JerryBaumchen

Wow, Gar Hat, now there's a named I haven't heard in years. Met him at Elsinore in '67. I heard that (in those days) he bought a hand ripcord swager and paid for it within a month or so making ripcords for people who had functions and had to throw it away. No hand-deploy (thanks Bill) in those days. Jerry

Hi Mark, To know where the term 'cheapo' comes from you have to go farther back than any commenter so far. Back in the early-mid '60's there were really just two canopies for sport use, a 1.1 oz 'cheapo or a 1.6 oz Lo-Po. The '1.6' (as we called it) was just like a 1.1 (28 ft flat canopy) except that it was made of a 1.6 oz material that had been calendarized (flattened) in a pressing-type of procedure to reduce the porosity and to (hopefully) make it come down slower. Hence, the 'Lo-Po' which derived the 'cheapo.' School is out for today, Jerry

Hi skyblueyes, Re: 'The problem is that I hate being really cold, ' If that ole skydiving bug bites you like it did me, you WILL jump in snow, sleet, rain, whatever. You think you hate the cold but when it comes down to jumping or sitting and the sun is shining???????? Best of luck with what ever way you go, Jerry

Mick, You beat me to it. As soon as I read his 'irregardless' I thought Word Police. I had that one drilled into my head waaay baaack in high school. Jerry

On 9 Feb 64 I paid $18.00 for my 1st jump. It wasn't the money, it was the jump that changed my life forever. Jerry

Mike will surely appreciate THAT. Jerry

Hi Mark, Since I have yet to get my flame-retardent suit, I am not 'calling out' anyone on a world-wide forum. I like to think (probably some fantasy on my part) that I am providing some information/education whenever I post here. I do have very strong opinions on a number of things but you will know them when you read them. Jerry

Hi pchapmen, Re: 'The issue of what types of loads chest straps are actually designed to handle, is unclear to me.' I've been a Mechanical Engineer for 35 yrs and it is unclear to me also. As you mentioned, it is not a rigid beam so a simple static analysis of the joint will not work. It would give us some information but not the actual loads or percentage of load that is imposed to the chest strap. One could (with some difficulty) put a load cell/load transmitter onto the chest strap hardware and then get some loading info. It just takes more $$$$ than I want to spend. However, if you folks that really want to know will start contributing to a fund, I will be glad to do this test when there is sufficient money there. :) Good post, Jerry

Hi Mark, Re: But as you know there was never any requirement to actually put a card in the pocket! When I went through rigger training I was taught that one had to put a packing data card into the internal pocket. And I did it for many years; then noticed lots of reserves coming for repacks without the internal card and I just followed suit. No to argue, but where/how have you come to that reasoning? Jerry

Aren't PdeF reserves built like that? Jerry

I remember Sandy and that van/truck; he came through the Portland back then. As I recall, he had some gal with him also. I remember at the time of thinking of it as just a couple of steps above a fruit picker following the crops. Glad that he had moved up on the food chain. Jerry

A little trivia for you folks. In TSO C23b there is a req'ment for an internal packing data pocket. This is so the rigger could/can put a 2nd-filled-out packing card there & then another one in the outside pocket. This was so that the 'officials' could open a container and see who packed it last (like in really last) and when. I have not seen an inside packing data card in a reserve container nearly 30 years. People just quit doing it. In later TSO's (C23c & C23d) this internal packing data pocket is not req'd. Jerry

I'm a believer in donating. Get about 6 months worth of each, take them out to the dz & give'm to the newbs. They'll grab'em up. Jerry

Hi Walt, This is not a knock on you, OK? Because the chest strap is of lighter webbing and uses lighter hardware, many people seem to think that it is 'non-load bearing.' IMO, it is load bearing; just not the same loads as the MLW's get during opening. Otherwise: 1. We would never see chest straps that fail on opening; this has happened. 2. We would not really need chest straps. Chest straps take a load during the opening sequence, just not as much as other portions of the harness. HTH, Jerry

Just FYI, that is common practice in both the US gov't and the US military. Just a little trivia for you, Jerry

Hi Bob, The photos are interesting because we exited on the right side, not the left as you would in your photos. Did she get changed somewhere over the years? Jerry PS) The step was in-line with the fuse and would hold about 4 jumpers (back then).

Hi Terry, Bravo!!!!! A canopy that is at the top end of the container size will just wear you out packing it over and over. Now of course if you use packers, so what. If it's a reserve you (the rigger) are stressing things too much (IMO), the grommets, the locking loop, etc. Also, we are now experiencing damage to AAD cutters from too much pressure between the grommets; this problem can exist anywhere that the cutter is placed, including on top of the pilot chute. Well, probably not on pop-top type of containers; the exception that makes the rule. Mike Truffer did an editorial in SKYDIVING a few years ago in which he recommended buying containers (main & reserve) one size larger than the canopies you intend to put into them. Just to deal with these things. This will make it easier for the jumper in packing his main, the rigger in packing the reserve, and (hopefully) less chance of damage to the rig itself. I recently assembled and did a first-pack-job a new rig with a reserve canopy the owner had owned for a number of years. The previous rig the reserve canopy was in was a Javelin and the metal plate in the bottom of the pack tray was seriously bent from the forces used in packing this too large canopy (again IMO) into the reserve container. When I finished I told the customer not to ever bring back to me again. Simply too much work for too little money (once again IMO). I'll get down off of my soapbox now, Jerry

The day all of my classmates were doing the cap-n-gown thing I was up in Abbotsford jumping out of airplanes. Ended up on the cover of CANPARA mag. Much better than all that formal stuff. Jerry

Hi GrumpySmurf, Bravo!!!! If all gear evaluations were this easy to understand (and pay attention to) people would not make mistakes in buying gear. Jerry

There is a good possibility that those were the three actual measurements. PD will not give any volume numbers for their canopies. Me thinks because they vary so much. I am thinking that the biggest variable is the z-p fabric, which they have little control over. I know of one rig maker who built a rig for a customer with a demo PD canopy and then when his new exact version of the same canopy arrived it was too big for the now finished container. The rig maker had to make an entire new rig for the customer. Jerry

Ooops, wrong 'response to' problem. Sorry to confuse anyone out there. Jerry

Hi bigway, I'm with you on this one. My son is a prosecuting attorney and his advice to me is 'never even think about a so-called citizen's arrest.' Just my old $0.02 worth. Jerry

Back in '78 we had a local jumper with a very similar situation. Although in his case his round reserve did open completely upon deployment. He then decided to chop the main (only pilot chute out) upon which the pilot chute bridle ran up the reserve lines, chocking it off and killing him on impact. The assumption is that he did not know that the bridle, etc was around the reserve lines. If you're going to chop a main after the reserve is open try to make sure the main (and all it's parts) are clear before doing so. Just my old $0.02 worth.

A friend and I were up putzing around in a Citabria when she went off. Truly a once in a lifetime moment, never to be repeated. Absolutely awsome, Jerry

Like most of you, I have no idea what this is about. About 10-12 yrs ago the FAA did an emergency revocation of a local rigger's license. They did NOT put out anything on any of his repacks being illegal or whatever. Just some info on what happened in this area (Oregon). Jerry