captain_stan

I always got good results by rolling the L & R halves of the nose and stuffing these into the center cell and then rolling the tail up untill I have a nice, tight cocoon. I suggest you find someone locally who can show you these techniques. I have a friend who psycho-packs after treating the nose as mentioned above on his bigger Monarch 215. He swears by it, but the bigger Monarchs always seemed to open more softly anyway. My theory is that faster openings can create more heat as the grommets slide down the lines more quickly. More heat will create more line-shrink, and reduce their life. Of course this is hard to prove conclusively. Judging from the service we get from these older, proven canopies, quicker openings don't seem to affect the fabric life badly--unless some newby packer packs your monarch the same way he packs a Spectre, causing it to explode. Since the mid-90s, Monarchs have come equipped with very big sliders that have kill lines. And these still opened very briskly by today's standards. A truly altered slider will incorporate a dome or a pocket--both of these seem to be very effective. Add $100 to this if you expect to replace the slider. My choice instead of the dome slider is a pocket, because this can be added to your current slider at a lower cost than replacement. Quick openings aren't fully appreciated by many skydivers. I'm more comfortable jumping my Monarch for hop-&-pops under a low cloud ceiling or on a big-way where FF traffic might get "busy" right after break-off.

My conclusion also. With over 1000 jumps on Monarchs, I've never experienced those conditions either. But I take care of my equipment and reline when trim becomes marginal. Even a good product will turn into junk if it's neglected long enough. With plenty of more-modern, used canopies on the market now, there's not much interest in these older rectangular canopies, and they do require more packing skill. But many of us who have owned these know them to perform well when properly packed and maintained. These can be some good bargains. I recently escrowed a deal on a Monarch for a former student who will be very happy with it at a lighter W/L for the next 100 jumps or so. Of course I'll show him how to pack for a good opening.

I'm familiar with the alteration you describe, and no, this was not a field mod done by riggers, although I have successfully altered sliders by adding a pocket. As far as the date is concerned, I bought new Monarchs in 1993 and 1994; both of these had the newer nose configuration. I'd call the mfr for more exact info on this. A friend had one of the earlier (older than mine anyway) Monarchs which he sent back to Precision and they altered the nose for softer openings. Subsequently, new Monarchs were produced with an improved nose design that restricted air intake somewhat. However, they still opened hard by today's standards. Although, like the Sabres, Monarch earned a reputation for sometimes-brutal openings, this can be successfully remedied with slider alteration. Otherwise IMO the Monarch is a decent, first-generation, rectangular, zero-P 9-cell, although somewhat dated now. I still use one for demos where a steeper glide and shorter surf are desirable.

When searching for sewing thread to be used in the construction and repair of products that encounter high UV exposure, I've found that polyester thread is rated nearly identical to Nylon for strength, weight, bulk, and melting temp, but polyester has the advantage of higher UV resistance. Can anyone tell me what properties make Nylon superior for the construction of our parachutes?

Photo makes a good point--almost anything can be done improperly. But your photo doesn't show the handle. Is the lanyard long enough to permit the handle to reach its attachment point? Is this photo even a Javelin container? You're not going to be able to pack my Javelins as per your photo because the lanyard (pin-to-handle cord) is short enough that it won't allow the handle to reach it's attachment point. That big S-fold you put in the lanyard takes up so much length that the handle can't be seated; it will just hang out loose below the R flap. Since seating the handle is part of a pack-job, my Javelins can't be packed in this manner. OK, I guess eventually there's gonna be someone who would try to jump with a floating handle, but it's a far strech of the imagination to think this will go unnoticed.

Interesting arguement, but I don't care if it's a bridle or a flap issue. I see an opportunity to eliminate a possible snag point. When I think of all the times that misused gear has caused a malfunction, eliminating one more chance for something to go wrong is a no-brainer for me. I'm not gonna flaunt my bridle-routing skills by deliberately adding an extra snag point. I'll stick with the concept of multiple safeguards.

See attachment. This has happened, but not to me. I close my flaps in the correct order. BTW, Somebody please remind me to re-close these flaps before my next jump!

...unless of course you're trying to avoid a malfunction. OP refers to page 18, paragraph 5, for packing a pull-out deployment system. In this case, closing left before right is begging for a hard-pull malfunction. Sun-path has flip-flopped on this during different manual printings, adding to the confusion. In the OP link, text is incorrect and picture is correct. edited to add: the OP links to manual revision 01, issue 01. I have a hard copy of issue 02, revision 01 in which this misprint has been corrected. It appears that the linked manual is not the most current.

Do you use a Singer 111W series machine? For what applications do you use it? What do you like or dislike about it? Thanks for opinions based on your experience.