packertom

Guys, we had a fatality at our DZ a while back... descendant happened to have a javelin... javelin happened to have had the RSL removed... FAA admin noticed this and called Sunpath... Sunpath stated that due to the wording that the RSL is "standard" on all Javelin rigs, it SHOULD NOT be removed... ie.. manufacturer recommends that it stay attached which is the same as it MUST stay attached.. the rigger who removed the lanyard at the request of the owner almost got a letter in his file over this.. the only thing that saved him was the fact that at the time that the lanyard was removed, there was a misunderstanding over what sunpath meant by "standard" and it was a common thing to do on javelins... we were advised that javelins with RSL's removed could keep flying and we could keep repacking them, but if a new one came in and we removed the RSL we were risking our ticket for making a modification to the system not in accordance with the manufacturers instructions due to the word "standard" and the verbal answer from the manufacturer that went along the lines of; the system was tested with it and we want it to remain on... if you want to remove an RSL you will need a field approval from the administrator (work must be done by a master rigger) or a letter from the manufacturer that states that this alteration has been approved (you should keep a hard copy of this letter in your files) or you are definitely risking your ticket and placing yourself in a position that could be labeled (gross negligence)... just some words of advise due to the fact that we've gone through this with the FAA administrator and the manufacturer... just to reinterate... if you remove an RSL from a javelin without written approval of Sunpath or a field approval from the administrator you are placing yourself in a dangerous position. Tom www.applieddeceleration.com [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

vented apexes are there to decrease ocillation... that's what they're for. venting in other places on a round canopy are for the purpose of steering or drive. some BASE pilot chutes have vented apexes for the express reason or lessening ocillation of the pilot chute, with the intent of decreasing the chances of an off heading main opening. whether this actually works is a point of contention, but if it makes you feel better, by all means... My only guess as to why sport main pilot chutes are not vented would be that they don't need to be.... having said that, the are intended to operate in the envelope of higher speeds (than BASE), if you open a bit off heading, so what? it's a big sky and there isn't a mountain 20 feet away, and theoretically a pilot chute without the apex might last a little longer... or perhaps it has to do with that fact that it 's easier to build without an apex an interesting question and an interesting discussion... I know that all of the pilot chutes the we produce, BASE and sport do not have vented apexes (or is it apexi :-) Tom www.applieddeceleration.com [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

vinegar? cedar chips? come one guys, think acid and splinters eating through your nylon... so it smells?!?!!??! jump it till the smell goes away. I wash canopies for customers all the time... I try to avoid it if I can... woolite in cool water then rinsed no less than 4 times... everytime I do it, I'm convinced that I'm putting a couple of hundred jumps worth of wear on the ZP coating... my opinion, if it's just the smell, deal with it and jump it until it stops smelling, it eventually will, store the rig in a well ventilated area and the prob will eventually take care of itself. Tom www.applieddeceleration.com [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

I think I made out most of that :-) I especially like the part about his camo stash bag... there is a place in BASE for ninja gear, black, desert camo, or woodland camo... sometimes neon colors stand out a bit... Lee for some reason doesn't like making BASE gear in loud colors, can't figure out why not... if you want to see the camo stash bag that magot is talking about go to our website. Tom www.applieddeceleration.com [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

hey all, we just posted some of Lee's pics from the Turkey Boogie on our website www.applieddeceleration.com Lee has a ton of pics, these are the ones that he liked the best, if anyone wants a high res copy for printing etc.. please email us at [email protected] and we can get it to you. thanks, Tom [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

this brings up an interesting question... in addtition to building BASE rigs and having a full service rigging loft, we also have a sign store... like a FastSigns... it actually pays the bills :-) we do all kinds of signs, magnetic signs, cut vinyl, silk screened t-shirts etc.. anyway, we've discussed putting together a "BASE Jumper" Sign package. Basically it would have some magnetic signs, maybe a cap and/or shirt with whatever company name someone might want... we were joking around with the idea of making up a company called B.A.S.E. Building and Stuctural Engineering and having a package with magnetic signs etc.. that someone could stick on a vehicle while conducting reconnaissance... is there a market for a "cover" kit out there? we were talking about selling the kit as a novelty on out website... God knows we wouldn't be selling it with the intent of people using it for illegal purposes.. Tom www.applieddeceleration.com [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

I just reread the article by Tom Aiello... truly a primer for the newbie, packed with tons on great information... I noticed that he has our old email address and web site... we're now applied deceleration www.applieddeceleration.com Leading Edge BASE gear is now manufactured in our shop... basically, we needed to change the name when we actually incorporated.. the leading edge website is no longer active. thanks, Tom Stewart [email protected] [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

this is a problem that exists mainly in improperly sized harnesses... in the old days rigs had a "belly band" that snugged you against the back pad... they are apparently coming back in Europe... we make a retrofit belly band that is designed for people with used rigs that aren't 100% fitted or for people who happen to own a certain rig that is known to have a lot of "stagger" in their hip junction... by accident we've found that our belly band is a big help while back flying.. we gave some to Team VIBE after they complained that while back flying (with perfectly sized rigs) they were experiencing some "washing" that was throwing them off.. tehy reported that our belly band snugged the rig into their back and eliminated the "washing" entirely... Tom Stewart www.applieddeceleration.com [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

I had a quy come in a few months ago with a wonderhog with a baby cobra in it... round canadian reserve, not TSO'd in America... he said he thought it was a phantom and had been jumping that rig for 15 years! Card showed that it was in date... called the rigger on the card and he'd never noticed that the reserve wasn't legal to jump in America! Main lift web was worn almost half-way through near the right lateral... I told the guy that his rig needed a new harness and a new reserve, he left it with me and bought a new rig from the gear store at Skydive Dallas, he still hasn't come to get his rig. Tom www.applieddeceleration.com [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

Hey all, this is Lee's partner in Applied Deceleration.. I'm here minding the sewing machines while Lee is off gallavanting around and doing his adventureman act... could someone get em pics or video of Lee taking part in these rescues? we just got our web site up and running and I would love to get pics or vid up.. everyone here at Skydive Dallas is extremely proud of Lee and would love to see some photographic proof of his deeds... I can be reached at 1-866-590-Sign or [email protected] our web site is www.applieddeceleration.com oh, and if anyone sees him bumming around, tell him to call back to the store and let us know that he's still alive.. thanks, Tom [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

Hey all, this is Lee's partner in Applied Deceleration.. I'm here minding the sewing machines while Lee is off gallavanting around and doing his adventureman act... could someone get em pics or video of Lee taking part in these rescues? we just got our web site up and running and I would love to get pics or vid up.. everyone here at Skydive Dallas is extremely proud of Lee and would love to see some photographic proof of his deeds... I can be reached at 1-866-590-Sign or [email protected] our web site is www.applieddeceleration.com oh, and if anyone sees him bumming around, tell him to call back to the store and let us know that he's still alive.. thanks, Tom [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

Hey all, I'm Lee's partner in Applied Deceleration and if anyone has any pics of Lee making these rescues I would love it if you could email them to me at [email protected]... lee called the other night and said that he didn't get a chance to sell many of the T-shirts we made due to things getting busy?!?!?!? wtf dude? no mention of cliff face rescue?!?!?!?!? Lee is a tard but I love him... I'd love to have some pics of adventure man in action on our website www.applieddeceleration.com we're just getting the site up and running and are trying to build up some content.. thanks, Tom Stewart [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

at Skydive Dallas, we've got an apparatus that Lee Hardesty (my partner in our loft) fabricated that holds paraplegics legs in place and has the ability to raise them into a sitting type position prior to landing, if anyone's interested, we can fabricate these harnesses for anyone who needs one, I'll talk to my partner and see what we could sell them for if there is really any interest in them-- this really was a necessity is the mother of invention type device, we'd never intended to actually market it --- our email is [email protected] if anyone has any questions [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

a while back someone posted a link to someone's paper on risk homeostasis and a study of exit order... it was great stuff but I can't find it again to show some people. If someone could repost the links or the information it would be greatly appreciated. I tried a search but didn't get anything back on it. thanks, [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

The rig in question was a custom measured rig and yes after this particular picture was taken and analyzed, she sent the rig to the manufacturer who did indeed shorten the laterals... her rig fits her much better now, it's very tight on her and she isn't sure if she's going to be able to wear winter clothing underneath it, we'll find out when it gets cold. Admittedly, the picture in question is a worse case scenario and I agree, in this case, a rig with that much slop in it should go back to the manufacturer as this one did. We did however test the effectiveness of the bellyband on this particular rig prior to it being sent back for retrofit and while it didn't fix the problem in it's entirety, it reduced the amount of slop appreciably. We used this picture to demonstrate a problem in the worst possible light... where we have had much success is with the larger student rigs and used rigs that fit okay, but not as well as they should. I believe that everyone in the sport should have a cutom fit rig that fits them like a glove, having said that, it's a fact of life that people are buying used rigs and many of these people are getting a rig that fits them, but not as close to a glove like fit as they would like, but for a variety of reasons are jumping a rig that has a bit of slop in it... ie.. larger sized container, big volume main, not perfect fit, you name it, they're out there. Personnally, every rig I own was used, and not a one of them fits me like a glove... I'm cheap and so many rigs come past me and I'm offered such good deals that I can 't help but add to the collection the belly band has helped me and made me feel more secure.... if I didn't believe in it, I wouldn't be offering it up for sale, to be honest with you, we've given away almost as many as we've sold... I think it's a good idea and it's a good product that will help many people, not all people, but many people... much like packing a reserve, I won't put a seal on somthing that I wouludn't jump myself, I wouldn't put a product out for sale unless I use it myself and believe in it. In many cases, this band will be of no use whatsoever for a jumper, but in many instances, our band will help someone with a large or sloppy rig to feel more secure and be a better skydiver if for no other reason than they feel more secure in their rig... the comment about students remembering their chest strap because they now have two of them actually has happened and it seems to be a truism from what we've experienced. thus far, we've gotten lots of positive comments from the students in particular... it may just be that they don't know any better and get used to something from jump street... who knows? I do know that we've sold belly bands to almost every student who trained with one when they buy their first rig.... they seem to have gotten used to the extra security and like to keep it with their new rigs, custom fit or not. I really appreciate all of the feedback that we've received from posters on this board... please keep your comments coming. I do truly appreciate it. Thanks, Tom Stewart [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

I just filled out my profile, thanks for pointing that out... as for the fit of the rig in question, it was custom fit and did fit well on the ground and believe it or not, while standing upright, you couldn't move the container up on her back... but for some reason, I believe due to certain aspects of her build, when she would assume a sitting position, the hip rings would move forward and upward, but due to the geometry of her butt, she would get a net "up and back" change in positioning of the rings, allowing the container to raise off of her back. I'm not defending this rig as it was obviously, for whatever reason not fitted well to this particular girl's torso, but like I said, this picture was used to demonstrate a worse case scenario.... after we saw this particular instance, we started studying videos of sit flyers in all makes and models of rigs and noticed that more than a few had lifting from the bottom of the container while in a sit position. Some were worse than others and some fit like a glove in any position. We did notice that the rigs that seemed to lift the most and change geometry the most were the most modern and most articulated models. Where we have had our best success is with used rigs... all of my rigs are used and many young jumpers on my drop zone have used equipment that doesn't fit as well as a custom fitted rig would... I wish everyone had custom fitted rigs, but let's face reality, there are more used rigs out there than new ones...we don't claim to be a panacea for all problems, but if your rig is washing around on your back, the belly band is an economical way to get a "near" custom fit feel from your rig. We've had great success with student rigs, due to their inherently large container volume and inherently ill-fitting profile due to the adjustable main lift web, we've found that this attachment aids greatly in anchoring the container to the lower back reducing unintentional parasitic drag turning. I must stress that this is not a fix for an ill fitted main lift web... if your main lift web is too big, it is too big and you may be in danger of hanging yourself on the chest strap... our purpose is to draw the container closer to the lower back to help alleviate the lifting that can occur while in a sit position and help to mitigate the turning effect of a large container that may wash a bit while in free fall. I truly hope that in the near future, the rig manufacturers make belly bands a standard option on all rigs... I know that this is going to screw us out of some money, but so what? We make our money elsewhere, this is something that we believe in and truly believe will help add to the safety and quality of life of sport jumpers. As I've stated before, we don't claim to be fixing every problem with this attachment, but there are many people out there that this will help.... We're skydivers first and love the sport, the community and the people, we just saw a problem and came up with what we feel is a solution for a large percentage of the cases out there... we describe the construction with great detail and haven't patented, copyrighted or anything this item... if I were to see these bands being built by other riggers, I would be extremely pleased.... belly bands used to be the order of the day, honestly, I don't know why we ever got away with them... if you think about it, what possible harm can an extra strap across your torso do? Even if this strap is fitted to the most perfectly fitting rig in the history of container design, it can't do anything but add a bit more security to the system... we're just here to help. Tom [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

by the way, forgot to mention, that the girl in the sit, when on the ground, her rig fit her very well but only changed position while in a sit. The bikini shot was a bit of cheap marketing on our part, but we have a female skydiver of some noteriety here with a great belly, so we logically used this as an excuse to get her to pose in a bikini she agreed to pose for the pictures because she thought it was a good product with a good intent. [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?

I'm one of the makers of the retrofit belly band... maybe I can clear up some of the questions....please don't constrew this as an ad or a plug, just trying to answer some of the questions in this thread. The belly band is basically a retrofit item that requires no permanent alteration to your rig, it is comprised of 2 pieces of doubled one inch type 17 webbing with a sewn loop on each end that when slid over the leg straps, will sit at the hip junctions on your rig whether it be articulated or of the standard sewn configuration. The buckle is a stainless steel one inch adaptor. Installation or removal takes around 30 seconds and requires no professional help.. i.e. you can install it and remove it yourself. If you wish, you can have your friendly local rigger tack it in place. The history of the our belly band basically began around January when instructors at our drop zone mentioned that some students with large ill-fitting student rigs were having unintentional turns while in the air due to the container washing around on their backs. My partners and I started working on a fix for one particularly small female student… this is what we came up with… the belly band drew the rig closer to her back and stopped the movement of the container on her back. She commented to us that the band made her feel more secure while in the rig. We made some more and installed them on our rigs, we discovered that it did indeed give us a more secure feeling and with me personally did stop the washing of my container on my back; I jump a Mirage M5…. Big container that extends over the sides of my body. We have since installed them on the student rigs at our dropzone and sold a bunch to up jumpers. Along the way, we noticed that sit flyers in particular are susceptible to the effects of the container moving about on their back. The picture of the girl in the sit in our ad is an extreme case of an ill-fitting rig, used to demonstrate in the strongest possible sense the possible consequences of having an ill-fitting rig while in a sit. (I don't want to mention the maker of the rig, because this isn't about a maker or a style of rig... I will say that it was a custom rig, measured and manufactured to her exact measurements, she has since sent the rig back and had the laterals brought in some.) We then started to notice that many of the most modern and articulated ring harnesses seem to have the biggest problem with this movement while in a sit. While standing on the ground or while flying on your belly, these rigs are awesome-- so far as comfort goes, but when in a sit, due to the changing geometry of the hips and lower back (or due to the shape of a persons lower body), in many cases, the lower portion of the container can lift off of the back. This movement can cause serious problems with stability while in a sit. We don’t promise that our belly band will solve every problem in the world, but I can personally attest to the fact that this band will help in pulling your container closer to your lower back and giving you a more secure fit. You may remember, back in the day, belly bands were the standard, somewhere along the way we got away from them. I love mine and don’t even think about it being there anymore, I’ve gotten so used to it being there and having that extra feeling of security that, when, the other day, I jumped someone’s rig to diagnose an opening problem, the rig felt weird and loose on me. Everyone that has gotten one thus far loves it and are our best advertising. I won't mention price here as that would be bad form, but I will say that we've sold so many that we are working overtime to keep up with the orders. We made this item to solve a problem that we feel is becoming more and more prevalent within our sport due to changing speeds and body positions... we think that this is a trend that is going to come back and within a very few months, we'll start seeing belly bands being offered as a standard option straight from the manufacturers. We'll have the web site fixed and working soon, we sew, we dont' work well with the web, we've got a friend fixing the site... we wanted to get this product out to the public as fast as possible, so we launched without the web site up... we think it's important.. hope that this answered some questions. Tom [email protected] www.velocitysportswear.com What's YOUR Zombie Plan?