Gwagensteve wrote:
removing the shortest makes the spring too likely to wrap up under power.
Leaving the shortest spring in the pack tends to promote spring wrap in my experience. The ends that leaf seem to offer localized stress points for the longer leafs in the pack and as a result, wrap is promoted at that point. Longest life out of any of my custom packs have been when the shorter leafs in the pack are long enough to support the majority of the leaf above them.