CrazyL

yep

Keep on thinking it through bro! This season, at a new to me dz, several fellas have the ball n bungee device. So I ask some of the fellas if they had tested it, ' what do you mean' was a reply, ' that little rubber band is going to break, i'm not that worried about it' was another reply. I tell ya , some people are so freak'n smart they will even believe their own false assumptions, they can make it, install it, but don't even know or care how to test it. One of the fellas was interested in testing his device, I helped him, The first test resulted in the device holding the slider, as the rubber band stretched out a few inches and a couple of yanks later it released. He tried another type of rubber band, the next test the device released as he thought it would. Cosistency, I don't think so. I have also visited with a few container manufacturers here in the states regarding such devices on their gear. One of my questions to each manufacturer was ' will you make your rig with this type of device already on your rig' . Can you guess the answer. It was no. Should I certify the rig as airworthy avery 120 days with such device installed on the gear, the answer was 'no'. So, I have customers that know that my point of view and still use me as their rigger, even though they get their gear back with such device removed from their gear. Have you ever seen me fly a parachute? I don't use such a device, my slider is in the way, i must be at a disadvantage. If you have seen me land my parachute , you probably said or thought ' holy shi*** that was crazy'. At a 1.5 wingloading I can still touchdown at speeds of 50 - 60 mph with style and grace on a regular basis. My swoops max out at 100 yards or so, even at a 1.5 wingloading, under an old rag, non-crossbraced, 2500+ jumps, 4 th reline, with double kill line collapsible slider with a slider pocket that stays inflated even when the slider is collapsed and in the way, not even using the rear risers, I still swoop harder and farther with more style and grace and tricks than most boys with crossbraced canopies at 2.0 and higher wingloading. So, in the end, my suggestion to you is: Learn to fly what you have, no extra gadgets other than what the manufacturer supplied, there is alot to learn.

It's about freak'n time. Too many of even top swoopers still have not tested their ball n bungee, velcro gadget on the ground. I won't mention names but when a certain individual arrived in the states in the late 90's, he was jumping a Racer with a 1" velcro thingy hand tacked to the yoke of the rig to hold down his slider (hand stitching was pulling apart). Observant me met the fella as I ridiculed his slider device. I ask him to allow he and i to test this device on the ground. Well, he did'nt speak any english, communication was difficult. So the rig was lying there unpacked shortly after being jumped, slider still in the velco thingy. I had him hold down the container ready to pull the cutaway handle, I held tension on the canopy tugging like tug 0 war, he cutaway, the 3 rings released , the velcro held, the slider stayed in the velcro thingy, even the crappy hand tack did'nt give in. I feel the trade off for airspeed vs. life was'nt worth it. If you'd like to hear another story of a fella who did have the worst case scenario using such device resulting in one side of his body being totally broken, I got it.

Call the Ranch Pro Shop, just the other day the owner of the shop was giving a customer this type of info and how the optima can help with approach to landing.

Call PD,they can help you dial in your openings.

Wow, you sound very impressed. How many jumps did you do on the Mamba and the Pilot at the event?

Cost, Location, not the same venue as the rest of the USPA Nationals,dates were too close to other canopy events. It was even expensive for the people that lived close that could drive there. Was this years Canopy Piloting Nationals a qualifier for anything other than a medal and bragging rights?

The Ranch Pro Shop is located at The Ranch in Gardiner NY, many jumpers from Manhattan jump there and get there gear serviced there. The Ranch also jumps during the weekdays as well as the weekends.

And i thought you got the name from doing stuff like this. Oh ya ! That too. Hey man, i was'nt the craziest on thar load. Others did way more crazy stuff on that jump. I was the safe one!!!

My current Emerica shoes are discontinued, I bought 2 of the last pair that would fit me 'cause i was told they no longer make the shoe. Some of my past favs that are still available to buy are Etnies Arto Sari's black and camo, they have a sort of rubber vinyl over the toe and along the sides and back great for sliding on hard terrain,vented on the sides and toe, good summer shoes and pond swooping. I like the Etnies Callicut for jumping too. The DC line rocks too. The DC company takes pride in conservation as well by using all tough synthetic materials, no animals are killed to make their shoes. I like the DC Pure line and DC Coast line of shoes for skydiving, similar style like Vans just more durable and comfy. Comfy is a big key for me. Good luck on your search.

My favs right now have been the Emerica line. I have narrowed down my search for the most comfy long lasting protection. I've bought the same style the past 3 sets of shoes. I keep my shoes fairly fresh. I let the padding get a bit broken down but not totally worn out when i change my shoes. I've had a long lasting heel bruise that used to get reinjured sliding in cheap shoes, now i spend the extra cash for the good stuff and it has paid off wearing these shoes and changing them out regularly. I still do an average of 750 jumps a year.

[ Powerbands are in some motorcycles not parachutes. Parachutes have 'power' in the 'flare stroke' and have 'bands' on the 'D-Bag', i saw some 'silly bands' in a magazine, no powerbands though. This is all too confusing, i mean befuddling. PM me sometime so we can talk about parachutes.

Skate shoes all the way. www.asylumskate.com. Those fellas hook me up. From Vans to DC to Fallen, Airwalk,Globe, Emerica, Etnies. Some shoes designed by skaters that brutalize shoes. Some full leather coverage, excellent heel support and overall foot support. Great colors, great style. If you like a little SoCal style on your feet call the fellas at Asylum Skate tell them the crazy skyman sent you. My feet are well protected. They have cool comfy padded socks there that are worth every dime for a skydiver. I swoop hardcore nearly every jump now and slide on my feet alot. In Perris i'd slide in the dirt between the grass and the hangar on the hard packed dirt. Did it a couple a thousand times. I'd make my shoes last longer by buying real skate shoes and by sliding on one at a time sometimes placing the non sliding foot over my head then switch then touchdown with both sliding to a stop going sideways leaving a dirt rooster tail behind. Sometimes a person would comment 'that was crazy, L....! Hence my name.

My Infinity riser covers work great and are difficult for a packer to mess up, and I can pack it blind folded in less than 10 minutes.

Ya pretty much, and it freaks me out. Especially when the russians are on board yelling " can we get a couple of inches please" as if you'll be killed by the person yelling if you don't crack open the door.

------------------------------------------------------------ Another great reason to leave the door closed till atleast 1,000ft agl !!! All seatbelts off prior to opening the door.

I'm with you on the squares landing softly. My concern is more about the deployment during low unstable deployments possibly amongst wreckage.

No i don't work for any gear manufacturers and have no sponsors, my opinion is an objective opinion. I agree with you about the squares being reliable and such especially reliable for landing softly, given that the parachute has deployed without fail. Most pilots are'nt jumpers more than likely most have never flown a parachute. I'll get back to this later duty calls.

Let's see, a hackey handle is about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, if the door is open 1 inch the hackey handle will not physically be able to go beyond the door. If the door is cracked open 2 1/2 inches or more the hackey can physically make it out the door, while the jumper seatbelted in the aircraft then would be anchored to the aircraft by the seatbelt as the parachute is trying to deploy while they are still in the aircraft risking their own life as well as everyone on board. Ya know this scenario really sucks. I still like the scenario of seatbelts on till atleast 1,000 ft,leave the door closed till atleast 1,000 ft , make sure seatbelts are removed, pilot chutes checked, tandems near the door have atleast one upper attachment, then open the door. I can wait, even on the hottest of days, i can wait.

opinions from the loft... from what i've read here there is all good guidance here from riggers concerning the pilot rig. You got the right idea. Back type with round or square, if i was a pilot i'd choose the round for aircraft emergency exits. Simply because i believe the round will deploy better with poor body position during deployment than the square. As far as ease of rigging, from my experience the Paraphernalia Softie with a Freeflight round with a full stow diaper is easier to service than most other set ups. and is comfy for the pilot , durable, last a long time, hold their value well, some softies can be modified from round to square too, and good customer service from the companies. Happy Flying.

Oh the door issue. This is my first season at this DZ. While it was really hot here this summer. Some jumpers liked to open the door under 1,000 ft. Tandem masters yelling for the door shortly after take off and such.Not so with me on the aircraft. Being a well respected skydiver here. My opinion was worth more than just a grain of salt. While I was on the A/C the door stayed closed till 1,000 ft. At times I pissed some jumpers off for holding the door closed ,making sure the seatbelts were off at 1,000 ft, tandems within range of the door had at least 1 upper connection fastened, with the aircraft flying smooth,having some jumpers check their main pilot chute,camera guys holding their gear, then and only then would i open the door. For the rare time that a jumper would go for the door early I would voice my opinion to them, more times than not, the door stayed closed till 1,000 ft. For the jumpers and the pilot, take off in the aircraft is one of the more hazardous things that will happen on the skydive. give the pilot the best chance of survival and keep the door closed till above, 1000 ft. No one is jumping below 1,000 ft. pilot chutes can slip right out the door hince the reason for removing seat belts prior to opening the door. We wear seatbelts so that if there is a problem during take off , the cargo (jumpers) does'nt shift the center of gravity (cg) during the most critical time, take off, giving the pilot maximum control during take off. Door closed during take off = better aerodynamic flow for the aircraft. So there you go, these are some reasons why i choose to stick to keeping the door closed till 1,000 ft.By the way i'm not a pilot, yet a jumper. Happy Skydiving!!!

yep. I agree with this post. If date or batteries go out within 120 days. The aad is no good in the rig, legally. Stay out of HOT water. Sell him a new AAD or remove the out dated AAD

Ya, it makes since to me that there would not be much difference with Dacron vs. spaectra on your Spectre canopy. The Spectre opens slow with Spectra lines. With Dacron , maybe a little slower w/ slider hang. There is a much more noticable difference on the sabre(old model), the Dacron on my Sabre resolved the old Sabre slam. Enjoy

Dacron lines were the best thing that ever happened to my Sabre 120 ( the old model ), Relined in 1997 with 525 Dacron and continuous center A lines. Opens in about 400-500 ft soft and cushy. Has yet to snap open like it used to with spectra line. My Sabre 120 is a downplane whore, and a dirty low hooker, flies backwards , and spins around like a helicopter prop. There is an old wise jumper out in Perris who i've relined his Stilleto's with the Dacron line. He's been using Dacron for many years as well. I also have 5 mains that i can jump on any given skydive. Some with spectra, vectran, or both.

Greenlight, sorry i did'nt read through all the posts before posting myself. On banning/outlawing hookturns. The norm used to be 'banned hook turns, no hookturns allowed, will be grounded for 30 days if you do a hook turn'. Ya used to be like that. I've been personally kicked off a DZ in southern Texas for performing hookturns. They used the 3 strikes your out policy. Well, 3 years later , i recieved a phone invitation to the same dropzones 'swoop competition.' They had even made a competition pond just for the art of hook turns. So , i went there and enjoyed hook'n it and not being hassled by management after landing each time. Look at the hookturns know a days. The name has changed from hookturn to swoop. Even on some loads someone will ask ,who's swooping? As it is a normal event now. pretty much every load at a turbine dz is gonna have a hookturner/swooper on it. Hell, their is more prize money now in swooping than any other competition in skydiving. So, yes, hookturns have gone from one end of the spectrum (banned) to paid to perform the hookturn and still the top killer of skydivers. If i were you or any other jumper , refrain from doing hookturns, and always watch out for the idiots who still do them including me.