richclive

Had an unrecoverable line over recently that was winding up, chopped and pulled reserve while in a poor body position, but it opened quickly and smoothly with no twists. Slow forward speed with brakes stowed and a bit of a surge when getting to full drive so no issues with making the dz for an unremarkable landing. Loading at 1.4 which is pretty much the same as the main. Performed perfectly; which is more than can be said for the packer.

My brother and I decided to live up to our motto of "All the gear - no idea" and got ourselves a Neptune each. Great unit, very clear display, loads of cool features and especially liked it for working out the alti you lost on canopy turns. Then the problems crept in. On one dive I was at 4K, and tracked off. Checking my alti again after the track I was still at 4K. Wow, the Neptune even improves my flat track. However, as the ground still appeared to be heading towards me, and the reading was still 4K, I pulled anyway. It went back to the supplier, it got repaired, and it did the same thing again only at 3.6K. Ditto brother's unit, which also started commenting on his sexual practices as it gave him warning bleeps when he was at home in bed. I know people who haven't had any problems with these and are delighted, but I'd have a hard time trusting one again.

Learned on Javelins but I've done most of my jumps in France, so was used to the quirks of PdeF containers (reversed risers, minis, double RSL), so when I bought new I had a straight choice of Javelin or Atom. Went for the Atom Legend because you seemed to get a lot more for the cash. After 100+ jumps I find it incredibly comfortable (well, sure, it was built for me), and a few tweaks that make it better than the older Atom. Things like a redesigned closing flap making it freefly bombproof, extra flaps to stop your lines wrapping behind the reserve tray, and not one scrap of velcro. I'd advise hip rings - makes everything more flexible / comfortable. The build quality gets more impressive the more rigs I see. Long wait, and not so good on the exchange rate now, but still a terrific rig.

Twitchy little sucker, this one, not for the novice, because you have to work when landing it. It comes in 120, 140 and 160 sizes, as opposed to the Merit or Electra (150, 170, 190) and as an elliptical is very crisp in the turns. Not as extreme as, say, a Stiletto, but a canopy you should treat with a bit of care - especially if you're not jumping regularly. Doesn't have the nut crunching openings of the merit, but then again it doesn't have the forgiving stability of the Electra.

This is the basic intermediate chute from PdF, and although it's now been effectively replaced by the Electra, it's still a great piece of kit, sort of a French version of the Silhouette. Drawbacks are the openings, which tend to be brisk unless you roll that nose, and the fact that anyone with American kit tends to look at you in disbelief when you tell them what you're flying (no idea why). Advantages are that it's very responsive - going from a Sabre 190 to a Merit 190 is a major jump - and you can surf in some lovely landings. Easy to pack because of the F-111, and pretty much the standard rental chute in many French DZs.