jimmyp

You rule Hanky, I've got my copy all ready to be autographed! Marta wants to know where she can get me one of those leopard print lycra spankmaster outfits? Jimmy P.

Here is the latest version of the Apex DP for the H2O. Jimmy Apex BASE

Jimmy was the best. He took us out on one of his shark dives, way cool. Such a nice guy.

Those shots of jumping off the top of the handrail were from like 6 years ago. Man, those were the days...

Found a black Giro helmet in the bushes just below the rope on the hike out this Sunday. Let me know if you want your brain bucket back. Jimmy

Thanks for the head's up, I'll get the webmaster on it. Thanks! Jimmy Apex BASE

Anyone have Lee M's contact info? Thanks! Jimmy Apex BASE

For customers who are interested, we will have replacement V2 toggles at the World Freefall convention on July 26,27,28th and at Skydive Chicago's Summerfest on July 29,30,31st. For overseas customers, we will be on the full tour in Malaysia from August 9th to August 28th and will have V2's with us. Thanks, Jimmy P

The swap only applies to WLO V1 toggles, the problem doesn't exist with the Vertigo pin/snap version. JP

Yuri, The pin will stay in place regardless of the position of the handle in the pack tray, I always turn my stiffened toggle handles towards the inside of the tray as opposed to the outside, turning them towards the outside tends to want to peel the toggle off the riser due to the sidewall of the container going straight up off the pack tray once it's closed. The pin is held in place by the Velcro, not the handle of the toggle. The main difference between the 2 versions is that in order for the pin to move at all with V2, the tab has to come out of the pocket and the Velcro has to COMPLETELY unpeel. The pin is held in place by the shear force of the Velcro. V1, the pin can move downward with a peeling of the Velcro. This is how we did it with the Vertigo version and we couldn't figure out a way to duplicate the same setup with the new toggles until now. JP

Version 2 is actually closer to the original Vertigo design, as far as the channel and the Velcro are concerned. The reason we had to redesign the toggles after the merge into Apex was to make them work with BR style risers. Vertigo WLO's were not compatible and we didn't want to produce 2 different types of risers. The WLO V2 toggles can be used for slider down jumps

For the record: The Rock Dragon and the Dagger are completely different canopies, designed for intentionally different flight characteristics. The Dagger was pre-vent and remains unvented, it is designed with a flatter glide slope and responsive toggle input. (For those interested, it also hook turns very smoothly, with none of the "shudder" that most seven cells have when one front riser is pulled down). It has an aspect ratio of 2.1:1 The Rock Dragon was designed with vents and sinking approaches in mind. It has a straight 2:1 aspect ratio. It is less responsive to toggle inputs and more docile than the Dagger, yet still turns and flares very nicely. JP

The first few Rock Dragons had the tabs in the wrong place. My fault, totally. I moved the tabs to the correct locations and this is where they are now. I have always had what I call the stair step where the folds get consecutively narrower with the fabric between the A-B line groups widest, B-C fold about 2 inches narrower, and the C-D fold about 2 inches narrower still. After reading this, I consulted with several jumpers/riggers to get outside opinions. Most say that this is how their pack jobs turn out. Marta and I know how to fly the canopies and have learned alot about their manufacturing, but don't have alot of first hand knowlege as to their actual construction. So I went to our partner Todd Shoebotham who has been building the FOX and the FLiK for years. He pulled a Rock Dragon off the shelf(he was not involved with the placement of the Dagger or Rock Dragon packing tabs, we were not partners at the time). Upon inspection of the packing tab placement, he said that they were in the correct location and wouldn't move them. To me, your initial pictures using the tabs is exactly how I like the canopy to look at that stage of packing. There is nothing wrong with how you have the pack job in the second set of photos, not using the tabs. As far as "ease of packing", I think that it is what you are used to which makes packing seem easier or more difficult. I hope this helps. Thanks, Jimmy P Apex BASE

Thanks to Abbie and the locs in TF for running a nice big color ad thanking the city of TF for allowing us to live free. TF is the most awesome city on the planet for letting us do what we do!

It was brought to my attention that it wasn't Abe Lincoln that said the truth shall set you free, it was Jesus. They both had beards, give me a break, for Christ's sake! JP