Liemberg

OTOH that someone also might have no real clue about the second hand value of the goods he is selling.... That can be tiresome (telling someone that parachute gear can devaluate fast) but a couple of years ago a local that gave up jumping asked if he could leave an ad at the message board of my place. The ad said "Price negotiable" and since I was busy and not really keen on that gear I didn't bother to ask him what he wanted for his stuff. Some other jumper bought the whole rig for the asking price. Later I found that the rig had a 2 year old cypres and the cypres value calculator gave a value below the price he paid for al the stuff so he basically had a free rig and a cheap cypres to go with it... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Don't know about kite lines, but the link provided by one other poster in this thread said: "Plastic Spool Kite Line 50lb - up to 1000 feet" IMO that can either mean that 1000ft of this line weights 50lb or the breaking strenght of this line is above 50lb with 1000ft of string unwined. As the manuals of the early type ram air canopies used to say: "consider yourself a test pilot." The 'kite-ace'-pilot mentioned (who also was a physicist) always theorized that since he would hit the string right underneath the kite it would break there and the built in elasticity of the string would make sure he wouldn't end up towing kids hands or fingers. Since none of the parents on the campsite ever complained about one of their kids losing body parts while kiting, I guess he was right...

@ 1000ft I wouldn't mind hitting a 10 feet paper streamer - not sure if I would enjoy hitting 1000 feet of (Dynema? Kevlar? Spectra? ) kite string as much... With a runway right next to the dunes and its entrance right next to a camp site, we have some "previous century" experience in what kite strings can do, albeit with a Cessna. For a while, since local police had other priorities, one of the pilots thought it a good idea to do some 'vigilante law enforcement' with the kids that spiced up their holiday with 'kiting @ the threshold' (you get your kite the highest and/or the closest to the airfield and you win...). He rightfully thought that any kite he destroyed at heights wouldn't bother him for at least the rest of the day. However, upon a yearly inspection somebody saw a tally of kite shaped symbols on the Cessna and decided to take a closer look at the wings. Lets say the aircraft owner wasn't amused when he got the bill... Lets also say that the speed and the mass of the Cessna probably contributed to the dents in the wing. Does make one wonder if the speed and mass of a parachute and its pilot would also be enough to severe modern material kite string and if a kite string could deform a canopy ... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Just cut of the control unit of an FXC - that would leave the valve opened permanently and should result in a pull as soon as the descent rate at any altitude exceeds the activation speed. Presto.

We do too. Rest asured that I personally checked there was no acid in them before they were filled with sand... We don't have a 'visitors packing area'. So it would be used around my (our) gear. The fact that I 'would bother' comes from Murphy's Second Law. (??? Murphy 1: "If it can happen, it will" therefore Murphy 2: "If it can't happen it will not...") "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Ah, the "Rodriguez modification"... or why parachute nylon and battery acid should be kept apart and one should not asume that 'everybody knows that'... My guess*) is it would send quite a few people through the roof since they would have no way of knowing that yours is clean and you would be packing right next to them... Besides, a new one would be rather expensive and cleaning an old one toroughly would rather expensive too. If you were to walk into our hangar with a car battery, planning to use it as packing weight we would invite you for a swim - battery firmly attached to your feet... Gold bars, anyone? *) OTOH I also can see a lot of people that would ask "why not? It's heavy enough!..." "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

I would say any jump where you are taking it to the basement without actually hitting the basement floor. AAD's are a trade off. There is a small 'window' (below 1800ft and above 750ft) where it CAN interfere with the opening of the main parachute. Since most of us are creatures of habit, chances are that in one of those "Too Much Fun"-moments where we end up below our minimum opening altitude for the main parachute, we open the main parachute anyway. AAD's have only limited ways of knowing that we just did that (hint: they get their clue AFTER the opening of the main, not during the pull of a ripcord or the toss of a pilotchute...) Therefore it is possible that on these heights your AAD can fire during your main opening. Two parachutes opening simultaniously could open up a whole new 'can of worms'... Although modern AAD's are rather good at calculating our height above ground, they are less accurate than most beginners believe. So they are not going to fire @ exactly 2000ft / 1000ft / 750ft but @ "about" these heights. "Turn it on and forget about it" may make a catchy advertising slogan, but in the real world if you are jumping with an AAD it is a lot smarter to always, always, always keep that in mind. Two parachutes is preferable over zero parachutes but it can lead to dangerous situations and should be avoided. YMMV... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

That's what he just put on to his $39.95 vintage militairy parachute as he was saying that he was "ready to go!"... Famous last words? "Not only did I learn to skydive on the internet, I also learned how to build my own parachute in five easy lessons..." "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

I dunno, when 245 sq/ft of parachute opens above my head, I usually prefer a slider to soften the blow a bit... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

?!?!?!?!... I HATE it when people prove themselves to be smarter than me on internet forums... Then again, you probably never would have brought it up had I not started the subject, so I guess it is one more of those 'learning opportunities'... Does this mean that it is you, we owe a few ? And what am I to do now with a fine set of plastic fids that are definitely obsolete*)? Ideas? Anyone?...

Because older skydivers have seen their share of fatalities, broken bones and people still limping five or ten years after their accident? O well, one mans signal can be another mans noise - what else is new? My perspective on life and skydiving is that of the one that has to call the ambulance and talk to the press. I have learned that in skydiving, as in other walks of life, stupidity can be recycled and so every now and then there's another new kid on the block who wants to discuss the wonderfull new invention of the wheel and the concept of 'roundness' So be it. "People try to put us down. Ju-ju-just because we get around. Things they do look awfull cold. Hope I die before I get old..." Cool. Who? Limp Bizkit of course! It was even worse: I used to think that "docking on to someone in freefall" when done UNCONTROLLED could result in having your leg severed below the knee. That was all a stupid rumour of course - never happened... If a 170 is too large and therefore not suited - even downright dangerous, how did she survive the training jumps on a 240? Maybe you haven't been watching long enough? Other than that, selective perception is always a possibility... Thanks for explaining modern parachutes to me. I needed that... OK enough fooling around with you & back on topic: Of course, with adequate training a person just off student status could very well jump a 150 when her bodyweight is 46 kg as long as she has a clear understanding of the non-linearity when it comes to scaling parachutes. This means that with the same wingload a smaller parachute tends to react more brisk on steering input (i.e. "faster turns"). The fact remains however that making the same mistake close to the ground on the larger, less loaded parachute in general will result in a less severe outcome. If you panic because all of a sudden the wind changed and now you are landing sideways in stead of into the wind, the larger canopy will be more forgiving when your sudden state of fear lets you do something stupid close to the ground. YMMV. "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Apparently some of you do. Why? Just means you have to have space behind you in stead of in front of you... When you (through training) are CAPABLE to handle that and refrain from listening to those who tell you that with a smaller canopy and a higher wingload you'll live happily ever after, the differences in weather conditions will be marginal and you can jump most of the times when there's jumping going on... I landed militairy surplus rounds in 18+ knots of wind; that wasn't the smartest thing I ever did, but there are no lasting effects - I never broke a single bone in my body... Of course, 46 kg is extremely low, but coming from 240 I wouldn't let someone go to a 150 without "a few stops on the way"... Being able to handle landings going sideways, backwards or slightly uphill would be all good opportunities to stop and think. ...? Limping for the rest of your natural life is indeed so much cooler... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Nah, that one is curved, not red and made of stainless steel. Overengineered IMHO. Besides, I'm Dutch. Why would I be paying serious money for an item when something similar is already in my toolbox? That goes against everything my (and Koppels) ancestors taught us! "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

I'm not holding my breath, Koppel - don't forget I can read your signature line... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

The way I read it is that they didn't get any money, except when they already sold the canopy again... Correct me if I'm wrong but: 1. The scammer bids on ebay on GOODS 2. He wins the bid and pays the goods through paypal, using a hacked account and somebody elses credit card --> paypal sends money to seller, seller sends goods. 3. The third party, who's account has been hacked, contacts paypal, the credit card company etcetera since money is leaving his account and goes, through paypal to the SELLER. 4. Paypal wakes up, "reverses the transaction" and tells the SELLER to send the money back (i.e. makes his paypal account negative, since he already transferred the money to his bank-account) Now at this point I would have told paypal that I already did send the goods and "good luck with recovering your loss / please balance my account forthwith ..." since it is not MY responsibility if somebody elses computer is so poorly protected that his paypal account and credit cards are hacked... The point is however, that the scammer didn't get any money... just the parachute. Peckerhead should keep searching ebay, if it isn't a skydiver the parachute will turn up there sooner or later... (Can you set alarms so that ebay gives an email alert when particular items are offered for sale? Like 'reply to watched thread' or 'reply to your post'? That would be cool and would help against scams...) Out of curiousity (not aimed at anyone in particular): When buying equipment online from an unknown source, all of you ALWAYS check serial numbers and description against DZ.com's stolen gear database? (Oops... ) "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Only a couple of weeks ago on this most excellent forum I found out about the finger trapping tool made in accordance with the K.I.S.S. principle. Looped metal wires with a handle are in every way superior to 'needles with a hollow end'... That made my set of plastic fids superfluous – which wasn’t that bad, because the new tool was so much better than the old one, as I quickly found out after just a few trials. Though I cleaned up my toolbox, I didn’t get around to throwing the fids away and this week as I was wrestling and cursing once more with cypres loops, cypres temporary pins and the fact that that pin has a nice point while ripcord pins are dull and don't have a grip to speak of - where a sharp ripcord pin would go so much easier into the loop once you remove the cypres pin, when suddenly it hit me: The plastic finger trapping fids!!! Did you know that the hollow end of the smallest one slides EXACTLY over any (straight) reserve ripcord pin? Did you know the plastic finger trapping fid has a POINT?

Nah, someone just off AFF should be corckscrewing her highly loaded ZP elliptical canopy to close to the ground and always, always, always try to make a stand up landing since PLF tends to make mud stains on the new color coordinated gear... What's the similarity between students on Navigators and competition PA jumpers? They can't jump in any wind....

I didn't know that either. But the whole point of paypal (safe online transactions) seems to be undermined by your story. They DO take a percentage, don't they? "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

The fact that more often than not, students have a head on their shoulders? Usually that makes them able to think... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

I had the same feeling, looking at that picture: rather a packing error than something wrong with the design. A quick glance at the pics in the issue of the Atom Legend manual I have here shows that all "ripord loops" are above/outside the grommet... I think you could make that same mistake with 2 curved pins. I'm sure I can reproduce it on any system with a single curved pin at the end of an RSL lanyard, provided there's enough lenght on the ripcord cable... The "one-curved-pin-pulling-out-the-other" problem, when you would put them both in the same single cypres-loop seem to make sense for anybody that's ever been wrestling with cypres-loops, packing pins and curved pins. I'll take PdF's word for it that 2 loops solves that problem but when I look at it I can still picture things not working as per design... But since they tested it and I didn't it must be my all to vivid imagination, though... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Do not fear - as long as it's "skydiving related" we are good to go here... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Vraiment? (I was under the distinct impression that the US not being the center of the world was one of the best kept secrets on DZ.com - you surely let the cat out of the bag here!... ) Since you can get the Atom Legend from PdF without the LOR-2 system, I don't see why it can't be modified afterwards. 1. Replace ripcord 2. Replace double loops 3. Remove RSL's It is in the manual, so they must be OK with that... You are right though, that modifying it to a single side RSL probably isn't endorsed by PdF and riggers who do that may open a whole can of worms, should something not work out as planned... On The Other Hand... d'autre part ...

Which can be achieved just as easily by cutting one and half inch of "the yellow cable" at the non-RSL side riser,a method which is in widespread use in "the rest of the world"... When you have designed a safety measure and - due to complexity of the system or for whatever other reason - people don't want it and most of them remove it from their equipment at the earliest opportunity I would be going "back to the drawing board" but that's just me... OTOH, the way they designed the freebag, with the suspension lines all neatly stowed on the bottom, would give me warm and fuzzy ("comfortable") feelings, should I jump Atoms so I'm not bashing the brand, or anything. And - as said - other than being a bitch to pack, I don't see anything wrong with the LOR-2 system. Trip down memory lane: It has been proven in the past that IF you jump an Atom without the LOR-2 but with the double loops on one straight closing pin, it IS / "used to be" *) possible to have one loop on top of the other grabbing it and keeping your reserve container closed for the rest of your life, after you pulled the reserve ripcord and despite the AAD cutting the loop... Of course, that can be easily countered by replacing the double loop with a single one when you don't want the LOR-2. - and that IS clearly described on page 11 of the manual. *) I'm not sure this can happen still, since they may have changed the design of the double loop since that accident in Scandinavia, more than a decade ago... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Of topic: Rumor has it that everything designed in France (cars, parachutes) has to pass a French government board to ensure that it is extremely comfortable for the user, yet complicated enough to be an incredible pain in the *&% for the poor bloke that has to maintain the thing... On topic: What really doesn't help is that both in French and in English the manual says on page 22 that you should insert each curved pin through each locking loop & in the same sentence they refer to the picture that clearly shows you must have one locking loop for one pin. (Edition 02.1. de Sept 2003 - and I'm not really smart, it just happened to be lying here in my office...) Makes you wonder if they understood the design themselves... I found that it is easier to get both LOR 2 loops until through the cutter (= hole with the least diameter) with one pull up cord and then separate them, carrying on with two pull up cords for the rest of the stuff. Takes some "fiddling" but works fine... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Well, what Andybilly said. Should you want to do things legally and calculate what the import tax will be, You need this: 8804 Parachutes, rotochutes; parts & accessories dirigible parachutes 880400 Parachutes (including dirigible parachutes) rotoch Which is the so called "harmonised system code" When you ask the British customs (or whatever they are called overthere) they / somebody should be able to tell you what percentage the tax is for whatever harmonised system code from whatever foreign country... (But in this day and age you should be able to Google to a site, I guess...) "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...