KevinMcGuire

Para flight is not out of business and far as I know. they have just stopped building sport gear. the swift is a good enough reserve in that it will open will and land you O.K. It is not as good as some reserves on the market but not as bad as others. I would not sweat it. It will do what you want

550 also wears out much faster than 825. It is even more pronounced if you land in a dirt landing area

No problem. With no rings at all except for the D-rings, it is a very easy and quick job to do.

The rigs I've been working on were all stored in an air conditioned building and inside a locker

I have never seen an F-111 canopy stick together like the Zp main I found last night. In fact I have recently opened and repacked all the resevres that were with the millitary rigs that I'm doing and while they where a bit hard, I have no doubt that they would have opened

Does the rig have chest rings as well? If so then it's a simple matter. If not then it gets a bit more complex, but it's still possible and not all that expensive If your looking to get it done quick, Please PM.

I had one just like that last night. The canopy had been packed for about 4 years and quite honestly, I doubt it would have opened. It took great effort to pry the material apart and once I had it up on the rack, I had to physiclally pull the ribs apart from each other. This canopy was brand new and has never been jumped. I have several more rigs at the moment that were purchased and packed at the same time and have also never been jumped. I'll try to get some picks and post them today.

You will not really be able to. It's not practical and you'll never get it to look right. Your best bet would be to buy a bartack or zig zag

(Latest Issue of Parachutist (April)... page 42 I think... there is a full page ad for L&B audible altimeters... it's a 4 way hybrid- 2 bellys, a hanger and a surfer on top. The top surfer has NO FREAKIN' VISUAL ALTIMETER! No wrist mount, no chect mount. I realize this is an ad for audibles, but c'mon, no visual altimeter??? Just wondering if anybody else noticed this too.) Won't somebody think of the children......Please some one save us from our selves

I doubt you would have noticed any difference in flight until it became catastrophic

In my experience repairing parachutes, I would say that at least 85% of the damage found on parachutes that needs to be repaired is located in or about the exact area as the damage shown in the photo. I find it hard to believe that snaging canopys on something while walking or while gathering up the canopy has caused all the damage to same area on most everyones canopy that I have repaired over the past 12 years. I really think it comes back to bad packing. Besides, if while walking, you did catch it on some thing and made a hole the size of the one shown in the photo, I think you would feel it as it happened. After all, these canopys are made of nylon. Not tissue paper

That’s not a cut. It's a tear. Looks to me as if the material got caught in the grommet of the D-bag. That is the tail I assume. If so then that section of the canopy is most likely where you rolled the tail when pro packing. when the canopy is then S-folded, and placed in the D-bag, that material would most likely be right up against the grommet. The damage shown in the picture is a common characteristic not clearing the grommet

I was not rerfering to you. You did not offend me. It's all good bro. I was referring to some of Gapers earlier remarks that were removed by Tom

No need to apologize to me. I was simply trying to mellow the tone down a bit. when I read "they drew first blood" and the other more inflammatory remarks, it made me think back to the days and attitudes that lead the NPS to develop such a staunch hatred of BASE jumpers in the first place. I never said that we should lay down for NPS but making threats against the lives of others is no way to further our cause. That sort of thing will only widen the rift.

(cutting the laterals, and nothing else, is the easiest way to get the rig off...and I've cut many of them off. You can un-do the chest strap and leg straps, then by simply cutting the laterals, you can lift the MLWs over the victims head and they're out. ) I see your point. I'll have to try that next time.

The best place to make cuts to remove a rig off of some one is to cut the main lift webs below the handles if possible and to cut the leg and chest straps. That will get the patient out of the harness. It is not usually necessary to cut the lateral but that will depend on the position of the patient. Try to instruct the medics to not cut through the yoke (AKA shoulder area) of the rig. That usually makes damage too costly to repair. Don't worry about cutting leg pads. They are easy to replace

P.S. Don't be too hard on the medics or EMT's that cut rigs. Their primary concern is the safety of the patient. When some one hits the ground hard, they are considered to have suffered a "mechanism of injury" that warrants extra precautions be taken to ensure no further cervical spinal injury occurs. Quite simply the only way to do that is to cut the rig. Rigs can be replaced. Spinal cords can't

Don't worry about it. From the sounds of it, the rig was cut off in just the right way. I myself am an EMT and have had to cut rigs off people before. while the repair is an extensive one it is actually not that difficult. There are two ways to go. 1) you can have it sent back to the manufacture and have them install a new harness or 2) you could send it to me or some one else who is qualified to make this type of repair. I have replaced dozens of harness's for just this reason.

In that case you may want to speak to Harry Parker. He had worked extensivly on the "It's our park too" campain. Perhaps he can offer a direction to take. I would also get in contact with Jason Bell. He has also worked closely with the NPS on bridge day and may be able to put you in contact with the right people. Good luck.

Of course not I would teach my kid to fight his fights. I suppose that those involved will now be pursuing leagal action against the park service to ensure that the indignity suffered never happens again. Is this correct? If not then whats the point of this thread. Is it just a place to vent or will it be a place where real action is taken.

Strong feelings aside, lets not create enemies in the play ground. I'm not in any way condoning what that perticular NPS officer did. Just remember that he is probably a resident of MOAB and therfore could greatly undermine the locals opinion of all of us. I suggest that unless anyone has anything constructive to say, that we let this thread die and move on.

This is the BASE forum isn't it????

Stick around a bit. You will.

(He's in Scotland, a fair bit away from London. But an excellent rigger nevertheless.) And he's a real nice guy as well

It will not cause a problem. At lease it never has in my experience. Just wait for it to dry and flake it off or use distilled water and dab it off with paper towel. Either way it will not reduce the integrity of the material in any significant way.