hajnalka

Ohhhh, Justin. Jason is way worse since he got married. He keeps trying to get everyone to do 3-ways with them now .... I can barely be in the same room with him. Marion: Thanks for your hospitality last Fri! And for the limeade - that limeade rocked. (And thank you, Guido, for being the taste-tester before all the rest of us got there .) -D

David - Well, you'll be welcomed down here with open arms. My name is Dawn - I'm one of the riggers in the loft. Please come see me if you need anything. You'll meet Marion et al. and will have a very fun weekend jumping here. Come into the packing area when you get here to meet everyone - don't be shy! Best, Dawn

http://bustheband.com/busblog/?page_id=3 BUS show/CD release party in Carrboro next Friday!!! (this is the band 'formerly known as' Big Pretty and the Red Rockets. They've played at two of our boogies.) They are amazingly good + fun. I listen to their first CD at least weekly. Everyone who can should come - you won't be disappointed. Their music is uplifting & happy and whenever I see them live I'm in a good mood for days . Bring cash to buy their CD; they're seriously that addictive. You may see some women from the DZ in short skirts & heels, like you've never seen us before .... or you may not. We haven't decided yet Best, D

In my experience MOST super-qualified riggers do not make their living solely by packing. Many have instructional skydiving ratings and make a good portion of their livelihood through tandems and IAFs. Others are DZOs. Others sell gear. Some conduct in-demand riggers courses. Some stick to rigging-type activities and make jumpsuits, RDS's, build linesets, ash-bags, rig for planes (engine plugs and PITO-tube covers, etc.) Others have jobs outside of the skydiving industry. Then there are some riggers who will repack reserves for free --- to stay current or help out a friend, for example. Currently, the best reserve packer I know is not charging for his work. I think this is a $ wash; a non-issue. Very cool discussion. I'd love to see the 180-day cycle become a reality. Peace, Dawn Edited to add: Any rigger that makes a living solely on what he/she charges for repakcs is probably worth his weight in salt

Speedy, you are SUCH a class act of a gentleman

Jeezus - Leave it to 'Bolas the boogie whore' to hijack a thread . (Love you, Randy. Thanks for the excellent convo the other night, and for being a good friend.) That said, Lyman and I will definitely be there June 23-24. I'll try to drag along some of our excellent newly "A" licensed guys, and if you can confirm that Jeff Provenzano will be organizing freefly loads, I'll don't think I'll have to twist many arms to bring a bunch of freeflyers as well. FUN!! Best, Dawn

All of our CSS/Downwind Carolina customers pay $50 for a sport rig repack, and they seem happy to do so. We're on the East Coast . We also have some customers from the NYC area who love having us repack their gear at boogies, because it's much cheaper than what they're paying up there. One thing that I think is lacking in this convo re: supply & demand, price, economics, can-riggers-live-on-what-they-make, etc etc is the QUALITY of what you get for your $50. (or $75 or whatever.) Warning: I'm going off on a tangent here: Jumpers evidently pay anywhere from $35 to $75 for a repack. They obviously expect an in-depth inspection of their gear. That's what the 120-day I&R is all about. I can whip out a reserve repack in 20 minutes, but it might take me up to an hour or a full day to inspect everything, and then do a bunch of research on service bulletins and ADs, make sure your reserve links are correctly tightened, tack your bumpers, tack your main slinks, check your main PC kill-line length, etc. I have a problem with this thread because people see an I&R as a commodity, worth X amount. I see all of y'alls point, but please understand that all repacks are NOT the same. What someone wants to pay me to know their gear and try to keep them as safe as possible is NOT the same as what they're going to pay Rigger X down the road to get them legal for a boogie . Best, D Edited for clarity, I hope.

That is awesome!!!!

I'm having trouble picturing what you mean. Could you say more, please? Thanks, Mark Wish I could post pics, but that's a challenge with my dial-up connenction. I've talked a bit and learned a lot from the guy who invented the 3-ring system, and according to him, the length of the white loop is critical to give enough "play" or "float" in the cable housing amp fitting on opening, since that's where the load is translated. (Note; I did NOT see the incorrect routing pics before the original post was edited. I'm assuming the loop went through an inboard RSL ring flipped behind the riser, in the vicinity of the riser grommet.) If the RSL ring was flipped inboard away from the riser (like in the position they usually are when an RSL is connected) then this would effectively shorten the length of the loop, which would increase the amount of force translated to the cutaway cable on opening. Over the years there have been instances of the loop placing excessive force on the cutaway cable on opening, that lead to "suck through" where the cable was pulled/crimped through the amp fitting/grommet at the top of the cutaway housing. Result = not being able to cutaway the main canopy if it mals, which could lead to an entanglement if the main isn't landable and you have to deploy your reserve. Then there are cutaway forces. Hard or impossible cutaways have occurred over the years, usually with violently spinning heavily loaded canopies. My husband had a very difficult 2-handed cutaway on a spinner several years ago, before hard riser inserts were the norm. He's a very strong guy, 3500 tandems and ~ 7000 jumps, and it shook him up. Bill Booth talked about 3-ring geometry relating to cutaway forces at PIA in 2005. Especially with Ty17 mini risers, there are very small tolerances in how the rings are spaced, the length of the loop, and the position of the end of the cutaway housing. Either situation (suck-through or a hard cutaway) may have nothing to do with routing the loop through the RSL ring; I'd just rather not see anyone chance it. I've seen misrouted 3-rings that: 1. Caused a very difficult cutaway when it was attempted on the ground -- I believe it would have been impossible under canopy 2. Caused a riser to fall off at a guy's feet as he laid his main out for the packers after his 2nd jump of the day - it only held up under a load 3. Were jumped without incident. I teach packing and gear maintenance class - incl. the 3-ring system - all the time, which probably set off alarm bells when I saw your post . I hope this made sense. To the original poster: I wasn't trying to overdramatize anything. This IS serious stuff. It sounds like you're learning a lot, and you have some great people looking out for you. Sadly I know people with thousands of jumps who wouldn't dream of trying to hook risers up to a rig. You've already got them beat

I'm sure it would be OK if the RSL ring stayed in back of the riser in line with the riser grommet, but what if the RSL ring flipped around inboard when there was no load on the system? Could put a lot of force on that little white loop on opening ... I'm not trying to start an argument with anyone, and you certainly have WAAAAY more experience than me, and it's your call if you'd jump it that way. IMO it's too critical of a system to have it "almost" hooked up correctly. Peace, Dawn

Yeah, that's me, baby. Scared ...... yet dangerous. I broke the Cypres material on a closing tool while packing last weekend. Some people are wise enough not to mess with me.

Wow .... Exactly. WHY someone with thousands of jumps would jump a rig with a misrouted RSL, and tell that to someone with 4 jumps, is baffling to me ... I'm almost thinking he's tired of newbie questions and his post was in jest? On the other hand, people TRY to swoop without enough knowledge/experience every day. Not many 4-jump students try to hook up their own 3-rings. To the original poster, I say kudos for posting, and for learning about your gear. However, misrouting any part of the 3-ring system is VERY not cool, and can be disastrous. Glad you got input and checked with a rigger before jumping. Keep learning, and stay safe. -D

Amen to you, and amen to Mike Gruwell for his excellent post. If a 180-day repack cycle caused more jumpers to learn about their gear and take an interest in maintaining it as the life-saving equipment that it is, I might be tempted to LOWER my prices

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2786335;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread I hope this helps .... or even works . The post in question talked about outer B/C lines breaking, as well as rolling and/or stuffing the nose. This rolling/stuffing the nose is a whole different debate, but most gear manufacturers that I know don't recommend doing either on modern main canopies. Some DO prefer that you flat pack or roll pack their mains or reserves, etc. etc. Manufacturers test their gear extensively, and it's a good idea to understand why they want their gear packed a certain way. This is NOT directed at the OP or the thread I linked above!! I have no personal knowledge of the incident. Just an observation. Hard openings suck . Stay safe, D

From another thread: Our weather will be PERFECT: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/forecast/MapClick.php?CityName=Louisburg&state=NC&site=RAH 80's and sunny, with mild winds ... everyone with any means to get here should come & play this weekend at our excellent DZ. I'll try to update this thread with jump plane info ASAP. If anyone has ?s - don't be shy: PM me! Best, Dawn

Hesitated to reply, as I don't jump anymore. However, I've been a very busy full-time rigger for the past 8 years, and I've done more than my share of BASE rigging. I absolutely agree with your original post: a hard opening will stress the center front of the canopy. That's where we should see lines break - center A/B. In the real world, sh*t happens. I've seen lots of damage from hard openings. I'm not saying any of my observations are scientific, but they are real-world observations so take them as you will. Outboard lines wear fastest due to slider friction. I've seen an amazing amount of wear on B and C lines at the canopy slider stops. This area should take NO load on opening - so you wouldn't thing that they would break. I've seen it happen though - both at the slider stops, at the link, and at the finger trap right above the link. Most damage on hard openings that I've personally witnessed is with brake lines. Usually they don't break, but the line attachments pull out of the canopy. Since the majority of mains we see in the field have too short of brake lines, this kind of makes sense ... all of that force translated to the rear of the canopy as it tries to (violently) inflate with the tail pulled down - something's gotta give. I once saw a Stiletto that was jumped (I believe) with the slider fully collapsed. I'm glad the guy survived. Many broken lines - right center A/B below the cascade, various C and D lines both above and below the cascades, and most (not all) brake lines torn from the canopy. Every cell chamber was torn - sometimes it was the rib. Lots of end-cell damage. The forces of physics are amazing, and sometimes amazingly hard to understand. Forensic rigging is fascinating and frustrating. I always strive to learn from every cutaway and every damaged canopy I see. Don't ever forget the forces and speeds involved. Chaos theory is also helpful. Best, D

squish - Thanks so much for pointing that out to me . I'd always thought that was verboten. I'm glad to hear that it's in the manual, and people are stowing excess successfully with the pin - very cool. Best, Dawn

Are you saying that people should route excess steering line around the metal pin - i.e. put the pin through the excess line? If so, I disagree strongly, and I don't think this is what the manual shows. Pins are there to keep toggles in place on opening/prevent toggle fires. It's been done on BASE rigs for some time, with good results. I've built and modified many BASE toggles and risers for this reason. Excess toggle line, in my opinion, it best dealt with on the back of the riser if there's an issue. Incorporating excess toggle line with how the toggles/brake line are stowed on the front of the riser is just bad news in my experience. I've seen many mals and lots of toggle line damage from this. I do love pins in toggle stowing, and I LOVE the Tru-Loc risers. I think all excess should be stowed on the back of the riser, if at all .... but that's just me. I'm glad you got out of your spinner without a reserve ride! - well done, and thanks for sharing this. Good food for thought. Peace, + take care, D

Next weekend should be excellent; will be great to see Matt & Allison again, and welcome them back home. Even though my Mom was busy over the weekend with Artsplosion, she spent every spare moment on the phone with MRVS (biggest DZ in the Kansas City area) arranging her AFF course.

Evidently Lyman WON some kind of informal swoop competition at Raeford today, during the 4-way CSL meet ... actually won a small bit of $$. Sounds like his main competition was Peter B. Anyway, I'm glad CSS was representing in a big way! I guess all of those Lyman beer line swoops are paying off. Please congratulate the man if you think of it ... I know he'd appreciate it. Thanks. Best, D

Thank you, Eric !!! My Second Mom did a tandem with Lyman today, and they had a beautiful exit, she had a nice arch, they stood up the landing, and everything! Woo Hoo! .... but the coolest part was watching you and my baby boy Todd flying together. That doesn't happen every day. That video is absolutely beautiful. We'll be slamming tomorrow and I'm avail. to pack for both of you if you need me - Janice will be in the store. But I take no responsibility for openings on the teensy slider canopy . -D

Lyman + I will definitely be there ... Sounds like an awesome time. BUT, just wait until you see Eric's and Keith Maj's videos. Way very cool stuff! (I'm going to make sure they play by the rules and understand the 6/15 deadline ... I'll beat it into their heads if I have to.) DaGimp has no idea what he's up against. May the best man win . -D

... but, you got a really cool new/used rig, at a great price! Sideshow Eric didn't. Most of you don't know, but we had one of the biggest rigging crises ever over the weekend. All of the new Strong drogue BOC's failed ... we were basically without ANY jumpable tandem rigs at the end of the day Sat. HUGE thanks to Beav 2, David, and Eric for helping us out in the loft. But esp. Beav 2. Was it 8" X 15"?? You rock, Huck Beav. -D

Respectfully: I agree with another poster, and am glad he asked. He may have originally confused brake line, ring, risers, line attachments, etc. but sounds like he learned something ... and so have some others. That's a good thing, right?

We've solved leg strap slippage cold on various harnesses by sewing a layer of Type XII webbing on the outside of the leg strap. (Make sure it's on the side that lays against the bottom of the movable bar where the bumps are - technically called 'knurls.') It will make the webbing harder to thread/unthread through the hardware, but not impossible. This is assuming you have traditional friction adapters instead of French-style. This is easy, cheap, and really, really works - especially with stainless hardware. It has the added benefit of acting like a chafing strap, protecting the actual harness webbing if you tend to butt-slide. Of course if this is a TSO'd rig that's also used for jumping you'd want to get the manufacturer's approval, etc. Oh yeah - also make sure the hardware was originally sewn on there correctly. I once found a rig where the friction adapters had been sewn on "upside-down" by the manufacturer.