Racer rigs

[masterrig 1]

Also, John Sherman holds a degree in engineering. The 'new' line of Racer is really pretty good looking and retains that 'comfy' reputation. As well as the idea of 'form follows function'. I guess, if you were to argue Ford v Chevy, the Racer would be an Edsel. Highly under-rated. They just lacked 'looks'.

Chuck

[teason 0]

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Yeah, but Scratch I bet you still miss your front mount reserve too huh?

Ahh, it was probably a Strong pop top too!
lol
(well at least Scratch will get that one)

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[teason 0]

Maybe this should be in the useless trivia thread but did you know John has the patent for the one pin pop top?

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[mjosparky 4]

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Quote

Yeah, but Scratch I bet you still miss your front mount reserve too huh?

Ahh, it was probably a Strong pop top too!
lol
(well at least Scratch will get that one)

It's Ted's invention, not John's.
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[riggerrob 643]

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Maybe this should be in the useless trivia thread but did you know John has the patent for the one pin pop top?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

John Sherman may hold a patent for a one-pin Pop-Top, but he was never able to make it work with a reasonable ripcord pull force.
The secret is transferring the load from the center loop to the circumferance. Stefan Ertler holds a German patent on the domed cap that makes 1-pin Pop-tops practical for Teardrops.

[teason 0]

Yes, you're right.

Jumpshack paid royalties to strong to use the pop top. The Racer can be recorded as a chest resrve because the origional design was close to the pop top chest.

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[teason 0]

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John Sherman may hold a patent for a one-pin Pop-Top, but he was never able to make it work with a reasonable ripcord pull force.

I thought he didn't like it because you can twist it up and break the closing loop

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[masterrig 1]

Yessir, I sure did. Dan Poynter came-up with the idea and didn't really persue it. Mr. Sherman, also came-up with the idea of the 'mini-van'. I've had the pleasure of visiting with both he and his lovely wife at the Symposium. Super people! That's a great idea! A parachute/skydiving/rigging trivia page! Wish I'd thought of it.

Chuck


"Fair return is no robbery!"

[teason 0]

Oooh , I've got burning rigger trivia!

Rumour has it John also came up with the trash pack after a visit across the pond watching a russian way of packing rounds.

Mike Fury came up with SST 'cause they called John the super swooper. Hence Super Swooper Tandem.

Bill Coe has the patent for the cross brace!

Arghhh I'm, going mental with useless facts!!!

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[masterrig 1]

Whoa there, big boy! This stuff can really light a fire under you My favorite story is about Bill Booth and the release cable routings!

Chuck

[teason 0]

I guess I should preface my comments with the words "rumour has it". I'll edit.

Now ... what about those housing?

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[masterrig 1]

He was trying to come-up with an idea for the cable routings for the release cables (yellow). He had to make a phone call and stepped into a pay-phone booth. You know the flex cable from the reciever to the telephone box on a pay-phone? Bingo!

Chuck

So the story goes...

[skr 1]

>I bet you still miss your front mount reserve too huh?

Heh :-)

At first I really did. I had about 1,200 jumps on a regular
rig with the reserve on the front, where it belongs, so it
was kind of spooky jumping with no reserve.

But you could track so well in a piggyback!

Actually I had already traded my feeling of safety for
tracking ability by getting a pop top front reserve before
Racers were invented.

The trade off was that with a pop top you had to cut away
before you used your reserve, which seemed like a really
dubious idea, but it was flat and you could track much
better with it.

Actually even before that I had taken a seat pack and
added another seat pack container on the back in pursuit
of better tracking.

The idea was a clean front plus the added area of the
seat pack between my legs would act like a primitive
wing suit.


But in 1968 I bought an official, factory made, piggy back
and all that experimenting faded into history.


I still have 3 or 4 brain cells left that are a little freaked out
by jumping without a reserve, so my current Racer has a
belly band.

I freed the horizontal back strap from the container, so the
harness fits me instead of the container, and added a belly
band.

The belly band not only holds it all in place and puts the
weight on my hips like a back pack, but the feel of it on
my stomach re-assures those 3 or 4 brain cells that the
world is as it should be and all is well.

I don't tell people about that part though :-) :-)

Skr

[masterrig 1]

I'm not trying to be out of line but, your being one of the 'pioneers' of this sport, I guess, you had to be inventive. Having never jumped a 'round', I've packed a lot of them, I've heard stories of how the folks who started this sport would get a 'new' round and start cutting holes in it looking for better 'performance'. Nowadays, all one has to do is jump on the world-wide web and everything one needs is right there! Not like going to the old Army Surplus store! Passing a baton between two free-fallers was pretty hot stuff.

Chuck

[skr 1]

> Also, John Sherman holds a degree in engineering.

>They just lacked 'looks'.

I remember when my viewpoint changed. I was visiting
John in 1976 when he lived up in Detroit.

We were standing there in his basement looking at his
white Racer (actually SST) propped up in the middle of
the floor looking like a magazine ad.

I said: "But John! It *looks* funny!".

He said: "No. It's beautiful. It's functional. Form follows
function, and that's beautiful.".


My brain kind of went "Flip!", and suddenly it was beautiful,
and the Vector approach looked funny.


That's why I think a lot of gear arguments are fluff and froth.

DJan has had a Mirage for 3 or 4 years, and I've packed
it at least 100 times, and I've looked closely at every square
inch of it.

It's a great rig; they put a lot of thought into it and did it
right. I've even idly speculated a couple times about
getting one (don't tell John I said that! :-) :-)


Except ... You know ... All those Vector spinoffs have the
chest strap on backwards, and after all these years I'd
probably put it on upside down with the leg straps hanging
over my ears or something.

Skr

[masterrig 1]

Personally, I've always thought the Racer looked good. What you said, holds a lot of truth. we tend to 'follow' what is popular. Like bell-bottoms in the '70's. As for packing Racers, at first, I kinda let them 'intimidate' me. After attending one of the seminars, put-on by Jump-Shack... no problem! I really don't believe, they can be beat for comfort. As for workmanship, there is some excellent work put into them. Also, the use of Type - 13 webbing in the harness, is more adaptable to the hardware.

Chuck

[teason 0]

Type XIII is 1000lbs stronger too.

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[ZigZag 0]

• Quote

[mjosparky 4]

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Also, the use of Type - 13 webbing in the harness, is more adaptable to the hardware.

Almost all of the hardware used today was designed for use on Type XIII webbing before there was sports gear.

Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[masterrig 1]

Thanks, Sparky! Someone told me and I 'think', it was John Sherman, that, the old cotton webbing on very early harness, the weave of Type - 13 is more like that. The hardware used today dates back to then. The Type - 8 webbing sewn as a 'back-up' to Type - 7 webbing was to 'help' avoid 'slippage' of the hardware due to it's 'softer' weave. Seems to me, since the weave of the Type - 13 works better with the hardware, why doesn't 'everyone' use it?

Chuck

[teason 0]

It was probably John, we had the same conversation. The hardware was designed for cotton webbing. Interesting side note, when cotton webbing was replaced, the navy and the airforce didn't join forces! While the airforce had type XIII, type XXVII was made for the navy. It has similar strength, similar weave and black tracers down the side.
Type VII was designed for use with cargo.
Also, some canadian manufacturers use type XIII webbing. Al Macdonald uses it in his sidewinders and the late Steve West used it in his Innovater container.

Just useless trivia.

I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

[masterrig 1]

No, Not 'useless trivia'. Interesting information... I learned something. Thanks for taking the time to write that. I have had the opportunity to visit with Mr. and Mrs. MacDonald. Really nice folks who put-out a really good harness-container. Anyhow, thanks again.

Chuck

[zaidush 0]

I will never buy a second Racer.
NOT because bad performance or comfortable or rigging issues or AAD issues or pop top or service or reliability -
I will NOT buy one ever again because at the second you get it out of the pack- you are loosing at list 60% of what you paid.
Doesn't meter why it got thr bad reputation - the bottom line is - you get a poor market of buyers and a very bad deal when you want to sell it.
I'm still trying to get rid of the one i have. its a 4 years old. good condition, evarage size for intermediate - I can't get more then 150$. if it was Javelin/Vector/Mirage - i could get at least 600$!

[RMURRAY 1]

you get screwed selling any gear (that you bought new) - but especially the "non-2k3" racers. they are not popular in many places. I think when you buy new, you should be thinking I am keeping this for a long long time --- unless you have cash to burn.

by the way, I will only ever jump a racer - but I would not buy another new one.

rm

[rhino 0]

I have a Shadow Racer, NOS, with the tuck tab mod... It is a fantastic rig... Personally I love the way it fits...

Rhino