Flash Sale at Valkyrie Recovery Systems!

[Valkyrie Recovery Systems]

We are excited to announce a special promotion exclusively for the Rocketry Forum community! At Valkyrie Recovery Systems, we are committed to providing high-quality recovery solutions for all your rocketry needs. To celebrate our growing community and show our appreciation, we are offering an incredible bundle deal:

Get 25% Off Your Total Order!

Bundle Deal Details:

• What: 25% off your total order
• How: Purchase any three items, including one parachute, one harness, and one chute protector/deployment bag.
• Code: Use the code Bundle25 at checkout.
• Where: Visit our store at Valkyrie Recovery Systems.
• When: This exclusive offer is valid until the end of the month, so don't miss out!

Why Choose Valkyrie Recovery Systems?

• High-Quality Parachutes: Our parachutes are designed for optimal performance and durability, ensuring a safe and controlled descent.
• Durable Kevlar Harnesses: Engineered for strength and reliability, our Kevlar harnesses are perfect for all levels of rocketry.
• Effective Deployment Bags: Keep your recovery systems organized and ensure a smooth deployment with our high-quality deployment bags.

How to Redeem:

1. Visit our online store.
2. Add at least one parachute, one harness, and one chute protector/deployment bag to your cart.
3. Enter the code Bundle25 at checkout to receive 25% off your total order.

Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to upgrade your recovery system with top-notch gear from Valkyrie Recovery Systems. This offer is valid until the end of the month, so be sure to take advantage of it soon!

Thank you for your continued support, and happy launching!

Ashleigh
Office Manager

 

[augendoc]

Valkyrie has an interesting product on their website, called a “soft link.” The concept is interesting. Basically a length of smaller diameter braided material called Technora, which appears to be similar to Kevlar. The line has a small loop fashioned on each end, with a thick chunk of what looks like nylon webbing folded over on itself on one end to make a stopper. You loop the line through a harness loop and an eyebolt, passing the Technora line through its own loop with each pass. Once you’ve done this 3-4 times you pass it through the loop with the stopper, then pass the stopper through the other Technora loop, then cinch tight.

My only concern is how you are going to do this one-handed, reaching down into a 4” (or larger) body tube to reach the eyebolt. A quick link is pretty easy to screw closed with one hand while using only tactile feedback. I’m not sure how you would do this with the Valkyrie product.

 

[Valkyrie Recovery Systems]

Valkyrie has an interesting product on their website, called a “soft link.” The concept is interesting. Basically a length of smaller diameter braided material called Technora, which appears to be similar to Kevlar. The line has a small loop fashioned on each end, with a thick chunk of what looks like nylon webbing folded over on itself on one end to make a stopper. You loop the line through a harness loop and an eyebolt, passing the Technora line through its own loop with each pass. Once you’ve done this 3-4 times you pass it through the loop with the stopper, then pass the stopper through the other Technora loop, then cinch tight.

My only concern is how you are going to do this one-handed, reaching down into a 4” (or larger) body tube to reach the eyebolt. A quick link is pretty easy to screw closed with one hand while using only tactile feedback. I’m not sure how you would do this with the Valkyrie product.

Great question and hopefully I can provide an explanation that helps you plan the construction of your rockets.

Traditionally (to the best of my knowledge), most flyers are not removing the shock cords from their rockets. They are, however, disconnecting the shock cords from the E-bay/ payload bays. The set up that I see most often has the shock cord permanently attached to the motor section/ centering ring and permanently attached to the nose cone. Links, both hard and soft, are used to attach parachutes and connect the shock cords to the E-bay.

I am certainly not the subject matter expert on building rockets, but would love to hear from flyers and how they attach their shock cords.

Thank you,
Ben
CEO
Valkyrie Recovery Systems

 

[WizardOfBoz]

Soft links are pretty well known - google "Soft Shackle". The Valkyrie product seems to have some stitching that most soft shackles don't, and the prices are in line with others offered.

You can make these yourself with some basic tools, but some may not have kevlar or the twenty minutes free to do so.

BTW, I find the Valkyrie website nearly impossible to navigate. I hate it. This is more of a "This is something you may want to work on, Valkyrie" than a condemnation. The stuff that I can see seems to be of reasonable quality, so a better website would be a help to all. But I had to go out to google to find the
link to their soft links.

BTW, another pet peeve is not giving dimensions when you offer small, medium, or large. This creates ambiguity, and ambiguity is an enemy of sales. Apogee is kind of the opposite and I've ordered stuff from Apogee just to show support for their information-rich site.

 

[bad_idea]

Soft links are pretty well known - google "Soft Shackle".

Soft links and soft shackles are different and are operated differently.

 

[WizardOfBoz]

Soft links and soft shackles are different and are operated differently.

Thanks for upgrading my knowledge, @bad_idea . I had to look up the difference. Is there a difference in application? I found a product called a softlink:

The difference here seems to be that instead of a button or diamond or overhand knot, there is a piece of hardware. This softlink is for sailing applications.
The Valkyrie softlink doesn't have the metal link:

I like this design (without metal, which seems to me to be one of the points of soft shackles.)

I'm making my own soft shackles. There's a few different designs but I do an initial splice through a small length down the center of the line, coming out to allow something to allow tightening of the "noose". On the other end I use an overhand knot, with two spliced loops in the end of the loose ends. The overhand knot (with two loops) precludes the button or diamond from folding over itself and failing. The example below is not perfect: I should have had longer buries of the loose ends for both loops in the overhand knot. It's in 7/64 Dyneema, but for rockets I use 3mm Kevlar. When used doubled up, I think the kevlar shackles should have a breaking strength of around 2000lb.

 

[bad_idea]

Thanks for upgrading my knowledge, @bad_idea . I had to look up the difference. Is there a difference in application?

First, I have to say I'm the very opposite of an expert on this. That said, from what I have seen, soft shackles are used for quick release, whereas soft links are used for space and mass constraints. I've mostly come across soft shackles in the context of sailing and towing/winching and soft links in the context of parachute rigging.

That sailing soft link you show seems to me to be a variation of the soft shackle. Note the contrast with how the Valkyrie soft links are intended to be looped repeatedly for additional strength, at the cost of being slower to attach and detach than a soft shackle.

Like I said though, I'm far from an expert on the subject and would welcome correction or clarity from anyone who's worked with them both.