dzdot2

Bill- I hope this is taken with all due respect....here we go! Your post is typical of a Dinosaur. As a Dinosaur you will probably want everything to be like it was in your prime, and resist any changes or advancements. You will be intimidated by how things have changed or are different from what you knew when you were the badass guy on the DZ. You may also have some odd dream of having people turn the clock back and use the gear and techniques you used in the past. You had an awesome past....but time marches on. You can still get B12s if you want them. I bet you can get someone to install quick ejectors if you really wanted them. However the step throughs are not an issue for most of us. Loosening them to walk back in takes less than a second and is quite comfortable. It isn't a "cool" thing. You don't bang your shins/knees if the buckle isn't re-clipped after you take them off to walk in, and the chance of having a twisted leg strap is much lower with step throughs. Shot and a halfs- Really? You think they are better and safer than the 3 ring system, and the 3 ring system is something only used to make the gear companies more money? I can't see any possible way a two step, two handed system is better than the tried and true 3 ring. A simple pull...one hand (for the most part) even under high G's, will simply get rid of your main cleanly and reliably. Again, I am sure they were awesome for the day, but 3 rings have been the standard for decades now, with little change to the design. Belly Bands.... I can't see how a belly band PC is in any way better than BOC. Belly bands have a high risk of horseshoe, PC in tow, and premature deployment. They would also eliminate the ability to freefly. BOC's are safer because they are secure, stable, and have lower risk of nasty things like horseshoes and PCs in tow. Yes- as skydiving has become more mainstream and automated some people lack the skills you had to have in the old days (like spotting). But jumping a para commander won't fix that. Paracommanders were amazing for the time Bill, but they are far from the best ever made. We have come light years from that point, and I think you have a better chance of seeing horses and buggies on the highway than you will of seeing modern para commanders regularly in the air. They were great at the time... but that was a really long time ago. The sport today is MUCH safer statistically than it was in your day. Things like MARDs, RSLs, AADs, digital visual and audible altimeters and modern equipment design have made things better...not worse. You have the right to be proud of your prime! But trying to argue that the gear from 30-40 years ago is better or safer for the mainstream is, to be blunt, ignorant. I know all of those things make you feel like that was "really skydiving", and all the new things seem foreign and different. But for us, all of these new features, designs and procedures are every bit as much "skydiving" as the shot and a halfs and para commanders were for you. What you did was awesome. Things are still awesome... don't hate the change.