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SKYPEDESTRIAN

Javelin Main Cover Blows Open When Upright.

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The main pack tray's top flap protector on my Javelin Odyssey (J-5 w/Safire 209, d.o.m. April, 2002, with 265 total jumps on it) blows open frequently when I fly upright, leaving it flapping wildly and exposing my pin. I route the bridle per the owner's manual and have tightened my closing loop to the point that I can only close the rig with a Powertool, and it still blows open. Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks.

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Couple of things:

#1 I hope that you are being facetious about the power-tool thing. If you are using anything but your own strength to close the container, the pressure on your pin is going to cause more problems rather than solving any.

Yes, you need a tight (tighter) pin when freeflying...no doubt about it; however, your problem is that the pin is being exposed, not that it isn't tight enough.

#2 See a RIGGER. Or better yet, a MASTER RIGGER. They may be able to help you customize the closing section of the container to catch your rig better. I have seen this done to a couple of rigs. ...both, at the pin cover and riser flap cover. Usually, they will be able to provide a remedy.

#3 Try posting this on the "Gear and Rigging" section of this forum. There are people who frequent that section just to help out in this area.

#4 Don't be afraid to contact the manufacturer. Even if you purchased the container second hand, these companies are usually VERY happy to stand by the product. Javelin is a premier container, the company has been around for a loooong time, and nothing less than quality customer service should be expected.

HOPE THIS HELPS!!!

-David

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tsk tsk tsk

I have more Javelins on video doing that....oh and some vector IIs :(

Gee how long can they keep the same design...

My 2 cents
"Revolution is an abrupt change in the form of misgovernment.", Ambrose Bierce.

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Couple of things:

#1 I hope that you are being facetious about the power-tool thing. If you are using anything but your own strength to close the container, the pressure on your pin is going to cause more problems rather than solving any.



The powertool is the metal bar and spectraline "pull up cord"
it's not actually "powered" it just gives better leverage.
it's also called a "pack boy" in some circles.

typically the javelin main pin flap will open up if the main is too small for the container. So using the powertool and an extremely short closing loop could actually contribute to this problem. The loop needs to be tight, but it might not need to be as tight as you are making it. On the other hand too loose is not good at all.

Some riggers can put an elastic keeper for the tuck tab. I found this helped a little when I was experiencing that problem.

Short of that, a smaller, tighter rig can help, or a container where the pin protection flap closes "up" such as the vector, mirage or voodoo.

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Some riggers can put an elastic keeper for the tuck tab. I found this helped a little when I was experiencing that problem.



i also had the tuck tab replaced on mine -- the tab had become bent over time, a stiffer wider one was put in (damn, that sounds really nasty)....the last time my javelin opened when i was in a sit (happened 2 or 3 times) i got a self-extracting-horseshoe that turned into a streamer...that was not a lot of fun....


---------------------
Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience!

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The powertool is the metal bar and spectraline "pull up cord"
it's not actually "powered" it just gives better leverage.
it's also called a "pack boy" in some circles.



I had some suspicion that this is what he was referring to. I always wondered what they called those things. Yeah, I have heard "pack boy" before; just didn't know what the packers were talking about.

SILLY ME>>>

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Yep.. my J-5 does that too... no way to keep it shut... Sell it to a belly flier and buy a truly freefly-friendly rig.. Voodoo, Mirage, Vector, Infinity..

And.. in my experience with SunPath.. do not expect good customer service.. If you want more details on my experience withthem, PM me.. I don't want to rant here.
chopchop
gotta go... Plaything needs a spanking..

Lotsa Pictures

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That's why I dont like containers designed with the downward going main flap. It's too easy to catch on something or be blown open.
The mirage flaps are designed perfectly. I think better so than other containers with similar designs.
_________________________
goat
derka jerka bukkake jihad

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SunPath told me that my main was on the "low end" of the pack volume for the J-5 and sent me a larger tuck tab insert (at my request) that I can have a rigger install in the field. The fact that less than 1.5 year later they are building the same rig with a larger tuck tab seems like an admission that there is/was a problem.

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My jump buddy told me recently that he has seen my cover open a few times the last couple of months. Ive been jumping his J3, but after reading though this post, Im gonna put my main back in my Mirage...that NEVER happend with the G3!!
Blue Skies!

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Hey! An update for all of you people who still seem to be following this thread: I received the piece of plastic from SunPath yesterday and showed it to my rigger today (after making seven very nice skydives in the 100+ degree heat). He thinks it may well be a fix for the problem.
I misunderstood Aggie at SunPath when he described what he was sending. It is not a larger tuck tab/stiffener for the main pin cover flap, it is a much larger stiffener for the bottom flap which comes up and covers the right and left flaps after they have been closed. The concept seems to be that to "escape", the main pin cover's tuck tab has to push its way past a stiffer, plastic-filled bottom flap, as opposed to pushing against soft cordura stretched over the D-bag and rolled-up main canopy. We shall see what happens next Saturday.

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A couple times someone's pointed the same main cover flapping thing to me with my J1 (mfd 96). My rigger suggested tucking the main cover tuck tab in between the left and right container flaps instead of between them both and the bottom flap as I usually do (did, anyway)...Combining this with several rubber bands around the main cover tuck tab makes a world of difference on my rig.

nathaniel
My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

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...that NEVER happend with the G3!!



Never say never. I wish I had a dollar for every g3 and g4 i've seen open in freefall. I could almost buy another odyssey. It can happen to any rig.

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

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I had a J5 that had the same problem. The main flap came open in a sit fly then as i flip over to track away you can see all 4 flaps open and my pretty blue d bag just sitting there. I got lucky.

A couple things I could have done differently...

-I was putting a 170 in it and hadn't shortened the closing loop

-Put a rubber band around the tuck tab, it helps some to keep it in the flaps

-don't sit with an older jav

-buy a wings ;) that's what I did
<--- See look, pink dolphins DO exist!

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I have an oddessey tjnk with a 111 crossfire 2 and I have not had anything open up in freefall yet. seems like a pretty solid rig to me, and I would suggest it to anyone...

-yoshi
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this space for rent.

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An update for anyone who is interested: my rigger installed the larger stiffener in the bottom flap and I made three upright skydives today with other people watching the flap and it stayed in. It makes sense when you see it with the rig closed: the longer stiffener comes down below the tuck tab so that the tuck tab is sandwiched-in between the left and right flap tips and the hard plastic in the bottom flap beneath it. I am going to have it observed several more times before I declare it fixed. Thanks everybody. MJ

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