Wide rubber bands

[meltdown 0]

When I was packing after my last jump last Sunday, I needed a rubber band, and the only one I could find was one of those really wide ones. It looks like a normal "big" rubber band, only twice as wide. Is this a bag lock waiting to happen?

[ZoneRat 0]

Not if you replace it.

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

[slotperfect 7]

Those are for tandems. Don't use them for sport rigs unless you cut them in half.

I suggest you go to your gear store and spend three or four bucks for a couple pounds of rubber bands in a plastic bag. Keep them in your gear bag, with a handful in the pocket of your jumpsuit.

Arrive Safely

John

[riggerrob 643]

Probably.
It sounds like they handed you a rubber band intended for a Tandem Vector ... far too wide for sport gear.
Trivia, RWS specifies an even wider rubber band for military tandems (heavier and faster), but says they should never be used on sport gear.

[meltdown 0]

Thanks. I usually always carry some of the regular ones with me, but on this occasion I had run out. I'll replace it before I jump this weekend.

[f1shlips 2]

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When I was packing after my last jump last Sunday, I needed a rubber band, and the only one I could find was one of those really wide ones.

Nobody else who was jumping with you had a small (microline) or large (dacron) rubber band?

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It looks like a normal "big" rubber band, only twice as wide. Is this a bag lock waiting to happen?

Sounds like a tandem rubber band. Using the wrong part is asking for trouble. I don't like trouble if its easily avoided.

--
drop zone (drop'zone) n. An incestuous sesspool of broken people. -- Attributed to a whuffo girlfriend.

[f1shlips 2]

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RWS specifies an even wider rubber band for military tandems (heavier and faster), but says they should never be used on sport gear.

How wide is wide?

--
drop zone (drop'zone) n. An incestuous sesspool of broken people. -- Attributed to a whuffo girlfriend.

[JohnRich 4]

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rubber bands in a plastic bag. Keep them in your gear bag, with a handful in the pocket of your jumpsuit.

That last bit about a handful in your jumpsuit pocket is a good tip.

Sometimes you find yourself packing in a place away from your gear bag, and you want to be able to replace broken rubber bands. Oh, and you also want a pull-up cord in there too, but a shoelace will do in a pinch.

Some examples of such a scenario would be from landing in the country after a hot-air balloon jump, a demo jump, or just landing in the boonies from a really bad spot. It's much easier to hike out of the wilderness wearing a packed rig on your back, then to carry your chute all bundled up in your arms.

[steve1 5]

When I started jumping again, about four years ago, an old timer sold me his rig. For the first two stows he used tandem rubber bands. I asked him about it and he said it would help prevent line dump. So for the next few hundred jumps I did the same. Last summer this same guy had a bag lock, cut away, and lost his main canopy. Actually he found it after it was all chewed up by a combine in a wheat field, several days later. I'd bet the bag lock was caused by these rubber bands. I no longer use them on my sport rig......Steve1

[diablopilot 2]

While it's not recomended I seriously doubt that given a good quality pilot chute tandem bands will cause a bag lock.

Rubberbands don't cause bag locks, bad packing does.

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