erdnarob

I heard from a close reliable source that a rigger X had discovered when opening a reserve pack that the reserve has been placed upside down (line stowing pocket on the top). There was no packing card for that reserve and when the rigger asked the owner who packed the reserve he said he couldn't remember and that he had lost the reserve packing card. The seal number had one of the 3 signs barely visible. The rigger A figured out finaly who was the rigger Z who packed the reserve. He was a close friend of the owner. Later on, it was discovered that the rigger Z never got his continuous rating and therefore wasn't a rigger anymore. However the rigger Z was active for about 15 years. Don't hesitate to ask a rigger his rigger's rating card. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Maybe that would be the time to read the Performance Designs document about their warning concerning hard openings. On this document Performance Designs tells you the factors contributing to hard openings and explain you why. Here are the factors: 1) Packing method: canopy folding, slider position and bagging the canopy: roll pack is not recommanded, after bagging, "milk" the lines up to make sure the slider is still against the stoppers 2) line stow method (lenght of the stow, size of rubber band and rubber bands or Tube stows in good shape...) 3) pilot chute: Proper size, too big makes hard openings 4) deployment airspeed: smaller jumpsuit, pulling while still tracking, high elevation jumping, not being in spread eagle position: all of those make harder openings. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Packing a main parachute should be considered as a general expression. Packing a main consists of : Four set of line check, collapsing the slider, cocking the pilot chute, folding the main, set up the slider, S folding the main into its bag, stowing the lines, setting the bagged canopy into the container and closing the container and finally folding the pilot chute and set it in its pocket plus routing the bridle under the proper flap....all of that is part of the packing. Therefore if you have a bridle/hackey entanglement, it is a packing problem. That happens if the bridle cord is not enough isolated from the hackey. In the method described by Brian Germain, the bridle is stowed very inside the pilot chute right on the mesh. A lot of people stow the bridle inside the folded pilot chute right on the ripstop which can cause the bridle to slip out earlier and possibly comes in contact with the hackey. One cannot imagine what foolish things can happen in our back when the pilot chute by any chance get into the burble. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Sean: There is a way to fold and pack your pilot chute described by a link from Brian Germain on this forum to avoid that kind of situation. Your problem illustrates that everything is a question of statistics. If you don't have the proper technique and if it works for a 1000 jumps or even more like answered several times by people who prefer keeping the way they are used to, soon or later (Murphy's Law) the problem will occur. On the DVD from Vector about packing a main parachute you can also see the same technique (Brian's one) used and the guy tells you this is specifically to avoid a bridle/hackey entanglement. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I would say that the vast majority of SKYDIVERS are not aware how the Skyhook works. No wonder since the device is concealed into the reserve container and if you don't observe a rigger packing a reserve equiped with the Skyhook all you know is the name of the device and some superficial info. That's why as a rigger I asked UPT VECTOR to provide me with a Skyhook demonstrator. I was at a major DZ last weekend and made several demo with the Skyhook demonstrator to the benefit of all observers. Even riggers came and saw the demo. Seeing the Skyhook demo with its 3 functions results most of the time in being convinced and after seeing the accompanying DVD illustrating the Skyhook at work you are totally convinced. For the occurrence of the right riser breaking off, I never saw one personally but at Quincy at the WFFC a guy sitting beside me in the airplane had the 3 ring locking loop passing thru the second ring intead of the first one only (that will increase the opening force on the locking loop by a factor of 10) which can lead to a breaking of the loop then to a riser release. I told him and he asked me to reroute the locking loop properly which I did. After jumping on evening he bought me a couple of beers. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi hackish, congratulations for your first reserve ride as a rigger but don't make it an habit. You have proved that a reserve with a patch works exactely like a reserve with no patch. And for those people who are still fussy about a patch on the reserve, look closely at the airplanes you are jumping from. There are full of patches all approved by a FAA aviation mechanics. Are you jumping from Twin Otter once in a while...then those airplanes are generally more than 20 years old, have been used as bush airplanes, have seen more than rough landings from the desert to the north pole and have seen many repairs and patches all over the place and you know what... you still jump from them. Be confident to airplanes mechanics, they are pro and they know what to do. Be confident to your rigger, trust him or her more than your mother, they know what to do and if by any chance you are not happy with your rigger, find another one or quit the sport and for airplanes if you don't trust the mechanics and inspection system well use the boat to travel. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

That's not the only rig with weak pilot chute. It seems too many manufacturers rely on the relative wind and not enough on a good launch to get the pilot chute in the air stream. From my point of view it's a mistake since in a jumper's back there is a partial vacuum or burble which can "sucks" the pilot chute in and keep it there for few seconds. Generally, when the jumper starts to wonder what happens and look up and doing so modify the air flow around him, the pilot chute clears up but if that happens you have lost a lot of valuable vertical distance which can save your life in some case. Anyway, having a strong spring pilot chute is way better in order to clear that burble especially with a wing suit I guess. The strength of a pilot is not necessarely subjective, here is my trick: Use a bathroom scale and put the pilot chute spring on it and compresse it until it is say 2 inches tick. My Vector III pilot chute force when compressed 2 inches thick is between 40 and 45 lbs. Again as a rigger, i can say no manufacturer matches such a force. There is shorter or longer pilot chutes but not as strong as the Vector one. I was testing my Vector III reserve pilot chute launch by cutting the loop the other side of the bottom wall of the reserve (On a Vector you have access to that space) by using a flat hook knife and a pull up cord getting out under the yoke and got a launch of 5 feet high straight up (see the 2 pictures in attachment). I know on the other hand that all small narrow rig can have a pilot chute launch problem. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

As mnealtx said, definitely the VECTOR III with SKYHOOK and PD reserve. At the present time, UPT VECTOR is about to make its container no. 47000. No manufacturer in the world has such figure. You can add to your VECTOR III a 3D spacer on the back and hip rings for more confort. Magnet riser cover which is a most recent inovation from UPT VECTOR and is a great improvement too. (UPT VECTOR III president Bill Booth has invented in the seventies the 3 RING release system which is the standard of the world now). Where I am different than mnealtx is for the choice of an AAD. Vigil II seems to me a more advanced technology than main competitors. It offers you 3 modes you can set up (PRO, STUDENT and TANDEM). When you choose a mode, this mode stays on the display all the time when the device is switched on. You can also download the data from the device (provided you have the interface and software). The VIGIL II is equiped with a jump counter too and at INFO you have right away data from the last jump appearing on the display window. And the best of the best, since the device is self testing (CUTTER, ELECTRONICS and BATTERIES) and show it to you on the display, NO MORE SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE which are costly, and time consuming. The Learning curve: well I would say if you order a VECTOR III giving your precise measurements ( follow the advice from UPT VECTOR WEB SITE) it will fit you like a glove and you will fly very natually after few jumps. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I was about to buy that Synchro jumpsuit from Parasport and finally I chose the German made RAPTOR X from Rainbow Suits. Both jumpsuits look alike but Rainbows suit was willing (not Parasport) to put more material under the arms since I am a big guy. I suppose the 2 options you ask about the Synchro are similar to the Raptor X about the booties. First there is the booties with AIRLOCK (which I have) where there is a little air intake above and in front of the booties. Behind that intake inside the leg there is a piece of fabric going from knee to the foot made of ZP ripstop which keeps the air and inflate your booties giving it a lot of performance (faster forward speed and tremendously faster turn). Second Raptor X has also the option named "blade" booties which is like a wedge pointing downward and which is more for FS 4 way team. Check Raptor X from Rainbow suits web site, it is more explanatory than Parasport site. I hope that helps. Get your money ready since you pay in EURO but those jumpsuits are superbly made by real taylors. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

The first square reserves (late seventies) were first tested as main parachute like PARAFLITE company did with the Strato Flyer (not 100% sure of the name) which became the SAFETY STAR and after the SAFETY FLYER reserve, later from PARAFLITE again the CIRRUS 5 cells main became a reserve. For the Raven you could have them both as reserve or main parachutes. Having a reserve tested as a main is probably the best way to test it. Paraflite which introduced the first ramair reserve was wise by doing so. They gave a Strato Flyer to hundred of selected people in the world who were jumping it as a main provided they were making reports on it. A year or two after, we go the SAFETY Star reserve and soon the Safety FLYER. I got my first square reserve in 1983. It was a Swift 5 cell reserve from Paraflite. I never uses it and subsequent owners didn't use it either. The last time I saw that reserve (5 years ago), it was still shiny and looking good. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

20 years could be an arbitrary figure in what we are concerned, why not 12 years like the Cypres! It seems to me that in this case we are hypnotized by a figure not by the real status of that reserve. For the porosity we always can send it to PD and asking them to do a test which costs 20$ even if they didn't make the reserve. We also can have an idea of the porosity by blowing air through the fabric (mouth against the fabric) of that reserve and repeat the action with a recent reserve fabric right beside to compare. That will give us an qualitative idea of the porosity. Many arial stuff and other sensitive material have a duration way more longer than we could first expect provided they have been well maintained. Examples given: * DC3 airplane made in 1937 and in the forties and still flying (the engines have been changed but not the wings) hundred of them are still flying after 70 years * At Rantoul in 2005 I jumped the Carvair (modified DC4) and found out that the airplane has been made the same year I was born, ie: 1944 * At Rantoul again in 2006 I jumped twice the Perris DC-9 which was certainly more than 20 years old * At Quincy in 1998, I jumped the Boeing 727 which was certainly more than 20 years old if not 30 * Aeronca Champion and Aeronca chief airplanes made in the thirties and the forties partially covered with fabric are still flying after 60 and 70 years * Canada F18 fighters have at least 30 years and are still flying well. Same for the US Talon from Northrop. Nasa and US army are still flying them. * Are you jumping from Twin Otter? I guess, some of them have at least 30 years of flying. All those airplanes were or are certified by the FAA or the country authorities * about AAD cutters containing a chemical explosive: I phoned the local riffle shooting club and they told me that some people are still shooting with WWII ammunitions made more than 50 years ago. My point here is the following: we can always answer a question according the law, regulations, directives...etc. But we should also ask to ourselves, what is the purpose of the testing if not to get results good or not and proceed accordingly if there is no alternative. And there is always a local lab which can accoodate us. For testing the big ring on my WONDERHOG in late seventies, I asked the Aeronautical department of the National research council of Ottawa Canada and they did it when I was there to direct them. Two years ago I went at that lab again to get a pull test of 3 samples of rip cord: cable, endings and pin. And they did it and the result was successful. Reserves are made and tested under more strict standards than the main parachutes and we generally don't use them at all. My philosophy for a reserve is that it has to save my life not providing confort and that's why they are generally smaller than the main isn't it? Also I have not seen in 35 years anybody hurting himself badly with a reserve landing. Under a reserve, a jumper is generally flying conservatively, no wonder... Old doesn't mean good for nothing and new doesn't mean good above all. But Terry don't get me wrong, I understand also we need standards but we have a brain too. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Hi Schlomo, I met you at Reno at the PIA symposium last year. The problem here was: Is that reserve OK? I know we have to go with the manufacturer directives but what can we do when the manufacturer doesn't exist anymore? I guess using our judgement and perform adequate testing. According what we know, the reserve is in good visual shape, now we should check the strength by testing the fabric near the tail. This is the best we can do. What are you proposing ? Burning it or putting it in the trash! I have seen 20 years old reserves in a quite good condition. The fact that PD is still testing them after 20 years means they are generally OK provided they have been stored in suitable places (temperature, humidity and protected from light) and not jumped too much. For the porosity test, do you have a method we can use at home? The fact that the owner is 240 lbs is another story. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Of course we didn't know the canopy skill of the guy but as a team mate he should get a lot good advises from the 3 other guys of the team. It's not like being left alone with a small canopy. And a 150 ZP is not a small canopy either. I go using the loading and 1.3 for a guy of say 200 jumps is fine. Being overprotective and leave a person alone is maybe worst than advising for a 150 ZP and make sure the guy is well briefed. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I would do a complete inspection: lines, attachments points, stitching, bar tack, cascades etc. and would perform a fabric test on the tail area at 3 locations, at 30 lbs for 3 seconds, all at 3 inches or more than any stiching like PD is asking. Then I would do a acid test on the pilot chute mesh. If the inspection and fabric test is OK and since you said it's in good condition, I would go ahead and pack it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I checked my new Vector III owner's manual (now it's a DVD) and found out that the rig shown in it is still the type I had before with tuck tab. I wonder if this is the way they still do the rig when one doesn't take the magnets in option. I checked also my rig and with the magnets riser cover installed, the main riser has to be put under the narrow tab containing the magnets. On my former Vector III with tuck tab an inscription was written on the narrow tab asking you to put the main riser above that tab for 50 jumps. This is what your rig should have. But on mine, the inscription is not there anymore. mnealtx, it was a pleasure to exchange with you for the benefit of everybody concerned. Thanks. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

OK I see what you mean but there is still confusion. 1) we have long sideway outside riser cover closing toward the center of the rig 2) we have long inside riser cover being put toward the outside of the rig under the #1) cover 3) the #1) cover at the top had before tuck tab going around in a slit located on the inside part of the yoke but not anymore with the new VECTOR III 4) the small narrow tab or flap at the top located under the #1) cover was requiring to have the main riser passing over it for 50 jumps but not anymore with the new VECTOR III with magnets. You put the main riser always over that narrow tab or flap now. That narrow flap (I call it a flap) (2 inches wide and 4 inches long) has now magnets in it to match the magnets of the #1) cover on the top. A guy was concerned with the fact that at packing you have to make sure the long #2) riser cover is well placed under the #1) cover to make sure it will not get wrong crease. I do my best. Words are quite limited for explanation. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Here is the link (OPTIONS) from UPT web site for what we are discussing. This is for a VECTOR III M-Series but they have the same option for the Micron. http://www.unitedparachutetechnologies.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22 get down using the vertical bar and: Look at "Magnetic riser cover" and see there is a nice picture and explanation. At your service. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Take the first picture of the rig (view from the rear), look at the left side (on the picture) at the top and you can see the outside riser cover in blue get inside the slit under the yellow/red part of the yoke (from outside and not going around). The owner should have rare earth magnets installed in that outside riser cover. The edge of that cover just barely goes inside the slit of the yoke and is mainly held in place by the magnets. There is no tuck tab going around deep in the slit (which was on the inside side of the yoke before) anymore like the Vector III I had before (2003). Bill Booth explained that he came with that solution to get a more uniform force holding the riser covers (ie. the magnets, 2 in each cover and 2 matching in the narrow flap under it) The narrow flap looks like the one before on the Vector III but now you put the riser under it at the first jump and on and that narrow flap has magnets to match the magnets from the riser covers. I hope this explanation is OK. Don't hesitate to ask other question. NOTE: I had a Vector III with tuck tab on the riser covers from 2003 to 2007 and I made almost 400 jumps with it. I never had any real problem with that. Just sometimes the cover became undone when the rig was on the ground or being "dressed" on me at the gear up. When on your back with chest strap and leg straps done no more problem. Just put the tab deep in the slit with your fingers. Now I have the Vector III with the magnets like the one we discuss here. The riser covers even get closed after the canopy is deployed. As I said packers like it a lot. Easier and faster for them. The yoke however is quite different than before. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

A guy with 150-250 jump ready to join a 4 way team should be able to jump with a load factor of 1.3 If the new guy weights 80 kg or 176 lbs + 25 lbs of equipment = about 200 lbs. With a medium load factor of 1.3 that makes a canopy of about 150 square feet ZP canopy. Again if the new guy is not used to such a canopy give him a good briefing for landing. Sabre 2 is a ggod choice. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

One more thing, do you have your display console located on the back of your rig (in the middle of the back pad)? If it's the case, you have to be careful, it's so easy to break the AAD LCD window by putting your rig flat on something hard on a van, a floor or another rig hardware and break it. On the other hand, you wouldn't believe, as a rigger, the foot "massage" we sometimes have to give to a resere container in order to bleed the air out or/and distribute the volume properly, that also can be the cause for breaking the LCD window when it's located at such a place. The display console located on the back pad is from my point of view the worst location to be. I have seen several broken display windows related with that kind of configuration. I prefer to have the display console under the yoke and that way, I can do a reserve pin check and verify the status of the AAD prior each jump. Under the yoke is the best place for a good protection (who wouldn't protect a so expensive device). Again I see here the same reccurent problem: Fashion versus function. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

There is no tuck tab on this rig anymore, look at the riser cover configuration on this rig, it's different than before and this rig is likely equiped with magnet riser covers. On those new Vector III M and Micron, the risers are placed under the narrow flap located below the riser cover. Before with rigs with tuck tabs, as you said it was recommanded to wait 50 jumps to do so but with the new ones, it doesn't apply anymore. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Gorgeous rig if you like a sort of psychedelic approach. I have a Vector III M series and personally prefer a classy approach for the container. Congratulations, you have the most tested rig on the market. Looking at the pictures I can see you have probably magnet riser covers and we can see the 3D spacer confort back pad. I hope you have the SKYHOOK installed inside. As I said already, right now, no other manufacturers can top that. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

A friend of mine had that problem recently (Cypres 1 not switching off) and he has checked with SSK and was told to be faster when pushing and releasing the button when the red light comes up. it seemingly worked. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Recall for Quasar II (Strong Enterprises) is free of charge. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Tell your story to your rig manufacturer including the pictures. It seems to me that the center line or tape of your pilot chute broke at the attachment point. We don't see the kill line on the picture. Maybe the central tape stitching at the apex of your pilot chute was faulty and that would explain you have lost your handle. BTW who is the manufacturer? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.