KevinMcGuire

All I can say is wow.

I can do it for you. PM me if interested

Hummm... 2-10 = 8 No complaints there. 2+10 = Holy fucking shit Bat man

Back before clamps where used extensively, the tail was where most of the damage was found. It appeared in the form of burns at a 45 degree angle to the trailing edge on the top skin, usually near the tail pocket. Back then, We were less skilled at tail folding and placement and we did funky things that we thought might help promote nose first deployments. I remember one night after a jump, Seth and I were repacking when Seth said that he had a really great opening on the last jump. I asked him what he had done differently the last time he packed and he said" well, I drank two beers, and had my lucky chicken foot in my pocket. That must have been the difference, oh yea I rolled the tail up tightly so that the nose opened first. Humm thats funny... I don't remember those burns being there before" Nowadays, I see burn damage mostly on the stabilizers from what I assume is either from plain old bad packing or perhaps from the practice of micro reafing. (I would prefer that some one else describe what that is exactly) Also I've seen burns on the top skin, center and end cells and on the center ribs presumably cause either by rolling the nose and stuffing the outer cells into the center or from wrapping the center cell around the pack job prior to making the last fold into the container. Often the color from one cell can be found on another which is a dead give away as to what caused it. I could spend all night describing the various causes of burns but my fingers are getting tired

I think that it really depends on how much they are folded. How much is too much some may ask? I only fold the canopy (or any part of it) enough so that I can place it cleanly into the container and no more. I know thats not as scientific as some would like but everyone will need to figure it out for them selves. Most already have. Where the canopy folds are made and how each canopy fits into a container is specific to the combination of rig and canopy. I should say though that folding can and some times does cause the same damage as rolling so don't get too carried away

[ but to me top pin just seemed logical. Oops meant bottom pin sorry

I have always avoided rolling anything in my pack job except of course for terminal jumps. I have always felt that if I roll some thing up while packing, then it would have to unroll during unpacking and do so at high speed. This is bad for two reasons. First, there is a higher potential for an asymmetric opening caused by one side unrolling faster than the other. In my opinion This is a very frequent cause of off heading openings experienced by most jumpers. Second, In addition to asymetrical openings, there is a higher chance of burning the canopy material as it whips past it self while unrolling. This of course is not only costly to repair, but it can turn serious real fast. My earliest experience with sewing machines was gained by repairing damage caused by burns to my canopy. Back in the day, I did those repairs alot. Not so much any more. Personally I have always found it easier to pin the bottom pin first the shake the canopy down into the corners at the bottom of the rig. Admittedly, I have not jumped any other make of pin rig besides my own so I can't offer an opinion about how others should be packed but to me top pin just seemed logical.

You talking to me?

First one is in route as I type. Should be here around November. Can't wait to meet him or her.

The pattern of behavior that results in a jumper rushing a pack job has little or nothing to do with what he or she is jumping and, that jumper is likely to have problems regardless of what type of gear he or she starts jumping first. As you mentioned jumpers don't typically slow their pack jobs down as they get more experienced. In fact, they speed up. So then wouldn't you agree that perhaps the time to teach them good habits is when they still have a great deal of fear, they are moving slowly. and you are there to help? What they do with the knowledge later is their business god bless em. IMO Velcro should not be used as "training wheels" for pin rigs. Take some one who has 50 jumps on a velcro rig and then give him a pin rig. Left to their own devices, they will no doubt, attempt to apply what they know about packing a velcro rig to packing the pin rig. Feeling some what invincible do to their "vast" amount of jumps, they may not ask for help cause think they can handle it, and Viola! they fuck it up. I know the majority of us are smart enough to ask questions but there are plenty out there who don't. They are (not always) usually the ones we read about. I say, train like you play on the gear you will be using. We don't train computer geeks on the old 486 coumputers do we? Then why train on velcro if that is not what you will be jumping in the future?

[ In a nutshell, I've generally found that by the time they get to that part of the pack job, a beginner is already frustrated and tired, and therefore quite likely to pull the flaps together by just cranking on the pull up cord. This is the biggest reason I recommend that beginners use velcro rigs. I find this argument to be very interesting. If you know of a potential problem and you know the necessary fix and your students are still having problems, shouldn't you re-evaluate your teaching methods so that the problem does not arise? Perhaps you can share your experience of how frustrating it must have been sitting in a hospital bed waiting to heal and perhaps they will slow down enough to avoid heading problems and the subsequent object strikes that may follow. As an instructor you need to find ways to limit frustration on your students part. If you are failing to do this then ask your self why. Here are some maxims that I always think of when teaching. 1) To remember is to understand. Meaning, if you remember what it was like to be a new jumper, you will better understand what the new jumper is going through and thus be better able to relate to them, be it packing or fear management before a jump. 2) If you are not learning from your students, then you not really teaching. Meaning 2 things. First, that teachers are often forced to develop new or alternative ways to make a point, and in doing so will invariably gain a more thorough understanding of the topic and second, that students (uncorrupted by convention) often discover new and innovative ways of doing things. Some times good, some times bad, but even bad things can be great teaching tools. 3) No one is completely worthless for they can always serve as a bad example. This one I think is self explanatory

If your jumping from an ultralight you definitely want pins.

I believe that pins are the way to go. They are presently the state of the art. Velcro in my opinion had its time and worked well, but now there is something better. Just make sure that your mentor is using a pin rig or is at least well versed in their use. I constantly hear people say that velcro should be used by beginners because it's easier to pack. I say bull shit to that. In recent years I have instructed 48 new jumpers. All but one used pin rigs and none of them had more difficulty packing than was expected of a new jumper. Here is some thing else to consider. If you buy a velcro rig now you will most likely be wanting to sell it soon but you will find a very limited market to sell it too O.K all you "velcro only for beginners" types. Flame away P.S. No I'm not trying to sell this guy one of my rigs. I don't make them for others any more.

Yea, but a good one.

Lets try it one more way. A mechanic has two different makes of vehicles in his garage, a Chevy and Ford. He will be performing the same repair on each Vehicle. The parts needed for both vehicles cost the same and both will take the same amount of time to work on but, because the mechanic is a Ford man, he is going to charge the customer who owns the Chevy more money. Business practices like this will soon put that mechanic out of business

[ Bull. They are charging you more because they feel it is worth it. I know a rigger who can pack "X" brand rig beautifuly. I mean they look great. He doesn't like them, their construction, or the way they pack. So he tells people this and says "I really don't want to pack that." O.K lets analyze this statement. Rigger "A" doesn't like the construction or some other characteristic of a certain rig but he'll pack it anyway for a greater price Does the rigger some how feel "X" rig is less safe and that the customers life is in jeopardy or has he just come to an unsupported opinion about the rig and there for the customer should now have to pay extra? Sorry but I don't see alot of ethics in that? If the system doesn't require any more time or materials to pack than it does another, and no system out there really does, even racers, then you are really just screwing your customer because you can. No ethics there either wouldn't you agree? Whlie many people think that we as riggers are out there simply to do our good deed for humanity and as such they expect to pay us chump change for our efforts, this does not give us the right to gouge them simply because they have a limited idea about what we do or how long it took to get good at it. That kind of animosity between service provider and customer is not sustainable and will break down sooner than later.

Many moons ago when I was just a rigglet, I was learning how to pack reserves on my own rig. Unfortunaltly for me it was a racer and my instructor was not well versed in packing them. Basically, he didn’t know shit about them and neither did I. As you can imagine, I was not having a good time when in frustration, I literally drop kicked my rig across the hanger and stomped off in an huff to the café for a bite. While in the café, I sat muttering under my breath about John Sherman this and John Sherman that and that piece of crap the racer blah blah blah. I must have been louder than I realized because right then Fred Bowen (some guy from way back) walked up to me and said, “Listen kid. If you let that rig get under your skin now, it will own you for the rest of your career. That rig has a secret just like they all do and all you have to do is find it”. Looking back now I can honestly say that was probably the best rigging advice I have ever heard.

Yea what ever...

Any rigger who charges more just because they find one rig harder to pack than another, is really just charging you more because they are not a good rigger. If all the pieces of a puzzle are present and you still can't figure it out, is it the puzzles fault? It is no different with rigging. I have packed roughly 7,500 reserves over the course of my career and I will go on record as saying that I doubt there is a rig on the market currently sold or from the distant past that I have not packed at least once. I believe that every rig has it's secret as to how to make it look good and how to pack it easily. All one has to do is have the patience to find that secret. It is as simple as that

Why not have the dog and the gun? I do. Several years ago my wife and I were sleeping when my Rottie began barking as if someone where at the door. The Rottie ran through the doggie door in the kitchen and instantly started going absolutly fuc*ing bat shit crazy on some one or some thing on the other side of that door. I remember laying in bed thinking "I don't even need to get out of bed. The Rottie has it covered. What ever or who ever is in the back yard has just figured out that they have made a very big mistake. I did however reach over and get out my gun just in case I heard a gun shot but thankfully I heard none. After a long while, the Rottie mellowed out and came back to bed. The next morning, I found lots of blood near the gate that enters the back yard. I never did find out what she was "playing" with that night but what ever or who ever it was never came back again. I guess my Rottie plays a bit too rough

I once knew a guy who owned a factory that made little fans like the kind you might put on your desk. His main buyer of those fans was Walmart. Walmart came to him one day and said," we don't want to pay your price anymore for these fans. If you want to keep selling them to us, you'll have to lower your price". He was faced with a delema. Close his doors or take his operation over seas. Either way he faced putting a hundred or so people out of work. 'That was 1996. One year later, many of those same employees who had been put out of work were then quoted on their local news chanels bitching about how their job went away and of course it must have been the presidents or some one elses fault I always wondered and still do as to just how many of those workers made Walmart their first stop when buying the things they needed? Ironic isn't it?

On a side note, walmart is in fact the anti christ. They and those who shop there are helping to destroy our economy. Just wanted to throw that out there

well said

I've got lots of webbing ie..T-4,T-7, T-8, T-12, T-17 in the collors red, blue, navy blue, gold, white, black, purple, and smoke. I am moving on from manufacturing and rigging and no longer have a use for all of it so its for sale. All webbing is certified . If interested, drop me a PM and I'll well work out a price. Kevin

For the fellow that's only been off 4 days... stay away from the booze this weekend. It's when your defenses are low that you think, "I could have just one." Well the hell of it is that I have given up the booze as well. I made my wife a promise that if she got pregnant then I would give up the last of my vices. (really I was making that promise to my unborn child) You see, more than anything elese in the world, I want to be a daddy. 4 days ago, my wife informed me that she had fullfiled her end of the bargin and now it's my turn. Yea not smoking sucks at the moment, but in the end (I hope) I will have been able to enjoy my children longer.