Demo Smoke Cannister HELP

[kallen 0]

Our demo team has a big demo next weekend and we need some help with smoke cannisters.

First, we recently lost our military smoke cannister connection so for this demo we ordered "skydiving" smoke cannisters from an otherwise reputable skydiving gear dealer but today we had some serious problems with it. During a practice jump with the new cannisters, one of our team members had 2 cannisters rigged on a foot bracket and on first pull, neither cannister deployed smoke. The pull was so hard that it funneled the formation. After this jumper got under canopy, he tried the pull again. The detonation wire on one of the cannisters extracted completely but did not ignite (no smoke) and the round ring on the other cannister pulled right off the detonation wire.

Can someone (maybe airtwardo, mjosparky or anyone) help us with a dependable smoke cannister solution?
Thanks,
Keith

[airtwardo 7]

I'm guessing that you are referring to the yellow cardboard canisters..

"Skydiver Smoke" or sometimes called "Cool Smoke"...

That's why everyone that sells them gives the disclaimer
NO Guarantee!

Some advise that may help...
When you mount them...don't tighten down hard at all on
the hose clamps, if that's what you're using to attach them to the bracket.

The interior space has the friction match,
and the wire runs down into it and can be crushed / deformed
not allowing it to pull correctly.

They don't weigh nearly as much as an M18,
so you don't need to have the clamp anywhere near as tight.

Also, align the screw part of the clamp right over the area that the wire runs into the canister...
the collar behind the screw will actually give you
1/8 - 1/16th of a gap that will help in allowing a
free pull on the wire.

Unlike M18's you MUST pull the wire straight back and away
from the end cap on the canister...

if you pull it at a 90 degree angle as you would on the
hammer / primer igniter on military smokes...
you will most likely only break the wire off..
or as in your case the ring will separate from the wire.

Good Luck with the Demo!!

Edited to add:
Spoke with Kallen concerning the problems he was having,
just wanted to post this in case others may have similar problems.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[riggerrob 643]

The pull was so hard that it funneled the formation.

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

That's odd.
I was always taught to deploy smoke on jump run (with the usual caveats about being in the doorway and immediately hanging your smoking foot outside), or after opening.
After opening, it is generally easier to hang the smoke cannister below you on a chain or steel cable.

[airtwardo 7]

Quote

I was always taught to deploy smoke on jump run (with the usual caveats about being in the doorway and immediately hanging your smoking foot outside), or after opening.

Quote

I raised that point to Kallen during a phone conversation.

Especially when using the type of smoke they are.

With M18's there isn't a problem getting them going at terminal, but the civilian stuff seems to ignite better
with less breeze.

Then again...
some aircraft owners don't like the idea of popping
smoke while still 'in' the plane...

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[kallen 0]

Thanks for the help everyone. Yep, all we have used are M18's rigged to a foot bracket that was made by a GK member. We rigged a parachute line to each pin then up the leg. Just after exit we then snatched the line to extract the pins. This demo requires a freefall formation in the shape of the signature mark of the sponsor. With the technique we have used with the M18s, we are in the formation before deploying the smoke.

Obviously we need a different technique with the cardboard cannisters. We have another practice session next Saturday to try again.

DZ.Commers are the greatest!