of steering lines still deep in the finger-trap?

[spootch 0]

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When I saw the title in this post, I figured the column in the magazine would be like one that ran in Canpara many years ago -- Howard Sommerfeld's "Museum of Rigging Horrors", showing things to watch out for!

.........................................................................

Do you mean like the reserve I inspected today with hot-melted lumps of steering lines still deep in the finger-trap?

ya lost me, what happened?

[riggerrob 643]

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When I saw the title in this post, I figured the column in the magazine would be like one that ran in Canpara many years ago -- Howard Sommerfeld's "Museum of Rigging Horrors", showing things to watch out for!

.........................................................................

Do you mean like the reserve I inspected today with hot-melted lumps of steering lines still deep in the finger-trap?

ya lost me, what happened?

.......................................................................

The rigger who assembled the reserve hot cut the ends of the steering lines, hollow-fid finger-trapped them, but forgot to cut off the hard, hot-cut ends.

That mistake is mentioned in the exam for CSPA Rigger A, but it has been more than a decade since the last time I saw this error.

Maybe that is because I have only used wires to finger-trap suspension lines for the last decade.

[spootch 0]

gotcha

[JerryBaumchen 1,451]

Hi Rob,

Please realize that this is not be to negative towards you.

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The rigger who assembled the reserve hot cut the ends of the steering lines, hollow-fid finger-trapped them, but forgot to cut off the hard, hot-cut ends.

While I 'accept' that this is de rigueur when finger-trapping the excess line, I do not find it mentioned in any of the ram-air reserve manuals that I have on my shelf.

I looked at:

Smart - no mention
Amigo - no mention
Techno - no mention
Swift - no mention
PD - no mention
Raven - no mention

I am curious what other riggers have to say on this.

JerryBaumchen

PS) de rigueur => noun - strictly required, as by etiquette, usage, or fashion

[riggerpaul 1]

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Hi Rob,

Please realize that this is not be to negative towards you.

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The rigger who assembled the reserve hot cut the ends of the steering lines, hollow-fid finger-trapped them, but forgot to cut off the hard, hot-cut ends.

While I 'accept' that this is de rigueur when finger-trapping the excess line, I do not find it mentioned in any of the ram-air reserve manuals that I have on my shelf.

I looked at:

Smart - no mention
Amigo - no mention
Techno - no mention
Swift - no mention
PD - no mention
Raven - no mention

I am curious what other riggers have to say on this.

JerryBaumchen

PS) de rigueur => noun - strictly required, as by etiquette, usage, or fashion

I was taught that the end of the finger-trapped line must be soft.

I was taught that if you hot knife a line that will later be finger trapped, you must cut the hard end off with a razor of some sort, so that you have only un-melted line that is soft.

I was also taught that the end should be cut at a sharp angle so you don't create a shoulder where the end is inside the outer line. There should be a smooth transition from the fatter area to the thinner area.

No, I don't see this mentioned in canopy manuals, but it is part of what I was taught to properly finger-trap a line.

I looked in my PD Reserve manual, and it did recommend finger-trapping the excess line.

I don't need them to spell out what is the proper way to finger-trap a line.

That's something I should already know from my training.

[BrianM 1]

Jerry,

I haven't looked through all those manuals. I did just take a look at the PD reserve manual, they recommend finger trapping the excess line but don't say how to finger trap it. I suspect the other manuals are similar.

There are more than one technique to finger trap lines. It is up to us as riggers to know the proper way to do whichever technique we choose to use. I don't expect a canopy or container manual to teach me basic rigging techniques.

I was taught the same as Paul - no melted end to be left inside the line, end should be cut at an angle so there is no lump.

"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

[pchapman 279]

Not mentioned?
Perhaps because reserve lines would - I expect - normally arrive without the end of the steering lines hot knifed, if they are Spectra?
Or are some of them lightly hotknifed??

This could use a new thread.

[BrianM 1]

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Not mentioned?
Perhaps because reserve lines would - I expect - normally arrive without the end of the steering lines hot knifed, if they are Spectra?
Or are some of them lightly hotknifed??

When finger-trapping using a fid, the end of the line is normally melted before screwing it into the fid. This gives the threads in the fid something to bite into.

"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

[pchapman 279]

Thank you Brian, that makes sense. It's even on the little sheet Paragear sends out with their plastic fids, the ones I have so rarely used after making piano wire style fids years ago.

[riggerrob 643]

Finger-trapping is not mentioned in the Smart manual, because their steering lines come looped from the factory.
Strong Tandem reserves come looped from the factory.

I doubt if the others mention the process.
The last time I asked George Galloway (from Precision) he changed the topic.

I have never gotten a straight answer from any of the other manufacturers.


But I can tell you a few horror stories about reserve steering lines tied improperly or not at all!

[JerryBaumchen 1,451]

Hi all,

There are times when people simply amaze me.

First, I do not speak for any canopy mfr nor do I speak for the FAA.

When I was in college a math instructor once asked the class what 2 + 2 equaled. We all responded, 'Four.' So he asked us why didn't it equal six. Dumbfoundedly, we just looked at him. He then explained why 2 + 2 = 4; it was because we defined it that way, and for no other reason.

riggerpaul )

I was taught that the end of the finger-trapped line must be soft

you must cut the hard end off with a razor

OK, how about that I teach you differently; who will you believe then? Have you ever known a rigger to be wrong? Did you ever consider that he might have just been passing along an 'old wive's tale?'

When you say 'must' just whose 'must' is this, since I could not find it as a 'must' in any of the manuals that I researched?

Again, when the mfr and/or the FAA ( a small thing about those folks having authority ) tells me that I must cut off the hot-knifed end, then I will consider it to be req'd.

There are many things that I was 'taught' by riggers early in my rigging career. I have found many, many of those things to be simply incorrect.

BrianM )

It is up to us as riggers to know the proper way

Again, I ask: Whose 'proper' are you referring to since I cannot find it in any manual that I have looked through?

riggerrob )

I have never gotten a straight answer from any of the other manufacturers.

This I believe, because they have never told you to do it this way; nor have they told you to do it any other 'way.'

Again, there are no documented guidelines in any manual that I have researched.

But I can tell you a few horror stories about reserve steering lines tied improperly or not at all!

Different issue all together; and I do believe you.

Look, I am not saying to not cut the hot-knifed end off. But I am saying it is not REQUIRED by any mfr in any manual that I have looked through.

This is one reason why I included this in my post:

de rigueur => noun - strictly required, as by etiquette, usage, or fashion

A question: If you really wanted to know the answer to this issue, just where would you go for the factual truth? I don't about you three but I would ask the specific canopy mfr of the canopy in question. I would not ask anyone else.

It just rankles me when people start using terms like 'must' & 'required' when there is simply no basis for the use of those terms.

I am really not trying to be negative towards any of you but I wish you ( and everyone ) would only make such firm statements when they have some basis in fact; such as even one canopy mfr stating that it is req'd.

I have said how I feel on this and do want to drag this on any further. If you feel that I am wrong, that is fine with me. Just do not ask me to agree with you.

Take care,

JerryBaumchen

PS) I have been building harnesses since 1979 under TSO-authorizations issued by the FAA. I build my harnesses with a 3-point stitch pattern everywhere on the harness; whereas most other mfrs use the more common 4-point stitch pattern. Would you say that those other mfrs are correct and that I am wrong? I would hope not because my 3-point stitch patterns are in the 'Specifications' that I have submitted to the FAA.

[BrianM 1]

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There are times when people simply amaze me.

That's how I felt reading your last post!

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When I was in college a math instructor once asked the class what 2 + 2 equaled. We all responded, 'Four.' So he asked us why didn't it equal six. Dumbfoundedly, we just looked at him. He then explained why 2 + 2 = 4; it was because we defined it that way, and for no other reason.

BS. If I have two rocks, and I add two more rocks, I will never end up with six rocks. I can define 2 + 2 = 6 but I will still only have four rocks. Your instructor was full of it.

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Again, I ask: Whose 'proper' are you referring to since I cannot find it in any manual that I have looked through?

Really? Your really asking that? You really think that something as basic as "don't put something sharp inside the line" needs to be spelled out in writing? You really think a canopy manual should have to explain how to perform a very basic rigging technique, or that the FAA should mandate it?

I don't recall any manual ever telling me how to do a finger trap at all. They just say to do it, and expect that I know how to do it in one way or another. The canopy manual is not there to teach me how to be a rigger!

If you really want to take the tack that everything needs to be spelled out, then lets look at it this way: the canopy came with ends that were not melted, and they did not tell me to melt them, so I either shouldn't melt them, or if I do I should put them back the way they were.

I don't recall a manual telling me to remove my molar strap after bagging the reserve, so I guess that is optional too? I can just go ahead and leave it in place, since they didn't say otherwise, right?

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This I believe, because they have never told you to do it this way; nor have they told you to do it any other 'way.'

Exactly! They expect us, as riggers, to know how to perform basic rigging techniques!

I really have no idea what the point of this discussion is.

"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

[rushmc 23]

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There are times when people simply amaze me.

That's how I felt reading your last post!

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When I was in college a math instructor once asked the class what 2 + 2 equaled. We all responded, 'Four.' So he asked us why didn't it equal six. Dumbfoundedly, we just looked at him. He then explained why 2 + 2 = 4; it was because we defined it that way, and for no other reason.

BS. If I have two rocks, and I add two more rocks, I will never end up with six rocks. I can define 2 + 2 = 6 but I will still only have four rocks. Your instructor was full of it.

Quote

Again, I ask: Whose 'proper' are you referring to since I cannot find it in any manual that I have looked through?

Really? Your really asking that? You really think that something as basic as "don't put something sharp inside the line" needs to be spelled out in writing? You really think a canopy manual should have to explain how to perform a very basic rigging technique, or that the FAA should mandate it?

I don't recall any manual ever telling me how to do a finger trap at all. They just say to do it, and expect that I know how to do it in one way or another. The canopy manual is not there to teach me how to be a rigger!

If you really want to take the tack that everything needs to be spelled out, then lets look at it this way: the canopy came with ends that were not melted, and they did not tell me to melt them, so I either shouldn't melt them, or if I do I should put them back the way they were.

I don't recall a manual telling me to remove my molar strap after bagging the reserve, so I guess that is optional too? I can just go ahead and leave it in place, since they didn't say otherwise, right?I think the "count your tools" statement in most if not all manuals might cover that

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This I believe, because they have never told you to do it this way; nor have they told you to do it any other 'way.'

Exactly! They expect us, as riggers, to know how to perform basic rigging techniques!

I really have no idea what the point of this discussion is.

Hang in there Jerry, I am with you

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[riggerpaul 1]

Jerry, Rush,

Is there an accepted technique where you leave a lumpy end, or a sharp edge inside the line?

Is it acceptable to not have a smooth transition at the end of the interior line?

You have objected to what BrianM and I said.

But you've left us hanging, since you've said nothing about how to be better.

Teach us so we don't make the same mistake again.

riggerrob,

What do you teach when you teach about finger-trapping?

[riggerrob 643]

When I teach finger-trapping, I teach from the Para-Kit manual or the 2005 FAA manual (written by Sandy Reid) or Poynter's (Volume 2, page 350). All say to scissors cut the end of the "trapped line" at a shallow angle.

Whether you taper cut the line with scissors or a razor is a minor point, because the end result is the same: a gentle transition from two thicknesses of line to one thickness, ergo no "stress riser."

[rushmc 23]

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Jerry, Rush,

Is there an accepted technique where you leave a lumpy end, or a sharp edge inside the line?

Is it acceptable to not have a smooth transition at the end of the interior line?

You have objected to what BrianM and I said.

But you've left us hanging, since you've said nothing about how to be better.

Teach us so we don't make the same mistake again.

riggerrob,

What do you teach when you teach about finger-trapping?

You post like I disagree with you that the sharp shit should be cut off. I don't, I agree with you

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln