bwilling

She works for Sunrise Rigging, makers of the Wings harness and container. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I've had Sprint, T-mobile, and (currently) Cingular... Cingular has the best coverage in the areas that I need coverage, but your mileage may vary! If Cingular has good coverage in your normal call area, I'd highly recommend them... but you need local opinions to really tell if that's true! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I can see your point... did they offer to let you swap the canopy for another color, or were they just out of 175's, making that color your only option, and hence the take it or leave it (the website did state limited to stock on hand). Just curious... they got mine right. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Yeah, really... you're buying a brand new canopy at what is probably better than a used canopy price! Maybe I'm not that picky though, hell, my old canopy has bunch of pink in it, and I still jumped it! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I just got mine in yesterday, and it's definitely new stock, DOM 06/2005! I was worried that it might be a bit small for my container (I have a PD 260 9 cell in there now, and bought a Tri 220), but after opening it up for inspection, now I'm wondering how I'm ever going to get that slippery ass pile of seriously auto inflating nylon in the D-bag! Holy Shit! I swear, it's taken on a life of its own on my closet floor, and seems to get bigger with each passing moment! What was I thinking? Oh yea, it was a really good deal! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I have very little hair, quit your fucking bitching about your cowlick! I'd love to have a problem with my cowlick! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Dude, that's just so wrong! I jump an FT-50 enhanced because I like the face markings, and a used pro dytter because I'm a cheap bastard! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Agreed, Avast is the best of the 'free' AV's! But if you want to pay for one... this is the best. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Holy Shit! I'll quit complaining about my Wings W-30, PD 260 9 Cell, PD 253R, and Cypres weighing almost 30 pounds now! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I'm game... where do I sign up? "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Here's PD's stance on using F-111. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

http://www.altico.com/ "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

And don't get me wrong, I do understand that ZP is superior in almost every aspect (there is that darn pesky packing thing), and that canopy design has come a long way since the PD 9 Cell was designed. I'm just saying that a properly loaded PD 9 Cell canopy is still a decent choice for a new or budget restricted jumper. The problem is finding one that's not at the end of it's life span, because nobody in their right mind would buy a new F-111 canopy... so most of them on the used market are older, and pretty well spent. BTW, F-111's still used by several manufacturers (including PD) in some models of their canopies, it's just used in a more modern design with a ZP top skin typically, to minimize the problem of reduced flare power caused by increased porosity as the canopy ages. Well, after jumping the student T-10's, the switch to a Paracommander was like dying and going to heaven! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

You know, I've heard and read this kind of statement before, and I think it's a bit misleading. Properly loaded (no more than 1:1), lower jump number (they wear out sooner, and degrade gradually over their life span) F-111 canopies land just fine. The problem comes in finding an all F-111 canopy in the earlier part of their expected life span, then loading it 'properly'. Sounds like the original poster has done just that, and can reasonably expect to enjoy his canopy for many jumps to come. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Use must learn to use the force Luke. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

It won't help, I'm thoroughly convinced they no longer teach english in school anymore... Oh, and one more piece of advice for the grammatically challenged... at least run the damn spell checker! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

The good news is that most of the people in the skydiving community don't want to rip you off... the bad news is that you still each (buyer and seller) need to protect yourself in the transaction. The option to have the gear sent to a reputable rigger or DZO acting as a neutral intermediary is the best option for protecting both the seller and the buyer. The seller ships the rig to a known entity, and shouldn't have to worry about getting either money or the gear back, and the buyer gets a chance to inspect and/or have the gear inspected before handing over the payment, in whatever form is agreed upon by buyer and seller. COD shipments really only protect the seller, as the shipping company is not going to let the buyer inspect the gear before handing over the payment. The guy could ship you a box of rocks, and you wouldn't know it until you had already paid for it. I've bought and sold a number of skydiving related items online (most here on dz.com, thanks HH!), and can honestly say that at the end of the day, all transactions were either good to start with, or resolved to everyone's mutual satisfaction. For the most part, the skydiving community rocks! Good Luck! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

oops, sorry! I forgot they had a later model (the Evolution, or something) than the old one I had... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

It's a single battery, fairly common, I found one in a drug store in the camera section... I'll see if I still have the documention somewhere and post it for you. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

:4:Yes Damned if I'm not current again after another 2 year layoff... I gotta quit doing this layoff thing, or I'm gonna run out of friends willing to help me get current! Made what amounted to 4 coach jumps with the wife of one of my oldest friends... and with her help, improved my belly flying skill set about a thousand percent from what it was on that first jump back. Thanks Cindy! I owe lots of beer... first jump on my (new to me) rig, first time jumping my own pack jobs, first jump on a jumpsuit with booties (is tracking in circles a bad thing?)... and probably more that I can't think of right now. I can't believe how sore I was the next day after packing and jumping! I am in lousy shape for skydiving, despite the fact that I've run approx. 15 miles a week for the last 5 months! Hella good fun though!!! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

uhhhh... what are protecting her from? Alien abduction? "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Thanks riggerrob and mjosparky, for the insight! I think my post got picked up as a rant about the pilot chute, instead of just genuine curiosity about quality control procedures in the parachute industry that I had intended... Having been in manufacturing for a long time, I look at something as complex as a harness & container system, or a completed canopy, and wonder how the heck you'd even check the thing when you were done with it! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Background - I recently purchased a kill line collapsible pilot chute from Para-Gear, and I won't specify who the mfg was, but I guess it would be a 'brand name' in the skydiving community, just not someone who's equipment I've ever jumped. Having recently read Bill Booth's post regarding proper design and construction of pilot chutes, I did a thorough inspection of my new P/C. And it failed! Fully cocked, the apex of the P/C was noticeably below the skirt! I had my rigger look at it, and he confirmed that it was indeed 'defective', and I returned it Para-Gear (easily I might add), and ordered one from Sunrise Rigging (who made the original, which is correct). So I'm curious, as someone who's been around (conventional) manufacturing for the last 30 years, what kind of quality control systems are in place in the skydiving equipment industry? And how the hell do they even check most of that stuff they build??? We have all kinds of cool technological toys to inspect the parts we manufacture at work, how the hell do canopy mfgs inspect a finished canopy after it's all stitched together? Kite it, and go... well, that looks about right? "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

And let's not forget this post by the inventor of the hand deployed pilot chute, Bill Booth, on how to check to see if your P/C is built correctly. I just got done returning a brand new kill line pilot chute, because it failed to meet the criteria established in that post. The apex was pulled below skirt before I ever made a jump on the thing, and my rigger assured me it would only get worse as the (spectra) kill line shrunk. edited to add, for those that would look at my profile to see what I jump, the P/C in question was NOT made by Sunrise Rigging... theirs was mfg'd properly, and I've subsequently order a replacement from them. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

working link and... yikes! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."