AndyMan

At Chicagoland, last I saw none of the first jump rigs (Navigators 240-280) had kill lines. The "transition" rigs did have kill lines. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I don't know whether it happens or not, I'm just skeptical. Ultimately if this happened a fraction of the time that it's credited, we'd be seeing direct evidence of it including video. My understanding of physics is rudimentary at best, but ultimately I think that nylon simply lacks the density of mass to do this type of damage. Secondly, when I imagine the direction of forces involved in bag-liftoff, I just don't see those forces lining up with the rubber bands. I can imagine some force being put on the closing flap, I see only a small fraction of those forces being transferred directly to the rubber band. Lastly, most of these scenarios require that all locking stows release. One broken stow isn't enough, I think they all have to break. On some rigs this means 3 stows. The force required to do this is huge. I think - given the two explanations for broken bands being 1: line dump/bag dump/bag strip, etc and 2: line stretch pulling on the bands - the second option makes SO much more sense. Also, as for explaining hard openings, packing issues including slider and nose placement seems to be much more likely occurrences. I don't reject it altogether, the explanations are gospel to people a lot smarter than I am, but truth be told that I just don't get it. I'd love to see some video. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Nothing would make me happier than to see video evidence of either of these phenomena actually happening. I've heard from people with second or third hand information of such video existing, but I've never seen it - nor heard directly from someone who has. Me, I've directly witnessed hundreds of openings as an AFFI, and I've shot many hundreds more as a videographer. I've heard many complaints of hard openings, and I've heard many prognosticators on the ground state definitively: "You had bag-strip/Line-dump/bag-dump" - yet video evidence of these theories remain remarkably absent. I'm skeptical, but still inquisitive. I'd love to see some video. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The only time I directly know of anyone having their rating suspended involved clear pictures of the violation, with a clear face-shot of the offender in the photo - being emailed out to many thousands of skydivers in a DZ ad-blitz. In that scenario, it was quite difficult to imagine the USPA doing anything other than revoking his ratings, which they did. But short of clear proof essentially being handed to the USPA in the form of photo or video, as far as I know - nothing will ever become of it. To me the message is clear - do anything you want, but don't get caught. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

USPA and PIA need to do a MUCH better job releasing the hard data behind these issues. Advisories that only speak in generalities are worthless. Details please. Andrew Metcalfe, Senior Rigger AFF-I TM-I PRO. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I agree. I bought one Z-1 years ago, and have been absolutely disgusted by the lack of quality, reliability, and customer service. I've written countless posts on the subjects, and recommended every one of my friends avoid the products, like the plague. It seems most people are so impressed by the lesser price, skydivers continue to flock to the product. Oh well. Me? I'll never buy any product from that Company. I wish gear stores wouldn't sell them. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I would see a doctor, specifically one familiar with altitude issues. Random nosebleeds while flying is not common. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think the standard advice on this is changing. Cameras are getting small, and camera setups are SO much cleaner than they were even 10 years ago, I think the risk of camera induced entanglements is effectively reduced enough that we should be advising new jumpers to keep their RSL's. Me? My Camera is huge and my setup is not clean, so I'm keeping my RSL off. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The problem in Chicago is that one of the 3 local DZ's has very deep and strong ties to SkyRide. (not CSC) If CSC bailed on Skyride, literally this third DZ would get enough work for all the instructors to buy new BMW's. The SkyRide business in Chicago is huge. In Chicago, to walk away from SkyRide is to walk away from a LOT of money. Sure, it's easy to walk away from SkyRide when you're in a small center and the impact is minor. This is evident that most of the people throwing stones come from very small DZ's. It's a lot harder when it's making a significant impact to your business, and ultimately your family. It's awfully tough to walk away from a big pile of money and hand it, on a silver platter to your competition. That's exactly what everyone is suggesting. Doing so won't hurt Skyride either, because that third DZ has strong ties. As an aside, I would think that someone who wants to see SkyRide go away would be happy to see some ethical competition. As much as Doug doesn't think of his business this way, ultimately he is offering a competing booking agency with national exposure. I would think all of you would want to see him succeed. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think you misunderstand the purpose (and reputation) of ProSkydiving.com. I think what they are doing is quite smart, and you'd would find it advantageous to look at their product. I would not be so quick to judge, nor so quick to make foolish statements. Proskydiving.com has no connection, in any conceivable manner - to ASC or Skyride. And me, I don't have a horse in this race, so consider this just as friendly advice. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I live downtown, and do repacks from my home. Please send me a PM if you'd like to talk. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I don't think so at all. Low altitudes are precisely the point when RSL's are most helpful. To disconnect "because you're low" is just dumb. Once you get below the altitude where RSL's are useful, at this point the jumper should be focusing on flying his pattern and landing safely - not futzing with his RSL. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Has anyone got a copy of Mike Mullins King Air with half the tail missing? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

One of the hardest tasks given to new skydivers is that we expect them to be able to figure out who to take advice from. It sounds like this person is someone from whom you should not take advice. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I was trained on rounds, and have the tools to do them - but I've never been asked to do one. Being trained on them was a waste of time. I would prefer pilot rigs be be a different type rating than sport rigs. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

One thing to ask about is if either tunnels will offer a package deal including both Tunnel time and your AFF jumps. You may save some money that way. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've seen heat damage to risers caused by hot stainless slider rings rubbing against HMA. Your damage is not consistent with the pattern that I've seen. The heat damage I've seen gives the risers a glossy look, as the warm nylon gets polished and smoothed by the fast moving gromets. The damage that you're showing looks more like friction than heat. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

There's a pro list? How do you get on it? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The only sport rigs I've seen without an AAD are dedicated CRW rigs. Even some of those have AAD's. The notion of a "debate" over AAD's seems an anachronism. There is no longer any debate. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

To me, this represents the complete and abject failure of the USPA to even attempt to manage the interests of skydivers. It's embarrassing, and honestly - offensive. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I would, in the following order: 1) Contact Sunpath, and ask their advice. 2) Have your rigger sew flaps on the inside of the packing tray to cover the holes. 3) Don't invent new packing methods. Doing so would make you a test pilot. Don't be a test pilot. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The loft at Skydive Chicago has been using 1000 pound Flat braided Dacron, and I'm amazed at how long it lasts. I've seen their closing loops last for more than a year, used by jumpers doing 300 jumps. If I see 1000 pound flat dacron, I very rarely replace them during repacks, while if I see other materials I will replace on every repack. The flat dacron stuff works amazingly. The word needs to get out. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

A few examples: Most dz's put "high pullers", including Tandems, Students, and CRW out last. On a full load of hop-n-pops, jumpers usually self-organize by planned deployment altitude, since there will no tracking to achieve horizontal separation. That said, it's becoming more common to see jumpers organize by wingloading, but that's a different issue. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It's extremely difficult to accurately estimate altitude under a parachute or in freefall. While it's smart, prudent, and wise to organize ourselves in the airplane by exit altitude, this is not enough to guarantee a sufficient separation of jumpers during deployment. First, remember that altimeters are very crude devices. Even those that have precice digital display have very crude barometers as their primary altitude detection device. These tools should not be considered precicely accurate . Second, remember that the person reading the altimeter is a human, and humans aren't terribly precise either. For some people (especially newbies) there's going to be a delay of often up to half a second between registering the indicated altitude and acting on it. Third, remember that even when a person decides to start the process of pulling, it can take time to wave off, find the handle, and pull. All these add up to the fact that declared pull altitudes are a very rough estimate. If someone declares a pull at 3000 feet, I would not be surprised at all to see them pulling anywhere between 3600 and 2400 feet - a range greater than 1000 feet! When you're sitting there under canopy and see someone blow by in freefall, it can appear as though their smoking past their declared pull altitude, when in-fact the difference is likely easily explained through the three factors identified above. It's for that reason that the skydiving community has largely moved to enforce horizontal separation as a superior means of ensuring pull safety. Of course, horizontal separation has its whole bag of issues too, so your best bet is to try for both. As for the cable coming from the sleeve in the riser, no - it is not "normal". It is an indication the cables are a bit too short for the rig. However, as long as there's a good 4 inches of excess cable above the cotton loop in the riser, it's a minor annoyance more than a critical issue. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Disagree. I go for plan B if I have one brake open and other is jammed. You disagree that people should know it's a viable option? Really? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.