TomAiello

I'd call Morpheus and ask them. My thoughts? I wouldn't do it. Velcro rigs can easily take undersized canopies. Pin rigs are much more sensitive to canopy changes. Putting an undersized canopy in a pin rig can lead to loose pins (and a generally looser container, which can also mean loose flaps). You can only shorten the closing loops so much. Really loose pins can be really bad at high airspeeds, because they can lead to ugly things like premature deployments and horseshoes. But they can also be bad for things like climbing with a rig on, or just walking out to the exit (imagine having your pins slide out as you wiggle through the steel, and your canopy falling out as you get to the exit...). Bottom line? Call Morpheus and ask them about your particular setup. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think it's too difficult to generalize. If you have (for example) no brake setting at all then, yes, I'd generally agree. But (especially with an unvented canopy) slightly shallower brakes can give you a marginally faster opening, because a little opening surge can help push air into the nose of the canopy. I think it's going to be very particular to the type of canopy, exactly how "shallow" the brakes are, and presence/absence of bottom skin inlets. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A few thoughts: 1) I'm a big ole fat guy. If you're thick through the thighs, working the zippers is a big pain. Plus, I've got limited flexibility in my right ankle (due to the 13 screws), so it's an even bigger pain for me. I think that skinny, flexible people need the LQRS a lot less than fat, inflexible people. 2) I typically get under canopy around 300-500'. That means that I don't have enough time to screw around with the zipper. 3) Even on skydives, where I'm under canopy by 3000', I usually just pull the leg cutaway instead of mucking around with the zipper. Yes. I even have one suit that I retrofitted with LQRS on both sides of the leg. What else would you do with it? I use it on about 95% of my jumps. It's my regular method for opening the legs. I find it quicker and more convenient than the zippers. Yes. Yes. I wouldn't jump a birdman suit without it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You can do it with a white crayon, of the kind that tailors use to mark black clothing for alteration. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Looking at your profile, I see you have 41 jumps. I'd strongly recommend you not make a 200' freefall at your experience level. Let's move the technical part of this discussion over to BLiNC. Give me a minute, and I'll post my thoughts on the new thread over there. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ah. Here it is. The relevant part (emphasis added): Interesting. I always use the "find the stall point then back off a little" technique, followed by a bunch of test jumps. I'd guess that my method will find a deeper setting, and the CR method will find a more conservative setting. Their setting will probably be usable in a tailwind, though, which my deepest setting usually isn't. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Wow. Really? I've never heard that before. My DBS tends to be "just above stall". This gives me a great DBS for solid objects, but doesn't work so good in tailwinds (slider down towers and bridges), so I usually end up with a second "not so deep" brake setting for tailwinds. I tend to set my DBS first, then set my shallow setting off the deep. Then I test the shallow setting out of a plane, so that a deployment stall won't hurt. My goal is to end up with at least a "maximum deep" setting for no-wind slider down, and a "terminal deep" (i.e. shallow) setting for terminal. I tend to use the interval that the manufacturer set between their two settings as my "standard" to start looking for the shallow setting. In other words, if the manufacturers two settings are four inches apart, I find my deep brake setting and then put the "shallow" setting in four inches above it (for starters--then I test jump it). Of course, with BR now including only one setting, this technique won't work. This may sound like a whole lot of work, and I do generally end up with four ( ) brake settings (maximum deep, "not so deep", terminal, and slider up subterminal). I'd rather put the work in on a new canopy, rather than just end up jumping a brake setting that gives me too much forward speed on opening. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Have you asked around? There are plenty of BASE jumpers in the south of France. If you fill in your profile information (particularly what DZ you are at) you'll probably get more help. Edit: There are not many French BASE jumpers on this forum. I'd recommend posting to the French BASE Association Forum. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Sorry for the confusion. I don't think that you (or anyone else in particular) don't understand that brake settings need to be customized. I've just had to explain this to six or seven new jumpers quite recently. In general, I've seen young jumpers assuming that the brake settings on their canopy would somehow magically be the correct ones for their body weight. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think just because we need names to differentiate between them, and that's what everyone calls them. Absolutely. I think the names "deep" and "shallow" derive from their relation to each other if used in the same slider configuration. Regardless, they are just names. You could just as easily call them "1" and "2", except that then you'd have to explain what you meant to other jumpers who you wanted to discuss them with. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A few discussions that relate to this one (either directly or peripherally): Emphasis added by me on all quotes. Australian BASE Association Forum, discussion on 5th Control Line Short BLiNC discussion about the effects of greater or lesser exit weight on a specific brake setting. "Why Use Shallow Brake Setting" on BLiNC. The bottom line is that what's deep for one jumper and gear configuration is not deep for a different jumper and/or configuration. Deep Brake Settings should be customized by each jumper for their own exit weight and jumping style. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This is a very common misconception. The appropriate deep brake setting for any specific jumper and gear combination is specific to that jumper and gear combination. So, if my DBS is set properly for me, and I give it to you to jump, it is no longer a proper DBS. The two loops on the lines set by the manufacturer (or one, in the case of some manufacturers) are really just rough guesses, on the part of the manufacturer, at what an appropriate brake setting would be, slider up and slider down, for the "average" exit weight for that canopy. In fact, factory brakes are usually very shallow (i.e. a canopy deployed in factory brake settings will exhibit significant forward drive prior to releaseing the brakes). Every jumper ought to set their own personal deep brake setting (and shallow, too, but deep is more critical because slider down openings are almost always closer to the object). If you are using the "deep" brake setting that came with your canopy, it isn't really your "deep" setting. Some manufacturers do try to customize your deep setting based on your body weight (generally, leaving the shallow setting the same for every canopy delivered, but altering the deep setting by the customer's reported weight). While this is a step in the right direction, I strongly believe that it is the responsibility of every jumper to find their own deep brake setting, customized for their exit weight and gear configuration. Note that some experienced jumpers actually choose to have three (or even more) brake settings, for varying configurations and conditions. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I am duplicating this post from the "freepacking into skydiving rig" thread. I would love to start a discussion about this. I believe it is a very important topic that the majority of BASE jumpers have either forgotten, or never been taught. I especially encourage those who disagree with my point to respond and explain why they believe a properly configured Deep Brake Setting is no longer required for slider down deployment. No. You are correct. A properly set DBS used slider up will result in a deployment stall. If your DBS can be used slider up, then it is probably too shallow to be truly considered a "deep" brake setting at your exit weight, and you ought to customize a true "deep" brake setting for yourself. Here is yet another copy of something I re-posted a while back: I believe that the BASE world is somehow forgetting that a Deep Brake Setting ought to be customized to a particular jumper. Partly this is a sign of laziness on our part. Partly, it is a bad habit being actively encouraged by some gear manufacturers (BR? Care to comment on why you are doing this?) In either case, it is certain to result in object strikes and injuries (see the wall strike at the last turkey boogie, under a shallow braked canopy). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

No. You are correct. A properly set DBS used slider up will result in a stall. If your DBS can be used slider up, then it is probably too shallow to be truly considered a "deep" brake setting at your exit weight, and you ought to customize a true "deep" brake setting for yourself. Here is yet another copy of something I re-posted a while back: I believe that the BASE world is somehow forgetting that a Deep Brake Setting ought to be customized to a particular jumper. Partly this is a sign of laziness on our part. Partly, it is a bad habit being actively encouraged by some gear manufacturers (BR? Care to comment on why you are doing this?) In either case, it is certain to result in object strikes and injuries (see the wall strike at the last turkey boogie, under a shallow braked canopy). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

...kind of throws me. I don't wear 100% camo but I do like my camo pants.

Check it out: 21,853 posts?! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Definitely. 42". 4 second delay. I've probably also done a 42, slider up at shorter delays (3 or so) when trying to time a multi way, or just because I'm soft and was doing many jumps in a short time and wanted softer openings. But the largest PC for a slider up jump where I was focusing on the mechanics of that particular jump was a 42" PC with a large mesh slider taking a four second delay. It was pure silliness. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Pulled Down Apex. But I'm not a rigger, so I may not have a very good understanding of the proper terminology. What's the difference between a pulled down apex and a pulled down vent line? Or, more accurately, what's a vent line? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It hasn't been too bad, actually. I haven't done any careful studies, but I haven't really noticed a problem. Yes. Anytime I did a low stowed jump (below about 300' or so), I'd stow the PC as close to the exit as possible. I started doing this after a PC hesitation from 300', on a PC packed the night before, in which the most knowledgable jumper on site declared the problem to be "random stowed hesitation." I think that a PC packed for less time will tend to inflate quicker and hesitate less. Gosh, I dunno. I've only ever replaced BOC spandex on one BASE rig. It probably had about 300 jumps on it at the time. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A short summary (in my words) of the manufacturers responses: Approximately 100 jumps is a good time to start thinking of trading out a PC. This is especially true on F-111 PC's. ZP PC's can last much longer (sometimes as much as twice as long). PC wear, like canopy wear, will depend on usage, and conditions. Getting a PC wet will contribute to wear, as well as degrading trim. Check for worn stitch holes, shrunk lines, or porous material. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I hate to admit this, but... I have had two big reasons for going stowed at low altitudes at various points in my sordid past. 1) At one point I was uncurrent with hand held, and kept getting consistent 90's left with a hand held PC. This was because I would pitch with one side of my body and dip that shoulder during the opening sequence. I sorted it out with video and started doing a symmetric "fake pitch" with the other hand. But for a while there, around 200-300 jumps, I really was getting better heading stowed, and I'd go stowed when heading was important. 2) I used to go stowed from low altitude for the wow factor, to impress skydivers, to get chicks, etc. I don't recommend this, but I do understand it. I don't recommend it, and I don't do it much anymore, but my 48" has been inside my BOC plenty of times. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Can anyone over here help us with this discussion in the BASE forum? We're talking about the effects of venting the topskin of round parachutes (primarily pilot chutes), and in particular the effects of the venting on opening speed and hesitation rates. Help, anyone? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Of course it doesn't. It's just an anecdotal observation, not any kind of actual scientific observation. Thanks for explaining. As I said earlier, you know a lot more about the inflation mechanics than I do. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've split the two sub-discussion (PC wear and PC venting) off into their own threads, if anyone is looking for them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've split this off the "Non ZP PC" discussion, since it looks like a separate topic (vents on PC's) and hopefully will involve me learning some things. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com