Is my rig's bit too big for me?

[deaffreeflyer 0]

Not sure which I should post in Gear & Rigging or Freeflying forums. I wonder if this is a real problem. When I practised headdown, I felt my rig harness nearly fell out of my left shoulder. I looked at it and was really shocked to see it's almost out of place - on side of my arm! I turned to sitflying straight away. On the next lift I tighted my chest strap up and tried again. It didn't make any difference and it didn't stay on my shoulder. I banned myself from headdown. I was so gutted cos I made a great progess on my headdown. I asked Eli (Flyboyz) about it and he said it's probably good idea to not practise headdown on my rig. I don't know what to do next - buy a new rig? I can't afford it. Or maybe send it to a rigger to make harness smaller to fit me? Any advice?

Thanks for your time.

[ernokaikkonen 0]

I'm assuming you've bought a used rig? Hindsight is 20/20 but; Did you try it on before buying? Did you have someone with experience about gear with you when you were trying it on? A proper harness fit is very important(as you've no doubt noticed...).

Have a rigger take a look at the rig and how it fits you. If it can slip off you it probably isn't too safe to jump it in any orientation; A worst case scenario: Assume a threeway(flats), a funnel, and a premature deployment. You can fall out of your harness as easily as in headdown!

>I don't know what to do next - buy a new rig? I can't afford it. Or maybe
>send it to a rigger to make harness smaller to fit me? Any advice?

I don't believe that adjusting harness-size is cost-effective on used gear, the work may cost as much as a new(used) rig, if your rigger will even start such a project.

I have no real advice except:
Have someone with experience(an instructor or a rigger) take a look at your gear and the fit. Don't jump before you've done this. I don't want to read a post on the Incidents forum saying "Jumper fell out of harness".

I hope it turns out ok.

Erno

[bobsoutar 0]

Is my rig's bit too big for me?
Yes!

[Bruno 0]

Quote

I don't know what to do next - buy a new rig?

What is sure is YOU CAN'T JUMP THAT RIG!!
Money come back again, life not!
Bruno

[councilman24 36]

Check with the manufacturer for how to measure yourself for their harness. Do the measurements. Then call them with the serial number of your harness and your measurements. They should be able to tell you if your harness is too big, and let you know if your harness can be resized and how much it will cost. Resizing harnesses is something fairly routine, but I suggest you have the manufacturer do it. If your harness is fairly new it will be worth the cost.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[deaffreeflyer 0]

Thanks for advices. I'll do that soon. My rig isn't new, it's about 7 years old. I bought it last year from my rigger. He owned it first hand. I tested it before I bought it. I have no problem with my rig on flat, sitflying, tracking, back tracking etc... for 200 jumps. Until when I tried some headdowns. I told my rigger about the problem, he was very surprised and he tolds me he thinks harness's just bit loose for me cos my shoulder's quite narrow. He thinks a possible solution to make harness fit me better by shorten the length of between chest rings to hip rings. I trust my rigger at my home dz but I wasn't keen on the idea of him fixing it for me. I would like to know if it's good idea to send it to Florida from UK and have it adjustment? I reckon it will cost a lot - at least $250 for shipping etc... Anyone here went through this before?

I know second hand rig will never fit me perfectly until I got enough dosh to cough up for a brand new one - not in 2 years!

Thanks for your time

[councilman24 36]

Sorry, didn't realize that you were in the UK. Sunpath may very well have someone in UK/Europe that they authorize/recommend to do this work. Changing the main web between chest and hip rings will be easier than adjusting a standard harness.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[riggermick 6]

On the next lift I tighted my chest strap up and tried again. It didn't make any difference and it didn't stay on my shoulder.


From what you describe, the rig seems to fit normally under most conditions. The harness is probably sized fairly close to what it needs to be so I doubt that it will require much, if any adjustment. The reason I quoted the passage above from your post leads me to suspect that your rigs yoke area is too wide, this is a function of reserve canopy size not of harness adjustment. Unfortunately it is a fixed dimension so altering it is out of the question. I'm guessing you purchased this rig as a new jumper because it had larger canopies that suited your experience level at the time. Perhaps it's time for a new custom fitted rig with smaller canopies (check with your instructor if in doubt about your abilities). Hope this sheds some more light on your plight.
Mick Cottle.

[billvon 2,435]

>What is sure is YOU CAN'T JUMP THAT RIG!!

I would suggest that it may well be safe to jump even if it's not safe to take head-down. My Reflex has no problem at all with head-down since the yoke is narrow; my Racer would be at my elbows in a second if I tried it. That doesn't mean the Racer's unsafe; I put 1500 or so RW jumps on it. It's just unsuitable for head down.

>I don't know what to do next - buy a new rig? I can't afford it.

Save up. More and more used rigs suitable for freeflying are appearing on the scene; you should be able to find one that fits you.

Freeflying is not something to take lightly. You are intentionally exceeding the limits of your equipment to begin with; doing that with a rig that doesn't fit is a poor idea.

[deaffreeflyer 0]

Thanks for those comments. I realised it is all due to length of yoke. This made a lot of sense to me. I'll have a good word with my rigger about it soon and decided whether to resize adjustment or find a rig with narrow yoke.

Many thanks again