TKoontz

I'm moving down to Camarillo this summer to continue on with school and I was looking for close DZs. Only ones within 100 miles are Taft, my home DZ and SB. I had heard an up jumper complaining that santa barabara is a tandem farm and isn't particularly accomodating to fun jumpers and such. Is there any validity to this? Are they pretty friendly and helpful for newer jumpers such as myself? Find your peace, though the world around you burns

I haven't done much investigation on Vigil yet, see the link I posted above for the Argus recall on the plastic inserts I looked at the OPs photos, and the cutter was indeed a second generation (no plastic insert), so I guess my previous question was answered. I guess next would be to see if anyone knows what conditions it WAS under? 1) (as previously stated) does the cutter sit on top of the reserve on the student dolphin? 2) was there a lack of pressure on the closing loop/was the closing loop too long and therefore slack? 3) was the closing loop the proper material? (No idea if Argus uses a specially approved material for their cutters or not) 4) or was this just a shit cutter and we need to be concerned? Find your peace, though the world around you burns

Here is the service bulletin I referred to: Madatory replacement of old cutters with plastic inserts http://argus-aad.com/images/PDF/sbamm021206_2.pdf Find your peace, though the world around you burns

When reading through the incident reports on the Argus website a while back, I remember there being a recall on certain cutters because of this little plastic deal that lined the cutter loop (think they said it was fraying the closing loop). Was this one of the old cutters, and if it was, could that have even contributed to a partial cut? Find your peace, though the world around you burns

Great advice, those are exactly what I was looking for! Definitely a major distraction. I'll be sharing these with a couple of friends I think... Thanks a lot! Find your peace, though the world around you burns

Agreed. Watching the ground slowly get bigger from the point of view of a solo belly is unbelievably boring. Back when I used mine, it was only on jumps with others so we could review making points, or show our instructors to get feedback on flying and landing, and in a couple of cases, correcting bad habits while under canopy that had previously been missed. However, I was commenting on new ways to get new jumpers such as myself to understand the dangers of cameras instead of looking at them as just an attach and forget piece of equipment that's innaccessible until a certain number of jumps. Find your peace, though the world around you burns

From my experience, this comes from a lack of education to the new jumpers. I was in this category and had never been told that a GoPro was a bad idea until I came to these forums asking advice, got a bit of a talking to for that one lol During AFF and getting your A and subsequent mentoring, you're told, "Don't do X, it could lead to ramification Y which leads to possibility Z". Students learn through this and various other methods. But with cameras, all I had heard until the forums dropped some knowledge my way was, "Don't jump a camera until 200 jumps...because". Followed by a flimsy explanation that sometimes used distraction as a justification. Perhaps with more concrete examples that new jumpers are used to, the lesson could sink in better? Find your peace, though the world around you burns

I've always been curious of issues with hearing damage. I've had trouble locating anything that says whether or not the wind noise/dytters will hurt your hearing. I jump a Rawa FF helmet and it's pretty quiet, but I'm about to put a pro dytter in that too...thoughts anyone? Find your peace, though the world around you burns

It was a bit of both. I knew the uppers were roughly 30 or so, and then dropped significantly at lower altitudes. So my interpretation of the heading was off which in turn led to a pretty crap spot. in general. Find your peace, though the world around you burns

Somewhere around 20-25 (right before my check out dive) I went up on early bird load. I looked up the METARS report for the uppers but was too embarrassed to admit that I couldn't remember the heading correction for our runway About 2k before pull time I realized that I was about a mile from the landing area and tracked like mad to get back. Lost altitude awareness and was in the saddle by about 1500 (pretty damn scary for someone who doesn't even have his A yet). Barely made it back to the landing area. Got a talking to and made sure to go over the METARS and lean my weather reports and some more intricacies of spotting in relation to ground speed Find your peace, though the world around you burns

About to get my B and I decided on shelling out for a used system. I've had the opportunity to jump an infinity, javelin, and a wings. By far the most comfortable, and best looking was the wings. One thing I was looking for specifically was a pin cover that slid up into the rig instead of a flap with a tuck tab (even if it gets worn it will still keep your pin covered). With my rig, the cover has a slight arch to it keeping the pin from being jostled even when leaning against the plane, shifting about, and people bumping it. The stitching is still perfect (this rig is from 1999). The descision to move the riser covers down a bit so the bend between shoulder straps and container didn't rest on the tabs is a great idea, my tabs are still pristine. Customer service was absolutely professional on every level and incredibly helpful with all of my noob questions. I'm not sure what these other reviewers are doing wrong, but pay them no heed, Rick answered all of my incessant questioning down to the most minute detail in a timely, courteous, and professional manner. My only complaint, and it is small at that, is that if your rigger packs your reserve in such a way that the two "prongs" of the freebag aren't tight, that leaves room for your riser covers to expose a tiny part of your risers where they sit on top of the reserve risers going down toward the main tray. Almost purely aesthetic and I doubt it affects performance, but it is a little more obnoxious to pack. Regardless, if you're looking for quality, price, customer service, and a damn good rig, buy yourself a wings.

Got the serial number and contacted the manufacturer, looks like a 150 will be fine, but if that gets a little hairy I can fall back on the 170. Thanks everyone for the insight and comments. Find your peace, though the world around you burns

ok, I'm getting it shipped to the DZ currently since I'll be there this weekend for an inspection by my rigger and to make sure everything fits properly. There's a pilot 150 that I can pack in there to assess the fit, and tbh, it wouldn't be the end of the world if I was kept at a 170 for a bit longer (going back to the college thing) since I wont have as much time to practice under a smaller canopy as I might want. Thank you for the advice, all. I guess we'll see how everything works out this weekend Find your peace, though the world around you burns

I actually don't plan on downsizing too fast (college will be taking a big portion of time here) so I'll probably be content with a 150 for the next 200+ jumps. By the time I'm ready to downsize much past the 150 mark, I'll probably be getting a custom rig to accomodate that. I'm also not trying to get the biggest thing I can to fit (twss) but the container has the 170 already in it; I was planning on selling the main to afford a smaller one. Find your peace, though the world around you burns

No container size uploaded, Just the what body type the harness fits and that it holds the silhouette 170 'tight' Find your peace, though the world around you burns

I'm in the process of buying a first rig (wings) and I'm having issues getting a straight answer as to what size canopies they'll hold. as an example: One I'm looking at now holds a silhouette 170 "Pretty tightly" according to the seller. I want to be flying a 1:1 with a 150 (more than likely a pilot or a Sabre II as recommended by several mentors). I've been told by some of my mentors that it shouldn't be a problem to get one in there and have it held securely. Other times, I hear people say absolutely not, or, that will be really loose. I've talked to the manufacturer about several of the rigs I've been looking at and sometimes it comes back as "shouldn't be a problem" other times it's "the container will hold what it was made for, and there's not much room for deviation" I know there are variables with pack volume depending on the canopy type and material, but does 5-15% make that big of a difference when working with a difference of 20 sqft? Sorry for the novel, but this represents a pretty big investment for my current budget and I don't want to get reamed because of ignorance. Thanks in advance, Rooster Find your peace, though the world around you burns

Sounds like a fair trade to me, how much do ya want? For the bike or semen? Find your peace, though the world around you burns

Selling my ducati right now...gonna miss that bike. What about semen? Find your peace, though the world around you burns

I get the same thing, but it's almost always the smart-ass engineers on the naval base I work at who say the tired phrase..."perfectly good airplane" This last week the transponder on our Caravan shit itself...that's a decent reason to bail from a plane right? Find your peace, though the world around you burns

Thank you for the sound advice, I will hold off on camera jumping for a while yet, I plan on doing what I can to ensure a long future of jumping. Find your peace, though the world around you burns

FINISHING (as in, the process of doing something that has yet to be completed). I am aware of the 25 jump requirement, among other things. As previously stated, the GoPro was a Christmas present; ie, not my decision nor was it asked for. My instructors did not recommend that I get one, but when I brought it to the DZ along with my questions about it, they only said to let them see what I was doing while under canopy and sent me up with it. This was not a premeditated attempt to rock the boat, but an earnest question to those more experienced for input. Find your peace, though the world around you burns

Not very interesting footage I'm aware, but to check for on-heading openings and review my canopy control as well Find your peace, though the world around you burns

I did not see them, I will check them out. Thank you Find your peace, though the world around you burns

I'm a new skydiver, just finishing up my A license requirements (23 jumps). I recently got a GoPro Hero for Christmas and mounted it on the top of my helmet. I brough it to the DZ and my dive masters had no problems with it and encouraged me to get footage for later review. However, I am slightly concerned with the possibilities of tangling my risers. I tend to have very steady, level, and on-heading openings. Just looking for some feedback. If it makes any difference I have a RAWA freefly helmet Thanks much Find your peace, though the world around you burns

Hello, name's Thomas and I'm just finishing up my A license requirements at my home DZ in Taft. In between school, holidays, this gnarly storm of the century and being a broke college student has made the last 5 jumps I need ridiculously hard. Hope to change that this weekend though! Really excited to join this sport and meet new people and start trying out different disciplines Find your peace, though the world around you burns