Is anyone currently running the 4/4/2 ALVH hedge with VIX around 18? When should the layers be scaled back?

At VixShield, we designed the ALVH Adaptive Layered VIX Hedge as the cornerstone protection for our daily 1DTE SPX Iron Condor Command trades. The 4/4/2 structure allocates four short-term VIX calls at 30 DTE, four medium-term at 110 DTE, and two long-term at 220 DTE, all at approximately 0.50 delta. This layered approach, detailed across the SPX Mastery series, provides coverage against both rapid volatility spikes and prolonged high-volatility regimes while keeping the annual cost to roughly 1-2 percent of account value. With current VIX at 17.95 and its five-day moving average at 18.58, we remain firmly in a regime where all three Iron Condor tiers, Conservative targeting 0.70 credit, Balanced at 1.15, and Aggressive at 1.60, stay fully available under our VIX Risk Scaling rules. The hedge itself stays active regardless of VIX level once opened. Scaling back layers occurs only on specific scheduled roll dates or when VIX sustainably drops below 15 for multiple consecutive days in strong contango, confirmed by our Contango Indicator showing green. We do not scale during temporary dips around 18 because the Temporal Vega Martingale component relies on the full structure to capture vega gains during spikes and roll them forward. For example, in the April 27 to May 2, 2026 period, VIX held near 17.95 while we recorded five PLACE signals and zero HOLD, allowing full ALVH participation to cut potential drawdowns by 35-40 percent. The Theta Time Shift mechanism then handles any threatened Iron Condor positions by rolling forward to 1-7 DTE on EDR above 0.94 percent or VIX above 16, then rolling back on VWAP pullbacks, turning most setbacks into net credit wins without adding capital. Position sizing remains at maximum 10 percent of account balance per trade, and we emphasize the Set and Forget methodology with no stop losses. This disciplined framework, powered by RSAi for strike selection and EDR for range forecasting, has delivered an 82-84 percent win rate in backtests from 2015-2025. All trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Visit vixshield.com to explore the full SPX Mastery methodology, join the VixShield community for daily signals at 3:10 PM CST, and access the complete ALVH implementation guides.