Why Snap Swivels?

Of course - With a snap swivel you can swap out a smaller parachute or streamer for a windy day or small field.
What's stopping you? Snap swivels are only about 10 cents each. Well worth the extra dime if you get the model back on a smaller parachute or streamer.

I also use snap swivels to help clear tangles in the shock cord and shroud lines after a flight.
Recently I flew my two engine cluster rocket, the Jolly Roger. To compensate for the wind I taped the two 12" parachutes so they wouldn't fully open and the rocket wouldn't drift far.
When I picked up the model, the shroud lines were a tangled mess! Both parachute shroud lines were twisted and intertwined. (I should have taken a before picture!)
If the shroud lines were looped through and permanently tied to the screw eye, I'd never be able clear the mess.



With both chutes removed from the shock cord loop the snap swivel end was closed.
The two parachutes were separated from each other.
If the swivel hook is left open, it might grab a line or two while your are trying to untangle.
Instead of spinning the twisted lines I ran my index finger through the lines from the canopy up to the swivel. It's simply quicker this way.

Here's the shroud lines after clearing the twists.
No tangles here, it looks like I had just assembled the parachute.

As explained before on the blog,
TIP: Don't attached the shroud lines by looping them through the screw eye. (Most all kit instructions show it done this way.)
If you attach the lines too close to the nose cone, the nose cone will flip in and out of the shroud lines after ejection making many tangles.
Tie a loop knot in the shock cord about 1/3 the way down from the nose cone.
Clip your snap swivel on the loop.
Note - this shows two 12" parachutes side by side with no tangles.






Here's how the nose cone should hang, not close enough to swing in and out of the shroud lines.
This is an easy practice to adopt and worth the time saved after a tangled recovery.