pilotdave

As I said, call it primary or secondary or whatever you want. The fact is that when the rig operates under normal working conditions, the RSL is what pulls the reserve pin. If the RSL was 100% reliable, there'd be no need for a reserve handle. The fact is RSLs do fail, so we train ourselves to pull the reserve handle. With a skyhook, probably 99 out of 100 times (no I don't have data to back that up), the quickest way to stop a skydive is by cutting away.... assuming the main is already out. Course it'd be dangerous to think that cutting away will end every skydive. Our hanging harness doesn't have an RSL so I practice without it.

Does ASC have wireless? Coulda been anyone on the DZ... Dave

I dunno, a lot less than have been prevented would be my guess though. Dropzone.com is like an RSL... never mind. Not going there. Dave

Relying on the RSL means not pulling the reserve handle. Not pulling it isn't part of my plan. Primary, secondary, backup, whatever... just words. Call it what you want. But when I look at it, my rig has two ways of deploying a reserve. One is the skyhook, which is what will perform that task when all is working properly. The second is a manual reserve handle, which I'll pull in case the automatic system fails. I'm just the dumb operator of the system. Dave

What are they? Well, I've talked to a bunch of people that started off with one hand per handle and had to use two on one handle or the other. I've got a modern rig with riser inserts and a lightly loaded main, so a hard cutaway isn't TOO likely, but until I've felt how much force a "live" cutaway will take, I'd rather use both hands. Also in the winter, cold hands plus two layers of gloves might give me a little less grip or hand strenth. Don't want to take any chances of my hand slipping off my cutaway pillow. On that same point,, while of course I'll plan to pull my reserve handle after cutting away, I DO have an RSL (skyhook). As I grab my reserve handle, the chances are my reserve will already be open. RSL's can of course fail, but it's pretty unlikely. I'd prefer to focus my energy on the step that I need to get done first. It might not be a popular idea, but I believe that the reserve handle is a backup to the RSL, not the other way around. When the system works as designed, the reserve handle is unnecessary. I'll pull it anyway as a backup in case the primary system (the skyhook) fails. Finally, if I get off my ass and do the eval jumps, I'll (hopefully) get my coach rating before the end of the year... no guarantees, i'm pretty lazy. But anyway, when I taught part of a couple FJCs before taking the course, and when I help teach it in the future, I need to teach the two hands per handle method. I ended up getting it drilled back into me, so I decided it might not be a bad idea to use what I've more recently practiced most. When the time comes, the procedures better happen automatically. After going over these procedures so many times, they came pretty automatically. The two hands method is what was drilled into me for all of my AFF except level 1, so if I do revert back to my student training, that's what it'll be. Anyway, those are pretty much the factors that made up my mind. The one hand per handle method is definitely faster if done right and the RSL doesnt work or isnt installed... no question about that. But with a working RSL, I believe the two hands per handle method MAY be faster. And an out of sequence cutaway procedure would negate the skyhook, slowing the reserve opening compared to what I would have gotten had I cut away first. Geez this is too complicated... screw it, I'll let my cypres fire. Dave

I'm just curious... do you teach students to use one hand per handle? BTW, I'm not trying to imply thats wrong... it's how I learned it before my first jump. Switched DZs before my second jump and learned two hands per handle. Later switched back to one hand per handle as I got more experience, and now I'm back to two for a few reasons. Never had a cutaway, so I can't compare either method based on real life experience (you just KNOW i'm doomed to have a cutaway this weekend after saying that!)

What really impresses me is the two videos were uploaded exactly 100 uploads apart from each other. Week One is at http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2871. Dave

I'm just curious... can you go over the total bill for your jump? I assume the $300 included video? Were they clear about the cancellation policy? Did they charge any other fees or offer any others that you didn't take? What price did you expect to pay after reading their website but before calling? Their website shows $165 for the jump and $85 for video. Where'd the extra $50 come from? Dave

Billvon said: "I was at Rantoul this summer where two jumpers would have been saved by their RSL's. One tore his shirt apart trying to get to his reserve handle." Your reply included: "-This jumper could also have had his RSL fire a malfunctioned reserve due to poor body position after the chop." I'm not really sure what body position after a cutaway could cause a reserve malfunction, but I don't see how it matters anyway. Dead is dead. Dave

Ummm, aren't you talking about someone that died? Could a reserve malfunction have made him die more? Dave

Yeah, I really need to get back into it. The problem is I damn near have to start over to make changes. I BARELY knew what I was doing when I made it, and I've forgotten a lot since then, so I need to remind myself how to do it in the first place, then start drawing it again. If I knew what I was doing, this'd be a whole lot easier!

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=search&search=do&string=bridge%20day%2005&searchtype=allwords&click=1 (and more to come...) Dave

There's a DZ called ASS? Why has nobody told me about this before?? That's awesome! Dave

Hehe, well with a CH-46 you might not need to worry about runways, but you'd have to worry about falling out of the sky! There's a reason they're getting retired...

Hmm, my home DZ might be looking for a new location within a few years... do you think Williston is a little far for us to keep the name Connecticut Parachutists?

It's a work in progress, but: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/hotbod_template.html. No improvements since I last posted it a while back... Colors are all based on the nylon samples on the bevsuit site. And not all the "connected" panels are quite right... some can be colored separetely on a real suit. Someday I'll get it really finished. Dave

Faster openings aren't the only improvement the skyhook has over a standard RSL. I agree that the difference in altitude loss between a standard RSL and a Skyhook probably don't make all that big a difference. It's the other benefits, like the collins lanyard and stable reserve deployments from pretty much any malfunction that, in my opinion, make the skyhook a deciding factor in choosing rigs. But even without a skyhook I'd still go with a Vector over a Javelin... Dave

To be fair, Williston hired some very nice aircraft for the collegiate boogie every year and never had any safety issues. Dunno what it's like there the rest of the year, but it was always a great DZ for the boogie. I'm guessing the boogie moved more due to personality conflicts, not safety issues, right? I know their cessna had a door, unless it broke or something since January. It was just missing the little corner piece to fill in the gap, right? Dave

Some of each actually.

Just my opinion... Choose based on what your focus is. If you're into looks and comfort, go with a Javelin. If you're into safety, go with a Vector. That's not to say a Vector isn't comfortable or a Javelin isn't safe... I just believe each company focuses on certain factors. Javelin has clearly gone for high comfort. RWS doesn't make a whole lot of changes to their rigs to compete with the latest and greatest comfort features found on other rigs. But you can rest assured that everything on a Vector has been extremely well thought out and studied. My Vector is definitely not uncomfortable... especially after breaking in. But my custom Vector 3 is probably less comfortable than a stock Javelin I demoed. Course I didn't go with a deluxe backpad on my Vector so it's hard to compare the two. If I was doing 20 jumps a day, I might care more about comfort. But I just don't spend enough time in my rig to care all that much about how it feels, as long as it's not UNcomfortable. My vector is comfortable, but not as comfortable as I'm sure a lot of other rigs would be. Make up your own mind after looking carefully at the two rigs. When I was shopping, I found that all rigs were pretty much equivalent except the vector. But be careful about just listening to opinions that other people have (including me). Nobody has an unbiased opinion, whether they know it or not. Dave

Just my opinion, but I don't think skydiving is a very good sport for people like that. When someone with over 20X my number of jumps that has been in the sport 10X longer than me tells me something is a bad idea, I tend to listen, and so do a lot of other people. This isn't a good sport for people that will do anything to prove others wrong. You'll more likely prove them right. Dave

Geez, just wait a couple mins and post a link! Edit 1: Still uploading, right? Don't see any new files... Edit 2: n/m, I see it... 51 megs uploaded so far... almost done. Edit 3: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2961 Dave

Have you ever done that? What canopies, have you or would you use? Dave

But without knowing how much force you put on your harness during a hard opening, I don't know what you'd do with any numbers you're given for the strength of your harness. If you get it tested and it breaks at 2000 lbs, how will you know if that's good or bad? What parts would you have tested? Just a section of main lift web or would you include some hardware/stitching? Dave

RWS tests a sample of every roll of webbing they buy. I dunno if Mirage does the same, but I'd assume they do. RWS was happy to demonstrate their destruct-o-webbing (tensile test) machine when I went for a tour. Took a few seconds to set up and a couple minutes to run the test. I'm not sure what good it would do for ya, but I bet mirage could run the test for you easily. Dave