RedundantRigger

Quick question: The self test prompts : " NOW " Is the unit within the +/- 6 month frame? A unit with a DOM 03.10 can be jumped until (not including)1.october?

Nothing specific.. Was talking to this guy who was talking about organizing something in Sweden next spring, but not sure if that materializes. The UK has been recommended several times, but I haven't looked so much into that yet.

Hoping to find a dropzone in Europe that has some crw activity. Some friends and I would like to take a course or get some trainning. Any suggestions where to go or who to contact?

The G4 has a system where the last flap, #6, goes through a retention strap on the reserve pin flap. I am wondering if the rsl should be routed through the retention strap or if it should go independent of this. I didn't find the manual clear on this.

I have a 96 javelin that needs a new reserve ripcord. part # 101 CASAP Anyone know what yoke size this is?

that sounds like it. Unfortunately they don't seem to have it posted on their page... Videos are good, but the PowerPoint slides would be good when in the field. or just posting them on the wall. So that jumpers might get a feel for the concept of line wear.

A year (or two) ago, somebody showed me this great chart that displayed line wear. There was like a gradual development, from new to worn out. And it had one for each line type (spectra,vectran , dacron...) I did a quick search but with no success . I think it was from some PIA meeting. Could somebody possibly share it?

Thanks for all the replies! Lots of gold here. I never tack reserves. I ended up tacking to only one side. I figured it made more sense because: It's easier to ensure the "slack" for the tab. One can look inside the loop to inspect it later on without opening the tack. Easier and safer when you have to cut the tack because you have the tab as a buffer against the riser.

Quick question. When tacking down the soft link tab do you: 1. Tack it to one of the sides in the riser loop or 2.Tack it to both sides, so that it becomes like a sandwich riser,tab,riser (I understand that the knot goes inside the loop/sandwich)

Do you use it without the RSL then?

sounds like the wire end of the ripcord encountered enough resistance that the handle was ripped from the velcro.

Now I remember reading in poynter or somewhere.. concerning ancient history, about the Stevenson Lanyard. Predecessor of the modern RSLs and LORs. It was infact just a connection (tape, line or something) between the handle on the belly mount reserve and one of the risers. Prone to hitting you in the face upon activation and knocking teeth out. So i was a bit puzzled when I came upon it whilst browsing the Tear Drop manual. The design seems ridiculously dangerous? If I understand it correctly, the pin has to get dragged through the entire reserve cable housing and lastly through the gromet on the rsl tape. The cable housing end seems to be tacked down to, so the lanyard would pull 180 degrees to the housing routing. They mention that the handle shouldn't hit you in the face though , it should remain stationary. A snag-up just seems obvious. Has there ever been a incident where this system was involved? I'm also interested to hear from people who have used it Manual can be found at : http://www.thomas-sports.com/index.php?option=com_rokdownloads&task=download&id=121%3Aviper-1-pin-manual-&Itemid=7 Page 22 for the rsl

I stand corrected! Do you have it by any chance?

That makes sence, I guess it could.... There where some bulletins concerning the subject: http://www.dropzone.com/news/Gear/Service_Bulletin_-_Icon_Harness_Container_Cutaway_Cable_and_Cable_Housing_569.html And also a french one, about somebody using a bad kind of oil for lubricating. Apparantly it hardend up in there or something.... But I never found it.

I know a guy who cleans them on every repack he does. He feeds flexible metal wire through the housing, then he bends the wire around a small piece of cloth. The cloth is then soaked in some kind of solvent. I believe a clean form of gasoline( he gets it at the pharmacy), it all evaporates away after. He then pulls the assembly back through the housings.

Here are some more pictures. We only have Gopros and a scanning machine so the quality has much to be desired. Working on finding someone with a good camera. Markings on the handle: "RI25H" or possibly" RI25II" next to that is the TSO markings. I think it says " TSO 23C" On the bottom part of the handle is a number that i guess is the batch nr. "0035" On the other side of the handle "PL-97" is stamped inn. Also there is a dent sort of next to it. A mark of somekind The handle was used on a rig with RSL. I appreciate your offer of testing the handle. I will ask the owner. The handle has been replaced, but it would be interesting to test the handle anyway.

It's not easy to get on camera. But I can perhaps elaborate. You have the two flat "wings" 180 degree apart as you say. One might ad that they are uneven in the "wingspan" along the length of the swaged part. Now 90 degrees to the wings are what you could call ridges. Each ridge seems to have 2 cracks on its side.

A friend of mine asked me what I thought about this ripcord. It's from 97 from RI. On the handle the markings look as tough they've been scratched inn by hand with a needle of some sort. "RI25H" or something thereabouts.. and later the TSO markings. PL-97 (or FL-97) is stamped on the other side of the handle. The strange thing about this ripcord is the pin. Where the pin is swaged on to the cable there run cracks parallell with the cable. Also the end of the "swaged bit" has a crude finishing. Not a smooth transition like on new ripcords. It's not rough or anything, it just looks abit homemade-ish. Obviously done with some sort of angle grinder. Pin type is intermediate. The ripcord is in service on a rig. Picture is not so good...... but you get the picture I'm interested to hear what some of you have to say about it.

So you clean/lubricate the reserve ripcord and clean out the housings? How do you clean the housings?

I've seen it done with some kind of raffined parafin/gasolene stuff, a rag and thin wire. Housings can harbor a decent amount of crap as time goes by, (making the rag completely black at least). But few people seem to do this procedure, even though it's mentioned in Poynter and bulletins from various manufacturers. (They seem to be hard to find for some reason) It might not be very important, as you say, if the cables are lubricated periodically. But a thought that struck me is that the reserve cable is never cleaned or lubricated. And that if muck is allowed to build up in the reserve housing, it might contribute to a hard pull. I'm guessing its not a problem seeing as I've never heard of any complications or whatever,but maybe you guys have something clever to say about it?

Do people clean the housings?

does anyone have any experience with a pfaff 332?

Thanks for the info guys, I'll start keeping my eyes open. Might a Pfaff 138 suffice?

I was looking for a machine that can handle canopy work. Does there excist a single machine that has two needles and can bartack lines? I have a restricted amount of space.