JohnnyBoulder

Thanks for replying everyone. Fascinating - I was expecting to see more of a consensus in how these things are used. FWIW, and I may change my approach, here is how I ended up setting up mine. My 1st alarm is 500' before desired break-off altitude. I went with the pre-warning concept as then I know I have about three seconds until I should be tracking off (belly flying). 2nd alarm set to 500' above pull altitude for coming out of a track and slowing down, etc. Then my 3rd alarm is set for the hard deck, which for me is 2500'. I have two banks configured, but still conflicted about what do there. On almost all of my jumps I have been able to get folks to break off at 5500', pull at 4000'. I do have a bank configured for 5000'/3500', but haven't used it yet. So I am not sure if I will use the one-bank concept or have two that I switch depending on break off and pull altitude. On a couple of jumps people wanted to break at 6,000', so I just left things as-is - just knew the beeps meant you are there vs. the bit of warning. Am I crazy for the following? When I make solo jumps I still track off at 5,500 as though I was in a group. This question really isn't an audible question, maybe I should post separately. To me this approach seemed like a better safety drill and improving tracking is always good, but I do eat up some freefall time I could use for whatever I'm doing solo.

I did a couple of searches and didn't see any obvious posts, but I would not be surprised if this topic has been covered already. So if you have a link, post away. Some might say this one belongs in the gear section, but my mind is on safety here. How do you all set the freefall warning altitudes on your audible altimeters, especially you highly experienced jumpers? I currently have an L&B Optima II which allows for three freefall warnings (four sets thereof). Initially I set my warnings for break off, deployment, and hard deck target altitudes. I spoke with a jumper at my DZ who said he sets his warning altitudes 500' above his target altitudes to get a warning those target altitudes are coming up. Then another jumper told me that he sets his warning altitudes below his target altitudes, don't remember by how much, but his concern was that he would learn to rely on his audible more, and visual less. There may be other schools of thought and hybrids of these approaches.

The design prevents the cover flap from being pulled open. but things can still get ripped open if the entire flap gets snagged on the bottom edge. Newbie question here ... I am going to order a Javelin and curious how the Javelin compares to the Vector. Thanks.

I have seen one and jumped them as well. When I was 17 back in 1982 I started jumping ... by fall of 1983 when I went to college I couldn't afford it anymore. In any event, working as a bus boy I couldn't afford nice gear, so I bought a used "piglet" harness/container with a 24' sparrow parachute for $300. Later I picked up a second used piglet/sparrow combo as a second rig. Spaceland / Golden Greek Airlines area near Houston, in case that is useful to you. I used to land it standing up most of the time by a forceful of risers at just the right moment, probably didn't do my back and neck any favors. Landed right on a little bean bag once in an accuracy contest. Unfortunately, no photos, just a minor blur of memory. Anyway, if you ever jump one again and can get someone to snap a photo of the canopy in the air, post it here or PM me! Thanks