riggermick

Yeah, I stole that one from Sandy, it was the cleanest setup I've ever seen, almost no wear on the attachment point. Dunno why anyone would put canopy grinding (extra) hardware in there, ease of change out I guess. Mick.

Sure, what would you know about that rig?

We had similar issues with the MS 22040-1 leg strap adaptor hardware. We solved it by using a type 8 non-structural sandwitch with the type 7 structural leg strap webbing, worked fine. Easy to retro fit too. Mick.

Exactly. Ok. Well, our experiences are different, a bit, then. Although I do have sweat that eats away at the aluminium of Gatorz and makes them fall apart and wears the plating off of expensive brass trumpets. So maybe I'm special in that way. Toxic by the sounds of it!! Mick.

The .5" was done primarily for handle positioning and should have a minimal effect on fit over a 14" harness. It should fit you just fine, I'd say it is a good bet. Mick.

Yeah I think that's him, the name sounds familiar. Mick.

Just looked at the jpg further on down, it looks like a Garry Cobb design from the late eighties. Mick. Do you mean the Gary Cobb of backwards CRW fame? Yup that would be him. Mick.

Just looked at the jpg further on down, it looks like a Garry Cobb design from the late eighties. Mick.

That's an old Rob Thundercloud design, I used to have one (wore it to death years ago). He produced a slew of different ones for the PVP gear store run by the late Tommy Owens. Rob (TC) used to do all of the art work for PVP (Perris Valley Paracenter) back in the eighties. I also remember one that showed a group of jumpers standing around what looked like a bounce done in sillouete from a real photo with the caption "skydivers eat their dead", that one was real popular too. then there was the NAFOD shirt (no apparent fear of death), but I don't think that was TC's design, Kelly Grebb maybe? Deep in the beeps was one of Kellys designs too I believe. Ahhhh the eighties, skydivings true golden age, it's never been the same since. Anyone remember black death Charlie from holland? I last saw him when I dropped him of at sky harbor in Phenoix after a halloween boogie at ghoulidge in the early eighties. Good times!! Mick.

FIY. TSO C23d environmental pack tests require heat, cold and compression tests. SAE AS8015 REV B. 4.3.3.1 Precondition for 16 h at not less than +200 F (93.3 C), stabilize to ambient and test drop. 4.3.3.2 Precondition for 16 h at not greater than -40 F (-40 C), stabilize and drop. 4.3.3.3 Precondition for not lass than 400 continious hours with a 200 lbf (889.6 N) or greater load applied to compress the pack in a manner similar to that most likley to be encountered in actual use. Test drop within 1 h after removing the load. All of these tests are to be performed at the "lowest applicable direct drop speed in 4.3.6". Mick.

OK. As I said before, I don't have the equipment in front of me. I did not know that the canopy is non "cascaded" (actually it is (at the connecter links)). But the rational still stands: It has all of the hallmarks of a line hang up. Just exactly where and when (a line hang up) is/ was is cause is for further investigation. That, I believe is the place to start for any meaningfull answers to your questions about why it self destructed upon opening. I've seen it happen on many canopies (mine included, Sabre 1) and most are attributable to packing. Hope it all works out for you. BTW George Galloway is a straight up guy, I've delt with him on many occasions on various matters and he has always done the right thing. Mick.

Hey, it's not quite a Nova!! Close but not. Micl.

http://spiceweasel.net/skydivingstuff/kaboom3.jpg The slider is stowed in the pics because it was in my way. It was not stowed on opening. The most telling photo is the jpg 3. It shows (what looks like )the first point of loading. All of the other pic's show damage consistant with a line overload. What's significant about the pic is exactly where the lines broke, above the cascade point, unuasul to say the least. Bellow the cascade piont where the finger trap section ends is generally the weakest point of any line junction. In order for the two lines to simultainously break at the same point indicadtes that the line was possibly caught at the actual "y" junction or on the finger trapped section itself or both. Look at the bottom corners of your reserve container, internal riser covers (if equipped), main connector links, main guide rings, main closing loop attachment point and anything in (all) of the immediate areas surrounding these points. There may be damage such as tears, strained stitching and/ or burns (some are very hard to spot and have to be "felt" before becoming recognizable. Without having the gear in front of me I can't be certain but that one pic shows all of the hallmarks of a line hang up. If that was the case thank your lucky stars that the damn thing did break. Glad your'e ok!! Mick.

They've actually slightly increased the coating on their Spectra suspension lines!!!!????!!! I wish they'd increas it MORE!!! PD lines almost seem to be "attracted" to the hook side of Velcro!!!... like some irresitable cosmic force yet to be understood by Physics!!! All kidding aside, seriously now, I mean, I think PD Reserves are primo... I've got one... got one ride on it... worked great... bought my rigger a case of his favorite beverage... ... I think the Swift Plus takes the blue ribbon for hook velcro/ line attraction!! Man you have to be carefull handling those things!! Mick.

There was also thumb left, thumb right, and finger across the throat, with a relayer. Cruder, but it worked OK in Houston where there were lots and lots of outs. I thought the lights and buttons were a big improvement Wendy W. That was the precurser to the "high tech" button method, but it did require two people. Buttons cut the workforce in half thus increasing productivity!! Mick.

Good post Bonnie!! Mick.

Isn't that what is intended, the safety stow clearing after all the lines are out of the pocket? When I said "the bulk of the lines come out of the pocket" I meant all at once in a clump with no metering. I should have phrased it a little differently. Sorry for the confusion. Mick.

It was even more fun to watch the Safety Flier brakes throw much confusion into peoples minds. Bright red lanyards made of doubled 550(un-gutted) attached at the #6 (big) Rapide links. Fun to land too. Mick.

I'm fond of the Wings freebag design for this reason. This setup was originally designed for reserves with bulky lines (550 dacron). Back in the day, some reserve lines were pretty bulky and had a tendency to seperate the velcro on a standard type free bag (due to the non sheering action, think holding your palms together and pulling them apart rather than sliding them apart (much more friction involved)). To have the bulk of the lines come out of the pocket in one un-controlled lump and un-metered while the safety stow is still locked is very dangerous. Sandy Reid was the first to use this on the original Tallon back in the 80's. I thought it was a great idea and used it on the Reflex also. The ADDED benefit was, as you pointed out that the lines have much less of a chance to come into contact with the velcro. This was merely a side benefit to the original intent, but a good one. Hope this adds to your gear history trivia pile, it is valuable info for you as a rigger also. Mick. Edit: Made the change to the statement mentioned in sun devils post. Sorry for the confusion.

It's also not outside the realm of possability that the bag has the wromg stamp on it, it does happen from time to time. They only way to know for sure is to measure it and compare it with eithier RWS measurments or bag of the same size from another same size rig. Mick.

Did they supply you with the correct main deployment bag? unfortunatly there is no real way to tell. Try packing your canopy without a bag (for ground testing ONLY!!!), if it fills the container to your desires then ask for a new deployment bag, if that doesn't work have a custom bag made 1" wider. That usually does the trick. Asthetics are the last thing on a H/C container engineers mind as he "scales up", that stuff comes later down the road. That is the way it works. Mick.

I have a mind like a steel trap!! Call Ray Farrel He can get a new one made for you. I recently taught a hands on semenar of how to build a Reflex for his people whom have not made very many of them, focusing on the finer points of the "secret stuff". The rigs came out great. It felt good to build a rig ir two again from scratch, it's like riding a bike!! Sometimes I really miss building rigs for a living, I like being creative with my hands and mind. I'm sure Ray will accomadate you. Mick.

QuoteHe got deported with Sammy.

Anyone? He was a fixture at Perris in the 80's and always a charicter, very smart too. We used to hang out and go climbing alot. Mick.

And I had one that was so oversized I could pinch two inches of free bag fabric between my fingers after the bag was closed. And didn't THAT manufacturer take of you! We based all of our conainer fittings on the published volume data from the canopy manufacturer. Seems they were a little slow with the new numbers for their new version of an established design. But hey that's how it goes, nothings ever set in stone when it comes to fabrics and masses, too many variables. Mick.