Broke another zipper on my S3.

[PhreeZone 20]

Almost a year to the day that I got my S3 I broke another zipper on it. Same issue as before. The zipper pull just popped right off the zipper on the suit. I watched the little metal tab fly off as soon as I pulled on the zipper.

I've still got one of the replacement zippers that BM sent me last year when the same exact thing happened to my right arm zipper on the very first jump on the S3.

Luckly I know how to change out just the zipper pulls (took me almost 2 hours to match the teeth up on my arm last time), but I'm not looking forward to having to do surgery on my suit again

Inspect those zippers and make sure that all the zipper pull covers are nice and tight on there.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Courteney 0]

Bummer dude!!!

Hope that never happens to my GTi, just got it the other day.

Hope you come right with da zipper.

Cheers,

Courteney.

...drags me down like some sweet gravity!!!

[ManBird 0]

Nearly 500 wingsuit jumps and not one busted zipper. Am I an exception?

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[PhreeZone 20]

It had really pissed me off last year when on the first jump my zipper just fell apart and I was left with an arm wing that was stuck most the way down and I manged to get it to slide by moving the zipper by hand. This time it was on the right leg and it broke after about 4 inches of pulling on it.

Here is a poll showing it happens more then I thought it did.

Turns out I've had the suit for 1 year and 16 days now. I got it last Oct 3 and broke the zipper the 5th

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

Nearly 500 wingsuit jumps and not one busted zipper. Am I an exception?

I must be one also.

I have NEVER had any type of problem....
I think some people just dont take the time to unzip smoothly, or may be in a rush to get the zippers unzipped.....

Just a thought.....
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Quote

Quote

Nearly 500 wingsuit jumps and not one busted zipper. Am I an exception?

I must be one also.

I have NEVER had any type of problem....
I think some people just dont take the time to unzip smoothly, or may be in a rush to get the zippers unzipped.....

Just a thought.....
Ed

I have not had any issues on the Classic II, GTI or the S3 as far as zippers go(knock on wood). Snaps are another issue you can have on the suits particularly on the GTI and the Classic. The S3 comes with reinforced snaps for the leg wing keepers only. The hook knife pocket snaps are not.

Getting these reinforced as soon as you get the suit will save you grief later on.

Kris.

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

The hook knife pocket snaps are not.

How often are you having to use the hook knife snap for it to brake?

Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[PhreeZone 20]

You posted in the other thread it happened to your suits...

I'm not in any more of a rush then anyone else and a whole lot slower and less stressful on the suit then any BASE jumper is.

The issue I've had is that the tabs pop off the zipper slides. Looking at the remaining zippers I see one other one that I will bet breaks soon. The zipper tabs are not fully pressed on, it looks like 3 of the 4 corners are properly pressed, but one corner is not.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[LouDiamond 1]

I have to agree with Ed. I have never had a problem with the zippers on any of the suits I have owned. I have seen the pull tabs broken off of the zipper on a handful of DEMO suits and they are treated to an inordinate share of abuse and quite often, more than most people put on their own suits. I am thinking the violent zipper opening technique may be the culprit.


edit to add: if your tabs are breaking off replace them with a small key chain ring as this works brilliantly and cost is usually nada if you pick up a few of the free-be keychain bottle openers at any boogie

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[PhreeZone 20]

Its not the tabs that are breaking off, its the caps that hold the pulls to the slides. Too bad one the cap pops off you are screwed and have to replace the whole slide. There is nothing left to attach a ring to.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[bodypilot1 0]

I did?

What post would that be?

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[PhreeZone 20]

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1089290#1089290 There is a direct link to your post in May.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1089290#1089290 There is a direct link to your post in May.

Read the post again, you may have misunderstood it....

That would be the abuse my suits ONLY gets by first time jumpers, as they tend to be in a rush or panic to get then unzipped, not me.

I believe taking your time to correctly unzip the zippers in right way will allow them to last a LONG time.

My personal suit has NEVER broken a zipper on both my Skyflyer1 or my Skyflyer3.

Sorry to hear your having problems.

Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[PhreeZone 20]

My Classic2 does'nt have any of these issues either and I put 75 jumps on it and it was a demo suit right off Birdman's rack when I bought it. My classic has probally 500 jumps on it and its fine, My S3 has 100+ and its down 2 zippers now.

The issue seems to be some bad zippers. Looking closely at the zipper on the left leg its cap only has 3/4 corners pressed on, the fourth is only partially pressed in. Pull on that wrong and that cap is going to pop off too.

I'm debating at this point since 2/4 wing zipper caps have fallen off, and a third will probally go at some point just ripping all the zippers out and putting heavy duty zippers on that don't have the cap issue like winter coat zippers.

I love how people are accusing me of being abusive to my suit when I baby it way more then I baby my rig. I wait till I'm under a full canopy before unzipping so I can properly tension the arm wings for unzipping, I put longer loops on the leg zippers as feelers so I could work my way to the metal pulls to minimize the stress I put on the leg zippers as I tension them. I don't know how much more correct I can be then that.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

I don't know how much more correct I can be then that.

We don't either....

Again, sorry to hear your having the problems that you are.


Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[VectorBoy 0]

Phree I've got an unused white S3 zipper you can have for free, PM me if you want it bro.

I've put the rings on as pulls. I got them at the hardware store for a nickle a piece. They come in many sizes. never a problem with actual zippers

[KrisFlyZ 0]

Quote

Quote

The hook knife pocket snaps are not.

How often are you having to use the hook knife snap for it to brake?

Ed

Everyday I jump. I do not store the hookknife in the pocket. That is not the point. The snaps are on one or two layer(s) of ZP. That without reinforcement is not strong enough for long use.

Kris.

[fergs 0]

Quote

Inspect those zippers and make sure that all the zipper pull covers are nice and tight on there.

I've had a zipper tab break on 2 out of my 3 Birdman suits. It's frustrating - such a simple seeming event needs the major surgery of replacing the whole zipper.

fergs

[PhreeZone 20]

I've got 2 zipper's that are black that BM sent me so thanks for the offer! I'm debating if I want to go get heavy duty zippers and have someone locally put them on or not now.

Glad to see I'm not the only one that this is happening to Fergs!

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[VectorBoy 0]

Snaps are another issue you can have on the suits particularly on the GTI and the Classic. The S3 comes with reinforced snaps for the leg wing keepers only. The hook knife pocket snaps are not.

Getting these reinforced as soon as you get the suit will save you grief later on.

Kris.

[ManBird 0]

Quote

I have to agree with Ed. I have never had a problem with the zippers on any of the suits I have owned. I have seen the pull tabs broken off of the zipper on a handful of DEMO suits and they are treated to an inordinate share of abuse and quite often, more than most people put on their own suits. I am thinking the violent zipper opening technique may be the culprit.

Hell, just in ground school. The demonstration I always give is this relaxed, smooth pull all the way up to the shoulder, and I emphasize, "ALL the way" up. What do some students do? They panic pull the zipper halfway and try to reach uo for the imaginary risers. This is on the GROUND.

My GTi has lost one pully-dealy -- not the metal, just the cable attached to it, and it has had both booties blown out. All from the same student (he paid for the $10 bootie repair). That guy was PEGGED out once we got in the air. But within like three jumps, he was kicking some serious ass. Then he disappeared. Forever. I kinda miss that guy.

The end.



PS

He didn't go in. He just disappeared. Like we don't know where the hell he went.

"¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯"

Click

[PhreeZone 20]

I was constantly reminding people I was flying with at Rantoul this year to remember to un zip all the way before they reach for the risers and stuff. I'll take a picture tonight showing what popped off on mine again.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com