zimsgirl

Hi everyone. Thanks so much for taking the time to post. I am the sister of the girl who started this post and she was actually jumping my gear. First of all, I want to clarify that I switched DZs when I moved back to Colorado so the riggers at Mile Hi are actually the riggers who helped me catch all these illegal manoeuvers. Until I get the story from the DZO and the rigger at my old DZ I will not name the persons involved. I own a Vector II with a Jedei 170 and a "PD 150" in it. Last weekend, I found out (thanks to my sister having a cutaway) that it was really a Tempo 150. I've jumped this gear for about 40 jumps. The container is old and shoddy, but the rigger made some modifications for me to make it more freefly friendly. I just called the owner of the DZ to ask him about the rig. He doesn't remember who added the RSL to the rig, how many jumps the Jedei had before he sold it to me, or what reserve he sold to me. When I told him that I had a Tempo in my container and asked how many rides it had had down, he told me "a couple three" (whatever that means). I remember distinctly him telling me that the reserve had only one ride down but that he would sell it to me for super cheap. I then asked him who added the RSL and he said "Oh that would be...no, I don't know." "Well, would (the rigger at this DZ) have done it?" "Uh, maybe...why?" So that was a little sketchy. The rigger wasn't there so I'll call tomorrow. I'm just hoping that he'll be arrogant enough to admit to his work, and if he didn't do it, that he'll at least tell me who did. The RSL mod is apparently a correct modification, just not for the Vector container, and I can't remove it by knifing the stiching because he ended up going through some plastic tubing. Other mods that he did for me include a bridle cover flap about half as wide as the bridle so it doesn't fit the bridle at all, velcro additions to the riser that don't really work (they come undone when freeflying), tightening the BOC (I think that was ok), and I've heard about him doing paper repacks and bragging about repacking reserves in 20 minutes. Most of these things I brushed aside consoling myself that one should get a good base on belly anyway before starting freefly and freestyle, but now I'm just pissed that I bought a rig that really wasn't made for freeflying after the modifications, that it's been deemed unairworthy, that I no longer have a rig and therefore neither my sister nor I can jump without paying up the ass for rental gear, and that the rigger/DZO potentially put our lives in danger. Anyway, "versleciel" and I will keep you guys updated and thanks for all the advice and PMs!

Any suggestions on how to change the velcro for the risers then? Add flaps? Scrap it all and get a new container (not that I can afford that...)? I'm still working on sit fly but at a rate of one jump a weekend, I'm not getting very far. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for the next few weekends and I can get more jumps in!

A rigger at my old dropzone did some work on the rig, adding velcro to the risers, a "pocket" for the bridle, and what not to make it more freefly friendly than a normal Vector II container.

Although I'm new at this sport with only 35 jumps, I'm really interested in free flying. I've gotten several different opinions, from wait until you have 900 jumps to start now!!! I'm messed around a bit and haven't had any problems yet with losing altitude too fast or going out of control. If there any reason why I shouldn't be doing free fly so soon?

After jumping for a few months, I finally decided to sign up on dropzone :) I had an amazing jump yesterday where I accidentally hit sit fly coming out of a front loop. I've been working on sit fly for a while, but when I don't think about it is when I end up doing it well. Any tips other than to just relax?

Welcome to skydiving! My parents were hella freaked out about my sister and me jumping every weekend, but we finally convinced my mom to go skydiving last summer. Now, she wants to go again, my dad wants to go, and they can't wait to hear our jumping stories every weekend! Keep working at them, and you're right, skydiving...as long as you're safe about it...is safer than most people think.