councilman24

I have a vector II that was custom for a 6'3" 210lb friend. It fits me well at 5'10" and 240lbs. (no comments). Get measured and get rig sizes from manufacturer's. Then you can better judge whether a particular used rig might fit. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Seems like a one man outfit from the Ukraine. Doubt too many folks will no anything here. I'd expect zero service, warranty, repairs. And it's in Ukraine if anywhere. It might be you get what you pay for. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

I skimmed the other reply's but here is mine. When I had about 700 jumps I busted up my ankle. I was jumping a Cirrus Cloud (230, poor wing, flew typical for the time for me) I needed something bigger so I ordered a Raven IV while I was healing. 280, F-111 typical wing for the late 80's. It did what it was supposed to do but not what I wanted. I sold it and got a F-111 Manta (288, zp manta's not available) I had it for a while. In a couple of years I bought I sabre 190. I did a lot of jump mastering so I always had more than one rig and jumped both the Manta and the Sabre interchangeably. But if conditions were squirrel with thermals, wind, etc. and I wanted a guaranteed soft landing I grabbed the Sabre. I suggest you transition to a moderate ZP canopy, learn to flare it, and you will ultimately be happier, safer in more difficult conditions and will eventually have a high wind limit. BTW I no have a sabre 190, sabre 170, PD 260, Lightning 198, and Triathlon 190 in rigs. Not into swooping and fast. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Never heard of or seen an issue of twisted stainless cable on metal housing having an issue. Hard against hard and limited points of contact. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Never heard of or seen an issue of twisted stainless cable on metal housing having an issue. Hard against hard and limited points of contact. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

The housings are cleaned before shipment. (Had a college roommate who worked in a factory making the stuff every weekend.) The residual oil is probably a good thing for flexibility and rust protection. But it also coat the cables and attracts dirt. THAT'S why you are supposed to clean and lube your cables every month. I think a completely dry system wouldn't be good. Anybody try it with degreaser? I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

He patents common sense, and prior art, and will sue you over it. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

The interior of housings are not dry. When produced they are dripping in oil. There is always an oil residue left behind. Teflon powder would combine with the oil and make a slurry/paste. This may not only be not as effective as either oil or powder alone but may be worse. 80 years of housings, 40 years of teflon powder, nothing new here. Bees wax attracts sand and dirt. It was used on dacron lines to try to lessen tension knots. It is not a good idea even though it's probably still in Poynter's manual. Wax sold in paragear, if it's still there, is for waxing thread, not lines. If you want to be a test jumper fine. But don't expect to sell a canopy with lines contaminated. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

I just found a reference to Jen's death in another thread. With just a little contact with her here on dz.com she did me a favor picking up a sewing machine and holding it until I could get out there a few weeks later. Truly a great sister of the skydiving community. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

This is the real world, not academic engineering. Opening altitude can be anywhere from high enough (USPA recommended minimum 2500') to exit altitude. It depends on what the jumper wants to do. Opening time/altitude will vary from jump to jump. Any differences in canopies are qualitative, not quantitative. Fast opening, medium opening, long opening. These overlap and again vary from jump to jump within a range. We don't live in the world of standard atmosphere/pressure or MSL. We live in the world of humidity, wind and weather. And for the most part precise canopy speeds aren't measured but each individual canopy and jumper combination would be slightly different based on drag, variation in canopies and line sets, etc. We can give you classroom numbers. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Your got 1. In the upper midwest shorts and t-shirt are okay in summer. At 3500' during the summer it's much warmer than 32F. If 80 on the ground more like 60-70 in the air. 30-40F at 12000. Remember, even though you wouldn't want to stand around on the ground in 120mph wind at 30F in shorts for very long we are not in freefall very long. And most jumpers wear a jumpsuit of some kind. For added control, for added warmth, for added protection, to keep loose clothing from interfering with equipment, to look cool and match their rig, etc. Yes, a body does leave a shallow crater in ground in damp woods near standing water. With some undergrowth it was only 3-4 inches deep. The body was about 6' from the crater, indicating that indeed it did bounce. You wanted to know. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Yes, it is a safety issue. Your vision is impaired, your hearing is impaired, it's less protective than a ProTec. In a tunnel you don't have to see a canopy coming at you, you don't have to see your emergency handles, you don't have to hear the guy your about to run into under canopy yelling at you, you may not hear changes in air speed that are important in judging canopy flight. Your not done learning. Your 'coach' (read experienced jumper jumping with you) may need to yell at you, in the plane or yes in freefall, they may want to see your eyes to see if you have a clue (completely serious, if see lots of blank looks on newbies). For same reason we don't allow tinted or worse mirrored goggles. After 35 years I still don't like the limitations of a full face helmet and haven't bought one. They were developed because RW teams didn't want to get kicked in the jaw turning points. AFTER you have some level of experience, I like b license in England, you can decide to place limitations on your senses. Remember, you can DIE skydiving. It pretty hard to in a tunnel. And the wind in your face is a FEATURE of skydiving, not a liability! When your no longer someone else's responsibility and have a license you can do what you want. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

I and a friend have both gotten very good to like new Juki electronic bar tackers from Government Liquidators that auctions DOD surplus. He got a Juki 1900 that was in very good condition. I got a 1900A-hs that looked unused. In my case about 30% of new. They are uncommon but I've seen three that I would buy in the last two years. I would not buy from a place called DEMA in Texas. They had some on ebay for a long time but when I called tried to bait and switch. Said they were gone and tried to sell me a new one. Same machines/photos continually re-listed. YMMV I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

While I don't have a full face the only one that seemed to fit (because of needing big one) was the Square 1 Phantom. As you've found you need to try any helmet on before you buy it, especially working at the top of the size ranges. In the past there have been helmet models where I couldn't begin to even get the largest size on my head. And mine's not as large as yours. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

At 54-55 secs you see the PC being towed. To me it doesn't look far enough above him to be at full line stretch. Comparing PC diameter and body size it only looks like 6-8 feet. You can also, if you try hard, imagine that it seems not to be coming straight off his back. Not that this couldn't be a tight reserve container delay but wonder if it isn't hung up on something else, as suggested by the poster. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

First you have to get the saying right... No Shit! There I was! Thought I was goin' to die! I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

You can read it better than I can. Thought it might say riparazioni. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

One of the last entries says something about repairs? I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

in Columbus, Ohio. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Singer-Industrial-Sewing-Machine-7-Class-/131037401494?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e82701196 I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Should I point out the translation is along the top of the card? I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Full size lobby poster on the wall. Several lobby cards on the wall. Full size lobby poster in Spanish in the closet. DVD in the drawer. As to the list above - got about 5 of those. Still working on getting rounds in all the colors to use. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

This is NOT the Action Air RSL. I have the drawings for it and have had several rigs done there. It is a 'normal' rsl with a normal ripcord with pin. About not having the big guide ring. IF this pin had a shank that was curved like the old wire pins I'd not worry so much about it. But this pin is really straight for most of it's length. I can envision head down with pull with the lanyard getting under the pin. Anyway, I think there are more failure modes based on direction with this pin than the old wire pins that were a complete arc with the eye inside the circumference of the pin. Unless your were rigging in the late 80's you probably have never seen one of these. Photo later, maybe. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

If I had cutaway from a PC in tow I would be dead. As it was the reserve wasn't fully open when I hit the trees. In another fatality I investigated the only handle pulled was the cutaway handle. I believe (no proof) that the low time jumper lost altitude awareness, reverted to "one procedure", cutaway and didn't have time to pull reserve. (no AAD) Also consider why cutaway what may be your last good canopy if your reserve malfunctions? If someone can't learn two procedures, make the decision ON THE GROUND how they are going to REACT to a given situation and do the appropriate procedure as a REACTION, not a decision, then by all means use one procedure. With a PCIT it's time to stop the skydive by pulling the reserve. Then deal with the consequences. No one can PROVE anything. I know my decisions and they worked. Make your own, decide on the GROUND and then implement. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

First, a lower bulk reserve would allow you to upsize in your current rig or in a readily available sized new rig. Going bigger is never bad IMHO although some will tell you that it should be close to the size of the main. This was true when mains and reserves were similar or the same (Ravens). If you had two out they played better together if they were similar size. These days with most mains being somewhat to radically different in design and flight characteristics from reserves I don't think that matters anymore. Others will disagree, in part to justify their use of tiny reserves, in part because they truly believe that similar size (even when one is a velocity) is better. They may be right. But any little pocket rocket isn't going to play well with anything. With your sabre the old argument is still somewhat true but I still wouldn't let that keep me from upsizing. IF you have an aad you need to decide if you want to have a better chance of living or not being significantly injured if you land unconscious under your reserve. No AAD, no worries. Unconscious equals death. But unconscious with an open reserve that is too small very likely means major injury or death. If your not concerned about unconscious landings I'd say you could stay with the 160. (can't believe I gave that advice to a someone wanting to go up. Ignore that advice!) Going up would still be a good idea. When you go down in main you may need to go down in reserve due to container restraints but then you just sell everything (easier anyway) and replace the reserve. I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE

Do you mean one riser on each side or one riser for the whole rig? Pre ram air lots of rigs only had one reserve riser on each side (I know you know this Wendy). I have a 1981 Northern Lite downstairs with only two risers, and of course virtually all chests set ups only have two. Quiz that mark, MEL and riggerrob at least are excluded from because I pretty sure they know the answer. What is the only ram air reserve certified to be installed on only two risers? I'm old for my age. Terry Urban D-8631 FAA DPRE