Deci

I'll second the Brian Germain Canopy comment. I have a Samurai 120, and it opens soft AND fast. It doesn't snivel, it doesn't hunt for heading. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

I have 2 V306s and I have 2 Optimum 126s. I am a rigger. It's really tight. I mean really tight. I have had problems (not bagging) closing the container without excessive force. I wouldn't want to pack an Optimum 143 in there (although I haven't tried). Optimums pack a little smaller, but they are not forgiving, and in my V306s, they pack like a brick. Just my $0.02 CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

edition software. you mean editing software? CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

I have 2 cutaways with my newish V306. Optimum 126 and Samurai 120. Both were violently spinning mals. I pulled both handles on both jumps and basically got an instant reserve both times. On the first cutaway I had one line twist in the reserve, but was jumping a new, unfamiliar wingsuit with a pressurized legwing, which I'm sure caused the line twists (did not close the legwing enough). Freebag and Reserve PC stayed with the main. The second cutaway was on a camera jump. Instant reserve, no line twists. Freebag and Reserve PC did not stay with the main. I followed the PC down and the main landed within 100 feet. Lessons learned for me are to fly the opening on the Samurai! It's much better now... I know this is a Skyhook thread, but that new Optimum Reserve is really quite nice. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

Thanks Mark (the upt source) I guess I'm looking at a Sabre2-120 for wingsuit then... ;) since aerodyne won't send me a pilot demo to Canada. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

I have a V306 with a Samurai 120. It's tight. Would a Sabre2 135 fit in there? Has anyone tried this? CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

Nope. CASTSA here in Canada can and does open checked bags. Just came back from China, and on the way there - they opened my ski bag that contained a pair of stilts. I'm sure they were thoroughly confused, but nothing dangerous in a pair of wooden stilts with shoes attached to them... They put a label on your bag saying its been opened. I've had checked bags opened in Canada, US and Mexico. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

I'm the one who chopped the Samurai - and it's only twice, not 3, early this season, when it was new to me. Both chops were due to violent turning as soon as the canopy got out the bag - probably due to asymmetrical brake line stows. I am now more careful when stowing the brakes, and pack it more carefully than my old sabre2, and haven't had any problems with it since. The samurai opens fast, but smooth. Like no snivel. I really like the way it opens - a really fast, even deceleration. As far as flying goes - It seems to ride turbulence way better than my old Sabre2 did. And it has a ton of flare. Brian also makes a lotus which would be like a Sabre2 but better. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

Bad machine translation of link: Police detained (have halted) -years old inhabitant with (from) 28 Wąbrzeźna Wąbrzeźna, which (who) has exposed (has set out) parachute on one of popular internet auction for sale. Would be strange nothing in (to) it, if fact not, that two years ago same parachute has been stolen from hangar of airport in austria. Fan of flight (lot) has informed policemen about such offer of sale spadochronowych, which (who) was interested purchase also. However, he (it) has checked origin of parachute. When as it happens, that it is stolen, but it lives in (to) offering Wąbrzeźnie immediately it has informed police of - it. It has agreed from (with) in the area of city for observing parachute earlier selling. It has come on meeting with policemen already, which (who) have detained (have halted) -years-old 28 and they have indemnified parachute. Perpetrator has heard objection paserstwa. Who it in this case investigation steal parachute – establish (cease) initiated. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

Ok gang - for the record - I'm a rigger, and know Andre personally, and have come to the same conclusions as he has (I just bought a Vigil2 this year, and am probably buying one for my second rig very soon). I have 2 recent situations that further the point (for me). First situation: I live in Canada. I just sent a Cypress 1 for it's 4-year maintenance, 7 years into it's life. It cost CDN$340.00 (with battery replacement). The owner bought a used rig that hadn't been packed in a few years, although the Cypress seemed to work fine. By the book = $340.00. And guess what - it'll need its 8-year in less than a year! Another $340.00. Wow. Second situation: I just bought a used rig that had 1994 Cypress in it. Same situation as above - reserve hadn't been packed in over 4 years, sitting in a closet, unused. The cypress had been serviced in 2003, and here we are 5 years later, with a unit that's been off for 5 years, in working condition, but by the book = removed from the rig, paperweight, expired. Or more to the point needing a new AAD @ over $1,700.00 for a Cypress (shipped, duty to Canada, taxes, etc.). All this for a 14 year old second backup rig for me that cost me ~$1000.00 to put together out of old parts. In both these situations, had the AAD been a Vigil (which is impossible given the dates, but fast forward 8 or 12 years from now). The AAD owner would be in the air without paying SSK a wackload of cash. And that's the breaking point for me. I'm just not that rich. So Vigil2 it is. (oh, and I've personally seen both an Argus and various cypress (1 and 2) be broken and busted - just by installing it in the rig given the flimsy cables). Like Andre says - hold it in your hands, and you'll see. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

Well the fit is "customizable" using foam inserts that go inside the liner pads, not by baking the liners. I havent' gotten the perfect fit yet, but I'll be working on it some more. I've found I need to make some more room for my ears, but otherwise, so far so good. I have about a dozen jumps on it so far. It's way better than the nvertigoX setup i had before. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

I don't have a FTN to compare to, but these helmets are very light - at least they are before you start putting cameras on them. The plate/cameras outweigh the helmet shell by a large margin (don't have exact numbers) CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

I ordered two Vapor Narrow helmets (one with red paint). Paid them the rush fee because I wanted them fast. Was quoted 3-4 weeks. They arrived at my door in Ottawa, Canada, using USPS (my preferred carrier to Canada) in just just 7 days (including clearing customs). Wow. These guys are great. Oh, and the helmets are great too. Seems to fit my small head better than Bonehead FTP/Narrow/Optic. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

Title of the thread should read "AAD industry nastiness". Here's vigil's response: http://www.vigil.aero/pdf/30-04-2008_Open-letter-to-our-dealers-and-customers.pdf Content of PDF below: ___________________________ OPEN LETTER TO OUR DEALERS AND CUSTOMERS Dear Vigil users, customers and dealers, First of all, we want to thank you for the trust you give to our product. Be sure that without your support, we would never have reached what we are today in this very well protected and difficult monopole-ruled business. Vigil or your “Guardian Angel” opened this market to competition and is now sold in 42 countries through 167 distributors. But in France, the free choice of the user is put in doubt by a state organization (F.F.P.). This has obliged us to react firmly to defend our rights. In June 2007, we went to the Paris court to protect our sponsoring rights against our German competitor (still ongoing court case). Previous to that, we needed to defend our rights against Mr. Fradet concerning his denigration without any foundation or facts against Vigil. Today, we can easily prove that the Vigil is certainly as safe as any other electronic AAD on the market, taking namely in consideration the Airtec misfires due to battery problems stated in the USA and the Airtec misfires due to the pressure sensor stated in Australia. Concerning the misfires due to rejected sensors: we want to state that the Swiss sensor factory has advised their customers in December 2006 of a possible default in their products and the danger to use those sensors. Why did Airtec wait 15 months to act and advise their users of a potential danger is an open question. We can confirm that we immediately sent our full batch of incriminated sensors back to the factory for control. It’s evident that the French Federation is now protecting their new German sponsor by damaging the reputation of Vigil. To remember is that we became leader in France. That the F.F.P. was sponsored by Vigil since 1 October 2001, with a 2-year renewable contract. In June 2007, without any advise, they suddenly switched to Airtec for sponsoring all their VR-Teams. This was confirmed by a publicity in the Paramag edition of June 2007! In counterpart, in 2008 we had to face 2 unexpected problems with the French Federation concerning: A. The cutters: Our design with the hard plastic protection rings was designed to be placed at the bottom of the rig. But above the pilot chute between the 2 flaps or 2 stainless steel rings, they could encounter possible damage. In August 2006, we changed our cutter to a full stainless steel body. In some cases, there were internal burs, due to a new body supplier. As soon as we stated this, we decided to exchange them all free of charge for our current stainless steel cover version. From August 2007, we supplied this new cutter with a stainless steel loop protection cover. In February 2008, Mr. Fradet advised by e-mail to return those cutters to the producer, due to their so-called non-conformity to specification. This is incorrect and unjustified criticism. Tests have been done on those cutters by an official laboratory of the Belgian Army (L.A.E.E.). The results of their tests confirm our previous statements (See on our website: http://www.vigil.aero/downloads.php - section ‘Official Statements’). Suddenly, after having sent those 2 reports, our cutters became acceptable for the French market. B. Vigil misfires: After the previous point, the French Federation took a position to reconsider the Vigil misfires that we experienced during the last 3 years. This problem started by coincidence (?) when Jo Smolders just arrived in China for personal reasons. We admit to have recorded 9 misfires on more than 8.000 Vigils in the field (of which 7 on the ground and 2 in the activation zone of the Vigil). The first stated misfire (May 2005) in France had a cutter activation by its first fit in a rig. This Vigil was totally dismantled for analysis and the real reason of the misfire was never found (a crazy temperature value was stated, which proved that this Vigil registered wrong information). Today, we have 8 cases where we are still looking for the exact reason of the misfires. That the F.F.P. now suddenly recommends not to use the Vigil in France must be in agreement with their new sponsor by starting a denigration-campaign against a dangerous competitor, is evident. We firmly will refuse to accept this and we will defend our rights by all means. We launched Vigil II with an adapted hardware to achieve a better working stability of the micro processor. A software-upgrade was implemented by some additional security factors to avoid misfires. Considering those facts, we want to state that Vigil has saved 31 lives (all documented). We are certainly as safe (or dangerous) as Cypres today, who also has misfires and not only on the ground. The up to now stated misfires are of course not in our favor, but please believe that our own engineering team was already doing its utmost best to analyze and correct the reasons of those unexplained activations. Actually, we are testing new electronic components, which must in theory drastically reduce or even eliminate the risk of a misfire. Our aim is of course to try to reach the zero default. A point to know is that today’s electronics-producing companies will never guarantee the application in which their product is used. We can assure you that we are already testing the Vigil of a new generation (totally redundant) to avoid future misfires. Nevertheless, we will give you an official statement as soon as we can. We calculated that the risk of a misfire in the air for Vigil I is actually 1 on 200.000 days of use. Allow us to say that the risk of a misfire is extremely rare and exceptional and that we are not the only company to have misfires. In agreement with our open and straight policy, we don’t want to hide this problem but understand that we analyzed the facts correctly. We want to point out that we introduced new options to the users, namely: - 3 modes in one ergonomic, compact and strong unit - An internal memory of the last 16 minutes of jump information with a user-friendly download tool - Ergonomic design with a clear graphical display, protected by a scratch-proof sapphire glass - A sophisticated power management, giving a battery life-span that has never been reached before - The pulses plus technology assures that the cutter will always activate in less than 2 msecs, even with a low battery charge - A jump counter in a unit that the user can set in meters or feet and in °C or °F - A very strong specific flexible wire which is reinforced by Kevlar - Complete self-test at the start-up, to eliminate fixed required maintenance as high maintenance costs These and many other useful innovations were implemented to the satisfaction of most of our users. With all our thanks in the trust you give to Vigil. Best regards, Jo Smolders Managing Director ______________ Edited to add content of pdf link CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

I am in shock... I met Mia a couple of years ago, when she lived in Ottawa, Canada. We drove down together to NouvelAir (Farnham) for a weekend of jumping that summer, and she's jumped locally here in Ottawa as well. She was a beautiful person, always cheerful, always happy. Put a smile on everyone's face. Someone you just wanted to hang around, such a great vibe. Blue skies Mia. I will miss you. We will miss you. Alain Bard Ottawa Canada CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

I've been battling this same exact problem. And I've done the searches, and there isn't that much info out there for us with small heads. Bonehead FTP and FTNarrow - WAY too big. One shell size, and way too much padding. I think i'd have over an inch of padding on each side in this helmet. Bonehead Optic Illusion - just tried one out last weekend. Size XS at the Ranch Pro Shop. It actually felt good, but when i looked in the mirror - i had over an inch gap on each side of my cheeks (just beyond where the chin cup attaches). It looked ridiculous. I haven't found anything stock that fits anywhere close, although i haven't tried them all. So I'm in the process of building my own Custom helmet in Fiberglass/Carbon. Made a negative mold of my head, positive of the negative (replica head). And the new helmet shell has been made from the positive mold. I'm waiting for some warm weather to get started again on this. Bottom line here - try before you buy. Don't order online unless you know what you're getting. This is so critical for us with small heads. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

Since it's so close to my place, it's perfect for my busy schedule. Just show up, hop on a few loads, and i'm back home fast. I don't have to commit my whole weekend. Thanks! Also known as Gatineau-Ottawa Skydive.

That's cool seeing Tom (or is it John) McCarthy talk about the sport 26 years ago. They are still jumping every weekend! CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

http://www.vision-air.com/dr.html Try this - he is supposed to be down there now, although i have no idea whether or not the DZ is operational or not yet. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

My hat is off to the organizing commitee. What a well run event. Despite the lousy weather - I made my 1st and 2nd BASE jump at the bridge. I also want to thank the folks at vertigo (specifically Marta) for the rental gear and patience with me. CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

wow... i like the imagery... CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

Just finished my 15th jump... solo! 14th was the last one to get my solo certificate! Woohoo! CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

Thanks everyone! I'll watch out for my shadow for sure! And BC - well maybe a little later - i think Florida is on my hit list from March 1-7... CSPA D-1046 TI Coach2 RiggerA JM SSI SSE GCI EJR Canadian 102-way record holder bard.ca

Hello everyone. I've been reading for a while now, and just thought i'd announce myself! I've been jumping from Gatineau Airport in Gatineau, QC, about 20 minutes away from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Canada's capital city (no it's not Toronto) at a facility called Paramax. So far i've got 12 jumps, through what they call the "classic" progression. One more jump and i've got my solo certificate. So far i've got 2/12 landings spot on target with 24-30k winds! My last jump was supposed to be from 7k, but my coach thought i was doing so well (and it was the last 'official' open weekend of the season, snow is just around the corner) that we should do a 2-way from 12k to 7k then let go and do what i had to do to pass my level. Sunset load, clouds at 4k, just an amazing experience. I could get used to this... And i will!