murrays

Everyone...thanks for all the advice (again!) I just ordered a new throw-out kill line pilot chute with a 100" bridle and a BOC pocket to convert my old Racer to throw-out. I have a PD150 in the Racer ... I may also be able to put a Triathlon 160 in it so, one way or the other, I'll have a more forgiving and docile canopy than the Stiletto to jump. So, once the p/c parts arrive and I get them sewn on and the suit come sin the mail...I am ready to go for it. The fact that we are possibly getting snow flurries tomorrow is a hint that our season up here is about to end. I hope to get a few flights in before we're done. Once again, thank-you for all the excellent advice. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

The Pegasus was my second square. Landing it was like going to heaven compared to landing my Cobra 10, a National Parachute knockoff of the Strato-star. I put several hundred jumps on mine and it was really a great canopy for its time. I sold it to buy a Bandit, Django's first small, 168 Sq. Ft., nine-cell. Totally radical for its' day, the Bandit and I had a lot of fun together. Did lots of crw..I was always the base/pilot...swooped it as best I could. People were always amazed at the landings ... which would be laughably short swoops by today's standards. I later owned a Cruiselite Beta, a smaller version of the Cruiselite. which was about 185 sq.ft. I had a ton of fun with the Cruiselite as well...lots and lots of crw, never malfunctioned...another great little canopy. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Quade, I think square dancing is more physically demanding than the Winter Olympic sport of ....Curling. Well, maybe when you have to sweep like a mother to "drag" a stone it's more demanding than square dancing but that is about it. (You Californians know all about curling don't you? ) -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Mousetrap baited with peanut butter. Our fearless hunter brought a mouse in a couple of months ago. It ran under an old writing desk. I tipped up the desk to let Fred (the cat) get it. He did, I ran to the door to open it. Fred dropped the mouse. Mouse ran under the piano. A little harder to tip. I got a long ruler and flicked the mouse out from under the piano. Fred grabbed it, I ran to the door to open it. Fred dropped the mouse. It ran back under the piano and up into the piano. I took the piano apart as much as I could to see where the mouse was hiding. I couldn't find it. Fred walked away and went to sleep. A couple of hours later, so did I. The next day I bought a couple of mousetraps, loaded them up with peanut butter and a few hours later the mouse was in the garbage. My back was sore from shoving the piano all over the living room but the rodent problem was solved.

So, now that I have taken the plunge and laid down the plastic, read the Flight Manual, FAQ and Instructor checklist..I am wondering..... What is the best way to exit a C182 for my first flights? Poised exit off the step or dive it out? How about doing flights with the other two Bird-men to be at our dz (Who haven't gotten their suits yet)? How can we do a group exit out of a C182? I am jumping a Javelin TJN with a Stiletto. I think I'll borrow a different main but am still wondering about the corners of the TJN. The main pack tray seems pretty deep and the corners pretty high. How important is it to have non-restrictive corners? Is it more of a consideration if you are jumping an elliptical rather than something more docile? I also have an old Racer with a pull-out whose corners are less restrictive. If I do a quick conversion to BOC, how long should the bridle be and do I need a larger pilot chute? Would the Racer be a better choice due to the corners? I guess this applies to the Javelin as well. Now I can't wait for the package to arrive... -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

It's ok. Used gear doesn't come in custom colours. Don't sweat it...as long as it saves your life and you have fun with it! -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

I called Bird-Man about the used GTI and it was already gone but Asaf told me Skydive Deland had some suits for sale, put me in touch with them and I bought a used Classic for $250 this morning. So, hopefully it will arrive before the snow flies and I'll get to put a few jumps on it. Should be a good enough way to start without putting a lot of $$ into a suit. Thanks Steve, I wouldn't have called if not for you

Kim, Chuck, everybody else.... Thank-you so much for your advice and concerns...I'm very lucky to get advice from such experienced people and it is much appreciated. As I am unable to make a lot of skydives these days, I will look for a GTI or maybe a Classic. I'd likely do quite well with a Classic as I am 5'11", 165 and have always been told I track really well. But I think it would be nice to have a GTI like the other two guys on the dz are getting...and I would likely get a better bang for the buck with a GTI in terms of having something to challenge me for a long time. Thanks again for all your help! -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Derek, Glad to hear that you enjoyed your first crew with Angus. He and I have had many, many adventures together under canopy. There are a couple of old mid-80's vintage CReW shots on this webpage. "Kaching" is Angus and I cutting away from a Side by Side .. we then did a biplane/downplane on our reserves. In the "Docking Biplanes" shot Angus is under the black canopy. Angus just told me a couple of days ago he has been jumping at PST lately and mentioned doing a first crw jump. Enjoy your skydives with "Angie" (hard g), he's one of the funnest and finest people I've met in this sport over the last 23 years. I sure miss him living out here in the west. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

You're gonna love it! -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'll just stay in the weeds and wait for a GTI or even an S3 to come along. In the meantime I hope to make a few jumps with my buddies' GTIs. Much appreciated

I am lurking the classifieds hard for a used BM suit. Would a Skyflyer (original model) be appropriate or a first suit? I have 2200 jumps...and 1 PantZ dive The chances of me getting somewhere to get instruction from a BM instructor are pretty low. However, 2 of the guys in our club are anxiously awaiting their GTIs and have had instruction...and would be able to help me out. They both have 600-800 jumps. Thanks for any suggestions/opinions... -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Freefly version. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

I have had a 20gb model for nearly a year. It is a great piece of technology. I have all my kids' music loaded on it, my wife's and mine and when we go on trips it is easy to play whatever we want without hauling cds around, changin the cds in the 20 disc changer, etc. I use mine to make backups of my family digital photos, video projects as well as put contacts and calendars into. Apple just announced new 20bg and 40gb models this morning. $499 for 40 gb that will hold ~ 10,000 songs. They all come ready to go on Windows with USB2 connectivity as well as Firewire for Macs or Windows machines so equipped. They may be a few bucks more but you get so much storage and extra functionality it is well worth the extra cost. I have no hesitation in recommending an iPod. None whatsoever. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Should have said that sitting in the plane was where I found them hot. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Did a tracking dive with the PantZ and it was quite interesting. It took a while for the others to get sorted out...I was hanging back to video...and I was a long way from the leader but when I straightened the legs out, cupped the shoulders and got it going I just zoomed to the front of the dive. It was very impressive to see how much faster I was able to go. Didn't wear them on the PFF dives...figured I should have a bit more experience with them before trying that out. I loaned them to a buddy to use on a freefly dive and he really liked them. The only thing I didn't like about them was how hot they are...the material doesn't breathe..which is what gives them their performance...but they are a but sweaty to wear. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

The fedex guy dropped off my PantZ this morning. The question I have is: "How much am I going to love'em?" I hope to do a tracking dive and also take a slow falling PFF student up with them on tomorrow....will let you know how it goes. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Answer: Untie your shoes. Why you ask, because it gives you something to do before you bounce. My answer: Hold up your left hand. They ask, "Why?" And I tell them, "One of us on the ground might need a watch." -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

I just finished a transaction buying a pair of PantZ from a seller in the DZ.com classifieds. He was excellent. I would like to let people know of my experience in a manner that can be reffered to by people looking to buy from this person in the future. I have also seen a couple of threads warning people about a pair of people who didn't follow through on items they advertised for sale. The ability to leave feedback on transactions similar to eBay is what I have in mind. I think it would be a very useful feature for everybody using the classifieds. Because the transaction doesn't flow through dz.com like it does on eBay, I can see some difficulties but I think a workable system could be put together. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

My pullout has a spring loaded handle, and each end fits into a small pocket of webbing on the bottom of the container. (Old racer) It wouldn't be automatically released in the event of the main container opening. The systems you describe are a step forward, imo, and appear to eliminate a scenario that I have had some concern about for over 20 years of jumping a pullout. Thanks for the information. Not many people up here jump pullouts any more and I don't get away very much. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

As you point out, an unstable opening with either system can result in a horseshoe. The only scenario for a horseshoe with a pull-out that I have been able to envision is having your pin knocked out while your handle is still attached. I don't know if the handle would get pulled loose or not. Depends on how well secured it is and what happens when your main container opens...will the bag float off, the main start to open and create enough drag to pull the handle and pilot chute loose or what? This is the worst case scenario for a pull-out..as far as I am concerned. A floating handle is nothing...you find it and deploy your main or you don't find it and deploy your reserve ....into clean air. I can't understand why this seems to freak people out so much. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

In the Canadian incident that I am familiar with, pin protection wasn't a factor, just a reserve ripcord cable that was too short. Crappy thing to put a guy in a wheel chair for life. I think rigs today are better, way better...if packed properly but I remember a post by Wendy Faulkner in the CRW forum in which she detailed a bunch of premature one-pin deployments. It seems to me that closing loop length has to be right and adequate tension applied or they can open a bit too easily. The only unintentional reserve deployment that I have seen was a tandem Vector rig that opened as my buddy left the step with a passenger. This was in 1985, before the reserve flaps were changed to prevent the top flap from being able to snag lines. In this case, he was doing a poised exit off a 182, the student was big and pushed him up against the door. When he stepped back, the flap caught, bent and pushed the pin out of the loop. Instant reserve. This was also pre-drogue so there was no problem with him throwing a drogue out as he was planning on doing a freefall before deploying. Take care of your gear, watch your handles and being in the V isn't a problem. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

A floater isn't a big deal...like the man said. I've had 3 or 4 in 2,000 pull-out jumps and found it within 2-3 seconds. Once I even intentionally dropped the handle to do a quick 2-way when I was about to pull after a PFF dive. BOC has done away with a lot of throw-out related bounces that happened due to misrouted bridles, pilot chutes in tow, entanglements or people not pulling their reserve because they were busy diddling with the PC in tow. Our club has had a rash of hard pulls on BOCs that have resulted in reserve rides. Packing a throw-out pilot chute seems to be fairly difficult based on our recent experience. Right now I am jumping a rig with a throw-out and one with a pull-out. I have to tell you that waiting for the pin to get pulled vs. pulling it myself bothers me. I am undecided whether I will convert the newer rig to a pull-out. The fact that I am considering getting a wingsuit is one reason I haven't...maybe the only reason as overall I would still rather jump a pull-out. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

Very cool skydive Kevin! Thanks for the video. Do you think you could fly circles around two people doing a downplane with small canopies and stay fairly relative to them? -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

In about 1980, poor rig design led to a reserve firing on a Canadian jumper named Zoltan Pegan who was in the V of a 182. His reserve pulled him over the wing and he sustained spinal injuries as the back of his neck slammed into the wing. He was left paralyzed from the wais t down..and likely had some impairment of his arms as well, I am not certain of the exact extent of his injuries. His reserve fired because when he leaned forward and bent his back the reserve cable wasn't long enough and his pin(s) pulled. I have never heard of the decapitation and prop strike incident before. I don't feel this is something to worry about. Tens of thousands of 4 way jumps have been made with someone in the V with almost no problem. Chris' description of the exit order is correct. I would add that if you are in the V to guard your reserve handle when the person on the step is getting into position as lower experience people aren't always watching what they are grabbing when they try to grab the strut. Modern rigs should all have proper reserve cable and cable housing lengths to prevent accidental firings. Be sure your reserve closing loop is in good shape, properly tensioned, etc. -- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey