Rdutch

I would rather see everyone land in the same direction, than into the wind, (preferably the same direction into the wind) this reason: on light wind days the wind arrow changes direction frequently, sometimes 180 of the direction of the first person down. I have seen too many broken bones from people following the wind arrow. (yes we have flags but for some reason people dont use em), and even more close calls from people landing 7 different directions from the same load. Also I would much rather see an entire load downwind land, and skid in, than see a canopy to canopy collision. Especially with the range of performance with canopies today and with the large amount of people under canopies they have no reason, or lack the skill to fly. I.M.O at my dz I would like to see a down or up the beer line rule. Like a runway you can only land this way or that way and in the same direction as everyone else. Isn't that how it works for airports? (Really I dont know it is a question) Trying to land 20 people in such a short time there needs to be some order, chaos in the landing area only means injury/death. There needs to be some order. If the first person down, lands downwind, he risks 20 people getting on his ass for it, it probably wont happen too many times after that. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Last year I did 43 in one day filming the Norgies, and we did 200 in 11 days. That was kinda hard. The goal was 50 but a sore knee ended it early. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Beta testing glitches? What part about the 400+ units out there that were sold, and are being replaced is BETA? What part about the in air misfire(s) that Vigil still hasn't addressed yet dont you see? How is that for holding back on information? What about the total bs statement that the static line caused the static fire of the Vigil? What about the statement that until the Units out there are replaced that the ones out there can only fire on the ground doesn't make sence, when the units have fired in the air. What part about the unit can and will fire turned on or off, in the air or on the ground when it isn't supposed to doesn't bother you? I am sure if Vigil is going to live as a company they will handle their problems, but the thing that bothers me, should bother everyone is they are putting you (the vigil customer/jumper) at risk while they figure out what is wrong, and fix what they know is wrong. The Vigil A unit WILL fire when it isn't supposed to, how hard is it for you, or people to see that. Maybe the Vigil B unit has the problem fixed, time will show. Only testing the Vigil B should be done seperately, just saying ok we fixed the problem that almost killed 3 people isnt enough. As far as I see it they are starting from scratch. I welcome a competing unit to the cypress, and just like you I held the vigil and said yep I want one, that was until I saw a friend of mine almost killed when her reserve deployed the same time her main did, and Vigil still hasnt addressed it. Do you still think that this company has your saftey in mind? Most of all Vigil employees frequent these forums, how come they are so quiet? Like I said before if you have a Vigil A unit DO NOT JUMP IT! if you know someone with a Vigil A unit do them a favor and ask them NOT TO JUMP IT! Just because vigil says it is ok, it isnt, enough has happened to prove that. Trade your unit in as soon as possible, and if you have to jump w/out an aad then it is probably much safer than risking a main/reserve entanglement. Good point and well spoken, look at this months Skydiving Magazine, Mike Truffer took a long and good look into this before making a statement, he makes a lot of sence out of this. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Ever fuel an airplane? You connect an insulator line to the airplane from the fuel source. This assures that when you put the fuel nozzle in the plane it won’t generate static and cause a spark. A skydiving static line is a solid connection to the plane. It would ground out any plane to jumper connection and act as an insulator. I don't see any reason for a static line to cause a Vigil to fire. Please don't jump a pre-mod Vigil, they are not safe. Look at all the misfires that Vigils have. The company does not answer every occurrence and they have lousy explanations for the ones they do choose to answer. Also consider the number of misfires in such a short time. With every unit being replaced, how safe can the old units be? I hope it doesn't take someone to have a main reserve entanglement to get them to ground the units until they are replaced. And if it does take that, I dont want you to be that person. It isn't as simple as just not turning your unit on, they have fired while off. Remove your unit from your rig, or do not jump it until your replacement is installed. I know there has been talk about why is Majic or the French team still jumping them? Who do you think got the first batch of replacement units? I am not out to Bash Vigil, I am just trying to inform you what information is out there. Just like the warning label says, skydiving is a dangerous sport, lets keep it as safe as possible. Your AAD is there to save your life in the event of an emergency, it shouldn't be a cause of an emergency. Especially when the manufacturer knows there is a problem, and has admitted it, but still claims the units are safe to jump until replaced. Think about it, the life you save could be your own. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Nope, but I bet chuck would have a lot of fun with it. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

anyone know how to do this? Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

I cant speak for Harbortronics but they have been pretty honest and answered all my questions fast. Send them and Email. I think Mark@harbortronics.com is the addy, if not you can see it on the website, Maybe offer to buy a camera from them already modified that way when it leaves their office it works for sure. Im not sure, I ordered my Camera from B%H but the remote is $11 so I dont care if they screw it up or not, I know enough about electronics I can probably do it myself. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Peter from Norway borrowed 2 of my Neptunes the other day and did a 3:10 second skydive. After downloading the data he averaged 40mph but did a few seconds at less than 20. I did a 2:40 freefall today working with what we he told me on how he did it. But I am curious how many 3 minute people are out there. From 13'500 of course. My 2:40 was from 15'000 ft but I pulled at 5'500 forgetting to change my Neptune from bigway to birdman. Im just curious what the record is, and how many people have done a 3 minute skydive from 13'500? Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Mostly the buffer speed, Liked the way I can take pictures faster, actually a lot faster. Also I was very disapointed with the rebel in low light situations. I borrowed Skaryperrys flash and the camera took great pictures at night then, but you shouldn't have to buy a $250 flash. Im sure if I knew a lot more about photography and wanted to play with it I could have better results. As far as skydiving the Rebel took great pictures. And when I was shooting film, It was hard to use a whole roll of film on a jump, but I have a rule, if your going to take one picture skydiving take 3, and with the Nikon I can do that. Plus Nikon lenses kick ass, much more expensive but worth it. Dpreview does a good comparison review take a look at it and see what you think. Also I would like to hear any reviews from people that own a D70. I played with the Ir remote in the store and it was fast I couldnt tell a lag, and it even worked when it wasnt pointed directly at the camera, so I think mounting it near the camera with a bite switch sould work fine. I will let everyone know as soon as I have mine mounted. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

After playing with the D70, I sold my Rebel Digital and ordered a Nikon D70. The no remote plug bothered me, so I sent an Email to Harbortronics about the plug installation they offer. Not wanting to void the warrenty Mark from harbortronics told me that he could modify the IR remote for $75 to accept a plug in, and the lag is almost none for the ir to camera. This option sounds good tp me I will let everyone know when I receive my camera and remote. Hope this helps anyone that is interested in the Nikon D70. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Im just glad to say, I was on the Jump, we had fun and after I got to be the First (did I say first, ok pre second) person to slam that Pie home. Hey at least the cream matched your hair color kinda. Anyway congrats on the 1000, and the way your flying your new Katana Im hoping you will be involved with all the rig dumping, I mean Pond swooping we do next time. Edited to add: Is it just me or did Bob (mixoligist) find the perfect picture of himself to use as his avitar, it looks just like him Wow. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Sorry Velocity 79. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Rusty Trapp had one, Velocity 97, nasty spinning line twists and he had pulled his main at around 1800 ft. Nice reserve open in no time, no line twists. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

None that I have heard about. So far the vigil units are still being replaced, but they are still perfectly safe to jump until then. Since the misfire problem can only happen during packing in a cool dry environment. One thing: Skydive Deland has pulled all vigils out of their student and tandem rigs, as well as all of their rentals and Bob's personal rig also. All sales of the vigil that has been made by skydive Deland have been or in the process of being recalled. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

All I can say is Jimmy is the man, when I was thinking I had a very lucky day, he was thinking he was having a bad day, and dayum his swoops all I can say is Dayum! Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Yesterday we had a big bday bash for all the people with birthdays this month. Thanks to Carl for letting us use his pad and pond. Here is some of the Dry picks, and yep everyone got wet at least once. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

This is the only misfire I have heard of so far, on a production vigil. And I've only read about it at Dz.com. I have yet to see an official report. I am waiting for it though. What do you know, what the rest of the world doesn't know? I've only seen this height mentioned in skydiving magazine, and several sources have contradicted it since. But maybe you've ordered the CREEP also? Steve Weiss is his name, he fully claims he didnt pull that low, he also claims he never stated those low numbers. Also people that saw the incedent back him up. These were ground fires, adresses with this SB. Which activations have I missed? ***You're insinuation the Vigil is dangerous isn't based on facts. You seem very uninformed. There have been ground misfires, air misfires and late fires (not life saving) of cypres units also. I still think cypres is a relative safe device. Quote Facts? What part of the service bullitens and the history arent you reading? What part about the many firings in such a short time doesnt concern you? What part of the questions and answers Vigil hasnt addressed and for some reason leaves out when talking about the problems? Most of all what part about the fact that a girl is lucky her main didnt entangle with her reserve when her VIGIL fired at above 3000 feet when her main was deploying? How is that for dangerous. Do you beleive everything that a company claims is true when the company has everything to loose by admitting the truth? Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Bingo, cool photo opp, that was one pic off two rolls of film I shot, the ones I took from the otter are pretty cool also, but through a window so not as high res. The pilots involved have a butload of time flying formations with these planes and talk to each other the whole time, trust me this stuff scares the hell out of me, and I was fine. I was looking through the hole in the van coaxing the pilot to get closer so I could take this pic, I took the pic he backed off, and it was cool. The only people that knew it in the Van were the 5 people closest to the back. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

The sign on the skyvan says, redlight open door, greenlight check spot and for air traffic, exit. I think thats for a reason. Look at the pic tell me what you think? Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

Your best bet if you really want a skyhook, buy a vector3. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

***How come the 2 units on the ground fired when they werent turned on? This, to me anyhow, supports the static theory. Sounds to me as though static electricity is activating the cutter only. This would almost have to be the case since the units that fired were not powered on. My beleif exactly, so changing out circuit boards on units will have what effect on the cutter causing the fire? Also why is it deemed perfectly safe by vigil for people to continue jumping the unit until it is replaced, and also here's the one that gets me, why do they claim that it can only happen when packing, when there was a fire in the air, and maybe quite possibly the first fire was from the same problem. That would be 2 in air firings. The girl that had hers fire at +3000ft Vigil reported that the unit was tested and found to be in %100 working order, this scares me, it would be one thing if they found a problem, then they could fix it. Just saying the unit was found good, and then sales started again? I would think real hard and want a solid answer on to the problem and how it was fixed before I would think about jumping a rig with that system on it. Also my belief in Vigil the company's credibility is dropping fast. My 2 cents. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

heres 1 Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

I can say the Misfire at 3000 ft did happen, I was there, I drank a beer with the girl an hour after while she calmed down. I would love to know the answer for that one. If Airtec Cypress 2's have a problem with static caused by the fabric rubbing together at a high speed caused by deployment shorting out the displays, how come static from packing on the ground is a problem, but not static from deployments be a problem for the Vigil? How come the 2 units on the ground fired when they werent turned on? How come the unit that fired at 3000ft didn't register a fire? I know Kim reads this forum and I wish that she would address these concerns. But I.M.O If you own a vigil, I would think about removing it until it is replaced, there is too many questions and not enough answers. Remember in skydiving if something fucks up, the worst thing that can happen is you Die! Actually thats wrong, the worst thing is you could die and kill someone else also. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

There was a girl in Deland, her unit fired at 3000+ ft under canopy. She didnt turn her unit on in the plane, it was turned on, on the ground. Her unit was sent in for testing by a different company to assure accuracy. The unit was found to be in %100 working order, and the unit also didnt register a fire. This I.M.O mean that the cutter fired from Static, just like the cutters on the ground. Vigil claiming that the units are safe to jump and can only fire from static caused by packing in my opinion is a very bad thing, How come in all the bulletins that I have read none even mention the fire at 3000ft. I dont own a Vigil, but if I did it would be sitting on my desk at home and not in my rig, Until it was replaced. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

So explain the Mis-fires in the air? Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of!