RopeaDope

That's right. Manufacturer approval is not required for a rigger to change the length of the main bridle as long as the change does not interfere with normal function of the TSO'd parts of the parachute system. Mark "If the bridle is too short, the pilot chute cannot launch properly. If too long, the snatch force is increased." Rigger Handbook p.2-12* It would seem that altering the length of the bridle absolutely will intere with the normal function of the TSO'd parts of the system. "The rigger cannot change the configuration of the bridle without approval of the manufacturer." Same paragraph, Rigger Handbook p.2-12* *correction, p.2-15

So you are saying that a rigger can alter the length of the PC bridle to suit their needs without approval from the container manufacturer?

14 CFR part 65, section 65.129(d) "No certificated parachute rigger may - (d) Alter a parachute in a manner that is not specifically authorized by the Administrater or the manufacturer" Or AC 105-2E dated 12/4/13 16. PARACHUTE ALTERATIONS. a. Configuration. Alterations are changes to a parachute system configuration that the manufacturer or the manufacturer’s supervising FAA Aircraft Certification Office (ACO) has not approved. Examples include removing a deployment device from a reserve canopy, adding harness fittings to permit attaching an additional canopy, using nonstandard repair materials or techniques, or installation of a specific make/model AAD when the manufacturer has not authorized such changes. Changes that result in an approved configuration are considered repairs (see paragraph 15). b. Approval. An alteration to an approved parachute system must be done in accordance with approved manuals and specifications and only by those with specific authorization to perform that alteration. Specific approval is not needed for the method of altering a non-TSO’d main parachute canopy. A person seeking authorization to alter an approved parachute system should proceed as follows: (1) A person qualified to alter a parachute (as listed below) should contact his or her local FAA FSDO inspector to discuss the proposed alteration. The applicant should be prepared to show the inspector the nature of the alteration by using a sample assembly, sketch, or drawing and be prepared to discuss the nature of the tests necessary for showing that the altered parachute meets all applicable requirements. (2) The inspector will review the proposal with the applicant and a plan of action will be agreed upon. (3) The applicant will then prepare an application, in the format of a letter, addressed to the local FSDO. Attach all pertinent data. The data should include: * A clear description of the alteration; * Drawings, sketches, or photographs, if necessary; * Information such as thread size, stitch, pattern, materials used, and location of altered components; and * Some means of identifying the altered parachute (model and serial number). (4) The FSDO aviation safety inspector (ASI) may send an alteration to the ACO for review if the ASI is not experienced in parachute alterations. When satisfied, the inspector will indicate approval by date stamping, signing, and placing the FSDO identification stamp on the letter of application. (5) Only a certificated and appropriately rated master parachute rigger, a current manufacturer of approved parachute systems or components, or any other manufacturer the Administrator considers competent may perform alterations to approved parachutes. My personal interpretation of this mumbo jumbo is that you can have a master rigger go through the motions and obtain written permission from the container manufacturers to alter their main deployment bags, or you can figure out how to attach the devise only to the main canopy and proceed however you want

The database exists. The FAA can I.D. a rigger by seal symbol alone. I don't know why they don't have it available to the public, since you can search a last name and get seal symbol, certificate number, address, and status of medical physical

On faa.gov you can search a last name and see what that persons certification are, so if you had a name you could find a seal symbol, but there is not a way to search by seal symbol.

Pull out the packing data card and cross reference

I won't insult your intelligence by by throwing random Google searches at you to back up what I've heard. (My info is mostly a lot of random tidbits that I retain from various books, articles, and documentaries), but for entertainment purposes, here are some predictions from the experts of their fields 1. While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it an impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming. – Lee DeForest, American radio pioneer, 1926. 2. Radio has no future. – Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist. 3. Well informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires, and that were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value. – Editorial in the Boston Post, 1865 4. ‘The abdomen, the chest and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon.’ – Sir John Eric Ericson, Surgeon to Queen Victoria, 1873 5. “That virus is a pussycat.” — Dr. Peter Duesberg, molecular-biology professor at U.C. Berkeley, on HIV, 1988 6. Your cigarettes will never become popular. – F. G. Alton, 1870, cigar maker, turning down Mr. John Player 7. I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious feelings of anyone. – Darwin (writing in Origin of Species), 1859 8. X-rays are a hoax. – Lord Kelvin (again!), ca. 1900 9. The so-called theories of Einstein are merely the ravings of a mind polluted with liberal, democratic nonsense which is utterly unacceptable to German men of science. – Dr. Walter Gross, 1940 10. “With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market.” — Business Week, August 2, 1968. 11. “Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.” — Workers whom Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859. 12. “Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.” — Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872. 13. “Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.” — Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre. 14. “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” — Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899 15. “Within the next few decades, autos will have folding wings that can be spread when on a straight stretch of road so that the machine can take to the air.” — Eddie Rickenbacker, ‘Popular Science,’ July 1924

There is also a difference between a master rigger that got their rating in 1985 but has attended every PIA symposium and worked for 4 manufactures and is a DPRE......and a master rigger who got their rating at Dave's last month who has been a rigger for barely 3 years and 75% of their required pack jobs are actually them signing off on students that they supervised at various rigging courses. Another big difference is that senior riggers are not authorized to do alterations (like attaching gadgets to TSO'd equipment) and masters are, provided they get written authorization for it from the manufacturer or FSDO.

Read this http://www.dropzone.com/safety/Gear_and_Equipment/A_Guide_to_Buying_Your_First_Skydiving_Gear_873.html And this http://www.chutingstar.com/blog/skydiving-gear-buying-tips/ And this http://www.parachuteshop.com/when_should_beginners_buy_their.htm And this http://www.skydivesf.com/skydiving/skydiving_equipment.htm And this http://extremesports.about.com/od/air-sports/fl/The-New-Skydivers-Guide-to-Buying-Gear.htm And this http://www.desertskiesrigging.com/buying-your-first-rig.html

There are plenty of 50 meter targets to worry about right now. Nuclear Proliferation, global terrorism, over harvesting natural resources, economic instability, tracking near earth objects and researching ways to handle them. These are things mankind can effect, and threats to the future of mankind. Global warming, solar flares, super volcanoes.....those are things that we have no control over. We are a spec in the timeline of this planet. We don't control it.

You are pretty good at sourcing data, but this is kind of what I was getting at. They are basing their models on temperature trends from a 135 year period on a planet that is more than 4.5 billion years old. (Or at least a couple thousand years old if you believe a magical wizard floating in the clouds created it, in which case he controls the weather and not us)

Truth be told, I spent most of 2014 in Kingston, Ontario. I'm a southerner so I was amazed by the winter there. The summer of 2014 was extremely mild in southeastern Cannada and the northeastern U.S. I th out the north just sucked, but I remember everyone commenting on how unusually mild the summer was. A lot of people I worked with jokingly referred to it as the second year without a summer. I went to Niagara Falls a couple time and was fascinated by it. It was a pretty big deal when they froze over. So in light of this thread, I googled coldest winter ever, and several search results pop up from different sources saying 2014 was in the top 3%. Scientists can tell me the world is going to end in less than a decade, and they have, and who am I to disagree. They have there field of expertise that only they know and their super computer models and we just take them at their word. I'm saying what I observe with my two little eyes doesn't convince me. Especially when this same community told us the planet wold be uninhabitable by 2005 do to the heat, or that we would be out of oil by 2000, or that there would not be enough food to sustain the earths population by 2014.

So NOAA listed 2014 as in the top 3% of coldest winters for the last 10,000 years. 2014 is the second time in recorded history that Niagara Falls was frozen to a halt. If the world is warming, why would we see colder winters? I'm not an Environmental Scientist, nor do I spend much time looking at environmental research, but it's my general opinion that we are seeing normal weather cycles that take thousands of years to complete. If one were to base an opinion on weather from a 90 day observation from March to June, they would think temps are raising at an alarming rate and the world would be 1000 degrees by the end of the year. If they watch for a complete year, they would see everything return to normal. Since the planet was born, there have been periods of abnormally high temperatures and here have been ice ages. The thought that mankind bares more influence over he weather than the sun, the oceans, the Earths magnetic field, wind currents, and so on just seems kind of silly to me. I believe in recycling, managing wildlife resources like tuna, and keeping chemicals out of the ground water, but we can't control the weather.

We have a society that accepts weather forecasts from a large rodent. Record high temps absolutely prove global warming and record lows absolutely prove that global temps are increasing, which results in *colder winters? ISIS is a fear mongering rumor started by Republicans, our biggest threat to national security is the weather, politicians are honest, our government is for the People, of the People, and by the People, and the Bill of Rights is a list of guaranteed liberties, and for every $1 you send to me, some portion of it will be donated to the Veterans. *Here's a thought. If we pretend malfunctions don't really exist, can we stop wasting money on reserves? Maybe instead of buying individual rigs, we can all donate towards softer DZs and just stick the landings safely without any declaration assistance at all*

I'm team CanuckInUSA. You should enter the race as an independent. Our current administration has been wiping their asses with the Constitution, so I'm sure that pesky little natural born citizen prerequisite is moot at this point.

Word. I and several close friends of mine are wounded warriors. I'm a member of the Order of the Purple Heart, yet I have never met a "wounded warrior" who has ever received any type of support from WWP. It's a disgraceful scam. There are some good ones out there. I have personal experience with Warrior Hike (www.warriorhike.org) which is a nonprofit ran 100% by a small handful of volunteers. There are also organizations like the VFW, American Legion, Team Red White and Blue, Patriot Guard, and local Vet Centers that do a lot for veterans and their families.

Just stuff a pillow in the reserve tray and pin the flaps with a small key ring. Then buy an old chest mounted reserve. When you get too drunk to drive home from the DZ, pull out your emergency pillow and snuggle up under your main for an awesome nights rest. This solves more problems than you began with.

You just missed this years course, but Handsome Dave DeWolf of ParaLoft in Elizabethtown, PA does a Senior Rigger course every January for $1400 plus the cost of the written test.

I just still can't wrap my head around why Police Departments would want to have military vehicles available. Considering the whole North Hollywood shootout happened during a time when there was a federal assault weapons ban, and in a state with some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country.

So did that same rigger do a reserve repack for you when he had the rig? Mistakes can be made by the best of us, but if a rigger's work was that sloppy on something visible to the customer, I damn sure wouldn't trust what you can't see. Also, if that work met their personal standard of satisfaction, and they didn't bother to do a functionality test, I would actually hope that they were lazy enough to pencil whip the repack because I'd rather have something out of date than something they stuffed into the bag.

You're not seeing the big picture. If we will just come together and support what the Obillary administration knows to be best for us, it will all work out. First we outlaw bath beads and and impose extreme limitations on anything that relies on chemical reactions to produce or operate anything, then the globe will settle into the correct temperature setting, then there will be no more floods or hazardous weather. This renders military vehicles useless. Having a firearm will also be illegal, therefore, law enforcement will no longer need these war machines, futuristic death ray machine guns, or body armor. When guns become illegal, robbers, rapist, murderers, and terrorists will be limited to sticks and rocks while they carry out their evil deeds. You don't need a semi auto pistol to stop a guy with a stick do you? Update: Shortly after typing this, I was thrown from my unicorn and broke my coccyx. At least with Obamacare I can get it fixed. Oh, no, that's right. Obamacare cause my health insurance copayment rise to the point that I can't afford to be seen. Guess I'll just sit around on my broken ass and continue to pay for this healthcare that I can't afford to use, because if I don't pay it, the IRS will come after me.

Lucked out. Wife's grandmother had a Singer 401a Slant-o-matic sitting in the basement collecting dust. All original parts, manual, and original fold down table. She said she got it in the mid to late 50s. She hasn't touched it in years and wants it out of the way.

I like the Sailrite, but this caught my eye. Small, cheap, but adequate until I get serious and go all out on a pro setup. http://www.westchestersewing.com/re607z_wsm/

Ok, thanks guys. I think I have a pretty good starting point. I'm good on inspections and repacks, but new to sewing. I'm getting the rating mostly to service my own gear, but I will take whatever business I can get to help stay current, and want to make sure I can at least cover the basic patch jobs and seam repairs. If I can find some work at a DZ and get hands on experience under a "master", I don't want to keep replacing machines as my sewing abilities develop.

Soon to be Senior Rigger testing out in a couple weeks. Piecing a home loft together with budget and space limitations. Looking for recommendations on one machine at can handle all the work a home based part time senior rigger would need. I know the handbook suggests a single needle, double needle with taping attachment, and a zigzag machine to start out with, but I don't know what all is out there. Is there one that can do it all or can I get one that will do most of what a need and then a smaller and cheaper second to cover the left overs? Thanks.