jerm 0 #1 July 16, 2004 And this, boys & girls, is why we should not put off simple gear maintenance. I have a demo canopy (extended demo) that came on risers with Rapide links and silicone slider bumpers. One of these bumpers is quite worn, and has a crack in it. Occasionally this slider bumper, when pulling the slider off the risers and over the links for packing, would slide off the link. As i'm generally heads-up and always do my own packing i considered this as more of a gear-nuissance that i'd get to when i wasn't on a call. Then of course the end of the day would come and it wouldn't happen that time and would therefore slip my mind. Until now. Backup to july 4th weekend. As it happens, sunset jump ran into dinner one night, so we all dropped our gear and ate... then the fireworks started, then fightnight began and soon we were looking at a large pile of nylon that got stashed away until morning, when some charitable soul packed my main for me. Fastforward to the following friday. I went out for a funjump which was, as advertised, quite fun. Normal skydive until i opened. It seems that my benevolent packer was not quite as heads-up at the same time that the bumper decided to come off the link again. It followed the slider all they way up to the canopy and was not to be seen again until i looked to see why the left side of my nose wouldn't fully inflate. Turns out the slider bumper only made it about 12" down the lines, and was preventing the lines from separating to allow full canopy spread and inflation. I fought with this for a while, trying to get the thing to slide down, but in the end i had to chop it. Lesson learned: little 'gear nuissances' can turn into full-on problems when you don't expect it. Sure, the person who packed should have been more heads-up, but they're rightly sharing the blame with me for allowing such a situation. now, congratulate me on my first save, i packed that reserve Landing without injury is not necessarily evidence that you didn't fuck up... it just means you got away with it this time Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #2 July 16, 2004 QuoteI have a demo canopy (extended demo) that came on risers with Rapide links and silicone slider bumpers. One of these bumpers is quite worn, and has a crack in it. Occasionally this slider bumper, when pulling the slider off the risers and over the links for packing, would slide off the link. A couple ways to fix this. 1) Get Slinks. Use the slider bumpers thay have If you don't want the slider coming down. 2) Replace your Slider bumpers with fabric bumpers 3) Tack your silicone bumpers in place. That's the order of preferance I'd use.---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jerm 0 #3 July 16, 2004 well, i DO want the slider coming down, and the bumpers and links are small enough to allow that, but the nature of the demo could have me sending it off at any time. As such i was reluctant to put it on my own risers or buy another pair of slinks for a demo. My mistake. Landing without injury is not necessarily evidence that you didn't fuck up... it just means you got away with it this time Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #4 July 16, 2004 A worn and cracked slider bumper was implicated by the BPA board of enquiry in a death in the UK last year. The board's conclusion was that the jumper "could" have been executing a double front riser approach in order to counter a strong head wind. He "could" have done this by holding the riser bumpers. This "could" have suddenly become a violent turn when one nylon bumper came off in the jumpers hand. This happend too low to the ground to effectively counter before impact and the jumper was killed. It seemed a bit of a leap of faith by the board, but that was their conclusion. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #5 July 16, 2004 Didn't want to point the finger, was just trying to provide options for the public who reads this.I'm with you on gear maintinence. Jumpers need to get involved and be proactive about it.---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 279 #6 July 20, 2004 And what's the opinion on silicone slider bumpers that are not tacked down on reserves? I've seen some reserves like that while rigging. Is it a common practice? One time, I opened a rig to find that one silicone slider bumper had slid off the rapide link. I'm not a highly experienced rigger, but I like to have reserve slider bumpers tacked down, even if they are silicone and "should" stay in place on the links. As far as how to tack silicone bumpers, I prefer wrapping the supertack around the whole bumper top to bottom, rather than piercing the bumper and doing a short loop to the side of the bumper. The latter method looks a lot neater & cleaner, but a crack can initiate where the silicone bumper is pierced. I've replaced the occasional bumper on both mains and reserves after they've split partially open. Comments by riggers? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sundevil777 102 #7 July 21, 2004 QuoteAnd what's the opinion on silicone slider bumpers that are not tacked down on reserves? That the rigger doesn't deserve to be one.People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #8 July 21, 2004 There is no FAR that says that they have to be tacked down. The only blurb that I know of that says anything about tying the covers down is the pictures in the PD reserve manual. That portion of the manual could be considered confusing since the pictures show one thing but the manual never states what they are doing or how to do it. Correction: SLIDER STOPS: Insure that the slider stops located on the connector links are the correct ones, are positioned correctly, and are properly tacked to the links. No substitutes are authorized for Performance Designs slider stops. But this only applies for PDR's as far as I know.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
d604 0 #9 July 21, 2004 Yah, tack down silicone slider bumpers. Whether or not it is a regulation (wherever you live) is irrelevant. As to my preferred method of tacking them down, yah, I don't like to puncture the silicone if I don't have too. Sean Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fundgh 0 #10 July 21, 2004 Quote Occasionally this slider bumper, when pulling the slider off the risers and over the links for packing, would slide off the link. I understand what you are doing and why (I think), but isn't it more acceptable to leave the slider above the risers if it has bumpers, and to pull it down if it does not? It has been my understanding and experience that problems can result from straying from the above described methods. I have slinks with no bumpers and I pull the slider down, but when I had rapide links with silicone bumpers it seemed dangerous to try to get the slider over them ( and a pain in the ass!) Just learning!...FUN FOR ALL! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
