LloydDobbler

As am I. I've defended Argus a number of times in the past, given how transparent they've been. And in most cases, if nothing else, I could always compare their transparency and correspondence to Vigil. Which is a clear win. But in this case, I agree wholeheartedly with what Krisanne says above. If their company is effectively shut down by this, perhaps it's better to begin looking for another type of cutter. Even if they think their existing cutter is fine, the PR benefits gained by announcing they're making a change would be well-worth the trust lost by their customers when they try and avoid the issue/play it off as a conspiracy theory. I also don't think it's right that they haven't been able to inspect the unit yet...but again, at this point, perhaps they need to cut their losses. I'm no longer likely to buy one of their AAD's again, in spite of how much of an advocate I've been for them in the past. Signatures are the new black.

Re: the 2 requirements, Simon, you & I are in complete agreement. That sums it up well. In particular, in the past I've worried more about an AAD firing when I didn't want it to (which falls under #2 above) than I have worried about it failing to save me when I need it. But while I agree with most of your logic, I disagree with the assumption that most people are buying other AAD's to save a buck or two. I can only speak to my experience, but price had nothing to do with my decision. I've been jumping an Argus for almost 3 years now, and paid close to what I would've paid for a Cypres. I bought the Argus because it was multi-mode. And specifically, unlike with a Speed Cypres, it disarms the AAD after deployment (whereas a Speed Cypres simply raises the activation threshold). I also wasn't going with a Vigil because, again, my bigger fear was an AAD working when I didn't want it to, and Vigil has shown issues with that, by design. I wanted an AAD that I was certain wasn't going to fire when I was coming out of a 720. Argus met those conditions, by the simple virtue that it shuts down upon deployment when in Swoop mode. I regularly jump where ground level is 5200', where as we know, canopy speeds are faster. I've seen firsthand someone on a 74sf canopy cause a standard Cypres to fire, and someone on a 107-ish canopy causing a Vigil to fire. All within 50 feet of the ground. I'm also a light guy, but on my Crossfire2-105 loaded at 1.4, I can set off my audible in a front riser dive. Those things being the case, I'm not convinced that someone under the right conditions can't break the 96mph Speed Cypres threshold. Remember - Cypres told us repeatedly that they had tested the original Cypres, and that no one besides Luigi Cani on a 46sf canopy was able to activate it. (The link is still available on the Cypres-USA site). **None of this has any bearing on the cutter issues we're seeing now - just wanted to point out that there are other considerations than just price. Cypres may not prove to meet the 2 conditions you mentioned above, in the long run. In spite of them doing pretty well so far. Signatures are the new black.

...and that's why you come to Flock & Dock. In the 'awesome advice' department, it's kinda like drinking from the fire hose...

001- ScottyBurns.com 01 - Scott Bland 02 - Macca 03 - Robert Pecnik 04 - Jarno Cordia 05 - DSE 06 - Tom van Dijck 07 - Butters 08 - Mike Miller (definate) 09 - Skwrl 10 - Michal 11 - Kallend 12 - Ralph K 13 - Kyle 14 - Simon 15 - J-Sho 16- Jeremy Tyer 17 - Andreea (SuperGirl) 18 - Matt "You snooze, you loose" S 19 - Spike 20 - Jackie 21 - Mark "Birddoctor" Duber 22 - Scott "BSR" C 23 - Eduardo 24 - Christian "AirRebels" Waard 25 - Stu Lange 26 - Kipp 27 - Smoothie. 28 - Eduardo G. 29 - Paul from Montreal 30 - Ben Knoop 31 - Pat S 32 - Ross Lambert 33 - Dan M 34 - Gleison 35 - Joel Steverson Another one confirmed. See you guys on Thursday AM.

Well, crap. Looks like I'm going to have to miss this year due to an already-overbooked March & April. Bugger all. Hope the flocks are awesome!

Nice! Wish I was gonna be there...looking forward to pics & specs.

I would second what Jarno said. The difference being that I stand at 5'5" and weigh 120lbs without gear, so I'm not exactly a standard-sized person. I love my Shadow because for me (small as I am), the range is immense. I don't have to flock with my arms swept back like I do with the Phantom 2. At the same time, I've had no problem getting in 2+ minute flocks with people in X-birds (at DZ's where ground level is 5000', no less). I also agree re: backflying and acrobatics. Backflying is a damn joy in this suit. In spite of its acrobatic capabilities, the longer leg wing gives a lot more forward speed than a standard Acro 2, which makes exiting last and catching a 22-way flock an easy thing. Jarno at one point said 'This is what we probably should have made the Acro from the beginning' - I'm inclined to agree. Again, this is from the perspective of a smaller guy...but Jarno seems to have had no problems with his, which suggests to me this is a very versatile suit, whether you're small or of average body size. Grab a demo if you can - and if you can't, but like the Phantom 2, I don't think you can really go wrong with the Shadow for the purposes you describe. Signatures are the new black.

When I started flying the tunnel, I logged it in my logbook. Just highlighted it and marked the entry as 'T1', instead of a jump number. After a while, it made more sense to put it in a separate logbook, so I could slack on logging it for a couple of sessions, etc. I just snagged a different logbook for tunnel flying, and jot a quick entry every time I fly (was this team training? Belly/back/sit/HD/all-around freefly? Time flown, cumulative time...any good things I want to remember so I can pull them up on video later. That sort of thing). If you're interested in doing it, it's good to go ahead and start now, while you're at the beginning. It'll get away from you pretty quick. Also, keep in mind that tunnel time shouldn't be logged towards freefall time in the sky. It's just a nice thing to be able to go back and say '35 hours of tunnel time, X of which were belly, X of which were freefly," etc. Signatures are the new black.

Yes I have flown in a lower power tunnel that needed very baggy suits. I don't mean that you should consider building a tunnel but it might be fun to hold the record for the "slowest flight in a wind-tunnel" in the Guinness Book of Records as an example. Not to hijack the thread, but it's an interesting point. I'm 5'5", weighing 120lbs. Last week at SVCO I put on an XL suit and hopped in. Was flying somewhere around the mid-40% range (& really working at it). I imagine someone skinner & taller might be able to slow it down even more. As an aside, backflying = bad idea. Sitflying = worse idea. Belly & HD are about all you can do without the suit beating you up. The difficulty is in standardizing the wind speed. When the tunnel indicator says "120mph," for instance, it's not really accurate. That's why most tunnel flyers just quote percentages for that particular tunnel (i.e., topped out = 90% of tunnel capacity. Avg. belly = somewhere around 70%...etc.) Comparing who's flying the slowest would be difficult, except on a tunnel-by-tunnel basis. /end thread hijack Signatures are the new black.

True! & of all the jumps we made, I remember 2 jumps alone with you that were worth the flight down to FL, all by themselves! That pic from me, Michelle & Todd is still one of my faves.

Nice video! (Except for the fact that I wasn't on a lot of those jumps. But hey - maybe this year I'll grace you with my presence to make the video that much more awesome.) Signatures are the new black.

Skydive Empire in Fort Morgan, CO opened in 2010. Currently flying a King Air & a 182. Signatures are the new black.

Just like Butters & Costyn recommended, get comfortable doing acrobatics. Then move onto the other stuff. Speaking of Costyn, he & Jarno have put together a dive pool for WS competitions which is pretty freakin' awesome. Once you get really comfortable with the stuff on the proficiency card mentioned earlier, I think that's an excellent resource. If you find another wingsuiter who's of comparable skill (or someone better who's looking to work on their skills), go pull 2 of those blocks out of the hat, then go up and drill them over and over. Spend a day doing it (same dive flow), and look at the improvement. FS & VFS competitors build their all-around skills using this approach - but not a lot of people seem to do it in wingsuiting. I think if someone spends time drilling specific red zone skills, they'll find themselves progressing much faster than most. Signatures are the new black.

Hey, Dan - Now that we're talking about rigs, we're getting into the opinion section. Some people will tell you 'Don't get X rig - it's a deathtrap!!' or "Y is the 'Cadillac of rigs'." Truth is, all of the rigs on the market today are more or less safe, and have stood the test of time. Some have more bells & whistles than others, but for belly-flying, you have lots of options. (In other words, don't let the brand loyalty thing influence your decision too much. The word 'best' is subjective. Lots of good stuff out there). Personally, I would recommend going ahead and getting a freefly-friendly rig, if you can find it in your price range. I've done mostly belly and wingsuit jumps, but have been freeflying for about 50 of them, and found myself thankful to have the option. Lately I've seen too many people trying to learn to sitfly with rigs that don't have adequate bridle protection, and it scares me. That being said, here's a few rigs that are freefly-friendly and would work fine, if you can find one that meets your needs: - Mirage G3/G4 - Vector 3 - Javelin - Wings - Aerodyne Icon - Infinity - Talon 2/Talon FS/Talon FX - Voodoo This is not an exhaustive list - just the ones I like in particular. (& if you're really dedicated to sticking on your belly for a while, you'll be fine with a V2 or some other slightly-older rig. I just found that it makes sense to have the option.) Best bet, as recommended here, is to talk to your instructors, or the rigger at the DZ. Even if it's winter, call them up & see if they'll meet you for a beer and discuss it. Better to speak with someone who knows you and who can answer any questions up front than us yahoo's on the internet. If you can get their number and email so you can shoot them a link to a rig you find interesting, that would be ideal. Signatures are the new black.

You & me both, Mark. Was definitely annoyed when they told me it would cost $250 for a new control unit. I'm just going with it as-is for now...but I'd probably better double-check first to be sure that I can figure out how to turn it off with half the screen covered by an ink splat. Seems like it's pretty common. Bugger all. Signatures are the new black.

As Bill (& others) mentioned, the Safire 1 a) was measured differently, so it's actually a size smaller, by comparison, & b) has a very weak flare at the bottom end. I went from a Sabre2-120 to a Safire1-119, and found it to be significantly zippier. I had a lot more forward speed...which didn't work out too well when looking to land the canopy, thanks to running out of flare. As others have mentioned, I might recommend staying on the 149 for a bit longer. I'm fairly certain there's a whole lot more you can do with your current canopy, even loaded at 1.0. Good luck! Signatures are the new black.

01 - Scott Bland 02 - Macca 03 - Robert Pecnik 04 - Jarno Cordia 05 - DSE 06 - Tom van Dijck 07 - Butters 08 - Mike Miller (maybe) 09 - Skwrl 10 - Michal 11 - Kallend 12 - Ralph K 13 - Kyle 14 - Simon 15 - J-Sho 16- Jeremy Tyer 17 - Andreea (SuperGirl) 18 - Matt "You snooze, you loose" S 19 - Veno!! (copland007) 20 - Spike 21 - Jackie 22 - Mark "Birddoctor" Duber 23 - Scott "BSR" C 24 - Eduardo 25 - Christian "AirRebels" Waard (maybe) 26 - Stu Lange 27 - Kipp Signatures are the new black.

I'd just add one more possible preventative practice to that list: 5. Pack hand-deploy pilot chute using Brian Germain's packing method While it won't stop the pilot chute from wrapping around your leg in a bad body position situation, it will more likely extract the PC from the pouch if pressure is put on the bridle than if you use the traditional pilot chute packing method. Otherwise, agree with everything you listed. Signatures are the new black.

First off, awesome! Second off, I assume it goes without saying that this applies when Bill changes the jump run and puts us out 2 miles S of the airport into a 35kt+ headwind, right? Glad you West Coast birds are back home.

You forgot: [ ] ...join a long list of people, probably including everyone else on that dive, who have previous experience doing the same thing.

What everybody else said re: the ProTrack & the "slow" setting. I've used a Neptune 1, an Optima, and an Optima 2 & had no problems. Signatures are the new black.

Yup yup. Bummer on the weather, which seems to be getting in the way of lots of CO records lately. Next year. Also, would like to add my props to Kyle for his mad skills. Damn, that was a solid base to fly off of. Thanks to Simon & Scott as well for putting the whole thing together. Looking forward to the next one! Signatures are the new black.

Looking forward to it, Scott - see you Saturday AM.

Exactly what Monkey (& a few others) said above. You never know how it's going to fly until you put it on and fly it. Had I not gone to Flock & Dock & demoed the heck out of various suits, I would have wound up with a T-Bird. I got there and found that the Phantom2 just felt better to me. On the flipside, a friend of mine had only flown Phoenix Fly suits, and after flying an R-Bird he sold his P2 on the spot. Point is, each suit has its own flying style...and there are different tools for different purposes. What's 'best' for one person is not best for another person of the same body type. There is no 'best', except for what works for you. So get out and demo some other suits, if you can. You'll be glad you did. (And happy flying.)

1. Simon 2. Kyle 3. Kipp 4. Todd 5. Vit 6. Jason (I've added a few, but there's also a few more local non-DZ.com types who've expressed interest in coming out). Signatures are the new black.