faulknerwn

Moderators
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content

    2,478

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

  • Feedback

    0%

Posts posted by faulknerwn

  1. On 3/2/2024 at 4:26 PM, obelixtim said:

    Point of order: 

     A Death strap is something used by riggers when packing reserve canopies for a racer type harness, where the strap is put around the reserve to make a "molar" shape to fit into the container nicely. If the rigger forgets to remove the strap, the result is certain death if the jumper deploys his reserve parachute. Racers are a bitch to pack without one. 

    I have never heard a molar strap called a death strap before, but I also haven't seen one used in years.  And I find Racers the easiest reserve to pack and I have never used one of those straps.  

    I know CRW dogs have been referring to their downplane straps as death straps since the early-to-mid 90's at least. 

     

     

    On 3/2/2024 at 4:26 PM, obelixtim said:

     What you use to attach to each other in a down plane should be called something else, not a death strap, although impacting in a down plane is definitely unhealthy enough to result in death. I personally think tying yourselves together to do a down plane is a dumb idea, but thats just me. It pays to remember Murphys law. 

     Call it something else, but riggers already have that terminology patented. 

     Hiding a riggers death strap after he's finished packing a reserve WILL get you punched.

     

     

  2. 9 hours ago, base615 said:

     A couple of people here in Australia have been injured relatively recently from worn out canopies ripping in half on final.

    Really?  Holy cow!  I have been jumping for 30 years and have never heard of that happening.  Definitely on opening or a worn line braking occasionally later but never a canopy ripping in half not during opening shock..

     

  3. I am an AFF instructor and most of my student jumps I have my VOG now.  I LOVE the Vog.    Before I always had traditional audibles which beeped at altitudes which was fine.   But I can tell you when you have a student flip upside down ar 5k and things start hitting the fan - traditional audibles just sound like continual screeching in your ear.  The way more expensive VOG -instead of just screaming in your ear tells you an altitude.   And having chased down students - I love my VOG and it is worth every penny I paid for it,

  6. 6 hours ago, riggerrob said:

    His name was Clark Thurmond and he lived in Texas. He was/is a friend of Manley Butler.

    I sewed together two of his Para-Kits and put hundreds of jumps on them. Recenlty I donated those canopies and my copy of the Lone Star manual to CSPA's Technical Committee.

    He still lives somewhere in the Austin area.  He occasionally brings parachutes up to my dropzone for repacks.  I don't have any contact info however.

  8. I have packed reserves that were completely fine - I inspected it with no problems - but that had no prior pack card.  It was brought to me because another dropzone in the area refused to pack it without its prior history being spelled out on the pack and data card.  

    A lot of times I have had people bring me used reserves with some weird shit.  One time I had one reserve come with toggles still attached (!!!!) but it actually worked out because that person had bought a used container from someone completely different who didn't send it with toggles (both standard velcro toggles).  

    But holy heck - anyone sending a canopy at least send it with connector links (metal or slinks) attached to a card,  I have had ones shipped with lines and no links and in a giant mess.   Ugh...  

     

     

     

     

  10. 8 minutes ago, sfzombie13 said:

    just thinking out loud, would deploying a reserve into a downplane where you couldn't release the straps be advised or not?  i mean, it may not help anything, but it may slow you down a bit and make it more survivable, but i'd hate for it to have some affect like wrapping around the main and collapsing everything. 

    My plan whenever we were using straps was (besides not taking it so low you get &#*@*ed) was if we could not release the straps for whatever reason we go back into a side by side and either cut the straps with a hook knife if we could not release them or land the side by side.  But I would never go so low with straps where I had no options.

    • Like 1

  11. 18 hours ago, skydiverek said:

     

    JAVELIN reserve pilotchute:

     

     

    I will say it is a rare Javelin where I launch the reserve and it does not go to full bridal extension.  Racers always do too.   The Javelin PC is wimpy compared to a Mirage but it doesnt have to push a crazy amount of flaps out of the way.  In my rigging career, Racers and Javelins (and old Reflexes) consistantly have the best launches.

    • Like 1

  12. On 4/7/2022 at 12:22 PM, riggerrob said:

     

    It seems even a large amount of the 'normal' fatalities tend to be older people.  This year alone was an older jumper doing a low cutaway in Florida.  An older jumper getting caught by a dust devil in Eloy.  Most of the stupid deliberate low turns are still young males, but it does seem that sometimes there are older people reacting poorly or slowly to emergencies.

  14. On 11/9/2021 at 2:01 PM, Marc K said:

    True or False?

    I've heard a couple of times from experienced skydivers the stereotype that people with Kiss helmets are known to be inexperienced haha.

    First I thought it was just a joke, but having thought about it I don't know any experienced skydivers who wear Kiss helmets lol.

    Obviously a helmet does not determine how someone flies but I just wondered if that cliché is true among skydivers in general.

    Cheers, Marc:)

    (Yes, I have a Kiss helmet haha)

    My dz has both a bunch of KISS and a bunch of Cookies to try on - from what I have seen it is very much head shape - Cookies fit me better because the Kisses were way too tight on the face.  Other people the Kisses fit way better than the Cookies..

    • Like 1

  15. One thing to do as well - there have been times when I over-used an arm and my right elbow was killing me  - Once you open the parachute - do the vast majority of movements/turns with your good arm - in my case I did practically all left turns while my right elbow healed.  That way you will save the strength in your bad arm until you need it for flare..

  17. Posted

    Is there a good video camera out there that does not record as wide as a go-pro?  Videoing CRW this weekend even being super close to the formation and the go-pro set on Linear it still seems super far away.  My old mini-dv cameras and such back in the day had a much better viewing angle that was not nearly as wide.  

  18. On 9/9/2021 at 7:10 PM, nwt said:

    What are your thoughts on real pull out vs. hybrid?

    For a CRW rig - you are pulling at altitude - you have time - spend too long and the opening will hurt  but you can get the handle.  I had a floating pud on a pullout once but it was on a freefall jump pulling at 3k or so.  And my current pullout system is far more secure than the Reflex I had back then.  I feel like I get more on-heading openings on my actual pullout as well.  

    I think doing CRW where you are pulling 2 seconds out the door both work fine.  

  19. I switched to a pullout for my CRW rigs years ago.  I like it much better than throwouts for CRW.  I think the handle is less of an issue for CRW than for freefallers because if you check the handle right before you leave the plane it is unlikely to be floating when you go to pull.  And its pretty simple to train yourself to actually pull the pin.

    • Like 1

  20. On 6/28/2021 at 8:43 AM, Marc K said:

    Hi There:)

    I did my AFF course (Jump 1-8) in Europe at a Non-USPA dropzone and wondered whether I can continue with my training for a USPA A license (jump 9-25) in the U.S. without having to go through another AFF (by the USPA).

    If yes, can I somehow transfer my AFF jumps to my USPA logbook once I get a USPA membership or how does that work?

    Thanks a lot for your time!

    Regards,

    Marc 

     

    Most likely as long as you have a logbook and can translate (if not in English) and the logbook spells out exactly what your jumps were and what you did (as opposed to vague jumped at 12 pulled at 5). dropzones will work with you.  Often smaller dropzones are more flexible than bigger ones with rigid rules.

    • Like 1

  21. On 5/25/2021 at 8:08 AM, BMAC615 said:

    @faulknerwn and/or @wmw999 What’s your recommended progression path for someone wanting to get into CRW? I looked at the threads in CRW Forum, but, they are a little old. What canopy do you start with and what WL? When do you move them to a WL of 1.3?

    Let’s say they show up to their FJC and the AFFI says, “Why are you here?” And the student says, “I saw a video of people doing canopy formations and I want to do that.”

    What would you tell them to expect to do from jump zero all the way to being able to be on some CRW Big Ways (9-way diamonds+).

    A lot will depend on your dropzone and the people who are there.  I have thousands of CRW jumps and have done lots of intro 2-way CRW jumps with people on 1.0 loaded Triathlons when they had 25-50 jumps.

    If they are at a dropzone with no experienced CRWdogs like me - they need more experience before jumping with other beginners.  Jumping Lightnings - they are a bit more challenging to land than Triathlons or Spectres.  I would say at least a hundred jumps before jumping a lightly loaded Lightning - most of the beginner CRW camps around have the beginners on 1.0-1.1 loaded Lightnings...

     

     

  22. 1 hour ago, BMAC615 said:

    I didn’t care to get feedback until some guy on Reddit said it was terrible instruction to recommend people wait until they have a lot of experience before engaging in angle jumps. Was curious if anyone else felt that way. 

    That video is definitely long and I couldn't sit through it.  But as in most disciplines in skydiving - are you doing a solo angle jump or a 10way?  Are you trying to do CRW with your 50 jump buddy or the guy with 5000 CRW jumps?  Are you trying to sitfly with 4 friends when none of you can keep it for a whole skydive?  

    So much depends on the experience of everyone involved.  I have done a ton of CRW jumps with people who had less than 50 jumps but they were simple 2 ways with me who has world records in the discipline.  Them doing a 2-way with another 50 jump wonder would be a completely different thing.

    Trying to sitfly with your friend who also has 50 jumps is a completely different beast than doing a sitfly with someone who has a thousand freefly jumps..

     

     

    • Like 1

  23. 11 hours ago, Skydivesg said:

     

    I don't like the big initial jolt - I definitely agree that you are more likely to be on-heading but when I open with all of the lines double stowed, the first stage of the opening is slow and soft, and then the second stage is all about the parachute and its pack job.  With the semi-stowless bags the initial jolt is much more abrupt, and I would be afraid to jump with my heavy camera helmet on one.  Even on normal jumps with a standard helmet, the semi-stowless bags always have me going UHH on the first stage of the opening because its so much faster - like a reserve opening.  I definitely get if you are on a super tiny canopy where heading control is crazy important I think it could be good.  I jump more 'traditional' canopies which are nowhere near so sensitive to minor issues compared to the sub-100 stuff and I'd rather have the softer opening in exchange for more off heading than the brisk first stage.  

     

  24. I jumped with a friend's VOG this weekend.  While the accent was weird (I felt like I was being yelled at by  schoolmarm the whole way down) it was kinda cool knowing the altitudes the whole way.  But it is CRAZY more expensive than a regular audible and I'm not sure its worth it.  I did like it telling me the numbers as we came down but is it worth $200 more than a regular audible?   

  25. On 3/18/2021 at 6:37 PM, landmissle said:

     

     

     

    There are two stages of openings - the part where the lines stow out, and then when the parachute opens.  The first part is DEFINITELY faster with the semi-stowless - I am used to all double stowed rubber bands where my initial situp is super gentle  This week I did a couple jumps on a demo canopy with a semi-stowless -the initial part of the opening was jarring but the second part was soft (depends on the main.)  I would never jump a semi-stowless with my gigantic camera helmet - the non-stowed portion seems to fall out practically instantly causing a sudden jolt before the parachute does its part.  In reality the semi-stowless bags are just like reserve freebags which are designed to open super fast.  

    I don't mind them on a normal jump where I have a light helmet on and my neck can take that initial jolt, but I would never have one when I jump my great big camera helmet.  My neck would not be happy