Rahlmo’s Realm: Keep Track of Your Collapsible

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Rahlmo’s Realm provides tips, tricks & advice from your friendly, neighborhood Master Rigger!

Today’s Topic: Keep Track of Your Collapsible!

Look inside your deployment bag for damage from the bridle rubbing against things when the pilot chute collapses.

All the moving parts making up your kill-line collapsible pilot chute add maintenance requirements, some very important. You kill line can be too short, too long, break, and tear up your bridle.

This pilot chute (mesh cutaway for visibility) is set or cocked and shows the kill line about the right length and too short.

The most serious problem is a short kill line, and they shrink a little each time you jump. That can ultimately prevent the pilot chute from producing full drag, leading to pilot chute hesitations, slow D-bag extractions, bag locks, line twist and worse.

You can check it as you pack. Fully set the pilot chute and hold it set with light tension. Look inside the mesh portion of the pilot chute. The internal limiter tapes running from the base of the pilot chute to the handle should be taut with the kill line slightly relaxed. With the hand that holds the bridle as you set it, you should barely feel the kill line inside the outer bridle if at all. You especially should not be able to slide the outer bridle along the kill line once the pilot chute is cocked. If you can, it’s time to adjust or replace your kill line.

Sometimes, you may feel a friction bump as you set the pilot chute like it doesn’t want to set all the way. It happens especially with Vectors as the kill line starts to wear, and that needs a rigger’s attention. Fortunately, a broken kill line isn’t all that serious unless you’re trying to go “swoosh” in the high-performance landing area. Since the pilot chute will stay inflated after opening, they’ll just go “fwoofff-b-b-b-ouch!”

If your bridle consistently twists up, it may be that your kill line is too long. In the extreme, it can keep the pilot chute from fully collapsing.

Your friendly riggers in the Rahlmo loft can adjust or replace your kill line, but sometimes—especially if the bridle is badly burned or frayed, it may be time for a new pilot chute. We keep them in stock, because these things do wear out!

Kevin “Rahlmo” Gibson
Master Rigger, DPRE
Rahlmosrigging@gmail.com

Rahlmo’s Rigging provides full-time sales, packing, and maintenance support of all major brands of new and high-quality used skydiving equipment. Rahlmo’s FAA master riggers provide reliable training for packing, inspections, buyer support, from A-license student skydivers to training and testing for FAA Rigger Certificates. Visit the full-service rigging loft, showroom, and accessories case at the top of the stairs in the operations hangar at Skydive Orange.

About Whitney Payne

Co-Operations Manager at Skydive Orange - Working with Skydive Orange for 10+ years - Previously positions held: Office manager, manifest, guest services, social media manager, she does it all! “If you told be 10 years ago I’d be co-managing a skydiving facility and loving every minute of it, I would have laughed in your face. I am not an adrenaline junkie, not spontaneous and definitely not a thrill-seeker but I love these people. Skydivers are truly a different breed of people and I am forever thankful for them accepting me into their community. Watching people visit Skydive Orange to face fears, celebrate milestones or just jump out of a perfectly good airplane has been truly life changing for me and helped be become the person I am today.” – Whitney Payne

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