sundevil777

The Mercury Jade is another version, $60 cheaper and without the canopy alarms. Very odd product strategy. They are very small.

...now it has canopy alarms, and specific other features are forecast

This makes me wonder if any mfgs control this - the twist sewn into any of the lines on a canopy. Seems like it would be a great idea. Has this been recognized as a source of malfunctions before? Is this a new "discovery" perhaps?

The ability to more easily replace parts of the harness is the most valuable part of having rings. The pic shows how ineffective many hip ring designs are at doing what is claimed.

Must train the brain to trust the arch even if your exit orientation isn't right at first. Be sure you don't kick/flail at all on exit. Many have trouble being able to switch their brain into flight mode, so they flail for a little bit and that is awful for stability. If you were to exit with your eyes closed and just trust the arch, you would likely do great because you wouldn't flail because your brain wouldn't think it needs to. Gotta trust the arch even with your eyes open.

This story from Nashville caught my attention: https://www.idropnews.com/news/police-arrest-man-for-stalking-girlfriend-by-attaching-his-apple-watch-to-her-car/183461/?utm_source=tapp&utm_medium=tapp&utm_campaign=04082022&utm_term=tapp The use of a smart watch didn't occur to me. Wouldn't it be a pretty good solution for canopy tracking? It seems like used apple watches are at a competitive price to the newer generation of dog/car/child/whatever trackers out there.

Quite right, wind holds seem more common than decades ago. The availability of wind speed data is so common, and maybe that makes it more difficult to not call a wind hold, compared to interpreting a wind sock and judging it to be OK. However, this improvement in safety culture doesn't explain fatality rates changing. Very important is the big difference in pull altitudes compared to when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Also, cutting away to a round reserve was intimidating, even if a jumper had experience on rounds, even if it wasn't a windy day, even if the spot wasn't deep over the trees. We know hesitation kills, and the natural reluctance to go to a round reserve might actually explain a number of no/low cutaway incidents.

Canopy alarms appear to not be included, which is really surprising when the competition is so well established. Something similar to the VOG would make more sense as a new product, rather than having fewer functions than the $195 Skylife Sirius (like an Optima). Great to see another audible option in the lower cost range, but is weak for a new product. Of course canopy alarms might be possible in an upgrade to the software.

https://alti-2.com/products/sports/mercury-jade/ May have other new offerings from them, as mentioned at the end of their description: "The Mercury will be the base for our future product family based on a new chip design with more options."

https://www.chutingstar.com/skydive/rig-parts/hook-knives/javelin-hook-knife-w-pouch These are great and available many places, not to be confused with the orange zak knives that are awful and still being sold at paragear!

Why do you prefer no leg strap padding? You are claiming it comes standard with none? If true, it should be described as such by Sunpath, as I think it would be a surprise.

can of corn

Of course. If it can happen in a few years, perhaps it could continue to happen in the one year repack cycle of many countries. No need to rely on inspections to prevent this problem.

What rigs are still using coated/lined freebag material? Bulk reduction is reason enough to stop. Which rigs have the freebag "exposed" by design - the Basik does, others? They might have a reason to use more substantial material, but without the coating. The danger is real, it happened to my rig. It hadn't been used for a few years, the rigger found it when removing the reserve I was going to sell 30 years ago.

The method of collapsing becomes so much less critical if people would immediately release one toggle/turn 180 after touchdown. So many don't turn at all, or do it slowly. I realize this assumes a stand up landing.