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Reginald

Packing a new rig!

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Okay I got a new RWS Micron and a brand new Sabre 2 last week. I had my rigger assemble it. As per his basic deal he assembles it, packs the reserve, hooks the main up but does not pack the main. So I was sitting around this weekend staring at the torrential rainstorms outside and debated whether I should haul it up to the DZ next week and pay $6 (plus tip!) to a packer or if I should get sporty and do it myself. Now I can pack okay but usually slowly, 15 minutes on average. I really don’t like packing and use a packer when I’m doing team training or AFF, which accounts for most of my jumps anymore. Yes, it’s an excuse but it’s a good one!

So, I decided as a matter of principal I would pack it myself. Just to say I did. It took about 40 minutes to get the canopy in the bag. Now to digress I’ve been jumping a 170 in a container made for a 190. The new canopy is a 150 in a container made for a 150. The new d-bag was the smallest damn thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I have sandwich bags bigger than this thing! So after 40 minutes I got the main in the bag. It only took one try and admittedly I was packing very slowly…. I thought the hard part was over! Then I went to put the bag in the container. I forgot how damn stiff a new container is! OMFG! So I wedged the bag in the container and tried to use a pull up to close the container. I couldn’t get it closed. The closing loop length was fine it was just the whole damn thing was so stiff! So I got a pair of pliers to get extra grip on the pull up. I managed to get the container closed. It took me 20 minutes to get the bag in the container and close it!

So now an hour of my life has gone by and I’m in a sweat. I think I dislocated some internal organs…:S

The lesson here…the next new container and main I get I’m going to put in a washing machine and run it thought about a million cycles to break the sucker in. Then I’m going to drag them both around behind my car down a dirt road for a week or two. Then as a coda I’m going to hang it like a piñata give it to a group of hyperactive kids who are off their ADD medication and give them a baseball bat and tell them it’s full of candy and money! They can go at it for a few days. THEN and only then will I try to pack it! Or the next time I can whip out $6. I love my packer, I love my packer, I love my packer…

I can’t wait until I’ve got the rig broken in. In the mean time I’m going to make sure I take good care of my packer!
"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

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I bought a new Sabre2 150 last year, and I hated it for about a month. Packing new zero-P in 100 degree heat = hell :D The best two packing tips that helped me:

A packing tip from Brent Finley's website about doing two smaller folds with each ear, which allows you to reach under the canopy and hold the two sides together while s-folding the canopy.

The reverse S-fold, which I found on Sid's website. Basically, you just S-fold the top part of the canopy into the bag, while kneeling on the lower part of the tail. Then you stuff the remaining tail into the middle of the fold in the bag. That way you're not trying to stick the whole slippery mess into the bag at once.

Check out their sites for photos and better descriptions. I have a new Nitron on order, so I'll be going through the same thing in a couple weeks :S

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Then as a coda I’m going to hang it like a piñata give it to a group of hyperactive kids who are off their AAD medication and give them a baseball bat and tell them it’s full of candy and money!



:D:D



LOL! Man where is my mind!
"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

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May God bless all the packers in the world. I love each and every one of them. For all the blood, sweat and tears that go into some pack jobs, $5-7 is a small price to pay. I learned to pack on a 100 jump Sabre 2 170 getting stuffed into a 150 container. I can pack but I choose not to since I have more fun when I don't. Anyway, it keeps the packers employed. ;)

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I know exactly where your coming from, I too thought about dragging mine behind my car ...the pinata idea, I like that.:D

It has been soooo frustrating trying to pack that thing, I can't tell you how much time over the past month that I've spent belly down on my living room floor crying......like a baby. I have gotten it packed a few times, not very pretty though, as a matter of fact I'd probably only jump it right now if the plane were on fire.....and I'd still need a minute to think about it.:S

Anyway, I think I'm going to need to use a packer too, but I'll keep packing my old rig just to keep in practice.

Have fun.

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come on guys, it jut tkes a bit of getting used to, I have to say tough i was nearly in tears a few times, somebody would shoult, will you pack, i'd say yes and then wonder what the hell i was doing, one day I had a brand new canopy on the ground and begged my rigger friend to show me how he seems to have no problem getting it in the bag and it worked, now I seem to get the shout for all the new canopies but they don't seem any harder than older ones.
So my advice is keep an eye out for somene who packs pretty quickly and when you see them fold that canopy into the pack like it's no problem grab them and don't let them go until they show you how to do the same, after the first few a new canopy will be like any other packjob.

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That's a really good deal!

Your customers are fools.

Or they haven't been taught to psycho pack. Got my shiny new Pilot 188 in the bag on the second go... the fact that I forgot to take the 180 out of the lines is beside the point :$

(I love my packer, I love my packer... Rob at Seville, are you reading this?)
--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

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Like was said here, keep an eye out for good packers and ask them to show you tips. And PRACTICE. I have given some people lessons 2 and 3 times over because they refuse to try. I make my living from packing so I won't argue that much but I tell them over and ever if you get your technique right, you can pack anything. I have packed rigs that have sent other packers and riggers away cursing. It's all about practice.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

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It has been soooo frustrating trying to pack that thing, I can't tell you how much time over the past month that I've spent belly down on my living room floor crying......like a baby. I have gotten it packed a few times, not very pretty though, as a matter of fact I'd probably only jump it right now if the plane were on fire.....and I'd still need a minute to think about it.:S



I knew the older triathlon fabric was easier to work with, but I was still a bit taken by how big a difference spanking new ZP was. I think the 300 jumps of use also let me get away with some very loose form. But one of the veterens nearby showed me a very different approach that hopefully will lead to better control.

I had always put down the snow cone, work out the big amount of air, and then started working it into the rectangle form bit by bit. He instead showed me to just make one big fold on each side.

I don't mind paying the packers, but I hate waiting, and around these parts they spend most of their time keeping up with the tandems and students. With the old chute I knew I could make a 20 minute call. Hopefully won't take too long to get there with the new one.

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All it takes is a little tech-knee-que. Control does not mean force or power.

Remember the scene in Empire strikes back when yoda move the X-wing out of the swamp?

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Using the Force, Yoda effortlessly frees the X-Wing from the bog
Luke: I don't, I don't believe it.
Yoda: That is why you fail.


"Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian
Ken

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The new d-bag was the smallest damn thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I have sandwich bags bigger than this thing! So after 40 minutes I got the main in the bag.



Bagging tricks help like making the traditionally first S-fold last once the canopy is bagged. Otherwise you just need to keep the canopy under control so it doesn't blow up before you bag it.

[QUOTE]
I couldn’t get it closed. The closing loop length was fine it was just the whole damn thing was so stiff! So I got a pair of pliers to get extra grip on the pull up. I managed to get the container closed. It took me 20 minutes to get the bag in the container and close it!
[/QUOTE]

Mechanical leverage is your friend. Going through one flap at a time, holding the closing loop in place with your knee while you fidget with the next flap, etc. all help a lot.

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I can’t wait until I’ve got the rig broken in. In the mean time I’m going to make sure I take good care of my packer!



A little finese will be a cheaper solution; that's how productive paid packers do it.....

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that`s what packers are for! it is also nice to tip when you know it is gonna be a bitch to pack-[new stuff] . after a hundred or so jumps it will be WAY easier to pack. plus you will be used to it. it is usually a better pack after a jump as well, cause you need to get it done faster than 45 min or you won`t jump much

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I always tell my customers that if they pay full retail, the first 100 pack jobs are free and I'll throw in the case of beer they owe for new gear.

So far no takers. :S



Since I'm too scared to buy a brand new canopy, how long should I expect to wait to find a used Sabre2-135 in the 300-1000 jump range (in good condition)?

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