mxk

https://web.archive.org/web/20150910075642/http://www.sidsrigging.com/articles/stitchless_fingertrap.htm

Back in '08 I did some testing with two turns of red rigger's thread and the results were: High: 26 lbs Low: 23 lbs Average: 24 lbs It was not the most scientific test that I have ever completed but it gave the info that I wanted. Jerry; If that were true, it means that the same red seal thread would add an average of 24 lbs. to every reserve pull and all ripcords would fail the required 22 lb. test. Bill I'm repacking my reserve and decided to measure the Skyhook disconnect force myself. It took 4.7 lbs to extract the green and red lanyards from their respective pockets. The disconnect force, measured three times, was 12.0, 12.5, and 11.3 lbs. I made these measurements by pulling straight up with a peak-hold digital gauge attached to a slip knot in the bridle. 24 lbs for two passes of the seal thread seems reasonable to me.

Good, you're almost at ISO 8601, just change '/' to '-'

On my Vector3, I originally used the back-to-front attachment because that's how it was shown in the photos. I later changed it for two reasons. First, with that tab facing forward it is easier to disconnect in freefall by grabbing the tab with the left hand and pulling forward rather than sideways or toward your body (and I did practice this procedure in freefall). Second, with the main deployed, the front-to-back orientation seemed more natural for the shackle (no twists in the tape), and again, it would be easier to disconnect if you wanted to get rid of the main without deploying the reserve. If this incident is actually a case of the RSL being disconnected by the departing main, I think it would be a good argument in favor of the back-to-front attachment. Would be nice to hear from some of the manufacturers about whether their photos represent the recommended practice or if that's just the orientation they chose to make the photographs clearer.

MEL, I'm surprised to see Spectre on that list. I have Dacron lines on mine and picked it specifically for its opening characteristics. Is it just down to the line choice or are there design aspects as well that put it so high on your list?

I've had my Rev2 for 2.5 years and haven't experienced this problem. I removed the cutaway system from my helmet because I was concerned about the handle getting caught on something and disconnecting the strap unintentionally (also didn't have much confidence in the actual design). Could that be the culprit? Don't turn your head that way

Yes, here are some threads on this topic: SENA 20S bluetooth comunication device In helmet communication for RW Anyone using air to air radios/Bluetooth setups?

David, I'm assuming you've taken apart cutters from various manufacturers. Do you have any photographs you can share? I'm just curious what their internal construction looks like. Is there anything fundamentally different about Vigil cutters that would make them safer than what Argus had, or are the basic problems with cylindrical blades still the same?

When the main deploys, MLW and handles move up several inches. Your wingsuit fabric is going to be tensioned between your shoulders and your feet. I suppose if you quickly bend your legs, you'll create enough slack, but sooner or later you'll just tear the wingsuit. Hiding the chest strap will increase the odds of someone forgetting to fasten it, and you're relying on two slippery lines with knots in them to keep the wingsuit attached to your MLW in just the right position. This still seems like a really bad idea to me.

Once it switches out of wingsuit mode, it will behave as a regular CYPRES either in Expert (78 mph) or Speed (102 mph) mode, depending on the configuration. Exact parameters are described in the manual starting on page 16: https://www.cypres.aero/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/CYPRES_2_users_guide_English_2017-01.pdf

I think the one difference with the Skyhook in an AAD fire or straight-to-reserve situation is that a certain amount of energy stored in the spring is spent on disconnecting the Skyhook (i.e. breaking the sealing thread and pulling the green tab out). This is evident when you do practice launches before a reserve repack and it happens when the PC is just 5 ft from the container, making it more likely that the PC will get stuck in the burble. For now, I still jump my wingsuit with Skyhook connected, but this does worry me a bit. I'm curious whether there have been any attempts to design a spring-loaded pilot chute that launches at an angle instead of straight back? An asymmetrical spring or a hesitation/staging device applied to one side of the base might increase the chances of clearing the burble, just like a hand-deployed PC.

It's not an Old Guy point of view. My DZ has a well-designed website with an "Events" page and a Google Groups mailing list for all members. Take a guess as to the only place where you can actually find the registration link for Safety Day. Sadly, this entire sport and a good chunk of the Internet as a whole have been consumed by the cancer that is Facebook. "Likes" and "social" matter more than longevity, standards, open access, or accuracy of information. Translation: We don't want to pay someone competent to maintain our website, and the son of one of our employees who's "good with computers" is busy with schoolwork. Happy to see companies being shamed for this crap.

Just for reference, what suits are you placing in the "large acro" category and how quickly is quickly? Relevant discussion for me, as I just placed an order for the Hunter after flying the (original) Funk for the last year and being pretty disappointed in its acro capabilities, among other things.

I have ~340 jumps on my Spectre 230 @ 1.1 loading. PD characterizes its glide as "flat" and I would agree with that. Returning from a long spot has never been an issue for me. As for the flare, do you have your toggles at the default factory setting? I shortened mine by 1" to get a better flare (talk to a rigger before doing this). I also tend to use double fronts on final to pick up a bit of extra speed. With that, I don't find the flare lacking at all. I demoed Storm 210 in September (and 230 a couple of years ago), which PD claims has a stronger flare, but I really didn't feel that much of a difference. It's stronger because of the steeper glide, but I could achieve the same effect with front risers on the Spectre, so it's more about finding the right technique. Riser length is another thing to consider. Longer risers move the toggles up, which means you can pull them down a few more inches.

Remember that it's not just the elastic that it needs to go though. On my Vector, the nylon ripstop channel that routes the cutter cable along the edge of the first flap is barely wide enough for the Vigil cutter. If I tried to feed the cable backwards, I'm pretty sure that the connector would not fit through this channel.

I think you're making your already steep road to adoption even steeper. Unless you're using the cutter for additional functions, like having some sensors in there, I don't see how the current designs are "carryovers of the old." To put it another way, suppose Airtec and/or Advanced Aerospace Designs were given all the implementation details of your hardware and software, and were asked to produce an AAD with the same functionality. Would they also redesign their cutters and use a different elastic? This is more than just a hypothetical question, because having now seen your device, companies that are already established in this market would have either dismissed it as something that would not put a dent in their market share, or are already working on their own versions.

Fixed that for you (I use Type 8 risers, so can confirm)

I bought a box of Listo assorted color pencils. I like them, assuming that they are safe to use on canopy fabric: [inline "listo.jpg"]

These two would be serious neglect from the rigger and frankly I'm not sure that your run-off-the-mill jumper is even qualified to assess those... They should certainly be able to recognize a missing seal, and it can be harder to see problems of the "not there" type than "there but not correct." As for the other two, both are from my personal experience and serve as an important lesson that every jumper should learn at some point - riggers make mistakes. I keep a list of all the articles in the Parachutist that are just on that topic. I encountered the RPC issue while still a student jumping the school's Vector SEs. The outline of the RPC was visible through the flaps and you could rock it back and fourth more than half an inch. Having received multiple gear checks from my instructors using the same rig, I didn't think much of it. Then one time, I was finishing packing the rig when someone saw the issue and called a rigger over to take a look. He decided to give me a different rig and repack this one. The point isn't for all jumpers to accurately evaluate the problem and decide whether something needs to be done about it, but to understand that this particular area of the rig may have problems X, Y, and Z, and know just enough about them to ask for a second opinion when anything looks suspicious.

There were two that I missed at DeWolf's course: bent reserve pin, where you can only see it if you look carefully from the side, and metal cutaway cable too short. In my defense for the latter, I've had less than a year in the sport at that point and only seen Spectra ripcords that were on our student rigs. You remember mistakes like that and don't make them twice. Later that year, I saw a jumper who I thought had a ripcord cable that was too short and suggested that he talk to the master rigger at our DZ. A few months after that, I read an article in the Parachutist written by our rigger about an unnamed jumper whose reserve deployed due to a short cable as he was setting up in the door. Found out a bit later that it was the same guy. Fortunately, no injuries or damage to the plane. Other suggestions: The less visible parts of the 3-ring assembly. From what I've seen, very few people actually verify that the cable and the loop are routed correctly since they are often hidden under the riser. I keep meaning to do an experiment of not routing the loop through the grommet on the housing and then seeing how many gear checks it takes before someone spots it. Type-8 risers make this more of a challenge. Closing loop too short/long/worn out. On the Vector, side flaps should overlap at the tapes, and the grommets should not be stacked. I'm sure we've all sat by the side of the packing mat and watched someone drenched in sweat putting every ounce of their strength to pull a bit more of the closing loop out. I usually give them five minutes before suggesting that the loop is probably a bit too short Reserve loop too long may be another good thing to test. This is especially important on Vectors and other containers with fully covered RPCs due to increased risk of a container lock or hesitation with AAD activation. Seeing the outline of the RPC through the flaps is not a good sign and this is a problem that can develop gradually if the loop was not sufficiently pre-stretched. Non-RSL-side cutaway cable not routed through the Collin's lanyard (on Skyhook rigs). Like the 3-ring, this is another thing that's easy to reassemble incorrectly when cleaning your cutaway cables. Saw a group of jumpers standing around a rig last winter and discussing whether the cable should be routed through the yellow loop or not. They finally decided to take one of the student rigs off the rack and compare. None of them knew what it was or why it was there. Remove the reserve seal or misroute the sealing thread through the closing loop. Caught the latter issue once on a jumper who was sitting in front of me on the airplane. Set the AAD to a -300 ft altitude offset. Use something that would look reasonable without the minus sign. I would put in as many errors as you can. Experienced people can learn from this as well and if someone ends up missing 10+ problems, that might serve as a wake-up call to learn a bit more about their gear and maybe read the manuals. Doing a pre-jump check on a mannequin and checking a rig that's on a table are two different types of tasks and I think both would be useful.

If you read the links that I posted above, you'll see that UPS and FedEx are talking about "lithium metal and lithium ion batteries shipped alone that are not contained in or packed with equipment." Batteries installed in their intended equipment are in a different category.

Your laptop and cell phone use lithium-ion batteries, which are rechargeable and must be shipped at no more than 30% charge. AAD batteries are lithium metal, which are not rechargeable. Both UPS and FedEx put additional restrictions on shipping these types of batteries as of January 1st, so I doubt that this is just to make extra money. Here's the relevant IATA document: http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/lithium-battery-guidance-document-2017-en.pdf

To expand on Blis' comment, here's UPT Rubber Stow Bands Bulletin:

I ordered one from UPT on Monday for $150: 27" ZP, freefly handle, wingsuit-length bridle. The bridle is 8' between the pin and the pilot chute, so same as SkySnatch. In my opinion, a handle with a lock tab is more beneficial for safety than a low-oscillation pilot chute.

For the one or two people who have never heard of Sigma (are you living under a rock?!?), it's a one-year-old Silicon Valley social media startup who are promising "permanent records" with zero credibility, and whose business plan is to get as many users with their personal information as possible to attract the interest of Google, Facebook, etc. before the funding runs out. USPA decided to make their dream come true by sharing the entire member database with them. And just to top it off, instead of making this pointless and ill-conceived idea opt-in, they thought that giving you two days to opt-out would be quite sufficient. Oh look... they have a skydiver on their team. Now it all makes sense. (I seriously can't believe that an organization like USPA can be this naïve.)