Storing Z-Folded Mylar Streamers

[lakeroadster]

I just made a 172" long 2" wide mylar streamer. (Link to streamer folding jig) I currently have a spring clip on the streamer holding it in the folded position.

Do you folks store them like this or?

Thoughts, Comments, Suggestions

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[fyrwrxz]

Dental or pony tail small rubber bands. You can make several to put in your range box to save time while flying.

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

Bird tape for streamers!? Never thought of that. Gonna have to give it a try.

 

[SolarYellow]

If you just roll non-Z-folded bird tape around something, it's amazing how compact it gets. I have a big, fat crochet hook probably 5/16" in diameter on the handle. I wrap 60 inches of bird tape around that and it easily slips into a BT-20. Could probably go BT-5 if I had any BT-5 rockets built.

 

[lakeroadster]

If you just roll non-Z-folded bird tape around something, it's amazing how compact it gets. I have a big, fat crochet hook probably 5/16" in diameter on the handle. I wrap 60 inches of bird tape around that and it easily slips into a BT-20. Could probably go BT-5 if I had any BT-5 rockets built.

At a thickness of 0.001"... it goes a long way. The z-fold increase the drag.. and thus decreases decent speed.

Have you experienced issues getting the streamer to unfurl if it is merely just rolled up?

 

[SolarYellow]

I have seen other people say they just rolled it up, so I made that my plan A because it's easy. Have thought about folding, but that's a lot more work and bulkier. I do anticipate trying a few different ways of packing it. It's a sub-20-gram BT-20 rocket with 100-lb Kevlar shock cord, so there's plenty of space to change it up. Different amount/method of wrapping the shock cord vs. the bird tape roll, etc.

The rocket I did that for hasn't been launched yet. Will do a build thread when it does. I have bird scare streamers 2"W x30 and x60 prepped. Might cut one and try z-folds. Altimeter bay in the nose cone, so one of my plans is to compare descent rates with the different lengths.

 

[rharshberger]

So a word of warning to those using bird scare tape as streamers, after just a few flights it will start shedding pieces of it getting progressively shorter, splitting between the layers and leaving stuff scattered over a huge area. I have used it, its very easy to spot, but have since moved on to streamers made of mylar like the Duralar (same stuff ASP sells I think) brand drafting films sold at Hobby Lobby and on Amazon. I made a slitter tool (still lots of tweaking to get it to the point I want) and have made streamers up to 25' length, due to the thicker material these do not seem to shred.

 

[caveduck]

I use 2 mil mylar for streamers - you can get a lifetime supply from a relatively inexpensive 50-100' x 5' wide roll from Amazon and elsewhere. After z-folding (you can iron them in btw), I just roll them up and wrap the shock line around the roll. Z-fold + curl increases the drag even more, and leaving the bottom 30% of the streamer non-folded increases it yet more by inducing whip/flap action. Tape a 100# kevlar shock line across the bottom with 1" mylar or kapton tape. That is pretty much the competition formula and it also works great for sport models.