bwilling

J3 and J5 are the container size, not the harness size. Container size determines what size canopies the rig will hold, not what size person the rig will fit. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Did I tell you when I had that thing relined at PD they put a bigger slider on it? They had decided that the slider size on some of the early models (190 and up I think) was too small, and did a (free!) retrofit. With the bigger slider and the Dacron lines, that thing opened like butter!!! It didn't always open pointed where I wanted it, but it was really, really soft. LOL I wish I still had that canopy now! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

:18:0 The best weather we could hope for in August prompted me to take off work early Friday and start the weekend with 4 jumps. Twelve camera jumps for my 4 way team, and a couple of more fun jumps at the end of the day Sunday when team training was done topped the weekend off. I've made 43 jumps this month, and thought I was kicking ass until I talked to the Dallas Rogue guys who made 107 team jumps in a little over a week! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Are you sure it's not connected? Open a command prompt and type 'ipconfig /all' and post the results. hint - pipe the results to a text file using 'ipconfig /all >network.txt', then open the text file and cut and paste the results here... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Sounds more like a DNS issue than a network connectivity issue... DNS resolution is usually provided by your ISP, and in a DHCP environment is pretty transparent. I'm not a Mac guy, but there's bound to be a way to manually set the DNS servers you're using, and it would be worth a try to manually set them to something like this and see if the problem goes away. There's instructions on this page. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Last November, had surgery mid day Friday, walked out of the surgery center without crutches, chilled for the weekend, back to work Monday with a pretty minimal limp. Recovery back to full strength? Eh, probably not ever going to be as good as new, but it's way more tolerable than before the surgery, when it hurt all the time... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I'd assume that he's doing it so that when it pulls up via search (for all of eternity), that it looks resolved instead of unresolved. Makes sense to me... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I drove that pass last March, in a blizzard. It was honestly the most scared I have ever been behind the wheel of a car. They should not let people from Texas drive that pass in inclement weather. I've also towed a 30 foot Airstream travel trailer through that pass, with no trailer brakes. Probably the second most scared I've ever been behind the wheel. You'll be fine as long as you don't do anything stupid. It's not really that bad if the weather is good, it's more steep than it is twisty, and it's all about managing speed on the downhill grades. I drove it in inclement weather in a little Suzuki rental car, no four wheel drive, nothing. I'm sure the locals wondered why I was going so slow at times as they sped past me in their 4 wheel drive SUV's, but I survived unscathed by being cautious as hell. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Here's Boneheads solution for all the old Batrack fans, and it looks like it will be one of the best options to top mount both an Xti and CX100... I hope so, because that's my long range plan. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Scaled back from it's full fledged boogie status of last year, the annual Skydive Dallas 'Just 4 Us' boogie is back this year in original form, as a one day event! Come out Thursday, June 4th, for a fun day of skydiving! You know you want to take off work and jump with the rest of us slackers! The drop zone will be giving the staff the day off (hey, they don't want to work either!) so they can play with us! We'll have our regular fleet of aircraft, a Super Otter and Caravan, so there's plenty of lift capacity, and great food is available on site at the 'Dive Cafe'. Just bring your favorite beverage for after hours! There's no registration fee, it's just an excuse to take off work and skydive on a Thursday! Come join us! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

BH Photo has it, that's where I picked up mine from, along with some other items... recommended on this forum, turned out to be a very good outfit to do business with! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Yeah. if there's any way you can supplement your AFF training with tunnel time, you can take the best, and probably the most cost effective route to success. It's a lower stress environment, with better instructor feedback than skydiving free fall offers, at a lower cost than skydiving. Highly recommended if possible! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

You go girl! er... I mean boy! Good for you! Yeah, it's not rocket science, but it's more work than a lot of folks are willing to do! Keep in mind that the very hardest part (and yes, I have considerable experience!) is to make it sustainable!!! It's not about perfection, it's about persistence! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

The Sabre 2, Safire 2, and Pilot are all fine canopies in the same 'class'. PD also just released the new Pulse, which is also getting some good reviews... I've jumped them all, know people that own them all, and honestly don't think you could go wrong with any of those canopies. They're all available to demo if you're so inclined. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

SDC 'Windswept' "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Buy one from bigway, he's selling them new for $1375 shipped, here is the ad. He's a good guy, really easy to deal with, and offers good service. Go through the guys at Para-Concepts, I had no trouble at all getting a demo through them. They're an Icarus service center and dealer, and good folks. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I agree, it doesn't have the same flare power as a same size Sabre 2, but then again, most canopies don't! That may be one of the only 'limitations' to the Silhouette, is that you're probably not going to want to load them up like you do an all ZP canopy. PD's own recommended wing loading chart is a bit lighter (about a canopy size difference) for the Silhouette vs. Sabre 2. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

On of PD's best kept secrets IMHO. I have a 100 jumps or so on the one I owned, and regretted ever selling it. It's an easy canopy to pack, it opens as consistently as anything I've ever jumped and didn't take forever to do it, it's fun to fly with a nice sporty feel, and easy as hell to land. I jumped a 230 loaded about 1.2 I've never been able to figure out why that canopy hasn't been a more popular player in PD's line up, it's a great canopy! But I think they made it even better in the Pulse. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Sure, so will Aerodyne (Pilot) and Icarus (Safire 2 - through the Chicago Service Center at Para-Concepts). They all charge a nominal fee of some sort, but it's well worth the price to be able to demo a canopy that you're thinking of dropping nearly 2 grand on! I'm a gear whore, and I've demoed them all, and owned some of them too... there are no bad canopies in the class of stuff you're looking at! It's a personal choice though, and you have to decide which one is best suited for you based on what you want from a canopy. You can definitely determine that by demoing them. I'll play along with nbblood and tell you what I think too. Of the Sabre2, Safire2, Pilot. I thought the Pilot was the best opening of the bunch, by far. It was also the 'sportiest' feeling in flight (very quick toggle response, light riser pressure), but the weakest of the three landing. Not to imply that it doesn't land good, it does, it's just a relative comparison. I though the Sabre 2 was the best landing of the three (it has seemingly endless flare power), and also had a nice sporty feel to it in flight. The openings were, uh, interesting. I demoed that canopy in 2 different sizes, and owned one for a while. The openings were interesting. The Safire 2 was right in the middle. I though it was the best overall, with a nice blend of good openings and good landings. I don't think it opened as well as the Pilot, or landed as well as the Sabre 2, but it's close in both regards. That's why you need to demo. What are your priorities? Will you sacrifice openings to get a canopy that lands like nobody's business, or are butter smooth consistent openings your primary focus? That's what makes it a personal choice. You'll find folks that own and love all three of those canopies, and they'll all swear 'their' canopy is the best. And they'll be right, it's the best for them. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Another vote for staying on a 210 if your profile is current and your exit weight is 250. That's almost a 1.2 wing loading, at just over a hundred jumps! You can't go wrong with any of these canopies. I'd also throw in PD's new Pulse, or even a Silhouette to the mix. If you have the time and energy, demo them all! If you don't, and you're looking for a used canopy, try to find a decent deal on any of the above canopies, buy it, and jump the shit out of it. All of them are fine canopies, and you probably won't dislike any of them. And yes, I've jumped them all! In another few hundred jumps, you'll have a better idea what you do and don't like about what you're flying, and you'll be ready for that 190. Then start the process all over again. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I played with rolling the nose on my demo, and found that it's fairly predictable, allowing me to make it open faster or slower by varying what I did to the nose. I don't stuff the nose on anything, I don't want it back there by the brake lines. In the end I settled on a 'split and flip' treatment on the nose, just like Scott Miller recommends on the PD packing video. It's probably not even necessary, it's just how I learned to pack and what I'm comfortable with. It's working for me, so far I love the openings on the Pulse. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Lots more. Hence their push to get you to use the card as a CC instead of what it actually is, a debit card. Fees can be as high a 3+ percent to run the card as a CC, or as low as 1/2 percent to run it as a debit card. The money comes from the same place (your account that the debit card is drawn on) and no credit is extended, so the banks make additional money for nothing. Ultimately, it's us, the consumer, who pays those additional fees the bank makes. Homey don't play that game. I always have them run my debit card as a debit card when I get a choice. But lots of folks just mark the stuff up to cover the fees, then run it as a CC anyway, costing us all money. edited to add, you're crazy if you think just because your bank gives you a small percentage of the robber baron profits back to you that it's not ultimately costing us all money! It is! It always amazes me that people don't know how this scam works! The only folks that really benefit from running a debit card as something that it's not (a credit card), are the banks! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

They all stretch less than Dacron. Manufacturers use Vectran and HMA because it doesn't shrink like Spectra does. Most Spectra line sets don't 'wear out', they go out of trim so badly that canopy performance starts to degrade to an unacceptable level, and the lines need replacing. I talked to PD about the choice of lines on the Pulse, and it's only offered in Vectran, nothing else. The reason behind that is the shape of the airfoil is critical (they had a fancy name for that airfoil shape, but I can't remember it) to the performance of the canopy, so they're using a line type that won't change the trim over the life of the lines. If you're against no stretch lines completely, maybe demo the Storm, it's available with Dacron lines... as is most of PD's line up. I had them put Dacron lines on a Sabre 2 I had, and that canopy opened like butter. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Even this step might not guarantee that you get what you think you're getting... I recently purchased a nearly new Safire 229 from a third party. Initial discussions went well, and he agreed to send the canopy to my rigger for inspection. It was inspected, and was in the stated condition. Shortly after I had the canopy in my possession, before I even jumped it, I discovered this thread, discussing the canopy. I asked him about it because it wasn't disclosed pre-sale, and he assured me that the canopy was fine, and that Para-Concepts had corrected the problem. What had actually happened was that Para-Concepts had changed the brake setting to make it inflate faster, which disguised the problem. The previous owner had gotten it back from them, made exactly one H&P jump on it, and declared it 'fixed'. I, of course, didn't know this then... I initially made a H&P on it, and it opened OK. But the next two jumps at terminal slammed the shit out of me, so I went back to the previous owner, then Kirk Smith at Para-Concepts, and found out what had been changed. I had my rigger contact Kirk, and had him undo the brake setting change that had been made. Now it no longer slams me. But guess what? It opens like shit, just like the previous owner thought when he sent it back to Kirk to have it looked at. Initially, the guy was going to do the right thing, and take it back like he told me he would, but he's since changed his mind, and has decided that it's now my problem. A problem he knew about when he sold the canopy, save for a single jump that convinced him that it was 'fixed'. Buyers beware, even though it's a small sport, not everybody is forthright and honest in it. I should have demanded my money back and sent him the canopy back on the spot when I discovered the thread here, and not been so trusting. I can only hope now that Icarus will make the situation right somehow, because I think, like the previous owner does in the thread above, that it's just a 'bad' canopy. I put 20ish jumps on a 209 demo, and it didn't open like this 229 does! And with that, my string of never getting screwed in a skydiving deal comes to an end. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Was that the Storm demo, or the Pulse? I asked specifically about this, and the Pulse is only offered in Vectran. Apparently, the shape of the airfoil (look at it from the front, it's crazy flat across the middle cells of the canopy then droops off) is critical enough that they're only using Vectran on it, so that it stays in trim during the life of the lines. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."