Twisting Resolved?
Much has been made of a common problem hangers encounter wherein during BTC and SD hanging their unit tends to turn, or twist to one side or the other. Note that I am not referring to twisting inside of the hanger which is an entirely different matter.
I, myself have usually dealt with this “out of hanger twisting” by essentially letting the chips fall where they may; it never really bothered me because I was convinced that all things eventually even out and a perfectly symmetrical hang is unlikely if even possible. As well, I was (and still am to some degree) convinced that sometimes our internal structures, most specifically the ligs, insist on this twist because of a limiting factor at work, such as a stronger or shorter set of ligs on one side that is in need of breaking down.
What I couldn’t get my mind around though, was the fact that sometimes from one set to the next my unit would turn left or right, sometimes more, sometimes less, regardless of how consistent I kept my wrapping, my hanger settings/placement, or regardless of what device I used. Short of ripping my hair out struggling with this the only easy way to resolve it has been to stabilize the hanger by hand or against an object such as the chair I sat in. Or, like I said, simply deal with it.
I am a big proponent of simplicity being the best approach matters, and in keeping with that I discovered what I believe to be a ridiculously simple way to address this twisting/turning issue:
Once I have my hanger attached to my wrapped unit I gently lower the weight in a standard SD seated position. I then check the angle at which my unit hangs - if it is relatively even, meaning no deviation beyond approximately 20-30% right or left - I let it be and proceed with the set either SD or BTC.
If I note an unacceptable level of twist (for the sake of example we’ll say a severe twist to the right) I lift the weight - being careful not to detach it from the hanger - and gently drape my unit, the hanger, and the weight over my left thigh (OTL) for a few seconds - making sure to regulate by hand the amount of tension I allow to be exerted. I then slowly bring the weight back down into a SD position and check the angle. More than likely this simple maneuver has corrected the twist enough so that I am content to begin the set. If not, I repeat the maneuver - allowing more or less tension - and that usually does it.
One drawback I have found is that it is very easy to overcompensate and end up having my unit hang at a complete opposite angle of where it began, in which case I repeat the maneuver in a mirror fashion.
If I am unable at this point to correctly align my unit I simply hang the set and make a mental note to encourage the next set in the opposite direction.
I am enjoying great success using this technique and have tested it to great effect with both my Wench and Bib’s Starter. The only conclusion I can draw from this is that much of the twisting people experience has more to do with the way skin is sitting within the device than anything else. It would appear that a small amount of extra skin from one side of the shaft ends up within the hanger and creates a bogus limiting factor. Once that skin is independantly liberated from the device the shaft is able to hang in a more symmetrical fashion.
The key is to use the intended weight to correct this matter; simply tugging at the skin by hand in an effort to remove it is not enough - it never worked for me in the past. This OTL approach seems to correct the matter every time.
-Cap
