ficus

To me it screams why conversions kill. Only instructors with rip cord mains on their own rigs should make your argument. I could not agree more. I think SOS systems for students are a bad idea for this exact reason.

Where did you learn English? "Maths" is British English.

Damn that's funny.

I get both of them. I like Skydiving's willingness to discuss the touchy subjects that Parachutist avoids. USPA is so sensitive about anything that they feel might tarnish the image of skydiving that their magazine is not really representative of what's going on in the sport. Whenever someone at the dropzone gets a really pretty picture, everyone says "you should send that to Parachutist!" If it's a pretty picture of something sketchy, the immediate response is "Nah, that one's going straight to Skydiving". Parachutist tends to prefer photos of cool jumps. Skydiving tends to prefer cool photos of jumps. I too find it ironic that "Skydiving" magazine features B.A.S.E. jumping, while "Parachutist" magazine does not. I would (and do) pay for Skydiving. I probably wouldn't pay for Parachutist if I weren't essentially forced to.

Huh. The plot thickens. It was definitely Pastrana and only Pastrana mentioned in the BOD minutes: http://www.uspa.org/Portals/0/Downloads/Min_BOD_2008_09.pdf

If you read the BOD meeting minutes, they name Pastrana as the guy whose membership was revoked. I'm sure they omitted his name in Parachutist so as not to give him any further publicity.

The only time I've seen a reserve handle dislodged by another skydiver in freefall was on an AFF evaluation jump during a rollover, so I don't have any personal experience with this particular issue. But I do know a couple of freeflyers who say the only time they've ever seen it happen was with a soft reserve handle. Someone puts their foot down on the top of the handle, the velcro peels, and that's all she wrote. The Mirage "D" ring has an angle on the top of it that I think would discourage that particular case. I got my Wings with the low profile reserve handle, which of course is a tradeoff. I believe the low profile Wings handle is far more secure than a reserve pillow. Some people are scared by how small it is, but I am comfortable with my ability to get at it. I'm not sure if Sun Path offers a smaller handle for the Javelin. I guess the point here is that soft handles are fine, but they are not the silver bullet. If you do get one, remember that you have to peel before you pull.

Spend the $10-15 to get it dry cleaned.

So did a hand deploy pilot chute not last you as long? Or is your point that a springloaded PC can last a long time? I don't really understand what you're saying here. Yes, I do turn to final below 5,000 feet. Forgive me for thinking you were out of touch.

Numbers? Or at least rationale? I'm willing to admit I'm wrong there, but fabric rubbing against the spring seems far more abrasive, even considering coating. Of course I don't think that. My point was that a freebag is safer than an attached bag, but in the interest of convenience and cost, we keep our D-bags attached to our mains. High performance landings are low turns? Which one of us doesn't know what he's talking about again?

It in no way confirms what you said. You said that people were doing it purely because it was the fashionable thing to do. You were wrong about that. I'm curious who makes the freebag you use on your main. People make reasonable trades of safety for convenience on a regular basis. And everyone who followed the trend got rid of their belly band PCs. The good trends stay, the bad trends go. Say you're the average jumper without the perspective of decades of observation and the knowledge and abilities to correctly make a cost/benefit analysis of gear features. Is there a better place to start from than to take advantage of the sum experience of parachuting equipment R&D by looking around to see what seems to be working for most people? Now you're just being cranky and argumentative for the sake of it. Nobody I know thinks low turns are cool.

I'm sorry, but this is complete BS. Maybe people don't want a 2 lb weight hanging off of their main. How many sport jumpers even jump non-collapsible PCs now? Maybe people don't want to buy a pilot chute that is more expensive and doesn't last as long as one made of all fabric. Maybe people don't want to keep extra ripcords around so they aren't stuck on the ground if they drop one. So on and so forth. Even if it were "just to be fashionable", which it obviously is not, what is so wrong with that? The trend in the history of parachuting gear is that it is getting better and safer; one could do much worse than to follow along.

The inside of our new PAC grabbed my camera helmet quite a bit when I first started riding in it on a regular basis. I think they must have fixed the airplane, because after 30-40 jumps out of it, it doesn't grab me anymore.

The KA has not been replaced. We flew both the PAC and KA on Saturday.

Pillow, my other three were with a metal loop and they were easier to get out I think you may have gotten hung up on your velcro. You don't really need to peel a D-ring to the extent you do a pillow, because you have this bar of metal pulling the velcro apart as you yank on it. Of course, peeling doesn't hurt :) Punching forward with a pillow type handle without peeling is going to take a lot more force. Punching downward has an inherent peeling motion. (Try it sometime with your cutaway handle.) So it might not have been friction on the ripcord.

Was the velcro cleared first? Do you have a D-ring or a pillow? In experimenting with various directions to pull a cutaway handle, I've noticed that some more downward ones (mostly inline with the cable housing) tend to promote more of a peel of the velcro than punching straight out, the somewhat famous cause of more than a few hard cutaways.

This was not as useful for me in the tunnel without my altimeter (and the student/evaluator's altimeter, the only one that counts). But I did try to do it when the lights flashed at 5 seconds, which gave a reasonable approximation of the timing and rhythm of the "six second dance".

I did 15-20 minutes of "AFFI practice" in the tunnel in preparation for my course: a mix of spin stops, rollovers, and general body position corrections. It was very useful for spin stops. Rollovers were okay but not as good as in the air due to the lack of a rig. Body position stuff was useful too, just to get your eyes in the mode of constantly scanning. Obviously you can't do any of the major separation work. I would not travel to a wind tunnel for AFFI training, but if you have one you can use locally (and an experienced instructor to play student for you) I think it is beneficial.

Do you mean Collins lanyard? I'm pretty sure a Stevens lanyard is the conventional RSL.

Obviously, one cannot say for sure, but from what we know, a recent fatality in Indiana would have likely been prevented if the jumper's rig were equipped with a MARD: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3287376;

Rob, If only it were so easy for us here in America. Tragically, our fair nation is home to such destitute states as California and Florida, where skydiving operations roll on mercilessly throughout the entire calendar year, leaving not a single weekend available for ice fishing nor moose taxidermy. Please, before you post again, think of the poor skydivers in Eloy, Perris, Zephyrhills, and wherever else the tyranny of year-round sunshine reigns.

Alex, That sucks big time. I want to kick you in the nuts for leaving your gear in your car. Keep an eye on craigslist. I know someone who ended up finding his stolen rig on there. I have a Wings W-13 with a PD 160R in it that you are welcome to borrow until you get yourself re-situated. It doesn't have an AAD or a main, but if it would help, give me a call. It's even black and red! Ficus

The SIM recommends you knock the other jumper out and let his AAD handle it. C- and D-license holders can strike the jumper anywhere, but all other jumpers are required to aim for the jaw, as it has a higher chance of inducing unconsciousness. A USPA Instructor rating or higher is required to attempt a "taint punch". I wonder if anyone will yell at me for this post.

I use a wire fid for Slinks if one is convenient. (For the uninitiated, I can't find a picture of one, but this is the tool you see someone at your local DZ making closing loops with.)

I don't really like talking about my flair.