Skydivesg

GoneCodFishing

***When someone is jumping just to swoop why do they need an AAD turned on?

Don't you have over there also a 'rule' that if you have an AAD in your rig it must be turned on and fully working?

Nope.

When someone is jumping just to swoop why do they need an AAD turned on?

That usually means they are jumping solo.

If they are doing a big enough turn to reach 80-100 mph then I certainly don't want to be in the same air space with them, and most jumpers I've talked with concur.

chuckakers

I've had many conversations about this one with responses ranging from thoughtful to ridiculous.

Why did you choose the type of reserve handle you use, and why?

Safety, peer pressure, cool factor, fashion - nothing is off limits.

Go.

I say bring back the Blast Handle.

Scrumpot

Have any of you guys just tried doing the job without steadyshot turned on at all, be it with either this ASV, or any of the CX series of cameras - and then, when/if you have - what have been your results?

Most everyone I know shoots tandem footage with the Steady Shot OFF on the CX cameras.

Torch690

Hello,

I am relatively new to the sport, and have about 70 jumps in 3 months. I have ordered a container, and am looking at a main parachute.

I have spotted a Sabre 2 190ft^2 which is from 2002. It is roughly $1250 with around 700 jumps on it and a new(er) lineset.

First (and main) question: has the Sabre 2 parachute changed in the last 12 years? I plan to have this parachute for at least this year and next year, before I downsize. While I would like to save the money, I am a little hesitant that the technology may have changed in the last decade, and considering that maybe I should spend a little more, and get a parachute that was manufactured within the last few years.

Secondly, according to the post, the brake line may be a little frayed from the alti strap. Is this normal? am I going to have to spend an additional $200 immedately to get new brake lines? (assuming fraying not too bad)

What should I keep in mind when looking at the possibility of purchasing this parachute?

Any thoughts would be appreciated...

thanks very much!

-Dave

Before taking advice from others on packing, I'd take a close look at the packing videos that Performance Designs has developed over the years.

The method of packing in the videos is based on tens of thousands of jumps on those canopies by PD R&D jumpers, John LeBlanc (head designer for PD), sponsored athletes, company employees, tour reps and the PD Factory Team.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhEHdKemr1M

Also you can send in that canopy to PD for a full inspection. They will tell you if there are any concerns or wear and determine it's airworthiness. If lower steering lines are needed they can install them.

Make an agreement with the seller to have him send it to PD. You pay for the inspection and then if it passes you pay to have it shipped to you after you pay him via Paypal. Instant payment. He can then give permission to PD to ship it to you.

If he does not want to let PD inspect the canopy then I would be concerned about the transaction and the actual condition of the canopy.

BTW, the Sabre 2 is arguably one of the best all around canopies in the sport.

gowlerk

Maybe this should go to the General group, but it does relate to this incident. I am developing a pet peeve around the almost inevitable cryptic "BSBD" FB status updates that begin to appear shortly after sport fatalities lately.

When you do this you are telling all your friends publicly that someone in our world has died. You aren't posting the name, because you know you aren't supposed to yet. But you want all the world to know that something bad has happened.

Your friends, and worse yet, the family of your friends will know that the knock at the door by the authorities is coming shortly, but not where it will be. Is it my brother, sister, father, mother, son or daughter? Don't know but it might be.

Why do people do this? Is it because they just don't think? Or is is it because they want to be the first?

If you can't name the person, and if the info is not yet generally public, this is just plain cruel.

Rant over.

I must say, I agree with you.

I've been concerned for some time that our society has lost much of it's personal relationship skills and has become desensitized due to the internet.

In our need to feel important and relevant, our empathy and compassion is all too often reduced to that of a keyboard.

My prayers go out to the family and friends of yet another of our lost brothers.

Current delivery times are for mid January.

In the past several years UPT came out with stock rigs twice. Once in September of last year (10 or 11 rigs) and then again in late January of this year (10 rigs). The September rigs sold in three days and the January rigs sold out in less than 8 hours.

Every now and then I have someone who cancels an order and then that slot becomes available for a new customer. This has happened 3 times this year but I never know if or when - until it happens. When it does happen that slot usually sells out in a matter of hours.

Because UPT has such a long wait time they seldom try to make stock rigs available and then it's due to extenuating circumstances.

Every one of my customers who have waited for the Vector say it's well worth it.

New jumpers will often buy something used to get them by and put in an order for what they really want.

I hope you find what you're looking for.

vision

LOL, FTP helmets are going to become pretty much obsolete unless you are using a red or Imax camera.

Why would that cater for that market.

Cameras are getting much smaller.

FTP with only one full sized camera (SLR) and a go pro for example looks silly.

Ask people who have tried to cut them away (especially with a side load) and you'll discover why they may go obsolete sooner than you think.

I've had the same trouble since I first start jumping.

I have to clear my ears immediately (valsalva) after opening which is why I wear a Cookie flip up visor helmet.

I tend to be pro-active so every day that I jump I take Pseudoephedrine HCI 30mg (two tabs) every four hours.

This does it for me. I buy the stuff that we (in the states) have to get from behind the counter even though it is an OTC med.

The crap that is on the shelves does not work for me - I use the real stuff (above). I buy the cheapest generic I can find not Sudafed, which is an expensive brand name.

If I didn't do these two things I don't think I would be able to jump due to ear pain.

RMK

Seeing some of the D-Day Anniversary events today; was thinking that I've never actually seen anyone land a round.

Roughly understand that there was a small slit in the back that you could (in limited manner) control some direction. When you landed did you want to be head on or at slight angle to get a good PLF going?

After making roughly 400 round jumps - It's kinda like this:

When my son was 4 years old we made him try some average dish my wife made for dinner. The after conversation went like this:

"Did you like it?"

"Yup."

"Want some more?"

"Nope."

champu

******

I'm not convinced, however, that the Collin's lanyard addresses anything other than gear maintenance / construction errors and I'm not comfortable with the added complexity and potential failure modes it creates.

Hey Ryan, will you please explain what you mean by "potential failure modes it creates"?

Scenarios where the Collins' lanyard is loaded by anything other than the right main riser leaving the rig...

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3458726#3458726

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4115298#4115298

I want to be clear that I don't think the Collins' lanyard is a primary failure mechanism; if it's getting pulled the wrong way, you're already having a bad day. But if you're worried about a situation where your reserve container is open while you're half attached to your main then your solution ought to not add another way for you to end up with your reserve container open while you're half attached to your main.

If you a) use cutaway cables that are the correct length so that the non-rsl side releases first when you cut away, b) use risers that were sewn correctly and are not dogged out and c) assemble your three-rings correctly, then you have a vanishingly small chance of needing a Collins' lanyard.


Ryan here is a scenario for you (an actual event).

I've seen a video from the Midwest (although I don't know who has it) where there are two guys facing and sitting (legs locked) during an exit.

One of them has his hands on the harness of his buddy and as it turns out strips only one cable out of the cutaway housing of his buddy. Of course it was the RSL side cable.

Neither of them realized what had happened but it was quite clear on the POV video. When the guy opened, his RSL riser left, pulling the pin and initiating deployment of the reserve.

In this case the guy had a Skyhook and the Collins lanyard did what it was supposed to do. It cutaway the non-RSL riser before the reserve came out.

So, would it have been better that the guy not have a Collins lanyard? Or maybe just no RSL at all? Because had he not had the Skyhook (with the mandatory Collins lanyard) the outcome would certainly have been different and very possibly, catastrophic. Unless of course he had no RSL.

There is no doubt that the Skyhook adds a bit of complexity and I'm sure people (naysayers) can come up with scenarios when maybe it would be better without, a Skyhook, or Collins lanyard, or RSL, or AAD or square reserve, or hand deploy pilot chutes and on and on.

It is my belief and the statistics support this belief - Skyhooks are a very good thing for the majority of the people in our sport. They save lives and more and more people are getting on board with them. And that's a good thing.

Absolut

Had a good email conversation with mike the last few days. Just wanted to point out the great service of upt! Helped me a lot with my problem and invested quite some time in it, got it all fixed now :-)

Thanks for the heads up. Glad I could hook you up.

Everyone there is great. They go above and beyond - especially when we need to fix mistakes.

It's one of the reasons I've been a UPT dealer for so many years.

I have over 2,000 jumps on semi stowless bags by UPT.

Double wrap the locking stows with large tandem bands.

Best openings ever.

champu

I'm not convinced, however, that the Collin's lanyard addresses anything other than gear maintenance / construction errors and I'm not comfortable with the added complexity and potential failure modes it creates.

Hey Ryan, will you please explain what you mean by "potential failure modes it creates"?

Turn your d-bag inside out and measure the seams.
Send those measurements along with the canopy and size you jump to Mike McGuire at: [email protected]

He is in charge of spare parts and is the guy with whom you need to communicate.

mcstain

Let me clarify - I am asking whether mounting the camera on the same side as your PC throw increases the chances of a snag compared to mounting it on the opposite side.

It's actually quite simple. Yes.

Every time you add anything to your gear; cameras, ring sights, slider ties, etc (hell even a wrist mount altimeter), you are increasing the odds that you may have an entanglement with your deploying main or reserve, lines or pilot chute.

It's important that you do everything possible to mitigate these risks. It's also important to be certain that the rewards outweigh the risks. Too many people don't really understand the risks and don't have the experience to remain calm during a dicy situation.

This is why some of us more experienced people say the things we do to those who are less expereinced. It's not that we don't want you to have the fun the rest of us are having, it's just that we want you to survive the fun.

For me, I've carried my share of people on backboards and stretchers to the waiting ambulance and more than my share from the hearse to the grave site.

Many of these people just didn't want to hear what I had to say.

JeffCa

****** Although I'm really getting mixed messages about what Vigil does and doesn't require these days.

I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mind explaining this a bit further?

For example, when I bought my Vigil, it was waterproof. Now it requires me to send it in for a check, but it's still waterproof..... Not that there's any chance I'll be landing in water.

I totally understand.

The biggest reason for that is: several units had been opened up and the seal was either damaged or not reassembled correctly. This caused those units to allow moisture in and it caused problems, as you can imagine. The company knew they needed to address that.

That's one of the reasons for the new design of the 2+.

There is now no reason for anyone to open the unit except the company.

JeffCa

Although I'm really getting mixed messages about what Vigil does and doesn't require these days.

I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mind explaining this a bit further?

This is not to anyone in particular. It's just next in line.

The differences are :


1) The hardware for the connectors for the cutter and display- Both are now screw in connections, which allows replacement of these two parts without opening the main box

2) The waterproofing and guarantee is improved, now IP 68.

3) The display is slightly shorter, for an easer fit into the plastic holders.

4) The arming altitude is now a fixed, 1,000 feet.

5) Vigil 2+ battery replacements for all customers in North, Central and South America will be performed by Vigil America at our office. (Customer’s in other locations battery change will be done by AAD – Belgium. The price will be a fixed price, but we do not have confirmation of that price yet.

likestojump

It still baffles me why someone wants a precision life-saving device and is ok with never having it tested on regular basis.

As I have posted too many times to count:

Any customer is welcome to send in their Vigil (regardless of model) for a complete and thorough check. You may do this as many times as you wish. You do not have to wait for the battery replacement. You can send it in every 4 years , 3 years, 2 years, 1 year, every 6 months - whatever makes you happy and confident in your equipment.

It's just not mandatory.

I've attached the "Offer of Maintenance" form for your convenience.

Deyan

***
I'm a bit confused. I don't see anywhere in your list that you would advise them to be certain to control the slider during the packing.

Do you not consider that to be a possible factor?

Of course it's a very possible factor, but apparently unlike you I prefer to make sure it's not a "hardware" problem, before I start search for a "software" problem

Not to mention that by the time I hear about checking a canopy because of a hard opening, the weekend is over, the owner is at home and I get to see only the parachute.

But since you like games with questions, I have one for you. How many times when the guys/gals/ at PD check a canopy because " it opens hard", they can watch the owner pack it?

Cheers

Whoa.... back the truck up. I'm not playing a game with questions.

I made an observation of your post and asked a very simple, straight forward, sincere question.

I stand by my original post to the OP.

Deyan

***
Question for you: When people with few jumps and with various canopies, (regardless of brand) complain about multiple hard openings what is the first thing you suggest they check?

If it's a new setup, I'll go PC/size and material/, rubber bands/ or whatever is used/, fit in the bag, line trim check, slider size check, how the harness fits the person.

If it's the same setup only a different canopy, I'll start with the line trim check and the slider size.

I'm a bit confused. I don't see anywhere in your list that you would advise them to be certain to control the slider during the packing.

Do you not consider that to be a possible factor?

mcstain

***

Wouldn't a left hand side mount be less likely to snag the PC/bridle on deployment?

I'm actually not very familiar with the Ozone.

If you're concerned about the snag hazard then don't do it.

I've have a pretty aggressive throw on my p/c and I can't remember the last time I ever had to deploy without being rock solid stable.

Frankly, if you're concerned about your main p/c or bridle snagging with something on your helmet the you're not ready to jump any camera.

Based on your jump numbers - why are you in a hurry to put any snag hazard on your head?

mcstain

I figured that would be the reaction I would get with my low jump numbers. I'm not in a hurry to put a snag hazard on my head - I'm the kind of person to over-research anything and everything before I go ahead and make a decision. From the time I decided I wanted to get into skydiving it was two years before I made my first jump. I'm just looking into cameras now as I'm toying with the idea of a full face helmet. If I can't mount a camera on my Ozone it would influence my decision.

In regards to snag hazards, I accept that all cameras are a risk, but my question still stands: given that we toss out a PC on the right hand side, wouldn't it be at least slightly less likely to present a snag hazard if the camera was mounted on the left? You mentioned that it was best to mount a camera on the right hand side. Why is that?

I mentioned the right side because the mount from Cookie is better suited for the right side and the control buttons (AS100) are on the right side of the camera.

If your numbers are correct (are they?) - then based on those, if you wait the recommended amount of time and jump numbers then the AS 100 will likely be out of date and very possibly a new version, a new Cookie helmet and new mounts may very well be available.

When you say the right side is less likely to present a snag hazard are you accounting for the many people who choose to use a left hand throw out p/c?

N/A

I have several people asking me to conduct a FS tunnel camp soon, at either Denver or Chicago.

Any interest?

N/A