Mirage Reserve Pin Problem

[riggerrob 558]

Judging by the latest photo, someone has tampered with that ripcord.
I have never seen loose ends half that bad in normal service.

Most harness/container manufacturers (Butler, Para-Phernalia, Rigging Innovations, etc.) have their own tools to swags special-sized ripcords, but find it quicker and neater to sub-contract ripcord mass-production to Parachute Labs.

[rjblake 1]

Not a good looking picture! On the other hand, I had one of my excess brake line stows unravel after 50 jumps. Contacted the dealer who I purchased my rig through and Mirage had a brand new replacement set of risers sent (overseas) at no cost within the week. I can't fault that kind of customer service

[Onthejob 0]

Rebuff: a blunt or abrupt rejection of an offer. Yes, 5 days ago, Mirage offered in an email (to the rigger that brought it to their attention) to halve the cost with me (which was reflected in the previous post); No, I have not yet contacted them directly. Mirage hasn’t yet received a reply, they have not been “rebuffed”. Semantics and squabbles about choice of words aside, when this all came about, Mirage presumably could have used the serial number of the rig to get my personal info with which to contact me directly, or asked the rigger to have me contact Mirage directly, neither of which occurred.

Granted, as I said, I have not personally contacted Mirage, for a few reasons: like doing some research and looking here to see if anyone else had had pin problems, mistakenly thinking that the initial email exchange between my rigger and Mirage would come to a satisfactory resolution, and wanting to get the handle/pin removed from the rig to get a closer look and better photos.

I understand a business not just kowtowing to any request they get to replace items that are alleged to be defective. However, in this instance their first instinct was essentially, not our problem, it's been out there a while. Then it seemed to change to, "Someone has taken a tool and dug at this ripcord..." so its cause is undetermined. Well why wasn't that the first response? Or, how about, "Gee, that doesn't look right. It could be defective, or someone could have damaged it. Why don't you send it to us and let us inspect it, or send some more detailed photos and we'll see what we think?" And, although I know full well that it has not been at all tampered with, I might have at least accepted that they took a good look at it, and/or had their manufacturer look at it, and made some determination. Instead, the current course of events came about. And now, they have had those 2 original photos that were posted, viewed by the pin manufacturer who has also concluded a tool was taken to it....from those 2 photos; actual ripcord or any further photos unseen and unrequested.

So, now that I have had the reserve "temp-pinned" and removed the handle from my rig, attached are some much more detailed and close-up photos of the pin. (The raw files were too large to upload) Albeit untrained, it looks to my eye as though the swage has cracked in a few places, and there is a nice smooth channel where part of the cable used to reside...of course I'm sure someone on the other side can just as easily say it's been dug at (again, for what possible reason I just don't know; and for those that agree a tool has been taken to it, please explain what would motivate me, or anyone else to do that- it's for all intents and purposes "new" w/ less than 700 jumps on it, and it's the start of our season! I want to jump, not wait for a new handle).

Suffice it to say that the end result, will seemingly be my complete disappointment in the service of a company that I touted to those I jumped with after the purchase of my first custom rig from Mirage, and then my second more recent rig purchase from them; some $6000+ in loyalty for a $95 handle…

[riggerrob 558]

Shake the sand out of your mangina.
Hah!
Hah!

After 3 years service, warranties are void.

After 3 years, high-wear parts start wearing out and need replacement.

If you compare your ripcord with your car. Most modern automobiles will run for 3 years with zero maintenance (beyond refilling the fuel tank). After 3 years you need to start replacing tires, mufflers, spark plugs, etc.

[hackish 8]

You could contact Nancy @ Parachute Labs for her opinion on it. If as you say you're interested in doing the research they would probably have the most expertise in this area.

I asked around about Mirages customer service and became more knowledgeable in that area. Moving beyond your situation there I'm interested in seeing what can be learned about this defect.

-Michael

[Onthejob 0]

I am satisfied to say that after contacting Mirage personally via email, explaining my position and including some detailed pictures of the pin, they did ultimately send me a new handle, at no charge...and they expedited its production & shipping. So, my issue has been resolved, but I still hope that others will take a good look at their pins to be sure this was an anomaly.