hackish

I think a chemically activated sealed cutter will be more reliable given 20 years of banging about in a rig, possibly getting damp or wet, being exposed to desert sand and grit. Also consider the electrical requirements of discharging a chemical reaction (which does the work) or trying to activate a mechanical device to do the work. The cutters are reasonably reliable and have the KISS principle applied well. I think continuing to innovate and improve cutter technology would be best. -Michael

I have a rig here that I built some years ago to test out some strengths of closing loops. It would be interesting to put some spectra through some of the hot coffee/wet tests to see if it's affected. I don't have a good source of gamma radiation though... -Michael

Thanks. That shot was taken just after binding. I did "bartack" them on my 20U using just a zig-zag. I started questioning myself and did some of the bartacks as a straight stitch forward, back, then zig-zag over. That's a pain on the 20U. -Michael

Ok, 149 to go then. Tandems land on their butts and it rips the legpads out. I stubbornly decided to fix it completely rather than sewing a patch on. Note I cheated a bit on the second corner. One thing I note is that a 112w140 does not get the presser foot up more than 1/4" so it makes this very challenging. I didn't see a way to adjust it either :( So rob says I need a scantily clad assistant and a small awl. I thought the two were mutually exclusive. -Michael

Someone just dropped off a wings container for assembly. I had a good look but was unable to find any inside 90 degree corners that were the same piece of tape. Can you think of any specific examples? Photos etc? I think I saw the horn you spoke of at the sides of the reserve flaps but it was just a smooth curve. -Michael

What I meant was a 90 degree inside corner. Thing is, I can't think of any place I've seen one on a container to look at how it was done. This is why I assume you would need to start with a new piece of binding tape. -Michael

Wow, so many good ideas here. I'm just going to practice and see what I can come up with. Although the fold did look OK it seems to be best when the work is hidden by a bartack :) Is there ever a situation where we need to do the inside of a corner? In that case I think there will be no choice but to stop and restart. Looking at Jerry's photos that is a really short pressure foot. The machine I have is a 112w140 so I will see if I can find a spare then grind it into a new shape that makes this work easier. -Michael

Thanks, actually that does make a lot of sense to me. Part of my issue was getting around the turn without having a really long stitch from the outside needle. If I'm understanding this right I'll end up with a short stitch on the inside and a slightly longer stitch on the outside as sort of a "split the difference" type affair. I'll go back to practising. -Michael

Are there any good secrets to making nice corners? Looking at rigs I think they sew to the end, lift, crease, reposition and continue in the next direction but my poor old double needle singer doesn't lift very much to get the underside crease in there. Do you pre-glue? I've heard of using a hot glue gun but frankly I don't feel good about that idea. I tried pre-folding one, lifting, backing up then sewing the new direction but I'm not partial to the extra loop of thread. I also tried a start/stop but it's even worse. Since it's not a natural fiber I can't see ironing or pressing it. I've also tried pinning it but frankly it doesn't seem to make a difference. -Michael

If you have a look at the Vector 3 manual (as probably many skydivers have not) you will note that this is listed as a possible method. This type of malfunction has shown up a few times in the last 5 years but it still isn't very common. -Michael

Significantly fewer in most gun free countries. You find outliers, I think Norway was top of the list because of that one madman in Oslo. Tough part about statistics is that you need enough incidences that the value isn't just due to chance. Also, concealed to carry areas do not enjoy a lower injury/death rate due to firearms violence. Some items intuitively seem to make sense. If we have longer sentences then we will have a reduction in crime. The majority of studies show that this is also false. Neighbourhood crime rates around a halfway house? If we reduce the speed limits we will have fewer car accidents. Lots of examples. One problem about properly used statistics is that they don't have an emotional response to a problem they are just cold calculated numbers... -Michael

Prevention or defense? In areas with less gun restrictions and/or a higher percentage of gun owners, criminals have to consider whether or not their potential victims are armed which in itself is a deterrent. The general public thinks that it would be a deterrent but the actual statistics do not agree. Something I like about published academic research is that findings have to be backed up by statistics and unfortunately most of what you read on the internet is invented opinions. The only thing I might be interested in using a firearm for is if this zombie apocalypse starts but the chance of that is probably higher than a home invasion anyway. -Michael

I'm always amused by the culture of gun ownership in the USA. Many people have told me that they own a firearm for home protection yet I have yet to meet someone who had to use a firearm for said purpose. While I don't discount that bad things do happen to good people history hasn't shown the high percentage of gun ownership to be effective in the prevention of crime. Effective use of a short gun requires a good deal of currency. Most times I've asked, gun owners reported going to the range to practice about every year. Put it in skydiver terms, get off student status and have an AAD fire with a PDR99 in your rig. Chances of survival? My home protection consists of my dog and the local PD. Not that too many of us up in Canada lock ourselves inside the house at night anyway. Just sayin... -Michael

There was a bluetooth transmitter sold for about $50 that was supposed to be good for about 250 feet. I tossed one in a field and went looking. A friend's i-phone picked it up at about 25' and my blackberry got a signal at about 75'. That was in an open field so we didn't think it would be sufficient. Also the battery needed to be replaced every year. I think as prices come down and technology improves this can become viable in a few years. The one thing I wanted to but didn't try was to build a YAGI antenna or other directional type array and see if I could improve the distance.

I've seen it a few times before. Fixed in the ways already mentioned. As for cause I think it has to do with those who step on the hackey and pull hard to collapse the pilot chute. -Michael

Al, I think to compare the manual with others created in the late 1970's it is fair to say that it is better than most for the reasons you explained. I think the challenge in communicating this idea occurs when you say "with the bridle exiting the container between top and bottom flaps, to the RIGHT of the closing loop." The reader would typically interpret this as the bridle exiting laterally to the right side of the closing loop, not traveling from the deployment bag straight down and out the rig passing on the right hand side of the closing loop. To further compound the misunderstanding, this instruction is also consistent with many other rigs. I'm sure you can now understand my repeated question: ok, so after it comes out between the top and bottom flaps should come out of the rig above or below the right side flap? The question of course wouldn't make sense to you with the intended meaning of the instruction. I believe the problem has been rectified but won't have a chance to re-test the bag lock until the spare parts can be made and sent. If only this new technology could allow the parts to be emailed into my inbox. -Michael

If I said "like a racer" without verifying that all racers are closed like that then I might also come to the wrong conclusion. I did say like the new vector closing method but unfortunately I think many people are not familiar with it. I had a very small part in production of the new UPT manuals so I'm very familiar with what they say. I do think that they are now the gold standard. Unfortunately, taking a step back and thinking about this issue for a long time it simply comes down to the Sidewinder manual itself. While I think they're a well constructed rig it's not reasonable to expect smaller manufacturers to be able to budget a production like this. "Route the bridle from the deployment bag to the right side of the rig. Close the top, then the bottom flap. Route the bridle down and out the bottom of the rig. Close the left then the right flap. Mate the two small velcro tabs on the bridle and route it up and pin the closing loop. Ensure the velcro is above the main closing loop..." No questions. Of course this discussion could be pointless anyway. Given the number of major rigging errors I found this year I have serious doubts that anyone even reads manuals anyway. -Michael

Thanks. I wish the manual was this clear. It was only for lack of a sentence describing where the bridle should exit. Tomorrow I will check the rigs we have and see if this is the procedure followed by the packers. I'll also see if I can reproduce the bridle lockup we observed using this method. -Michael

If I understood correctly then our packers did it wrong but I need to understand the correct way and then talk to them to confirm this. I have difficulty understanding Al on the phone so I'm still not sure if I got it. He was frustrated trying to explain it to me as well. Attached is the picture from the manual. Here is the description from the manual: Between the top and bottom flaps is clear. Should it come out above the right side flap or below it? When the manual says "with the velcro at the top of the loop" then you might think it goes out above the right side flap as you would on a vector but I understood the opposite from Al. Given that we had a student PCIT it is important to me to do my best with finding an answer. I don't mind sending the video to people privately as it's pretty graphic. -Michael

I do not like ambiguity. In our case we had a PCIT, probably because the bridle wrapped the stopper tab on itself so the question was not just for aesthetics. Between the top and bottom flap does not explicitly say either. The diagram is also not very clear. With line art you can't tell if it's drawn to show a loop or simply the bridle traveling down. Our packers have always packed it like the traditional vector method but if I understood Al correctly it is in fact supposed to exit at the bottom of the right flap, come up to the loop then back down. -Michael

This came as a bit of a surprise to me but I think we've been packing these rigs wrong since day one. I found the instructions ambiguous so I spoke with the manufacturer. Al said nobody has ever had a question about the packing method. How do you normally route the bridle? Do you exit above or below the right flap? Then to the closing loop, down and over to the BOC. -Michael

I think the solution is pretty simple. Buy a vigil. It's rare to see a cypres in my area anyway. -Michael

I know this is an old thread but I do have a little to add. The sizes you guys are seeing on the data panel are the maximum certified weights. I did just encounter such a reserve and the advice that an R6 serial number corresponds to a 175 appears correct since the data panel is similar to that pictured above and the measurements put it in the 175 range (some measurment error accounts for a few square feed difference). -Michael

I just rely on the visual of the tandem's AAD firing to know I should have pulled... :P In all seriousness I think some of these things are a good idea if used properly. I think a good name of the game is to try and catch your altitude before the set-slightly-lower extra indicator goes off. If you always rely on the audible then an arguably less reliable item becomes your first line of defense. -Michael

I'm not all that concerned about having to send it in for a battery. Changing one is a PITA and I can see how some less mechanically inclined riggers could pinch the gasket or cause sealing problems. In my part of the world, in the last 100 pack jobs 90 of them were Vigils. I realize this differs highly by region but I've never even seen a dead battery. Even vigil 1's are rocking their originals. Yet every 4 years those cypres units have to go back to have whatever secret defects covered up erm I mean tested. I wouldn't worry about a $100 or even $200 fee. In the 10 years or so they last you still aren't even scratching the TCO of a Cypres. All in all, I think it's nice that AAD is working to improve the product. -Michael