darkwing

I didn't respond to the survey. I have looked for many, many cutaway canopies, sometimes for hours. It never occurred to me that I might get tipped. I would refuse a tip, from either a stranger or a friend. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Interesting. Preliminarily, and based only on the photos, I'd suspect those rings missed something in the hardening process. Somebody is likely going to want a bunch of rings in the field evaluated... -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Gus doesn't live/work there anymore. He works for Mirage in Deland now. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

While it may have been due to a specific packing error, it also may have been "just one of those things." It can happen, even if you do nothing wrong. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

There are certainly other possible explanations than blaming the cordura pouch. Similar things have happened with spandex pouches. Don't think changing the pouch will necessarily make you bomb proof. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

It also looks to me like two people screwed up. I bet they both regret it. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I'm not aware of a specific problem with Pilots (I have a couple of hundred jumps on mine). I was aware that in general it is possible to have an opening hard enough to break a femur/pelvis on a ram air canopy, and it has happened a few times. My first question is how were they packed, and were they packed by the same person? Pilots are fairly popular canopies, and you have to be careful when drawing conclusions about popular canopies. Something that happens to any canopy will appear to happen more to popular canopies, simply because there are more of them. My personal hardest openings were on a Spectre, a canopy widely regarded for its mellow openings, and a Starlite, a round canopy known for its hard openings. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

A better solution is to figure out what your friends were doing, and don't do that. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I've done stupider things and I don't even drink. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

No, It is not common practice. It is very rare. I have only seen very inexperienced jumpers do it, and it was because they had no confidence in their pack job. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Seems to me to be an extremely classy way to handle it. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

The beer thing is over rated. Be nice, be friendly, etc. All of my best friends ever are in the skydiving world. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Less tipping, more jumping. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I believe it is conventional wisdom among the learned that higher aspect ratio = more malfunctions. Also, more elliptical = more malfunctions. But I'm not sure I understand your question. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Mostly it is a personal preference issue. Full Face helmets give you more comfort in cold weather jumping, or if there is any precipitation, but for me it is really an issue of occasional protection. Getting kicked in the face is better with a full face. Go to a gear store and try one of each on. Have a friend handy to kick you in the face. Of course this is not an issue if you jump alone and there will never be a bad exit or a funneled formation. Communication is easier with an open helmet. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Downsizing because it will be easier to pack is about the second worse reason to downsize. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

It depends. I set my ProTrack for SAS, and usual for fun jumps is 112-116. 4-way jumps are faster. I've been on big ways that were in the 100-105 range. I hate that. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I think you could also use any two that the last two numbers add up to 80, although I have no idea what is available. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

The flaw with your 3000 hour argument is that parachute fabric is much thinner than harness material, and inner layers are not protected by outer layers. I pretty much agree with your 20 year statement though. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I'd say it is often not so much a switch, but a gradual transition. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

In that era it was common to jump old canopies, and for good reason, they worked just as well as new ones. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

nearly 4 hours. And I hate it. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I love it. I don't know what else to tell you. YMMV. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

There is no one best. Different people=different heads. Try them on and pick one. I prefer a Bonehead Havok, mostly because I wear glasses. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Does Nascar stand down? Or the NFL, or anyone else? -- Jeff My Skydiving History