lyosha

There's a reason I got Polina a V336. :)

Over ~600 wingsuit jumps I've tried: Sabres, Sabre2s, Storms, Spectres, Triathlons, Volts, Alphas, Safires, and Pilots and even though I think PD makes the best canopies, I have to agree that the WS-specific canopies and the Pilot7 are unnecessary and the good ole original 9cell Pilot is the ultimate WS canopy. What makes it the ultimate WS canopy? I mean, that's such a subjective topic... my Sabre1 does a really good job in my opinion. My previous Sabre2 I also could not complain about... but I can see how if you're pulling from full flight training for BASE deployments you'd want something even more stable than a Sabre1...

Anyone have any particularly well-working clip ideas?

... this is a joke right?

As someone fluent in math, I have to once again point out the large body of evidence from which I can assign a per-jump hazard rating for swooping based on the wingloading and experience. There is no such body of evidence for small format cameras. The opinion that having a gopro on a jump makes it more dangerous in a statistically significant way has no proof that I can see.

I mean you're lumping low turns and swooping into the same category of risk as wearing a GoPro... one is the number one killer of skydivers, the other just isn't...

It's not the camera, it's the person. I find people who wait for the magic 200 jumps before jumping with a GoPro are sketchier than people that don't have "200 jumps" burned into the back of their skulls - even if they attach a GoPro at less than 100 jumps. Maybe instead of showing him a carnage reel (there isn't really one for basic GoPros), talk to him about the potential additional risks, how he intends to address them and what benefits he hopes to get out of it. Your S&TA should be a good place to have such a conversation. Asking for advice here will be counterproductive - you have a bunch of hard liners that are going to try to shove their biases down your husband's throat and he'll just listen to you less, not more.

Can you compare it to same size Sabre2?

Those are some pretty aggressive check altitudes for a jump in below freezing weather and heavy gloves... what are your summer altitudes?

Bill, Thank you for your reply. I very much agree with many things that you have said, and am a fan of your work and containers (I did buy my wife a Vector after all...). I also appreciate that your containers have a Collins lanyard - even in rigs that have an RSL. I'm very much on board with that. I have a friend who had one riser disconnect that's lucky he could dig out the remaining cables in time. Lets pretend other containers don't exist in the world for a moment - because while I understand that you run a business in which you try to prove that your product is superior to others on the market, my interest as a consumer is to maximize my personal safety. While it is a strong point that the skyhook has been installed in 30,000 rigs over 17 years, "modern" "large" wingsuits have only taken off a year to two years or so - sometime around the time Squirrel came out with the Freak. When I started wingsuitting there were maybe two people to a dropzone that wore the big suits - now it seems every person with 20 jumps on an i-bird and 10 more in a rented R-bird has a squirrel freak on order. So while the Skyhook has been thoroughly vetted in the environment it has been vetted in, your quote about skydivers finding new ways to break themselves appears to have been prophetic yet again. It seems the environment changed. At least partially. In the paper that I found that measures RPC pull force has the vector version pretty much flatlined until 40-50 mph laminar, at which point it starts to climb. I think it's a reasonable assumption that the current iteration of Vector RPC would never reach the drag required to break that string when trailing behind a wingsuit - considering there is concrete evidence of someone descending at 45 mph until impact. Given that, would you redesign/modify your current system in any way for the purpose of wingsuiting? Do you still think the advantages of having a skyhook outweigh the potential complications? Would you change anything about the current reserve/MARD system to make it better compatible with wingsuiting? I understand these are pointed questions, and apologize and thank you in advance.

What kind of bonehead full face helmet? Might be worth it to get a different helmet... This is a good mount: http://grellfab.com/

Bill, I'm not sure if anyone has brought this up yet (and if it has someone feel free to quote the reply) The 5 ft red lanyard is designed to disconnect at 10 lbs of force, correct? Independent testing of your RPCs has shown that it takes 40-50 mph of laminar flow to generate said 10 lbs of force. What chance does that RPC have with a burble in the equation considering an unconscious wingsuitter has been shown (in previous incidents) to fly at as low as 45 miles an hour vertical prior to any burble lessening the pull on the RPC? Have you considered that? Given that, is the skyhook a bad idea with a wingsuit? Would an alternate, easier-to-detach MARD and perhaps higher drag RPC be a better gear combination? (Full disclosure: I don't own a Vector, but my wife does. It doesn't have a skyhook due to the concerns mentioned above.) Thanks -Lyosha

In a dive, yes. There is a video out there of a russian jumper who has a mal, cuts away to discover the WS are his other handle. He dove for the ground and saved himself via aad fire.

Highly loaded reserve + mandatory shit body position after WS cutaway = https://www.facebook.com/dominic.roithmair/videos/vb.1462110805/10212014803153033

Can anyone think of any WS-specific 9 cell canopies out there? (Sabre1 does not count...)

Cool stuff!

Except you, right?

I think that's an issue with higher speeds. I don't really notice it in WS, belly or tracking. I have that gap but have had it since before I had a Grellfab mount... I think it just naturally develops in G3 helmets over time? I think it's the best that's on the market. But mileage may vary.

Pros: - Cutaway system - Held on by rubber bands - Location less likely to snag - Allow you to raise your visor all the way up under canopy - Can see blinking light on top of gopro by looking down (don't have to ask guy next to you in plane "is it blinking?" - concentrate more on the jump and less on the GoPro) Cons: - Cost more than square of adhesive that comes with your GoPro

I've used one for many hundreds of jumps. They're awesome. Wouldn't use any other kind of mount at this point. They hold on pretty well. On one zoo jump the camera inadvertently got punched, rotated 180 degrees and I got footage of my stomach for the rest of the jump. It's held on by rubber bands which actually makes it harder to rip it off in my opinion - they stretch and then go back into place. That having been said they cut away pretty well too. Change the rubber bands every week and you'll get lots of practice.

If you are referring to my post, I did not say it had a weak flare. I've owned a number of canopies and my Sabre2 was my favorite in terms of flare. My friend had issues with the canopy retaining too much forward speed. Some people like that. I certainly liked it about my Sabre2. But I'm younger and in better athletic shape. Like I said, try a few canopies, find one you like. What one person likes another won't. Also consider canopies behave very different at different wingloadings. This is very evident with the Storm. Load it up and harness turns become extremely aggressive.

A good friend of mine had the exact opposite experience. He went up from a S2 170 to an EP 210 loaded at ~1.0 and he loved it because he no longer had to run out his landings - they were easier on his legs. Always important to try out a canopy before committing $$$ to buying it...

I ordered AADs from skyshop.eu. Came out to be ~$200 cheaper than if ordered from America, thanks to the collapse of the euro (a year ago mind you... your local pro shop that hasn't changed the prices of its european-imported goods has probably been scamming you)

My understanding is all I-4X infinity containers share the same reserve compartment, which gives those rigs a "longer, thinner" shape versus (for example) I-3X containers which are "shorter and chubbier" for the same size main. I believe longer rigs tend to work better on longer bodies.

6'5" here. Look out for X% off coupons. People get them at boogies but often don't use them. That's how I got my rig. As far as what containers conform to tall bodies best, there are some vectors (i.e. 350-355), and infinity 4X series of containers. I'm actually about to sell my infinity i-43.