darkwing

It would be easy to put a bridle attachment on it. The opening shock might not be comfortable in the long run, but it seems very likely that packing technique and/or a new or modified slider could fix that too. I'm sure that PD has a good idea how many jumps it would take to degrade the fabric and the canopy performance. I wonder how many jumps they let their demo reserves get? Someone knows the answer to that. It would be a conservative estimate for the number you could expect. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Easy to try on the ground before you jump. Either pull them up on your helmet, or below your chin. One will probably be suitable. Don't make it a priority after you open. Make sure everything else is fine first. Talk to your instructor about it before you do anything. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I'm not a military rigger, but it was a combination of a trip down memory lane and interesting new stuff. I didn't know anything about rigging loads. I noticed the different neatness standard between packing the personnel parachute and the cargo model, which was more like how we stuffed rags in bags in the old days (1970s). -- Jeff My Skydiving History

In places with grass runways it can be related to how wet the ground is, but I've jumped in the northern tier and we jumped all the year, although some harsh months were pretty slow. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Since the vast majority of people who die skydiving wear altimeters, maybe he drew a cause-effect conclusion and decided it was safer to not wear one? Many old timers (me) jumped without altimeters. I made about 500 jumps without one, and no audible either. It certainly helps that others you jump with do wear them, but it also has the affect of making you pay a lot more attention to the ground. It was a challenge to go to another dropzone though, because you don't have all the visual cues dialed in. In this case I'll withhold judgement, because I don't know enough about the guy and his jumping. I certainly don't automatically condemn it though. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Some years ago in Boise we had an emergency military rig that had been sealed for 50+ years. We put it on a test drop dummy and threw it out of a c-182 and it opened fine. Silk canopy, cotton harness. I'm not saying it was strong, but it was undamaged on that opening. I think this was about 1997. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Please tell me it is some confused joke. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Someone looking to buy a new canopy? Thinking color patterns? -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Sewing would give a much better result than washing, which might do anything from nothing, to complete ruination. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

A few years ago a former student with a fresh PhD asked my advice on this issue. She was interviewing for a job. I said it depends on the context, and how you have sized up your interviewer. Anyway, after the interview she told me she spoke about her skydiving (she is very active) during the interview. A couple of weeks later she called to say that she got the job. One of the reasons they told her that they picked her was they perceived her as a risk taker, in the positive sense, due to the skydiving. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I am a rigger, and I will reinforce what Andy said. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Have I mentioned that I hate Facebook? Obviously you don't, as is your prerogative. I'll hope for another venue. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

If the wires were intact wouldn't we expect it to still function normally? If they were broken wouldn't we expect it to fail self-test? -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I bet Tim Florea was the best one on the load. He always makes everyone look good. He was the secret to my success. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I want to clarify my statement above in light of a couple of subsequent responses. My intention in the "Most people..." sentence was to assert that many naysayers have no experience with them and are judging B-12s unfairly, based mostly on issues such as "they weigh more," or, "they are ugly or uncool...". I apologize to anyone who thought I was dismissing their substantive opinion. I'm only dismissing the opinions of the ignorant, which, unfortunately, represent a great many opinions one gets around a DZ. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

B-12's have their advantages. You can tack down the leg straps and the fit is perfect, without having to adjust again. Mostly people who criticize are those who don't know what they are talking about, so their opinions are rarely worth anything. People who have experience with B-12's, which largely means old guys, have no problem with the notion. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

and here they are as a pdf, for the rest of the world. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

The value of this is in reminding or educating that it can be difficult or impossible to get out of a plane that is doing bad stuff. Do whatever you can to prevent the bad stuff. Pay attention to cg issues, and be sensitive to precursor behavior of the a/c. In the old days it was a bad thing if the tail on our twin beech started shaking. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I much prefer the Pilot to the Sabre2, but haven't jumped the Safire2. The reasons are as articulated by Jurn, above. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Congrats! Welcome to skydiving. This was perhaps the best write-up of this genre. As in some other endeavors, you never forget your first one. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

How quaint. It uses flash, so I can't see it. They don't want me anyway. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I spent about a week there some years ago, and enjoyed the scenery and vibe very much. Have fun. I flew in and sailed out. I hope the "airport" has been improved a bit since then. It will do though, even if it hasn't. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I was in a 3-way once with me flat and two sit-flyers. I think that puts me in first place so far. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Another issue is it takes less training to use a round than a square. Under the circumstances of mass combat drops I'd surely prefer a round. I disagree with the notion that opening quicker is a characteristic that favors rounds. It is far easier to design a square that will open so fast it will kill you than a round that will. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Mine was in 1974. I doubt it was the first. It was a 10-way competition dive, although my team was the only naked one. -- Jeff My Skydiving History