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Frayed reserve closing loops is a definite pet peeve of mine. With reserves being inspected/repacked on a 120-day cycle in the United States (and longer just about everywhere else), there is no reason for a loop to be frayed. A customer who just paid you a good bit of money to inspect and repack their reserve has every right to ask you to reopen it and replace the loop if you leave in an old, frayed closing loop. Cypres manufacturer Airtec, which also manufactures the closing loop material required for use on Cypres-equipped rigs, recommends changing the loop at every repack. You can read the full text on the Cypres loops and washers at this link. The Cypres cord material has become the industry standard even for reserve containers without Cypres units installed. I am encouraged by a recent poll in the Rigging Forum of Dropzone.com showing that 88% of riggers polled change the closing loop at every repack. At Chuting Star Rigging Loft, we change reserve closing loops at every repack unless there is absolutely no damage or fraying to the loop whatsoever. The loop is taken out of the container at each repack and held up to a light. You can tell fairly quickly whether the loop has the slightest bit of fraying or damage. If there is any broken strands, we replace the loop. A couple of broken strands can occur during the reserve closing process due to the high tension and force exerted on the loop. Most of the time the user can’t even tell. But a higher level of fraying occurs when that loop is used repeatedly. If you are having trouble closing a reserve without damaging the loop, check the reserve container grommets for nicks, check your temporary pin for nicks and/or use a new pullup cord. Shaping the container to move the next flap into position before removing and reinserting the temporary pin instead of using the pullup cord to pull the flap in place reduces wear on the loop as well. Keep a spool of Cypres cord material on hand. At $20 a spool, it’s cheap insurance.

When Mirage first issued its service bulletin on a batch of about 200 soft reserve ripcords, I was a bit skeptical on receiving a high level of customer service. Specifically, I doubted customers would receive a quick turnaround time on testing or replacement ripcords. I believe Mirage makes one of the best rigs on the market, but the company has stumbled in the customer service arena from time to time. But Mirage and Capewell certainly have their act together for the recent service bulletin. We had several customers at Atlanta Skydiving Center with reserve ripcords affected by the service bulletin. Some chose to have their ripcords replaced by Mirage before testing while others had their ripcords tested by Capewell and returned. Both options had relatively fast turnaround times, but the testing through Capewell is the cheapest and fastest route. Capewell is allowing customers and riggers to use its UPS account number to ship the affected ripcords to the company for testing. We sent our first ripcord to Capewell on a Tuesday via Next Day Air. On Thursday, the recertified ripcord was back in our hands. Capewell is able to test a ripcord the same day it is received and ship it back Next Day Air. While the ripcord is at Capewell, the company visually inspects the reserve pin for cracks, nicks and gouges using a 10X magnifier. The inspection also includes a 12-pound bend test. Finally, the ripcord is inspected for material movement, any changes in pin, ball or swage sleeve spacing, fraying or breaks in the cable and missing components. If the ripcord and pin passes all testing, the company stamps the ripcord label, deeming it airworthy. So far, all of the ripcord assemblies sent to Capewell have passed inspection. Mirage will replace any ripcord that fails the testing. The full text of the service bulletin is available at this link. All testing by Capewell is free of charge as well as any necessary replacement ripcords from Mirage.