BlindBrick

I will freely admit that I have /zero/ experience with Vectran. The lines look like Spectra to me, but since everyone was saying that it was Vectran, I just assumed that I had made an inexperienced rigger's mistake and misidentified the line. After reading your post, I broke out my materials ID guide and the one example of Vectran I have is a this dun colored line that is thinner and rounder than Spectra. If that's the only form that Vectran comes in, then I definately have Spectra lines. As for openings: The first sixteen or so jumps were all high speed openings with deployment speeds varying between 155 and 175 mph, but with the majority in the 165 mph range. The last six or seven jumps have been sub-terminal hop and pops with an average deployment speed of about 75 mph. Two or three of the openings have been the softest openigns I've ever experienced, most have been rough enough that whenever I see the "Openings as soft as falling into pillows" adline, I think "Damn, I really should buy the Icarus marketing team new pillows." and a few have been bad enough that I actually contemplated landing downwind, miles off-field just so I wouldn't have to move and therefore be able to just hang in the harness. And yes Mel, I am planning on sending it back to you for evaluation. The only problem is that I am having to wait until I find a suitable spare canopy as I have to make a certain number of jumps before Sept. in order to qualify for a coaches course, and going without a canopy for more than one weekend would be cutting it very, very close. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I am using tandem bands, double stowed on my locking stows. And I am positively anal about my slider. I check it four different times. First time is when I clover leaf it(which is myt last step before rolling the tail), second time is just before I begin S folding, third time is after the S-fold and one final time after I've got the canopy in the bag. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Just curious. I know that it's technically illegal to do so in the US, but some countries do allow it. If you did it, did you regret the decision later? -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

No I didn't. I just made sure all the fingertraps were sewn and that the seams on the canopy looked good. I will freely admit that this was a downsizing for me and that it could have been a bit out of trim new because for the first few jumps I put on it, I was mostly in the "OMG, this thing is fast" phase and didn't notice a lot else about the flight characteristics. However, in the last 10 or so jumps, I have been intentionally studying the flight characteristics of the canopy. During that time, I can tell you that the turn has gotten worse. When I first noticed it, it was a very slight drift only noticable on final. Now, it's to the point that it is turning somewhere between 20-30 degrees per second(estimated by focusing on a fixed object and letting the canopy fly). I know that line is not supposed to shrink that fast, but I am pushing the envelope hard enough that I'm not sure that conventional wisdom is entirely accurate. Which brings me back to the links. I'm not sure how to calculate peak stress on the links. I know my total exit mass is ~150 kg and thanks to a trio of freefall computers, I know I decel from 74 m/s to 4 m/s. Video of a couple of my openings shows pretty much insta'canopy. I haven't had the chance to run the video through a machine with a timer that measures down to the hundreth of a second, but I would estiamte that from canopy extraction to full inflation is no longer than 2-2.5 seconds. Now I know that in an ideal situation, the force is spread evenly between the four risers which I would think would divide peak force by 4. Assuming that( and F=ma), I am getting an ~peak force of 1300 n which is ~290 lbs per link. Does that sound right? -blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I know that regular soft links are supposed to be able to take anything we can dish out. OTOH, this past weekend I learned that in under twenty jumps I have managed to knock my new canopy's lines out of trim by over an inch and a quarter on the left C's and D's. What I am wondeirng is if the kind of stresses that would affect trim that drastically, that early, would comprimise a standard Spectra softlink? If so, is there a stronger line type that would be better suited to the demands I am putting on the setup? I ask because I am worried about the possibility of metal fatigue or stripping the barrell on the Rapide minilinks I am currently using on my main. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Sometimes, people also just flat out exceed the limitations of their experience/ability and/or gear. my first two reserve rides were a combination of exceeding my physical abilities(bad visual acuity, I could only read an analong alti with ~+/- 1000 margin of error) while also exceeding the capability of my gear(an old mechanical AAD with a ~+/- 500 margin of error) -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

:1:1 Beer jump from the balloon. Holy crap, that was a lot scarier than anything I've done lately. The fear was actually a little worse than my first clear and pull, but damn it was fun when it was all said an done! -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

You don't do that in CA? In AR, we verbally spell out the waiver, specifically mentioning the part about you can still die even if you do everythign right. I've seen similar stuff done in MO, IL and CO. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Wow, you really think they pack it that often Riggers know better than to bite the hand that feeds them and so I'd be willing to bet there are a lot of riggers out there who show courtesy to their DZO's by having an in-date reserve, regardless of when it was last repacked. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

[replyClearly, the airplane part of a jump is common carriage according to my reading of the court decision. I can't see any reason to exclude the actual skydive from that definition, or any means of distinguishing a skydive from the rollercoaster ride. Actually there is a HUGE distinction. The verdict cites the fact that amusement park rides create "the illusion of danger..." In skydiving we tell them straight up that what they are doing /is/ dangerous. We don't sugar coat it. We sress to them that they can do everythig right and still die. Knowing this, the student is making an informed consent to engage in the activity. If we told them that it's all the scary stuff is just stories or for show and that no one really gets hurt, then we would be in the same posistion as the amusment parks. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

True, though I had one that tried. My wiring took a hit where the house connection box is and the voltage was so high, it literally burnt the phone wire out of the walls and caused the surge protector to exploded. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Could be worse Sarah. Every time you get fustrated by your 170, just remember that I'm packing a 269 sf zp canopy that only has 22 jumps on it. -Blind (aka Jack the Rigger) "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

So Can I call you on a case of beer. You are OK, I hope? I thought that the third number was cases of beer owed, if so, It's duely noted. And I'm OK, the worst I have is some minor abrasions on my arms and face, but now I have a "No Shit there I was" story that ends with "But luckily, my face broke my fall!"

:2:1 Had one awesome hop and pop Saturday. Sunday was a little more exciting. I'd been having to fly with my right toggle at half brakes to counter a built-in left turn, and had been jumping on relatively cool no wind days. Sunday was hot and I was landing into a ~9 mph wind. At about 50 ft, I felt my canopy start to stall. I instantly let both toggles up to regain airspeed and my canopy immediately began to turn left. That's the first time I've ever impacted the ground in a totally horizontal fashion with the front of my body. I've never had grass stains on my chest strap and front of my shirt before. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

s I've been slammed on Dacron several times, once to the point of graying out(this was several years ago when I was experiemnting with sliders and took a Raven bikini slider to terminal on a Laser 9 main). In my, admittedly limted, experience hard openings on Dacron are much more tolerable which I attribute to the fact that the dacron stretch is lessening the peak force. So I'm not looking for them to be a cure but rather a mitigator. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I am actually not allowed to go terminal at my DZ because of my belly speed is ~165. So, my last 10'ish jumps have all been subterminal openings. My last opening was a nightmare that was caught on film from two different angles. Film shows a stable deployment and my Vigil registered only a 78 mph max speed. Despite that, it opened hard enough it took a large chunk out of my right hand when it flung my arm into the risers. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I've had some absolutely brutal openings, even sub-terminal. It's a new canopy with less than 40 jumps on it, but it's recently began having trouble with the left endcell not wanting to inflate and it also developed a significant left hand turn (have to fly the right toggle at half brakes to counter) at the same time (even once the endcell is inflated). I've looked it over and can't find any rib tears or damaged crossports, so I figure it's the lineset. If I am going to have to reline it, I'd rather just go with Dacron. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Anybody done this or know of a loft that will? I know that I'll have a larger pack volume and more parasitic drag but my Safire's a 269 so the drag increase would probably not be noticable and my contianer is made to hold up to a 280. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

The first thign i owuld do is take a stone and round off the end of your seam ripper. Be sure that when you round it off that it is smooth and has no burrs. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

I was seeing about 20-100 when I started jumping. Plus I've always been big and had a fall fall rate to match. was kind of a no-brainer . -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Actually, it's become such a popular feature that several manufactuers will build a "pindow" onto a sport rig. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Real: 1, 3, 7, 8, 9, 11 I'll let you figure out which ones are fake for yourself. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

A ham sandwich walks into a skin head bar. The bartender takes one look and says "I'm sorry, we don't serve food here." And one of my favorite Stephen Wright questions: "If you shoot a mime, should you use a silencer?" -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

Man, you were draggin', weren't you? Mid-thing, yeouch. Even if I was hung like Dirk Diggler, I don't think i'm the type of masochist who'd enjoy routing their member under the legstrap. Midthigh, I meant mid-thigh. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."

On my second jump yesterday I made a low turn and compounded the error by flaring late. The result was a long skid through some tall grass. Because I was wearing shorts, I got an abrasion that begins at my left knee and goes up to about midthigh. i also got so scrapes on my other knee and my arms. It's now thirteen hours later and on the other areas, the redness has turned a light pink and they are cool to the touch. The injured area on my left thing, OTOH, is still vividly red and hot to the touch. I thought maybe I just got that leg warmer, but the skin beyond the wound is cool to the touch. i've never had this type of injury before, so I am curious if I might have just abraded that area a little more than the others or if this is the onset of an infection. -Blind "If you end up in an alligator's jaws, naked, you probably did something to deserve it."