Kirils

Look at the vinyl siding on houses, nylon skiing clothing and arctic tents... The fabric in your your canopy is resistant to the elements (the sun might be problematic if you don't have SolarMax) I jump canopy made in 1972 on occasion with confidence it will work... "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I have a beautiful 2 pin, like new, can't get it packed because it's not TSO'd in the USA. Bummer, in spite of the velcro, it's very well made rig! I recently saw a new Teardrop that had the smallest profile I've ever seen. Gotta get one! "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

The bridle extension also helps reduce shear force at the canopy attachment point. ... I personally use a bridle extension on all my canopies, but know of a number of people who have psychopacked without the extentision whth no problem. One friend jumps a Sabre and has psychopacked for years and NEVER has taken out the 180 twist and has perfect openings all the time! Go figure... It goes to show there is a lot of latitude in defining the "best" way to pack a canopy. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

You might want to consider a major varaible in weight shift in the harness: The container. Some containers transfer input better to the risers than others. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

The single pin Teardrop is TSO'd! The 2 pin is not. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I really dislike DZ's that pressure me into jumping. I was at one a while back where the staff conveyed the idea that if I wasn't going to jump 4 or more that day, I'd had no right to be there! I might want to do 8 one day and 1 the next, shouldn't I have that option?? Has anyone else felt like this? "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

VX-60?? Wow, I've dated chicks with bigger underware than that canopy! "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I owned a Jedei and jumped a Vengence and now jump a Xaos-21. I had both the air-locked canopies with the thought they would be more resistant to collapse and better in gusts. Well come to find out there really isn't any evidence that an airlocked is any more collapse resistant than other canopies. I remember reading an article in Skydiver a year or so ago that mentioned the same thing. The Xaos seems actually more stable and rigid than my Jedei. I'm not knocking airlocked canopies, but the problems associated with them and the lack of real performance advantages over other canopies dosen't seem to justify the additional cost for the airlocks. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I have had the exact same symptoms. 70% of my jumps are sits. I was diagnosed with a rotator cuff tear and I am saving money now to get the damn thing fixed! Good Luck!! "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

You might need video and coaching to resolve the problem. I know of a woman who had problems landing 9 cell canopies, but she switched to a 7 cell canopy (Triathlon) and the steeper decent angle allowed her to judge her altitude better and land without biffing in.

I have owned 2 HeatWaves (170, 150) and 1 Stiletto (150). I really get tired of hearing that "Heatwaves are Stiletto copies". It's about as true as saying "the Sabre2 is a Hornet copy!" PD isn't the only company capable of new product development. Both the Heatwave and Stiletto are excellent canopies. Flight characteristics are quite different. The HeatWave flies "bigger" than the Stiletto. Jump them both. Make an objective decision. don't cave into anecdotal crap about these canopies. Fly them both and decide what is best for you!

My father-in-law just started jumping in an AFF program last month. He's 6' 8" and exit weight is about 310#. He is using an old tandem canopy. 225# was the tandem limit at the DZ so his 1st jump was an AFF. He loves it and is now moving on to get his "A" license. Don't let your size hold you back from enjoying the greatest sport on earth! I was at Cleveland Parachute Center a couple weeks back for a boogie and and saw a big guy swoop & surf in on a very large canopy! Your gear shouldn't be any more costly than that of the lightweights. There are a lot of good deals out there on used tandem equiptment. Do the AFF route and don't sweat about gear. Blue skies!!!! "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I jumped a Springo 140 last Fall. I biffed in 2 out of 3 times. No expert opinion here, but I had to take an extra wrap on the toggles to get the thing to flare decent. It seemed weak on the flare without the extra wrap and it came in pretty fast. The canopy flies well, it packed easy and construction was seemed to be good quality. I loaded the thing at about 200# out the door. It flew smaller than a comparable canopy like the HeatWave. I don't know what the canopy costs, but it seemed pretty "generic" for the 3 jumps I had on it. The Atom container impressed me more than the chute! "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

OK, since you are talkin' about spaceballs... I've seen them made from tennis balls, but how exactly does one go about making one.? Thanks! / "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I jumped a 135 Vengence and got tired of the bad openings. Cell closure on just one side gave me many spinning openings! The canopy flew very very "BIG" and was very stable . It turned slow and gave great landings. It's a good canopy, but not any better than my Jedei (that I regretably sold). I'm not excited about air locked canopys at all. I now jump a Xaos 21 and performance wise it is far superior to the Vengence. Demo a Cobalt. Crossfire2 and Xaos. All three are fantastic canopys and I think you realize it's not worth the cost or hastles that Quotecome with an airlocked canopy. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

Check out the Hornet. It's an ol' reliable good performer and it's priced right. But get with your JM, run it by him about sizing. Take everything here about canopy recommendations with a grain of salt. Your Instructor/JM is the first line of advice! "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I've used ScotchGuard on a couple of my containers and don't think it worked that well, and it sure wasn't worth the cost. I just spray dry silicone on the fabric now and wash them occasionally with spray cleaner, a brush, clear water spray while using a wet vac to extract dirt and excess liquid. And yes, I do it packed. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

And the prices go...up...up...up! And the value goes??? My first rig was $90.00 complete with reserve and main! (1968) Why does having fun always cost so much nowadays? "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I have prefer (and have 3) suits from Tad's Sportsware. They have the best quality construction. The money is right for these suits, even with all the custom trappings you can think of! http://www.tads.com.au/ "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

Sorry to hear about the theft Chuck. I'll spread the word. Watch E-bay, it's a thief's paradise for fencing stolen gear. Good Luck! "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

100 jumps, then after starting freeflying, I'm still working on awarness after another 100! As you learn new techniques and move faster there is an awarness gap that occurs. You always need to work on awarness. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

All my rigs have but bungee's. Today I saw a guy who had velcro patches on the inside of the thigh strap and on his jumpsuit... very interesting.Quote "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I think license is the least important. I know people who tout a "D" and are dangerous and careless jumpers. Many people don't give a damn about USPA and are not licensed. Then you have the person with 3000 jumps who never bothered going past the "B" rating. The number of jumps is important only when weighted against the diversity and complexity of the jumps. I would have more respect for someone with 200 jumps freeflying at many different dropzones year round than the weekend belly flyer with 1000 jumps at the same DZ. It's diversity that enhances skill. I know an AFF instructor with over 3000 jumps who never has had a cutaway! I have had 5 chops... shouldn't that count for somthing? (grin) Canopy size means squat. Experienced jumpers with bad knees usually go big. What about CREW and accuracy jumpers? OK, these are my picks: Number of DZ's where you have jumped. Number of successful bigways you have participated in. What RW, Freefly. CREW or accuracy skills have you mastered? Have you used emergency procedures? Number of jumps in the last 2 years? Do you have Lew Sanborn's (D1) autograph? "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

I have both rigs and perfer the G3 Mirage. Both are quality made but I like the design on the G3 for freeflying. Sizing for my canopies with the Mirage worked out better. I have had no problems at all with service from Mirage. Now the Unisys is a bit of a dissapointment because its hard to transfer hip movment to the canopy. Yea..Mirage G# is my choice over the two. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish

It took me about 30 jumps to get over the sensory overload and develop increased awarness. When I started FreeFlying I had the overload problem all over again. That's why you want to master one flight body orientation before starting another. "Slow down! You are too young to be moving that fast!" Old Man Crawfish