skytribe

Went to use the machine - bar tacker bound up and stopped gave error code E7. Cleared out the tangle of thread but now I can't get it to clear the error code and every time I try and use it get the same tangle of thread on the bobbin. Any ideas on how to fix.

Now I can see a bit of reasoning in that somewhere in the system needs a relief that if the forces are that high that it will break the component rather than putting unacceptable forces on the person. However, I'm not convinced that leaving out the reinforcement is the answer -especially with RSL's involved. That being said don't some manufacturers mount the RSL attachment ring lower than the grommet which was the place at which the risers were breaking and hence even if the riser did break at the grommet it wouldn't fire the reserve.

That would be Jim Cowan ( A former US CRW Team member).

Wasn't that the woomera ? http://www.dropzone.com/forum/Skydiving_C1/Gear_and_Rigging_F6/Pull_Out_Reserve_-_Woomera_P2023531/

All the well known manufacturers make decent gear Javelins, Vectors, Wings, Mirages, Voodoo, Infinity's. These are all made by reputable companies that have been in business for a long while and make quality products. So I don't think you'll get ripped off buying any of these from a reputable dealer. Buying one used - get it inspected by rigger before parting with cash. Everyone has there own favorites and I'm sure you can nit pick any of these and find minor gripes. But all are solid products.

I just got a 1900 bar tack. I chose it because I was able to get the eprom from one of the guys on here that contains all the common used skydiving bar tacks. It came highly recommended over the brother 430's from many sources. There are different variant models of the 1900. I'd sourced one which deals with heavy weight materials. There was a recent thread on this group about the 1900 and 1900a.

That is correct - the racer and teardrop both have this situation because the pins are against the jumpers back. Whereas the Javelin/Vortex/Wings do not as the pin is away from the jumpers back. That said, the cutter not severing the loop and locking the container is probably a similar risk as those containers that have the cutter on top of the pilot chute. (Vector, Infinity, Mirage, Icon) There is a risk, however I don't believe it is significantly more or less than many of the other containers and the reliability of cutters is acceptable (not perfect).

I believe this to be incorrect and the teardrop has a TSO. TSO C23D I believe. So it is legal for a US citizen to own and jump one in the states and for visiting jumpers. The gear is fine, resale value is much less than other containers and its got a funky looking RSL setup which people tend to dislike but is functional. That said, the pilot chute is strong and extraction is quick. The cutter is mounted on the bottom of the container and takes a bit of extra steps to close up the reserve (but nothing incredibly difficult). Containers with cutters mounted on the bottom of the container rather than on a flap. (Racer, Javelin, Vortex, Teardrop, Wings to name a few).

Fury is F111 and anything with a few hundred jumps is likely to be ragged out.

My take is that age alone is not a reason for discounting something. PD reserves (not the optima series) have not changed in years have a great safety record and have 40 pack jobs before they need to be recertified. So canopies may have sat in closets for a while and reached nowhere near that limit and I'd no problem in jumping or packing them after a full inspection. The porosity should not have increased if it hasn't seen light of day but only a thorough inspection would reveal that. That said, containers have moved on and something that old may not be suitable for modern skydiving (freeflying) and may cost more to make necessary mods than buying a more suitable container. Any main that old is probably worth virtually nothing. I wouldn't buy anything without a full inspection and ebay doesn't allow that so I would steer clear of gear on ebay.

Thanks for the info.

Does anyone with one know if the require compressed air ?

Speak to the guys at freefall adventures (Cross Keys, NJ) http://freefalladventures.com/ They are in NJ but they have been in business a long while, a fun crowd who will help you gain a license. I jumped there for 10 years before moving to the west coast.

Exactly - I doubt it would be a flying side by side that you would want to land.

I don't doubt that there was a cutaway and one side remained attached for whatever reason. But if one side disconnected then I doubt the main continued to fly - perhaps you are using the term side by side incorrectly.

I doubt he landed a side by side if one riser disengaged the main would collapse and not be flying. But he very well could have landed a side by side. A side by side would require both sets of risers to remain connected - ie. you deployed the reserve without cutting away your main OR the reserve popped after you deployed a main (such as a low pull and the cypress activating around the same time). So this is may have been what happened. The situations I was referring to involved a collapsed main trailing behind you because only one riser has released. Having only 1 riser connected will result in a non-flying canopy trailing behind you. A reserve deployment when this occurs could result in The reserve pilot chute/freebag completely missing the mess of lines/material and deploy cleanly leaving you with a clean reserve and a collapsed main trailing behind Or if it interacted with the collapsed main canopy mess when deploying could result in 2. a reserve that is inflated or partially inflated as the PC/freebag went through lines and out the other side resulting in a main/reserve "entanglement". Not Good.... 3. A collapsed main with a PC/Freebag entangled in the collapsed main canopy/line. And no reserve deployment at all. Really bad. For the canopy to get out the freebag the lines need to unstow. For the lines to unstow the PC/Bridle need to have tension on them. If the PC/Freebag is caught up in the main canopy mess then you may find the reserve canopy may not even make it out of the freebag. All 3 are not good situations, hence we teach cutting away a main before deploying a reserve in the event of a malfunction. An MARD system can utilize the drag from a malfunctioned main OR the reserve pilot chute (in the event of a total) to activate the reserve. The system is designed that either can successfully activate the reserve deployment. Having a reserve PC interacting with a malfunctioned main canopy is a bad situation and one to be avoided.

I think you want either the main or PC to drag out the reserve. The combined effect of both is not conducive to a reserve deployment. Just think of the PC punching into the tangle of lines/materials from a main canopy and these getting wrapped around the bag or even going through one set of lines out - this can result in a main/reserve entanglement or even keep the canopy in the freebag. A MARD system should not result in changing emergency procedures.

I think this is a good point - the skyhook on UPT I've seen with and without hesitator loops and grommets in place. I pack it according to the manual BUT nothing says it has to be upgraded to the latest. Hence you may have a V1 with the inherent problems still present. That said, I'm sure If the owner wanted it updated they could send it back to UPT. However the versioning of various systems is something to consider. Most traditional RSL haven't changed much in years.... I guess this is the price you pay for having the latest stuff.

Yep no need to reinvent the wheel. Use a mount intended for skydiving use to minimize snag hazards. Sure you'll see people just using sticky mounts but you should do all you can to reduce your risks to avoid becoming an incident.

I like the reserve boost because of its simplicity. That being said it doesn't have a Collins lanyard. Looking at the story of the RSL (Stevens lanyard) in Parachutist. Perry Stevens invented the RSL and made it available to everyone. It said he didn't make a penny out of it but obviously saved many lives. The Collins lanyard definitely is a step up, however perhaps its the licensing aspect that RWS/UPT have that has resulted in few in other manufacturers utilizing it. Looking at the plexus tandem system the rsl attachment point was lower than the normal point of the break. Jump shack have there dual lanyard which John Sherman will tell you will only activate when both risers release (although this has other problems). The have been a few versions of skyhook and some variations. So it appears that none of the solutions is a perfect solution. Sure, when your dead it doesn't matter how you died your still dead. But if you check you gear before and make sure its well maintained you chances of dying are reduced.

I'm playing devils advocate here and you have expressed some nice examples. 1. The white loop can fray and break from sharp housing endings. (There's a PSB out about this right now.) [SHOULD BE CHECKED REGULARLY] 2. The white loop cam break because of "lockdown" or mis-assembly, especially on tandem systems. (This happens dozens of times a year.) [SHOULD BE CHECKED EACH TIME SYSTEM IS USED - I'VE SEEN THIS BUT SEEMS TO CCUR WHEN PACKING. I'VE NOT SEEN THIS OCCUR UNDER TENSION OR AS A RESULT OF MOVEMENT WHEN CORRECTLY PACKED] 3. The housing ending can come off because of poor swaging. [POOR PRODUCTION] 4. The riser can release because the white loop is not passed through the housing ending when assembling. (We have a video example of this in the Skyhook section of our website.) [INCORRECT ASSEMBLY] 5. One riser can release before the other because of incorrect cutaway cable lengths, especially if soft housings are involved. [INCORRECT PRODUCT OR INTERCHANGE COMPONENTS] So I have no doubt all of these have occurred and can occur when jumpers don't inspect and check there gear. If we consider the riser the RSL attaches to has to be the one that releases and the other remains attached that also should reduce down the likelihood of entanglements. The comment that I made is that are we really seeing a wealth of incidents from all the non Collins lanyard equipped containers out there and should we be worried. I think the Collins lanyard system is good along with the skyhook but if it was really that much safer and these incidents were occurring with frightening regularity would you know think the other manufacturers would embrace it - or perhaps the licensing is too costly for such a small gain. I'm not baiting here but wanting to know the real risk/reward/cost benefits of Collins lanyard over existing RSL for the number of incidents occurring.

Bill Just asking the question here but the Collins lanyard I seem to recall was about risers breaking and potentially firing the reserve with one side still connected. The occurences of riser breaks - or reports of them, appear to have diminished significantly since the type 17 risers were reinforced a long while back. That said, how many incidents are we seeing for all the non skyhook rigs with only single riser disconnecting on an RSL. I'm just trying to determine the amount of risk that is still there bearing in mind all the non Collins lanyard rigs out there.

Snohomish are open again at weekends starting again in January. Being as though this is seattle. The weather is often grey and cloudy and in winter when its winter and a clear day arrives its gonna be chilly. If you really desperate to jump - i'd recommend hop on a plane to Southern California or Arizona. Its warmer and better weather guaranteed.

I'd be curious what was going on with the stow as the design is fairly similar to most freebag's - safety stow on the front and a Velcro closed pocket on the back to stow the lines. Sure the freebag has a split design but is not radically different from other designs. Care to elaborate on the issue.

I'm of the same opinion. If you want a rig which has a MARD system then I'd get it but the benefit over a RSL is not enough to make me choose a rig because it has/has not got a MARD system.