GraficO

had to post the new one... had to show the arsenal of Infinity/Samurais... GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

still... it maybe a little too close in name and function. You may want to do a another name search. These things get sticky sometimes. Just a friendly note... It's almost like developing a type of wicker shoe and calling it Nika... definately a different kind of shoe... but the name and the product are too similar to an established, similar brand... GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

UM... Lisa... Are you aware that essentially you are infringing on a similar product with the same name by L&B? You might want to curb your enthusiasm and think of another name before you get called on it I kinda have some experience in this area. http://www.l-and-b.dk/jt_rigtrack.html GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

well... my air force of Samurais seems to be getting bigger... 2 136 Sam Signatures 1 150 Sam Signature 1 170 Sam Normal Figure in 2 more years I might have a complete set of Sams They all fly great... obviously the 136s fly faster than the larger ones... but amazingly the characteristics of how they move and turn are the same across the board... really a great canopy... or set of canopies PS... I might add that they all reside in Infinity containers... GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

it was gorgeous Sunday morning... couldn't have asked for better balloon jump weather! Yeah... you definately missed out ... Next time though My only question to all of the balloon jumpers from that morning... I made it to tap the disk at the expert field... how come everybody else landing off in the desert?!? Fly... be free! Keep jumping Powerpuff! GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

thank you all for your input, educated guesses and professional optinions. I got a green light from my doc that the flap has healed and in another 2 weeks the flap should be adhered back to they eye itself. As is well. As of now my vision is extrely improved and have 20/15 in the left and 20/25 in the right eye. So the average of 20/40 vision you mentioned I feel that i have done rather well. Although I won't be doing any hardcore jumping or strapping the cameras down for another 2 weeks, I was able to make a balloon jump this morning. Very nice to get back in the air but not so hardcore that there was too much risk of a problem (fullface helmets) Personally, I reccommend the proceedure to those who are thinking about it... again you need to feel comfortable with the docs and get a thorough exam to determine if you are a candidate or not. Words of wisdom are coming from Jen... I believe she really knows what she's talking about and has a good perspective on what to do and not to do. Biggest thing is to ask questions. SEE you all at a DZ soon... GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Calling Dr. Shugar...Calling Dr. Shugar.... I had Lasik done on both eyes on December 18th and I am just absolutely astonished in how well I can see... trouble is that the doc said not to skydive for 2 weeks and the surgeon said 3 months. While I would normally err on the side of the surgeon... is he just being overly cautious with a 3 month stand-off from jumping? Any professional/medical advice would be helpful... from a skydiving point of view. Thanks ahead of time. GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

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BoneHead now makes one... www.boneheadcomposites.com so new it isn't listed on the site... but I'll bet you could order one from them GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

take a look at this thread... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=811996;search_string=grafico;#811996 some photos of Firefly suits here... GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Koz... maybe I should have prefaced that statement or chose different words. I look at containers as doing a specific task. From a purely construction point of view, instead of saying the Mirage is over-done I probably should have been more specific in saying this: The design of the Mirage, because of the flap patterns and the design of the main riser covers among other things, they choose to produce increases the parts count that goes into the rig. Many of those are purely cosmetic and not necessarily functional. Higher parts count equals more sewing and construction time that has to be compensated for hence a higher priced rig. Both Infinity and Mirage are bullet-proof rigs but the advantage from a construction point of view is that Infinity is more simple to make. Both rigs have more than adequate shoulder riser protection, both have reserve side internal riser covers, both have main closing flaps that stay put regardless of body position in the air and both a very popular with a broad spectrum of skydivers for those reasons. Point here is that the features compared above have been streamlined and functionally simplified on the Infinity and/or integrated with other parts which cuts down the need for more parts and more sewing. Whether or not the Mirage or the Infinity is better than the other is aesthetics and what you consider a better rig. A perfect example is the differences between the Mirage Riser and the Infinity riser. On the Mirage riser there is a grommet for the closing loop of the 3 ring AND a separate part for the hard housing for the extra cutaway cable. Infinity has streamlined the design of most risers available including the Mirage risers and made both into one part but combining the hard housing with a grommeted end-fitting that also serves as the grommet for the 3-ring release. Less parts, less sewing, less expensive... same functionality. Another example is where the Infinity has combined the reserve L & R closing flaps as the secondary internal riser covers. At last I saw, the Mirage had secondary riser covers that were extra parts sewn into the seams of the reserve flaps/sides. Again it's a matter of parts count and sewing as opposed to streamlining the same idea. With all due respect to Justin and Jeff Johnston (Lead designer of the Mirage) Mirage has for the most part just ADDED features to the original rig instead of INTEGRATING them. The end result is ultimately a higher priced rig strictly because of the way it is constructed, the parts count, the complexity of how the features are added and the sewing time to make it. It is not because it's features are any better than Infinity or Javelin or any other rig on the market for that matter Jeff just chose to make the Mirage the way it is. Kelly at VSE on the other hand took a completely different approach to accomplish the same tasks and did it better, more cost effective and that is transferred to the customer buying the rig. From the aesthetic point of view, everybody has their own idea of what looks good. Some think the way the Mirage looks is absolutely the most beautiful thing they've seen on the planet, while others think the Jav or the Infinity or the Vector is gorgeous. So if you are willing to spend another $500 on a rig for the aesthetics... go right ahead... it's your backside.... personally I would rather go jump and spend the $500 on tickets or tunnel time. GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Infinity... Awesome construction, great pin protection, riser covers are bombproof, rigger frirendly, excellent customer service, great delivery times. Not to mention you will have $500 for jump tickets to jump the hell out of your new Inifinity. Mirage makes a good rig but in my opinion, yet many of they features are overdone. They end up putting more work into certain areas of the rig that don't need to be there and end up charging you for it. You really can't go wrong with either but I would take an Infinity over a Mirage any day of the week.... I own two Infinity rigs and am about to get a 3rd. GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

put a few more jumps on the FX and I'm willing to bet you'll find more discrepancies... GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Ok...I'll bite... Here are photos of 2 of my 3 Samurai's The mostly white one is a Sam 170 and the mostly blue with racing stripes is a 136. I went through a ton of photos and din't find my other 136... soon I guess... 1000s of photos left to go through. GraficO PS... love my Sams GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Christian Hartwigsen... or CJ as we know him here in New Mexico... WAS TOTALLY ON for this comp. Funny thing is that he went to Nationals thinking he would just go for the experience... but training and pursuit of technique earned him the Inter Overall Gold. Many congrats to CJ... way to go man! Does this mean I have to start training for Team comp with you now? GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

bump... go to Chicks Rock boogie to see the new VSE girly tees... maybe if you're lucky you'll get one GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Jan, Keep me in the loop if someone decides to band together on this... in the Skydive LA site I saw 4 of my photographs in there... and NO... nobody asked me for my permission to use them... Hell... the photograph of the Velocity rig in the rigging section IS MY PERSONAL RIG. thanks for getting my dander up... keep me posted on your findings and any other info you have. GraficO PS... there have been 2 other DZs that have asked me to do web interfaces for them in the similar fashion of 1800skyride (they will at this time remain unnamed) and I turned down the job for the BS you are describing. This just makes me mad as hell that these bastards are using intellectual property that is nowhere near in the public domain. Believe me when I tell you... I have already spent $38K on lawyers to protect some of my art in federal copyright cases... not afraid to spend it again... GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

My TRV 11 finally bit the dust Saturday... same grey lines across the screen. I finger that I've paid it off a few times over after 5 years of service... Opted to buy a TRV 19 on Sale/Clearance at Best Buy... $537 with a 4year warranty. So I'm back in business... I hope I still have a TRV D-Box for that camera lying around here somewhere.... GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

rumor has it that there are some new girlie VSE tees in the works... better go to the Chicks Rock boogie in Elsinore to find out... GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

then you haven't seen the Flaming VSE ones yet GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

YES... Kelly has brand new VSE decals... write him... if you want the last ones we did... I have a few left

good one Bon GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

OK... I'll throw my 2cents in.. #1 is by Krishan at our home DZ #2 is at the WFFC on the job making the Convention video GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

if you do start praying water around... make it interesting at least.. don a voodoo warrior mask and decorate your squirter with feathers and bones... that way you can tell people you are chasing the demons from your rig GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

a few years ago I got "Teva-ed"... 6-way at Eloy and one of the jumpers shoes flew off and smacked me in the huevos. Had an assortment of snot-blast and blood a couple times as well as a sneaky pilot chute or two... do those count? GraficO GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."