- Want to know what is a MARD and how it works?
Well in this video I'm giving you details
and examples on how it works
and what it does really in an emergency situation.
(upbeat music)
Hey there Sky Vibers it's Catherine Bernier
from Skydive Vibes sharing the passion of skydiving
and helping you become better and safer skydivers.
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all about skydiving.
Before we start anytime during the video,
you can check down in the description
for links and show notes
about what we're gonna talk about right now.
First, the main question is what is a MARD system?
Well MARD stands for Main Assisted Reserve Deployment
so basically it's a system using the main canopy
to help the reserve deployment
so before diving into more of the details on how it works,
we need to of course talk about the RSL system.
RSL stands for Reserve Static Line
and it's also a system that helps the reserve deployment
but in another way,
so the RSL is a piece of lanyard of about a foot long
and what it does, well it's attached
to your main canopy risers and the other extremity is
either attached to your reserve pin
or attached to the reserve ripcord
which is the cord attached to the reserve pin.
So the main goal of it is when you have a cutaway
as your main is going away,
well it will actually activate the RSL
and the RSL will pull your reserve pin.
That way if you're not able to reach your reserve handle,
your reserve canopy will still deploy
but at that point once the reserve pin is out
well the main canopy is no longer attached to you.
So for the rest of the reserve deployment,
it's done by itself.
Now when we talk about the MARD system,
so the MARD system is basically like an upgraded RSL
where you still have that system
that pulls the reserve pin,
but the MARD system is still attached
to the reserve free bag.
So that means that as your main is going away,
it pulls on the reserve free bag to help deploy it.
So that way your main canopy acts like a big pilot chute
to extract your reserve canopy.
The main goal of using the MARD system is
to get faster reserve deployment.
So this leads to the question on how quick
can a MARD system deploy a reserve canopy
compared to a normal system.
well UPT, the maker of the well-known MARD system
called the Skyhook claim that the MARD system
can deploy the reserve canopy in 0.5 seconds,
which is four to five times quicker
than by using the reserve pilot chute alone.
Overall, you can expect a MARD system
to save you 50 to 100 feet of altitude
compared to a more standard RSL system,
of course the speed of deployment also have other variables
like the speed of the malfunction,
the type of reserve canopy, the air density, and much more.
Now talking of Skyhook,
a lot of jumpers are calling
generically MARD system Skyhook, but in fact,
just as Kleenex is a brand of facial tissue,
well Skyhook is actually one brand of MARD system
since it was one of the first MARD system on the market,
people started to use the term Skyhook as a generic term,
but keep in mind that it's simply a brand and since then,
many manufacturers have developed their own MARD system,
just like Rigging Innovations with their new Mojo MARD.
Now (mumbles) out of the way
let me show you an example of how a MARD system works
and we're gonna take the example of the MOJO MARD
from Rigging Innovations.
And I'm here today with Sandy from Rigging Innovations
and he's gonna talk to us about his new MARD system,
which is pretty innovative, in my opinion.
So Sandy, are you doing?
- I'm doing great, thank you.
- So can you introduce us to your new MARD system.
- Okay, this is our little miniature version we have
for our dealers.
So it has the pilot chute, the release and the bag.
So what we have if the bag is in the container,
and this is now you've cut away your canopy,
and it lifts it off,
so (mumbles) here's the bag.
So now, this is where you want it to hold together.
This is what I was talking about, you want
the reliability that it stays in there.
If you have a total
say you can't reach your handle or your BOC or whatever.
And you're going down the AAD altitude when the AAD fires.
The specification for testing says
you cannot interfere with the normal operation
of the reserve, it means
pull the handle, container opens
pilot chute comes out lifts the bag off
and everything works.
What has to happen though within kind of a MARD system,
the connection at the release mechanism,
whatever that may be,
has to release very easily because now,
when you have that going up,
this is going to be tacked down
as the pilot chute's going out and it loads,
then it releases at that point.
So that's the critical part.
And in reality, that's the most important part.
The secret to this is this pin that we have on our Mojo.
And if we pull this out, you'll find that
this little metal pin has a hinge in it,
and this is the key to everything.
So you might call it the Mojo.
- [Catherine] Okay
- What we gotta do here is just hold that up and feel.
This is when you have a cutaway,
- Yep, - it's nice and firm.
But now this is in the container
and the pilot chute is going to work so
(background noise drowns out other sounds)
so when you take it, pull, worked
and that's how this particular item works.
(upbeat music)
- Next since a MARD system starts with an RSL,
well keep in mind that you can actually
disconnect your MARD system by disconnecting your RSL.
So in some cases it's recommended to disconnect your RSL
to make sure that if something happens,
you have the time to get rid of your main canopy
before initiating the deployment of your reserved canopy.
It's surprising that many jumpers are not aware that
by disconnecting their RSL
they are in fact disconnecting their MARD system.
So that's something you might want to keep in mind
if you're disconnecting your RSL
you are deconnecting your MARD
and it won't help you to get a faster reserve deployment.
I must also say just like you saw in the example of
how the Mojo MARD works
well if you don't actually need the MARD system
or if your main canopy hasn't been deployed,
well the MARD system is made to not interfere
with a standard reserve deployment using your handle
or with an AAD fire.
This is an important part of the MARD system
coz there are some situations
where the main canopy is not out.
Lastly, even though you have a MARD system,
or other safety system, just like an AAD,
never rely on a piece of equipment to save your life.
So having that technology doesn't mean
that you can lower your decision altitude
or rely on those systems to pull out your reserve canopy.
So respecting your pool altitude,
your decision altitude
and also the fact that you're using both of the handle
during an emergency situation is still very important.
Now leave a comment if you have any question
on the MARD system or if you have any other questions
that could be worth doing a video on.
I love reading all the comments
and I also like when you guys leave video ideas down below,
if you wanna watch other videos from Skydive Vibes
simply click here and on that, as always keep jumping.
Stay safe and blues guys