Basejumper.com

They will work fine, and won't be any more likely to damage your canopy, but personally I find the second type easier to use.

I actually borrowed a canopy for a little while and the owner used/loaned me the same plastic clamps. You could definitely tell where he had been clamping the canopy. There where little micro abrasions and holes all over the clamp points. New and used with care I'm sure you'll be fine, but clamps tend to get tossed around and it was the light bits of damage to the clamps that was snagging the holes in the material.

Fine in a pinch, but I would get the Metal/rubber ones when you get a chance.

rather than clamping the fabric, I just clamp the tabs right at the canopy...

or, just don't use clamps.

there like crutches, they only help when something is broken.

I can easily pack with no tools at all (that's how I first learned). But I prefer to use tools for the same reason I prefer to use a hammer when driving a nail--it makes the task faster, easier and more accurate.

I find that the tabs can easily slip out of the clamp if you use the clamp as a handle to tension the lines. For this reason I prefer to sink the clamp as deeply as possible onto the fabric itself.

...i don't see anyone packing with clamps doing it faster or easier than someone who is proficient at packing without them.

Tom: your quote "I prefer to use a hammer when driving a nail--it makes the task faster, easier and more accurate."

this is a ridiculous comparison and inaccurate metaphor. One can't drive a nail with bare hands, a tool is a necessity. This is not the case with parachute packing.

Ours are completely contrasting philosophies when it comes to BASE jumping. I prefer to keep things as absolutely simple as possible. Less to mess up. less to try to remember.

Yours is the most excessively complex and over-thought pack job with many many unnecessary tools.

Similarly, I see your students over thinking the parachute flying part too.

I am sorry for being critical.

(and however many pull up cords I need to close the rig).

Pull up cordS as in more then one... Your gonna have to explain that one to me. You can only pull on one at a time anyway???

never buy clamps that are too small. they can be forgotten in the packjob. it happened to me once prior to a building jump and i counted my tools, realizing one was missing. i left it on the canopy above the a-lines. count your tools. among newbies, realize that serious riggers add neon colored flags to every tool used, to minimize rigging mistakes.

Tom: your quote "I prefer to use a hammer when driving a nail--it makes the task faster, easier and more accurate."

this is a ridiculous comparison and inaccurate metaphor. One can't drive a nail with bare hands, a tool is a necessity. This is not the case with parachute packing.

.....I am sorry for being critical.

Bitch say what? see fo yo self

ya well you should see me pack with no pull up cords

...I prefer to keep things as absolutely simple as possible. Less to mess up. less to try to remember....

to each his own...
i know one time a jumper came to houston to do his first antenna, fresh out of tom's FJC
he used 12 clamps, and several stakes, and bungees.
it took him over an hour to pack, and on the jump that evening, he had a perfect 180 on a pca.
its was on a guyed antenna, and there was about 15 mph wind.
he literally took 4 seconds faced off with the tower before giving input to turn away. luckily for him it was windy enough to keep his ground speed at 0.

I'm amazed that they open on heading at all.

Or if you have the funds buy a nice rug,
which will really tie the room together

GreenMachine wrote:
Or if you have the funds buy a nice rug,
which will really tie the room together

I have owned 2 velcro rigs and 3 pin
rigs and honestly I have no idea why
people say velcro is easier to close.

Well... Thanks for all the replies. Even those that were a bit off topic (To clamp or not to clamp? That's the question!).

Now back to the topic of clamps available in the market.

As they say, if you wanna do something right, you got to do it yourself so I went to the hardware store to look for something that I could use to increase the tip surface and spread the pressure around an area.

What I got was a washers with the biggest surface I could find and without sharp edges:
http://www.diy.com/...2mm-x-L-50mm-9708801

and a few inches of felt pad to smooth the surface:
http://www.diy.com/...lt-Pad-Cream-9370537

I cut the felt pad and super glued to the washer (fig "loose_washer.jpg"), then I super glued a washers to each tip (fig. "side_view.jpg" and "back.jpg").

Since the clamps pressure were quite strong, I left them pressing a 2 inch book for a few days which made the "springs" weaker.

I've been packing with it and it seems to work very well. The only problem is that since the tips are loose, when you pull the clamps off the canopy they can move back (fig. "bad_position.jpg") and if you let go of it, it will brake (fig. "broken.jpg"). Giving you that well known feeling. (fig "broken_clamp_feeling.jpg"). The only solution to this that I can see would be to drop some super glue at the tips' pivot to stop it from turning backwards.

Anyway, I hope this helps anyone unhappy with the clamps that are available.

Laters,
Sean.

I saw a squirrel once