fcajump

Looking for recommendations (positive/negative) for full face helmets that fit larger skull sizes

Deployment altitudes, both BSR and in practice... When I got my C, if you weren't doing CReW or a cross country, it was considered concerning for experienced jumpers to open higher than 2,500.... what's wrong with you if you do... Now C/D licensed are required to be above 2,500. But even more its common for the openings to be up to 5,000'+ Emphasis is on giving yourself time to deal with canopy issues, especially for the faster/smaller canopies. (it does lead to the backward condition of potentially have large slow canopies opening lower than small/fast. this then leads to pre-jump planning to ensure no conflicts.) Finally, depending on where you did and do jump, the larger turbine aircraft are more common, so higher exits are more common. JW

While I've packed a couple reserves that had Kevlar lines, I don't know the ins/outs of the issue well... What I was told at the time is that it was a two-stage issue: - Kevlar lines would abrade the metal components (brass slider grommets / steering guide rings) until there was a sharp area where it metal component has worn - that sharp area would then cut the Kevlar fibers. Justification for use on the reserves was that they were strong/low-bulk and acceptable for low-use items where the abrasion issue would take much longer to present itself. JW

That was around the same time I ordered my first rig (all new): custom RWS Vector II (w/ both round line stow option and freebag) Cypres (at a time when "they'll never know you have one" was the ad slogan) custom PD-260 (9cell F111) Fury Reserve ( final decision on round vs square was made shortly before placing my order - after a reserve ride on student gear... the square got me to a ball field instead of the trees where a round would have put me). Throw in a custom Tonysuit, alt, helmet, Dytter, goggles, rigging charges, etc... and it ran me right at $5k. (not including the interest on the credit card for hemmmm... a "few" years to get it paid off...) Still have all the parts, maybe i'll put it back in the air one of these days. JW

I am looking to build a new under canopy flag storage pouch that is sewn in on a Spectre, but looking to see what others might have done with this so as to not repeat other's mistakes. I have previously worked with a canopy that had a flag storage system built between the C-D line attach points on a canopy that had extended line attach points ~6" below the bottom skin (design name escapes me at the moment). This meant there was a stable place to build the bag. Unfortunately the canopy I want to use does not have this line attach type. I have also worked with one that was connected via links to the more common (current) line attach points on a Spectre. (This system was found to be susceptible to a flip through between the links, a condition that could capture other lines during packing, and the design was abandoned). Aside - for small flag (3x5 / 4x6), I have a ankle to riser setup I've used for 30 years and like... for BIG stuff a weighted drop system is necessary, but for mid-sized I prefer them mounted between slider and canopy as its MUCH easier to keep it off the ground, and there is no weight to hit either yourself, your crew, or the wayward kid that runs out in front of you when they get by your new crewman. Warning for newbies who might read this... messing with ANYTHING in your canopy requires a rigger, a strong design/plan, and an even stronger emergency response when your design has an unanticipated flaw. The flip-through issue was discovered when a brake line was captured, resulting in a backward spinning canopy at 2,000' despite a dozen prior successful jumps. Has anyone here used (or better... built) such a system that would like to share their notes? JW

BTW - to the inspecting rigger... <HINT> You can only actually find broken inner bands and dropped stitching by taking the safety stow out of the freebag and... um... INSPECTING it... </HINT> Just sayin... JW

Any internal breakage or if the stitching is coming undone. JW

When I played with speed, I would finish by spending 2-3k pulling horizontal into a high speed track 90degrees from jump run (we didn't have wings/trackers/angles at the time to conflict with).. It was really cool to see how much lift I could get with just a normal jump suit (~90mph vertical... and I'm a brick) and how much distance I could make. With the mix of jumpers we have in a typical otter these days, I wouldn't do it without a lot of coordination, but it was fun. JW

I agree I would not want that coming down on top of me, but assuming they are very fast straight down, doesn't that put them opening directly under where the belly fliers will drift?

This came up recently at the DZ I was at and lead to some confusion... The DZ has a long established policy on exit order based on the computer modeling previously discussed on this site. Generally: Belly first, Free Fliers, Students, Tandems, Angle, Wing. (IIRC) Along comes a visiting speed flier. (reporting 280+) After consultation with the S&TA, decision was to put him out first. I haven't had a chance to discuss it with the S&TA, but wanted to see where the speed fliers are being put in the line up elsewhere... I would have thought somewhere after the Angle Fliers, but maybe someone can give a better explanation on why first out... JW

Welcome back!! Sounds like you are slowing down and wising up in your old(er) age there 'boy. Looking forward to your YouTube channel on helpful hints in skydiving and related nonsense. JW

Personally prefer Cazer over the enclosed kill line. But then I never burned a canopy with the Cazer either... JW

With little authoritative proof / i.e. mostly anecdotal... In my riggers course (DeWolf ~1999), we discussed removing/obscuring/using permanent marker to indicate the item was no longer airworthy. The discussion started when talking about acid-mesh, but was enlarged to anything judged to be permanently not airworthy (i.e. beyond normal repair). Some manufacturers have indicated that their rigs are only airworthy when (and for as long as) a rigger deems it so. (mostly in discussing repack cycles and gear age limits). To me this could be taken two ways... - as long as you can find some rigger to bully into packing it, your ragged out POS is still airworthy - a rigger can determine that your ragged out POS is not airworthy. I have found this issue to be a delicate one, mostly depending on the gear owner... - some have quickly agreed that we should permanently remove it from service as it is unsafe. (some just abandoned it to my loft at that point) - some have gotten frustrated and asked for a second opinion (I offer references to other rigger's whose work I would jump) Unfortunately I had the bad luck of facing this on my first commercial inspection as a newly minted rigger. I think it helps that, while I will help customers find/spec/inspect/purchase both new and used replacements, it is not a major part of my business. I don't "just happen to have the perfect thing to replace your bad gear". In general, I don't mark them or remove TSO panels unless that's what the customer wants to do, but I make sure they know my opinion and the "why" its not a good idea to use it again. IIRC - there have been rigs that I didn't want to pack and left a note in the container for the next rigger as to why... JW

All my early throwout rigs (rented and early purchase) had those. They were fine, UNTIL the jump where you grabbed it just right and had a PC in tow for having stuck your thumb in the hole. Never knew of anyone who couldn't shake it off fairly quickly, but its very disconcerting anyway. Went to a hacky, never looked back. (Ok, with my back and a BOC hacky, there's no reason to bother looking back... couldn't see it anyway ;-) JW

If someone swoops through my main and shreds the left side at 300', it is clearly too low for a cutaway, but adding fabric might help. I'm not saying at that point that you have a "normal/every-time" answer to the problem... just that there is an altitude that is too low to cutaway, too high to survive, and mid-air rigging/throwing more solutions at the problem is about all you've got left until the PLF. JW