riggerrob

First of all: this discussion would fit better on the GEAR AND RIGGING FORUM
Secondly: what kind of container are you jumping?
There are basicly two proven housing/pin configurations.
The goal is to prevent anything from interfering with the pin before it clears the loop.
Racers butt the end of the housing almost on the edge of the grommet. That way the shoulder of the pin is already inside the housing before you start to pull.
The other - more popular - housing configuration is to sew it down so far from the loop that the pin clears the loop long before the pin gets near the end of the housing. Most manufacturers use a large plastic stiffener to hold the housing and last grommet in exact alignment. Many of them sew the end of the housing to the edge of the plastic stiffener.
If you modify the rig so that you create slack between the end of the housing and the edge of the plastic, you introduce a whole pile of scary variables!
You would be far wiser to stick with the factory configuration. If the reserve pin cover bulges up a little (i.e. Javelin) tough!

Looks like it was designed by the marketing department.
This reminds me of a conversation between Ray Ferrel and I while I was working at Rigging Innovations.
As for the concept of a field rigger being able to replace the mid flap with a sewing machine ... it has been done before. On many popular rigs: Talon, Voodoo, Vector 2, etc. any Master Rigger can sew on a new mid flap. The trick is finding a Master Rigger who understands the tricks for sewing flaps on that particular rig. For example, I have replaced hundreds of mid flaps on Talons, but none on Javelins or Racers.

As for the local who called Wings a "budget rig." ... he was probably referring to Dolphin.
In my humble opinion ( FAA Master Rigger who has packed 2,000 reserves, yada, yada) Wings is the best container in its class. At last count there were 8 companies building Wings-like containers (Sun Path, Wings, Altico, Advance, Chute Shop, Ron Dione, Canadian Aerosports and Trident)

That is why I check key wear points on main canopies when I re-attach them after reserve repacks. Half the time this results in minor repairs, repairs that are easy to do now (i.e. re-setting grommets) but expensive if left too long (i.e. patching the d-bag, tehn installing a new grommet).
Key wear points include: pilotchute, bridle, d-bag, slider and risers.
If they want a more detailed inspection than that, they can pay me $30 for a full main inspection.

Both scenarios occurred while I was jumping F-111 canopies.
Once my entire top skin went slack while I was hanging under a Strong 520 tandem 300 feet above California City. I kept my hands up and prayed for it to re-open. Fortunately it re-inflated before I needed to flare.
It got even scarier when the left half of my 220 square foot F-111 9-cell collpaed at 75 feet over California City. That was the time a PLF saved my bacon.
As for your advice about leaving the toggles up and just praying for re-inflation, that manuver had not come into fashion yet. The drill on lightly-loaded F-111 canopies was to apply partial brakes to improve pressurisation while flying through turbulence. Also I learned many years ago that when an approach goes to !@#$, applying 3/4 brakes and clampign my knees together means that I will probably walk away from the landing.
As for applying brakes unevenly to promote re-inflation, years ago I found that pullin gboth brakes down evenly always resulted in quick re-inflation.

Apparently Arizona Airspeed flat packs. Flat packing seems to work well with their small Stilettos.
I gave up on flat packing in the mid-1980s: something about sore knees and aching back!

Herniated disc in my lower back. It took me weeks to realizse the damage I had done. I did not visit the doctor until until sciatica caused my left leg to cramp so badly that I couldn't walk.

3890/17=228.8
The first was when a Crossbow (high performance round canopy that looks like aPara-Commander) mal'd.
The second was a horseshoe.
The third was while test-jumping a huge square for the German Army.
All the rest were on first generation tandem mains. There was one bag lock and a streamer, but most of them were the result of hard openings. I cutaway from a few line knots until I learned how to clear them, but most were cutaways from broken lines or torn canopies.
Knock on wood, but I have not had a reserve ride during the last 5 years. That might have something to do with the F-111 canopies gathering dust in the corner.

Maybe the guy likes doing big ways and you are distracting young jumpers from joining him on big ways.
Remember that some people have life all figured out by age 20 and are upset by changes.
Most skydivers are more flexible than that. For example, I had 300 jumps before tandem was invented and now I make my living as a tandem instructor.

Two points:
First most first-timers flare well enough for a soft landing, but they are so emotionally overwhelmed that they suffer "jelly knees." Half of them are going to fall over on their first landing, so we might as well teach them a graceful way to fall over.
Secondly, sooner or later you are going to have a bad landing that requires a PLF, so you might as well learn PLFs early in the process.
For example, when I had about 1500 jumps, turbulence collapsed half my canopy at 75'. I clamped my knees together, gritted my teeth and pulled the toggles to 3/4. The landing was so hard that I was one big bruise from my left ankle all the way up to my left ear. But the most important point is that I surprised the ground crew by standing up and walking away!

Loose loops are definitely dangerous. I had a horse-shoe malfunction because I was too lazy to shorten my main loop when I down-sized canopies. My laziness forced me to spend the rest of the afternoon searching for my brand new canopy. The next day I got to repack my reserve. Oh joy!
On the other hand, it is almost impossible to have too short a loop with a throw-out pilotchute (i.e. BOC). If you cannot close it with a pull-up cord, then it is too tight.

It is okay to open high as long as you plan it with the pilot and other jumpers. Some DZs, ie. Perris have a block of airspace known as "CReW Country" for people who want to open high. If you open high in CReW Country, you have to stay away from the freefall airspace until about 2,000' then you zip over and land beside the other jumpers.

I disagree with Canuck in USA.
Modern canopies are far too fast for people learn by trial and error. Just look at the 2001 USPA Fatality Summary.
Old school AFF programs were a disaster at teaching canopy skills. Hopefully most AFF DZs are converting to USPA's new Integrated Student Program that teaches more canopy skills.
I also sincerely hope that static-line DZs are going beyond the basics taught in the First Jump Course.
Canopy skills are so complex that it is impossible to teach it all in 5 or 6 jumps. Becoming a safe canopy pilot requires critiques on dozens or landings, etc.
The disadvantage of AFF is that students have to master such a huge chunk of freefall knowledge in such a short period of time that they have few brain cells available for steering their parachute.
The advantage of static-line is that the first few jumps are 90% about steering the parachute.
The perfect instructional program combines the best of all systems. Start out with a tandem or 2 to get the big picture. Do 2 or 3 (or until you master landings) static line jumps, then do 6 or 8 jumps with freefall instructors and polish your solo skills with a coach.
Visiting a wind tunnel can also be helpful.
Rob Warner
Static-Line, PFF and Tandem Instructor

Good advice about asking a rigger to inspect any used canopy before money changes hands.
I believe that the Turbo "Z" canopy is made of 0 porosity fabric and should last thousands of jumps with the occaisional re-line.

Pick a main canopy that you can comfortably land NOW. Not 100 jumps down the road, but a main that you can land comfortably now.
Look for a reserve about the same size.
Third, search for a used container that was designed for canopies that size. Hint, volume numbers published by canopy manufacturers are almost useless. So stick with container manufacturer's recommendations.
Like the earlier poster said, leg pads that are too long are likely to be your biggest problem, but it s easy to mail order a smaller set. Or you could ask your local Master Rigger to cut down the old pair.
Resizing harnesses is also a job for a Master Rigger. Start by measuring yourself and filling out an order form (as if you were ordering a new harness). Fax the order form to the manufacturer, along with the the serial number of the used rig you are considering buying. They will tell you which straps have to be shortened by how much and tell you how much it will cost to have the harness re-sized at the factory.
Compare the factory quote with what your local Master Rigger will charge and then decide.
Most likely you will end up with shorter leg pads and shorter horizontal straps.
Good luck

Give her the phone number for the next DZ down the road.

Two points:
First of all, reparations have never solved anyone's problems. Sometimes reparations make things worse. We fought TWO, I say again TWO World Wars in the past century because narrow-minded Europeans insisted on extracting reparations from a bankrupted Germany after the First World War. Reparations finished off the economic damage done to the German economy by the war. This resulted in rampant inflation and massive unemployment in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. Bereft of employment, bored German men were willing to back any political idiot - even Hilter - if he promised them jobs or a purpose in life. And we all know what a disaster National Socialism became!
By the same token, it does not matter how many million dollars the Canadian Catholic Church gives to buggered altar boys. Dollars can never undo the psychological damage done to those boys. At best the dollars can help pay for psychological counselling.
The real reason these boys are demanding reparations from the Catholic Church is to publicly embarrass the Church into abolishing abusive practices. Frankly, I believe that the only honorable outcome would be for a generation of Catholic Bishops to resign in disgrace.

The other question raised was about Brits enslaving Dutch, or any other Europeans. That is a gray area. Europeans held other Europeans as slaves for centuries. Under feudalism, the difference between serfdom and slavery was insignificant. Serfs were tied to the land, unable to move, own money, vote, etc. They lived and died on the same estate. Sometimes they died at the whim of their lord, sometimes merely because he decided to renew an old feud with the neighboring lord.

The bottom line is that slavery became economically obsolete centuries ago and reparations will not right past wrongs. If you insist on paying reparations, then only pay them to victims, so they can enjoy comfortable retirements. Paying reparations to later generations is silly because it promotes a "victim" mindset.

Jumpy has a good point.
Scared students go deaf.
Deafness is closely followed by tunnel vision.
On the other hand, radios work well for steering students under canopy. Over the years I have worked at several DZs that use radios to steer first-timers back to the DZ. Most use one-way Motorola pagers in chest strap pockets. Most of the time they work well. The only problems are when construction companies use the same frequency.
Audio communication is good, but not perfect. I have lost count of how many students did not flare because they claimed that their radio went dead 100 feet before landing. The radio was still relaying commands, the problem was fear-related deafness.

Finally, I would like to hear the results of Chicago's experiments with helmet-mounted radios for freefall students. Freefall is such a difficult environment for communicating with students. The disadvantage of hand signals is that students have to memorize a series of new codes, then apply those codes while under tremendous stress. Many students have told me that they saw me holding my hand in front of their face, but they could not remember how a "V" for victory sign was related to leg position.
Some students are bound to respond better with a radio yelling ARCH" in their ear.
riggerrob
Instructor S/L, IAD, PFF and tandem

First of all, visit the toilet just before you put on your jumpsuit.
Secondly, AFF instructors get paid the big bucks (ha! ha!) to hold you stable for the first few seconds. Then they yell at you and shake you to wake you up and remind you to get on with the skydive.
We expect freefall students to experience sensory overload during the first 4 or 5 seconds of freefall. Once their brain realizes that they are not dead, they open thier eyes, look around and get on with the skydive.
I swear, my primary task when jumping with first-freefallers is preventing them from back-looping off the step.

Let's see if I can clarify this.
The differences between a Talon 2 and a '94 Talon with all the updates are insignificant.
At arm's length I cannot tell the difference between the two.
When we started building Talon 2s in January 1997, they were basically '94 Talons with all the bugs worked out. There were a few minor changes to the RSL and the smaller yokes were adjusted slightly.
On the other hand, there are huge differences between '94 Talons and earlier Talons. The earlier Talons had more in common with Vector 2s (i.e. 6 reserve flaps)..

We are really discussing two issues here: different construction methods and different measuring methods.
Different construction methods result in different pack volumes. For example, Older Tempos and Raven-F to Raven-J were the smallest packing reserves on the market because they used Spectra lines (aka. Microline) and a minimum of reinforcing tapes.
Raven-M series packed maybe 4% smaller because their spanwise bottom skin construction method resulted in slightly less pack volume.
On the other hand, adding reinforcing tapes to the bottom skin increases pack volume. Tempos pack volume increased maybe 5% when they added spanwise reinforcing tapes to the bottom skin last year. Performance Designs' reserves have always been bulkier because they have always had spanwise reinforcing tapes.
My FFE Amigo 172 is the bulkiest 170-ish reserve on the market because it has lots of reinforcing tapes and thicker (1,000 pound) suspension lines than any other sport reserve.
Parachutes de France's Techno series of reserves pack the smallest of all because they use Spectra suspension line instead of tapes for reinforcement.

Type of fabric has little affect on pack volume since fabric is the least bulky component in a canopy and all the canopy manufacturers use 0-3 cfm fabric woven to the same standard as F-111. Mind you, quality of fabric varies from one finishing mill to the next. Fabric woven in South Africa (Gelvenor) and Britain (Perseverance) has consistently straighter weave than fabric from some of the American weaving mills. At first glance 0-3 cfm fabric from Gelvenor looks like 0-P fabric. Gelvenor spokesmen brag that their fabric is consistently 0.5 cfm when it goes out the door. I suspect that Gelvenor's fabric will retain its low prorosity longer because Gelvenor depends upon calendaring more than coatings applied late in the process.
The other issue that affects reserve size is measuring method. Every manufacturer invents a slightly different measuring method, so customers end up trying to compare apples with oranges. Only a few manufacturers (i.e. Para-Flite and PISA) use the old PIA measuring method. P.D. uses something called "projected area" which roughly equates to bottom skin area. When you try to compare the two different measuring methods, a P.D. reserve has about 10% more finished surface area than a PISA reserve. On the other hand, I suspect that Precision measures fabric before they sew it, so their canopies shrink about 5% when they are sewn together. So what P.D calls a PR126 has about 135 square feet when measured by PIA methods, a PISA Tempo 120 has 120 square feet (PIA) and a Precision Micro Raven 120 has about 115 square feet (PIA).
Are you thoroughly confused by now?
The only way to compare apples with apples is to study the canopy volume charts published by PIA. Those charts also list manufacturer's stated area and PIA measurements of area, which are rarely the same.

In the USA a Senior Rigger would be enough to supervise your apprenticeship.
Rules vary in other countries. For example, in Canada, the only way to earn a CSPA Rigger A rating is to attend a short course given by a CSPA Rigger Examiner.

One major skydiving survival skill that tunnel rats lack is a sense of timing.
Before Cypri were invented 1/3 of fatalities were listed as no-pull/low-pull.
If a young tunnel rat told (PFF Instructor) me that I was flying my body all wrong, I would do like billvon: nod politely and continue with the lesson. I sincerely hope that my students become better skydivers than me. That is the mark of a good instructor.
I would also remind him about the boundaries of the student/instructor relationship. Surviving a skydive requires far more than just freefall skills. If you read the 2001 USPA Fatality Summary, you will note that 1/3 of fatalities occurred while landing perfectly serviceable main canopies.

The "Parachute Manual" Volumes One and Two was written by Dan Poynter and is found in every reputable parachute loft. Both volumes are available from all the major dealers. If you are serious about earning a rigger's license, then you should also buy Poynter's "Rigger's Study Guide." Mark Schlatter co-authored the most recent edition of RSG.
Another good source of rigging knowledge is the owners' manuals found on many manufacturer's websites.
Finally, the best way to learn is to apprentice under a Master Rigger, then attend one of the short courses (6 - 10 days long) given by Rigger Examiners like Dave DeWolf (Pennsylvania), Barry MacAully (BC, Canada), BPA, APF, etc.

Let's clarify Polarbear's terminology here.
First of all, R.I. quit building original Talons long before 1996.
I suspect that Polarbear is referring to a '94 Talon.
Secondly, the problem with some of the steering toggles on '94 Talons was that canopy manufacturers continued building steering lines to match 1 inch wide toggles for more than a decade after 1 inch wide toggles fell out of fashion. The simple fix is to follow R.I.'s service bulletin and sew the brake locking eyes slightly smaller.