hookitt

Experienced freeflying riggers have a better advantage understanding Vector IIs than new skydivers. Even the ones that "have had no problems" Your question is a fair one but it's not fair to believe people with limited experience both skydiving and rigging would grasp what can happen. Even tight Vector IIs allow flaps to come open. It is easy for air to get under the reserve flap and flip it open. The main pin cover doesn't fit very tight on most Vector IIs. If it is fairly snug, present the side of the rig to the air. As the air hits the side of the main cover flap, it easily flips it open. The riser covers are long. They cover the riser completely because they curve in slightly. Present the back of the rig to the air, it gets in the loose portion of the riser cover and often peels it open. If the rig is in a yoke to earth position, much of the riser can come out and be hanging over the arm. Good Velcro or Velcro less toggles may, or may not hold. I've seen both occur. New skydivers can't be expected to know failure modes of a rig. Knowing what the rig is supposed to look like, how 3 rings work and such is expected but to most skydivers, failure modes don't present themselves until a failure occurs. Then it's obvious. I've seen enough occurrences long ago that I know the failure modes, and can see failure modes with ease. A new jumper doesn't know he is causing the rig to fail and was probably told it could handle it. As previously stated, new Velcro and a bridle cover, doesn’t make a Vector II System "freefly friendly" Your rig (even according to your description) is probably not suited for 3 D flying. I've watched enough problems (big and small) occur to ever suggest it. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Nice 2 things 1) Keep the other toggle you'll have more control. You have riser experience which is good but in a tight area, that extra tail deflection can save you. 2) Toggles don't release unless something breaks or it's mis-rigged. My vote is for mis-rigged. Figure out why it was mis-rigged and don't let it occur again. Chances are you had the loop through the guide ring, then the brake setting over the loop and then the toggle through the loop. That is wrong. It goes Brake setting over the loop, then loop through the guide ring then toggle through the loop ... on top of the guide ring. Stay safe. Your skydiving and swooping skills just saved you. Congratulations on your first BASE jump. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Yes, lift the element and take out the black pan. The rest you can figure out. Good luck! My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Have any of you guys actually hung a medium sized cat from one leg of a standard ceiling fan? You may want to give it a go. It stops the fan. The fan in the video didn't even miss a beat. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

It rained about 30 days in a row here recently so my sympathy level is right at about Zero My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

That was back in 2003, do you think I would have remembered who suggested that? Not a chance. I just searched for the thread and it happened to be him. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Sound familiar? My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Do the same exercise without the chair, with your back against a pole or a wall. It's more intense but the right muscles are used, and you can get the exact position you want. Try it with out the chair for a while and acclimate your body to that position and feeling. It's much easier in the sky but you still have to resist the air. You have to be strong, but not rigid. If you are flying rigid, you can't feel the air, if you fly strong, but still are able to move the limbs, the sensation of the air against parts of the body is much easier to feel. Hope that made sense. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Playgirl Magazine is always a favorite. Leave it just out of reach if he's immobile. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

In general, Vector II's are not safe to freefly in. If you fly on your back or head down, or do lots of freestyle flippy things, even good velcro will peel open exposing the risers and toggles to the wind. If the riser covers were really short, iit would be less of a problem, but they are quite long. The main pin cover flap in flips open on most Vector IIs. The reserve cover flap will come open pretty easily as well. Adding bridle protection should occur whether you freefly or not, but it alone will not make the rig "freefly friendly" Premature openings can, and have, caused gear damage. Most importantly, a premature opening can and has caused body damage. Good luck. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

That's even better than the tab and much easier to manufacture. Nice work Ray. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

It's not about how slow you can fall. I can go that slow with hardly any forward motion. You should go race some good trackers and also have a tracking contest or 2 to really get honed in. Also do a lot of controlled multi people tracking dives. Make sure the leader will actually track fairly fast and learn to control your body first. I recently purchased some used phoenix fly pants and I can tell you with all certainty, they will fly you more than you fly them until your tracking skills are dialed in. Good luck! My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

A level 3 in my opinion is way overkill. Modified level 4 is fine. You already know how to skydive. All I would want to know is that you know emergency procedures, can fly stable, and that you are altitude aware to pull on time. Here's what's needed: One uncurrent skydiver (dmitri76). One instructor. Emergency procedures review and practice. A proper gear check review. Hand signals review. A dive flow. After that, it's don the equipment, dirt dive and head out to the airplane. Good luck My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Keep the velcro regardless. It will keep the toggle against the riser. You want this when sticking your hand inside the toggle. If it's not secure agains the riser, your hand can go behind the toggle while doing a blind grab. On a BASE jump, I never look at toggles before my hands are in them unless it's an off heading opening. The goal of the original poster was to keep the tail of the toggle from coming off the riser. An added tuck to an existing velcro toggle is a good solution. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

My answer was no. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

There are many velcroless toggle designs and some work well, some are not so good. If I were to make a toggle, I'd just redesign my existing velcro toggles to include a tab at the bottom of the toggle, and an elastic hood on the riser. Leave the velcro where it is. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

You won't have to start over. Take an emergency procedures refresher and go jump with an instructor to prove you can still fly. You and the instructor will plan the dive, go over body position, and hand signals in case you need some coaching in the air. It will come right back to you. Good luck. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

My brother has an Irish Wolfhound named Sally, and a Beagle named Bailey. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

My driver is a used Ping Titanium f8.5 degree. My putter is a REALLY old used Ping putter. Then there's a super cheap and surprisingly effective hybrid made by RAM. I think I paid 25 bucks for it. The irons are Callaway Steelhead X16. I picked them up for under 300 bucks at Play it again Sports about 1 year and 1/2 ago. I borrowed a set of King Cobras one day in Texas and the driver was awesome. The irons felt about the same as what I have but then again, my experience is quite limited. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

I have a great set of Callaway irons. I'm not much of a golfer but I like to golf. It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! It's a sport! It's a game! My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

How many times has an instructor told me my next student is about to get the bowling speech in real life? It's happened quite a few times actually, and all of the the students learned to skydive. You're an *interesting* character mr wieder sir. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

24s are in fact... gay My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Ok. You may scrap the information in my post as it does not pretain to a chest mounted ripcord. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

I missed this part. Where are you jumping? My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

The look portion of the Arch Reach Look Pull sequence should be removed. It's a wonder there are still instructors teaching that part. Hand Mount altimeters should have replaced chest mounts by now as well. Arch Reach Pull should be taught. When you look, it often breaks the body postions. Think of this... Arch look, barrel roll, pull. Within a month of recieving my AFF rating, the *Look* was removed and there was a vast improvement in the students pull sequence. Soon after, we got rid of the chest mounts and went to hand mounts and students quit breaking the arch to read it. As for the pull sequence. The cutaway handle is in plain view when performing the look portion of the sequence. You don't pull the cutaway first so why look at it? You can't see the rip cord very easily anyway, so why bother? When it's time to cutaway, that's when you look at it. Do whatever your instructor teaches but it's my opinion, backed by most of the world, that trying to look at the ripcord hurts more than helps. "Don't let progress get in the way of tradition" I always say. Looking at the ripcord and using a chest mount, is tradition. (Quote modified from a Military friend of mine... "Don't let progress get in the way of 100 years of tradition") My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto