Bridle break load

[BASE_689]

Due a disadventure (gone well, for God's sake) of a mate of mine, I am going to ask the folllowing to which ever bloke knows the answer.
1) Which is the break load of a bridle "properly" secured onto handrail (=bridle nicely fastened onto handrail WITHOUT sharp bends and without touching sharp edges and without touching anything "bad" (=laboratory conditions))?
2) Which is the break load of a bridle that touches small radius metallic pieces and/or sharp/cutting edges onto/around handrail?
Answer to point 1 could be 2500 lb - 1134 kg (according to data on ParaGear online catalog for type 17 nylon webbing 1" wide, if this is the webbing used for manufactiring bridle).
Answer to point 2 could be: very low load, I am afraid, depending on how sharp is the "razor" bridle leant onto, possibily 20 kg - 44 lb, possibly 10 kg - 22 lb or perhaps less....
What happened is the following.
SL solo jump, rigged everything (with a backup 46" AV ZP PC in "normal" position at the end of bridle within its own proper loop) with SL secured onto handrail (very bad, very old, very rusty, very "everything else") and break cord between SL and bridle loop in "shortened" configuration (bridle loop for tightening break cord has been created 1 m off the pins with an 8 knot), slack of bridle kept in place with very thin yellow elastic bands.
Exit, quick pull by "break cord" (definitely slightly higher that the pull in a "properly conducted" and "normally executed" SL jump), opening of parachute, flight, standup landing.
What my mate discovered once landed is that with its parachute he was ONLY trailing a 1.5 m (or so) of bridle, AND THAT'S IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looking at exit point he could see his PC and remaing of bridle nicely floating in the wind, still attached onto handrail.
What happened is, obviously, that his bridle became trapped/entangled somewhere between pins and "newly created" loop with break cord.
Luck on his side that whichever was the break load has been, was higher than the force required to open pins (on his Vertex 2) and extract parachute.
Now, what we are wondering is: in a condition of bridle "nicely" (=no sharp bends, no razor cutting edges) trapped onto handrail, can the dynamic (=applied after a 10 m or so "freefall") weight of jumper break the bridle, breaking it at "laboratory break load"?
Or a "nicely" trapped bridle CANNOT be broken by a jumper (pulling with his own weight 10 m below) and so, in order a bridle breaks with a jumper 10 m below it requires COMPULSORILY that same bridle must lean onto something sharp, in which case (sharp cutting edge), break load of bridle can be any number, from 40kg-88lb/20kg-44lb/10kg-22lb down to ZERO?
Whichever will be your answers/opinions, MY opinion is that THAT jump has been a close call.
We need to revise the conditions a PC/bridle(=slack of)/break cord/SL are with reference to "doubty" point near exit point. VERY CAREFULLY.
Just my 0.02€

[Mac]

Wow, that was a close call. $hit.

I would like to hear the findings of this.

Have you emailed any of the manufacturers to get their data or thoughts?

[BASE_689]

> Wow, that was a close call. $hit.
Yes indeed.

> Have you emailed any of the manufacturers to get their data or thoughts?
No, not yet, probably I am going to call them and tell them to have a look to this thread.

I forgot to mention an important point: the piece of bridle remained attached to parachute is (by tale of my mates) "neatly cut".
Now, another question is:
Is a "neatly cut" bridle a condition that happen ONLY when same bridle leant onto a sharpe egde, or bridle break with a neat cut ALSO when taken to breakage in laboratory conditions?
I am afraid I know the answer.....

[Tree]

Hello,

A bridle is made of 1" square weave, not type 17 webbing. It is rated to 1000#. To have it break instead of (or in addition to the break cord) would have required it taking a big load accross an edge. Additionally, the canopy should be inspected especially around the bridle attachement point. If it was enough to cut the bridle it may ahve damaged the canopy. Glad you are OK.

Cya

[TowerTopper]

I had the same happen about 6 weeks ago on a S/L jump from a tower. After reviewing both the ground video and my POV video I found that, first, I didn't wrap the bridle myself while crossing around the antenna booms to jump from the face of it, more or less hitching it to the rail and second, it looked like the excess bridle and pilot chute whipped back to the tower violently and wrapped a long bolt sticking off the back of the antenna (as seen by minor thread marks left on the bridle) breaking it clean about 2 meters from my rig. I don't think I'll rig it shortened like that again, I think I was lucky that the bolt had nice crisp threads and helped cut it and didn't swing me back into the tower or drop me. I felt the canopy open harder than normal for a S/L and off heading of course. It happened pretty fast and I didn't have a clue it broke it till my ground crew came running into the cornfield after me to check if I was OK and asked why I left my PC on the tower, Thanks Tony, Thanks Potatoe! Did you have any video of the jump? I'm wandering if the bridle lashed back and got wrapped as mine did and finally broke with stress, the rail edge, and falling body weight. Vince

[Raymond Losli]

I know this is NOT BASE related webbing break -(just thought I would share.)- but Hey that stuff will break. Its RARE. but it can happen.Especially if the webbing is stretched and under a load. Like when you tie yourself off to a structure for exit.
-
A few weeks back I saw a Tandem cut away. No big deal you always see a few a year.
This One was a little different though. The 1-inch type-4. on Riser Same type-4, 1" as your bridal. On the Riser on one-side broke while the Canopy was inflating during deployment.
First thought from most was that the riser was drug on floor to many times while packing over a few seasons.
Not so, on closer inspection the webbing sheared-off just below the two Bar-tacks. the Ring and the webbing which is folded around the Ring, both Gone.
We are talking about the riser ring that is saddles the Main-Lift Ring.
The weave of the 1-inch type-4 breaking point was nice and fresh-fuzzy. Nice strait break. really strange.
Strong has done some of the Most Extensive testing of breaking points of webbing under a load. I am sure that I have read that tensile strength can be reduced by 30-45 % by having different abrasions added to the webbing while under the appropriate load weight recommended for that webbing.
.