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quadrevium

New gear, did I make a good choice? (your opinion)

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You rig looks very nice but the Wings container wouldn't have been my first choice for the following reasons :

1) the AAD cutter location is at the bottom of the reserve container making the maximum length of a cut loop (in case of AAD firing) to zig zag between the flaps and therefore because of more loop length and more friction, decreasing the pilot chute efficiency (not a thought but having seen it at different occasions and having made an experiment on it)

2) the pilot chute spring is too weak and is not launching the pilot chute high enough in order to go thru the burble then making a hesitation of the pilot chute more likely to happen (hesitation means loss of precious altitude). Other popular rigs have the same problem.

3) because the last flap (pin protector) is sort of caught by the ripcord cable, you are not able to open it. That makes the window for the AAD display console to be installed on the back pack and therefore prone to break more easily the AAD display console window. (I have seen it)

Why you expect bad thing about the Vigil 2 ? People who told you so are probably just used to the old technology of the main competitor who asked their AAD users to send it back for a compulsory maintenance and therefore getting more money from them.

With your Vigil 2, you can send it back for maintenance whenever it is convenient for you (during the low skydiving season for instance). Your Vigil 2 has three modes you can choose from (PRO, STUDENT, TANDEM) and the chosen mode stays printed all the time when your Vigil is switched on), the Vigil 2 has also a possibility of correction altitude of + or - 6000 feet, twice the correction of the main competitor. (a friend of mine has jumped in San Salvador at a 3700 feet ASL runway. The problem was that they were going for a beach landing (sea level)). The group figured out that they couldn't use the competitor's AAD altitude correction (Max. + or - 1500 feet at the time) and they had to switch off their AAD. With a Vigil 1 or 2 they would have been OK then protected.
Your Vigil 2 is way more modern that the main competitor's AAD in the sense that it shows you in clear language what it is checking (CUT OK, BATT OK, CTRL OK). The Vigil 2 provided you with three programs SET UP, INFO and CONFIGURATION which allows you to choose your units for display, your mode and make a review of your last jump. A optional interface can even let you download your last 16 minutes of freefall (15 or 16 jumps) and print a graph altitude- distance of your jumps.

Now the AAD cutters. All AAD manufacturers have had their share of problems with their cutters which are made by other specialized manufacturers.
Vigil was not an exception and they have solved their problems.
Your Vigil 2 is the best modern AAD available at the moment. That doesn't mean no problem can happen but it's just the same for all the manufacturers. The Vigil 2 has also the longest lasting batteries which are good for 2000 jumps or 7 years which is due to a very efficient energy saving electronic architecture.

Recommendations : read your Vigil 2 User's manual carefully. And when your skydiving day is over always switch it off otherwise at + or - 150 feet difference with respect to where you switch it on (ie. returning home and forgetting to switch it off) it will stay on "thinking" it is airborne.
Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

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Hes probably refering to the 4 (I think it is now) confirmed Vigil/Vigil2 fires when the door is opened on the jump planes at < 1000'
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
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I think you made out just fine. You got a great rig, great canopies, and a premier AAD (even if I'd personally have got a Cypres2 myself, but I think it's good there are two good brands in competition).

For your experience level and size (I took the liberty of adding in another 30 lbs for gear, shoes, helmet, jumpsuit & various items of clothing), I think you'll do just fine loading at 1.07. Get yourself into a good canopy control course as soon as possible and learn everything you can under this very sweet canopy of yours. If you don't learn it all now, it will be a lot harder later on under smaller canopies, where the added speed can make it too scary. Don't let ANYONE tell you your canopies are too large. Eventually, you probably will want to downsize, but if your container was sized correctly, you should be able to move down at least one size and maybe two without a main being too loose in the container.

Your reserve's a bit smaller, but just remember it's not ZP and you should give it a full single stroke flare when you land it. And put your feet & knees together just for luck. Better yet, see if you can't put a jump on a demo model at your next boogie.

You probably could've saved some $$ starting out with a used main, but you've got a nice rig, so go on out and use it.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

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People who told you so are probably just used to the old technology of the main competitor who asked their AAD users to send it back for a compulsory maintenance and therefore getting more money from them.



As discussed at length in other threads, there are very good reasons to get a thorough testing of the units done periodically. The cypres maintenance is a rigorous check and testing process. The vigil maintenance, if it is requested by the owner, is not nearly so. Where do you get the idea that the cypres uses "old technology" or that it is related to the maintenance?

To assert that airtec requires the maintenance in order to get money is an unjustified insult to airtec.

The vigil certainly is more versatile in the ability to be set up for student/expert/swoop, and it is more adjustable for landing zone elevations. The value of that however is very limited.

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Your Vigil 2 is way more modern that the main competitor's AAD in the sense that it shows you in clear language what it is checking (CUT OK, BATT OK, CTRL OK).



That is not a reflection of being "more modern". I think that showing that info has no value. The cypres and argus do self tests also, either it passes or it doesn't. An error code will be the result if any of them don't pass.

Other recent threads have dealt with the comparisons in much greater detail.
People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

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I think you're just looking for some kind of approval, because you don't have confidence in your own purchase.

I'll say, good choice, all of what you got is good gear..

The only downside I see is the huge ass main canopy, you shoulda went smaller, because you'll get bored of that big ass canopy soon..



Or you wait and rent some gear and downsize smart instead of buying gear right away to "grow" into... you'll be growing into a cast after you femur. [:/]
Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

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>Your Vigil 2 has three modes you can choose from (PRO, STUDENT,
>TANDEM) and the chosen mode stays printed all the time when your Vigil
>is switched on)

That's neat, but is it useful? How many people switch their AAD from PRO to TANDEM mode? It is definitely useful for gear stores (stock only one item instead of three) but it seems like it really only gives you the option of setting it to the wrong firing parameters.

>Your Vigil 2 is way more modern that the main competitor's AAD in the
>sense that it shows you in clear language what it is checking (CUT OK,
>BATT OK, CTRL OK).

We just had a Vigil 2 that reported a bad controller. The information wasn't all that useful. You still do exactly the same thing you do with, say, a CYPRES that reports an error - send it back to the factory. I mean, it's neat, but doesn't seem to change much in terms of what people do with the information.

>Your Vigil 2 is the best modern AAD available at the moment.

Unfortunately they are apparently designed to fire when you open the door of the airplane below about 1000 feet, or when a spurious pressurization event occurs. For me that makes it not that useful. Some people may never experience a prematurely open door or a spurious pressurization event, and for those people it's a better choice. I can't guarantee that, so I use a different one.

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Why you expect bad thing about the Vigil 2 ? People who told you so are probably just used to the old technology of the main competitor who asked their AAD users to send it back for a compulsory maintenance and therefore getting more money from them.

With your Vigil 2, you can send it back for maintenance whenever it is convenient for you



Where 's the cost advantage if you send it back for maintenance?

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Good choice. Have had my Wings W3 EXT for 7 years now, about 100 jumps/year from dust to grass and it still looks very good.

As you can see from this thread alrady there is a lot of potential in the AAD decision, but it has been debated at length in this forum, so if you want to know why just stick to the forum rules and do a SEARCH. ;)

The canopy colors are good to be LIME green not normal green, as that might make your canopy a bit harder to see from above in temperate (lush green landscape) areas. I've laready switched out a dark blue canopy for a red/white striped one because i didn't like people getting too close and later telling me they hadn't seen my canopy. I will always choose my canopy colors for visibility rather than make them fit my rig. After all they are out for only 2-5 minutes and then need to be seen, not fashion-judged.

To learn about your gear is always a good idea, so when you get it RTM and ask your rigger about details you are unsure about. Too many people don't fully understand their gear.

The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open.
From the edge you just see more.
... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

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Good choice on all the nylon stuff, but I'd have gone with a Cypres 2.

I am an electrical engineer. I've taked shop with some of the Airtec and SSK folks. It's not that Vigils are bad, I just think Airtec/Cypres has more experience in sport AAD hardware/software design than some of the newcomers do. I prefer tried and true on AADs.

377

.
2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

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Unfortunately they are apparently designed to fire when you open the door of the airplane below about 1000 feet, or when a spurious pressurization event occurs. For me that makes it not that useful. Some people may never experience a prematurely open door or a spurious pressurization event, and for those people it's a better choice. I can't guarantee that, so I use a different one.




Sad thing is, you also can't guarantee that someone using a Vigil won't be on the plane with you if the door opens prematurely. :o[:/]

To the OP, that's where so many of us draw the line. Erdnarob, you can argue 'advanced features' all you want, but when a skydiving safety device puts other people's lives in danger and the company that makes it declares that it worked 'as designed,' I personally think that product's airworthiness deserves a closer look.
Signatures are the new black.

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