councilman24

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Everything posted by councilman24

  1. Froglady, Could you ask him if he would get in contact with me? I'd really like to talk to someone with it done. terryurban@pia.com 14 years ago at Mayo Clinic they didn't even have an artificial ankle they were trying. Two years ago the local surgeon said they had one, but I was too young. (don't get that much anymore
  2. The ankle I shattered in 1987 is getting worse. The only suggested relief of the pain that keeps me up all night is fusing it solid. Anybody have a fused ankle? Interested in how it limits your mobility, what your recovery was like, etc. Right now there isn't much I can't do except running for exercise, soccer, etc. I've lived with the pain for 15 years but don't think I can hold out much longer. Answer here, or by PM or email. Thanks in advance. Terry Yes, it was skydiving. Hitting a tree while the canopies were still opening.
  3. councilman24

    WFFC Bands

    Duke Tomatoe gets old after the 6th year in a row, but its a tradition I think you should keep. I know jumpers who schedule their trip to WFFC around his appearance. And he's a lot better than some of the recent bands. Also, get JAX back if their still together.
  4. Naw, Cirrus Cloud (5 cell!) and Nova. Somewhere there are X-210's just waiting for Z-P to run it's course. Actually the Nova's not mine, and I liked my Cirrus Cloud until I shattered my ankle (Not canopy related.)
  5. I agree with WmLauterbach mostly. Actually, training in what NOT to do may be the most beneficial. Several times I've had to fight off (not literally) other jumpers who wanted to move severely injured patients. If trained and equipped emergency medical assistance is near, all you need are ABC's plus bleeding control . Open/clear the airway if necessary with C spine precautions, provided rescue breathing in not breathing and provided full CPR in no pulse. (chest compressions with rescue breathing). All with TRAINING. I don't want the DZ guys trying to put me on a backboard, apply a c collar, or splint a femur. An AED would be useful for Non traumatic heart stoppage, just like any other public facility. Maintenance and continued training would be a problem and there are other places in society that need them first. One useful thing might be for the DZ to sponsor a CPR class and maybe first aid. Forget your boy scout splinting. Leave it to the ambulance crew. I've only skimmed the Parachutist article and do remember them suggesting inviting the local EMS out to become famialiar with the situation. One other suggestion is to get training in setting up an emergency helicoptor landing area. Things that have worked. Opening the airway of an unconcious jumper, holding C spine, treating for shock, keeping jumpers from moving victims and victims from getting up, splinting simple fractures for trips in private vehicles to the hospital. As a licensed MFR in MI I do carry in my truck everything I can legally use, a backboard, c collars, simple splints, bleeding control, ambu bag, Personal protective equipment, BP cuff for diagnostics, etc. The only thing I don't have that I could is oxygen. In Michigan medical oxygen requires licensing to administer. I won't offer advice on the use of aviation oxygen for medical emergencies. (But I might send somebody looking.) Terry
  6. I've got a couple of latest and greatest stashed in my basement. If you can afford the mistakes, have at it.
  7. I'm an old fart that wears a chest mount altimeter. (Whenever I wear my Alt. III I forget to look at it!) I've tacked my Jack, in a pouch I built, upside down on the back of my altimeter pillow. When I put on my altimeter I've put on my hook knife. For a knife this size I think this location works best. It's on your sternum which doesn't bend either, its accessible with either hand, and it helps hold my altimeter in place. Have it tacked to your chest strap. I know several people who never take it off their chest strap. If it's a smaller knife, mud flaps work (get something besides the $3.00 orange POS) but tough to get to with the off hand. Front of leg straps is becoming more common but not reasonable for Jack. I think chest strap is still the best for the bigger knives.
  8. I don't think your going to have any forces working to open the canopy and push the slider down. Any air on the skin between the lines is going to try to arch "open" in that small width and not help the canopy spread. I think your only chance of opening is to remove all of the b and c lines and slider to give the skin a chance to inflate more like a round. Even then it probably won't work. Rounds are "sucked" open from the outside. Have fun. And be careful catching the cutaway stuff under canopy. People have died catching cutaway mains that entangled with their open main.
  9. Paula, I've been rigging part time for 19 years. I apprenticed the old fashioned way, so I was packing reserves under supervision for about 3 years (too lazy to take the practical till my written was about to run out). I became a rigger because I had a rigger almost kill me and didn't trust any of the others in the area. I had a 1400' total reserve malfunction that I pulled at 1700'. There were a lot of little things that contributed. I'm pretty sure that my first save was myself. I also remember watching one of my early saves from the air next to the guy. When I talked to him later I asked him what he was thinking. He said "I looked up, decided I needed to use the reserve, and thought to myself, OK Terry, here we go." I told him he probably ought to be talking to some higher power than me. I had a round reserve I had packed blow up. The jump was at another DZ and I didn't see it. But I did here from people on the jump. The guy had started jumping in his fifties and never got very comfortable. He had about a 100 jumps. He was jumping a RC main, couldn't find it, and while trying to find his reserve he started tumbling. We think he was pulling on his FXC housing instead of his reserve RC. I'm still not sure if he pulled the reserve or the FXC fired, but he was tumbling into it has it deployed. It ripped through the skirt all the way to the apex. He lived and pretty much recovered but got broken up pretty good. I went through a lot of self doubt at first about whether I had done something wrong. This was a rig and canopy that I was very familiar with. I talked to him in the hospital and he didn't blame me. Later he sent the canopy back to the manufacturer for their opinion and they said 'yep if you tumble into it this is what happens.' Once I knew the whole story I'm sure I didn't contribute to the problem. I've gotten a reputation of being the "picky" rigger in the area. I'm also about the only one that does routine maintenence, like replacing velcro or spandex. When I get a rig in that is a few years old and I haven't been maintaining it there is usually service bulletins, velcro, spandex, etc. that needs work. A friend had a main deployment problem caused by worn out leg strap throw out velcro and ended up with his Cypres saving him. I hadn't been packing the rig but when I went over to it I immediatly realized what had caused the problem, told him not to jump it and took it home to fix. I just found another one even worse. Some people bring their rig to me once a year to take of all the things their other riggers don't. You've just realized that your someone's (this time yourself's) last chance to live! If you keep this in mind you'll always do what is the best thing to do, not what keeps the jumper happy or in the air. And if you don't want to have to explain why someone was in the air with an overloaded reserve or a worn out harness, then don't put your name on it. There are like new pilot rigs I won't pack because they are 4 or 5 generations old in terms of reliability. There are several skydiver rigs in the area I won't pack for various reasons that other local riggers pack. Do every thing you can to learn more about what your doing. I went to the last Rigger's Conference in Muskogee in 1989 and have been at every PIA symposium except one. This is a great way to meet people, learn a lot, a gather contacts and resources for when you do have questions. Never hesitate to ask someone else if your not sure. Your reserve worked, so they must be good.
  10. If you have a home sewing machine you should be able to do it. Can't really do it without a sewing machine. If you have a home machine go to the sewing store and get #69 upholstery thread and #110(18) needles. Home machine usually can handle this with some adjustment. Hackeys are attached two ways usually. If you lucky the tapes from the hackey will go through the top of the PC, be tied in a knot under the fabric, and then continue down as the apex lines to the base of the PC. Here they will be folded over/around other parts and sewn. Take out the stitching, paying attention how its sewn in place, untie the knot, remove the old hackey and replace reproducing the knots and stitching. Some installations may not use the tapes on the hackey as the apex lines. You'll just have to reproduce what ever is there. But it will take some sewing. Or have your friendly neighborhood rigger change it in less than time than it took to describe. Terry
  11. Hi Wendy, I was looking for help that night. I'd just got done added a CRW flap and BOC to a vector and packing up the reserve. I got this SEAL Lightning through a friend and was trying to get it put together for the next morning, so I just guessed. Turns out PD says you can do it starting either in the center or the side. Still have to finish modifying the risers and making some CRW toggles. It's been about 12 years since I tried any CRW. But some of my buddies, who are pretty good with their RW canopies, decided to get Lightnings and I couldn't pass up $500 for a like new ZP canopy. None of us were very good trying to figure out the new canopies. Might ask you some questions later when I know enough to ask any. One question, do you use "warping" your canopy and if so when? Didn't seem to do alot for us. Later Terry
  12. And I thought you were asking about a Para-Commander era round, or the matching Lo-Po reserve, or the 50 lb harness/container and canopy assemble I have in my basement. Oh, well, guess I can't help
  13. I'm assembling a PD CReW Lightning (no manual) and need to know the ring sequence for the retractable PC. Larks head on where and threading sequence? I think I can guess but anybody know for sure? Thanks, Terry
  14. What's really frustrating is when I finally talk the FF youngsters into RW they put their skinny butts in FF suits and fall about 90 mph! No way I can stay up with them even in a high lift RW suit. Grrrrrrrr.....
  15. I like B-12s too but they do require checking and maintenance. When wearing them I'm sure you click the gate to make sure it isn't stuck open, just keep doing that. The same check we do on student's gear. My last few rigs have had thread thru's just for simplicity but I wouldn't hesitate to jump a rig with B-12's. One advantage is that you can install tension springs on the friction bar of the v ring to keep the leg strap from sliping. Shoot, I used to jump a rig that had quick ejectors, as did most student gear until the 1980's. I haven't looked up Bill's post but in 24 years of either student gear or mine, I've never seen a broken spring. I'm sure it's happened but it cann't be very common. Bottom line, get what you want, check it as required, and don't worry. Terry
  16. I think your configuration would be a little off. Climbing harnesses (which I use as well as heavier high angle rescue harness) uses a single attachment point in the center. The leg straps then have to distribute the load from there. Hence the attachment in front of your hips rather than on the side. Two main lift webs coming down from your shoulders to the front of the swami belt and then on around would put lateral force on the harness out from the center to the sides. I think this would also put load on your lower back. You would obviously still have the over the shoulder harness to support the container and keep everything in place (MLW, three rings, etc.) I think you would still need a chest strap, just as technical climbers need a chest harness, to keep them from inverting and coming out of the harness. I disagree with the contention that climbing harnesses take more load than skydiving. Climbers don't get anywhere near terminal during the longest screamer and the rope, with a stretch of several percent under moderate loads, provides shock absorbtion not available in modern parachutes. Climbing harnesses also do not see high shock loads routinely. About the handles folding back. That usually happens when you put the harness on. Fastening the chest strap just keeps them there, just like it keeps them from folding under when they are in the proper position. I think not having a chest strap, which I don't think will work anyway, would only allow the handles to fold under more easily. Rigs used to have belly bands. Mainly to help hold a container that wasn't sewn to the harness tight in place. On the ground the one on my Crossbow also worked like a backpack waist belt to support the weight. I certainly didn't find a belly band to be comfortable in the air, of course the 50lb rig wasn't in general. Just some thoughts. Terry
  17. I think Bill got it. Analogous to a sleeve retention line, "bag retention line", to jump reserve without bridle attachment and not have to chase bag. For those of us without unlimited resources. Looking again I'm not sure. An awful lot of line. Line over simulator? Tied to slider through mouth of bag and bridle grommet?
  18. Here's a link that is probably worth carrying a copy with you. http://www.pia.com/SSK/cypres/dot_pr_082500.pdf Southwest used to ban Cypreses until this ruling. I don't know if they have changed their policy yet. The "without cartridge" listed on the permitted list I believe refers to a CO2 or other compressed gas cartridge, probably refering to a life vest. Heed the advice above, don't call it an explosive, it opens the reserve, release the loop, I don't know. Remember to remove any hook knives.
  19. Hey Fred, Ask Bob Galler at GLS about dust devils. Our DZ is in the middle of mixed wooded wetlands and farm fields. Tree lines are fairly close on two side. Bob landed and near the peas and immediatley got lifted back into the sky getting tossed around. Was slammed into the ground, picked back up, drug some and finally got to his cutaway handle to chop the main. Wasn't really hurt but it was real scary to watch. We could see the rotation to some extent but don't count on being able to see them here, especially from the air. It's not something to worry about, just something to be ready for. Terry
  20. Regardless of the niceties of the alteration legality, it should be pull tested to 600 lbs if it has a RSL. In my rigging history (20 years) ripcords are one of the TSO components that can be mixed and matched. Years ago several companies other than the manufacturers offered custom, made to order, replacement ripcords. Some of the older orphaned rigs didn't have factory replacements available. I seem to remember Strong used to make ripcords to order, I think ParaGear used to offer them but they may have had someone else make them. Obviously back then we thought that you could get the RC from someone else. But I would expect it to have an approved quality control and testing plan. Action air used to (and may still) offer a ripcord tester, but it relyed on the pin and end ball swage to put pressure on the RC. Terry
  21. councilman24

    BOOBIES

    Need a couple on the back side!
  22. Short answer is it will not be like a spectre 135 even when the reserve is new. I suggest in the absence of actually jumping a reserve, which I recommend, you find the nearest 0-3 CFM fabric (generic reference to trademark F-111) and jump it. It may be a wore out Firelight, Maverick or Raven 1. But it will give you an idea of the difference between a high performance ZP 7 cell and an older rectangular airfoil 7 cell "F-111" reserve. When Ravens were marketed as mains and reserves they mandated that a canopy used as a main could not be installed as a reserve, with the exception of making a one test jump on a canopy going in as a reserve. Haven't heard recent policy, of course Dash M's don't have bridle attachment points. Demoing a reserve would take a special model with a bridle attachment unless you wanted to chase a free bag. In the desert that might not be so bad. In the woods or the swamp might be a little tougher.
  23. No where does it say he was wearing a parachute. Maybe it's a story about a skydiver trying to commit suicide..... I know, they just left that part out. Hope he recovers to learn how to really do it.
  24. First, I expect that Para-Gear in Skokie could pack them for you. I don't know about the turn-around. Second, while not in the Chicago area, I'm about 2 hours from Chicago (Kalamazoo, MI), have a seat rating and routinely pack pilot emergency rigs, including seat rigs. I have experience with Softie, Butler, Strong, and Military seat packs as well as other pilot rigs. (I won't do military rigs any more.) Good luck finding a seat rated rigger on short notice.
  25. Cutting ther reserve risers is fine, but your not going to do it with a cheap plastic Z knife. And a Jack the ripper might get jammed on the type 7. Hmmmm ..... four risers or 18 to 20 lines (don't forget non cascaded A's and steering lines)? If I could reach the lines I think I'd be trying for them. Unless you have a serrated knife (hey, product improvement for the aluminum handled knifes!) I think you'll get through the lines faster. What I'd really want is my EMT rescue knife, but its a folder. Of course what happens when you cut through one riser or set of lines, the canopy slips off the tail, and your left to dump your non free bag, high performance main into a streamering mess that you can't cutaway? There's an ugly thought!