Flexon: Info needed, owners?

[lurch 0]

So this rig comes up, might want to buy it but have my doubts. Its a '91 R.I. Flexon f-5. Visually its in fine condition, almost no wear. It looks like a good deal but I haven't seen the rig assembled yet, just an empty container, mess of flaps and straps no canopies so its hard to judge yet how I'll like the way it goes together. I already did a search and read what has been said, which really isn't much other than first with rings, cypress service bulletin, good for freefly, fairly good rig.
Specific doubts:
The pilot chute and bridle stowing looks totally bizarre and needlessly elaborate to someone who jumps a simple vector 2. Some sort of weird semi-internal pc pouch looks like the bottom of the container is turned inside out with an added compartment and these dinky little tuck tabs to hold the whole arrangement closed. What is up with this? Is it not as sketchy as it looks? I just look at it and picture being in a sit with flaps pouches and bridle flopping everywhere...
Comments? complaints? Praise? How well does it work in the field? Pain in the ass to pack or what? Is this one of those rigs like a reflex that has undesirable mojo trailing around after it? The construction looks alien as all hell and I've never seen one of these things before in 3 years of fartknocking around on a turbine-sized dz. Kinda wondered if there was a good reason for that.

Canopy size: My next rig should fit between a 150 and a 135, maybe 125. I'm not going to want to go any smaller anytime soon. Will a F-5 fit this range?

Airlocked canopies pack bigger right? I was thinking of going airlocked next canopy. Will an F5 fit that range of Samurai?

Guy selling it says itll fit a reserve range raven2 218- 176-ish. Guy pointed out container will fit a smaller main better with a bigger reserve. A 218 is ridiculous overkill for my weight-I load a sabre2 170 at about .9- but I have no objection to an oversize reserve if I can fit the main I want and my current reserve in my first rig is a 218 anyway.
Owners?

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

[thepollster 0]

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might want to buy it but have my doubts. Its a '91 R.I. Flexon f-5.

You are right to have your doubts. It is an outdated design, not freefly friendly (no more than a Vector2, anyway), and a pain in the arse to pack.

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Visually its in fine condition, almost no wear.

That doesn't make it any better for you. You can find a mint condition Wonderhog on Ebay, that still doesn't make it a good modern rig.

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It looks like a good deal

Just because it is a good deal, does not make it a good deal for you.

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The pilot chute and bridle stowing looks totally bizarre and needlessly elaborate

It is

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Canopy size: My next rig should fit between a 150 and a 135, maybe 125. I'm not going to want to go any smaller anytime soon. Will a F-5 fit this range?

Not well. And with the location of the closing loop on that rig, there is a limit to how small you can go.

Bottom line, if it was sized perfectly for me and my canopies, and free, I probably still wouldn't bother putting a reserve in it and jumping, unless it was the only thing I could use. And even then, I would only belly fly in it. Unpopular rigs usually go cheap, and may seem like a good deal if you don't know what they are. I've seen an Eclipse go for $80, and a Reflex go for $100, and those rigs were in good condition too.

[riggerrob 643]

Hint: use the Talon 2 packing manual, as the Talon2 is just a simplified and updated version of Flexon.
How is the covered BOC on a Flexon not freefly freindly?
Flexons are still decent rigs, you just have to learn a few new tricks when packing them.
Oh!
I had to learn a few new tricks when I started packing Vectors.
And I needed a couple of lessons in pilotchute folding when I started packing Javelins.
And the factory demonstrator rigger had to show me a couple of tricks when I started packing Reflexes, etc.
Every rig requires learning a few tricks. Don't let the puzzle get the better of you.
Hee!
Hee!

[sdctlc 0]

They are actually a good rig. Sandy at RI calles the Flexon the "Voodoo 1.0" as many of the features from the flexon went into that rig.

Mind you I am biased as I had 3 of them and still have one as a backup rig. Easy to pack the reserve IMO as it is very straight forward.

No velcro on the rig and the flaps, on the ones I have had, did not come out in strange body positions. Secure is a good word.

The closing sequence of the main is very straight forward and what your probably looking at is the protective flap for the PC. There are 2 tuck tabs that are the last thing I do on a pack job. this basically was a flap on the bottom of the rig that the spandex ouch was attached to and once stowed the tuck tabs prevented the spandex from being exposed. it is not sketchy at all it is a very secure system and onc you have seen it once it is very easy to close and see how it would provide a higher level of protection then just a pouch on the bottom of the container.

I was jumping my F5 with a number of different canopies from a Xaos 108 up to a 150 Diablo and did not have any problems. I was mostly flying the 135 range canopies though. Reserve was a Raven 1 (181) and it was a great fit.

Here are pics of 3 different Flexons so you can see what they look like packed. I have a main off the container right now that I am using to show the closing and the pouch. I just stuffed a pc in there to show the routing of the bridle. It should give an idea.

Again yeah the rig is older but lots of features that were on the rig at the time were very advanced for the time. It is a more secure rig then the Vector II that I was jumping a ling time ago and as long as the rig your looking at is in good shape is a good servicable rig. I never had any problems with mine and that is why I have had a number of them and still do...

Scott C.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[thepollster 0]

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How is the covered BOC on a Flexon not freefly freindly?

I never said the BOC wasn't freefly friendly; the riser covers are hit or miss, and tend to leave toggles exposed. Also, the main flap on many Flexons is less than secure. But like I said, it is no more freefly friendly than a Vector 2. Basically, you can usually get away with it, but there are much better choices out there.

And for the record, I am not anti-RI. I think the Talon FS is one of the better freefly rigs on the market, even if it isn't marketed that way.

[GravityGirl 0]

Sounds like you are trying to plan a rig for many future canopies to come. That is not the best train of thought.

I would suggest finding a container for what you want to put in it now, plus one downsize. So it should fit a 150 snug, so you can downsize to a 135 later.

Once you get down lower than a 135 you will be on a heavily loaded canopy, possibly high performance. At that point it is VERY important to have a snug fitting container to give you the best openings.

So my point is. Try not to project too far. If the container you are looking at is a good deal now and you maintain it, it will be a good deal when you resell it to get a smaller one.

IMHO, this container is not what you should be looking at. It seems too big for what you are projecting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peace and Blue Skies!
Bonnie ==>Gravity Gear!

[NickDG 23]

I created much of the print advertising for Rigging Innovations in the early 90s and a lot of that was for the "new" Flexon.

R.I. has always built good rigs, and at the time the Flexon was "the" hot rig, at least on the west coast. They used a new fabric for the Flexon container called Amptron. It was a slick and smooth fabric that looked good. Sandy Reid (head of R.I.) liked to joke the main selling point of Amptron was if you spilled beer on a Flexon it would bead up rather than soak in.

Flexons were also some of the first modern articulated rigs and one of the first to forgo Velcro. They had some trouble with tuck tabs at first, but the later rigs were better.
I don’t remember the BOC arrangement, but a master rigger could modernize that for you.

Call R.I., with the serial number, for any outstanding Service Bulletins but if the rig is currently airworthy there shouldn't be any nasty surprises . . .

NickD BASE 194

[hookitt 1]

The rig itself is just fine. However, as Bonnie said, it's too big for what you've described.

The Flexon was a good rig. The riser covers... if that's what you wish to call them, were a bit strange but the did stay put if you stashed the risers away properly and took care to seat the tabs correctly. It was odd, and not as "convenient". The potential to lose a toggle in freefall was too great and wasn't quite as idiot proof as rigs are today.

The reserve system hasn't changed to this day. There are a few cosmetic and dimension changes but that's about it. The Talon and the VooDoo, still use it.

The BOC, was fine. It's well protected. It's odd compared to what you are used to seeing but it's a good system. In fact I copied it when making a BOC for a parapalegic. He had to slide to the door on his butt and he had no choice but to land on his butt so it made sense to copy it.

Again though... I'd pass on the rig solely on the size.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[lurch 0]

Decision made. I'd like to thank everyone who spoke up, lot of detail, pros and cons.
Verdict: I'll pass. Owner assembled it with a 218 raven and a 135 and to be honest it went together perfect. Once set up it looked great and with the dimensions filled out the pc pouch was self explanatory and instead of looking sketchy impressed me as virtually bulletproof. Needlessly elaborate, yes, but kinda cool and I'd trust it. Main cover flap looked crude and nonfunctional but stayed in place better than expected when tugged on...But no better than my own modified Vector's retainer. Liked the fit in some ways but it fit wrong and bit my shoulders which nixed it right there, and the riser covers and soft housings everywhere horrified me...THIS is a freefly rig? The reserve was a tight fit but there were these big open troughs down the outside of the reserve tray where the riser was simply exposed with no way to rearrange material to make it tight and solidly hide the risers. When I put it on the left cover popped open and poked me in the cheek with this triangular piece of what the hell did they do that for, but I hadn't checked it for snugness beforehand so can't blame the rig. All in all a great starter rig I would have bought if I didn't plan to freefly a lot. The slick finish is awesome-Bring it back! Mirage, Javelin, Vector are you listening?
Cool rig but not the specs I want. Anybody wanna buy a slick Flexon? I know this guy....

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

[craddock 0]

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the riser covers are hit or miss, and tend to leave toggles exposed.

You need to pack the Flexon with toggles out rather than toward the reserve packing tray. Otherwise, yes it tends to leave the toggles exposed.

That spot isn't bad at all, the winds were strong and that was the issue! It was just on the downwind side.

[PhreeZone 20]

>The slick finish is awesome-Bring it back! Mirage, Javelin, Vector are you listening?

I think you were looking at a parapack rig. If so most container makes still offer it. Unless you were looking at a latex rig like what Jumpshack had in their ads for years.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[hookitt 1]

Nope the material is Antron. My 93 Talon was made out of it. It's shiny slick soft feeling material. Nothing like Parapack. I really liked it. Apparently it had a tendency to fade. At least that's why I think they discontinued it.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[ZZTopless 0]

I had a flexon before I bought my mirage. And, actually, the antron never faded...that's why they used it. However, it snags easily. I think that's why they changed to cordura/parapack.

[masterrig 1]

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Nope the material is Antron. My 93 Talon was made out of it. It's shiny slick soft feeling material. Nothing like Parapack. I really liked it. Apparently it had a tendency to fade. At least that's why I think they discontinued it.
___________________________-

The story I got, behind the dis-continuation of the use of Antron Nylon, was due to a 'bad' batch of the material. It tended to separate in the weave.


Chuck

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