RMURRAY

JVX pilots will dominate. just a matter of time. PD makes a good reserve though... rm

Does the flex closing pin tell if the PC is cocked or if the reserve pin/riser cover flaps are proper or if part of the PC bridle is exposed or is there are any problems with the rig that an extra set of eyes might catch that may have been overlooked? Self pin checks prior to exit is a personal choice, there seems to be more reasons to get one than to not. do you freeflyers think pullouts are more secure than throw outs?....rm

bill booth had commented on this. just search using flex pin........rm First, the yellow coating I use on my breakaway handles is Lolon F (an "alloy" of nylon, not Teflon), coating a 7x7 steel cable. It is the best choice for breakaway cables for several reasons. It is very tough, reasonably slippery, flexible, easy to form ends with, and won't get brittle until -60C. I have never heard of it cracking or coming off the cable in the 20 years I have been using it. (Jump shack IS using Teflon, which they color code red. We do not use it for too many reasons to go into here.) The black coating we use for student ripcords is another form of nylon. We do not use it for 3 ring cable because it is too stiff, not as slippery, and cracks far easier than Lolon F. However, Its stiffness is a good feature for a spring loaded pilot chute main container system, and because main systems are packed before each jump, a crack should be easily spotted. I offer a third kind of nylon, with no color coding, for main container flex pins on my older Tandem systems. It is a thicker coating on a thicker steel cable. Each coating and cable size is carefully chosen for its application after a lot of testing. Here are the positives and negatives of flex pins on solo system main containers. Positives: 1. If your container is too big for your canopy and/or your closing loop is too long, and you jump a rig without adequate bridle protection, and your entire bridle comes out of the pilot chute pouch (without the pilot chute) while doing head down, then the flex-pin is less likely to be prematurely removed by the wind drag on the horseshoed bridle, which by the way, is well under one pound.. Negatives: 1. Because the flex-pin is longer than a curved pin, you must be very careful to leave enough pilot chute bridle, between the pin and bag, slack AND exposed, to allow the pin to leave the loop. If you carefully tuck all bridle between the pin and the bag safely inside your container, you will have a pilot chute in tow malfunction. 2. Because the flex-pin is longer and has more surface friction than a stainless curved pin, it damages your closing loop ten times faster. Also, you cannot put your pull-up cord under a flex-pin before removing it as you would with a stainless curved pin, because the pull-up cord would then cut grooves in the nylon coating of the flex-pin causing a possible total on your next jump. This causes you to further damage your closing loop each time you remove your pull-up cord. And the heat damage the flex-pin and pull-up cord do to your closing loop is nearly invisible. This sets you up for a broken loop, out -of-sequence horseshoe malfunction. Do you pack your own rig every time? Are you sure the packers understand the above limitations of your flex-pin system? Then you have to worry about which type of nylon coating your flex-pin has (will it crack, or splinter, or come off the steel cable core?), and whether the nicopress swage which holds the whole thing together was properly applied. Standards for the above items are simply not published. 3. Curved pins cannot be "pushed" out, they simply rotate in place. Try it. When a curved pin comes out prematurely, it was most likely pulled out by a bridle snag. And anything which snags your bridle will probably not stop pulling after only one inch. So flex-pins offer no protection from bridle snag induced premature openings. This is just the short list. If flex-pins were better for most solo rig applications, we would offer them. We don't. Bill Booth

after student status, I have had line twists only once or twice in about 1400 jumps and have only had racers. And do lots of (real) hop n pops with a VX. Their narrow dbag line stows help - at least I think they do. I read somewhere here on DZ.com that a manufacturer is looking into the contribution of sticky tuck tabs to line twists on highly loaded canopies.... rm

I have on of MELs for my VX. a buddy got one (from MEL) for his Velocity. works great! rm

nice. does your 2.0 fly "better" than a normal JVX? Have not heard much on the subject lately. not going to buy one - just interested... rm

My god new gear is such a rip off! It is only worth what someone will pay for it. If the colours are ugly, you won't be able to give it away. That is why I always sell stuff separately when selling for friends. The reserve and cypres will not depreciate much at all... rm

keep it but get a dome slider from MEL at skyworks rigging. My dzo got one for his sabre1 170 and it made the canopy jumpable overnight. rm

no, I don't think Canadians would vote in a government who would free up restrictions on handguns. This is not the US. rm

what are you going to sport it at a gay pride parade or what. a better question would be to riggers asking if a 143r is a struggle to pack into an OJ to which they will reply no. rm

actually rubber does not melt. it burns though. rm

Nancy has said to me they do NOT follow this forum regularly. As you can imagine it would be too time consuming and if anyone has a concern will call them directly. rm

Then you have to figure out if the parts will fit. It's hard enough for a new jumper to figure out what they want/need. Ther e ought to be enough complete rigs in the 170 class to meet her needs. Hell, for 3k you can buy all new without the AAD. If she can find an 8 yo model for 400ish, she's pretty close. I did buy in pieces, but more driven by no job at the time and trying to cut costs. Bought the container and reserve (try finding a PD218 or Smart 220 used!) new, found a main and a NIB cypres2 after failing to find an 8 yo. Other places to look: the Enclave has a small number of sale ads. Bonnie (GG) is a local dealer to me, she has some used parts for sale. Same will be true for many dealers, be it local DZ affiliates to those with a larger internet footprint. And don't forget to spread the word at the DZ. So deals happen without advertizing. it is not hard. first, pick the reserve you need - get advice on the size. if you have lots of cash pick the best - for example PD143R. then pick the container which fits the reserve, go for something well known - for example Javelin OJ then make sure you know the harness size that fits you (try other peoples on). For example, Javelin OJ C17. make sure the main will not be a struggle to pack and is well suited for your experience - stick with well known brands like a Sabre2 150. If you are getting an AAD it is a no brainer. rm

buy everything separately. you get what you want. rm

yes, it does if you are talking US dollars. Did you get ripped off on an exchange rate, Duty or Tax. Did you include the cost to ship the canopy in both directions - most people don't. rm

until now, i have only recieved a few PMs and some references to unnamed engineers that are speedbag supporters. this is as close to support as i believe i will get. on a side note, every single PM, and even Bill Booth's reply seems to allude to high-speed, high-load military applications. i still don't have enough information to understand why the change in design was deemed necessary or advantageous for sport rigs. you have been jumping long enough to know that skydiving has changed over the years. The speedbag is not deemed necessary by all, it is only deemed necessary by JumpShack (so far) and it is to guard against line dump / bag strip during a high speed reserve deployment. For example, like a freeflyer who is saved by an AAD or accidental deployment during a FF jump. I have a racer but may not replace my old style bag because i don't FF and never will... rm

yes, if i move it out of the helmet it is going there. however, when you are looking down you are not looking around at traffic. truth is I have been too lazy to find a pillow to screw it to and move it to the legstrap.... rm

What does a Sigma go for brand new? I mean complete, ready to jump?

I just bought a Neptune (for swooping) and have it in my helmet for now. I might just keep it there. I allows me to keep track of traffic, ground references, progress over the ground etc without becoming fixated at it (the Neptune). I have it set at 1400, 1000 and 700. Works great. Yes, I could have bought the Optima (or whatever it is called) but I have the option of moving out of my helmet. rm

Is a brand new Sigma system only 11k US? I have been thinking about getting rated and buying gear. Although probably best to "just use DZ gear" I look to the very experienced TMs who have recently bought their own gear. They are tending to buy Racer. 10k US for container (Tandem Racer), reserve (AngelFire), main (Firebolt) and AAD (Vigil) is pretty tough to beat. rm

a new DVD is available from JumpShack. Any rigger in Canada who wants a copy without ordering direct can let me know, I'll send you a copy for free. I am no expert but I think it is useful for new as well as experienced riggers. rm

I went on a tour of PD a couple of years ago. It was most impressive --- second only to the 1 hour personal talk we had from Bill Booth while a buddy was picking up a Pilot Chute. Having said this, manufacturing in US and Canada for certain items is going to die - it is a natural development. I predict in 10 years PD will make all products in Honduras and zero in Deland. rm

how many openings do you have with your setup at 180mph and not in an optimum body position? The speedbag deployments are supposed to improve at HIGH speed - apparently it works well at low speeds as well. I would also like to see an A to B test. Video would not even be needed. If one reserve blows up and the other does not that would be good enough for me. It should be possible (without putting anyone at risk). rm

is line dump / bag strip a possible root cause for this accident? rm

this has been all talked about before. search the forums using "nancyj" (nancy from jumpshack) and read what she has had to say. I think what she is saying very carefully is that the root cause of the Raven line attachment issue was not the fault of the reserve - it was the fault of the reserve deployment system..... "I forgot to mention the other deficiency of the old style bungee stow/pouch freebag - the destruction of reserve canopies in the event of line strip. There've been several instances where lines tore from reserve canopies, or canopies blew up as a result of line strip. It's not that the canopies were not built strong enough - it's that the deployment system did not meter the lines out in a controlled manner, and sufficiently soften the opening. There has been more than one fatality as a result."