firemedic

Actually "under impression that I know what I'm doing" often applies to me on the ground as well. Maybe I should have a T-shirt made up. Tee Shirt? I think you are on to something there. I'll be your first customer.

Awesome. I really like your, "under impression that I know what I'm doing...." caricature.

Lots of Tim Hortons in Canada, not so many in the U.S. ergo, Tim Horton's lowers the crime rate. No, it's all the RCMP's hanging out at Tim Horton's that lowers the crime rate. Note: Fixed the Acronym in bold

Thank you sir. I Hope we get that option.

Sorry, I missed this post before I responded to the last one.

I'm a little lost. You are comparing a full stow 3 bight diaper to a 2 bight line equalization diaper, lines in the pack tray?? Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear with what I'd said. I was comparing a 3 stow diaper with the remainder of the lines stowed in the container and a diaper where all the lines are stowed on the diaper. It just seems there is a greater risk for an unstable pilot getting wrapped up or snagging lines with the system that has lines stowed in the container versus a system that has all lines stowed on the diaper.

I'm hoping the strong diaper issue is solved soon. _______________________________________________ Terry, I hadn't heard of any issues with the SEI diapers. Nothing on their website. I'd appreciate any info you have related to that. On a side note. I don't care much for a 3 stow diaper. Seems to me there is a much greater chance for a pilot tumbling out of an AC to get tangled in the lines or snag one with a 3 stow diaper deployment.

No parachute is 100% reliable. Should you take the (moderate) chance of injury that is incurred by landing a main with a problem vs. the (tiny) chance of nearly certain death that you incur by having a reserve mal? We get somewhat complacent because reserves work so very often - but it's worthwhile to note that they do not _always_ work. Very good point BV. Just guessing but I would think there are tens of thousands of main deployments every year that have no problem. So, reserve deployments are much much lower in number. I wonder what the reserve malfunction rate is. ETA: I've had several tension knots on tandems, most of which I was able to clear quickly. A couple did not. They seemed to be stable and appeared to flare ok. I felt a "urge" to just stay with them but I chopped them because I just didn't know for certain if they were landable. I don't think anyone can know for certain that a canopy that appears to be stable and landable is stable and landable when you're at 4000'.

As someone said earlier here, everything is always clearer in hindsight. So in hindsight did he make a bad decision? Yes. I think the more important question to ask is why he did not know it was a bad decision to land it.

I was a firefighter in South Carolina for 25 years. South Carolina being a "Right to Work" state unions are powerless. I was paid a decent wage that allowed me so buy a home, drive a decent automobile, have a pension and savings. It also included health and life insurance benefits. i.e., It was a salary that afforded me a comfortable living. I've often wondered what differences a union would have made. I do know one thing though. The property tax on my home in 1995 was $875 on a home with assessed value of $86,000. One of the guys I worked with was from Buffalo, NY. His father had a home there that had an assessed value of $95,000 and his property tax bill was $3500 that year. I'm fairly certain more services were provided by his city than mine provided. The Fire Department in Buffalo was Unionized and consequently more expensive. It is what it is. The one thing I am absolutely opposed to is allowing emergency services personnel to go on strike. When your life and/or are in jeopardy, a strike is the last thing anyone needs. Same thing for the military. The last thing you need a soldier to do is lay down his weapons if you're at war or attacked because your contract has expired and an agreement on a new one hasn't been reached. I know I've been a bit long winded but unionizing the military and emergency services isn't without many drawbacks. It goes well beyond the sentiment of "we deserve to be paid what we're worth."

I don't think it's cause their Jewish. They're all members of the Nannycrat Party. They want to do for us what we are not willing to do for ourselves. They want to make us safer.

I don't often comment on subjects on DZ but I feel compelled to comment here. Unions.....I worked part time for a unionized sports equipment manufacturer when I was in college so I could skydive. A few months later they went on strike because the union failed to reach an agreement. A week later I went to get my paycheck and there was a huge picket line in front of the entrance. I went to the front to talk to the shop steward and was told I could not go in. I told her I needed my check. After some pleading It became apparent to me that if I tried to go in to get the pay I had earned that my ass was going to get beaten. I believe that this guy was shot by a disgruntled union worker but I seriously doubt the union put him up to it. Someone mentioned here to consider the possibility that it was staged to make unions look bad. I think the possibilities are: 99.999% chance it was a union guy acting alone and .001% chance it was staged.

I believe that even the clearly guilty should get a fair trial. Does that say I like them? I do not believe it does. I don't stand behind Aviacom's products - haven't in quite some time. But I also don't believe in lynchings. I do not defend their actions, but I still wish they got equal treatment. I do not believe they did. And I believe that the uneven treatment has made things worse for skydivers, not better. I am not talking about conspiracies. I don't believe there was any conspiracy. I am talking about how a ball got rolling down a hill, picking up speed all the way, and crashed into the house at the bottom. Once PIA published their letter to the manufacturers, it is no surprise to me that so many would have banned the product. How could they not? Many felt that failing to ban left them with a significant liability exposure. There is no doubt that Aviacom made a great deal of the problems for themselves. They have responded horribly at every possible point. I've been saying that all along. I have all along told Aviacom in many emails what I felt they should have done. But the downward spiral was assisted by a significant bunch of people pushing that big rock down the hill. Once the banning started, Aviacom's business took a giant hit, and it is no surprise that any research into possible product improvement would grind to a halt. I don't know who that might have helped, but I am pretty sure that it hurt skydivers who might have benefited from a new cutter. Actually, I am surprised that the business has not folded. And that would have left a lot of people with absolutely no hope. Did the banning save any lives? We will never know. We can never know. Maybe it did and maybe it didn't. But it surely guaranteed that any progress regarding getting a better cutter would be severely slowed or eliminated altogether. I can't say that Aviacom would have done any better even without some of the stuff that happened. But I can't say they wouldn't have either. Either way, I am pretty certain that things were made worse for Aviacom once that ball got started down the hull. For the record, I probably feel as strongly about the Vigil as you do about the Argus. But I don't want them to go out of business. I want them to fix what I consider to be problems. Banning them would not get us any closer to that goal, and so I don't believe they should be banned. So far, they have said, "That's not a problem. That's a feature." I see very little difference between that and what Aviacom has said and done. I don't favor one over the other. It isn't that I like one or the other. I dislike them both about equally. I am sure that the two have been treated very differently, and I think that is wrong. ___________________________________________________ Paul, I think you hit the nail on the head. Very well put.

I face a similar dilemma in my work. Seems the only thing that matters anymore is just getting the bucks in as quickly as you can and to hell with excellent customer service.

Whoever is signing the paychecks. And with that, you've just answered all the questions. It's your bosses that sign your paycheck. As much as you might not like doing things their way, they are the ones that have your paycheck in their hands. But don't forget the "Customer" has everyone's check in their hands.

Got it. Thank you.

I have a singer 68 Class 28 stitch Bartack I searched all over the web and can't find a manual for it. Does anyone have a manual or can point me in the right direction. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

That worked out well for you guys back in the 30's. Yep. Like your prohibition at that time. Thank God we had the sense to repeal it. CHEERS!

Are car bombs legal there? No? So much for banning guns.

Did you read the whole report? There are several issues that were brought out. To me one of the biggest problems with Aviacom is their arrogance and trying to blame others for their shortcomings. Aviacom is the source of the 2 documents below. Any business that would post something like that should be banned on that alone. Sparky No, I was only commenting on the issue with the equipment defect. I read those documents when they came out. Very sad. Perhaps they should just go away. On the other hand I would like to see the issue corrected for the sake of all those who invested in an Argus.

I haven't offered any opinions on the Argus issue because I wanted to see what a credible investigation would reveal. Seems there is conclusive evidence of a hardness problem with the cutter blades produced in 2007. I certainly do not feel they have been picked on. If they had focused their efforts on investigating and resolving the issue, they could have restored our confidence in their product by now. I can't agree their whole system is inferior because the investigation only found a problem with cutters in a specific date range. I'd like to add that I don't use an Argus and I don't have any vested interest in Argus. I do a fair amount of repacks and most of the rigs I work on are not affected by the ban. Some are equipped with an Argus. I make it a point to keep my customers, many of whom are friends, up to date on the issues with that system. I know it may sound simpleminded but I just wish Aviacom would get off it's ASSets and deal with it.

In 1976 on jump #14. Lost altitude awareness. Deployed main at 2000. It streamered and I nearly rode it too long. Cutaway with capewells, backfliped, pulled reserve and got about a 2 second ride out of it.

QuoteI'm actually looking to find out if there any instructors out there that have opened up with a "brake fire" or something similar, hence postin in the Instructors forum. I wasn't suggesting that your question was in the wrong forum. I was saying that my input was more of a gear and rigging topic. I was just theorizing as to the why it could be happening part of your question. I can't think of a reason that it would happen other than poor maintenance or careless packing.

I know this is more a gear and rigging topic but to answer your question somewhat, I've never seen it happen personally but theorizing how it is possible. It would be possible if the equipment is not properly maintained. What is the condition of the velcro. and snaps. If the pile or hook sides of the velcro are worn out or the hook is loaded with debris they won't grip properly. Also, are both sides of the snap in good condition. If one or the other have been damaged they will tend to come unsnapped or not hold at all. Just some food for thought.

Absolutely NOT the same thing. If you leave a temp pin through the closing loop somewhere in the pack job it will most certainly result in a locked container when the ripcord is pulled. A closing loop that only bypasses the cutter will most assuredly not lock the container when the ripcord is pulled. Edit: I fixed the font. Had the bold type all messed up.