sundevil777

The middle locking stows are likely to break right when the most load is on them, when the bag is lifted, the acceleration of the canopy putting a lot more stress right at the locking stows. You really should do something to avoid that. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Using a force gauge of some kind would be interesting. Or maybe a little of the cypres grease rubbed into the side of the container and bag would do the trick. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I am also an engineer of the mechanical design variety. As you no doubt know, engineers love to pick apart other's ideas. I cannot think of a valid reason against the ES method. Other critics in this thread I think are like a group of engineers out for a beer arguing about why tapping the top of a beer bottle causes it to foam up. Isn't this an easy thing to confirm? A properly oriented camera running a fast shutter speed...Does that more detailed evidence already exist? The pics you provided aren't enough to convince. The number of jumps you've done with ES is quite significant, but it is reasonable to want better visual proof. We all agree that we want the slider to stay up against the stops. Why prevent the air from doing that right away? I find this discussion very interesting, and an 11 out of 10 on the importance meter. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I think it might be difficult to find the handle when the main tray is empty, with flaps flapping around. If the pc was on the legstrap like back in the day... People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Please give more information. The smart has some reinforcements that I've never seen on any other reserve. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

It's built better for sure. Haven't jumped a smart so can't comment on how they fly. Built better? How so? More redundancy in the structure, more support tapes and that kind of stuff... My personal opinion, not worth the extra few hundred bucks unless you're really, really heavy and chop often... It is not obvious from your initial reply of "better built" which you're saying is better built. Please clarify. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I've had no problem equalizing pressure under canopy, whether foam type plugs or the sound filtering type. I've never bothered to remove ear plugs until on the ground. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

If you get it fixed, the armor case is a great idea and still available. I've had a N2 for several years with the armor. Seems like the screen protector part of that silicone case would do a decent job of spreading out the force of a hit. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

You should not be so sure of your advice. It is wrong to portray the choice as so clear. If the main deploys simultaneously and is already cut away, everything still has to be pulled up and past as the reserve is also deploying. If it is cutaway first, then the loose risers will not just go straight up, they will be flapping around as they go up, with the possibility of snagging the main (it has happened), especially if you have an RSL shackle that will be attached to a riser. If the main container only opens up after the reserve opening shock, then it will fall harmlessly down instead of up, and of course can be chopped with no concern at that time. The PD/army testing concluded that not cutting away was better. You can argue that the canopies used do not represent your situation, but we don't have other testing data, just actual experiences People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

You might have some fun closing your eyes intermittently during an exit. You must resist the instinct to squirm like a cat will do to land on its feet. You must trust your launch and body position, ride it out even if it feels like you have been tipped over. In general, I've found that having more confidence than is justified will help performance. Plenty of time to have self-doubt later, go confidently now. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I think many are convinced an analog alti will result in less time wasted staring at it compared to a digital alti. I can understand that it seems logical to make that conclusion. I think it is usually incorrect. If you're looking at your alti only long enough to realize it is a long way from breakoff time, you should have been able to tell that from the ground. If you're wanting to know if it is 6 or 5k, I think it takes longer than people usually want to admit to themselves. I have noticed some videos recently where people spend an awful lot of time staring at their analog alti each time they "glance" at it. Real people in freefall might not match up with what seems intuitive. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I found the small rubber bands supplied with it just too short. The guy that designed/makes the mounts shows it to be easy, but I just went with the larger rubber bands and it was a lot easier. Applying a little silicon lube also helped a lot, and would likely help prevent rubber bands from being shredded during installation. I had not thought about using a tube stow, and I wonder which would break first, a tube stow or 2 rubber bands! People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I have used the chinmount.com unit for the KISS helmet for several jumps. The quality of the design and the 3D printed parts is very high. Total cost including shipping is only $45 for my session mount for a KISS helmet. It would be only 20 or 25 for a G3 helmet depending on whether you will use a session camera or "full size" gopro. The design has a very high priority on keeping the camera as close as possible to the helmet. The limit for how close it can be depends a lot on the "upward" angle that the camera can achieve. I needed a design that allows a little more "up" angle because I don't naturally fly with my head as high up as a 20 year old...but it was OK because the guy in Sweden that makes these things already has a modified design like that. I love that it has a cutaway and it can be dislodged/snap back in place. I already tested that on a hula hoop dive where I dragged the camera against the hoop. The camera got dislodged, allowing it to get past the hula hoop without upsetting the hoop too much, then snapped back right into place. If a bridle or line does manage to snag it, I think there is a good chance of it clearing on its own. That still leaves the cutaway as an option, or the 2 rubber bands holding it on can break. It hits on the mudflap area of my harness if I don't lean my head back a little when looking far to the side. I think I'll quickly get used to leaning back. Besides that, it rocks! People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

One must do one's bights right, especially if they're tight. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I would like to understand, but can't from that description. Start by single stowing the band. Then instead of grabbing the band and wrapping it around a second time, your grabbing the band, twisting it 180 degrees, and then wrapping it a second time which creates a knot in the band. In my case, I was not twisting the band 180 degrees, I was spinning the bag 180 degrees, but the end result is the same. The "grabbing the band, twisting it 180 deg, and then..." part isn't unusual, if after twisting the band, which causes you to have a "loop"you then pass over the line bite. I think the problem you've described is in how I see some people wrap the band around a line bite (byte?) as if the band were loose at one end and you needed to wrap the loose end around the lines twice. I noticed this a while back, some young jumper wrapping the band around the bite (as if wrapping a piece of tape around the line bite). It had never occurred to me to do it this way. Instead I've always placed the loop of the band over the bite of the line, then twisted the band 180 deg to make a new loop that again gets placed over the bite of the line. There is no "knot" that results if this is done, but the other way of wrapping the band around the bite definitely seems faster. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I would like to understand, but can't from that description. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

What are you calling the base of the lark's head knot? Is it the red box portion? Thanks and sorry about the pic. Was in a hurry before my boss came in. Yes, correct. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

This might help: https://www.amazon.com/Transcending-Fear-Doorway-Brian-Germain/dp/0977627705/ref=pd_sim_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0977627705&pd_rd_r=R24JA1T6MRWR9CQ9WJWX&pd_rd_w=Qd35E&pd_rd_wg=PaUnP&psc=1&refRID=R24JA1T6MRWR9CQ9WJWX&dpID=51S2YPc7mOL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Please clarify the distinction between deployment and deployment detection, and how canopy detection differs from

Quite right. If rubber bands on the critical locking stows are breaking every few jumps, then it seems likely that occasionally they are breaking before line stretch. They could even be breaking while in the container. After installing a new rubber band, it all too often will show cracks when stretched for the first use. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I think many are convinced an analog alti will result in less time wasted staring at it compared to a digital alti. I can understand that it seems logical to make that conclusion. I have noticed some videos recently where people spend an awful lot of time staring at their analog alti each time they "glance" at it. Real people in freefall might not match up with what seems intuitive. Hopefully you've already asked your instructors about what they will allow and when concerning helmets, goggles, gloves, altis... People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

If the changes requested were reasonable, and they are, then no reason to complain. It is trivial I firmly believe that a low % of members voting should not be taken as a bad sign. It ought to be taken as a compliment to the BOD. Doing well enough to not motivate people to vote against you is a good sign. I think some people have unrealistic expectations of any such organization such as the USPA. My memory of the cost compared to other nations, and the impositions those organizations impose on their members, I think we got it good. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Yes, that is a possibility, or perhaps most people don't appreciate the benefits of a locking stow that is so much less likely to break, and they have fallen for the prevention of bag lock story. John Sherman didn't trust a couple rubber bands when designing the speed bag, he made every band a locking stow. This is for a good reason - individual bands are unreliable. The bands have to withstand the most force right at the time it is most important, during the acceleration of the bag out of the tray. I do not trust traditional rubber bands for that. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I have made many of my own tube stows from the bulk silicone tubing I used to be able to find in the fishing section of sporting goods stores. Use a pair of needlenose pliers to turn one end over about 5mm. Insert the closed pliers into the other end and open the pliers to expand the tubing. Now take a pair of hemostats to grab the turned over end of the tubing and insert it into the opened end. Carefully slide the tubing off the pliers and you're done. No need to glue anything. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

The glued junction doesn't get any real stress if you just install them to be at the base of the larkshead. It has always seemed obvious to install them that way. Glue is actually not needed at all, as I have made my own in years past from silicon tubing. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am