Why Do My Shock Cords Get Twisted ??

[neil_w]

One time my Deuce's Wild came down with the airframe parallel to the ground, and spinning like there was a log rolling competition taking place on top of it. Shock cord looked like a wound-up rubber motor when it came down. Would have needed a swivel somewhere between the parachute connection (about 6" below the nose cone) and the airframe to save me from that one, and I don't generally put one there. Made me consider whether I should, though I'm not sure where I'd put it.

 

[Handeman]

One time my Deuce's Wild came down with the airframe parallel to the ground, and spinning like there was a log rolling competition taking place on top of it. Shock cord looked like a wound-up rubber motor when it came down. Would have needed a swivel somewhere between the parachute connection (about 6" below the nose cone) and the airframe to save me from that one, and I don't generally put one there. Made me consider whether I should, though I'm not sure where I'd put it.

A roller bearing swivel as close to the fin can as possible has worked great for me for years.

 

[neil_w]

A roller bearing swivel as close to the fin can as possible has worked great for me for years.

Yeah, I guess I could embed it in the kevlar there when initially connecting everything together. Perhaps I'll do this in the future.

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

The purple nylon shock cord has the swivel tied to it. It was use for 50 fights with the purple and white fin can. It just had a quick link that held it to the u-bolt on the fin can. Now that the purple rocket is retired, its going on the new one it's attached to now.
View attachment 418565

Hope that helps.

That's a well loved rocket.

I also ordered the ball swivels from Ebay and will start using those.

 

[Knuckledragger]

I ask that every time I go fly fishing. Try shaving some graphite off a pencil in to the swivel and work it around. For something designed to work in the density of water and under strain compared to a descent in air, a little dry lubricant would help. A flat ribbon, flat fins, and a twisting parachute all acting separately in the wind is going to preload and kink to some extent.

 

[Handeman]

I ask that every time I go fly fishing. Try shaving some graphite off a pencil in to the swivel and work it around. For something designed to work in the density of water and under strain compared to a descent in air, a little dry lubricant would help. A flat ribbon, flat fins, and a twisting parachute all acting separately in the wind is going to preload and kink to some extent.

So far I haven't had to lube any of my swivels and they kept the shock core with almost no twists. But that is a good ball bearing swivel. I've never had an issue with the parachute twisting. I never put swivels on the chutes. Not sure where your kinking is coming from. I would suspect a swivel on the fin can that doesn't spin freely, but that's just a guess.