the_raven

I will 2nd this. My body is pretty destroyed after 20 tandems on the weekend.

Have used them as well, great service.

You pointed out some very valid items in your post, however I think your last statement here is very incorrect. I included your first statement as well because irony ftw! Yes, if you do 500 skydives per year you will be very current and your per-jump injury/fatality probability will be less then someone who only makes 50 jumps a year. 500 jumps is a lot. All factors are not equal, one of these people is exposing themselves to the event by a factor of 10x more and has the higher over-all risk of something bad happening. Logical fallacy imo.

One thing I would point out - random events typically happen in bursts. Check out this link and check out the 2 images - http://arachnoid.com/randomness/

Imagine what all of the other passengers will do when they see you putting a rig on.... will probably get mobbed first IMO.

It's also possible that if you cutaway first, you can still have a main/reserve entanglement. Just because you've cutaway does not guarantee that the main will clear your reserve. IMO, I would say the risk of a main/reserve entanglement is about the same regardless of which EP tree you go down. If the main does find clean air, then in 1 scenario you have a 2 out, in the other your main separates clean - in my mind that's really what you're looking at dealing with when deciding one ep vs the other. My choice is to keep the cutaway as a second option after the fact.

I bought a brand new VC3 and ZPX pilot 168, with an optimum 160 reserve at the start of the season (2 months in currently). I have put about 60-70 jumps on it now. When I first started packing the rig it was rough, barely able to get it in the bag with the new slippery material and I am a pretty good packer. In answer you your question - if it's a brand new canopy, I would say no it will not fit in a VC2. After 50 jumps and in humid conditions? I would say it's possible. Good idea? probably not, RI will tell you it is not compatible sizing for a VC2.

it's 100 bucks for black hardware upgrade, and looks deadly :) Although the RSL connector is still stainless... not sure if they plan on changing that. Quote

I was in Tobago for 1 week this past January. I didn't see any dropzones on the island, was thinking the same thing about opening one :). There may be something in trinidad though, not sure.

A friend of mine experienced issues with his reserve flap not staying closed on a VC3. We were told at lost prairie that some of the first sets of VC3's have the reserve flap tuck tabs in a position that will allow it to pop out like that on occasion. He was offered free shipping to send the rig to AZ and get that corrected. I think he was literally one of the first people to own a VC3 though so it was an early "bug", not sure when you got yours.

If you are in Canada - check with your employer as well if you have health insurance with them. I am from Canada and recently verified that my insurance through work is valid outside of canada anywhere for up to 1million (this is on top of my provincial medicare). There are also no exceptions for skydiving in the policy.

You are one of the best moms in the entire world. Good for you and your son!! My mother works as a psychologist who assists parents dealing with mental/learning disabilities. It is not easy at all and I'm glad Jamie found something he can be passionate about. Congrats.

Keep in mind the purpose of the offset function. It is for designed for scenarios where your landing area is at a different altitude then take off or where you gear up, in which case you are telling it what the correct altitude is for landing. The 130ft no action altitude is still going to be 130ft AGL, that doesn't change if the feature is used properly. The issue being discussed is lying to the AAD and giving it an offset just to change the activation altitude. This is not an intended feature and would not be in the manual imo.

Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the opportunity to think that over...