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Have you seen the sliders on a Xaos or Velocity, they are huge in comparison to larger elliptical canopies. My slider on my Velocity is 21x30, with the original being 23x30 inches. I know the slider on my Nitron was significantly smaller than that. Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

Typical propack, the line (TJ and Nate are using simple vectran line making a triangle with the 2 trailing corners of the slider) is laid across the top seem now, ie running along the tail right to the Dbag, Do your 2 folds (at sub 120, should only need 2 Sfolds max, specially on the cross braced stuff) then stuff it in the bag. When the canopy is out of the bag the lanyard extends (extra length was stored in the bottom of Dbag) behind the tail, and comes down with the slider. That part of the process is very tested, and seems to be very reliable. The harder part of the design is the grommet/ring setup on the slider. TJ described it to me on the plane but I was not able to fully visualize it in my head. He said he was not using one because of the numerous problematic deployments he has seen with the system and I believe he said 2 cutaways from Jay at the last meet 2 weekends ago. He does however jump with the removable Dbag on every jump. It does not seem to add more than a couple of seconds to his pack jobs. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

Its a bit different across the ground. Up high 4 feet makes no difference. Across the ground 4 feet could mean the difference of a nice turf surf, and a dirty violent tumble. Its a very important aspect that can only be practiced at ground level. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

We do it all the time, We have a very flexible continuity plan. What about already being in a Right hnad donut, makes much more sense to go to a OC flaked Murphy Flake. Piece Partners we have found do not matter at all on randoms, its just a random and built for effiency. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

Go from a Phalanx with the Point and OC out facing, the transition for the tail to the OC is faster than to the IC. Or from or 2 a Hook. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

All of them I would think, but if you are jumping that much you are going to want a good rig that is going to hold up and be comfortable and safe. I am sure they could go to any manufacturer and have a good chance at getting them highly discounted or free, but they stick with Sunpath. Even PD Blue went from RWS to Sunpath before the seperation. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

By far the Javelin Odysey. Comfort is amazing. The Lateral Cutbacks are way worth it, at first I did not like it, but now I love it cause it hugs my back. I think the Mirage's are too blocky. I have seen the G4s, still think they are too blocky. Much more comfotable than a Micron, which feels like a board on my back. The odysey is also extremly secure in all its flaps. And the rig just looks beautiful. Money is not always everything, but it seems in skydiving you often get what you pay for. Besides, The Knights, Majik, Airspeed.....All Javelin Odyseys. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

4 way on a competitive team with good assets will increase your skills beyond what most people dream about at the same jump numbers. You are jumping with the same 3 people over and over and over. You do not have to worry about fall rates after a few jumps and after more you know they will be in their slots too so you can really concentrate on improveing. I will use my team as an exmaple. We started with 220, 110, 65, and 40 jumps, on our first meet we did a 2.8 average. We then did 5 hours of team tunnel with some alumni (Deland Genisis), and then got very serious with training. At NSL regionals we did a 11.6 (camera took us out on one dive ) So in roughly 220-300 jumps for the team since feb, we can outfly most many jumpers with over a 1000 jumps, and our team is preparing for the AFF course, 2 members have only been in the sport for a single year. So in closing a competition team while extremely expensive, can bring your skills up faster than anything else. On a side note, I can do Head down, and the rest of freeflying pretty well, still am far from mastering docks in a head down, but I have not done more than 10 headdown jumps, still need more practice. 4 way rocks, and I would really encourage everyone to spend atleast one season doing it, the skills you pick up I think are invaluable, its also more fun than anything I have expirenced, gotta love going vertical on blocks!!!! Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

While our full team cannot legally attend (Craig graduated summer semester and will not get into grad school until Spring) the rest of the team is traveling and with us we are bringing a 4th from Clemson. It will be interesting, Air Force blue is prob out of our reach because we do not have the full squad, but we hope to be competitve with silver enough to make the silver medal position interesting. Oh i guess i should include that we are a 4 way team. We are students at Georgia Tech. I personally went last year to Lake Wales and had a blast, next year is back in Lake Wales and I am very excited ($60 in fuel vs $450 plane ticket). You can see our website at http://www.gtinviscid.com $13.00 jumps will be nice too, unfortuantly not all play though, have to work on AFF Instructor training, course is a meer 3 weeks after collegiates. Looking forward to seeing everyone there. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

Hans flies a VX 99 TJ flies a Xoas27 88 (atleast thats what his factory canopy was) Jay flies a Velocity 75 and 79 Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

He's not paying for your habit though right? Skydiving is extremely expensive (as are other hobbies like golf, flying, gambling, having a mistress) but if he is the one that is providing the only income then I in his situation (unless you are really well off) would be disturbed about my wife spending that much money all the time. Granted I would rather jump too and do activities with my wife, but I'm crazy and will do any activity (except be willing to stay at home and watch TV all weekend or go shopping alll weekend, hmmm gonna have to find an athletic spouse.) Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

The Legmount works well (other than the fact that it gets it completely out of your way, and you actually cant really see it in freefall) for canopy. I look past mine when I am thinking about the swoop, and where about I want to start, Its a nice cross reference with my eyes in one single line of sight. Jonathan

Knee Pads...? Should have bought a Merlin suit They have built in knee pads (great for kneeing the tunnel or kneeling in the plane). Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

9 cell canopies are far more popular currently than seven cells are. Sabre2(PD), Stiletto(PD), Heatwave(P), Hornet(P), Safire(I), Crossfire(I), Vengeance(PD), Samarui (BAS), Lotus(BAS), Sentry (FCI), Silouette(PD), Nitron(PA), Fusion(PA), and some foriegn stuff. (PD = Performance Designs, PA=Precision Aerodynamics, FCI = Flight Concepts Intl., BAS = Big Air Sportz, I = Icarus Canopies) 7 cells typically have a great rate of descent. 9 cells typically more flat glide. Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

It cost me $1,100 to get a brand new Velocity. Hard to beat that, just have to know where to look. So I paid 400 more for higher performance, and new instead of used. I do not think that costs hell a lot. Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

I like the Velocity, far superior. Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

Nuemans, I used Coaches gloves in the winter, those are warmer not as good grip but still good enough to get all the handles pulled, but if you just need something to shield the wind in the cold, and have a nice tacky grip, the Nuemans Wide Recievers Glove. Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

Well since it was not that hard to land my PD113R in Rears (i think if i had not had to come in downwind I would have stood it up), it was something of an annoyance though. But on how to prevent it, I feel that PD should really consider using a thread that stands out much more, Red stands out much better than Gray. But as far as rigging work, I would have really expected it to be caught the 2 times it was assembled to my containers. Beyond that perhaps creating a checklist that has everything you should check, and making sure you check off everything on your checklist (that checklist needs to include checking bartacks) Perhaps PD could even provide their check list for what they look for on final inspections. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

Or he has the rig on over the shirt, and then edited out the rig, If you look at the white shirt closely, the areas on the sides of his rib cage looked blured instead of crisp, since that is where the main lift webbing is coming up, it was probably edited out. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

Seconded, All Rigs (except Dolphins and Racers IMO) look good when you have a tiny one, but not all look good on the larger models Main/Reserve 170ish. A javelin seems to really hold up well. The Odysey is really nice. Very comfortable, its the most popular rig you will see out there, specially on teams (not really sure why that is...must just be the quality). I like my Cutbacks, I like the fact that it is not blocky like a Mirage, although the G4 made strides, its still more blockly than a Javelin. My Jav RS is very rounded so nothing catches on deployment. Great rig, good reserve deployments 1 terminal 2 sub terminals. Flaps never come open, All in all a great rig. Jonathan

The stiletto though has a tapered Tail, not a tapered leading edge. Its leading edge is pretty straight, the crossfire is the only canopy that I think markets the canopy as an elliptical leading and trailing edge. And a Stilletto is a great canopy on openings. The stories of a Spinnetto come more from the early days when it was first released because many people did not have square body positions on deployment or weighting the harness evenly. Since then people have become much better at being stable, and you do not hear the stories much anymore. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

If it were my canopy, I would not want anything at all finger trapped. I would rather have full control to tie a knot where I want it, then when I finally find that exact point where I want the brakes set then I might finger trap, But ussually just leave the excess out (I had about 2 inches left over when I owned a Nitron 120). Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

But running is the same thing over and over (One foot in front of the other). The formations and moves in the blocks are different. As for endurance, I know many old people that can go longer than some younger people. Us "youngsters" get tired too, I think a bigger difference in elder vs youthful is the learning curve. We learn faster and think faster, faster reaction (Note: this is a gross generalization that we all know is not true in its entirety, but its funny to make a point), its a matter of mind not so much body. Jonathan Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

Well, 10 rounds typically gets pretty close to exhausting the dive pool, ussually after 11 you have maybe 2-3 pts left, so by going 10 rounds you get to see the teams do everything once, That is how I would define "the real situation". 3 rounds would be crazy, because it might happen to be your weakest blocks and because you did not get to to see the other 16-19 blocks, which are much faster you lose. thats crap! Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I

DISCLAIMER: NOT RECOMMENDED PROGRESSION I Took risks on the edge of my ability but was conservative enough that I did not injure myself. There are few people I have talked to that I would ever recommend this progression to. Student Canopies (1-15) FCI Pro Series 170 (16-120) 1.1:1 (6 months) Nitron 150 (121-124) Nitron 135 (125-140) Nitron 120 (141-350) 1.6:1 (5 months) Velocity 120 (~20 jumps) 1.6:1 Velocity 111 (~10 Jumps) (~25 jumps) Velocity 103 (400 - 530) 1.85:1 (Last 3 Months) Jonathan Bartlett D-24876 AFF-I