skydude2000

Good afternoon everyone!!

I was just wondering, does anyone out there use an alti-track as a chest-mount altimeter? Can you share how you mount it? I'm sure I'll have riggers rolling over in their graves, but I've been using a Bonehead chest mount with my alti-track using *cringe* zipties, for the last few hundred jumps, since I don't want it permanently mounted, so I have access to the digital data. Is there a better, safer or more secure way to mount it? I have some physical limitations, which is why I was advised away from the hand/wrist mount option.

Thanks all, and blue skies!! Looking forward to kick off the season here in Canada!

We had one that was specific to our DZ's landing area. I think one of the local funjumpers is/was a programmer and he built a basic one that we could use by plugging in windspeed and direction. It even had accuracy to the target in metres. I think he goes by drudchenk or something here. 

Hi everyone!

I'm sure similar topics have been posted before, I guess maybe call this more if a vent/rant, looking for suggestions.

My 20th anniversary was this past June, got just over 700 jumps in that time. I've focused almost entirely on belly/4-way FS. I'd say the last 5 years or so, it has been increasingly difficult to find people to jump with. Most of my friends that I usually jump with, have recently taken to learning FF and spending tons of money on tunnel to get good at it. I don't feel like I've mastered belly or 4-way yet, and I have a physical disability that I had surgery on my right foot to correct. I've spent about an hour in the tunnel SPECIFICALLY trying to learn backflying, and the best I've been able to do is stay stable enough to not kill anyone in there. I have almost 90 minutes left of prepaid time in the tunnel to use up, once they reopen. I have my doubts that would be enough to make me safe at back or sitflying, even with top notch coaching. 

To make matters worse, my home DZ was evicted last year, still looking for a new home. So the handful of places I've visited since, seem to focus on getting people freeflying asap, which means most of the people interested in doing jumps with me are people who just got their license or have <100 jumps.  Nothing wrong with that sometimes, and I do enjoy it, but it would be nice to occasionally jump with people who have a similar experience level. There HAVE been some organized bigger-way belly jumps at the new DZ that I've been jumping at, BUT because I'm so uncurrent, I've been reluctant to join these big groups for fear of blowing it for everyone. I organized a 4-way scrambles at my old home DZ almost 10 years ago now; it went well, but had a lower turnout than I was hoping for, and the ONE thing I didn't plan for, was incentives/prizes for camera-flyers. It also KIND OF felt like the only reason people were competing, was for the prizes; "Oh yeah, I'll take a break from sitflying or camera for tandems to win a gift certificate for a new canopy or container!!". They weren't REALLY interested in learning, doing or competing in 4-way. 

Apologies for the long-winded rant. Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for how I can convince more experienced jumpers to stay interested in FS or 4-way, get over my reluctance to get on/screw up big way jumps, or convince newer jumpers to stick with and get good at belly/FS before they decide they want to flail around on their head, geeking a camera? 

 

Thanks all, and blue skies!!

I fractured my spine (L2 and L3) on a bad landing from a roller coming off a building at about 20 feet on jump 31, after almost a year layoff. I was off for ANOTHER year almost before I felt comfortable coming back. I'll tell ya, that first jump back was TERRIFYING. Even the drive to the DZ, my palms were sweating. But the DZO was great at helping me swallow the fear and welcome me back. Felt SOOOOOO sweet. Come back when YOU'RE ready BECAUSE YOU WANT TO. Not because you think you should or someone told you you should or could. Good luck!!

On 1/7/2021 at 8:01 PM, wolfriverjoe said:

Velcro on both ends, with a piece of 'fuzzy' as a protective cover for the hook piece that's on whatever end is open at the time?

That or two pouches, one on top of the other. One open at one end, one open at the other. Maybe even parallel ones.

Purely guesses on my part. Give me a day or two and I can likely come up with even stranger ideas.

 

From what I remember, I believe it was one pouch sewn on top of the other. I think eventually though, we did end up sewing a full length BOC pouch on it, that was open from either end, because the pouches kept wearing out. Both ends were open, and I would just pack it for a left-handed pull whenever I was up to use that rig. The DZO did warn me to beware of hard pulls. I think I may have had a couple in the hundred or so jumps I put on that rig. I don't have any photos of it, unfortunately, and my current rig just has a custom left-hand BOC. 

I've been pulling left-handed since jump 11, I'm over 700 now. Originally, one of the senior riggers took pity on me and happened to be the neighbour of a family member. He converted an old LOPO rental rig with a left-hand ripcord deployment. My TRCPs went perfect after that. Then we upgraded to BOC and squares and I think the DZO felt too guilty to tell me to F-off, lol, he had a local rigger convert one of his rental rigs to a dual BOC, so it could be packed for either side.

Eventually I bought my 1st rig and had the BOC converted for left-handed deployment and been jumping that way ever since. When I bought my first brand new rig in 2018, I had it custom made with a left-hand BOC. 

I'd almost say you could buy a used or new container and have the BOC converted, and buy everything else used with the help of a trusted rigger. YMMV. 

 

Blue Skies!!

On 9/23/2019 at 9:54 PM, Greekos said:

topspark101 summed it up nice, Valkyrie is like a Leia which is recommended to have around 1500 jumps and bunch of other requirements before jumping one and pd will find you to jump the Peregrine so you cant put in a order as such NZ Aerosports has rough guide lines on experience levels and what you should be jumping

yes the cross-bracing is to make the wing more rigid to handle a higher wing loading. There is a great video on YouTube at a BPA conference on canopy designs ect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK2_yQ_A9Fc

Hey guys,

Sorry, I should have expected that, you can put away your flame-throwers, lol. I know I'm nowhere NEAR qualified to jump either of these canopies, and I'm not looking to trick someone into selling me one or letting me jump them.

That video was great, and almost exactly what I was looking for; I was just hoping he would talk more about the performance of the canopies on the other end of the spectrum, that I'll likely never get to jump; VK, Velocity, Peregrine. Cool stories and maybe videos of how different these wings are to fly, and explanations of HOW they fly differently.

Hi Gang,

Forgive me if this newb-type question has been asked before, I did search. I'm not a swooper, so I don't fly/have never flown either of these wings. Just bored at work, daydreaming about skydiving. All I could find on the PD site about these canopies, is that they're both ultra-high performance comp swooping canopies. But that the Peregrine is a sub-terminal opening canopy, whereas the Valkyrie is designed for high performance comp landings but after terminal or sub-terminal openings?

The Valkyrie is listed as a 7-cell, and the Peregrine is simply listed as cross-braced. I'm not super clear on cross-bracing, is that similar to the Xaos, where the cells are split/divided for more rigidity? If I'm not mistaken, you have to be hand-picked to fly either of these canopies, but can anyone comment on the differences in performance between these two canopies? I'm sure I've just asked a 12-in-one question, lol, but clarification or explanation on any of this would be fantastic! 

Blue skies!!

Try organizing a Scrambles. You can try to get newer jumpers paired up with more experienced 4-way flyers and get them used to having fun turning points in 4-way. There are a few good threads on here about them. I ran one at my DZ a few years ago.

We had prizes from lots of the big gear manufacturers, and I arranged for one of Canada's 4-way team champions to come down and coach for the weekend.

The only thing I really forgot to organize, was qualified camera flyers. Hindsight is 20/20. If I did it again, I'd charge a small registration fee to secure more prizes, and incentives for camera flyers to film the 4-way teams. It might be a good way to get started and gauge and foster interest.

Good luck!!

Absolutely. I just got my new rig a couple months ago, and I chose one manufacturer over another, because their online rig design tool was down for several months. The one I ordered from, their tool was redesigned and back up in a few weeks.

If I'm buying a brand new rig and spending thousands of dollars, I want to see EXACTLY what I'm getting before it shows up at my door.

I can't speak for jumpsuits, etc. But if we're talking about rigs and canopies, pretty sure there is extensive testing, R & D and quality control, not to mention certification that goes into building these life-saving products. That could be why the lead times are the way they are.

FWIW, I just ordered all new equipment and waited about 12 weeks and paid WAY less than a 50% deposit for everything.

Blue Skies.

This baby is now waiting for me at my dealer's loft!! Looks gorgeous!! Can't wait to test her out!!!

Hi there,

I'm not an instructor, take this for what it's worth. DO NOT cut away at or below 1,000'. I don't care if you have an RSL, Sky hook, AAD or a magic fairy on your back. There have been documented fatalities of people who waited too long to cut away, or cut away too low.

Personally, if I were to be in a canopy collision or wrap at or below 1,000', depending on the condition of the other canopy and jumper, I might consider a canopy transfer, altitude permitting, or depending how bad it was and how low I am, I'd consider dumping my reserve, hoping to get as much fabric over our heads as possible.

Again, my advice is worth what you paid for it. Best case scenario, watch where you're going, watch and anticipate where other people are going, and do your best to never get into that situation.

I believe that method is called the Wolmari pack job. I found this video I'm going to try using to pack my new X-Fire 153.

https://youtu.be/hGyvLfdTH1k

Thanks! They replied on Facebook that the Vc4 would fit both canopies I put on the order form. The rig might end up being bigger than I was hoping. But I'd rather that, and be able to walk or limp away from a shitty reserve landing in a tight spot.

Hi,

I just put in an order for a brand new Curv 2.0 with a PDR 160, I put a Crossfire 149 on the order form, but what I'll actually be jumping is an Icarus Spain X-fire 153. I didn't specify the size of the container on the order form. Will both of these canopies still fit? If they make me a Vc3, will these fit, or will my rigger hate me, and will I hate myself, trying to pack a main into a Vc3?

This was before I realized that the Crossfire 2 and the X-Fire were not the same canopy and not the same size.

Thanks!!

Thanks! That's kind of what I've been banking on. Especially since it's a custom container that would have to be modified by a rigger for almost anyone else to jump it.

Well guys,

I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that my gear is long gone. The cops couldn't catch a cold, and I haven't seen anything pop up online.

Any tips for dealing with the insurance company? I've filled out all their forms and I'm just waiting for a response now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Hi gang,

Shitty news, my rig was stolen out of my car last night. Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Can people keep their eyes peeled, please? It'll be a hard rig to miss. It has a left-hand BOC mod. It has a 2008 Vigil 2. Might have to dig around my old PC for the serial numbers. I would have posted in Stolen Gear, but it's a complete system. Pics attached.

Thanks,

I've been jumping with a left BOC since jump 11. I was lucky enough that my DZ was willing to modify a set of rental gear with a double BOC. Just be careful, because if you only have one pouch sewn over the other, it can make for a hard pull. Might be better to install a full length pouch that's open from either side. I think the pull force would be lower that way.

Good luck!!!

Or have it tested in a pressure chamber and compare to another working alti.

Hi everybody,

Thanks for all the helpful advice so far
I really wish we could have gotten the money discussion out of the way, but at the end of the day, we still have to be family at the end of this. It might be better to wait until our parents get back anyway, so they don't try to wiggle out of the payments. I just feel better about being able to face them over the holidays, despite everything that's happened.

The appraisal was completed at the end of September. Now they're insisting we go to this dinner to talk about it before they will transfer the money. I'm quite unhappy with the way they're handling this. Apparently they feel betrayed because I went around them to have the numbers checked before I signed anything instead of just asking them.

But I know they would have insisted the numbers were right and reassured me that the calculations were correct. If I go to this dinner without a neutral party, they'll try to convince me to either forgive the debt or tell me they'll pay me over time. They won't stop until they win.

That's what I was thinking, too. They seem to always have an excuse for why the payment is late. And when I called the lawyer to get a copy of the mortgage agreement, details and the report, they wouldn't or couldn't provide them, and were all of a sudden, HIS lawyer, not OUR lawyer, even though all 3 of our names appear on most of the paperwork.

Big red flag. If they don't start transferring payments by the end of the week, or I don't have a signed agreement, it's back to the drawing board with the whole thing. But I'm not signing my name off ANYTHING until I see a whole lot of '0's in my bank account.

Correct, 2/3 to them, 1/3 to me. That's why the appraisal was done, 1. For them to refinance a further renovation, and 2. To buy me out.