klafollette

Main: Samurai 170 Reserve: PD 176 I don't care if the container has to be a little bigger, when it's reserve time, I want things to slow down, not get faster than under my main. I assume I'll be under a reserve in the worst possible situation; low, in a bad spot, landing downwind, and possibly injured.

Call RWS, tell them what canopies they have, and talk to them about the appropriate sized container. Interestingly when I ordered my vector, I had told RWS that I had a Samurai 170 and a PD 176R Reserve. They sized me a V348. When I got it, it just didn't fit right. Rigger said the reserve was a bitch to pack, and it felt like a brick. Harness didn't fit well. Talked to RWS, and they admitted that was a mistake, and should have been sized as a V350, and built me a new one. I'm now very happy with the fit, and glad to have a reserve bigger than my main. BTW, I jumped a Safire 209 for my first 500 jumps, before downsizing to a Safire 190 for next hundred jumps, then went to my Samurai 170 at 600 jumps. What's the rush????

I can only speak from personal experience. When I ordered my new Vector, I thought I would go with the freefly handle. Jumped with the freefly handle for better part of a season and then switched to a hackey handle. While I liked the securness of the freefly handle, I found it difficult to reach and grasp at pull time, resulting in many nerve racking throws where I couldn't reach it on the first try, slipped it, etc. Part of this could be that my rig isn't one of those tiny guys many freeflyers have, where the edge of the pilot chute pocket is a mere 1/2" from edge of the container, and the freefly handle sticks out a bit. I have a V350 with a 170 main, meaning that that the container was larger and the freefly handle was tucked under the container, not sticking out at all from the side. I also am a bit older, with some shoulder issues, so I don't have the flexibility you youngsters might have, to contort and reach around behind my back.. It may differ from rig/rig person/person, but it just didn't work for me. You can always try it, and get it swapped out for a few bucks if you don't like it.

Last year ordered a Vector 3 M-Series w/ Skyhook. I had already picked the canopies that I wanted; Samurai 170 and PD 176R. I then called Relative Workshop (United Parachute Technolgies) and asked them what size Rig I need for my canopies. They told me a V350, so that's what I got. That is the route you should take also.

Yes, I've had a couple problems in the past but they eventually came through. Was not getting call backs or answers to emails. Took several calls and emails with me getting pissy to get any reply. Dates slipped weeks on when it would be ready. Was told was shipped, they cashed my check and took 3 more weeks before it arrived, with a post mark 3 days prior to arrival. Despite the delays , I was happy with the suit.

Brian Germain has a good book on the subject; Transcending Fear. http://www.bigairsportz.com/publishing.php#transcending

Had a Mirage, now have a Vector and luv it. Either are good choices, but one advantage to the Vector would be if you got the Skyhook retrofitted. Call RWS, give them the canopy make/size you have (main and reserve) and let them tell you if there are any issues with the container size, and what the Skyhook retrofitting would cost. I've found calling is better than email for first contact with them: 386-736-7589 If you don't know about the Skyhook, just search the forums. I've have one and it came in handy with a spinning mal cutaway. It's amazing how fast and clean it gets the reserve out there.

Eric, Welcome!! I will be heading out to Hinckley (Chicagoland Skydiving Center) shortly, for the MS Boogie, and will stop at the Dairy Joy and eat a DJ Deluxe burger in your honor. Kevin

My current Vector has a bigger reserve (176) than main (170) I weigh 215lb, and waited until I had 500 jumps before I downsized from a 210 Safire main/193 reserve, to a 190 main of same type (Safire) for about 50 jumps. Then got my new rig last season with a 170 main (Samurai) and a 176 PD Reserve. The rig is a Vector M3 (V350 size), and it fits those canopies perfectly. At jump 650 I had my first cutaway, and am so glad I had the bigger reserve, not to mention the Vector Skyhook. The time you have a reserve ride, is not the time to learn to fly a smaller canopy. If you insist on going down that path, I would call PD and ask to demo a 176 reserve and jump it as your main. Now imagine a smaller reserve under the worst possible conditions, opening low and landing out in the worst possible spot. Don't rush it!!!!

All Legal. I rip CDs in lossless WMA format, or download Lossless WMAs from http://musicgiants.com/ So far, have 345GB worth of music, and only about 75% through my collection. I've got 1TB of storage space, so there's a little room to grow. When traveling with my Zen Micro, I downconvert the files to 192kbps At home, I have a Roku SoundBridge Media Player, connected over 100Mbps switched Cat-6 Ethernet back to the server with all the music, to play tunes on the stereo I'm thinking of trying Orb.com's stuff so I can stream my home music collection, in real tim, over the Internet to my laptop or my Treo 700 PDA Phone, using Verizon's EVDO network.

As a followup to that other thread, I had issues with my new Vector and Samurai main, giving me frequent line twists. I had my rigger sew on inboard line stows to the D-bag. Since then, I have not had any more issues with line twists. Theory is that having the stows all the way out on the end of the bag can cause it to rock more and have a greater potential to spin as the lines deploy. Don't know if that's true or not, but results seem to indicate it makes a difference.

Damn, what an interesting life I've lived!! Kevin was arrested for Brittany's electrocution and panicked over spending the night in jail - reminding him of those long dark punishments in the closet as a kid. Lauren took pity, bailed him out, and he moved in with Michael as part of the deal. Finding out that Lauren was the one who bailed him out, Kevin was sure Lauren really cared for him. He went to the Jabot Boutique to thank Lauren and ended up confiding in her his Genoa City crimes, but claimed that he did not hurt Brittany. Lauren swore she wouldn't tell anyone. Paul guessed from Lauren's demeanor that Kevin had confessed, so went after Kevin and stupidly pressured him, inferring that Lauren had told, causing Kevin to flee Genoa City for his mother's apartment in his and Michael's hometown Detroit. Kevin awaited his mother Gloria's return, opening that same closet door and reliving the terrifying experience of being locked inside as punishment as a child by "Terrible Tom." Gloria was shocked and hugged and rocked him, begging him to love her now, after she had turned her back on the abuse all those years. Michael showed up just before the Detroit police knocked on the door wanting Kevin. Michael called Detective Weber back in Genoa City, and convinced him to let him bring Kevin back. Gloria and Michael hadn't seen each other in many years either, and Michael was obviously resentful of her. But Gloria talked Michael into letting her return to Genoa City with Kevin. Kevin ended up in jail, and when the prisoners labeled him as a child molester, they beat him up with a "blanket party." Kevin went to the hospital, then was released when Bobby got his mobster pals to admit they fried Brittany.

Wow, that looks like a very cool solution. Last year I was looking at the Fast Forward Video's (www.ffv.com) Mini DVR Pro, but it cost $3,500 without any flashcard memory. I've always wanted to do video, but I've been holding off until I could find a relavely economical bullet-cam setup that didn't require multi-cables, battery packs, separate CamCorder, etc. that shot better video than the Samsung. This looks ChaseCam looks like a good solution. One box, one cable, internal power. I like it! Let us know how it goes.

Can anyone explain the purpose of that setup used by Bryan Scott in the cover photo? Described as a ..."Foot-controlled front-riser contraption to film a CRW jump"...

Get yourself an allen wrench for the side plates. Make sure you've got a bowl or something to put the screws in. Pull off the side plates, the visor will come off. The 2 plastic ratchet assemblies can be a little tricky. Use a small screwdriver or butter knife to push in the latch that holds the ratchet in the square hole of the visor. I remove the ratchets and put on new visor, one at a time, so I don't confuse which is from each side. Reverse the process to assemble.

I switched from a Safire-1 to a Samurai this year, and I love it. We get a good bunch of thermal activity in the summer, flying across the corn fields to the LZ grass. The difference is like driving over a bumpy road in a 1972 Delta 88 with 185,000 miles on it, vs. a Corvette. With the Safire, I'd feel all squishy and squirmy through the thermal/shear, as the canopy rock-n-rolled all over. On the Samurai, you just get a little pothole jolt for a 1/10th of a second, and that's it. Canopy keeps flying rock solid.

After a long search, I just bought a V3 this year, and have no regrets. Sure it cost a little more, but over the number of years I plan to keep it, it was miniscule difference. I love the fit. It's a V350 with a Samurai 170 and PD 176R. I like that the rig is a little narrower and longer than some of the others. Puts the freefly handle a little lower on the back and easier to reach for me since I have some shoulder range of motion issues. I like the french hardware on the leg straps. Seem much stronger than others. Stainless is standard. And the Skyhook has already saved my ass once. I like the wider chest strap, feels more secure. Construction, fit, finish and service is A+.

Zen Micro 6GB or new 8GB Color Photo version of Zen Micro. I rip all my CDs in lossless WMA for home listening, then downconvert to 320kbps for the Zen. Windows Media Player works seamlessly with the Zen. I don't download 128kbps files since they sound bad to me. Really push your player experience by getting a pair of Shure E3C earphones. They sound awesome.

See http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1736838;#1736838 when I was asking the same question. After several line twists on my new rig/canopy, had my rigger sew linestows on the top Dbag flap, 1/3 of the way inboard from the edge, instead of the outboard bag-end linestows that come on the Vector. No more line twists.

I put Relative Workshop Tru-Lock risers on my Mirage G3 last year. They're type-17 mini's, and I use Slinks so you can get the slider down. I've gone through a bunch of risers, including Mirage's. The RWS Tru-locks are hands-down the best I've ever had. I love 'em.

I thought Bill was already color matching them to the rig. My new Vector, that I got in August, had a navy/royal blue color scheme so the new blue anodized Skyhook II matched nicely. The red sealing thread my rigger used does clash a little bit. Will have to get him color coordinate better on my next repack

Here's my new baby: V350, with a PD176R and Samurai 170. Just got it 3 weeks ago, and already put the Skyhook to use the first week. Had a big spinner, cut away and had a reserve over my head before getting the reserve handle out. Works like a charm. Check out the goggles on the Hog.

I got my new Vector-3 with the Skyhook about 3 weeks ago, along with my new Samurai main. On jump number 10 I got to experience the Skyhook in action. I can confirm what Bill is talking about. It works as advertised. On the jump, my main opened with a couple of line-twists, no big deal....then the fun began. Before I could get the line-twists out, the canopy started diving. The line twists got worse, and I couldn't kick them out. Here I am on my back, twisting as the canopy diving towards the ground, looking between my legs at the horizon. I've never had a cutaway before, so the adrenaline was really pumping. It didn't take long to figure out I wasn't going to fix this. Reached for the Red - pulled, went for Silver. By the time I started pulling the reserve handle, I already had a perfect reserve over my head with no line twists, despite my spinning on all axis. I estimate that I was under my reserve in about 100-200 feet after chopping. Forget about that "need to get stable first" stuff people post about. The Skyhook did its job, despite my less than desirable attitude. If I had waited to get stable before deploying my reserve, I could have been dangerously close to being another statistic like the folks at WFFC this year. The added bonus was that the free-bag stayed with my main, so no extra searching through the corn fields. Thank you Relative Workshop (and Bill Booth). I may have had a successful cutaway if I didn't have the Skyhook, but it was sure nice to be under reserve high enough to take a breath, collect my thoughts, pick a safe landing spot, and practice flare. Without the Skyhook I definitely would have been hundreds of feet lower, with much less time to deal with an off-DZ reserve landing. Now if I could only get a Skyhook on my backup rig...a Mirage with a standard RSL.

Just went through Denver International this weekend, with rig in a gearbag. They called a supervisor over to look at it. They ran it through xray twice, opened the gear bag, ran the cloth swab all over it to do an explosives test. They were very careful handling the rig, I showed tthem the handle that they shouldn't pull. All was good, and I was on my way. I offered to explain what they were seeing. Had all the TSA and CYPRES paperwork with me just in case. I made sure that I didn't appear nervious or upset that I was being delayed by the extra scrutiny.I made sure I was smiling and happy to explain anything to them. That seemed to put them at ease.

My progression; 500 jumps on Safire 209 (1.2:1), 75 jumps on Safire 190 (1.3:1), and I just bought a Samurai 170 (1.4:1). Looked at everything out there; read all the reviews, bought Brian's book "The Parachute and it's Pilot", which has a bunch of canopy flight theory. The concept of airlocks just made too much sense to me. Looked for used, but couldn't find one, possible indication of how much people like them and hold on to them. I ordered direct through Brian. Custom made, took 12 weeks for delivery, which is exactly what I was quoted. As previously posted, they are made by PD. Had many emails and conversations with Brian, to help me make the decision. He was always very helpful, though a bit tough to reach during the summer when he's on the seminar circuit. Might take a few days for him to get back to you. So far I've only got about 10 jumps on it, so still trying to figure it out, but there isn't anything I don't like and have already found a couple I love. Flying in turbulance used to give me the willies, but the Samurai is solid as a rock, as I'm sure the Lotus would be.