skydiverek

I've heard a very unusual thing. Basically, one jumper I know said that if you cutaway a baglocked main, it will be useless after it hits a ground (meaning you have to buy a new canopy). His theory was that the rapid deceleration of the bag-locked main hitting the ground somehow changes the structure of the material, making it weaker. Is it true with ZP, F-111 or any other older materials, or is it a bunch of BS???

Check this thread for some good info on that matter: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1501286#1501286

Yes, I noticed that error, too. The correct number is 534. I clicked on "Contuct Us" to e-mail Guinness about this, but there is no contact info there (temporarily).

OK man, here is a link to Guinness World Records website: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwr5/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=43948 . Jay's attempt of 534 jumps in 24 hours was classified as an offical world record. If you still don't believe, scroll down on that website and click where it says "PLAY VIDEO" (or use this direct link: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?file=content_pages/video.asp?videoid=100173). Does this make you a believer

I was actually referring to the plastic ball with ridges around it which is attached to the APEX of the drogue.

From the wingsuit thread forum (not the same accident, but similar situation). PICTURES: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40325; and http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40326;

It is TRUE. "On Veteran's Day, November 11th 2003, Jay Stokes made 534 jumps in a 24 hour period." His website is here: http://www.mostjumps.com

Or in can be snagged against some part of an airplane... Also, my index finger got stuck in the PVC handle after I pulled on one jump! Talk about surprise - my right hand fully extended, palm open, and PC "attached" to my finger! I shook it off and it deployed normally... But it was scary. After that someone advised me to put a wine bottle cork (which is very lightwieght and provides snug fitting) into PVC to avoid this problem...

How about a handle that RWS put on their new Micro-Sigma? The drogue handle was a plastic ball with ridges in and around it. Seemed very sturdy. (Maybe it is on standard sigma, too - I don't know.).

...is to be built: http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Burj+Dubai&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1 and http://www.emaar.com/new/projects_burjdubai.html

So I assume he must have around 100 unintentional cutaways ...

Here is the proof: http://www.nepaskydiving.com/htm/DonKellner.html . This website is for the DZ Don Kellner jumps at. Truly impressive, considering it is located in not-always-warm-often-freezing Pennsylvania... BTW, Don Kellner has most jumps, but Bill Dause has most freefall time. Simply, Kellner must jumps from lower altitudes that Dause.

Can someone describe the 6-grommet slider to me? 4-grommet slider makes sense to me, since we have four "line groups" leading to four risers (just like on a sport canopy), but why 6 grommets? Which lines go into each of 6 grommets???

More on "bounce rigs" here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=all&search_string=%22bounce+rigs%22&search_type=AND&search_fields=sb&search_time=&search_user_username=&sb=score&mh=25

Don Kellner has around of 35,000 jumps. Bill Dause has around of 30,000 jumps (I read he also has around 3 weeks of freefall time!).

It is just a prototype. The final version will be snag-free, that's what Alti-2 told me. "The production mount is designed to be snag resistant and more "aerodynamic"."

I know the design you are talking about - many manufacturers refer to it as "Freefly handle", right? One question about this setup: would it somehow interfere in clearing the horseshoe when using Brian Germain's way of packing the main PC (http://www.bigairsportz.com/art-pilotchute.php)? I mean, in this method the pulling on the bridle should extract the PC and clear the horseshoe. But wouldn't the tab you mentioned add some friction to the PC (and now tab) extraction (meaning, would the tab be still sitting under the flap when the container is open?)? I assume there is not much pulling on the bridle during the horseshoe anyways, so every additional amount of friction may make a difference, right?

Probably the theory talks about the formation with no gaps/holes in it - i.e. body next to body. I wrote about this here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=910691#910691

I know I downloaded these animations from this page, one year ago: http://www.theworldteam.com/News.htm

Sandy Reid was talking about an incident where the jumper could not cutaway during the hard spinning malfunction. He was trying to peel and pull, but the problem was that the hign load on the MLW put tension on the two layers of MLW that "hard sandwitched" the cutaway handle. So, the problem was not velcro, but the two layers of MLW squizing the handle. That's why Voodoo is designed to prevent that (handle not between two layers of MLW, but instead in the seperate "compartment" on top of MLW).

What's inside? Does the handle consist of the same cord that we see on the inside, woven down to the very center on top of itself? Or, is the cord woven on top of ping-pong ball or sometinng similar? Basically, does Monkey Fist include anything else apart from the visible cord? I am asking cause I have seen a pramature deployment on my friend's skydive. In a video, you can see him sit-flying, facing the camera, and the hackey is oscilating very rapidly in the wind, extracting the PC inch by inch. After about 5 seconds of "extracting" he gets a premature opening! Since he was still in sit-flying, the bag lifted staraight up, against his reserve wall and literally ripped the reserve container from the tray! He got smacked in the head by the part of container where the reserve pin sits! The problem was tracked to loose BOC, but it made me thinking. The havier the hackey or Monkey Fist is, the more "pulling" it does on the PC when it is oscilating/flipping in the freefall wind. RWS makes their hacky's with the lightweight cotton inside, but what's inside of Monkey Fists??? Could you build Monkey Fist handle with one of these yellow soft-foam-practice-golfballs inside (that are very, very lightweight)?

Not much. Lugi Cani reached freefall speeds when spiraling his canopy. His wing loading was 4 lbs/sq foot, but still...

WOW- that is truly impressive! BTW, anyone knows the number of reserve rides for Don Kellner and Bill Dause, who have around 35,000 and 30,000 skydives, respectively?

In Display Settings, whenever I change "Mark threads I posted to:" from "No" to "Yes", then save it and exit, it does not save this setting (meaning that it does not mark the threads I posted to, and that next time I check Display Settings, it will say "No" under "Mark threads I posted to:", even though I had changed it and saved it as "Yes").

>>> Hence importance of peel-and-pull with soft reserve (and cutaway) handles. c) It is tested with a slow gradual pull to see what force moves the pin appreciably. (Without actually pulling it out all the way.) An actual pull will usually be done quickly, building up extra force as the ripcord handle reaches the end of its slack before yanking on the pin. That effectively increases the person's pull strength. >>> By 300%, according to Bill Booth: "From other tests with the same scale, I have learned that if you pull "quickly", from a "running start" (slack in the cable), the pull force necessary to open the same reserve container is up to 300% lower than if you apply the force gradually to the handle. Most riggers only have a spring loaded fish scale, and therefore must apply pull forces gradually in order to read the scale. So, what reads 30 pounds on the fish scale in the loft, will only be around 10 pounds when you actually pull your reserve in an emergency, because I don't know of anyone who applies ripcord pull force "gradually" while falling rapidly toward the earth." Source: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=942674#942674