ctrph8

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Posts posted by ctrph8

  1. Mailman43

    No question this is a scam. Guy replied with a riggers name. First name only and didn't give me the name of the dz he supposedly jumps at. So I call this guy. He could barely speak English. All he could say was the rig is good to go. I asked him details that he couldn't answer. So I asked what dz he worked at. He then hung up. So I'm going to report this.




    I think I was dealing with this guy last week. I forwarded it to the Abuse section and reported it via the link but never saw them post anything. He wanted me to contact his rigger in London but would not kick over serial numbers. I even ended up finding the pictures he used on some russian board from 2011.

  4. Maksimsf

    Hey guys, seems like Icarus got the name for their new low bulk reserve that called "Nano". I was wondering if anyone can convince me buying "Nano" over "Optimum"?





    Got a call from the good folks down at Chuting Star. They are getting some in in about a month. It is their new low bulk, answer to the Optimum... which I welcome. I love my Optimum but am still kind of salty about PD's policy to require every reserve to be recertified at the factory after 40 packjobs. She said the sizes would corolate almost exactly with the Optimum sizes and the volume would be similar. If they are smart they will come in a little cheaper than the Optimum.

  5. This isn't rocket surgery. It is a component and frequently not a factory component. Lots of great 3rd party kill line pilot chutes are out there. Jim Cazer (really nice guy and great rigger) made a bagillion of them. The kill line is pretty easy to replace if you have some basic skills. It most certainly IS a replaceable part but maybe not at a beginner level.

    You might find it interesting to start working towards your rigger's certificate. Many of the questions and posts you've had will seem a lot clearer. Many many more questions will come up but that is part of the process. It's a lot of work but a lot of fun too. Start talking with a few of the riggers in your area. There is a wealth of knowledge out there and if someone is motivated, these folks are usually very generous with their time and knowledge.

  7. It's not too hard. It takes some time but if you have some basic rigging skills you can pull it off. You might not get an exact length from anyone because the bridle may have changed length or was not built to exact specs... Probably not but if I was doing it I'd measure it to function within the bridle you have, not the bridle you are supposed to have.


    Squeak

    I need to replace my kill line for my Micron V308. I've checked their website and found nothing so I emailed Pablito and have had no reply.
    Anyone know the line length specs for a kill line for this H&C?

  8. I'm not saying that the scammer doesn't need to be stopped. I'm just tired of this guy's approach to it. He goes on with a bunch of different usernames telling the same story. We heard it the first time.

    I also had a scammer this weekend. He was better than any of the scammers I've seen yet. Not great but still a step up. I'll post it... once.

    I fully agree that these should be made known and that folks should go pay a friendly visit to any scammers in person. My point here is that this guy and all of his aliases should not clog up the system with redundant posts.


    jsnrsnlt

    Hey dude Im not the same guy as above. If you check out the facebook gear sales groups or the iloveskydiving fb page you would see that the same guy scammed several people

  10. xijonix

    I'm trying to attach a bungee cord to my leg straps for sitflying but the attachment points are on the outer edge of the leg strap. I'm really not familiar with their location, but I assume they would be on the inside edge. Thought?





    Yep. It's right. It's actually pretty clever. The knot on the bungee ends up on the inside of the channel and the bungee runs cleanly out the other side.

    [inline IMG_1802.jpg]

  11. My 2 cents is to do it. Go find a DZ with a really great vibe and go fly for them for a while. Part of the allure is that the skydiving community is a fun bunch of folks to hang out with. You probably won't skydive as much as you'd like but you'll be in good company and you WILL skydive. It will open skydiving doors. The trap is that it is hard to show up at the DZ on your day off because you just spent the last 5 days there.

    If you decide to do it, really check out the DZ. Most of them are fantastic. There are some seriously toxic ones too. They are the exception though, not the rule.

  14. I think there is a work-around for this. It would be worth a call to Cypres to check. Owning a Cypres is expensive and sometimes a pain but they do know a thing or two about customer service. If nothing else, buy the damn thing and wait a few months until it is within the window... But buy it cheap.

  15. deadwood

    I've seen them both ways on reserve canopies from the same manufacturer.




    I seem to remember something about putting the spurred washer on top because if there was a problem with it later and one of the spurs became accessible, it would be pointing away from the canopy and not tear up the fabric or get caught up on a line attachment.

  16. Might be something to do with the way these rigs sit on you personally. Mine happens to be sitting right next to me so I took a look. Not one strand out of place and I've never seen anyone with that problem. Not to say that it doesn't happen, just that I haven't heard any of the Wings owners that I know talking about it.

    Try a different rig. Getting something custom made for you really makes a difference.


    aeroflyer

    Since I can't edit from my phone, I'll add that frankly the wings hip rings are an inferior design, unlike vectors where the leg strap webbing is separate from the other webbing loops at the hip ring. I think its time for wings to wake up and switch to the D ring hip ring design. Other than selling my rig, I'm not sure there's anything I can do. >:(>:(

  17. Sometimes I've given people gift cards to something fun (movies, dinner, ice cream, etc) and that seems to go over really well. For some reason it is easier to accept a gift than it is cash. Give them a $50.00 gift card in a card where you thank them for their support of the skydiving community.

  18. You should try it but keep a few things in mind:

    Packers are tough! They move fast all day long and it is a lot of physical work. Can you physically keep up? I was a packer and am pretty sure that I couldn't anymore.

    Can you be sociable enough to get along with folks long enough to get established as a business. You will probably be working for a DZ (that already has a packing system) AND you will be developing your own clients. If you are the F.N.G. and the F.O.G. and have attitude, you might think about other avenues.

    I'm not saying you are any of those things but it would be worth your while to go observe the Packing concession and see how things are run.

  19. I have no idea what kind of services are available in your area but many of the repair guys are mobile.


    iowa

    Apparently I need some education on sewing machines.

    I don't know what a short scarf is.

    What I know is that it worked great until I bent the needle.

    Should I take to a repair shop? That's a real pain with the oil bath and the size of it.

  20. Yes you can. I've done it with mine and you can. I also hated it so much that I bought an Optimum 160. Biiig difference!

    When Wings says something will be tight but it can be done, they are telling you the truth. You can't go any bigger without damaging things or having other kinds of problems.



    Rydin989

    Wings sizing charts claim 160 for the reserve on a W11, But I hear a lot of people say you can generally fit one size higher. Has anyone tried this?

  21. This sounds like a silly question but since I've pulled this stunt, I'll ask - Is the needle in backwards?


    iowa

    When I was using it last it was running like a champ until I slightly bent the needle going through several layers of cordura.

    Had to get new needles and now it'll work ok for an inch to six at a very slow pace but as soon as it picks up any speed it frays and breaks the top thread.

    Any suggestions on what I might have screwed up?

  22. I recently saw an aftermarket cutaway system that I thought was simple and clever. Of course now I can't remember who made it but from what I remember, all of the snaggy parts were tucked away and it released one side of the chin strap. I'll ask around tomorrow and see what I can dig up.



    Quote

    I played around with that design. I didn't like the projection on the outside or the clip on the inside. Depending on how tight the helmet fits at your jaw, the location of the clip/pin could poke into your jaw if you get a good bump on your melon. If you do actually have to cut the helmet away, you will have to replace the pin/spring/etc.

    I have been slowly working on a system that replaces the existing female chin clip and strap with one that has had the strap modified. The strap separates when you pull the cable release. As long as you don't drop the cable, all parts stay connected to the helmet. Been a bit busy at work so my time to improve my prototype has been limited.

    Hopefully will soon have a pre-production prototype for some folks to try before I gear up and make them.

  23. Any idea what the rigger was trying to accomplish by marking the lines?

    Also, at what point does it become an alteration? Dying fabric is but my lines are all marked with something during the manufacturing process and it sounds like these are only marked in certain places.

    I'd be calling the manufacturer.

    Post pics!

    Quote

    Here is an interesting situation that I am putting out for all riggers to reply to in terms of what you would do and what jumpers would do if this occurred to their gear.

    During a routine inspection it was noted that lines had been colored on with a marker by a rigger. The lines were colored at around an inch in length at the line attachment point for a line group. The coloring went over the bartack. This was not noted anywhere on the card and the canopy was last seen in this loft about 4 years back and was not colored at that time. The lines were marked with an unknown marker so it might not be acid free.

    Do you pack it, do you refuse, do you try to contact all the previous riggers to see what type of marker was used, do you tell the customer?

  24. Rigs have come a long way. Each of the manufacturers will split hairs about how their system is better than their competitor's but from an overall viewpoint, rigs these days are pretty damn good. Every manufacturer has had snafus but as a rule, modern systems are rock solid.

    We as jumpers can do things to screw that up (like packing 10 pounds of crap into a 5 pound bag) but we don't have many problems with reserves not extracting from properly sized and maintained gear. There ARE incidents but really, considering the number of reserve deployments that happen every day, these are very very small numbers and usually not the only problem. As with most incidents, there are usually several factors.

    Find gear you like. If that happens to be Jumpshack, great. Go rock that. Racer owners LOVE their Racers. If you find another rig that you like from any of the other major manufacturers, rest assured that they have been time tested. They will all save your life. Just do your part to maintain your gear and to pack reasonably sized canopies into it.

    Also, each gear manufacturer has a combination of features in their design and really believes that their design is your best last chance. Making safer gear is why they got into the business. To this end there are some wildly divergent views as to how to make this work. You can read about the MARD question ad nauseum. One guide might be to look at what the most experienced skydivers are using for their day in, day out work. Don't look at the sponsored folks because free gear is free gear. Take a look at the ones who pay for their own gear and depend on it to save their lives every day. They have usually tried it all and settle into what works best for them.



    Quote

    I will be ordering my first rig very soon. I am getting pretty concerned over this issue of reserve extraction. We have a YouTube video of a guy who had to pull the reserve out manually. There's another story floating around here somewhere of the same happening to somebody else. We have multiple stories on multiple threads of riggers who couldn't get the reserves out of containers with a reasonable amount of force. We have the British issuing a new test procedure addressing the problem. We have John Sherman apparently keeping a count of the number of people who have gone in because their reserves didn't extract. We have whatever the hell happened in Florida with the double fatality. We have proposals for raising the AAD altitude because reserves aren't coming out fast enough.

    So what's a newbie, a first-time gear buyer, to think about all of this? Can somebody very knowledgeable please summarise for us here? Do we have a serious problem or not? If yes, how widespread is the problem? What can we do about, should we do about it, is being done now? Some have said the issue is merely overstuffed rigs, but the guy in the YouTube video it seems had a reserve that was appropriately sized for his container.

    I have read Jump Shack's John Sherman's comments on reserve extraction forces and pilot chute drag. I decided to take a look at what the major manufacturers have to say about their pilot chutes or extraction forces on their websites. Here is a quick summary. I may have missed something, but I think if I did, it just means the information is too hard for a prospective buyer to find on the site.


    Aerodyne (Icon): "one of the strongest pilotchutes in the industry" Nothing more was written.

    UPT (Vector): Nothing.

    Sunpath (Javelin): Nothing.

    Sunrise (Wings): "This design offers a pilot chute that will create drag from any angle allowing the reserve to be deployed equally as fast given any position." No specifics at all.

    Mirage: "Our partial-mesh reserve pilot chute canopy profile is unlike any in the industry, resulting in higher drag forces per fabric area." No specifics.

    Velocity (Infinity): Nothing.

    Jump Shack (Racer): A document explaining the specs on their pilot chutes and another document explaining maximum allowable extraction forces.


    Most manufacturers (no names, but some much more than others) make the embroidery, color options and pinstripe availability very prominent, but where is the more important stuff?

    I want a rig that is going to work. There are 3 things that I consider non-negotiable:

    1. The harness will hold me in and not release me in flight.

    2. The cutaway system will release when I pull the handle.

    3. The reserve will deploy in an appropriate amount of time/altitude when I pull the handle.

    I don't want pinstripes, I want to live through the jump! Most containers seem to have #1 and #2 down pat, but #3 is presenting issues. Does anybody wish to contradict John Sherman's claim that Racer reserves extract every time? If not, then one solution is to buy a Racer. I'm definitely willing to do this, despite how "uncool" they might be.

    Did I miss something? Has any other manufacturer stepped up with this kind of important information?

    Comments?

  25. Mark Lancaster (MEL here on DZ.com) can probably whip up a set.

    http://www.skyworksrigging.com


    Quote

    Hei,
    Does anybody know if I can still get a lineset for a Pisa Hornet 150 sqft. I know that the company was taken over by Aerodyne. Tried to ask them but i didn't get an answer. I'm looking to buy a Hornet 150 in good condition with 500 jumps on and original line set and I'd like to know if I could still find one for replacing in the near future.
    Thanks,