bigtim

Is Aerodyne now yusing the same formula as PD? my 18 month old Hornet (just before aerosune bought out PISA) is made of the South Afican stuff and although slippery as all hell. It';s nothing comapered to the PD greased snot ----- I'd be curious to know that as well, the South African canopies used to not be the same material as PD... not near as slippery as PD. GravityGirl... are you saying as of DOM 2004, both companies use same material?

He just said it was a new ZP Triathalon. So how would it differ? ------ I believe what was meant is that the PD z-po material is not the same fabric as the material that Triathlon canopy is made out of. PD material used to be noticeably, the stinkin' slickest stuff around.... at least it used to be... this could have changed over the last 5-6 years or so.. not sure... but PD material used to be hands down slicker than Triathlons, Heat waves, etc.

Just got a new rig, chest strap rides perfectly across lower chest on the ground, but when under canopy, the chest strap moves way to close to my throat for comfort. If I put my chin down to look at my feet I hit the chest trap. This rig is new, only 5 jumps, but is either a little tall for me, or the leg straps are slipping a bit on opening. This never happened to me much on my Javelins but this is a new rig from a different vendor. Nice high quality rig but the cinch hardware on the leg straps doesn't seem to be doing the job. The Javelin's I have had always used cinch hardware that had dimples, these are totally smooth. Anyhow, I've never had a new rig before, Will the legs straps slip less as the fabric of the leg straps gets broke in a little?

240 out the door... Javelin 4, Sabre 190, mini-risers, mini-rings, micro-lines,....no problems. I checked it all out just like you are. All riggers I talked to and even the rig manufacturer said ....no problem. Hope this helps!

Ditto here... Had one killer slammer opening, (the kind where you hear somebody scream and then realize it was you).....then I went and read what PD had to say about packing Sabre's on their web site. Implemented their suggestions in my packing procedures...3 years later (knock on wood), have yet to get spanked like that again. To each his own but I still jump my Sabre because I don't have a reason to get rid of it yet. I'll check out the new canopies when I wear out this one. I'm sure I'll enjoy the new technolgy stuff as well.

Hang in there.... you are at about the number of jumps where something clicks inside and you start to enjoy your jumps. It takes a few jumps to take the pressure off of yourself. Anyhow, one tip for you would be to watch the plane upon exit for at least a few seconds. This gives you a good arch and stable exit and also helps to take you focus off of the ground and focus more on the sky around you... Have fun and... welcome!

Good article at PD worth sharing here which talks about line dump... 2. LINE STOW METHOD Lines should be released one stow at a time. That sounds obvious, but it isn’t as simple as it may seem. When the pilot chute first pulls the bag out of the container, it rapidly decelerates the bag. At that instant, the laws of motion say that the lines stowed on the bag will tend to continue with the jumper, rather than decelerate with the bag, unless a forge opposes that motion. That force is supplied by the stow bands. If the lines aren’t stowed to the bag securely enough, they can all slip out at once. That means the stow bands attached to the bag are literally yanked right off the stowed lines. This is known as “line dump”, and can lead to a very dangerous out of sequence opening. If the locking stows fall off, the canopy is released from the bag and will start to open before it has reached line stretch. It starts filling with air almost instantly while canopy and lines go everywhere! When the jumper traveling at terminal velocity finally reaches line stretch, he already has an open canopy and receives a brutal opening shock. This scenario can damage lines, canopies, risers, and really cause serious injuries. To prevent this from happening, the stows must be held fairly tightly so that they are only released in the proper order. To check your stows on the ground, it should take between 8 and 12 pounds of force to unstow the lines when pulling the bag across a smooth surface by the bridle. Use a fish scale on the bridle to check this. Larger, heavier canopies will require more force, as does a canopy deployed at higher speeds. You can tighten your stows if they are too loose. If you use Tube Stoes, look at the instructions that were included with them. Follow the instructions labeled "For tighter Tube Stoes”. Rubber bands can be tightened in the same way. Replace Tube Stoes or rubber bands that appear worn. Do not wait until they break! The line stows must have between 21/2 and 3 inches of line through each stow. Some jumpers make shorter stows because they fear bag lock malfunctions. That is not a good idea. Short stows don’t prevent bag locks, but really do promote line dump. This is because they only have to slip a little before they are free. Remember, line dump is potentially more dangerous than a bag lock, since it can lead to equipment damage and bodily injury, possibly incapacitating the jumper.

I see your main is a Sabre, do yourself a big favor and go directly to the source and read the pd web site article about hard openings and line stows on sabre's. You'll see that line stows and the size of your pilot chute have a lot to do with sabre openings. If you are jumping a sabre, as I am, don't listen to people tell you that loose line stows are ok. Talk to PD or your riggers, loose line stows can get your world rocked with a sabre via line dump. I'd opt more towards tighter rubber bands. I personally use the large ones and double-wrap them and yes, I can lift my bag off the ground with 2-3 inch line stows and I don't worry about bag lock. You'd be suprised at the pulling power of your pilot chute at 120 mph. I've had one hard opening on a Sabre and it was enough to consult pd about. Fixed my lines stow method via reading this article and haven't had one in hundreds of jumps. Read this article, hope it helps: http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/hrdopn.pdf Blue 111's, Tim

Yeah, Cathy's great. I don't get out to zhills very often but I may be out there Sunday afternoon to do a few jumps. I've been so busy this year with family commitments that I've clocked a big whopping 5 jumps in 2003 I think so I've got to get back up in the air. Anyhow, Glad the Sabre 170 is treating you well... If you ever see my big ugly mug at Zhills or Lake Wales, let me know and we'll do some jumps... Blue 1111's, Tim

Hey dixie, just throwing my greets back your way. This is my 1st post here. I just wanted you to know that I had my Sabre 190 spank me once also, and yes, it hurt so bad that I remember hearing someone scream during canopy deployment and later realized it was me. I made sure I talked to every rigger I knew and also PD and found out how to pack one so it will never do that again. Anyhow, I now have hundreds of jumps on that same canopy without never a problem again, I even jump a big 8mm camera with it sometimes with no worries. PD has a good article on their site about preventing hard openings. What works great for me are as follows. #1 - line stows are important on a Sabre, at least 2 to 3 inches and tight, don't wuss out, double wrap if you need to but don't let your line stows even hint of being lose... this will prevent line dump which is the most likely cause you got spanked by that Sabre. #2 - split and roll the nose and push it to the back center of the pack job (carefully). Opinions vary on this but this works for me greatly. #3 - Get it in the bag cleanly.... Hope this helps, check out the PD web site... good stuff! Tim http://web.tampabay.rr.com/tim