mcordell

Yea I'm curious what experience you are referring to that would make you so certain you would drop your handles. Is that based just on training or have you had an actual entanglement with handles you kept in your hand? I've had two reserve rides and held on to my handles both times but not because I planned on it. I held onto them because when I pulled and my reserve was out and inflated I noticed I still had the handles in my hands. Seems silly to just toss them at that point just for the sake of throwing them away so I stowed them in my jumpsuit. I know when I learned my EPs we were taught to throw them but I guess things happened fast enough I didn't have a chance to. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

A lot of jumpers will tell you that you may feel that way now but later you will want to downsize for higher performance. Remember though, only you know what you want. I was advised not to buy gear as early as I did because I would want to downsize. I'm 1:1 on a sabre 2 210 out the door in my primary rig. I repeatedly said I didn't want to downsize and I wasn't interested in swooping and was told I would change my mind. 6 years later I still love my Sabre 2 at my current wingloading. I also jump an F-111 180 that was my mothers when she was alive and I can jump it safely and land it softly but my Sabre is my go-to when I'm not trying to make back to back loads. Do what you know is right for you. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

*** I think your understanding is wrong. I believe the pin is curved BECAUSE it is pulled from above. If the pin were straight then pulling it from above by the PC would result in the pin rotating on an axis at the closing loop and the tip of the pin digging into the rig but not necessarily being extracted. I believe pull out systems use a straight pin since the jumper is pulling the pin straight out and not from above and behind. I don't think it has anything to do with increasing pull force. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

That won't work. That's paper and would probably tear. He needs spandex. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

I have a custom wings container and I'd be hard pressed to slide it off one shoulder let alone both once the chest strap is tightened properly. I'm not sure I could do it without the chest strap tightened. It should sit comfortably on your shoulders without feeling like it is going to fall off. Do you have a picture of you wearing it? www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

If I don't have altitude awareness I would go to my reserve because it opens faster. If I started to get tunnel vision or worried I would have an issue but had sufficient altitude I would go to my main. My primary rig is a sabre 2 210 with a raven I as a reserve. If I could choose one for an unconscious landing I'd choose the sabre. It's lightly loaded and big. I don't want a small main and I'm not going to swoop...ever...so that's what is right for me. Some people have pretty small mains for swooping but my understanding is most of them also have pretty heavily loaded reserves so they will get hurt either way. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

I had a PC in tow during my student progression. Scared the hell out of me. It was probably worse because it was my fault. I wasn't sure I could get back on the plane but knew I needed to. I grabbed a rig and manifested and went up but there was a IAD student on the load so we went on our IAD jump run before going up to altitude for my jump and she got her feet out the door and decided she couldn't do it so we had to come back down. After my reserve ride and an aborted jump with a plane ride down I was ready to call it a day. I decided to go ahead and go back up and I'm glad I did. If I had CHOSEN to walk away I'm not sure I would have come back. In your case you manifested and couldn't jump because of weather so it's not your choice but nerves are going to be normal getting back in the air. You just have to do it. The longer you go without going back up the less likely you will. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

Well my wife brought it home today and I ran some test stitches with it. It came with 5 cams, although the only one I cared about was the zig-zag. It also had several presser feet but what surprised me was it had a binder foot to put binding tape on. I didn't expect it to come with that. It also had the original cardboard box with all the attachments in it and the original manual so I'd say someone took pretty good care of it. I'm quite happy with it. Thanks everyone for you input. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

I jump without an AAD and I can't afford one. I have two rigs. One is a vector built in 1986 with a quantum Joule and a raven I from the same year. One is a rig I ordered all brand new with a wings rig, a sabre 2 main, and a raven I reserve. Just because I have a newer rig doesn't mean I have 1300 to drop on an AAD. I would like to have one. Hell I'd like to have 2! I had one when I ordered my new rig and bought one at the same time but I went through some hard times and my wife wouldn't let me sell my rig. She told me I would regret it for the rest of my life. She agreed to me selling my AAD so we could pay some bills and buy groceries so I did. I am caught back up now but can't afford to buy another AAD. No matter how you break it down per day or month, they are still $1300 dollars...American. I don't have that and a lot of other people don't have it. Making them mandatory will force some people out of the sport and probably drive up the cost. Once you can't jump without it then manufacturers will be able to charge whatever they want. There are only so many AADs out there and you won't be able to just not have one right? To say that cost is not a good reason seems a bit condescending to those who really don't have the money. I just spent a bunch of money on a rigger course registration for January and I will probably replace my AAD in my wings rig in March or April with my tax return (my wife thinks I should) but honestly I give as much of my free money to this sport as I can and there's just not much to give. No matter how you explain the annual cost or the daily cost or the per-jump cost as being low and affordable, that explanation doesn't buy an AAD. $1300 does. Like someone else already said. We are grown ass adults. I think in a sport that has inherent risks people should be able to make their own decisions about AADs. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

gotcha, thanks for the clarification. The machine is one they serviced and refurbished. Because it's one they refurbished they also are giving me a 1 year warranty on it. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

Thanks! I was looking for a manual but could only find the service manuals (admittedly I hadn't looked very long yet). I also liked that it can be used as a double needle machine which I will have a use for. When I searched the forum for info on good starter machines I saw a lot of recommendations for commercial machines that I know I can't afford right now and was a little bit disheartened that nobody seemed to have a home machine for rigging. Glad to know I'm not the only one wanting to start on one of these. I'm sending my wife after it today. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

I'm getting it for $100. I figured since it's refurbished and not out of grandma's closet that's not too bad. I appreciate the responses. I know I can't afford a 20u or anything even close right now but I definitely want to have something to get smaller work done until I can afford something commercial. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

It's all metal gears and from everything I can find it's got plenty of power to sew through several layers of whatever you feed it. I tried to research it on here but couldn't find the 503. This is coming from a singer service center and it's entirely refurbished and comes with the cams. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

Is a singer 503 a decent machine for small repairs, canopy patches, etc? I found a refurbished one for a pretty good price and was thinking about picking it up. I don't really have the money for a 20u or anything like that right now. Anyone with experience know of a reason it won't make a good small machine for basic stuff? www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

do you pack your own reserve? Yep. Been doing it under rigger supervision for a while and headed to an 8 day rigger course in January to get my ticket. I feel much better about my reserve after doing it myself and seeing how it all goes together. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

I guess I have trust issues because I would never let someone pack for me. If my life depends on something, I feel like I should be responsible for it. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

even if that's too big a step right now, that just gives you a reason to buy another used canopy and keep the sabre until you are ready for it. You can't have too much gear. I have 2 rigs and a couple extra canopies and I would love to have more. Don't be in to big a hurry to downsize. I know that's the trend and a lot of people downsize as quickly as they can but I like having a canopy that's more forgiving if I make a mistake. I grew up around the old school way of thinking and would rather have more nylon over my head than less. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

Sabre? Or sabre 2? Huge difference in those canopies. Aside from the fact downsizing advise is best given by local instructors that know you and not on the internet, I believe the novice wingloading on f111 canopies typically shouldn't exceed 1:1 www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

There is another exception to that. I chopped a bi-plane but it was induced by an improperly rigged collapsible pc that caused a pc in tow. It pulled the pin but didn't extract the bag so I deployed the reserve and the opening of the reserve dumped my main which inflated behind my reserve. In that rig I have a 210 Sabre 2 and a raven I so there is a pretty big size and performance difference. Since my main was to the rear I safely chopped it. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

Thanks for that. I was trying to remember which button but I dont use my log function on a regular basis. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

You have to perform the "access function" to get to it. I don't review my log but I think it's on the middle button. Press and release. When the lock icon comes on press and hold. As soon as the lock icon disappears let go. That's the access function. I think repeated center button presses show data for the most recent jump and the up and down scroll to other jumps. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

Thanks for that info. I'm not a rigger yet. I've packed plenty under supervision and I'm going through the class at MRVS in January but I still have a lot to learn. The reason I thought that was because Strong has specific instructions and the H/C manual says "if the manufacturer of the ram-air reserve canopy uses a "conventional packing method..." and "if the manufacturer of the ram-air reserve canopy recommends the pro-pack..." Based on that it looked like the H/C manual defers to the canopy manufacturer in regards to flaking and folding before inserting it into the free-bag. Since the only packing instructions are to flat pack from the manufacturer of the canopy I took that to mean it must be flat packed to be in compliance with manufacturer instructions. It's good to know I can pro-pack it regardless. I trained to do both but I don't have the floor space to flat pack this huge canopy effectively without going elsewhere. www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

Well the g-300 and G-3r are the same canopy but for some reason has two designators as best as I can tell. Unfortunately strong doesn't have any information on their site for reserves they aren't currently trying to sell. I guess I have to flat pack this one. thanks for finding that! www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

I can't seem to find the a manual for a strong g-300. Does anyone know where I can find it? www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging

Well my parents owned the dz in the early to mid 80s www.facebook.com/FlintHillsRigging