TowerTopper

That's what I'm thinking Mark and the Raven "Reserve" in my flag rig just shows a good loop hole in some of the reqs out there. By the way I do work under the supervision of other licensed riggers and not just winging it.

I would be interested taking a riggers course ASAP if anyone knows of one sooner than May, I've been rigging a few years and it's time. I could do it without the course but I would have to find somewhere outside of Indiana anyway to test and it never hurts to see what other people are doing also. I'm wanting all 3 ratings: Seat, Back, and Chest. E-mail me here.

I have in the past sewn on tail pockets to different skydiving canopies, some down and dirty right threw the tail of the canopy with no backing and base jumped those and then jumped them from the aircraft also after using them of BASE, where the canopies are now? Who knows, I sold them over the years and I'm sure at some point in time they were skydived again not by me, altered by me not jumped by me no more.

How about this, I have a Raven main/reserve I mentioned in another post, using it as a reserve now after first 300+ jumps skydiving it and had a save on it as a reserve after that. My point is I altered/patched it twice as my main and I'm not a licensed rigger. Now it's a reserve, patched, no history other than I know I patched it when it was a main and no other rigger would know that, they would just inspect it and start a new card.

I just wonder what people would think about the Raven II reserve in my flag demo rig with its 2 patches, 300+ skydive jumps, and another one as a reserve ride?

Good research Gene, thumbs up! I'll get my camera and post some picks of the whole thing this weekend, cell phone pics just don't show the beauty of the kit, it has about a dozen different tools in a nice case. Everything is in good condition and you can see the years of use in them. Vince

I'll have to try that tomorrow Gene, that is the most sound thing I've heard yet about it after showing a few different riggers and that would be what they were rigging then. The kit had a tab puller, Tool 5 (below) in it so they might have worked hand in hand.

I'm not sure Tool 3 is a line hook tool, could be but the straight 90 degree bend makes me think other wise, also that Tool 4 (below) was in the same kit makes me think it for something else. Tool 4 is a line hook tool, it's about 9" long stamped out of 3/16 aluminum.

I thought maybe it was some sort of a cheater to slide a closing pin in the loop but the reserve pins I tried were too fat to fit in the end. I'm with you, I think it was something he found to do something, some time for him. We"ll see what other ideas come about.

How about this tool also?

It's about 10" long total, rod is "L" bent and about 6" long and 1/8" round.

The wife of an old military rigger gave me a bunch of her husbands rigging tools in a real nice kit. Everything is from the days of rounds and such. This tool was in the kit and I have no clue what its for, it my not even be for rigging and just something thrown in. Who knows? You tell me. It is 7" long total, 4" of it is the handle, the tip is hollow about 1/4" and turned down about 3/4" back, has some crazy bends. No other markings. Thanks Vince

While your putting grease under the door handles you have might as well coat some under the windshield wiper blades, they usually don't notice that till they need them and it makes for a good mess.

I put a zip tie around the drive shaft on one asshole supervisors car once, as the shaft spun the tail of the zip tie would hit under the floor board and it makes a sound like everything is about to fly apart. He took it to the dealer and they charged him over a $100 to cut it off, LOL.

Butyl rubber weatherproofing is the best, Google it, you get it at the home center, comes in a paper-backed roll. just cut pieces as wide as the tires and slip a piece under each tire so they run it over, leave paper on so it don't stick on the ground side. The butyl gets stuck in the treads and throws the tires way out of balance, this crap is a bear to remove when it gets warm and gooey and it picks up more rocks making it worse as time rolls.

My first rig (94 Javelin) did the same thing. I figured the reinforced edges were holding up ok while the weave in the center of the webbing was stretching from lots of use allowing for the cupped look. It didn't seem like an issue to me. I sold the rig a couple of years ago and it's still in use at the DZ today.

This ebay store Terry listed has 99 presses listed this time at $40 each or best offer. He sold me one awhile back with a OBO bid for $25 out right, new in box. They have been on ebay for a few months now, offer a OBO price or keep bidding low till you get one for less.

Your rigger should always check if the AAD (Cypres) is current... batteries, 4 & 8 year inspections, date of mfg and ect as part of his/her inspection. If the Cypres was still current when it was packed and then it expires before the next repack your ok to still use it till your reserve pack is out of date, that's what the extra 3 months is for. If it was expired when you took it in for your latest repack then it should have been removed from service before it was repacked. You don't have to have an AAD, but if you do it must be current as TSOed, if not, then it must be removed.

I got some from Jumpshack, they had a nice size opening in the eye that made them good for floating pin type setups, like on my CRW bridle.

I bought a bar tack from Yamata for $1489 including head, table, and motor. Runs like a top even though everything needs to be set manually, same machine computer controlled machine is $900 more. I'm picking-up some other machines from them over New Years at there Miami warehouse. The price quoted to me for a double needle machine w/ separate needle bars was $988. and other machines I played with in there show room ran great and were priced affordable as well. Vince

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I was looking at jumping some tower cranes in Florida last fall and had to wait a night because of unfavorable winds. The next day I was doing some Big Way RW and a lawyer for one of the dropzones down there was with my group and the conversation turned to BASE jumping in Flordia, I told him about checking out the cranes the night before and he informed me that I had committed a felony just being on a "declared" construction site. The way he explained it to me was that the site had to be posted with signs stating that it is a "declared" construction site and that trespassing is Felony on that site. He also added that I would more then likely beat the charge in court, after being arrested and charged for a felony, bonding out as a felony, and paying a lawyer to defend me for a felony. The law was put in action to stop the theft on the sites. The last thing he said to me was, "come on vacation leave on probation"

I was talking to a recently rated Sr. Rigger about some gear and was floored when she stated in the middle of our conversation that she didn't know what I was talking about when I ask a question about the Main Lift Webs of a container, she didn't know what the MLW are. I know she took the fast track route to getting her rating by paying someone to work in there loft to get her so called training. I'm not going to say which loft it was but they are well known for providing training to inspiring riggers. My bitch is that she's not a rigger but just a parachute packer. Someone just signed off her pack jobs for money and she got through the system not even knowing the basics! How can you trust a rigger like this?. I think lofts who practice this service should pay more attention to there so called training they provide and the people who they sign off. I blame her for the lack self education, the FAA for not having a more in depth testing program, and the loft who signed her letter stating she was qualified to be a rigger.

Para-Gear in Skokie, IL deals with the MC-4 and parts also. I don't know if they limit who they will sell to or to what extent of spare parts they carry, I do know that they have the handles. http://www.Para-Gear.com

I took part in a RF Safety Course with RF Safety Solutions, the site that Calvin19 made reference to. A lot of good reading on the subject can be found on their site, RF Safety Solutions . All in all, if you don't dilly around too much or hang out in front of the dishes their not a problem, the problem with RF is the damage caused by the heating of skin tissue, exposure times can very at different freqs dues to the wave length of different freqs, at broadcast freqs (FM radio) the wave length couples well with an average height humans whole body, and when you get into the Microwave range it couples with your eyes real well. It's not an instant thing, it takes time. You actually get more exposure from your cellphone when you use it in an area with poor coverage because it keeps pushing up the output wattage it transmits trying to connect to a site. Buying a RF monitor for BASE is a waste of good money that you could use for more gear or a trip to the bridge. But if you feel that you really need or want one; I have a couple Nardalert Monitors in mint shape I could make you a deal on, PM me for info. Vince

I took a file and filed the threads off on the screw that goes through the plate. File just under the head of the screw about 3/32 so when it's threaded all the way in the plate it will keep turning. Worked great on my HC1, plus you won't lose the screw like you could if you drilled the plate.

I can honestly say that dieing never entered my mind for some reason to BASE jump, really if I thought that "this is or could be the end", then I'm sure as hell not jumping! I "KNOW" my shit will work, that's what I'm thinking. Once or twice thou I thought that "man, if this don't work , this is gonna hurt" , but dieing, no no!

Look what they dropped off for me while I was in Twin Falls for my birthday.

Interesting Cheri, But I'm sure that there's more injuries than what shows up at Magic Valley, I know jumper who has a regular doctor in town, me, He's good about squeezing me in when I need in to see him, ER cost $75 and the doctor is $15 with my insurance co-pay. I almost went to the ER on last trip one night though. I have to learn to stop pitching on my back or just never pack again. Maybe I'll just take up kiting. Thanks, Nic, Bill, and Miles.

I'm with John Doe, I bet GPS also. GPS is used for timing. They know where their sites are.

They are microwave dishes, looks like 6Ghz, maybe 10Ghz. They connect the sites by microwave in a string, each pair is pointing to another tower and they hook them up like that and the last site feeds into a T1 phone line or links right to the switch with another dish. You can stand behind them all you want al day long, I find that they make a good seat for a mid-climb smoke break. You can pass them in freefall and fly in front of them with no worries, just don't hang out in front of it for prolonged periods and you will be OK.

I never heard the words "cheap" and "RF Monitor" used together before. The monitors I see the most are made by Narda, the "Radman" and the "Nardalert XT". They both cost the same, a little over $1500 new, the Nardalert is a better unit but it's a little more bulky, it's like carrying a radar detector on you and has logging so you can go back and study your exposure levels. The Radman is slim, 1.5in X 1in X 8in, and only monitors area levels and is not as accurate. I have both at work and a Radman in my gear loft and I can honestly say that I never bother with using ether and my crews don't like to wear them also, they tend to shut them off when they get tired of listening to the beeping all the time. I had a RF safety class on these monitors at www.rfsafetysolutions.com by Richard Strickland, one of the head designers of these monitors and he told me your more at risk of harmful EME using a cell phone in an area where you have a weak signal due to your phone automatically increasing it's output wattage next to your head well over the approved exposure levels for OSAH and tower workers working on the towers. You can learn all you want to know on his website. As for fluorescent tubes, I don't know, But I know for sure a neon tubes will light with strong RF.