Beatnik

Sent you a copy via email. Cheers, Jim

Hell yeah I do. You know how uncomfortable a naked pc jump is in a split saddle not to mention the plane ride. You got to love the combat boots.

I wasn't going to say anything but I brought my paracommander out last Friday. I decided to do 25 jumps on my birthday and to finish it off, I did a paracommander jump while my friend jumped his Detla II. I guess I forgot to mention it was a naked paracommander jump. I made damn sure I stood it up. There was no way I was going to PLF in a field naked.

I have been there as well. It occurs really bad from sinus problems. I have had my sinus blow on me under canopy and cover my goggles. The worst I had was due to a sinus cold and it screwed my hearing up after a weekend of jumping real bad. To the point wear it was painful and I couldn't hear a thing. Unfortunately, the best thing to due if you have a cold or sinus problems is to take a weekend off. It might be hard now but you will be happy after when you aren't in pain afterwards.

I don't deny the reports. However, they don't mention how noticeable the difference is. I think 100 ft would be noticeable, is that the same for everyone? If you look at the graph of handling and porosity. There is a huge difference after the first few repacks. After that the decrease isn't as bad. The report is good in many aspects, however much of the details on the actual trials and information that they are providing is from the eyes of the manufacturer without showing a frame of reference so other people can provide a real accurate interpretation of what is going on. Even the graph it says near zero porosity to higher porosity. Lets say that near zero is 0-3 cfm what is higher porosity 8-10 cfm. This is important information that is being left out. There was a time in the Canadian Forces when reserve repacks where mandatory every month. That was a long time ago but it still happened. As far as I know we still have stricter regs than the civillian world. I don't want to get into a huge pissing match but most of these reports are not giving detailed information about what is going on. From the report My question is when and after how long? These are things not addressed. This is a very good report but it is meant to sell a point not push hard evidence with the numbers of the reports. Plus this report was done several years ago, fabrics have changed since then. That is not to say that these reports aren't valid. Personally I think that the 120 day repack is a bit much, but I don't agree with having a long period of time between repacks. As much as repacking the reserve is part of the process so is inspecting it. I have seen many rigger errors, they happen, we are all human, but if it means having a canopy with higher porosity above my head then no canopy, I would rather have a canopy than none.

I think regarding all this there is more factors than just repacking a reserve in the equation. Depending on location, type of environment and who is packing all has part of it. With the 19 repacks can cause wear in to the extent that it would fail permability. Is this an average or is this happening to a few. I think that the big word here is "can". I think that if this is that big on the safety measure that repacks are causing this much damage, then we should be bringing in regs that prevent reserves to be used after so many repacks or so many years regardless, if they have been used or not. If the flight characteristics are being altered that much because of repacks, I tnink a safety alert should be popping up is these characteristics are to the point of being extreme. I know people, despite being against the regs, have been using old raven mains as their reserves. They still fly. Tolerances for these characteristics are much smaller as the canopy size decreases. How much damage can occur from using a reserve or better yet not using one because it hasn't been inspected?

The wear on a reserve is so little during a repack that there shouldn't be anything to worry about there. I have seen 20+ year reserves that have no significant after repacks. I also have vintage gear that I jump as regularly as I can and the reserves are still fine and some are 30 years old. I know of the story that you are referring to. That is because the gear that batteries came out of, now belongs to my DZO. There is a lot of stuff that doesn't get published down south that happens. I am not trying to imply anything of this nature. I am simply stating that if I can have a reserve open faster and higher I would like that. My jump season is as long as I make it. It might get cold here in the winter but that doesn't stop me from travelling or doing winter jumps. It takes some real diehards to jump in the middle of winter when it is -20 on the ground.

I second that. The perfect rig has already been designed. Cheers, Jim

Generally if a zero-p canopy of a certain size will fit into a container, an f-111 canopy of one size up will generally fit. However, check the size of your container, C14 is the harness size. It doesn't say anything reallyl about the size of canopies you can put into your Javelin. Your instructors are the best for information regarding which canopies you should be flying. However, with that said, keeping in mind I have never seen the condition of these canopies. A zero-p canopy generally has much better flare power than an F-111 canopy. If these canopies are bagged out, you might not have any better luck with the landings with a bigger canopy. Even though they are bigger they might let you down like a sack of potatoes. As for costs for putting a canopy of risers, that is a question best asked to your rigger. As they are most likely the one who will be doing a swap for you. They would also be the best person to ask about which canopies would fit. Being so new into the sport, your packing might not be up to packing a large canopy into a rig that is a little bit too small. If you're paying people to pack your parachute, you don't want them cursing your rig every time you drop it off.

A master rigger friend of mine had a reserve that he pencil packed for five and a half years. After that he wanted to see if it would still work. So he strapped on a chest mount and jumped his reserve. He said that it snivelled a little bit but eventually decided to open. After hearing that and seeing personally how parachutes that have been packed for a long period of time, I have no problem packing my reserve every six months (Canada). Since I pack my own reserve for myself I wouldn't have a problem going for a year. Longer than that I wouldn't do. The six month repack (Canada) I think is good, especially if you have an AAD. Depending on how the rig is stored and what kind of conditions it is subjected too, the batteries can do strange things. I have heard of Cypress batteries exploding in gear that was improperly stored. Also, that airing out time can greatly affect how much the pack is stuck together. Therefore the opening time.When it comes to a reserve, if I can have a canopy opened up 100 feet higher, it is worth it to me. The amount of money it costs to repack a reserve is not a lot. When you think that the money goes to an underpaid over worked rigger, it is worth. Just my $0.02

If I remember correctly that was an old Javelin ad. He had a special harness under his clothes. If the video was higher quality you can actually see it run up his arm. Cheers, Jim

http://www.pittz.no/index.php?menuid=0&LanguageID=2 Here you go Cheers, Jim

If I can make it to the Richmond boogie I will definitely join you guys for an all round load. A friend of mine has a delta II and a thunderbow. I haven't got a chance to jump it yet. That day is coming shortly. I would be stupid enough to jump it. I love everything vintage. The character is there. Early squares aren't as appealing as rounds or wings, but they are still on the list for me. I don't know what I like more, jumping vintage gear or scaring jumpers with vintage gear.

Its good to see that many people are so into the vintage gear. At my dz I am the only one really into it and I am starting to get a decent collection just myself. I amd in the process of buying a couple of early ram airs and a delta II or paradactyl for canopies. For containers a crossbow and a strong pop top. I currently am running about 6 vintage gear sets with paracommanders and papillions, stratostars. Getting a S/L T-10 setup soon. This vintage gear has so much more character than the present gear that is available. Everything seems to be a ripoff of something else or so similar than it hardly matters. One thing I would really like to see is a volplane. The only one I have ever seen is in the Poynter manual. Unfortunately, no picutres as of yet.

I jumped my paracommander for the first time today, well yesterday now. It was more fun than I had in a long time. It was like a rock, so stable and the softest opening. What a landing. If the wind wasn't there I couldn't have asked for a better landing. Did a rear riser chin up and stood it up. That is until the wind threw me on my ass. But it was soft. Can't wait to jump it again this weekend. It is a hard choice. I have so many other canopies I want to jump. I also packed up my papillion. Then there is also the stratostar to jump. Things are too much fun with vintage gear around. Might have to jump a LoPo 26' that is laying around just for shits and giggles. Also, of course to see the looks on everyones face. If that wasn't enough brought out the balloon suit and did one hell of a jump with it. And a last note, real men jump rounds and they sure aren't scared of them. Blue skies everyone.

I agree completely for most people going through a dealer is more beneficial than going through the manufacturer. I am not going to name any names but I have had very bad experiences with some dealers and prefer to go to the manufacturer. For me because of my job I receive several very large discounts with several manufacturers that is either the same price or better. For myself unless it is something small I find no point to go through a dealer. Other than the few of us who get large discounts through the manufacturer it is best to stick with dealers.

I think that this is the perception that some people are taking on the subject. Nowhere have I been able to find these exact words by jumpshack saying that standard freebags with a safety stow is dangerous. I believe this is a similar idea that some people have about antilocking brakes. If this same mentality was brought forth on all new products just because a manufacturer believes and tested a design that they believe is improved, there would be no new designs. I am not trying to put you down, but if this is your beef with the issue I believe that there are other authorities that you should be bringing this up with not the many jumpers that are not able to control or do anything about this situation. Has anyone ever thought that other manufacturers are not going to bring forth support for a product that is not theirs? Also, regarding testing, there are many products that get derived from other means. Such as the cold war. Now I have never worked for Jumpshack and know nothing about there research and manufacturing other than the standard tso testing. However, I do know that many ideas come forth from testing from a derived version of things from military applications. I am not saying this is the case with this, as I simply do not know. But from the things that I do about in this area, most people including myself are reluctant to talk about these things as they compromise security. In my line of work there are certain things that I would not tell anyone, this could be the case. I wish people would think outside of the box on situations where they are not finding a solution for. If we all thought so negatively about any issue that comes up we would never go forward. This is just my opinion on the matter. I am not trying to put anyone down but to expand on an area that no one seems to touch on. I personally support the speedbag and trust my life to it. If others don't, then don't use it. I think that they believe their design is addressing an issue that has not been addressed before and that it improves safety. By how much is another question? The fact that rubber bands break and they are combined with a high drag pilot chute should address the issue that some people have with the number of locking stows. It is not like a safety stow where the rubber core breaks but it is still held together by the outer sheath. This is just my $0.02 if it is worth anything.

The Falcon canopy from Precision Aerodynamics has been fully tested and compliant with TSO C-23c, Category B. In other words it can be used as a reserve as well for any one who wants a 9 cell reserve.

You're not the only one.

I really doubt it is anyone at Icarus. When I was looking to buy my Safire, a used one. I asked them many questions regarding the canopy. They gave me a call back and gave me their personal cell phone number and said that if I had any more to give them a call. I don't believe this is someone from Icarus just someone that is very happy with them as I am.

Here is a canopy coloring program, that is free. http://www.parapublishing.com/parachute/programs/cancolor.zip

A good friend of mine gave me this rig that he had. I know it hasn't been jump in some time and was supposed to be all custom when he got it a while back. Can anyone identify it and post some information about it. Cheers, Jim