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PilotLevi

what was the worst container youve ever jumped?

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It wasn't 'terrible', but I jumped a Dolphin a few times that I just didn't feel comfortable with. So much velcro - I hated how the closing flap tucked underneath with velcro. And it just wasn't comfortable.

The Vector 2s as a student rank at the bottom for comfort, though. Felt like a piece of plywood strapped to your back.

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Student Vector. Five years ago at Perris, most student rigs were Telesis but they did have one or two Vectors with slightly smaller mains in them and I once tried one.

After opening, the chest strap turned into a throat strap. Annoying as hell and has/had never happened with any container I have/had jumped before or after that.

Alphons (then again, maybe the harness just wasn't my size)
And five hundred entirely naked women dropped out of the sky on parachutes.
-- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

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That's a toss up.

The Strong Combination Tandem containers (vintage early 80's?) I jumped as a student were less than comfortable.

The 1984 Vector 1 I bought for $100 in 1995. Not only was the harness uncomfortable because it was incredibly ragged out, it had an oh-so-styley brown/tan/rust bounce-and-blend color scheme.

Any of the Vector II tandem rigs I jumped. The harnesses weren't bad, it was the 50 pounds of shit inside them and the varying weight dumbasses strapped to the front of me while I was wearing them that made me hate them so.

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Gonna have to be the old military gear i used for my first 5 jumps...rounds with belly mounts...ugh.

Behind that, i'd have to say the newer talons. the way the risers are attached make it so the back of the container is behind my head after opening. It's VERY difficult to look up or around that way under canopy. So it's not so much that it's uncomfortable PHYSICALLY, but it's uncomfortable mentally since i feel limited under canpoy.

PS...Hi Adam!!!

B|
Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

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Canadian Army MFP (Military Freefall Parachute) circa 1981. They had a four-pin main container held closed by two soft loops and two metal cones. The top pin had an annoying habit of falling out if you bumped it against the inside of the airplane.
They had recurring problems with the main canopy slumping inside the sleeve.
And I did not trust that (non-diapered, non-steerable) flat, chest-mounted reserve any farther than I could throw it!
Wow!
Was I really a diaper snob as early as 1981?

During my last jump - on the system, it opened so hard that I could not straighten my neck for three days!
When I looked up, the sleeve and pilot chute were hanging inside the canopy, the steering was backwards and it had dozens of small holes burned in the canopy ... a total inversion!
It took me a while to figure out the reversed steering, but I still managed to steer it to the grass beside the pea gravel bowl. As I was dusting myself off and congratulating myself on not breaking any bones, an obnoxious sergeant angrily demanded: "Why didn't you pull your reserve?"

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The vectorII I jumped as a student was pretty crappy. If I did more than one flip I could feel the reserve flap come undone and then smack me in the neck for the rest of the just. Riser covers might as well have been cut off.

But she did me proud and I would still jump her!! :D
"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

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A Canadian copy of the Jerry Bird "teardrop" rigs, circa 1975. Damn thing had velcro holding the reserve closed. Naturally it eventually opened during a funnel when someone brushed up against it. Damn near killed me and the poor girl who fell through the reserve.

That was my last dive on a belly mount.
Mike Ashley
D-18460
Canadian A-666

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I think the answer for those of us who jumped military gear is something like "you don't know from uncomfortable.":P

Wendy W.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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It had to be the Bullet student container out of Flying High in Canada. It's a testament to Al MacDonald's work that we were jumping these things in 2002, some 22 years after they were made, but F$%K they were ugly and uncomfortable as hell!

Other then that, it'd have to be a dolphin. They're not that bad, but I wouldn't recommend a Cross-country with a dolphin and a .75 wingloading. I didn't even finish my beer before I lost feeling in my legs :o
I got nuthin

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Oh, yeah, been there and done that. You're right, most uncomfortable rigs ever made. Obviously made by the military.

And just to add to that - jump #14 - got one ball caught in the legstrap on opening. And no, I couldn't get it loose until I landed. Was just a titch more uncomfortable than usual. I was VERY thankful to land on that one.

So like most guys, I made sure never to make that mistake again. The memory is still pretty damn fresh even after all this time.
Mike Ashley
D-18460
Canadian A-666

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Quote

I think the answer for those of us who jumped military gear is something like "you don't know from uncomfortable.":P



That must be said in a Yiddish accent and preceded by, "Oiyveh (sp?)". :D

The saddle type harnesses weren't too bad.
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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A diaper is a small sheet of fabric (usually parapack) sewn to the skirt of most round reserves. After flaking the canopy, you wrap the diaper around the skirt and lock it closed with two or three rubber bands.
So a diaper serves the same function as a deployment bag or sleeve: prevent the canopy from inflating before line stretch.
Type 2 diapers (i.e. most early sport reserves) only have the left line group stowed in two or three rubber bands. The rest of the lines are stowed in the pack tray.
Type 3 diapers (i.e. Phantom and SAC) fold up to hide the skirt, then are locked closed by two rubber bands. The rest of the lines are stowed horizontally on the diaper, ergo type 3 diapers are often referred to as "full stow diapers."
The other type of "full stow diaper" is Type 4, except that Type 4 diapers are locked closed by 3 or 4 rubber bands - similar to Type 2 - but the rest of the lines are stowed vertically (parallel to the radial seam) on the diaper.
Trivial point: a few of the early square reserves (i.e. Hobbit and X-210R) had Type 4 diapers.

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