Rubber bands vs.....

[Dannost 0]

HI folks:
I'm newly licensed and just bought a Tri-190 so I also ordered their version of skybanz...SuperBanz, They're flat like conventional rubber bands but much longer lasting, or supposed to be. Any input from anyone out there? Dan

ISAIAH 40:31

[newshooter12 0]

A couple friends in the medical side of things are allergic to not just the latex, but the white powder on the gloves. The bags of rubberbands I've seen have had white powder on them too. matt

[skymedic 0]

I'm a medical person and use Nitrile gloves at work due to almost 9yrs of latex use...I developed an alergy to it...too the point that I develop a bad rash...and now I can't even use latex condoms eather........i use skybands...they work good for me..and the set I have on there now were put on when my rig was new...I just replaced two the other day. that's after 45 jumps on em..not bad at all if ya ask me.

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....

[scottbre 0]

Quote

...and now I can't even use latex condoms eather........i use skybands...

Ouch!!

"Your mother's full of stupidjuice!"
My Art Project

[rushmc 23]

I don't know about all the allergy stuff but, I put SuperBandz on my rig when I assembled it. I have 60 jumps on them now and I have replaced 2 of them. (I do not have them on the bag flap positions) I like them as they hold the mirco lines very well. When they are new they are harder to work with and I have not found a packer yet that likes them because of that. (They are harder to work with)
I keep a close eye on the lines and make sure not to cross over to another loop (I know you should do that all the time ) as my rigger and I wonder if these banz would break during deployment, like a regular rubber band would, if this mistake was made. Something to think about........

Anyway, I plan to keep using them.

I hope I helped out

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

[Dannost 0]

Rush, thanks for the info and I see what you mean. Just got my Superbanz in the mail and they look awfully small and I'm already all thumbs as it is but I'll give them a shot. Thanks again, Dan

ISAIAH 40:31

[cloud9 0]

Quote

I keep a close eye on the lines and make sure not to cross over to another loop (I know you should do that all the time ) as my rigger and I wonder if these banz would break during deployment, like a regular rubber band

I had a malfunctin last year that broke both steering lines (not at the cascade) and we believe this is what caused it. I'm a lot more carefull about it now.
Also I use a pull up cord through my superbandz (which I only use on the closing stows) and it makes things a lot easier.

[rushmc 23]

Good idea.....thanksThanks again

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

[Lolie 0]

Quote

I had a malfunctin last year that broke both steering lines (not at the cascade)

What's a cascade?

-Miranda
you shall above all things be glad and young / For if you're young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad / whatever's living will yourself become.

[GrumpySmurf 0]

My $0.02 (which is probably only worth $0.005)
The extra time and money I have 'wasted' on those 'cheap', 'easy to break' beige yellow bands saved me easily $2,000 from would have been a baglock and cutaway over a full grown cornfield - it started as a baglock at 3.7K, looked down, saw corn, cursed and swore, watched altimeter down to 2.5K and just as I was about to chop at 2K, the band snapped and the main popped out.
So it shall be cheapo bands for me.

[wmw999 2,452]

Quote

What's a cascade?

Where 2 lines "become" 1 line. It's done by taking 1 continuous line, and slipping (fingertrapping) the second line into its center. Remember those finger-trappy-thingies that you got at a carnival?
This is supposed to be followed by bartacking the joint. See the thread on reserve inspections on how this doesn't always happen.
Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[riddler 0]

Personally, I like the idea of a rubber band being able to break if it needs to. I've only used rubber bands, so I can't give a fair comparison. The guy that sold me my rig put one reserve ride on it - a bag lock from using tube stows.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[alan 1]

If you use fresh mil spec rubber bands and spray them with food grade silicone they will last as long or longer than tube stowes and hold your lines properly. My rubber bands often last 200 to 300 jumps. I even use the small bands on the HMA lines which are much thinner than microline and they still hold fine without double stowing. The silicone spray is also ideal (and recommended by several manufacturers) for cleaning and lubricating your cutaway cables at least once a month. Want to make your closing loops last longer? Make them out of Spectra and spary them with the silicone. One word of caution though, Spectra is very easily damaged by the friction heat from zipping a pull-up cord out, even once, and it is hidden against the pin. Don't use it if you use a packer that you can't trust to slowly remove the pull-up cord.

alan

[Lolie 0]

Where do you get food grade silicone?

-Miranda
you shall above all things be glad and young / For if you're young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad / whatever's living will yourself become.

[alan 1]

Quote

Where do you get food grade silicone?

ACE Hardware has it. usually near the automotive dept.

alan

[Hooknswoop 19]

Quote

Where do you get food grade silicone?

ACE Hardware has it. usually near the automotive dept.

Check SCUBA shops for food grade silicone.

I have 2 cans of "Ace Pure Silicone Lubricant" (recommended by RWS for cleaning/lubricating cutaway cables) and it is definitely not food grade. "DANGER! EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE", and "HARMFUL OR FATAL IF SWALLOWED", etc. on the can.

Hook

[Rdutch 0]

A lot of people have been know to have an allergic reaction to the powder used to "Lubricate" Rubber. Thats why in hospitals ect. The Rubber gloves come with and without powder coating. They usually coat the rubber bands but I haven't seen Tube Stows coated.
Ray

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[Hooknswoop 19]

Quote

Where do you get food grade silicone?

Or try your rigger. The silicone that comes w/ a cypres packing kit has food-grade silicone in it.

Hook

[dbattman 0]

The powder on the rubber bands/gloves is corn starch that keeps them from sticking. That's why the rubber bands dry out your fingers and hands. Latex allergies develop when the latex proteins from the gloves are absorbed through the lungs by breathing the corn starch.

I try to keep some lotion in my kit-particularly for the winter months when I must also deal with the cold air.

[dove 0]

You wouldn't necessarily have had the same occurrence with tube stows. The tube stows roll very easily - especially if you are careful to not twist them when putting them on. So they don't "stick" and jumble up like rubber bands do.

Fall in dove.

[GrumpySmurf 0]

Unfortunately, I can't say exactly what caused the baglock - since I only saw the end result on the ground - a cleanly severed rubber band (I replace mine when I see a visible cut in them, so it would have been like new) - but since I was experimenting with varying bite lengths for line stows, I gonna hazard a guess that a line bite worked its way in through another bite and caused the lock, which then cleared when the rubberband was unable to resist the friction of the Microline applied against it from the drag of pilot chute. Whether or not a tube stow would have prevented this or made it worse, dunno - but I did learn not to experiment too heavily with line bite lengths and that cheap rubber bands are the best solution for my needs

[alan 1]

Quote

Check SCUBA shops for food grade silicone.

I have 2 cans of "Ace Pure Silicone Lubricant" (recommended by RWS for cleaning/lubricating cutaway cables) and it is definitely not food grade. "DANGER! EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE", and "HARMFUL OR FATAL IF SWALLOWED", etc. on the can.

Yes, Scuba shops should have suitable silicone, maybe a little pricey though. When at ACE, just check out the labels on the variety of sprays available, some will be food grade and others won't. If they are it will say so on the label. Food grade just means it can be used as a lubricant on machinery, belts, etc. in a food processing environment and by no means is intended for direct consumption. Even the food grade cans have the "DANGER! EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE", and "HARMFUL OR FATAL IF SWALLOWED" warnings on them.

alan