freeasabird

Mods,
Please do something about these scammers. So far, I am 5 for 5 just on AAD seller scams in 2 weeks. And I have reported them all as scams thru the classified scam button- yet only one of them has been removed???? What are you waiting for to remove these criminals' posts?? There has GOT to be a better way to control this, no??

Before finding this thread I responded to the attached ad by systemxx. This ad needs to be removed if the seller is truly a scammer. I have also had email communications with this seller (which language contained therein is what made me suspect). Moderator(s): PM me if you would like to see a copy of said emails.

Agreed. But later that same year ('05) my bud had a similar knot that resulted in a PC tow-reserve ride. But as soon as the reserve came out of container (he did not cut away) the main loop loosened just enough that the deflated pilot chute/knot had just enough drag to pull the main pin. Then poof...he had two out. In closing, my bud and I pack our PC's exactly the same.

Sorry to pull up on old thread Gary - but saw your name and figured why not. Just had an issue two weekends ago at Summerfest. Following VRW jump, deployed to an instant slammer and half a line twist. After stars went away noticed both HMA 500 steering lines broke at the loops where the toggles are stowed. Also had about a quarter sized hole blown directly through middle of slider. Did contollability and decided to land on rears which went just fine. After landing also noticed a small chunk taken out of my Rawa helmet near the left ear (?). Canopy: Velo 111 loaded at 2.2.

InkPal. Off-brand ink, but good quality/durability. Free shipping no matter order size. Been using them for 4 years now without a problem. Good luck.

Just checked my 3032 and discovered the frame is indeed plastic. I apologize for the earlier misinformation. Still solid nonetheless.

I have the Raynox HD3032PRO mounted on an HC5. About $110 from B&H. The frame is all-metal construction...so it is very solid. Image quality is great. Definitely superior to my previous Liquid 0.3x. Distortion is more than acceptable with only the outer 20% or so being noticeable (to my eye). Great value for this lens. Biggest drawback is the size.

Why do you set wide angle adapter to on, but turn the anti-shake off? Thought the wide angle setting affected the EIS. Please explain. Thanks.

I have an HC5 with Raynox 0.3x wide angle. I zoom all the way out and set focus to Manual. The only other setting I mess with is the "Wide Converision Lens" selection - which is supposed to somehow optimize the EIS for that particular lens type (not sure if that results in optimum for freefall though).

As far as the tapes: not sure what "AME II" is - but the regular Sony tapes work great. No lost frames to-date (5 hours footage shot so far).

Studies have shown that dog-haters have Daddy issues. Kidding?...maybe.

Seriously, dogs are great anywhere when under control...until they bite your face off.

My understanding is the glass has to specify UV protection. Else it is as good at blocking UV as air...

I will do 30 up to 40 gusts tops. Done it a couple times by chance with no issues. But only since I have a heavy wingloading. Any lighter loadings and my tastes would be proportionately lower winds.

I am at about $30k into it after 4.5 years in sport.

Need to start applying my newly acquired ratings to cover the expenses.

Had bridle knot up twice on me just below the pilot chute. No issues with depolyment either time however. But my buddy had knot tie directly around pilot chute which resulted in no inflation/insufficient PC drag to pull pin...so he went to reserve. Of course when reserve came out the whole rig loosened up and main pin came out resulting in 2 canopies out...

Observation from DSE's tests: The Century 0.3 appears to have noticably less resolution and more distortion than the Raynox 0.3.

Personal experience: The Raynox 0.3 performs quite well on my HC5. Minimal loss in picture quality versus no wide angle conversion lens attached. Also, the Raynox way outperforms my existing single element lens.

My understanding is that the Century 0.3 is a single element lens??

BTW - Thanks for the efforts and informative post DSE...

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I would like to ask you for a brutally honest opinion of my decision to cut away.

To answer what I hear to be the main point of your question:

Regardless of your admitted error in taking the dive too low...your decision to cutaway immediately after spotting the malfunction was the correct thing to do. You had no choice but to implement your EP's because...at that point in altitude you were: 1) below your hard deck (but above 1000', or lowest safe opening altitude for your reserve) and, 2) your canopy was not landable.
(NOTE: Even if line twist recovery at that altitude were even just slightly in question, I would recommend chopping since every couple seconds of thinking about it might result in 100 feet or so in altitude loss...then before you know it in 5 or 6 seconds you you might have been below your safe reserve opening altitude with no other recourse but to ride the mal in.)

Hope that makes you feel more confident about the decision to chop.

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Very interesting indeed. And at which dz were you having these hard openings?

Most of my hard openings occurred at the North Pole Skydiving Club, located about 7 miles south of Santa's place. At the time, I was jumping with Rudolph the Red-nose Freeflying Reindeer. Looking back, I should have had one of Santa's little elves pack for me - especially considering they were only charging either $2 or a candy cane per pack job.

Hi Gentry.

Thanks all for the advice.

I will have one of our very experienced packers pack my chute a few times and see what happens. I'll also jump someone else's rig to see if my body position is a possible cause.

One piece of information I failed to include in my orginial post is I have used the same roll pack method for the past 400+ jumps on a Sabre 170, a Stiletto 150, and a Sabre2 135...and only had maybe 3 or 4 hard openings. My packing method has not ever changed. The only things that have really changed is my line stow method (due to troubles getting the rubberbands to provide enough grip the smaller 550 microlines) - and my equipment

Update: This past weekend I made a couple of jumps on my ST120 and used bigger bites on my line stows (2 to 2.5 inches). Although I did not have any slammers, they were still very "brisk" openings. I paid close attention to my canopy as it opened (and had my video to review as well). On just about every opening, the canopy started out in a nice, typical-looking snivel (snivelling canopy on heading and slider still all the way up). But after only about two seconds of snivelling, the slider would come all the way down very fast (easily under a half second) resulting in a substantial jolt during the last phase of opening. After this last phase "jolt", it appeared that the canopy would be "pulsing" up and down for a couple of seconds (presumably from the force of this last phase of the opening? - never noticed this before when I used to have "normal" openings). Also at the same time, the center 5 or 7 cells of the nose would be partially tucked under the front of the canopy.

Not sure what all of the above means. But if this better helps describe what is going on, then maybe someone might be able to offer more advice.

I had all lines replaced by PD 20 jumps ago. I set brakes 1" longer than factory spec (from toggle to "eye" in steering line).

Hard openings have been consistent on canopy with new lines, old lines, and other canopies as well (i.e. Katana with HMA lines). I have performed all of my own pack jobs.

Sorry to bring up an old subject. Checked all old posts on this subject - but would like some more up to date info/advice.

Yesterday I had a SLAMMER opening that just about knocked me out! Watched my video after and estimate the time from snatch to open canopy was half a second. Back and neck are sore today and have persistent headache. Have had several hard openings (not quite as bad) in the recent past - under two different canopies (Stiletto 120 and Katana 120 loaded at 1.7 to 1). The rate of relatively hard openings I have been experiencing is about 1 out of every 4 jumps. All else considered I am assuming my bad openings are being caused by my packing and/or line stowing method. I suspect line dump occurred on this particualr jump since it was so abrubt and viloent. Just want to see what others' opinions are.

The following is all the information/parameters that I think may affect my openings:

EQUIPMENT
Container: Micron
Main: Stiletto 120 (550 Micoline - new) & Katana 120 (demo - HMA lines)
Slider: standard(?)-size ZP installed recently by PD when relined
Pilot chute: 24" ZP

DEPLOYMENT
Airspeed: 120-ish (slow, flat tracks then box for approx. 3 seconds)
Altitude: 3500' MSL
Air temp.: 60 to 80 degrees
Body position: symmetrical - look up immediately after throw out in slightly chest up position

PACKING
Method: "Roll-pack" or "Pro-pack" (same opening results either way)
Slider: quarter evenly then pull front out approx. 2" before rolling tail
Nose: do nothing
Tail: Roll tail tightly around slider/lines (3 or 4 rolls) then roll rest of tail tightly around canopy (5 or 6 rolls) without rolling any of the nose material with tail
Bagging: recheck slider is up to stops - then fill bag to corners - proper size bag used
Line stow type: rubber bands (one large for first lock - then small for remaining stows)
Line stowing method: single wrap for first three locking stows (2" to 2.5" bites) - then typically double wraps for last locking stow and subsequent 3 stows (1" to 1.5" bites) - then single wrap for last stow (2.5" to 3" bite).
Excess lines: 15" to 20"

The only one of the above parameters that changes is my line stow method. Typically when I put new rubber bands on, they are tight enough to keep the lines using single wraps with the recommended 8 to 12 pounds of force being required to pull them off the bag. But after only a few jumps, the rubber bands stretch to the point that they don't even fit snugly around the lines - which is when I will begin to double wrap them. When I double wrap, I use different line stow lengths (1" to 1.5") depending on where they are in the sequence. If they are close to the last stow, I double wrap about an inch. If they are closer to the first stow, I double wrap about 1.5". The first 3 stows that I single wrap all seem to stay tight enough to adequately keep the lines (regardless of how much they stretch). The last stow I always single wrap (regardless how loose it is) since it is the first one to release and I would think would be the most critical one to prevent baglock.

After this particular jump yesterday, I inspected the rubber bands and none of them had broken. None appeared to even have partially split.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I would like to correct this situation before I break my neck/back or worse yet, kill myself!

Thanks!

38mph on my Huffy (I do not drive). Downhill grade of about 8% (not sure. it was damn steep though!). Baby blue banana seat. No kick stand. Baseball card in rear spokes (that thing was hummin'!). Full-height sissy bar. Green tassles on chopper handlebar grips. And 2 male rottweiler nippin' at my heals!

I have tried them all over the years and I can say without a doubt that "Odyssey" bars are by far the best tasting! They have 30g of protein and around 300 calories per bar. They come in a few different flavors. You can buy them at GNC and Walmart stores as well as online through Prosource.

Looked at my altimeter at pull time and thought: "Ahhh man! Freefall is over already?"

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freeasabird, has anyone ever told you that you and Orangejumper resemble each other?

Nope. Don't know who "Orangejumper" is.

Sorry - I think I have a few more important decisions to be making today rather than deciding on whether or not you should post here anymore.

Hmmm. Now should I scratch my left nut first...or my right?