frost

You don't have to be so politically correct. You can call this for what it is - LAME. "I never read the book/watched the movie/jumped that canopy but i think it sucks."

videos from the symposium: http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=VASSTTraining SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

I do 4-way video, freefly and everything else with RDS slider (no D-bag though). I think pretty much everyone i know that has RDS does the same. I had the same concerns as you but after 20-30 jumps they became a non-issue. I also keep the rubber band (on the yoke) for the reasons you mentioned - in case I need to make quicker turn arounds or just dont feel like taking it off and stowing it :) good luck SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

is that the only way? you could pull the slider passed the loops/toggles then remove it. Try what works best for you, but please keep your eyes open for traffic - you will have your hands full on the first tries due to combination trying something new and having relatively little experience

How come I havent heard of you cracking the world distance record yet ;) PS i think you may have the biggest VX, beating Tree's VX120

Must be full sail? JVX 87 hybrid fits in Mirage G3 M1 nice and snug. VX104 fits in the same rig very easy, but not lose. http://www.miragesys.com/DesignOrder/SizingGuideByContainer.aspx

Yeah, i have seen like 6 RDS designs so far. It seems that half were dual point of release - PD(?) and Para Concepts style and half are single point of release - MEL style. I have a MEL slider on my VX and a ParaConcepts slider on JVX. I really dig MEL's style of single point of release. It was very easy on the very first try to get it off, hold and stick in the suit. It's a huge plus. The two lines to pull on the PC slider are somewhat of a pain even after 10+ jumps on it. Sometimes the lines are hard to find and/or release simultaneously and without fear of dropping the slider. However the openings on the PC slider are superb and not having the stiff cables across the slider makes it a LOT easier to pack it properly (which is very important on JVX). I also love the nice thin rings on MEL's slider. They look super smooth and are easier to hook up then the Para concepts rings with two points of attachment on each ring (not to mention, kinda goofy looking). But I do feel that the 2 points per ring (PC slider) add more stability to the slider overall, slightly helping openings. I love them both though and wouldnt go RDS-less anymore which is a 180 degree turn from what i felt 2 years ago. P.S. $340 for an RDS slider i think is too much...

I wouldn't worry about the "next best thing", unless you're aiming for the top spots in the competition rankings. Buy what YOU think is the best wing for YOU. Otherwise it's just a trend - "follow the leader". P.S. The closest I came to having a new wing is when i bought a used one with 7 jumps on it. I had about 2000 jumps. SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

PM marks and proswooper - they were pretty cool about giving me good advice, feedback and info on most of the questions you asked.

If it wasnt so politically incorrect, i would say they are real canopy Nazis. :) SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

Thinking of going for a still camera mounted on my RAWA Any recommendations? Should be small, inexpensive, light weight and easy to use :) Thank you in advance

same here. I passed on the vid :)

it's a Real Media Player browser plugin. Why on earth would they use that crap anyway? Ah well. two things you could do: 1. You could download the plug in on real media site (may not work) 2. You could download the player itself, then the file (by right clicking the second (small) pop-up on their site, then select View Page Info, click the Media tab, then select Save As. (Note: these steps are for Firefox browser, i am sure there is something similar in IE)

no, just the risers. interesting... I never heard of it... Again, i've had Mirage risers for well over 1500 and dont see any (major) wear and tear warranting replacement. If you do find that link - post it plz? thanks

I never heard of that. Where did you hear about such rule for risers? is there some kind of a statement from any of the manufacturers? I have been using my risers for well over 1500 jumps...

I am yet to hear of any malfunctions that came from design on the X-cabled sliders by MEL and Joe. If there were - i'd like to know

I found that i had to pay extra-extra, as opposed to JUST extra :) attention to the ring placement with X-cabled RDS slider on JVX. The cables seem to stiffen up the slider and make it harder to ensure proper quartering and correct placement in the pack job. (On JVX only, on VX it seemed to have worked just fine) aren't you getting a JVX? If you are ordering one of those RDS sliders with X cable release, see if they can make it modified with a soft X made of spectra line center with cables on the end. P.S. I also dont take the D-bag off, because I do not compete. I tried it a few times and found that the extra performance is not worth the headache of dealing with removable D-bag

what was the logic for changing your turn AND your canopy for a competition?

hmm... velos for the top 9 positions!! According to my calculations, should be a bunch of JVXs available for sale tomorrow

With original slider my JVX 87 loaded at 2.65 opens very well, much softer then my VX-97 with RDS or VX-111 with domed slider. I found that keeping the nose straight (no pushing it in on the sides of the slider or anything at all, just perfectly straight with the well quartered slider) results in the best on heading openings. Today i had to dump 2 seconds after transitioning to my belly from a sit, so from deployment speed a little higher then desired it still opened very nicely.

Not saying that exit order of RW vs FF should be based on wingloading, just suggesting that it should be known what types of canopies/wingloadings are on the load. If there are 2 same discipline and similar sized groups - let the one with smaller/higher loaded canopies go first, even if they have 3 people vs 4 in your group. As trivial as it seems you'd be surprised how many times i heard from a 4 way FF with big canopies that they should go ahead of a 3 way FF with small canopies because their group is larger. And even that is just another small point to keep in mind. My point was - staying out of trouble is quite a process. It starts at the loading area, continues to the the exit of the group in front of you, to knowing where everyone else in the sky on opening, to setting up for the turn, to landing and walking to the packing area. I was just asking if may be these accidents failed somewhere in the beginning of this process... Ultimately it's your own responsibility to stay on top of that, and as someone already said... everyone involved did something wrong. if it is not both parties fault, then definitely the more experienced guy should have known better. on another note, trying to minimize the chances of something bad happening by telling others what to do, is a waste of time. Educating a dick is a waste of time. people will always do what they want to do, will hear what they want to hear. You know exactly what i am talking about. The best thing that can be done to minimize the chances of bad stuff happening is - take care of yourself first and do the right thing.

you missed my point completely

Not necessarily. One might disagree, since most of those old timers fly the erratic S-turn patterns on big squares and quite a few FF fly higher performance stuff and set ups. May be there is something to be said about exit order, group separation and canopy flight RIGHT AFTER opening, not JUST the final 30 seconds of flight which is what most of the discussion has been focused on, it seems. As we all know, there is a bigger picture. It takes a LOT of variables for two objects to be in the same airspace at exactly the same time to cause a collision. What put these two in that airspace at that moment in time? The question I asked in the incident thread: were these guys in the same exit group? Just a few things that come to mind: Was it improper exit order or separation? Was it actions under canopy, like spiraling or diving to lose altitude? Was it inability of the more experienced jumper to keep an eye on the canopies ahead of him? Could group order-spacing based on wing loading be helpful here? Could these close calls (and this accident in particular) be avoided if only a few actions right after the exit of the first guy were changed? Please do not take this post as any kind of a negative comment. Just thinking out loud.

Do you guys still put RW groups that open @ 2-2.5K AFTER FF groups most of whom open at 3.5? :)

How would you do that, exactly? Also, are these methods applicable to visiting jumpers only or to locals as well? If the latter, have you been successful in getting rid of all the bad apples yet?