jb88ci

Well, my new FreeZR arrived this week..its is an awsome helmet. The quality is very good, the matte finish is flawless..but it should be..lol..even the way the foam etc is installed is superior to what i saw in my Z1 and my gf's Z1. The field of vision is excellent, sadly, the lens are expensive and because they are molded, can't be cut from a 4X8 sheet of lexan like the Z1 could..however the FreeZR is a high quality product, comes with two helmet bags... I haven't jumped it yet, the DZ doesn't open for a couple weeks yet..but i will then... I think i'm gonna put a tac rag in the mail and send it to Paoulo

The 'escrow' thing probably isn't a bad way to go. I bought one complete rig, a container/reserve combo, a container and a main this year... I was buying my first gear too and kept finding better deals so, i'd pull the trigger and buy it. I sold all the gear i didn't need. I bought everything except the container/reserve package off of the forum here. The container/reserve came from ebay and was 10yrs old never assembled. I still haven't received the main canopy or refund but the DZ operator assures me he's going to refund me soon. This transaction took place in November. Everything else I bought was as described and was shipped fairly quickly. I think I was fairly lucky but was willing to take the chance for the price i paid for the gear. If I was putting out several g's for a package, i'd probably have bought via escrow of some sort. As for the main, that is the price of doing online business sometimes but again, it was really cheap and was bad form to never have sent it after it was paid for.

I totally agree that on and after the first jump it will be scratched and the scratches will dwarf in comparison to the hair and other inclusions in the paint. The difference being that I put them there, not the painter. I don't think that excuses the Mfr from implementing some simple form of quality control, say something as simple as issuing the painter a tac cloth...cost $2.00, time to use…30 seconds a helmet. I read what paolo et al had to say about this being a niche industry etc. Seriously though, CKX can fabricate a full face CSA approved helmet with no hair in the gel coat for $69. The other skydiving helmet mfrs can fabricate other thermo plastic helmets with no inclusions in the paint for $300. Parasport may be willing to consider that dust and hair in the paint is acceptable but WE , the consumers do not have to buy them. There are options out there and we don’t have to accept sub par products. I’d almost understand if the tag in the helmet said ‘made in china’, you get what you pay for. I paid $320….. Actually, I do know why Parasport thinks this is OK. Because we continue to buy these products at these prices and not send them back when they don’t meet our personal standards. Wonder what goes into their altimeters...... BTW, the vendor, has been awesome and even though this is not their fault and Parasport bailed on their end of the deal, ie replacing the helmet as promised, twice. The vendor is sending me an alternate product and shipped it gratis. Needless to say, I won't be recommending Z1's or any other parasport product at our DZ ever again.

Well now...i was told by Melissa at Parasport my helmet would be replaced. I was contacted by Theresha at Unfeathered Service who stated: “We are the service reps for Parasport Italia in the USA and they asked that I contact you about your Z-1 helmet that has a finish problem. We will be happy to replace your helmet. Please contact this office when you have shipped the helmet and we will immediately ship yours out.” I sent the helmet back in Feb, Theresha later told me a rep from parasport was coming to the US and would look at my helmet while there. I got a response from Paolo at Parasport today. In short he says my helmet is in better shape than the pictures show and that while the paint isn't perfect, its an acceptable standard for 'our' industry where small batches are hard to control I was offered a refund...no thanks, i'm into this thing for about 60 bucks in shipping back and forth already.... how about honoring the first two offers to replace it. If its par for the product, sell it to someone else. As far as hair and dirt being typical in their paint jobs? I disagree..i've looked at a bunch of Z1's and none of them have pubes in teh paint...ok, its an eyelash or mustache hair but just the same, its not right.

Well, I heard from Melissa who asked me to send pictures. She then told me that my helmet would be replaced and that the US distributor would be contacting me. So, I'm getting my helmet replaced but I'm still disappointed it passed quality control like that. But hey, everyone has a bad day..maybe it was a wednesday helmet.

Just sharing my sorrow...of course I'll post any respnse I get from the oem...

Pleassssssse $300 is 300 bucks thats pretty much the point. If I'd bought it off ebay from Square1 marked as a factory second with paint blem's, I wouldn't care...this stuff is overpriced as it is and then for it to pass through the quality control system with some guys hair stuck in the paint?

Anyone had problems with the quality of their new Z1's? I just received my new helmet and it looks like a factory second or cheap chinese knock off at best. The plastic is pitted and has grinding marks in it. The paint is lousy with imperfections like hair, dust and incomplete coverage or uneven coverage of the metal flake. I'm super disgusted to have paid $300 bucks for a non CSA approved helmet that went through their QA system. I emailed parasport, hopefully they'll refinish it or cut me a discount so i won't have to eat the new paint job. No happy NGD (new gear day) for me :(...or maybe i'm just too picky.

i bought an Argus for my first set of gear. I just got it in the mail an hour ago. The DOM is Jan 2010, which is cool..its not stale on the shelf. First impressions are its rugged and compact. I read a claim here that someone saw baby riggers rip the cables out of the housing or something like that. I can't see how it would happen unless you're totally ham fisted.

I was really excited to open the box and see my brand new Z1 in metalic blue. I was really disappointed to see the defects in layup of the helmet such as grinding marks, pitting etc. I was even more disappointed with the hair, dust and other inclusions in the paint as well as the incomplete coverage and inconsistent pattern of the metal flake. I should have bought a carbon fibre.

bag lock on jump 17....bad body position, bridle wrapped around bag. 112776 + 57 = 11833 216 + 1 = 217 112833/ 217 = 519.98 Holy Moly

I have recently come into possession of a Stunts Eclipse Size D container. It is reported to fit canopies with a pack volume of up to 450 cu inch. Anyone know from experience what particular canopies can be stuffed in here? Thanks...

use a rigger or mutually agreed third party as an escrow agent...give the rigger the money, he/she can confirm with the seller...rigger gets rig..inspects it..if its what its supposed to be...rigger sends money...

Do you train to huck them or hang on to them? I've found that makes all the difference. In our family, we train to hang on to them.

I had my first reserve ride last weekend. Jump 21. I didn't even think about the RSL..i looked up..my main was still in the bag and wasn't coming out...i looked, located, punched right, punched left....done deal. Story from the ground says it all looked like it happened in reasonable time. i did however throw my handles away..but someone found them...