Deyan

I would be surprised if more than 5 % of the jumpers would answer half of the questions

I don't know the rules in Israel, but it could be that the main canopy airworthiness approval is mandatory. No approval = unairworthy canopy. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

Have you checked the manufacturer recommendations for the Nitro? http://www.hiperusa.com/files/wingloading.pdf The first category is 50-100 jumps experience. So it's not "someone at both DZ's", it's the manufacturer "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

I think he asked about SOLO 1 audible altimeter

I agree with everything you've said above. I'm aware of the fact that this can happen. The only way you can be sure is to turn off-on your CYPRES before every jump, and still there's a chance that the cutter might break during the mid air impact. With all that said, I've tested some cutters which were cracked to the same stage, and it still takes some effort to break the cables. I'm not saying that it's OK to pack it like this. NOT AT ALL. Cutter like this should be replaced ASAP. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

You are telling me the SN of the unit. The unit and the cutter have different serial numbers. It doesn't matter. If the unit is from 03/08 the cutter is more likely from 03/08 as well or a bit older. Airtec changed the length of the ....( I don't even know how they call it ) the black cracked piece, to address this problem. That happened in 2009 if my memory is correct. It really sucks to open your rig and see the cutter broken, but remember, if you can turn the unit on, the cutter would work. Regardless of the damage. Contact Airtec and they will help you out. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

It look like the old style cutter. What is the DOM of the cutter? "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

My favorite one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU1tHOgdVag Just for the record.... that's not me P.S. This one is not bad neither http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yttmFw4_JOM "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

Thank you

I don't see it that way. Why RWS stopped making Vector 2?! Because people wanted to freefly and V2 simply was not good enough for that. Why Precision stopped making Raven reserve?! Because people wanted to load their reserve more than 1:1 and the reserve was not design for that. Do you think that somebody jumping a Raven in Vector 2 is a person with a dead wish? There's nothing bad in 20 years old reserve as long as it's in good condition and you don't exceed the manufacturer recommendations for weight and speed. I'm sorry if I left that impression. In my first reply to piisfish I did nothing to address the OP's concerns about dealing with skydiverek. That's why I used my second reply. And just to be clear. Piisfish said : "I wouldn't buy a 21 yr old reserve... I would hardly even pack it..." It's a general statement. About any 21 yr old reserve. I'm just interested in his reasons for that. He might know something I don't. He might have some data I don't have. I don't want to be a smart ass. I just want to know if his statement is based on some hard data or it's a personal feeling. That's all. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

That's your opinion and I respect that, but what makes it "old "? True. The same counts for few thousands Vector 2 still in use. They are no longer made, but does it mean that they are bad? Just because we know better now, that doesn't mean that old = bad. And something to think about. Some time ago we sent a PDR back to the factory because all boxes were full. ( 40 repacks and 4 jumps ) The reserve was 20 years old. It came back after the inspection with another label sewn on with new 40 boxes . So the guys at PD think that 20 years old reserve is not only airworthy, but basically it's good as new . With all that said, it's still up to the rigger to decide if he wants to pack it or not. Some riggers don't pack anything over 20 years. Others don't pack anything over 15 years. In some countries anything over 12 years is considered unairworthy. Back to the OP. I don't think that you will have problems with skydiverek. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

It's a personal choice of course , but can you tell me why not? "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

True! However, as you know the links are part of the canopy and it's the TSO's holder decision what may or may not be used. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

There's only one correct answer on this question. You ( your rigger ) should use only links provided by the manufacturer. Paratec is the TSO holder and only they can supply you TSO components for that reserve. ( Please don't ask me How can you tell if the links are "the original ones", because I don't know. They all come from the same manufacturer ) With all that said, Speed 2000 comes out of the box with INOX Maillon rapid links # 5. As for the use of PD reserve S-links on the Speed, my information is that Paratec does not authorize the use of S-links because : A: the reserve was never tested with them and B: they ( Paratec ) have no control over the QC at PD. note: this info is one year old. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

His theory is right. I see this from time to time. I don't think that has something to do with the thickness of the tape. More likely the cause is the hot knifed edge. You've got 2 options. #1, get rid of the tape and sew some elastic there #2, sew the tape with the hot knifed edge outside, so the line is not going to have contact with the hot knifed edge. I guess there are many ways to fix this, but for me those 2 are the fastest. Just for the record....I've seen reserve risers worn out by a melted thread . Good luck fixing those line keepers "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

Hi Jerry, Honestly ... I have no idea. Jérôme Bunker and Eric Fradet are answering questions here from time to time. Maybe they will give some insights why TSO C-23b is not recognized in France. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

What else would you like? I think you've missed his point. Read it again. I think he doesn't expect much.....no bitching about his terms will be enough. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

The French are funny people. There's nothing you can do to "upgrade" your G4 to TSO C-23d. As far as I know, TSO C-23b is not allowed only in France. You can jump that rig in any other country in Europe. For you might be interesting to hear that Vectors were "not legal" as well till the last month. Then UPT switched their C-23b to the French QAC 121. The funny thing is that the French national VFS team won the world championship with "illegal rigs" I forgot some inverted commas "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

Those are easy to resize! "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

Looking forward to hearing about it! Just out of curiosity, why are you looking forward to become a test jumper? There are other low packing volume reserves out there with longer history on the field. If you need one, buy it now. No need to wait till 2013. I'm not saying that it will be a bad reserve, but in general any skydiving product need about 3-4 years before it's field tested. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

If your DZ is Texel talk about this rig with Jo Oosterveer. He know some stuff about Javelins Just as a side note, Javelin "OJ" is made for 139 sq.ft MAX. I know that many people out there will tell you their stories how they can pack 150 or even 170 in that rig, but you have to ask yourself, do you really want to ignore the manufacturers recommendations. Take care "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

A friend of mine asked me the same question about 2 weeks ago. Here is my summary. At least 2 bright colors, so people can see you on any background and you can spot easier your canopy after cutaway. Top center cell in dark color, so you can't see when it gets dirty after many packjobs. Bottom center cell in totally different color than any other cell, so you can find the middle easily when "PRO" packing. Enjoy your canopy no matter which color you select. "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

Easy answer.....people who make them! "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

I understand what you are saying, but making charts based on the surface area of the canopy instead of the packing volume is not right. 2 canopies from the same size can have different packing volume by a lot. ( I'm sure you know that better than me, but I'm just trying to explain to others why this is not a good idea ) The way to go is giving the packing volume for the rig size. Like Basic Air, Jump Shack, Rigging Innovations , and leaving it up to the rigger to decide which model and size reserve will go into that rig. With all that said, it still won't be good enough "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen

I highly doubt that . You said that it took more than 100 ponds to extract the bag when you did the testing. The malfunctioned main I believe will produce less than that in the first second after cutting away ( it depends of the type of malfunction ,main canopy size etc) , and one second is more than enough for the reserve PC to win the race vs the skyhook. What you have to take into account is that small rigs, overstuffed reserves and low drag reserve PCs make this scenario more likely to happen regardless of the body position . P.S. Now as I'm thinking, the guy from the video was spinning under open main, so the force could've been more than 100 lbs, "My belief is that once the doctor whacks you on the butt, all guarantees are off" Jerry Baumchen