BrianM

Was it stuck part way through the start-up sequence? If so, it is a known problem that sometimes affects Vigils. I've seen them get stuck in the shutdown sequence as well. You need to contact the manufacturer for replacement. If you mean it was stuck in the normal standby mode (i.e. displaying "Pro" or whatever mode it is in), then I have no idea. Could be the same problem but I would only be guessing. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Yep, you got it! BTW, it allows the main to separate if the main container opens (it might not - probably better that it doesn't - but it often does). "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

The riser covers should keep the risers from flailing around much. Without any tension on the risers to separate the rings, the risers may not go anywhere at all even without riser covers. No. Even if they were flailing about, the risers would not be pulling on the pin. You need either more pull force on the pin (from the PC/bridle) or less tension on the closing loop to open the container. That is the reason for cutting away first, if you choose that option. When the reserve leaves the container, it reduces pressure on the top side of the main container, allowing the main to bulge out in that direction, and reducing tension on the closing loop. This is often sufficient to allow the PC to extract the pin, and the main then begins deploying at the same time as the reserve, risking a main/reserve entanglement. If you've already cut away, the PC should pull the bagged main away as soon as it puts a bit of tension on the risers. This doesn't completely eliminate the possibility of it fouling the reserve, of course... Not at all. Understanding what can happen, and the pros and cons of various courses of action, just might save your life one day. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

You can see a PCIT by looking over your shoulder. You don't need to wait a while to make sure you don't see the dbag - you can see the PC! One very quick glance will tell you exactly what you have - and as I said before, I'm already taking that time to look anyway in order to see what's going on, because it could be something else entirely (PC in burble, PC wrapped on leg, etc). Edit: It just occurred to me that you may have meant the difficulty between seeing if the dbag is there in addition to the PC, or if it is just the PC. I originally understood you to mean that you were looking for either the bag, or just empty sky, and wanted to be sure that you hadn't missed the bag. In that case - I think a PC sitting ~8 feet above you at the end of the bridle would look very different from a bunch of lines, with a dbag above that, then a bridle and PC ~8 feet above above that. When I had my PCIT in April, it was very obvious what was going on the instant I looked over my shoulder. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

You can easily tell them apart by looking at them. It will be obvious which you have. I would always identify the problem before trying to rectify it. How do you know you don't just have the PC in your burble? Looking over your shoulder to identify the problem will spill air over your shoulder and you'll probably get a normal main deployment. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

That, and a reserve is never guaranteed to work. If it doesn't, and I didn't cut away, I might still be able to get my main out. If I did cut away, I've lost that option. I don't remember what I was trained. I don't even remembered being trained what to do for a PCIT. I'm not sure if I wasn't taught or I just don't remember. My plan is to go straight to reserve - which I did in April when I had a PCIT (fully inflated, non-collapsible PC on a wingsuit jump). The main container opened after the reserve deployed. I watched the bag fall down past my feet, the canopy come out of the bag and hang below me, then slowly start to inflate while moving backwards and upwards. I chopped while it was still below horizontal. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

If someone is badly hurt but alive, I would much rather see the jumpers who are first on scene start first aid than start taking pictures and examining gear. Accident investigation should be secondary to saving a life! That might even mean that the jumpers destroy evidence to help the injured person. Yes, it's unfortunate to loose the evidence, but those are my priorities. Of course, if you have enough people that one person can take photos/video while others are doing first aid, then great! Go for it! I was first on scene to a relatively minor injury several years ago. Managed to stop the firefighters from cutting the canopy lines with bolt cutters (canopy was draped on the side of a tree, lines were in the way of the EMS). "Hold on! Just pull this handle!" ... and the way to really know if the injured jumper is ok is if they say "I'm ok, save my gear!" I've seen that happen, too! "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Buying second hand gear normally means the gear is available very quickly (just shipping time if it is not local, could be immediately if it is local), so you don't need to rent gear for long. I don't see how second hand gear plus gear rental could possibly cost more than new gear without rental. It does sound like a great idea for those who choose to buy new gear. Question: what exactly is the poll asking? How much was spent on gear rental prior to acquiring a rig? Or something else? I didn't see an actual question in there anywhere (well, lots of good questions, but none that explained the poll itself). "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

I jump with audibles. A few years ago I realized that they had made me less altitude aware. It snuck up on me over time, and I didn't even know it was happening. I now set my audibles to altitudes that are below my planned break-off and pull altitudes, but that will still give me sufficient time to gain some separation and deploy my main. Now if I hear the beep and haven't already broken off/pulled, it means I screwed up. My altitude awareness is back to what it used to be. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

If you're going to turn it off and immediately turn it back on, then sure, of course it does. If you're going to leave it off for more than a few minutes, you'll still save power by shutting it off in between - not that I'm recommending it. The point I was reply to was the question of turning it off versus letting it shut itself off - it wasn't about power cycling between jumps. In any case, as a rigger I've never had to replace a CYPRES battery before it reached the 2 years/500 jumps limit, and I jump at a DZ where we land off the airport, so AAD's get power cycled after every jump. I really don't think it matters in practice, with perhaps the exception of the case where it will detect a "takeoff" on the drive home. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Not trying to pick on you, Ronaldo - but if the loop breaks, you should have replaced it a while ago. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

I've heard this a lot of times. As an engineer with a background in embedded systems, I've always been skeptical. Google found CYPRES current draw measurements: http://www.pcprg.com/cyprespc.htm Average current draw in standby: (27 s * .23 mA + 3 s * 6.5 mA) / 30 s = 0.857 mA While turning off, assuming LED flash and button pushes are 1 second long (they are actually shorter than that, so it will actually use less charge than this, but close enough for our purposes): 3 s * (7.6 mA + 13.5 mA) = 63.3 mA*s So turning off is equivalent to being in standby for 63.3 mA*s / 0.857 mA = 73.9 seconds. Probably less since I've overestimated the duration of the LED flashes and button presses. Conclusion: turning a CYPRES off uses less power than leaving it on, unless it is within about a minute of turning itself off. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

No, it was turned on at the DZ. This was not a failure to auto power off due to being in "airborne" mode. It got stuck part way through the turn on sequence. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

In addition to the other replies you've received, hand deployed pilot chutes are incompatible with AADs. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

See? I told you I was super-human! I can very easily reach around behind my rig and up my back, slide a finger under my reserve flap, and feel the pin and closing loop. Yes, I'm flexible, but super-human I am not. You want a demonstration next time I'm in Pitt Meadows? One of my Javelins has a broken stiffener in the reserve flap from people who think the proper way to check a reserve pin is to bend the bottom of the flap upwards while the flap is still closed (that, BTW, would be every person who has every given me a reserve pin check - yep, all of them). Open it properly, or just bend down and peek up under the flap - or better yet, don't touch my gear! I can check it myself! "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

A local jumper had this problem this past weekend. Vigil II, manufactured in June 2009, stuck at "Hello". No response to button presses. After it had been sitting for a few minutes, another jumper played with it and was able to get it to turn on. I think the owner would have jumped it, but I didn't trust it it to be functioning correctly and decided to power cycle it and see what happened. It went through the shutdown sequence ok but froze at "Goodbye". Pressed the button again, and it went straight from "Goodbye" to "Hello", gave the first two flashes, then froze again, with the display saying "Vigil II", and two of the three boxes filled in (the third was still hollow). It would no longer respond to button presses at all. It was still in that state well after 14 hours had passed (no auto-power off). I removed the Vigil from the rig, the owner jumped without an AAD for the weekend. She is going to contact AAD - I'll post if/when I hear what the outcome is. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

There is a DSTAR stack nearby, yes (VE7VIC, I'm on 2 m and 70 cm). I won't be in town next weekend, and I'm usually doing tandems all weekend most weekends. We are nearing the end of our season though, so we'll probably have some weathered out weekends coming up (like this weekend), and be shut down for the winter in a while, so there should be some opportunities. I'll let you know! "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Ha! This would be the DSTAR contacts you were talking about on the DSTAR group! I'm the guy that suggested we should try a DSTAR parachute mobile to parachute mobile contact if I can borrow a DSTAR handheld. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

It's Flying High, not Sky High. The container is the Sidewinder. http://www.flyinghigh.net/ "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Probably bits of dry skin from your hands, or from your knee, which you use to hold the closing loop in place while threading the pullup through the next grommet. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

I see the same thing with FireFox 3.5.2 on both Linux and Windows. Blocking ads with the NoScript addon makes it work properly. If I start allowing scripts one at a time, the problem happens when I allow eyereturn.com, which is an ad hosting service. It does appear to be the Kokanee ads, as far as I can tell (it's crappy beer anyway!). "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

No, they're not. The d-bag is there to stage the opening. The slider is there to stage the opening. The rubber bands are there to hold the lines in place until they are needed, and should have no effect on the speed of the deployment process. To stage the opening means, literally, to make it happen in stages. Rubber bands stage the opening (that's what you were talking about when you said they "hold the lines in place until they are needed). Staging has nothing to do with controlling the speed of the opening - those are separate functions. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

I would also add another factor - the elevation of the ground below you. It might not be a factor if you are jumping somewhere flat, but lots of DZ's have surrounding terrain that is significantly higher than the landing area. Just because your dial says 1800 doesn't mean you have 1800 feet. A 1000 foot hill will leave you with only 800 feet. My answer to the original question: below 1500, reserve. Above 1500, main. If I'm not happy with what I have by the time I reach 1500, I still have time to cutaway and deploy my reserve, so why not have two shots at a good canopy? "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

Not all CR123A's are identical either, for that matter... Thank you for statement, I think that should satisfy everyone. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

... except that CR123A is not a part number, it is a battery "size", specifying the shape, terminal layout, and voltage of the battery. It does not specify the chemistry (in this case I believe it actually does specifically mean a lithium battery, but there are different chemistries used in lithium batteries), construction type, capacity, etc. You could have two batteries that are both labelled CR123A, and they will both fit in your device and provide the correct voltage, but they could be very different batteries. The A in CR123A is a reference to the battery being 1x2/3 the size of an A battery. When Aviacom specifies a CR123A battery, all that really tells us is that we need a 3V lithium battery of a certain size and shape. I don't know what "cfr specs TS120" is. I googled it but haven't found anything. "It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg