erdnarob

Vector III is the most advanced rig on the market right now because you can get it equiped with the Skyhook (see the Skyhook video on UPT Vector) and magnet riser covers for getting always the same clean deployment of the risers and canopy. Performance Designs parachutes are certainly a good choice for their performance, quality and service. For you I would choose a STORM 7 cells 190 (which is the improved version of the Spectre) or if you go for a 9 cells a Sabre II 190. To make it safe and convenient add a Vigil II AAD and now you have the best of everything. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

It seems for me that you want to solve a problem by creating a new one. Everybody get mad at the very begining when packing a brand new ZP canopy. Ask an instructor or a rigger to give you some packing lessons. This past winter I gave a packing course requiring 10 packings under my supervision. I can tell you that after the course, all of my students were able to pack a ZP canopy. My approach is the following: when the roll or sausage is made on the floor, stay laying on your canopy and fold it in three parts when still laid on it. It is possible by backing up just the length of one fold at a time. That way it is easier to control the volume since your chest apply a constant pressure of the folded canopy. That method was shown to me at Rantoul by a guy from Boston. Since I use that method, I am not anymore frutrated. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The picture 111 taken from sideway (with your girlfriend) shows a rig which looks OK for me. You know, any parachute system now is relatively tight. A friend of mine has a small rig (a Micron with an Optimum reserve), he is a rigger and he told me that with that kind of reserve his reserve container is like a piece of concrete. A bit tight is better than a bit loose. Also, the tightness depends on the rigger method. Some are better than other to spread the reserve volume more evenly. One more thing, your rig is new then expect after few weeks-months that the fabric will set up. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

> I agree with you 100%. Poor packing method, lack of knowledge, poor maintenance, no preventative inspection....name it. We are lucky that we have parachutes who really are very good "boys". They (parachutes) are tolerant, forgiving, and their components have such a safety factor of resistance that you really have to abuse them a lot to get a malfunction. Now for the reserve, it is another story since reserves are packed by riggers according the harness/container manufacturer's specifications. Therefore there is no wonder why reserves have almost no malfunction if used in normal conditions. Therefore I can conclude that malfunctions are due to human error or negligence at a very high percentage (more than 90%). Last time I heard that a reserve parachute system failed was 30 years ago. It was a riser problem. The manufacturer was right away out of business. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Many thanks. I have used SHAZAM applications on my iPhone to take a sample, identify from You Tube and then buy that song (ie. Bad luck SOCIAL DISTORSION). Could we by any chance have some distorsion when exchanging on a topic on this forum ??? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You always have to remember that the first purpose of wearing a helmet in skydiving is to protect your head from a riser strike at deployment. Risers under a 3-4G tension at opening are like steel bars. A friend of mine at Skydive New England on Memorial Day last weekend got a reminder of this. He has a full face helmet and got seemingly a riser strike on the right side of his head. He had bitten his tongue and his right ear was swolen. He asked me what was the cause. I told him that he was likely partially banking on his right side at opening. However he had the impression that he was stable. Unstable openings can happen once in a while anytime to anybody for all kind of reasons. Personally I prefer to have a helmet where no riser or line can catch any part of especially under the chin on the side. That's why I jump with a frap hat which fits closely my head. But a carbon fiber helmet would be my choice if I was going to jump with a hard shell helmet. I still believe that a frap hat provides the best peripheral vision since no part of it is protruding. Old fashion maybe but function before fashion for sure!!! Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

It seems to me that you have suffered a tuck tab riser cover hesitation on both sides. Is your rig equiped with those tuck tabs? If affirmative, I can say that such tabs can cause problem especially a hard opening when one releases a fraction of a second before the other one. Solution to that problem is using Velcro or magnets (like the new Vector III). That will give a deployment always the same. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

An altimeter is like a tooth brush, it's a personal device and as soon you have one better it is (if you have the intention to stay in the sport). I would lend a lot of things but I would be very reluctant to lend my altimeter because it is a fragile instrument. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Most of the malfunctions are caused by a lack of knowledge and maintenance of the equipment. I have seen so many jumpers who pack like parrots which repeat sentences without knowing what they do. Not their fault since they were shown that way. If you don't know for instance how many attachments points your parachute has or how many lines your parachute has in one set... you will probably be prone to a malfunction soon or later. Same if you don't do a preventative maintenance to check if a componant has to be replaced. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

We shouldn't forget the error of flying a canopy near obstacles when having high winds and/or gusty winds. You can have an instant collapse too low to recover. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Bill Dause of Lodi California has over 30 000 jumps Daniel Paquette of Farnham Quebec has over 13 000 jumps Eric Fradet from France has over 23 000 jumps Mike McGuire from UPT Vector has over 10 000 jumps There is a guy in Pennsylvania who should be over 40 000 jumps now but I forgot the name (something like Kehler or Kelhner) Most of them are or were working full time in the skydiving industry Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Soft reserve handles are just one facet of the irresistible trend to adopt FASHION before considering FUNCTION. Here is a list of what I think is "FASHION FIRST and we will see the function later" attitude. 1) reserve soft handle for beginners 2) small rings release system for people weighting 180 lbs and more 3) full face helmets for people under 100 jumps or still in progression for the basics and who still need coaches in freefall or for people jumping above 14000 ft and get lens fogging or trouble with oxygen feeder. 4) Partially apparent pilot chute top plate asking the rigger to place the pilot chute material mainly on the bottom or on the top or inside the spring having that way the pilot chute material not evenly distributed (Racer is not in this category) 5) smoke glasses for skydiving instead of clear ones 6) low jump people doing freeflying while they haven't mastered the basics of the "belly" flying. 7) buying some rigs just for the look without considering (with a rigger) the quality of the design. 8) buying the wrong jump suit for the type of discipline you do (eg. some brands of jumpsuits are just not considering big jumpers) and the list goes on.... Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

How come you have the same no. D license than Lew sanborn ? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Well, next rig get a Vector III with magnet riser covers. It seems to be a secondary importance features but it provides you with an even resistance to the risers jump after jump and packers love it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

As I mentioned TRAVELLING IN A MOUNTAIN area in another post I was refering to a possible recalibration of an AAD. Somebody thought I was speaking about the 78 mph speed to be reached (vertical component) on a mountain road. Not at all. I can see that it can cause the AAD staying at on since "it believes" it is airborne. My Vigil I or II never failed to swith off after 14 hours or so the few times I forgot. I didn't stay beside it to see the switch off but the day after it was. I have to say that generally the difference in altitude between my DZ and home is less than 150 ft. And when I go elsewhere, it is rare when it is a mountain area. After reading all cases in this thread, I can see that the Vigil works as designed. But it is definitely a good habit to switch it off after a jumping day. Actually when jumping we should switch on the AAD at the beginning of the day, then switch it off at noon and on again to recalibrate it for any possible atmospheric pressure change then swith it off at the end of the day. We do the brakes of a canopy every jump why not taking care of the AAD twice a day. Thanks for warning us about a too big difference in altitude between DZ and home. The cure is the switch off when finished. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I agree that it is very difficult to get rid of a bad habit. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Brian. When you slam a car trunk with a switched on Vigil in it, you can create an extra pressure "telling" the Vigil that you are descending. If the rate of change of pressure is such that it "tells" the Vigil you are going down fast, the unit "understands" that both you changed your altitude by 150 ft (- or +) and your speed is over 78 mph then you risk a firing. For the Cypres the warning for the pilot not to fly under the take off altitude is to avoid a recalibration at a different altitude that the landing zone one. This is my iunderstanding. The firing logic of the Vigil is also more advanced than its competitors since the Vigil calculate the time remaining before firing altitude (unlike other AAD). The Vigil evaluates several time per second the altitude, then the speed using the rate of change of pressure then it checks the time before firing. If the speed is at or over 78 mph and the time is zero, then the firing occures within 2/1000th of a second, way faster than the competitors since the special capacitance (pulse plus) is alredy full loaded (unlike competitors). More details about the firing logic of the Vigil ??? It is not in the manual about the travelling in the mountains and your calculations are OK but I heard something about that. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

A Vector II of 20 years old is still good provided the harness (the most important part) is structurally sound. A rig well maintained and protected from the sunlight is good for a while. I know of a guy who has a sort of museum with more than 40 old rigs (some with a chest mounted reserve having more than 30 years old) and still jump them. I would pay a particular attention to harness stitches. Have another rigger (independant from the guy selling the rig) to confirm everything is OK. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Have you tried them in the water to see how efficient they are ? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Peter. VIGIL owner manual says: >. 5 hecto Pascal is a pressure equivalent of about 150 ft in change of altitude >>. Cypres owner manual says: > . Peter, you are right that only the Vigil cautions the owner about travelling with the unit into a closed vehicle bwecause of the possible change of pressure (ie. Mountain). I think Cypres could add that in its manual as well. This for other forum members: Now for the watch: I have my watch for 20 years now. My father and my mother and many members of the family had an Omega watch all their life. I have now my father and mother watches and they are still working. My mother's Omega watch was bought in 1937 and is still working. What other proof of quality some people still want???? Citing Nasa is not a too bad reference either. Have a look on the Internet and you will understand why Nasa had prefered Omega to Rolex for instance. Now a very simple test. Have a Cypres in one hand and a Vigil in the other hand, feel them, play with them, look at their features and see how they are built. The difference is obvious. Keep your old slippers but get the best technology, get a Vigil. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

It's a very good idea to ask the Navy Seals. But I wonder if they do tandem in the water. I was at San Diego Otay lake DZ once and the Navy Seals were on training there (landing on the ground) but I missed my chance to ask them. Next time! But don't worry Rob, I am persuaded that one water gear for each (instructor and passenger) is a must do. I just said Barry I will put that as a thread in DZ.com and see... I got a nice discussion. Thanks everybody. Very interresting indeed. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

* If one reads an AAD owner's manual, manufacturers are warning that you don't travel in a mountain area with an AAD switched on. Because it's a pressure sensitive device. * Vigil is armed soon after the take off (150 ft) while the Cypres is armed at 1700 ft. We can see the different approach of two manufacturers here. You cannot get the butter and the butter money. You have a choice. What are the chances? Jumping from a pressurised airplane or bailing out in an emergency at an altitude less than 1700 ft. In the first case, your Vigil can fire; in the second case your Cypres will not fire if needed. Which one do you prefer ? Having a Vigil and deplore the fact you cannot jump and have your reserve to be repacked or having a Cypres unarmed and maybe not making it in the second case. I choose the first case, it's a bummer but I am still alive. It happened to me in the DC9 at Rantoul. Are you with me this time ? Now, the Vigil III is coming and the possibility of firing problems near the ground will be solved plus we will see some surprising new features. * the watch is related to the Vigil in the sense that I bought both of them after getting a solid information, not because somebody subjectively told me his preference. As I mentioned in this forum, I have been a quality control technologist for Bombardier (Dash8, Learjet, Challenger business jet, Skyvan, snowmobile, subway trains, high speed trains...) and I would say that I can make up my mind based on my experience. And this is why I have chosen the Vigil. I have no regret for the choice made and now based on how the Vigil I and II have worked twice for me, as designed, I still can say, it is a superior product. I even used my Vigil interface and sofware to get the data and made a graph of some particular jumps. Nobody else tops that. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Congratulations, you made it and welcome to the club. A reserve is not intended for confort but is designed to save your life. Therefore a reserve on purpose is a low tuned parachute to insure a relatively conservative flight. A particular manufacturer's reserve (Swift) had no secondary steering line attached the tail corners to make turns slower. Remember that the flare power comes mainly from the forward speed of the canopy. A reserve with its big cells normally loaded is quite slow. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

If you have well read and compared the Vigil and the Cypres web sites, you can see that the Vigil II is a superior product. People who will tell you that they prefer the Cypres are a bit like people who tell you they prefer their old slippers because they make them more confortable. When dealing with new technologies it is another story, would you buy a new TV set designed 7 years ago. Certainly not. In that sense, the Vigil II is the most advanced AAD because of the features it has and the reliability it offers. I have had the Vigil I and now I have the Vigil II and always, Vigil I or II has worked properly when needed and testing I did in all kind of situations. For the maintenance, you can send back your Vigil for inspection any time you chose. When you switch on the Vigil, it tells you on the display window what it is checking and if the test is OK or not and that in clear language. The Pro mode if chosen stays on the display continuously. Now the Vigil II unit is made of cast aluminum, with a waterproof filter that you don't have to change if wet (just let it dry by hanging the unit filter down), the cables are Kevlar reinforced unlike other AADs. Now some people on this forum will say that I have a preference for Vigil. Sure I have just like I have a preference for a mechanical watch/chronographer chosen by the NASA for the Astronauts ie. the Omega Speedmaster Professional. No wonder it is the watch I have chosen. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The best is to go to a shoemaker and have him install a rubberized sole. Some manufacturers do it but other use a material which wears off rapidly. A sole made of rubber resists to water and lasts longer. If you want something working quite well too is having a shoemaker again install mule thick leather sole. That kind of leather does not expand when wet and is quite durable. Those 2 solutions will make your booties looking great unlike other tricks or not too professional ways. I tell you that because I did it successfully. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.