hackish

The best part about 4 year mandatory service is that you can quietly switch out a board or reflash the unit if a problem was found and nobody ever has to know. One other point about vigil, the 4 year maintenance is not required but if you opt to you can definitely send it in for maintenance the same as a cypres. -Michael

The magnets take less force to release than most of the tuck tabs which was one of the reasons Booth designed them. This should not have an impact on the reserve opening because they're only the last few inches of your risers anyway. I have heard of some jumpers landing a main with their non-magnetic tuck tabs still being tucked in. -Michael

In my region, yes they do charge an extra $20 for the skyhook. Artificially I think it's being caused by some of the riggers who still charge $50CAD for a repack - it's a way to present equal pricing but then get a "fair" price. sort of like paying PDI, Freight and all the other costs when you buy a car. -Michael

I got my diablo 150 when I had about 300 jumps or so. There is a reason I call it my little devil. Sometimes she's pissed off when let out of the bag. It opens smoothly, but turns really really fast. Kind of like balancing on a giant beach ball that's been coated with Vaseline. Flare leaves some to be desired. Personally I like the way it flies, the way it responds, but the way it turns ends up being a little limiting and there are many other canopies out there that can be a fun ride without the downsides of this Diablo. I hope you get the best price you can, but I think you might be spending some time trying to sell it for what you're asking. If it were brand new in the box you might be able to get $800 for it :( -Michael

Yesterday I had a discussion with some of the UPT folk about this exact thing. They mentioned that they had tested it under a number of different conditions including using E-Thread instead of rigger's seal. The unit still functioned correctly with the E-Thread. Dunno about 4 wraps of it! -Michael

I think you will find thousands of posts on threads like this. Each will fire when it's set of firing criteria is met. In the past there were some firings on the vigils but there have been firings on cypres too. I have found that the Vigil folk seem to be a little more public about any problems with their product and the corrections to those problems. At the end of the day both products will work as well as can be expected of a complicated electronic device but it's you, the user who has to be comfortable with what's on your back so why not do some research about each product and give each manufacturer a call and see what you prefer? -Michael

I have seen one cracked in the past. I wasn't the rigger dealing with it so ultimately I don't know what was done. It was more one of those "ever seen this before - no but I wouldn't pack that - ok going to call UPT" type conversations. -Michael

Yes, so far I do like that one the best. Still in the thinking stages on this one. One thing I'm considering right now is just a 8" banner attached to each leg back with the company name on it. will be clean enough to fly safely without any snag hazard. The purpose is just to get a fast looking photo with a company name on it that looks clean and cool for all the wuffo customers. I'll pass on wanting to look up and see what champu has in his photo! -Michael

I like what - ifs. All good points but I'm not sure we have the same idea in mind... I'll play with the idea this weekend and see what I can come up with. Maybe it would be safer if I just got a tandem rig and stuck a giant banner on instead of a drogue... -Michael

Hmmm. I like the feet idea. Maybe I will see about a permanent ankle attachment for 2 little pegs and stick them inside the PVC tube. Releasing the whole affair would just consist of spreading my legs so the little pegs slide out from the ends of the larger PVC. Getting out of the A/C might be fun :) In the case you dealt with, how did the jumper exit? -Michael

Excellent ideas guys. Was hoping to hear from people with experience. Lee, do you think sewing some tape into the design might strengthen it enough that I'm not creating a shredded nylon wind drift? The only reason I was thinking of attaching it to my legs was to have a cool shot that looked fast. The company is a performance shop so we had tossed around the idea of if you really want to go fast buy XXX products. I would have preferred something that I'd hold on to as I always like the idea of rehersal before. Maybe at 6k I could just roll it up like the end of a toilet paper roll if I use the PCV pipe idea. -Michael

I've got a company owned by a friend and he wants to know if I can get some cool photos of his company logo. I'd like something in freefall if I can. I had a few ideas but was wondering what other riggers thought about possible safety concerns... One idea was a 3' by 7' tapered banner made out of nylon. Attached at my knee and ankle. I'd go into a slightly head-down orientation allowing it to stream behind me. For deployment I'd go back to belly and the banner should in theory collapse a bit for a clean deployment. Another idea was to do the same at the back of the leg and just straighten my legs for a belly to earth type jump. I don't really like the idea of it too far up my leg as it gets a little closer to the rig (Even thought I can't really think of any specific problem). Now for a cutaway type system I could just make a normal cutaway type pillow and velcro it to a leg gripper on my jumpsuit. The cable itself could go through a tab with a grommet and loop type affair like the last of a 3-ring... not really sure on that point. Any input or ideas? -Michael

Haha. Good analogy. First few times I jumped the diablo I was wondering what the @#$@# I'd gotten myself into. Now I quite like it. I guess what I was really wondering is if I was only 1/2 way into how twitchy a canopy can be loaded 1.3 and sized at 150. From what I read above the two seem to be in the same general area as far as performance goes. -Michael

This is just an idle question and a curious one since the DZ is closed for the year... I have a Diablo 150. It's been a bit of adjustment since jumping a variety of canopies after my rig got stolen. Just curious but how would those who have jumped both compare a stiletto and my diablo in a similar size? I'm not interested in changing canopies but it still is good to know where one sits within the performance potential of a given size/wingloading. -Michael

What was wrong with the cutter? Do you still have it? Any photos? -Michael

I think it's tough to criticize one of the most popular canopies in the air. They are not known for hard openings (some size sabre1's a different story). They are known for off heading. Closed end cells? Few people I know care enough to complain about it. Name any canopy and someone will have something bad to say about it. Find something you like and jump it. -Michael

My hat goes off to anyone who stands up a round landing. The one I've jumped comes down like a shit-ton of bricks and it's a jumbo sized PC. More on topic if the guy pulled at 2k then was it an ultra-long snivel and an AAD fire that resulted in the 2 out? Or was the pull closer to 1k? -Michael

If the skydiver went in I'd say it was due to lack of pulling on time, but this incident highlights the fact that one must never rely on their AAD to pull for them! Does anyone know how the AAD manufacturers test their cutters? In the bulletin posted they mention that they tried out a cutter and it did work. So if you test a percentage of cutters from each batch you still might not catch a fault like this! -Michael

Ever try bringing a car back to the dealer and complain 10 years after it's out of warrantee that the thing is burning oil? I'm working in the autmotive sector and sometimes I can't believe the level of service skydivers enjoy. Hey, my car didn't start on the first try yesterday... No problem sir, here is a brand new one! If the canopy were new then sure I'd expect some level of support, but not well into it's life. -Michael

Just to add to that, your altimeter gets carefully stored away in your gear bag. Except for the minor scrape or bang against a door it's pretty protected for most of its life. A watch on the other hand is beat around all day when you wear it. My opinion the chance of failure is much greater. However if any altimeter shows you have altitude to spare but you can see the specator's pupils you'd better pull! -Michael

The rig does have mini-risers and slinks but I've never been that successful at keeping the slider behind my head. I've tried pulling the front lower but it never seems to stay. I've only put about 15 jumps on this diablo but the openings are so exciting I sometimes forget to pull the slider down before popping the brakes. I love the way it opens so far and I'd rather not change that. Good to know the new ones have 2 strings. If I can get it relined before I head to FL then maybe I'll see about that too. Wasn't successful at getting through to areodyne today unfortunately. -Michael

I haven't put a lot of jumps on other Aerodyne canopies but the canopy pictured has a slider with only one drawstring. It is quite annoying going slap slap slap and even moreso when I accelerate. The noise is annoying and let's not forget the accelerated wear. Is this the original slider? Not 100% sure. I have scoured the Aerodyne website and can't even find an owner's manual. At worse I can give Aerodyne a call but any wisdom here? -Michael

I packed a Spec-190 in a Vector 348 which is meant for a 170. My own rig is a Javelin made for a 170 and this summer I was jumping a Westway 200 in it. It was not that much of a challenge on a hot humid day. I'll never be as good as someone else but a neat packjob goes in nicer than an ugly fluffy one so sometimes size recommendations are based on averages. TK probably gave the best advice here. Manufacturers know their rig the best. -Michael

You can count the instructors who know a lot about teaching canopy flight on one hand. You should be taking advice from those people (like Brian Germain) and only favoring your instructors' opinions when it's more conservative. Your instructors usually won't be the ones that end up in the hospital if you do something stupid. Based on your opinion instructors advice is not reliable enough to listen to. Different people come from different backgrounds. Some people pick things up quicker than others some people do not. This is why I advocate going to see some instructors and see what their opinions are after having evaluated your skills. I know plenty of people who've been quite successful at drunk driving (at least until they lost their licenses) but wouldn't choose to follow their lead. I think someone with 40 jumps on a 170 is a huge stretch from a drunk driver. Fine, 40 jump wonder on a 120 that's a stretch. Personally I think it's like a 14 year-old with a drivers license. I believe in France you need to be 19 to drive so you could imagine their response when they hear about it. That's crazy they're all going to die! Oh wait, some places you can get the first driver's license at 14 and all the kids aren't all killing themselves. Similarly some dropzones and countries in general are a little more aggressive on their canopy sizing. Like everything it has to be appropriate and with the proper education. When you look at the accident statistics it can't all be wrong either. For the record I took the Scott Miller course at 40 jumps with my sabre2 170 and the instructor did okay it. I just feel that some instructors evaluating you in person are better than people on the interweb who have never seen you and won't be in the hosital with you either. -Michael

I don't know exactly how common it is for them to mix and match. Most rig manufacturers own sewing machines not metal forging machines so they buy from another company who is good at making said part. As an exception Jumpshack has a metal shop and most of the R/C handles for other rigs are made by them. I also wouldn't be worried about this practise as all the hardware has to meet stringent requirements in testing, Q/C and traceability. -Michael