Chaser

[Swede 0]

I´ve just bought a Chaser from 1988 (190 jumps only).
When I asked Jump Shack for advise I was informed that they aren´t the manufacturer of this rig & that chaser is a bad dangerous copy that has been forbidden in many countries.
Does anyone know about chaser? Good? Bad? Okey?

[riggerrob 643]

Chasers were built in Britain by Thomas Sports Equipment. TSE has a long history of Service Bulletins, recalls, etc. Chasers built in the early 1980s were pretty ugly, but their patterns and workmanship improved over time. See Poynter's Manual Volume 2, page 206. Also look at the long list of Airworthiness Directives, Service Bulletins, etc. published on the Australian Parachute Federation's website. There is also the question of whether anything built by TSE satisfies the American TSO requirements.

[miked10270 0]

Hi there,
Yeah... the Chaser was a TSE rig that bore a remarkable similarity to the Jumpshack Racer, just as the TSE Zerox was very similar to the RWS Vector (ok, they were slightly modified copies).
They were significantly cheaper and quality had improved over the years. At present TSE produce the Zerox, Crew Zerox (picture a RWS VIII with a Voodoo style reserve pin cover flap) and the Teardrop. The Teardrop is the only one that's TSO'd but TSE state that this is a financial consideration. They sell enough Zeroxes without the TSO.
Personally I've had a couple of TSE Zeroxes in my time and haven't had a problem with them. TSE are great ones for issuing safety notices but to be fair they do tend to issue them themselves and, for example the type 17 reversed riser bulletin was followed by other manufacturers with the result that ALL type 17 reversed risers were termed unsafe, not just TSE's.
Give TSE a call on: +44 1262 678299
Fax: +44 1262 602063
Email: TSE@skydive0.demon.co.uk
Website: http://www.thomas-sports.com
Hope this helps,
Mike D10270.
PS. I hope this doesn't start a flame regarding US Vs "foreign" gear [sad].