shock cord material

Onebadhawk said:

That's nice.
Emma kites is nice.
Do they drive their product to launches so it's available for you there ?
I sell an almost identical material.
Mine is 1/8" Tubular Kevlar.
I think it's 1500 lb rated, but I'd have to look it up..
You know there is no doubt it's top quality material if I deal with it at all.
That's a personal philosophy of mine "nothing but the best".
Cheap material or a less expensive manufacturing process or technique will come back and bite you one way or another.
Me posting here is a rare to never thing..
But I couldn't resist this because it's such a perfect example
that I keep my prices down as much as I can.
My product is not what you'll get elsewhere, and it's manufacturing cost isn't what a lesser product is..
I could cut corners and be lower in price.
I choose not too..
My manufactured harnesses are the best harnesses HP has ever seen in its history. Period.
This is not an inexpensive process, and is not said in a braggadocious manor.
It is a matter of fact that has been achieved over years of manufacturing thousands of harnesses with a passion for what they're used for..
My rant is over.
Here's the link to my equivalent product that's less expensive than Emma kites and Amazon and always has been.
( and you don't have to be a $100 / year Onebadhawk prime member or else I'll sit on your order for a week before I ship,
I generally ship the same or next day. But there can be extenuating circumstances that get in the way of that of course ).
https://onebadhawk.com/light-kevlar.html

Teddy

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Yep you get what you pay for but all that "heavy" Kevlar can sure weigh down a rocket. I've even considered using a rubber band type harness or elastic on some HPR. Kinda what comes in some AT kits.

I know maybe my methods don't make sense to most, but always felt that by keeping the weight down on your rocket you get much better performance with more motor options and yes I do cut some corners, but I've seen some builders take a MPR kit and go way over top with fillets, hardware, plywood rings, which are fine by the way, but do they have to be 1/4"? and even a ridiculous 3/4" or 1" Kevlar harness with 1500 lbs swivel or quick links. Why? You gain nothing but weight. Not to mention the additional cost. As far harness you can use a nylon harness in most applications for a lot less money and that money you save can go toward motors or other items you might need. Most MPR and even some HPR rockets you can get by on a nylon harness and 225lbs quick links. 1500lb quick links are great for those who overbuild because you're basically sending up a tank.

AfterBurners said:

I know maybe my methods don't make sense to most, but always felt that by keeping the weight down on your rocket you get much better performance with more motor options and yes I do cut some corners, but I've seen some builders take a MPR kit and go way over top with fillets, hardware, plywood rings, which are fine by the way, but do they have to be 1/4"? and even a ridiculous 3/4" or 1" Kevlar harness with 1500 lbs swivel or quick links. Why? You gain nothing but weight. Not to mention the additional cost. As far harness you can use a nylon harness in most applications for a lot less money and that money you save can go toward motors or other items you might need. Most MPR and even some HPR rockets you can get by on a nylon harness and 225lbs quick links. 1500lb quick links are great for those who overbuild because you're basically sending up a tank.

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I don't generally have huge fields available, and don't do any kind of competitive flying. The largest field I have access to has a ceiling of 3500' on the rare occasion that the winds are favorable. It usually gets dropped to 2000' and occasionally 1000'. Trees, homes and high tension wires surround the field. The "excitement" of launching lightweight rockets on little motors to any appreciable altitude is wondering if you'll see it again.

Lower apogees and quicker descents are ideal, but many still like the roar of bigger motors. Overbuilding helps meet that mission objective, and makes the bumpier landings more survivable. Sure, you can do dual deploy or use a JLCR (and many do), but that raises the complexity and expense.

Yes, people can go overboard on the idea, but heavy builds have their place.

beantownJPL said:

I don't generally have huge fields available, and don't do any kind of competitive flying. The largest field I have access to has a ceiling of 3500' on the rare occasion that the winds are favorable. It usually gets dropped to 2000' and occasionally 1000'. Trees, homes and high tension wires surround the field. The "excitement" of launching lightweight rockets on little motors to any appreciable altitude is wondering if you'll see it again.

Lower apogees and quicker descents are ideal, but many still like the roar of bigger motors. Overbuilding helps meet that mission objective, and makes the bumpier landings more survivable. Sure, you can do dual deploy or use a JLCR (and many do), but that raises the complexity and expense.

Yes, people can go overboard on the idea, but heavy builds have their place.

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Also the cost of larger motors. I decided to stay within 24 - 29 and the occasional HPR on a 29 is about my limit and budget right now. It's exciting launching any rocket no matter the size big or small.

AfterBurners said:

Also the cost of larger motors. I decided to stay within 24 - 29 and the occasional HPR on a 29 is about my limit and budget right now. It's exciting launching any rocket no matter the size big or small.

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I mostly fly 18mm, but frequently use Quest Q-jets in those unless multi-stage. I buy BP motors in bulk from AC supply for serious savings, and a (somewhat) local shop carries the Q-jets at a reasonable price.

However, I do have from 13mm-24mm in my fleet. I also have a 29mm that I picked up from my club's "garage sale" a little while ago that needs some finishing touches ... I'll either fly it later this fall or next spring.

The 18mm birds are the work horses ... the ones with more spendy motors tend to fly a little less, but will still usually get 2 launches each on a launch day.

I do most of my launches with my 10 y.o. son as my "First Officer". These birds do multiple launches each on launch days. They need to land in-field as much as possible, and be ready to fly again as soon as the boy's stuffed another motor up the fire hole. I might burn up $100 worth of motors on a club launch day, but when you think about it, that's a pretty cheap day of entertainment for a dad and his son once or twice a month through the flying season.

All decisions on the workbench are geared toward durability, reliable in-field recovery and fast turn-around times. Epoxy fillets, ejection baffles, undersized chutes or streamers, Kevlar shock cord leaders for durability and heat tolerance with round 1/8" bungees for shock absorption, and nylon chutes for easy packing.

These things add weight, but ensure that my rockets don't end up floating into hazards, prep quickly and don't break when they come in hot. I generally keep my flights under 1000' because it's most-times more fun to watch the whole flight than have it disappear from view, and will far more reliably land in-field with the unpredictable winds we tend to have around here. Sometimes we go for moon shots, but those typically involve a bit of hand-wringing until it's clear where the LZ will be. Typically those will be with a model that we've deemed "disposable" for one reason or another. It's pretty common to have very different wind conditions at higher altitudes, and lower-level winds tend to be rather swirly and fickle.

Despite these precautions ... it's a rare launch day where we don't have at least one model end up un-recoverable (or un-flyable) due to either floating off into parts unknown, a CATO, or some other failure I didn't bring the necessary materials to fix on-site. It keeps my build bench busy, and the pressure on to make sure I can bring enough rockets to have a steady stream of birds in the air for a 6 hour launch day.

beantownJPL said:

I mostly fly 18mm, but frequently use Quest Q-jets in those unless multi-stage. I buy BP motors in bulk from AC supply.

However, I do have from 13mm-24mm in my fleet. I also have a 29mm that I picked up from my club's "garage sale" a little while ago that needs some finishing touches ... I'll either fly it later this fall or next spring.

The 18mm birds are the work horses ... the ones with more spendy motors tend to fly a little less, but will still usually get 2 launches each on a launch day.

I do most of my launches with my 10 y.o. son as my "First Officer". These birds do multiple launches each on launch days. They need to land in-field as much as possible, and be ready to fly again as soon as the boy's stuffed another motor up the fire hole. I might burn up $100 worth of motors on a club launch day, but when you think about it, that's a pretty cheap day of entertainment for a dad and his son once or twice a month through the flying season.

All decisions on the workbench are geared toward durability, reliable in-field recovery and fast turn-around times. Epoxy fillets, ejection baffles, undersized chutes or streamers, Kevlar shock cord leaders for durability and heat tolerance with round 1/8" bungees for shock absorption, and nylon chutes for easy packing.

These things add weight, but ensure that my rockets don't end up floating into hazards, prep quickly and don't break when they come in hot. I generally keep my flights under 1000' because it's most-times more fun to watch the whole flight than have it disappear from view, and will far more reliably land in-field with the unpredictable winds we tend to have around here. Sometimes we go for moon shots, but those typically involve a bit of hand-wringing until it's clear where the LZ will be. Typically those will be with a model that we've deemed "disposable" for one reason or another. It's pretty common to have very different wind conditions at higher altitudes, and lower-level winds tend to be rather swirly and fickle.

Despite these precautions ... it's a rare launch day where we don't have at least one model end up un-recoverable (or un-flyable) due to either floating off into parts unknown, a CATO, or some other failure I didn't bring the necessary materials to fix on-site. It keeps my build bench busy, and the pressure on to make sure I can bring enough rockets to have a steady stream of birds in the air for a 6 hour launch day.

Click to expand...

It sounds like you and your son have a great time together building and launching rockets. I only wish I had the time to do so. I've been busy with work and other obligations that my last launch was over 3 years ago and it doesn't look like I'll make this up and coming launch at Lucerne. Anyway one reason to fly the smaller birds, but around here finding an empty field within a reasonable distance is even hard. My drive to the desert is over 2 hours, which but most is very doable and I agree but sometimes launching with a club has it drawbacks like waiting around to launch and never pushing the go button...but its fin all the same.

AfterBurners said:

It sounds like you and your son have a great time together building and launching rockets. I only wish I had the time to do so. I've been busy with work and other obligations that my last launch was over 3 years ago and it doesn't look like I'll make this up and coming launch at Lucerne. Anyway one reason to fly the smaller birds, but around here finding an empty field within a reasonable distance is even hard. My drive to the desert is over 2 hours, which but most is very doable and I agree but sometimes launching with a club has it drawbacks like waiting around to launch and never pushing the go button...but its fin all the same.

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I agree about club launches, but the social aspect usually makes up for the shortcomings. My kid's like a hummingbird running around to each person's tables and "talking shop" about what they're flying.

On calm evenings, we've got a few nearby schoolyards that are suitable for 500 - 600' foot flights after dinner. Often I'll collect a few neighborhood kids to come along, and let 'em all take LCO duty for a launch or two.