Mr.B

Yep - the argus manual states, that they use cutters manufactured by Noble, but could you provide the source of information, that Noble also makes the cutters for Cypres AADs (haven't seen it anywhere on Airtec website/manuals/etc. ). Thanks! cheers, Bart

Some more read on the topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_righting_reflex#Terminal_velocity cheers, Bart

Yeah - but how plausible is to survive a jump after you "activate" your reserve after an AAD fire (we are talking about argus standard mode, which is roughly an equivalent of cypres pro mode). You just have a 2 maybe 3 seconds after an AAD fire (that didn't cut the loop). If you look at the reports of Cypres activations, most of them happen to people that don't do anything to pull their reserve or main chute. I'd say, that if someone doesn't pull untill aad fire, most probably they won't do it at all. Even then, many of the skydivers, when "surprised" with low altitude, their first reaction is often to pull the main (one can look for argus activation reports, to see some examples). The chances that you'll get saved by Argus are still much greater than the chances that you'll get killed by it. cheers, Bart

Is there a problem in the translation? My reading of this translation is that it covers tandems and students, but doesn't say anything about regular licensed jumpers. Then I guess in that case the translation would look more like this: "All AAD Argus devices used in the Republic of Poland by tandem pilots and certified in Poland parachuting training organizations are grounded." Anyway, the translation might be a bit confusing, but the Polish version is quite clear: ALL argus aad's in Poland are grounded, and also argus aad's are not permitted in tandem gear, and in rigs used by parachuting training organizations (that are certified in Poland) - that basically, also covers the case of polish tandems and skydiving schools operating outside of Poland. cheers, Bart

Argus is grounded here in ALL rigs (not only student and tandem). Licensed skydivers can not jump with Argus, yet they can jump without any AAD. I'm not kidding - if you are licensed skydiver, and you have an Argus in your rig, then you have to turn it off prior to making a jump in Poland cheers, Bart

I dunno. Was that your joke? It's not "too soon" but it's also not funny. That's the thing about jokes, they're supposed to be funny. The joke is pretty specific and probably only people with signal processing knowledge (or in other fields that "depend" on Laplace transform) will really get it (read: geeks humor)... But even then it's not that great cheers, Bart

It's also worth mentioning, that in Poland, AADs are not required for licensed skydivers (in non tandem rigs). I'm afraid, that this ban will lead to a situation, where many current Argus owners will at least start the season (soon to be opened) without any AAD cheers, Bart

http://www.vimeo.com/6340155 cheers, Bart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9FmVESsvqQ cheers, Bart

Always when I see this clip I'm wondering something about the first guy (who was being filmed) - did he end up without any injuries? (reserve opening while fast falling in head down must have hurt like a bi@#$! ) cheers, Bart

Yep. But then again, I haven't tried putting anything smaller there. IMO, going smaller may require shortening closing loop, to the point, where the grommets lineup on top of each other when the container is closed. I would say that packing 140/139 in I5 is still safe - anything smaller is experimental. Send me a safire 129, and I can check it for you cheers, Bart

Well, I'm packing Safire2 139 into I5 and although not perfect it packs fine - there's a proper tension on a closing loop, the rig is not too soft, and it packs easier (I don't have to squeeze out every air "bubble" out of the canopy, like I did with Pilot168). I guess a Pilot 140 would be even better fit than Safire, due to it's thicker fabric. I wouldn't try to put something smaller there though (unless some hybrid/full sail or crossbraced canopy). cheers, Bart

I don't think you'll get any sideway movement. Pulling both risers on the same side is basically the same as doing a harness turns and these surely don't make you move sideways. cheers, Bart

I don't think you'll have the same problem with new risers. I've got an Icon from march 2008, and there is no excess thread inside those line keepers (so I guess, that aerodyne fixed that issue). Despite this, my break lines still wear unusualy fast I think, that one cause of this might be that the upper keeper is too high on the riser (in relation to a guide ring) - it's almost on the same level as the guide ring. Due to this fact, when unstowing breaks, excess line doesn't just slip out of the keeper in an upward direction - the line bends almost 90 degrees when coming out of the upper keeper, and that causes unneeded (and probably damaging) brushing of the line on a pretty sharp edge of said keeper. I think, that not passing the brake line through the upper keeper (only using the lower one) should reduce the wear that appears on the breaks (the line will be pulled from the keeper in a more upward direction, which should reduce scrathing on those sharp edges of the keepers). cheers, Bart

It looks flawless. Like I said, to me it looks like the wear is made during unstowing the brakes. The line is most damaged in the middle part (between cat's eye and toggle handle) - a sector that "brushes" the riser elements on a longest distance when unstowing a brake. If the reason would be the guide ring or it's holding loop, than I guess the max. wear area would be a bit higher on the brake line (where it has most frequent contact with the ring). I also somehow doubt it - I'm sure that if it had been systematic, someone would mention it here much earlier than me I just thought, that maybe someone else had the same problem, and already know all the answers Yeah - I see the same thing on my friends Icon I4 (if I remember correctly it's DOM is also around 2005/6), but there is nothing like it on my rig (manufactured in 2008). cheers, Bart

Hi all Does any icon owner or rigger noticed unusualy high brake line wear on their rig ? I'm asking since with my gear, lower part of the brake lines (about 1 inch below cat's eye) became very fuzzy, despite that only 100 jumps were made on the line set. First I thought, that I must have been doing something wrong with my gear - specifically while stowing excess of brake lines (although I followed a method described in icon manual), but recently I've seen another icon rig (also with spectra lined Pilot - just like in my case) that has the same signs of high wear on brake lines. The metal guide rings look fine on both rigs, and I (and my rigger) don't have a clear idea about what causes these damages - I have only some suspicions (like excess line keepers being a bit too high on the back of the riser, or the same keepers having quite sharp edges compared to the ones I see on other rigs). Due to a positions on the line where the wear "starts" (below cat's eye) I think, that it happens during unstowing brakes under open canopy. I've looked through some gear of other jumpers around (especially those, with spectra lines - so I could directly compare the state of their lines with mine) and I don't see such dramatic wear, even on rigs where the lines have a couple of hundred jumps more on them, than I have on mine. Maybe some other owners or riggers dealing with icons (or even other riser designs) noticed similar thing, and can shed some light on this issue? Thanks in advance! cheers, Bart

Yep - that too... But I'm actually wondering how much vectran lines are susceptible to uv rays. How much do they shorten lines lifetime, and if such kind of weakening show up somehow on the lines ? cheers

Even for people that pack their rig outdoors (under an open sky/sun) with lines more exposed to UV ? cheers