Auryn

cool.. thats what I need. I don't need them forever, just long enough for people to demo my 150. See ya this weekend ! D 27808

Is there anywhere in the normal retail sector one can get mini links that are safe to use for jumping ? I need some by this weekend to hook up a canopy for someone to demo. thanks ! D 27808

I think that this line may be key, but I was wondering about one of my hop'n'pops, too. It was in Perris not too long ago. I remember actually picking up speed and going into freefall for a few seconds AFTER I threw out my PC! (Was my PC just "chillin" because I was falling too slow when I pitched and because I am so light?) that back into freefall feeling after pitching may be a combination of: accelerating after deployment because you are still accelerating out of the A/C and a very well cocooned canopy where it takes time for the air to get inside the packjob.. I've both seen and felt this phenomenon.. this would also explain the very slooooow opening everyone saw. eg. a friend of mine I was on FF dive with threw out 100 feet away from me as I was snivelling at 2700 or so.. I saw his canopy sit in a cocoon for a very long time.. just hanging out and then had a normal opening.. by this time he was at 1500 feet. When it happened to me I had a very strong "trap door" effect at terminal. I threw out and felt like I accelerated ! parachutes can be really moody at times. I keep yelling at mine and it doesn't seem to make it any better.

I have about 80 jumps on my pc bought brand new. It's around 32 inches f-111. I haven't done any ground testing on the loop because I wanted it tight.. I freefly for the most part. I know from my experience with packing that it was tighter than most but looser than a few people have theirs so I didn't worry about it being too tight.. but that didnt factor the wear which is pretty minor. what really wierded me out was that the PC definately was NOT burbling.. I've had that about 10 time when I was on R/C back in the day ( I had 20 some odd R/C jumps..) When I looked back I didn't see it "go" like you would with a burbling PC because it was allready at full extension. When I looked back the first thing I saw was bridle and I followed the bridle to the top to see the PC inflated..when you factor in the standard "What the F*** is this" time of analysing the situation, I imagine it was about 2 seconds of looking at it. the way you describe it is right.. it just gave me the willies. regarding the force developed by a PC that's what gets me.. even at the slowest exit one would think that it would develop enough force to immediately open the container. more input would definately be appreciated. D 27808

I had a strange hop and pop this weekend.. Who else has had the following happen to them ? Exit 3500 feet took a 2 second delay and pitched. Did not feel the main bag come off my back so I looked over my shoulder and saw my pilot chute inflated at the end of the bridle at full extension, just chillin out there. It was mostly directly above me because of course I was still mostly vertical. I looked forward to square my body position and went for my handles and about 1 second later I felt the main bag come off my back and had a normal opening. Anyone else have funky PC in tow but not really, just kidding with you, like this ? we have surmised that contributing factors are: I had a very tight closing loop that was ultra short because my main is really small in my rig. That combined with some wear on the outer grommet creating friction (Im going to fix that before I jump again) and the low speed of the exit caused it. A good friend of mine also pointed out that at 2 seconds is almost the slowest overall airspeed because there is little vertical descent yet and horizontal decelleration has occured at this point. Just looking for anyone else that has had this so I dont feel so lonely about it Blue Ones ! D 27808

I will agree with you on the pro tec. I had a z1 (the older design, circa 1998 or so.. I hit the wall in the pigeon forge wind tunnel wearing it, and got knocked clear out for a second. I looked at the video, and the impact was not bad.. I just slid off the wind and hit the PADDED wall with a slight back slide. I was scetchy from then on.. later on when the helmet started falling apart I knew there was no protection.. no quality. when someone I knew died from a head injury wearing a z1 (that may or may not have made a difference, this is purely my experience/opinion) I knew what I had to do. I threw it away, because I could not in good concious sell it to someone and I certainly wasnt going to wear mine anymore. I now have downsized and love my new canopy and am in the realm where head injury is a serious concern. and I wear a pro tec when I jump it. my other helmet is a hawkeye camera helmet which is the highest quality, most durable skydiving specific helmet I have laid my hands on. I will be jumping it with my new canopy once I get used to it. this weekend I biffed hard (Im 5 for 6 on landing the new canopy standing up, I flared 2 feet too low being in the habit of landing my 150 for 200 jumps) I hit my head and didnt even notice it.. due to the pro tec. the only way I knew I had hit my head was I noticed I had bit my lip a few hours later. I walked away humbled and knowing I have a lot to learn, but I was safe. I do know one thing. I am going to wear the best head protection I think I can get on every jump, because I know I am not perfect and I might screw up. And so I keep learning. re: the bulkiness/looks: I got a comment this weekend as well: "what kind of helmet is that? Its a protec. reply. Thats a really cool looking protec!" The newer ones are actually pretty sweet looking. my opinion: I buy my gear for what it does and how it performs. Not what it looks like. Blue Ones ! Bryan D 27808

Like the Camera you probably have on your head Auryn. Im asking this question about the rigs I pack for other people. My rig has velcro toggle keepers, and all the brake line is stowed underneath the toggle. Blue Ones ! Hypothetically speaking, of course, if I were to pack rigs for other people, and I wasn't presented with a straightforward method of stowing the extra brake line, I would ask them what they like. Then I would remember what each person / rig likes. But of course I don't pack other peoples' mains because I'm not a rigger. I do ask people the way they want it done.. I actually started this thread out of concern for someone I pack for. They wanted the brake lines looped up the through the top of the riser and then back around the top of the toggle and then put in the toggle keeper. This way made me very uncomfortable, and I was looking for a better way to show him how to do it. Blue Ones !

If you mean that you gather the excess together and place it down against the velcro with the toggle to keep it there, I hope you don't have microline-bad wear will result. Maybe that isn't what you meant. My toggles are set up so that the loop side of the velcro is sewn to the side of the riser, 1/2 on each side. you loop the excess line directly against the riser and then cover it with the loop side, the put the toggle down to seal it shut.. line doesnt come into contact with the velcro at all. Blue Ones ! Bryan

Like the Camera you probably have on your head Auryn. Im asking this question about the rigs I pack for other people. My rig has velcro toggle keepers, and all the brake line is stowed underneath the toggle. Blue Ones !

I have seen the Sunpath bulletin on excess brake line stowage on velcroless toggles (route the excess through the lower stow point on the riser and push the toggle through it to hold it there) and I am wondering if this is the best way to do it ? I don't see any problems with it, but if the container has sufficient riser coverage there should be no issues with leaving it loose... I was wondering if I am wrong in thinking that. Blue Ones ! Bryan D-27808 Blue Ones ! Bryan

one thing about canopy coaching is that it doesnt apply to just swooping.. not by a long shot. it is very possible to get seriously injured without the idea of a swoop ever entering your mind. Learning the finer points of how to fly a parachute are important whether you are .9:1 wanting to get to the ground in one piece or 1.8:1 wanting to rip a 250 foot swoop. If you don't want to necessarily invest the time/money into canopy coaching, then one thing I might recommend is to find a jumpmaster who is in a position to see your landings/flying abilities and have them give you input.. you might have expressly ask for it at first, but usally they will be more than willing to give you some sound advice about what you are doing. Blue Ones ! Bryan D-27808

I have been seriously entertaining the idea of doing an intentional cutaway.. Now the question is the logistics. If I do it, I want to do it the right way. I know one needs a three canopy system.. how many of them are around, and what does one have to to get ahold of one of these systems for a little while ? is there any way to rig a third canopy to my harness/container so I can do it on my main and reserve? I jump at the Skydiving Place outside Fayetteville NC, and I would think someone in that area would have the necessary gear.. Would love to know what do to get my hands on one for an afternoon. finally, does anyone have any stories about how their's went ? was it what you expected ? the reason I want to do this is because I want to get rid of that huge "unknown" feeling I have about it, and have the experience. I know it wouldnt be like a real mal, but I think it would be a good experience. plus there's addition of the "cutaway main accuracy" element.. see if I can get my main to land within 10 meters of the target :) Blue Ones ! Bryan

I have very personal experience with this when I was starting to swoop.. I hit, got airborne, corrected my toggles and straightened the canopy out enough to actually stand up the landing.. end result.. a busted up wrist only, it could have been worse. No matter what, don't ever stop flying your canopy. Blue Ones !! Bryan

There is enough slack in the line before going through hole in the riser that during deployment part of the line got pulled over the toggle. If you just look at it quickly (likeI did) you might not notice it. Go to realease the brakes and whalla...knot excellent post.. I will advise my several customers that want things done this way about this risk. thanks !! Bryan

Blasphemer! Go Vikings and anyone playing the Packers! hell yah.. I second that.. 24 year viking fan, 24 year packer despiser. Blue Ones ! Bryan D 27808

After over a month of processing/payment problems/processing problems... I finally got it !! 5 years, 331 jumps, countless great and a few scary moments.. D-27808 !!!! forget the A-33374 Blue Skies ALL ! have a safe weekend. Bryan D-27808

QuoteSorry Auryn I just don’t see the line over all I see is a tension knot between the outboard D line with the next inboard line on your right side. I can see that some tension knots are land able and others are not, so it is however up the pilot to do a controllability check. Quote when i landed the first thing I did was inspect the slider stop I suspected was the culprit, and the line was still hung up on the slider stop. I called it a lineover because a line was over the stop.. and for lack of a better name for the malfunction, because a line was caught over a portion of my canopy, luckily the very outside of it. this configuration is something I have never seen before, nor heard of.. but apparantly some other people have had this happen to them. Blue Ones ! Bryan

I couldnt tell what line it was, so cutting it wasnt an option. when I landed I just gave the canopy a little more brake instead of full brakes.. thank you for everyone's input.. I never considered the option of it clearing suddenly on landing and changing the dynamics of the canopy. note, I had to hold the left toggle down to just above my shoulder to keep it flying straight, so I wasnt giving it a whole lot of brake to keep it straight. to learn from this, I would recommend not repeating this course of action to anyone. in the future, I will cut away if this scenario repeats itself. Blue Ones ! bryan

You aren't hurt, right? Then it was a good decision. You were the one under that canopy and you did what you thought was best. Good job.

on jump number 331, I landed a lineover, something I never thought I would concievably do in my skydiving career.. this goes to show that no matter how much you prepare for emergencies, the actual situation determines what you decide to do. I had packed the night before after dark, slower than usual, didn't do anything different. it was on a freefly coach (sort of) jump, tracked.. was absolutely meticulous about body position b/c I had 8 line twists on my elliptical 1.4 : 1 canopy the weekend before. slowwww opening, 800 feet. thought everything was okay at first until I let go of the risers to stow my slider, and my canopy started turning right... I checked my legstraps first to make sure they were even, and they were. I looked up, and could not find anything wrong.. I was giving it 1/2 left brake to keep it straight during this time.. on second look, I saw it (picture attached) the line was hung on one of my slider stops on the right stabilizer. I steered the canopy left and right, and decided I could control it, and determined that the situation could NOT get worse because it was on the very outside of my canopy. I decided to land it at 2200 feet. I reassesed my decision at 1800 (my hard deck) and determined it was very controllable. I didn't flare on landing, instead I gave a bit more brake on both side and PLFed like a mofo. looking at the picture you can see the line in the middle of the stabilizer, pinching the canopy shut about the distance of the last cell. when I landed I immediately went to that slider stop, and sure enough the line was right there, wrapped around it. I held the configuration together as I walked back to the packing area so I could show someone with more experience what was going on. They confirmed the lineover. has anyone else landed a minor lineover like this ??? how often do they occur ?? and by chance would you have cut away a canopy with a built in turn ? blue Ones ! Bryan

I cannot agree with this more.. the mentor thing is better than anything else.. get someone that will watch you land and give you feedback, good and bad. that is a great tool. Bryan

another thing you can do deployment, is put your head on your chest.. this gets the camera out the way as well, keeps your body position more straight, and helps reduce whiplash if you get a hard opening. Blue Ones ! Bryan

and a side note.. I am now an ENTHUSIAST !! yeee haaa. Blue Ones ! Bryan

yep, as a matter of fact, I do. The work was done by the Peters of the Hungarian mafia over at CSS. They are actually the photo finish of this months parachutist. They charged me 50 dollars for the cutaway system, and like 40 to make my mount. They each have like 3 hawkeyes, all with this system in it. They have done probably 4 or 5 other helmets at CSS as well. I no longer jump at CSS, but you can call the DZ at 919 496 2224 to get in touch with them. The first pic is the handle on the back and you can see the cables going into the inside of the helmet. The handle is a loop, and it's snapped by 2 snaps to the back of the helmet. there is no way it can get pulled by accident. the second pic is the cutaway cable routed up the side of the helmet where they terminate.. they are in plastic channels pretty much throughout. third pic is of the chin strap and chin cup. they replaced the screws that hold the bracket onto the helmet with cypres loops, which is what the cables are routed through to hold it together. The loops should be replaced once a year or so. the fourth shows the snaps that hold the handle to the back of the helmet. Im pretty sure they can do this to just about any helmet. Blue Ones ! Bryan