LawnDart21

I can't afford it Ozzy, my head is already enormous.....lol. (XL helmets for me!) I have my Dad to thank for my big mellon! It's genetic, not ego!

I have a few canopies that I don't get to jump very often, and I have each one in a cotton (don't ask why, it's just soft....lol) pillow case.I just do sort of a loose roll/stuff combo, and then litely daisy chain the lines on the top, and then tie off the pillow case. Cotton breathes, and I havent had any problem leaving them in my closet for extended periods of time at approx 65 degrees room temp year round. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

For me, taking the cypres out of my container makes the most sense. I have an original cypres, so if I am swooping a pond, I am only doing a solo hop & pop, so the need for a cyrpes in my honest opinion is neglible. I will take it out of my container for swooping the pond, and put it back in when I am done/dry. Once my cypres outlives itself, iw ill replace it with a Cypres 2 and not change it out, but until then, I will try whenever possible to take it out before going over water. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Aren't the fabric grippers specialized? I know the fish scale is pretty easy to aquire, but I thought I heard that you needed a specific type of clap/grippers for the test? -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Is there anyone in Europe still jumping the SkyRay? -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

We have a 2820 ft runway with about another 400ft of grass. We have a Casa boogie every year, and while they use every inch of the grass after the runway for take off.......lol. They get up and down no problem. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

With all the pin tests and fabric tests these days, I am curious how many riggers that do thier rigging work outside of a loft, say out of thier house or on a small DZ without a loft, how many of them (you) have their(your) own fish scales and other specialized tools. I work in probably the most modern and equiped loft in the north east, so I have access to all of the "unique/expensive" tools for tests and unique repairs, butI was thinking about investing in a fish scale/clamp set from PD for $145.00 to keep at home, for when I geta winter repack request that requires a PD fabric test, so I won't have to go all the way (1 hour) back to the loft in the winter. How many of you out there have these "specialized" type equipement pieces in your home rigging tool collection? -Tom -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Thats a great idea! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I've only jumped a FTP, have about 100 jumps on it. Even with my still and video camera on, it feels great, and it has a chin mounted cutaway system that is ideal for any camera flier. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Thank you for the input/info, that really helps. I will be contactnig the manufacture this week to get their assessment as well. Thanks! Tom -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I'll bet if you contact Strong or RWS they may be able to find one laying around.

Sony PC9 & Canon EOS Rebel 35mm. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

My other is from Pirated of the Caribean: Will: "In a fair fight, I'd kill you." Capt Jack: "Not much incentive for me to fight fair then, is there?" -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

One of my favorite TV Commercials of all time for Amstel Lite. Two guys walk into a bar and ask the bartender for light beers. They get the beers, each takes a sip and they both turn and spit out the beer. One of the guys apologies to the bartender saying: "Sorry, we are from Amsterdam, we didn't know light beer over here was supposed to suck." -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I'm gonna see the jumper who's main it is this weekend, and I will try to get some info from him on the conditions that his rig was left in over the winter, and post it here on Monday. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I saw a video once of a Tandem cypress fire many years ago. The TMs altimer worked fine out the door at 14000ft, and wound down to 6000ft, and then just stopped at 6000ft, the TM has 1000s of jumps, but still had a cypres fire at 2000ft. He would have rode it in if he hadnt had a cypres. It can happen to anyone. As mentioned above, train like hell, practice your pull procedures on the ground until they are drilled into your head. Be safe. Tom -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Depending on how much time you have and your location to other dropzones, I'd look around and see if any of the companies are going to be travelling to your local area DZs, doing "Demo weekends". I got a chance to jump some VXs last year that Iprobably wouldnt have motivated enough to request as demos, 'cause the good people at Icarus came out to our DZ and brought all kinds of canopies to try out. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Perhaps even say in the trunk of the car on a hot summer daywhile you are at work? Just a thought. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I was packing a reserve yesterday, so I took the main out and set it aside, as I did the repack. When I got done with the reserve, I went to open the main to inspect it, and reattach it, and when I pulled the last locking stow undone, the canopy came out of the back, hard as rock, stuck in its S-fold position. It wouldnt unravel, bend or anything. It "ate" the lines into the S fold, and they wouldnt budge. I picked it up from the bridle/d bag attachment line as well as from the otherside from the lines coming out of the S fold, and was able to pull both sides taut, so that the canopy was suspended in line with the line and bridle. I have never seen that before, ever. The reserve and container were in perfect condition, but this main is fubar. It was a brand new (fall 2003) ZP canopy, and my guess is that the rig was left next to a very warm place or very cold place over the winter, (no clue which) and the ZP goop all conjealed together. The canopy was as hard as a brick. I left it as is, so that the customer could see it before we decided on what to do with it. I have never seen anything like that before. I wll try to get pics this week and post them. - Tom -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

No problemo. We can turn her cast into her "1st Jump Certificate" after the jump! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Darren, have her talk w/the doctor that puts the cast on, if her doctor thinks its okay, I'll take her. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Congrats! I feel your pain about losing your gear...... Two years ago, I was videoing a tandem and the student (friend) asked me hold her cash while we jumped. Dumb me, put it in my zipper leg pocket of my vid suit pants. We get to jump run and I decide to get a piece of gum from my pocket, and forget to zip the pocket back up! The $$ stayed in freefall in the pocket, until I sat up to catch the deployment, and then POOF!!! $400 in $20 bills floated past me.....You can almost count it all on the video. Ugh. The very next jump, back to back loads, I was filming another tandem and had to cutaway my brand new (less than 20 jumps) Vengeance due to a spinning/diving line twist. Canopy ended up in a tree (80ft up) and free bag was gone. Now adays, I just stick to jumping tandems, video jumps are too freakin' expensive!!! LOL Congrats again! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I'm still amazed at how exacting the tolerances of production have to be on todays HP canopies. I mean I get dizzy just looking at the stitching of xbraces and cant imagine how much skill and mental toughness it must take to reproduce these canopies again and again. We are studying quality control methods in on of my MBA classes, and it really makes me appreciate the effort that all the canopy manufactures put in to keeping us safe up there. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Good points too Chuck. I have under 50 reserve packs admittedly, so I would say my "advice" is to be taken with a grain of salt, but I would offer any rigger this idea. I use a "worksheet" as a I perform a repack, everything from checking cypres cycle charge, 4yr date, canopy condition, etc, from A to Z, I have a list of everything I want to inspect and everything I want to service on a form list. I check it all as a I go, and I even scribble any minor or major damage I might find along the way, so I have an accurate record of what to tell the customer. This way, when I am finished and seal the rig, I have a written (visual) que that I did everything I was supposed to. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Well it's still early, so I'll try to keep my whining (not whinning, sp?) to a minimum...........lol My only point of contention from your first post, was and still is, all riggers are capable of making mistakes, not just new ones. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.