The Raw Dogs CRW

CRW Gear Checklist

These are the key equipment concerns when performing a CRW jump. There are many considerations into what you wear, what equipment you'll use, and how you'll wear it.

CRW Canopy

The choice of CRW canopy is pretty critical. It took a long time to recognize that the difference between canopies make CRW harder. Different planforms, trims, aspect ratios, cells, all add up to make formations more difficult to build and maintain. Over time the community has standardized on these things, but some of these choices are just communal preference over functional reasons.

Safety Characteristics of a CRW Canopy

Dacron Lines - Dacron burns, microlines cut. Dacron has more "give" on openings, which can make them a lot more tolerable. Dacron also is easier to cut. This might come in handy.
The canopy is reinforced for violence. There may be violence.
The canopy recovers to stability quickly. Canopies that do not prefer to recover are not ideal for being a part of a stable group of canopies, and we have to choose a canopy that will be part of a system, not for individual flight.
The pilot chute retracts. A trailing pilot chute is an entanglement waiting to happen.
Pressurization. You will ball up a CRW canopy because of your bad decisions, we've all done it. You want a canopy that opens, and gets back open if it isn't.

All of these characteristics lead to a canopy that doesn't get cut away for stupid reasons. If we need to cut away a CRW canopy, we want it to be for damn good reasons.

Success Factors of a CRW Canopy

Yes. The old timer at your DZ used to "do CRW with anything!" but they didn't build 9-way diamonds let alone set world records like that. These factors make large CRW formations possible...

Wingloading - if our wingload varies greatly, it can be more challenging to get into a formation. But that's not even half of the problem. Once you're in, you need to be part of a system and if you contribute unhelpful lift or weight, you are not contributing to stability - you're the other person.
Same Planform - It's been tried. Mixing and matching in bigway CRW formations just doesn't work out. Even very similar planforms from different manufacturers just don't perform similarly enough to be successful.
Same Line Lengths - When line lengths vary in the same size of canopy, the engineering problems of a successful formation go up exponentially. There's a standard length for each canopy size, varying from that length is a bad recipe.
Same Trim - Canopies with varying trim, might was well be at different wingloads but in reality its worse. You're changing the slope that the parachute is flying, and even if you can get into a formation you will not be a helpful participant thereof.

The Raw Dogs use All-ZP Performance Designs Lightnings, model PS-xxx, with World Record trim and standard line lengths. Is this the only CRW canopy? Nope. It's just the one we and everyone else doing Bigway CRW are using. A full CF Aerodyne Triathlon is also an option, but everyone has lightnings. If you show up to a CRW boogie with that brand new Triathlon, we'll all be curious as hell, and then help you get a lightning in your rig.

Bits and Pieces are needed to finish out a proper CRW Canopy Setup...

Toggles

Toggles need to be large and easy to get a hand on them without so much as looking at them. We also need to be able to re-seat the toggles from whence they came, which is on velcro. We know, it's not cool anymore, but you can use it quick and easy to get those toggles out of the way when its time to take a dock.

Kill Cones

If you are using a tailpocket to pack without a deployment bag, a Kill Cone will ride up your bridle to envelop and shut down your pilot chute, reducing its effect / drag. If you're using a deployment bag, a #8 grommet to partially pass the pilot chute through that grommet serves as a kill cone.

Risers

Riser length is personal preference, but there are some things people do to their risers pretty regularly, things you should think about. You want to be able to pull your fronts and get leverage on them, most commonly folks put blocks on their risers, allowing them to quickly get a grip on the fronts and pull them as needed during canopy flight. These are usually covered by Vet Wrap for keeping them in place if they aren't sewn on, and for gripping. Some have used their dive loops and just vet wrapped those open, the key thing is you want leverage and you want it fast when you need it. The other addition to some risers is called a 2-1, which gives an additional toggle to compress the front riser and is cheaper than a gym membership. Sometimes the same blocks / vetwrap are added to the rears as well.

Bits n Pieces

Wing loading

Wingloading matters. Once you're in a formation, you contribute the loading that you contribute. "I like flying my canopy" doesn't make you a proper participant of any formation.

If you're unfamiliar with the concept, put everything on that you're going to jump with. Shoes, helmet, clothes, rig packed up, all your knives. Weigh in like you'll jump and then we divide the Exit Weight by Canopy Square Footage.

For example, 225 out the door on a Lightning 176, is 225 ÷ 176 = 1.28 Wingload.

The wingloading range that we slot people into CRW formations goes from 1.28 to 1.35.

If you're 1.35, you are limited to centerline slots. And there's only so many of those. Show up to CRW events loaded at 1.30 or less on your wing, and own lead to get you to the loading you need to be at.

Many CRW Pups Camps run at lighter loading, sometimes at whatever loading and coaches will load to match the students. At The Raw Dogs camps, we run our camps at a 1.20-1.27 wingload to open it for those who might not be at a 1.3 wingload yet, and we will not downsize folks more than a rounding amount, always less than 10%.

When you're in the stuff, and need an option to re-adjust fabric or lines, a hook knife is the dogs best friend. The old joke goes "why does a CRW dog have 7 knives? cause they don't know where to put the 8th one. Yet."

One whuffo term to describe these devices is "strap cutter," often used to cut seatbelts. Many popular models have a tip opposite the blade for smashing out windows with the cutter used to cut seatbelts. But we'll call em "hook knives" as is tradition.

The Raw Dogs have long played a game called "hack n slash" which started as a drinking game of suspending people in harnesses by Dacron lines and having them cut each other down. Through this enjoyable and stupid activity we learned a few things about hook knives:

A carved metal blade is far, far more reliable than a razor blade. Razor blades can fold over, crack and break, and become much less useful pretty quickly.
A metal handle is a must. Plastic hook knives break and at altitude they are colder which only makes it worse.
A thinner profile to sneak into places could be the difference between being able to cut the loop on a 3 ring release and... not.

Hook knives should curve inward, the only things cut by these knives should be something that passes into the "throat" of the cutting surface as opposed to being an open bladed knife which may accidentally cut something (or someone) at a time of heightened adrenaline.

How you mount the knife matters too, it's ironic to be in a wrap because something snagged on your knife mount, innit?

Benchmade makes good ones. We're not sponsored or anything.

Hook Knives

Helmets

Yeah, we're gonna lecture you about helmets and protecting your brains. Not that they've done you any good... you are here. But seriously, there are a few things to remember about helmets. This is not an individual choice about safety. If we collide head on, and you are unconscious because you weren't wearing a helmet, I might be in a far worse spot if you're hanging off of me in a wrap or entanglement. And am I going to get my knife out and extricate myself from the mess, while you're unable to help yourself?

Don't put me in that position, and we won't have to worry about that.

Also, hearing. You want to be able to hear whether its 1:1 coaching or in a big way formation, there are necessary commands in either and everything in between. Half shell, please.

You're going to need to get dressed (unless this is a SANS jump, but we digress). What you wear for a CRW jump is for both comfort and safety. In all choices you make, keep in mind that lineburn is a story of Dacron vs. whatever you're wearing (or your skin). Cotton doesn't melt, your synthetic fabrics can - and high-speed Dacron will find that melting point for you.

Lets start with the items you'll need that are ALLOWED on a SANS Jump. Sorry to frame this in terms of nudity, but that's where you've found yourself.

Gloves

Gloves are important to prevent line burn on your hands. Since you need them hands for parachuting activities, don't wreck 'em on a line burn. Leather palm with some tackiness is most ideal to prevent line burn whilst being generally useful.

Socks and Shoes

Put long cotton socks on. Lines will ride up and seek that bare skin. Other things that are nice to keep yourself rocking more CRW jumps despite any insanity is ankle protectors, or Kevlar socks or sleeves. Shoes should not have snag points like metal hooks, should not have a high profile tongue, you should be able to kick them off to get yourself out of a wrap on your foot.

Now, for the NOT SANS approved items of clothing:

Long Sleeves

Cover your arms and legs. Scars are cool too, though? Cotton works best, even if its under something synthetic because you wanna go fast.

Neck Gator

It can help with the cold, but same thing applies - in fact (smart)wool is even smarter than cotton here in preventing line burns.

Clothes

Rigs

When choosing a rig, there is a common misconception that to be a "CRW Rig" a rig has to be older than dirt and not even worth a jump ticket. We feel attacked by this, honestly. There are some considerations to choosing a rig as your CRW rig, but crappiness isn't on the list.

Comfort

These are going to be 12 minute canopy rides. How many of those can you stand in an uncomfortable rig?

Handles

Any handle with a 90 degree "shelf" can be snagged by someone else's lines. Reserve OR Cutaway handle. Reserve being potentially far more catastrophic, both are unnecessary. Get a metal D ring handle for your reserve, as low profile as you can get. Cutaway handles can be made as loops instead of pillows, there are CRW riggers who can make you one.

Reserve Pin Protection

Be confident that a line running across your back cannot get to your reserve pin. Some rigs have more potential to expose the reserve pin's than others, it's also a question of reserve pack job being tight on some rigs (e.g. Racers). Also, be good with what reserve is in there, there's a higher chance than most disciplines that you'll be using it.

Fit

Your canopy should fit, without being ridiculous. Yes, it's funny to scare the freefliers, and yes when you're in the loading area with a CRW rig on and people ask "what are you doing on this jump?" you really want to point to your rig and be like "WTF do you think?!" But keeping your rig as clean as possible is valuable for both safety and showing people CRW isn't as scary as they think it is ;-)

Your Canopy Relative Work Headquarters