riggermick

Like love "tested" is in the eye of the beholder. It's a great advertizing slogan just like "it's patented". See a previous discussion on patents and their use. The only measurable testing standard in this indusrty is TSO (currently, ASE 8015 B). That's it, everything else is subjective. Mick.

And the penny drops!!!! Mick.

I wasn't saying that a change to the reserve pilot chute should require recertification on the current TSO, but a change to the shape of the main flaps, reserve flaps, pilot chute, reserve deployment system, blah blah blah.....all at the same time .... well anyway enough said RE READ my post. THATS exactly what I'm talking about. Changing the whole thing under minor change rules. Mick.

Having read the resposes, some seem good and some not so. The setup which we used on the Reflex drop testing program was easy to install/ remove and can be applied to almost any rig. We used The seperable RW 1 rings for the attacment point on the harness. This acomplished by installing them pointing down toward the ground, placing the bar through the same webbing loop as the regular three ring base ring. This arrangment gives the user attachment points that are not assoiated with the harness/ containers release system and are suffiecently high enough on the wearer to keep them mostly feet to earth. The "tersh" system that we used was one of my own design utilizing certified round reserves (Phantom 24's and KXX's) free bag deployed. I designed and built a special "gravity" deployed free bag (no pilot chute) that was based on an earlier design that I helped refine for the para gliding industry. the deployments on this system are quick and clean and the user can throw throw the bagged canopy in any direction he/ she chooses. I reccomend for your application the use of a round reserve in a military or sport chest mount container with the pilot chute removed. The attachment point on the harness is a no brainer for a certified rigger. Mick.

Rob Harris? Yup Rob Harris. He was being filmed doing a Mountain Dew commercial. He had a double cut away rig and pulled his handles out of sequence. As a result he was unable to jettison the mess and had to fire his reserve in to it resulting in an entanglement and unfortunatly his death. RIP. Rob. Mick.

Not if it wasn't installed properly. Or a strike on exit. I heard from a guy about it once. Mick.

If you are saying that when the mirage became th G4, ect that the manufactures extensivly tested all the changes, then why not just apply for 23d? It's much easier to get a re-cert than to start from scratch. TSO approvial is expensive and time consuming. As for Mirage and the amount of work and testing that was done, well let's just say that's a topic for an unmoderated forum shall we? Mick.

Rob I contacted Eric Fradet, he e mailed me a day or two ago. I don't have a phone number for you. PM me @ . This (DZ.Com) mail system has let me down on a couple of occasions, so I don't fully trust it. Mick.

The plastic finger trapping fids!!! Did you know that the hollow end of the smallest one slides EXACTLY over any (straight) reserve ripcord pin? Did you know the plastic finger trapping fid has a POINT?

If you havn't had a chop yet, just wait ....You will. If you doubt your ability or your equipment, STOP JUMPING NOW!! Everything you hold near and dear to you will cease to exist if you are killed making a skydive ( or being hit by a bus for that matter) (why is it always a bus?). Don't tempt fate, wait for the real thing ( a chop), it will happen. Trust your equipment and procedures. Procedures wern't drawn on a napkin (initally they were, Cuz there wern't no a'thuraty ) out of bordom, they are tried and battle tested actions that actually work!!! Just run with it, there is no "magic or dark art" at work here, folow the "rules" and you'll be OK. Old Axiom: There are two kinds of skydivers......." Those who have cut away and those who will". Eventually you will fall in to both catagoies. Nuff said!!! Mick.

RSL's come free with almost every rig? Hey you asked!! Mick. Hey Mick, You know nothing comes free with any rig.

"name one reason an ordanary RSL has an advantage over a skyhook?" RSL's come free with almost every rig? Hey you asked!! Mick.

In the US harness/ container manufacturers hold FAA TSO authorization, AAD manufacturers don't. The feds will automaticly defer to the federaly approved manufacturer as the final word on any installation. That's where the clout lies, with the "approved" manufacturer. Mick.

Single keel Dactal. It'll save your life but wont make skydiving much fun in this day and age. Good luck fly'in it!!! Mick.

no matter how you stow, is to leave as little unstowed line as possible. OLD SCHOOL Bill, old school. Why? Because it WORKS !!!! "We've both been there done that" Now it's time to educate a new generation! " We must atone for the sins of our fathers", but hey they don't always listen do they? And so it goes.... Mick.

oddly enough, if you look at section 7.5.2(page 253) which discusses alterations, a senior rigger can shorten leg pads. i am not sure why shortening leg pads is in the section on alterations, and i'm even more confused as to why a senior rigger is allowed to sew on a harness in this instance, but not others. so apparently, even though i am not allowed to do alterations, i am allowed to do alterations. Most, if not all manufacturers do not include things like leg pads in their drawing packages. Things like leg pads are mainly there for comfort and not considered esential to the function of the system. Trust me on this one, the less stuff you have to include in a drawing package helps cut down slightly on a very huge volume of work. Plus it is kind of ridicules to have drawing aproval for what are essentualy pillows. As for working on the harness (leg straps) when concerned with leg pads you are not altering the structural integrety of the assembly, unless you are an idiot and cut the webbing and don't tell anyone or have it repaired by a qualified individual. Mick.

Yeah, totally agree.....assuming lineovers NEVER happen on sport mains....basically the same system as a reserve. I'm not saying they should be used or not be used. More of 'why not'. And a tailgate isn't comlex by any means. And if that was the attitude, then what would you have to say about the skyhook? Line over mals on reserves are extremely rare. The current free bag/ line stow pouch system is more relaible than any of it's predecessors, statstics bear this out. Most line over mals are packing induced they don't "just happen" more often than not there is a cause and effect to this situation. Most line overs are generally brake line involved, meaning that proper line management was not used during packing. Riggers, in contrast to most jumpers are very cognizant about control lines and their placement during the packing process. They are fully aware that a sloppy mistake one may make on a main pack job causing a cut away will KILL someone if it happens on a reserve. As far as most riggers are concerned tail pockets add little to no value and will add more steps to an already complex procedure. Mick.

The belly band (strap) keeps the horizontal back strap (bottom of your rig) tight against your back, lessening the chance you might fall out of the "hole" between the back strap and your leg straps, which is often "exaggerated" when sit flying. Essentially what Bill is saying is that a belly band structurally secured to your harness and reasonably tight will keep you in the rig regardless of how loose the harness is. This is made possible courtisy of your rib cage amd pelvis, comprendo? Sure it's not going to be a comfortable opening if the band is used in an emergency (ie: falling out of your harness) but it sure beats the crap out of dieing!! Mick.

Having finally thought about the problem after (mumble) years, it seems like the correct thing to do might be to take the current length of the rearmost outboard line (C on the Stiletto), knock off the original delta between that and the lower steering line, and perhaps some fraction of the upper steering line shrinkage to arrive at something plausible. The brake toggle line should probably start at its original length. Stretched before being cut. What do you think? Right idea wrong line!! Find the trim chart and aquire the distance from the A line attachment point to the tail cascade attachment points in the "brakes set" mode. A new set of control lines can be built from this starting point regardless of the condition/ length/ out of trim the suspension lines are. The relationship between the nose (usually the lower surface) and the tail seam in the brake set condition gives the deployment brake setting, it doesn't matter how long the lines are or anything else for that matter. It's the relationship between the nose and tail that counts. Hope this makes it clear. Mick.

Skyblu3, I think the de Fance system is what used to be called "Zoo Toggles"... maybe Chuck will know (masterrig)... or pretty close to it and I believe they've been around longer then the 90s. I remember seeing them in the mid 80's throughout Europe. Mick.

Just need a user awareness sensor added on to the device... Seriously, take it easy on the guy, he should be able to ask such questions without too much abuse. At least he is thinking about how gear works and emergency procedures. Many with a lot more experience that wouldn't even think of asking such a question can't assemble a 3-ring. You're right! For some reason tonight I've been in a ball busting mood, but my reasons still stand on their own merit! Apologies to the original poster. Mick.

I checked my Stiletto 120 trim after 600 jumps (brake toggle lines replaced every 200 jumps, and lower steering lines after 500 or so). The outboard lines had shrunk up to 5-6", center cell A lines about 1.5". Even though some lower control lines are multi- part systems aren't lower steering lines and brake and toggle lines one and the same?. By this I mean that if you are going replace the section of line between the brake loop and the toggle why would you not replace the section of control line between that loop and the cascade point? It too has stretched, become worn (mainly from passing through the guide ring) and is "out of spec" from factory new and can cause you just as much greif as the section below it. Either way a broken control line can ruin your day. Mick.

Question for ya! Do YOU wan't a machine making life and death decisions for YOU when you are fully cognezent (sp?) and functional? Think long and hard about that one! Skydiving is all about personal responibility and our need to overcome our operating environment BY CHOICE!! I for one choose to make life and death decisions about me on my own terms, remember Skydiving is NOT a carnival ride it's a personal choice to have fun and to "tempt the odds"!!! If you feel different to this assesment find a new hobby. Mick.

http://www.opensofter.com/ Apparently it's a replacement slider of some new style, there aren't any images of it on the web site. They're still getting set up.... Just because it's patented doesn't mean it works, just that it's novel. See a previous discussion on flag jumping prior to 1999. Mick.

Hi Terry, I thought of this when I was designing the Reflex and even built a few test rigs. The biggest problem I found with this concept was that when a smaller or larger main was installed against a fixed reserve container and back pad it looked like shit!! It's a very doable concept but with very limited marketability. Most jumpers are way too fashionable to even consider this concept. Reserve vertical wall hight and width are the biggest limiters for this concept followed by the back pad length and width. Because of these restrictions the size differences of main canopies is also very limited, making it more trouble than it was worth to make. Most people would not want to buy a rig that looks "deformed" so I shelved the idea. Additionally hiding all of the previous "bullet holes" on riser covers, pack trays etc was a pain in the ass. Adding additional cammoflage on those areas just didn't look right. Mick.