betzilla

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Posts posted by betzilla

  2. Quote

    The mark-up in skydiving gear is solid and so there is room to lower the price if any lesser-known manufacturer wanted to in order to compete on price



    LOL. One wonders where you've gotten your info on margins for skydiving equipement.

    The price difference in this case most likely comes from lower fixed costs - mainly labor - than the US brands. PS rigs are manufactured in South Africa, where labor is less costly than it is here in the US. There are a handful of reasons they may be able to keep materials costs below those of some of the bigger-name manufacturers as well, without necessarily seeing any negative effect on the quality of those materials.

    If a manufacturer wants to teach customers that their equipment is worth about half that built by the competition, they can make that strategic choice. But any company should be mindful of both the message their pricing decisions may inadvertently send, and of the possibility they may get stuck in a low-price tier forever. It is *very* difficult to raise your prices when customers are accustomed to bargain-basement rates.

  5. Quote

    Magnetic riser covers don't have the best track record of staying closed in high speeds combined with non-belly orientations.
    That being said, they have evolved considerably by using better overlap and stronger and more magnets.
    For regular skydiving (including freefly), there usually is no problem in using modern magnetic riser covers.
    Speed-oriented disciplines like speed skydiving and - as I learned today - wingsuit speed performance can still be an issue though.



    Interesting, thanks. As a gear seller, I appreciate you helping me understand what's important to this particular customer segment, and why!

  7. There are a couple different makes of equipment that feel this way to me when I pack the recommended max size main into them. The bags just always seem a little smaller than I would like them to be.

    Assuming you haven't exceeded the container's capacity, and the d-bag you have is factory original and the same size as the container, I don't think you need to be concerned. You'll develop tricks pretty quickly to manage it better.

    Good luck!

  9. hey girl!

    We have a few pair of black ones left. And I'm pretty sure the PD gloves are a damn-good knockoff of original neumanns. I might order myself a couple pair. Same with the NSL gloves you can buy on the website.

  10. Quote

    what many people experience during their packing careers goes something like this:

    They try to learn to pack. Their new ZP goes everywhere. They get hard, inconsistent, off heading openings.

    Someone tells them to try psycho packing. They try it for 30 pack jobs or so. ZP goes everywhere. They get hard, inconsistent, off heading openings.

    Someone tells them to try putting the top of the canopy in the bag first before the S-fold. They try it for 30 pack jobs or so. ZP goes everywhere. They get hard, inconsistent, off heading openings.

    Someone tells them to use a hook. They try it for 30 pack jobs or so. ZP goes everywhere. They get hard, inconsistent, off heading openings.

    Someone tells them to turn sideways while they are packing. They try it for 30 pack jobs or so. ZP goes everywhere. They get hard, inconsistent, off heading openings.

    Someone tells them to pack on concrete instead of grass. They try it for 30 pack jobs or so. ZP goes everywhere. Their openings start to get better!

    Their conclusion - packing on grass causes hard openings. They post on S+T to tell everyone the wonderful news, but lament that until someone like John LeBlanc tells everyone this obvious truth, people will still suffer hard openings.

    What has really happened, of course, is they just did 150 pack jobs and got to be better packers. But packing is so complex, and so hard to learn - and improvement comes so slowly - that they chalk the improvement up to the last thing they tried.



    LOVE THIS. Soooooo much truth in here.

  12. there is no way to know, from a photo, whether there's a problem here. Take it to your rigger, mention where, how and for how long you've been storing it, and have it thoroughly inspected before you purchase your new AAD.

    If the container made contact with some foreign substances, the canopies inside should be pull tested.

    The smell, by itself, is not a problem (I think I know the barf-like smell you're talking about. I believe that's just the coatings on the back of the cordura breaking down), but your rigger will be able give you peace of mind after a good inspection.

  13. Quote

    There is no reason to turn yourself into a test jumper. Contact the repairs department and explain the issue. If they can't resolve the issue with a repair, they will replace the canopy.

    PD prides themselves on their customer service. Take advantage of that fact.



    This right here.

  15. actually, my understanding is that new javelins no longer have the bridle sewn to the dbag.

    But to answer your question, as long as you use a bag that is the correct size and shape for your container, and an appropriately sized pilot chute, you will be just fine.

  17. Hi Marc,

    There are no sane reasons to skydive if you don't enjoy it. Your wife is lucky to have a husband who is willing to skydive to make her happy, but I have to assume that if she is half as devoted to you as you are to her, she doesn't want you to be made miserable in the process.

    If hanging out at the DZ every weekend cheerleading for her is no fun (it wouldn't be fun for me), try to reach an agreement where you aren't expected to be there all weekend every weekend. Maybe she can take a weekend or two off from jumping each month - and not just the weekends with crappy weather, because that's not fair - so you can do something together that you both love? Maybe you have a thing that you love but she doesn't, that you can pursue on the weekends that she's jumping (Sailing? Bicycling? Gardening? Hiking?).

    but YES, you might come back to jumping and love it. You also might not. If freefall is the thing that's freaking you out (it sounds like you have a vivid imagination, and are thinking about how all the teeny little motions you could make, could cause you to fly irrevocably out of control), go fly in the tunnel for 10-15 minutes. They can teach you everything you need to know as a student except tracking. Once you have faith in your ability to fall stable and recover stability quickly if something goes goofy, you may find you've got more confidence. ALSO, tunnel is something you and your wife can do together that's kind of a lot like skydiving, even if you never want to jump out of another plane. Might be a pretty good compromise!

    Importantly: congrats on your weight loss. That (along with the rest of your post) shows that when you put your mind to something, you achieve it. Nicely done.

  20. Quote

    It just means she works as an employee of a loft with a 20 year policy.



    That is exactly what it means. I am that rigger.

    The 20-year policy was established before I started here, and to be honest, I like it. I can make exceptions case by case, and I have done so on occasion for close friends whose equipment is in exceptionally good shape (For the record, I do not recommend anyone count on my making exceptions to the rule for them. My definition of "close friend" or of "exceptionally good shape" may be different from yours, and I would rather not disappoint you on either count, lol).

    I've had customers at previous lofts whose gear was "well-loved." While I could not see any reason to retire it in terms of real airworthiness issues, those containers simply gave me the creeps because of their age and the resulting softness of the textiles. In some of these cases, no number of, "it's time to start thinking about replacing your container" talks were effective: The customer asks, "but it's airworthy?" to which the answer is, "technically, yes," and off they go to manifest. I still see some of those rigs in use on the same jumpers when I visit the DZ, six years after leaving that job. It's pretty hard to imagine that they're not in worse shape.

    I don't recall ever being creeped out by a reserve because of its age - just the harness/containers, which are exposed to the elements jump after jump. I certainly see no reason to retire a PD Reserve just because it's 20+ years old.

  21. your profile suggests you're near Houston. See if you can pick up a little work in the loft in on eof the busy DZs nearby - that will position you to meet customers AND to have someone knowledgeable nearby if you have questions (as you inevitably will, as a new rigger).

    In my experience, if you can communicate effectively, show up on time, and make rigging your priority, you will have an advantage over many riggers -- some are splitting their time and attention between tandems, video and AFF, and many of those who rig full time are a little wonky in the way they talk with customers.

    Congrats and good luck!

  22. I'm pretty sure UPT is still using that same design, though it's been a few months since I've assembled a sparkly new Vector. This design requires a #4 grommet too (a good thing to know in case you're thinking of putting a UPT PC on some other manufacturer's d-bag). The type 4 stop can pull through a #5 when it gets broken in and softens up a little.

    I like the fully enclosed kill-line in the scrunched up bridle. Two slack lengths of tape/line in the deployment bag (like you get with non-enclosed designs) kind of bugs me -- I'm not aware that's ever caused trouble, but it's not that hard for me to imagine it could, somehow...

  23. If it's a #5 grommet, you need a reserve slink -- a main slink will eventually get soft enough to work its way through.

    I'm generally a fan of removing metal-on-metal pinch points, but I dislike sewn-on bridles - they create extra work for riggers and extra cost for gear owners when it's time to replace the pilot chute (they either have to pay the rigger for all the seam-ripper practice, or just buy a new deployment bag). I think UPT's setup is about as good as they come, with the only metal on the entire PC/bridle assembly being the pin....