ZigZagMarquis

Over the years... I've had an original Dytter and now a Pro-Dytter mounted in the ProTec I wear when jumping. I've mounted both styles similar to how WendyW said... what I do is use Super Tack and just tie it in place around the foam liner in the ProTec so that it's in the ear-hole with the speaker facing towards your ear. In short, "no" you don't have to buy an expensive helmet to mount a regular old Dytter or Pro-Dytter in it... regardless of what the gear shop owners may tell you... ooops, did I say that last part out-loud... doh!

I've got about 1000 jumps on an original Sabre and hard-openings from time to time just went with the teritory on that canopy it seems... Now, I've got something like 400 to 600 jumps on a Sabre-2 and I cannot say as I've ever had what I would call a hard opening on a Sabre-2 when comparing to what a hard opening on an original Sabre could mean... now if you want to talk squirrely Sabre-2 openings... that's a different story...

That's a tough one... personally, container colors are about the only thing I'm picky about anymore, as in, if I ordered it that way, I want it that way, so I'd say if it bugs you, send it back and get it fixed... the suggestion that since you're in the NorthEast, waiting until winter might not ba a bad idea... I'd check though to see if Relative Workshop is going to do it for free or charge you... I'd be pretty hard over that it be done for free since it sounds like it was their mistake... but then on the other hand, if you wait some length of time before sending it back, it may not be quite fair to them to then expect it to still be done for free, just some food for thought. ... as for main and reserve canopies... my favorite colors are "IN STOCK!"

Check make sure it is hooked up correctly to the bag / canopy. I've seen kill-line pilot chutes hooked up incorreclty and they will not cock right / stay cocked. If you're unsure, find the instructions that should have come with it and/or ask a rigger. After that, pretty much what Gravity said, cock it, have some one experienced check it, to make sure its cocked and you may have to just color a bit more of the kill line, but if you're finding that you have to color A LOT more of the kill line, keep digging.

Body position Body Position Body Position Sabre 2's are unforgiving when it comes to bad body position on opening... that's my 2 cents. How I deal with it. DO NOT watch the bag lift off your back! Wave, toss, eyes on the horizon, Arch! -- put your d*ck in the dirt (or push the bush... which ever applies) and make sure you're level as the bag leaves, line stretch, etc... when the canopy starts to sit you up... I get ahold of the risers and spread them... as noted above. I don't try to do that "fly the opening by shifting in the harness sh*t", doesn't work for me, if it works for you, good on you, doesn't work for me. When the canopy is pretty much open, I will fly the rear risers if need be to get pointed away from other jumpers and/or stop a "turn" as need be before collapsing my slider and unstowing my breaks... etc. Good luck.

I agree completely

I do jump all winter, and definitely with gloves. Too freaking cold in PA to go without! Depending on temp at altitude, I wear them on high hop/pops as well. Don't need numb fingers at 13500 feet I also wear them if I can't get my wedding/engagement rings off, which happens after a weekend of busting my ass packing rigs. Jen ... you should have made him get you a wedding rig not a wedding ring...

Ooohh... Jen, you must not jump much in the winter then if you don't like jumping with gloves... ... gloves are a good thing, believe me, a bloody hand even from time to time is not. Me... I wear gloves year round. Batting gloves with liners in the winter and those open finger, mesh back, leather palm weight lifting gloves in the summer... give them a try if you don't like goves... they cover up a good portion of your hands, but still leave your fingers free so you can "feel" stuff, which is a big complaint folks have against gloves. In the winter, even out here in sunny SoCal, goves are a must as it can be "minus-butt-ass-cold" at altitude. Anyway...

Jen, ... weirdness... I had someone ask me if I could sew some re-riser loops on thier rig / risers after almost the exact same circumstances... e.g. "bad spot"... "trying to get back" I usually grab the rear risers at the connector links and pull down on them there when trying to re-riser back from a long spot. It doesn't take a lot. I think most people over-do it when trying to rear-riser back from a long spot. You also said, "I have a hell of a time just reaching toggles and can't even stall my canopy without wrapping line around my hands"... How long are your risers? ... and, how tall are you? Switching to a shorter set of risers would help... I'd suggest 19" risers if your rig currently has risers longer then that... even a couple of inches can make a diff...

If you go to: http://www.parachuteriggers.com/packing%20instructions.htm ... there is a link that looks like it should take you to the packing instructions for the Cirrus, but the link is broken. Maybe you could contact Paraflite directly at: PARA-FLITE INCORPORATED 5800 Magnolia Avenue Pennsauken New Jersey 08109-1399 USA Telephone (856) 663 -1275 ... and see what they'll tell you or if they'll send you an ower's / packing manual. Some of the old "grey haired" master riggers here on the board may chime in. There is a link on Paraflite's website under the Reference Library, Service Bulletins section that says "Swift Reserve Recall Notice", but I cannot get that link to open either... may be a problem with my machine... anyway, I'b be currious to hear what that says. I packed an original Swift Reserve with the "fly away" break lines while going through Rigger Training... it was interesting. Dunno if the Cirrus is configured the same way or not... maybe you do?

Breakoff??? Ah! Somewhere before IMPACT! ... but seriously... I wind up organizing a lot of loads... 2-Ways to 20-Ways... folks with 100 to 200 jumps to folks with 4000ish jumps... I've pretty much gone to a 4.5K break-off no matter what the number-way... might bump it up or stage it on the larger-ways... I've got my Dytter set at 4.5K and haven't changed it in I can't tell you how long... if its a smaller way with some of my more experienced buddies and its going well, I'll stick with turning points through the end of my Dytter's alarm at 4.5K vice splitting when it starts going off... take that for what its worth, my 2 cents... works for me.

That's kinda part of what the "I" in I&R stands for... Inspection. At least that's what I was taught when I went thru Rigger Training.

erasmus, for what its worth... here's my 2 cents for y'all to chew on... I'm about the same size as you... when I started out, my first rig had a PD190 and RavenII reserve in it, that was going on 13 years ago... so, something compareable today-wise, I would think would be a Specter190 and maybe a PD193-Reserve. I'm not saying it has to be those canopies / that mfgr specifically, I'm just trying to give you a baseline to work from. Remember, as long as you fly smart you'll have "the rest of your life" to downsize, try different canopies, etc., but if you're reckless, the rest of your life may only grant a short period of time to learn... Good luck.

I've got a Raven IIg in one of my rigs. It packs up nicely and I've got one ride on it... it flies and landed me nice (stood up) on that one ride thus far. I've packed Dash-Ms and they pack nice too. What container specifically... mfgr & size... are you looking to put either into?? Without knowing specifically though (e.g. my answer may change if / when you answer that question), my first blush is that your rigger (or you if you are a rigger) will be able to get a Raven IIg into a container that will take a Dash-M 181 (for example, what might change that answer were if you've chosen a container size that the mfgr says the biggest thing that will go in it is a Dash-M 181). Here's something better you may wish to try... instead of relying on us here to answer... why don't you also call up Precision (http://www.precision.aero/about-precision.htm General Telephone: 423-949-4688), ask to speak to one of their riggers, tell them what container... mfgr & size... you've ordered, and ask them if a Dash-M 181 and/or Raven II will fit... if you do, I'd be currious to see what they say.

Zep, If you gave it to me to repack, I'd be enclined to do a "pull test" on it... just my initial thought. Zig

Again... that's why they call it a trash pack...

No fun! Anyway, if ya'all want to get in a tunnel, go for it. I'll probably get around to getting in the one down at Perris sometime... some day when I'm feeling like my ego needs a good slap...

Kitty, PM mjosparky. He's done a bunch of high alti stuff and may be able to help. Zig

Kelp, In my time jumping, I've had one break come unstowed on opening maybe a handful of times... I've had both breaks come unstowed on opening once that I distinctly remember; none resulted in a reserve ride for me... I recall another time looking across a 40-way formation and seeing a guy dock with about 2 to 3 feet of steering line and toggle trailing, obviously he had one break unstowed, besides being glad he was on the other side of the formation from me, I thought for sure he would have a mal and reserve ride... he didn't. Just goes to show... "luck" is a good thing.

Zen for Skydivers... by Zig. A malfunction is always a result of the last pack-job. ... but seriously, if you have that much doubt, take 20min sometime this week to repack your rig in your living room.. ... of course, I've seen folk stress over a pack-job, pull it out, pack it again, go up and have a mal... did they make the same mistake twice... would that pack-job they were stressing over that they pulled apart have worked... was it just "time"... or were their some strange forces at work from the Pack-Job Gods??? *cue spooky music* Maybe it best to make an offering of stow bands and pull-up cords to the Pack-Job Gods before jumping next to ensure a good opening... you do have a shrine at your local DZ... don't you???

Well... kinda like bob said... if winds tunnels were mandatory for some reason... how is it all us jumpers who've been jumping since the days before tunnels learned to jump? I think its better to think of tunnels as a new "tool" in teaching someone to skydive. You can kind of look at it like Static Line vs. AFF. Okay, I do not want to start a debate over static line vs. AFF, just saying that AFF is certainly a more recent inovation with many noteable advantages over the old static line progress, mainly I would say, it gets the student more freefall time more quickly getting them more experience in a lesser amount of jumps. However, both progressions when taught correctly teach what the student program is supposed to, how to exit an aircraft, open a parachute and pilot it to a safe landing... e.g. "how to save yourself"... the rest is gravy, gravy is good and AFF gets the student a lot more gravy, so to speak. So, back to tunnels... its a new tool. A good one. Will every DZ in the world eventually have one, probably not is a safe bet. I've seen tunnels help students stuck on a level work through a problem and then they went back to the real thing, is a good example of how tunnels are a good tool. To look at the question as to whether or not the tunnel should be mandatory from a different angle... well... its really only the DZs that have tunnels that can make it mandatory. I seriously doubt that DZs that don't have tunnels are going to say, "Sorry, a tunnel is mandatory... please drive over to our competition that has one and after you do your tunnel time, please come back here"... uh, yeah right... Its a tool. Any job... you need good tools to do the job, but you don't need every possible tool made or conceived in the universe that applies to that task to do a good job. Conversely, you can have lots of good tools and still do a sh*tty job if you're not a good instructor.

Stow the breaks. Put the canopy over your sholder like you're going to Pro-pack. Gather the nose, shake it out, shove it in the middle. Quarter the slider. Wrap the tail around it all. Put it on the floor. Bag it. Jump it. Repeat.

I jump wearing a Pro-Tec... have for most all of my 2700+ jumps... its cheap and I figure gives me about the same amount of protection as the other "cool", but much more expensive open-face designs on the market today... of course, I've also got about $1000 worth of dental work that I probably wouldn't have had to pay for if I had switched to a full face years ago... DOH!

Too late. Their laws are already on our parachutes. Telling them to F-off is not a good thing to do. Understanding the laws and communicating on them intelligently and professionally is the only way to conduct ourselves. The last thing we want as skydivers is more FAA regulations!

Elisha, metalslug, I think its more basic than that... as in, "You'd have to be Psycho to pack that way!" Anyway, like I said, I don't Psycho pack, but I know many that do. It works... so does Pro-Packing, Trash packing and I've even seen Stilettos side packed and that works too... *shrugs*