The acronym ‘mPod’ stands for Magnetic Parachute Opening Device and is, of course, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Apple iPod. The mPod is a D-bag with only magnets, no rubber bands. I now have slightly more than 1,000 jumps on this device; a good mix of low-speed openings (hop ‘n’ pop, swooping) and high-speed openings at terminal velocity (freeflying).
Advantages
Never having to replace rubber bands ever again!
This is the mPod’s single most important advantage. I will never forget my amazement during my first jump course when the instructor explained that stupid rubber bands are a crucial part of a parachute system. A rig is a collection of wonderful technology – held together by rubber bands? – Get real!! I discovered very early in my skydiving career that the probability of a rubber band breaking is inversely proportional to the time you have for packing.
Packing with the mPod is slightly faster
A nice bonus is that the mPod saves my knees while packing. Instead of moving on your knees with the D-bag towards the rig, with the mPod you slowly pull the rig towards you while packing. Contrary to popular belief, this won’t cause additional wear on the rig.
If you use packers, you can keep doing that
The mPod is so simple that you can give it to any packer. There is no risk of packing a bag-lock or any other malfunction. Actually the packers love it. It saves them time, they don’t have to replace any rubber bands for you, it saves their knees, it saves their fingers.
AAD manufacturers’ approval
The major AAD manufacturers have approved the use of the mPod with their products. There is no need to fear the mPod would influence the AAD. The mPod uses magnets based on a rare-earth element called Neodymium. A Neodymium magnet is currently the strongest known type of permanent magnet. The force needed to pull the lines from the mPod has been measured and is similar to the force needed to pull the lines from a regular D-bag. There is no danger of line-dump.
It is virtually impossible to pack a bag-lock
In fact most common packing mistakes and malfunctions associated with regular D-bags are eliminated. While any system can be packed to malfunction, I feel that the mPod is more foolproof than any other.
The mPod won’t affect the openings
While I can feel subtle differences between an mPod and a normal D-bag during opening, I feel the mPod doesn’t make the openings better, nor does it make the openings worse. If you are suffering from bad openings, the mPod won’t fix your problem. If you have good openings, the mPod won’t change that.
Disadvantages
The mPod is slightly more expensive
It costs more than a regular D-bag, because of the rare-earth magnets that are used. However, if you regularly buy tube stoes, the total cost of ownership for the deployment bag is probably cheapest for an mPod.
Size matters, with the mPod
Many people use D-bags that are too small or too large for their canopy. A good packer can put a large canopy in a small D-bag and you’d probably be okay jumping it. With the mPod this won’t work. The mPod must be large enough for your canopy. You cannot put a big canopy in a small mPod. The sizings of rig, canopy and mPod must match.
Some consider the extra weight a disadvantage
While it is true that an mPod is slightly heavier than a normal D-bag, I don’t think this matters much. The range of the weights of the canopies we jump is far more drastic than the small additional weight the mPod introduces. Consider a Katana 120 with a normal D-bag. This configuration is heavier than the Katana 107 with the mPod. I don’t see why the little bit of extra weight in the second configuration would have any negative effects if the first configuration works fine. Myth busted.
Summary
If you are like me, and you don’t like replacing rubber bands, the mPod is for you. If you plan on buying new gear in the near future, you might want to postpone the purchase until you have your new gear and make sure you have the right size of mPod. Apart from that, get one now. You will love it.
Broken rubber bands are a thing of the past for me now. I lay down my gear and pack it. No interruptions, no surprises. I still smile when I hear the person packing next to me say, “oh, hell, not again, not now!”. A better solution is available today. It has been tested, there are no real disadvantages.
Originally published in the journal of the British Parachute Association, August 2010
