High Power - Long Harnesses

[troj]

For those of you who prefer your recovery harnesses on the longer side, how do you pack them?

Stuff it in and call it a day?

Coiled? Z-folded? Taped? Rubber banded?

-Kevin

 

[roytyson]

For those of you who prefer your recovery harnesses on the longer side, how do you pack them?

Stuff it in and call it a day?

Coiled? Z-folded? Taped? Rubber banded?

-Kevin

Yes, depends on the rocket. Round cord on mid/small high power, I just z-fold in my hand and stuff. 3" and above, I use a shock cord winder and tape the pucks off. Never use bands.

 

[Titan II]

Z-fold and tape.

 

[Rocketjunkie]

Pretty much just stuff it in. If it fits I use about 50' at apogee and 10-15' for main (enough to get the chute away from the rocket).

 

[OzHybrid]

zfold and tape and slipknot bundles for small dia kevlar rope.

 

[b.wieting]

Z-fold and tape

 

[pondman]

Z-fold & tape.

 

[jmasterj]

Z-fold and tape in several bundles. Depending on the dimensions of the recovery area I've also coiled and taped.

 

[ep29030]

Z-fold and rubber bands

 

[tfish]

Black electrical tape and 'deployment sack'.



Tony

 

[Hobie1dog]

Black electrical tape and 'deployment sack'.

View attachment 642403

Tony

black electrical tape is supposed to break free at Apogee? i thought it would stick too good and not break apart

 

[waltr]

Nylon in bigger rocket (enough space) I braid.
Kevlar I Z-bundle as others above posted. I use blue masking tape.
Sometimes the tape rips but most times the Kevlar loops just pull out of the ring of tape.
Either way still does the job of absorbing shock and reducing the Peak G force.

 

[tfish]

black electrical tape is supposed to break free at Apogee? i thought it would stick too good and not break apart

Yes..if it needs to
I would not use it on a Estes Alpha.
A single width of 3 tight layers will take about 50 pounds of force to get it started.. a bundle with 2 places tapped down...will take more force. This is a great way to manage unwanted (unwanted from to big of deployment charges, late or early charges, severe weather cocking, failure of Apogge event etc etc.
In my mind, masking tape is for keeping shock cords organized.




Tony

 

[rharshberger]

z-fold and tape

 

[les]

Z-fold and tape. Not for "keeping it neat" but more for energy control from the ejection charge. I do Z-folds and tape in multiple sections, some with more tape than the others. I use regular masking tape. Each taped loop absorbs some energy breaking the tape, so not totally reliant on aerodynamic drag to slow things down. Helps prevents a hard jerk if things separate to the full length of the shock cord. In fact I have recovered several times with one or more loops still taped....

 

[Handeman]

Z-fold and tape. Not for "keeping it neat" but more for energy control from the ejection charge. I do Z-folds and tape in multiple sections, some with more tape than the others. I use regular masking tape. Each taped loop absorbs some energy breaking the tape, so not totally reliant on aerodynamic drag to slow things down. Helps prevents a hard jerk if things separate to the full length of the shock cord. In fact I have recovered several times with one or more loops still taped....

To my way of thinking, that is what you want, a bundle still taped. That means the z folds absorbed all the energy and there was little to no sudden shock when things hit the end of the shock cord at apogee or at main opening. There are two events you have to account for.

If the upper section is heavy and drags the fin can down, common on drogueless flights, the main will almost certainly deploy downward and open below the fin can. When the upper section slows under the main chute and the fin can keeps falling, the unopened bundles are almost certainly going to get ripped open when the fin can hits the end of the shock cord again. I guess having a few unopened bundles left from apogee will help this, but might cause issues with parts hitting each other on the way down if the cords aren't fully open.

The whole recovery, from apogee to ground is a system and everything is interdependent, Change one thing and it affects others. It can be hard determining what is "wrong" and what the right fix is.