erdnarob

Sorry I almost forgot to answer you. Most of the countries having civilian skydivers are relatively advanced technologically speaking. Then I guess they have a system of gear inspection more or less organized. But the problem doesn't come from the country only, it also comes from the skydiver attitude. We are doing a high risk sport then we have to behave accordingly and our best investment is to be knowledgeable about our equipment. I know many skydivers in advanced countries who almost doesn't care about what they have on their back when jumping. They prefer not seeing their rigger packing their reserve for instance, even once. Could you imagine a high sea sailor on a sailboat not knowing his boat and the rigging on it ?. Or the mountain climber not knowing his equipement ? Thanks for the participant on this thread who mentioned that "telephone" type housings used for ripcords were made of stainless steel. I swear I have seen some brass at least on the endings. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

For the 2 steering or brake lines not being locked by the toggles on a big Sabre 1, you keep them out toward the canopy as much as possible in the center just like the other lines. I have had a Sabre 1-210 with Dacron lines. Those 2 "free" Dacron steering lines gave me some trouble by causing several times tears on the lower surface of the canopy near the tail. On the other hand the Sabre 1-210 with spectra lines doesn't seem to have that problem. Dacron lines are thicker than Spectra ones and maybe less slippery causing more easily burns or tears of the fabric. The reason why PD put those "free" steering lines is to make the big Sabres opening softer. Since there is only 3 (out of 4) secondary steering lines (each side) that keeping the tail low for the opening, the aerodynamic force is decreased. Big Sabre 1 are Sabre 1 of 190 and above. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I have to thank everybody for participating to this thread. We don't have always to agree. But the best will always come out from the controversy and this forum allows us to do it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Glad to see another person involved in physics being a skydiver. After all-skydiving is applied physics. Ok the guy wants to know if the magnets of his riser cover will be affected during the winter. The answer is NO (as long he is jumping at the surface of the Earth). But in my mind, this forum is for exchanging ideas and to propagate knowledge. Now for the why it is like that, well LaRusic is giving the answer. In other word we have to know the origin of the magnetism first. In atoms, there are electrons spinning around the nucleus. Each electron because of its spin (+ or -) (rotation about itself clockwise or counterclockwise) creates magnetism and acts like a magnet bar (with a South and a North pole). Alright so far. Generally in an atom, the number of electrons with a spin + matches the number of electrons with a spin - and if that happens the total magnetism is zero or neutral. However some atoms have not their spin + and spin - matched or equal and therefore the atom itself becomes a very small magnet. Now put a lot of those special atoms (like a piece of iron) and align them in the same direction (with a strong electromagnet) and you have what we call a magnet. Now the temperature of a material is an indication of the atoms vibration in a solid for instance. More temperature more vibration. At a certain temperature, the Curie point, the vibration is such that the material loses completely its magnetism because too intense vibration is not allowing the aligment of the atoms anymore. On the other hand if you get the material cold (as LaRusic says) the magnetism will increase since the atoms vibration slows down and that way keeps a better alignment. For Jerome now, we have NEODYMIUM, IRON and BORON in English. Canada eh !. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Hackish, a ripcord housing or yellow cable guide or Vector III anti twist channel are all made the same way. It is a band of brass rolled in a spiral with the edges curved inside and pressed together. That technology allows the tube to be both flexible and extensible. There is no possibility of burr inside because of the way it is made. The 2 ending inserts are made of brass as well and I guess if they are not well installed and swaged can have the possibility of a burr which was certainely not the case in my experiment. A fellow jumper asked me to order a Spectra rip cord for his Vector III. When I will install this new ripcord, I will repeat the chafing testing. Now lets be realistic, I have submitted the Kevlar line to friction that will never be encountered in 20+ years on an actual rig used every weekend. Remember that every 6 months a rigger will have a look at it. Lets go Hackish, time to jump in new technologies and avoid to miss the turn toward the future. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

When I was at the Summerfest at Skydive Chicago, I went to the PD tent and at my request they put the Pulse 170 in my container. To do so, you sign up a waiver and pay 5$. You can keep the canopy the whole day or more provided nobody else wants to try it. At the last jump you don't pack it and your packed parachute left at the PD tent in a special bag is put back carefully in your container. PD people are very friendly people. Everything goes smoothly with them. They gave me the flight caracteristics of the Pulse and the rest was mine to discover. 1) the Pulse deployed smoothly but positively, faster than my Katana but slower than the Sabre 2. 2) Immediately you have a good impression of lightness when removing the brakes and flying it due to the low toggles pressure. 3) Turns are smooth but very stable. The Pulse flies very flat therefore you can travel a lot with it. That will bring you back from long spots. 4) landing was good, I made a stand up (loading at 1.6+) but the flare is not as powerful than my Katana 170 or Sabre2-170. Note. The top skin of the canopy is made of ZP nylon while the bottom skin is made with the new OPTIMUM reserve fabric. Pulse supension lines are made of Vectran. The packing volume seems to be almost the same than the same size Katana and slightly smaller than the same size Sabre 2. I had a very good impression of that canopy. I would recommend it to people having 50-70 jumps and being proficient at canopy flying after they have been cleared by their DZ instructors. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I have your answer JackC. I have made a test when a friend of mine has decided to install a Spectra rip cord on his Vector III after seeing mine and being convinced. Since I am his rigger he and I decided to find out about the chafing of the line inside the metal housing. See the pictures. Note. For the test I didn't have a Spectra line available but I used a Kevlar line of about the same thickness. Kelvlar is known to be very strong but quite sensitive to abrasion by chafing. It was even better in a way to use Kevlar since should the chafing cause it to get frayed it would be seen quite earlier than Spectra. My friend and I did together 100 cycles of pulling fore and aft the Kevlar line alternatively which makes a total of 200 moves in all possible angles and keeping the tension at a couple of pounds. We installed the Kevlar line into the housing and marked it in blue at the 2 ends at about 2 inches from the housing ending and at both sides. See pictures. 1) Kevlar line at the reserve container side 2) Kevlar line at the reserve handle side 3) Kevlar line with the 2 blue marks at both sides 4) Kevlar line after the test with the 2 blue marks Conclusion: I was expecting to see some of the part between the 2 marks and just near them slightly frayed after such a chafing of 200 moves with tension and different angles of the line with respect to to the housing. Nothing like that happened. What you see is just the fibers which have been squeezed or tighten and some dark mark from the contact with the metal (which by the way made of brass). The parts of the Kevlar line which have been chafed are at the left of the blue marks Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

And the result is ? You really got a no wind condition ? And was it with toggles up for the whole ride ? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You are forgetting the differential pressure between the chest and the back. If you pull your main at 1300 ft for instance since you will be straight up during the main deployment with no differential pressure (equivalent to 260 ft) your AAD will fire at 700 + 260 which is 960 feet. If your parachute takes more than 340 ft to open, your AAD will fire and you will have hopefully a nice biplane or something less interesting. Now what kind of AAD do you have which fires at 700 ft? Cypres Expert fires at 750 ft, Argus expert fires at 800 ft and Vigil PRO fires at 840 ft. The Astra fires at a 1000 ft. But as I said all of them (but the Astra which has the pressure sensor in the front) will fire 260 ft higher when in a stand up position which happens during the main deployment. Therefore, if you don't want to take the chance of a double deployment which is always so so, I recommend not using the main under 2000 ft. If people are reluctant to use their reseve, well they should maybe stop jumping. A reserve is TSOed, packed by a qualified rigger according the manufacturer's specifications. If you trust your rigger then your reserve is your best insurance.This is why I am a rigger. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I agree with you that a jumper is the grand master in decision making when having a canopy problem. But what makes you taking a good decision is knowledge and this is the purpose of this forum. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Agreed 100% with you. A two stages landing is probably what OlympiaStoica needs. It slows down the canopy and gives the pilot more time to evaluate when to do the final full flare. With a parachute like a Storm 190 she will have still a lot of flaring power for the second stage. But amazingly, a friend of mine 2 weeks ago at the Summerfest at Skydive Chicago (he is jumping a Sabre 2-190) found out that borrowing a demo Sabre 2-170 from PD up there and jumping it, has allowed him to land more softly and this after 3 jumps with the last one with almost no wind. He has about 500 jumps. I am not saying that Olympia should do the same now but it is a good thing to remember that some more speed can be helful for a stronger flare. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Not quite the safest place to try a round reserve on a base jump like the bridge. Round parachutes inflate differently than square parachutes and certainly way slower than square without slider or with mesh slider. A round parachute inflation is like the following : 1) some air enters the wind channel (inside along the longitudinal axis) 2) while the skirt or bottom of the parachute is still relatively tight, the air goes up and give the round parachute a pear shape with a bulge at the top and narrow at the bottom 3) Since the round parachute is travelling vertically thru air at a good speed, Bernouilli's law then comes to work making less pressure outside the bulge than inside (just like an airfoil) 4) the pressure inside the parachute being more important than outside the pear shape increases and the bulge get bigger and bigger and at the end the bottom starts to expand. What can happen at this time (if the opening is too fast) is to have the top of the round parachute bounce down and slip under the skirt of the parachute creating an inversion. You have to understand that there is almost not force to expand the bottom of a round parachute. Therefore should something at the skirt hold slightly the lines together like a thread or few turns of a pull cord and no inflation will occur. Military got that better in installing quick opening band at the skirt. Note. Some round parachute (military) have been equiped with slider. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Most of the riggers are honest persons but some rig owners are not always alright and forged signatures have been seen here and there and not by riggers. I have myself discovered a case where a DZO had pen packed a tandem rig. He was stupid enough to leave the rigger seal on the rig but the signature and place were unreadable obviously on purpose. All of that to save 70$. The fact it wasn't his personal rig was really a pity. A good way to be sure a rig has really been repacked is to pull the reserve when it is due and air it. It is known that the famous Dave deWolf of Pennsylvania was asking 60$ for a reserve repack and 160$ for a repack when the reserve has not been pulled. Pulling yourself a reserve when due is a unique opportunity to feel the force necessary to get the launch of the pilot chute. Why not take advantage of this, it can save your life. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Rob, I have seen acidic mesh on a pilot chute in the era you were jumping at Embrun ON. You almost could tear apart the mesh like a piece of toilet paper. It was in the Eighties. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Snaging a part of your equipment with airplane protruding part should be a constant concern for any skydiver using any airplane. Few years ago as reported in SKYDIVING MAGAZINE a skydiver in Germany got the end swaged ball of his reserve ripcord cable caught in a crack of the fuselage when being a rear floater on a side door airplane. Ready, set go and came the trouble with an instant reserve deploying in the tail of the aircraft. Fortunately, the reserve cleared from the tail and the skydiver landed with a minimum of problem. But potentially that kind of problem is probably the worst since the skydiver and all aircraft passengers are at risk if by any chance the reserve deploys when still caught by the a/c tail. I personnally have a Vector III with a Skyhook and I can tell that there is no protruding part of the RSL if well inspected. But I see that (and this for any rig with a RSL) the RSL riser at the top of the shoulder (just above the 3 rings) can be caught by a Cessna door handle and if pulled, then the RSL can pull the reserve pin. On the Vector III with Skyhook, there is a little pocket near the RSL shackle and sometimes at the pre jump inspection you have to make sure the RSL is well lodged in this pocket. What I have seen recently is a not well routed release yellow cable housing near the 3 rings. it was making a loop above the jumper's shoulder. I asked the jumper to change it the other side and under the reserve risers like it meant to be mounted by the manufacturer. I have now no more visible reserve cable and ball since I have a Spectra rip cord (see my thread about SPECTRA RIP CORD on this forum including pictures). For those who have a metal cable, I would suggest them to range the visible part of the cable/ball in the reserve handle pocket. Modified Murphy's law : If it can snag it it will Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I have had a Strong Lopo round reserve and I made 3 cut away including 3 beautiful rides with that kind of parachute. I even made the bowl one time with one of them. Packing is the same than any round reserve and has to be done by a rigger endorsed for round reserve. IT IS: 0) perform a 4 line check, check lines, connector links screws, the cross connector if any, bridle cord and pilot chute... 1) flaking the 22 or 24 panels after squaring the skirt and the crown 2) lay the canopy on one side 2) open symmetrically and clean the folds and line at attachments points with the use of a line separator after checking the "wind channel" 3) do the 45 degrees both sides 4) fold the whole thing in a 3 way folding on the total of the length if in a chest mounted reserve or in 5 way folding if in the piggy back reserve 5) Now depending if you have the lines stowed in the container or on a diaper stow the lines accordingly 6) put it in flat folding in the container for a chest mounted reserve or sideway folding in a piggyback reserve 7) have the closing loop(s) passing thru the middle of the folding for a piggyback reserve 8) close the container according the manufacturer's spec. This is a summary of packing a round reserve but I repeat, it has to be done by a rigger. If you don't want to use it anymore, cut the lines and sell it to a school gym. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Your question maybe have no answer. Rubber bands behavior is so unpredictable that it is virtually impossible to know how to use them. I have tried all of them : ordinary rubber bands, tube stows, Silly bands made of silicone from Parasports, automotive O rings, surgical latex tubing, rubber bracelet, shock cord...they all break soon or later. One important fact is : use the proper size for your lines and remember that the first 3-4 stows include the lines with their cascades (if you have cascades) while the rest of the lines have thinner stows then require smaller rubber bands. I also notice that with my Sabre 2 (Spectra lines), I was a great consummer of ordinary rubber bands. Now with a Katana (HMA lines), ordinary rubber bands are good for I would say 15-20 jumps and more. I do not double them but use 2" long rubber bands for the first 4 stows and 1 1/4" for the rest. Line stows for 820 Spectra were 2" long and 1 1/2" long for 750 HMA which is thinner. I hope that could help Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I mentioned a line dump which not really a bag strip. Line dump is due to too lose rubber bands. I just wonder if the design demonstrated in this thread provides a sufficient resistance to unstow the lines progressively for all kind of parachutes. Though it works for square reserves. You have to remember that what happens on the ground at very slow speed (in case of a demonstration) is quite different of what happens at 120 MPH. At that speed you have to take in account the momentum of the DB/packed canopy. Also I think it would a good reminder to explain what happens at opening time: 1) when you throw the pilot chute, this acts like an anchor and almost stops (or slows down a lot) including the DB. In the mean time, you keep on falling at 120 MPH and the line stows give up one after the other (hopefully) to keep order in the lines (avoiding for instance the tension knots). So far the jumper feels almost nothing. 2) at line stretch the jumper starts to accelerate the almost stopped pilot chute/DB, this is the snatch force which can reach for a fraction of second near 2000 lbs (according the Low Speed Aerodynamics studies of Jean Potvin and Gary Peek of University of St Louis and according tests made by John Sherman from jump Shack). 3) then the canopy is becoming exposed to the air and starts to inflate, slowed down by the slider, this is the inflation force. I certainly don't want the author of the thread to be discouraged. On the other hand I wish him the best. I am myself into new experiments and testing. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Sabre1 can have some openings you will remember. Same for the Triathlon. As long as you stay with highly elliptical canopies that should work with not too much problem since they generally open in a soft way (I have a Katana). What you have to avoid absolutely is a line dump when the canopy starts to inflate before the full line stretch. In that case at full line stretch you will experience an very important force: the canopy will be inflated first and slowing down while you are still at full speed then at full line stretch you will get the force of accelerating a fully open canopy. That's why doubling the rubber bands on the DB can help. It will make sure you will get not line dump. Be very cautious anyway since you can "be hurt" before the canopy will. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Risers length will not affect the flying of your canopy but will affect your flare capability. For instance, PD parachutes have generally a long toggles range. The flare with 19" risers at full arm length will be weeker than the flare from 23" risers by an amount of 4". If you are highly loading that parachute, in a no wind situation you will have maybe to use full arm down. Therefore a 23" risers in that case will be appreciated. Safire 1 parachutes have short toggles range therefore a full flare with 25" risers can happen at chest level while with a 21" riser it will occurrs 4" lower. The riser length is not the only factor for flaring. Your arm length has to be taken in account as well. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The leg position awareness in space in a common problem with beginners. I suggest you to bend and relax your toes alternatively and your fingers as well. That gives you the location in 3 D where exactely are your feet and arms. When you monitor your feet and arms location you can change the position according what is needed. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I had a line over on the same canopy size, a Sabre 210 which included a double steering line system. I wasn't as lucky as you since when I undid the brakes (my mistake) it started a very fast spin. I had to do a cut away and had a beautiful ride and landing on my PD 193 reserve. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The idea to have that kind of design to stow the lines in the deployment bag pouch is not new. GQ Security a parachute manufacturer of California had it as soon as in the seventies with its UNIT main parachute. When Paraflite designed its first square reserve, the Safety Star in the late seventies the stowing of the lines in the free bag was pretty similar and is still the way square reserve have generally their lines stowed. The idea to have a more "resistant" line stowing using rubber bands on a deployment bag is to insure a good sequence of the line deployment. PD people told me that people shouldn't hesitate to double their rubber bands on the DB to avoid an out of sequence line unstowing. I have some hesitation with the idea to use such a line deployment way for some specific canopies known to be a slammer once in a while. But continue to find out how it works hopefully with different parachutes and tell us about the results. The Crossfire is quite fully elliptical and will deploy anyway softly. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Paul. Thanks a lot for your concern about the Spectra ripcord. When I compared the Spectra RC issue with the Slinks one, I know they are different in function but the similarity is that in both cases the metal has been changed for synthetic fiber. You know, the parachute industry is not the only one to make such changes. In modern aircrafts, both civilian and military ones, a considerable amount of parts are now made with composite material including synthetic fiber and I am not talking about the passenger's seats but about parts of wings, horizontal stabilizer and rudder ...etc. I know quite well the metal ripcord swaging since I have designed and built a press to do so. I even have designed and built a "machine" to test the cable/ball/pin assembly and have witnessed the test on 3 ripcords which the swaging have been made by that press and this at a National aeronautical laboratories (NRC) in Ottawa Canada and the 3 tests have been successful (300 lbs for 3 seconds). This to say that making a ricord all in metal is not that simple. For instance at the tests pushed at the limits, the cable finally broke at the weak point near the ball or pin where the cable starts to be squeezed. Never the ball or the pin started slipping at any time. Now if the swaging is too "hard" the weak point can allow the cable to break quite before the cable rating of 920 lbs. That being said I know that Bill Booth didn't put on the market something not well tested. The fact it took more than 2 years to get the TSO on that ripcord shows how it is difficult to change something established for more than 70 years ie. The all metal ripcord. You just have to see an actual one (Spectra RC) and touch it to begin to understand that the Spectra ripcord is not a fluke. The Spectra ripcord from UPT Vector is both supple and stiff enough to be put in the housing without any problem (or being removed without any tool). As I mentioned in another post, it is even easier to install the Spectra ripcord than the all metal one which very often get stuck in the housing at the shoulder level. Now for the possibility to get a burr, it is a serious issue if there is any. Count on me to test that on my rig. What I am going to do when back from the Summerfest at SDC is to remove the Spectra ripcord and replace it (for testing purpose) with a new piece of Spectra line and move it alternatively by pulling at both ends 100, 200 or more times and check if there is any damage. This is the way to verify if there is a burr somewhere inside. I will tell you about it. Thanks for the idea. I have done that kind of simple test on the AAD's cutter hole to see if the loop was being damaged by a possible burr. So far everything was OK. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hello again. You are right about the reserve cable eyelet being stopped generally by the reserve pin at the housing. But when that happens, the pin has already cleared the reserve closing loop by a distance of about 5" on my rig (see the picture SPECTRA RC4) and the reserve pilot chute is gone anyway. Because of the equipment of the past I am used to have the reserve cable being completely clear of its housing when being pulled but after the pin has cleared the closing loop by 5" what is the difference. I had two totals with the Skyhook and each time I was surprised (for one second) by the fact the ripcord couldn't be pulled out of its housing completely but my reserve was fully open when I looked up and obviously the bridle cord had been released from the Skyhook RSL. I remember the ban on cable stops but I remember also when the end of the cable housing was flush to the pin (on some rig) near the closing loop. Cable stops were certainly a potential problem in that type of configuration (of the past) but couldn't represent a problem when the distance between the end of the housing and the pin/closing loop is more than (theoritically) the distance of the pin motion to clear the closing loop (about one inch). I understand that the little piece of velcro near the pin is supposed to make the pin pivot and clear the eyelet. It does it when the cable is pulled slowly. Now back to the Spectra ripcord. The debate is a bit similar to the SLINKS use. We have had metal links for so long which makes them part of our habit. But more and more people have SLINKS on their main and reserve as well now and new habits have been adopted. Even PD put the Slinks on main and reserve as standard equipment unless you ask them to do otherwise. The shock cord on a Spectra ripcord is inside the Spectra line and held with 2 bartacks. If the shock cord breaks the Spectra cord has still its full strength. Reserve bridles are attached to the pilot chute with a larkhead knot just like the Spectra ripcord is attached to handle (see on picture SPECTRA RC5, 6 and 7). Then where is the problem. We can check easily a bartack but we cannot check as a jumper the actual resistance of the swaging both for the ball and the pin of the reserve cable. On picture SPECTRA RC5 you can see the Spectra ripcord installed with reserve handle in its pocket and because of a little tension due to the shock cord nothing is protruding and in contact with the pocket velcro at all. On picture SPECTRA RC6 you can see that the handle is out of its pocket and there is some tension applied (actually measured at half a pound). On picture SPECTRA RC7 you can see that when the ripcord is out of is pocket and released it stays against the housing therefore it can be reached easily unless a floating all metal ripcord. Thanks everybody for your comments. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.