riggermick

I think you are in the wrong forum dude, try posting in the "Bonfire". Mick.

Actually, riggermick's BOC routing system on the Reflex is perfectly suited for good bridle protection with open corners. I don't know that that design has any cons. Derick would never stoop to using an idea invented by a "mere colonial", it's not British you know! The corner will work on just about every type of main container out there and would work well with the "open corner" concept used by wing suiters. Even though a jumper may have no deployment problems over many hundreds of deployments using this method (open corners), one day he will. Now, multiply these few hundred deployments by say 100,000 and it becomes pretty obvious that someone somewhere will have a problem one day. For those who still insist that friction staging is not entirely nessessary neither is a Sky Hook or an AAD..............Until you need one. Then nothing else in the world is as important. Mick.

Iteresting. I hadn't ever heard that angle on it, Mick. Where did that information come from or do you design rigs or work for a manufacturer? I've been known to dabble in it from time to time. Mick.

Remember Booth's first law: " The lower you pull, the more likely you are to have a malfunction." Isn't that more of an axiom than a law? Mick.

Hee hee! Mick Cottle designed and manufactured a thousand Reflex harness containers. That would be 2000 Reflexes Rob. Mick.

In the US the local MIDO that oversees the TSO holder will accept the manufacturers "minor change" paper work to smooth this process. Been ther done that! Mick.

That's OK There is no confusion. Like I said, talk to a wing flier. But if one want's to pursue two or more specfic diciplines that require different H/C configurations for the majority of thier jumps then different rigs specficaly configured for those diciplines (for safety's sake) should be employed, otherwise disaster will insue at some point in time. Mick.

Can't answer that one! Don't do wing flying. My reply was made purely to counter the arguement that "closed corners" were for purly asthetic reasons. Ask a wing flyer, my advice: If one is doing two or more diciplines routinely, get a "dicipline specfic rig for each activity". Mick.

There is nothing "frivolous" about closed lower main container corners. The closed lower corners were and are still are an important step in main parachute deployment allowing for proper "staging" of the parachute deployment system. It's called "friction staging". It allows for full pilot chute and bridle inflation/ extraction prior to the deployment bag lift off, thus minimizing deployment problems. Your reserve container is full of friction staging technology. Trust me it's not for looks, it's for methodical/ predictable parachute deploments time after time! Asthetics are purly a by-product of this valuable and thechnicaly proven science. Hope this clears up WHY parachute container corners (upper and lower) are the way they are! Mick.

To install a Sky Hook on an existing TSO'd rig would reqiure the rig to be re-dropped and new engineering drawings to be issued. Very expensive and time consuming. A new design undergoing drop testing and certification could incorporate the Sky Hook in it's reserve deployment system at almost no additional cost (except of course the licencing fee). Mick.

Not quite. Pilot chute emregence (the very top portion) from the container. Pin from loop, is thechnically still closed and in a rare instance may remain closed. The 3 sec rule would be moot at that piont. Mick.

Don't try it,(not the product just the implication) unless YOUR LIFE depends upon it!!! Sub 100' cut aways are/ have been and WILL always be a VERY risky proposition. Best advice : Don't find yourself in this situation unless it's the "option of last resort". Plan ahead, this includes all of your options about your emergency procedures. What's good for BASE does not necessarly translate to sport sky-diving on a 1:1 basis. Do some research, you'll be supprised at what you learn. Fall safe. Mick.

Ted Strong is, has and will be one of a few "straight up guys'" you will ever find in this industry. Not all of his products are "pretty" but he has a well earned reputation for giving a damn about what he produces. His products are functional WELL BUILT and reliable. There is nothing "cheap" about ANYTHING Ted builds. I say this as a former competitor of his and a user of his products many years ago. Ted Strong gives a damn!!! Period! You'll do fine with the Quaser II. Rest easy. Mick.

My Amigo 172 flew great. I just had to remind myself to do a "full" flare. I did 99% of drop testing on Amigo reserves for the Reflex and I totally trust them! I currently have two. They are sooooo over built and fly very nicely. They land well too. Well done Gary and Ernie! BTW Rob when exactly was the last time you actually saw your belly button? Mick.

No worries, we're all here to learn. Mick

Haha, he also ate my playstation2 controller at a ripe 12 weeks old....he's a little bastard at times but I love him. One of my dogs ate my team Flite Suit a couple of years ago, boy was I pissed!!!! Still have the dog though, she has been through behaviour modification training. Mick.

Yeah, I know all that. I was just trying to encapsulate the basic tennent of patent acqisistion without going on a long diatribe. Very interesting article though, thanks for posting a link. Obtaining a patent is much akin to obtaining a TSO authorization (without the drop testing), there is more to it than meets the eye once you get started. Oh, I did omit the "non obvious" because I forgot about it, it has been almost ten years since I filed for a patent. Mick.

__________________________________________________ What he says is true, though i think that when he typed IE, he might have meant Intellectual Property (IP). Hi Craig, Actually (id est) is latin for "that is" thats what I was trying to say, my mistake was to use upper case and no period between the two letters. But you are absolutly correct in what you say about intellectual property. I just didn't bring it up as I thought I had covered enough ground, patent law is an enormous field to cover. It's good that you brought it up though, maybe people will want to learn more about this subject. One can never know too much about anything. Mick.

There is also a remote possibility that the main deployment bag is the wrong size, a lttle small for that model. Many manufacturers have several different size/ shape bags for different models. Some of the bag sizes are very similar but there are big differences in the way they fit in the pack tray. Easy enough to do when shipping multiple rigs out, sometimes stuff gets mixed up. Try re-packing the main and see how it looks, it could just be a crappy pack job that got worse during shipping. Mick.

Heard you can't patent an idea. Actually you can. There are two basic types of patent available in the US, one is a design patent and the other is a utility patent. Most people when they think of patents usually will refer to the utility kind. The basic tenent for obtaining a patent is the "novelty" factor. Novelty in the patent world means new, has it been done before, if so when. New patents can be issued on old ideas if the novelty requirement is met. Example: If you can re-design a gadget with less pieces (not the same amount or more) then the novelty requirement has been met. Another way to obtain a patent is to find a new use for an existing product, if no one has come up with that use and there is no published record of it anywhere in any language in the world then a patent can be issued for the new use (process). There is a time requirement regarding the the published information although I can't remember the exact time without looking it up and tht's not possible right now. Don't want to give out missinformation. I have a patent issued on the Catapult and had to do extensive research on the subject. It was a facinating exercise and a real eye opener, so many people have the wrong idea of what a patent is / does. Interestingly a patented design doesn't even have to work, all it has to be is novel IE: Nobody thought of it before. hope this answers your question. Mick.

Terry, The main drive cam on most bar tackers can be changed to give a different stitch type/ count. If going wider/ longer the presser foot may have to be replaced / modified in order to accomadate the longer/ wider needle bar swing. High speed needle frags are not much fun. Sew safe. Mick.

Boy, walked right into that one huh? Mick.

JP, I agree with you on all accounts. But I think I agree with mojosparkey, I still wouldn't fly with this guy on any given day, too many "ugly" days back in the 70's and 80's, and 90's. Too many friends dead or injured over the years. Been there done that! To quote "There but for the grace of God (wheather you believe in it ir not) go I". That's the way it was, is and will always will be. That's life. Mick. TFB.

All true, but methinks their market share will start to tank soon because of this. Could there be an extension cycle on the horizion soon? We'll see! Mick.