skytribe

There are many designs if straps, the ones i use everyone had a means to cutaway, everyone has at least 2 knives and we dont bring it down low and are briefed on how to transition back to side by side as well. The first thing we do when fanned out into downplane is make sure cutaways are accessible. The straps allow us to hold it for long periods which having to physically hold formation together and allows quicker / easier transitioN ps we use crw canopies only so no microlines.

Take a look at the pack volume https://www.pia.com/wp-content/uploads/TS-104CanopyVolume.pdf the tempo packed up pretty small to start with so if that was tight you may be out of luck.

Sounds like a rigger who is trying to plan for the future with the container with a canopy suited to you needs now. While a good concept, however if the manufacturer says it wont fit, they know better. Even if it did miraculously squeeze in it will look like crap and cause problems for many riggers. Overstuffed containers never look good. Whats the benefit ? A marginally smaller container which causes a whole host of issues for riggers designed for what you may downsize in the future. This may not even happen as the reality is that life causes many to leave the sport before this happens. Listen to the manufacturer….

Anyone have an recent numbers on what current PD production wait time is ?

So heres a thought. Get your shoulder fixed. swapping the BOC over to the other side can be done but I tend to discourage this. If you do that and somehow get pilot chute caught around you hand. Both the main activation and reserve activation hand is now compromised. If someone was to borrow your rig and not notice or give it much thought then they may not find the handle reverting to normal muscle memory. Ive had a jumper with a bum shoulder that reverted to a SOS system. Not cool or normal but allowed for cutaway/reserve activation with one arm. If the other had a problem. So the general thought is the modification is relatively simple but the ramifications need to be considered more fully. Address the real issue, the shoulder with physio/surgery or whatever is required to fix the issue.

https://www.pia.com/event/2021-pia-symposium/ Looks like they have rescheduled the next symposium. I'm not sure they could have chosen a worse time to reschedule to as it is in the middle of summer. I guess that will mean that many professionals in the industry will have to chose between taking time off work at a busy time of year to attend or just skipping it altogether.

The instructors who have helped you back, ask them to watch a few of your landings and give you some advice on gear that may be suitable. Good used gear is a cheaper approach and allows you to gain experience before committing bigger bucks to more long term gear. This gear can often be sold on to fellow newer jumpers looking for 1st gear when your ready to downsize. Dont be in a rush to downsize.

Astra AAD is obselete - FXC wont or dont have any batteries to replace and on emailing them told me it was expired. So no value on that one.

The mere fact that CRW jumpers fly biplane configurations all the time and fly with toggles, should be a good indication that flying with toggles is not a bad decision. Flying gently the front canopy and no big inputs is also a good strategy. Leaving the rear canopy set in brakes result in a slower canopy with less force being put on the brake lines of the front canopy. Sometimes canopies just dont like flying together if their performance characteristics are very dissimilar. You don't see big inputs from CRW stack pilots when flying formations. They steer and all the canopies below them follow with no input from the jumpers. They tend to fly similar canopies though - at least these days even if they may be different sizes they are on similar wing loadings/glide ratio's (example lightning and 1.3 lbs/sq foot loading) But that isnt always the case and certainly in the past wasnt. As for steering using rear risers - IMHO it creates a different set of problems. Flying a huge tandem canopy with rear risers is difficult at best and results in very small movements (which may not be a issue). Some small tandem jumpers may have trouble pulling enough to make a 360 sq foot canopy turn. Flying a Ultra high performance canopy may result in more radical control input with little input. People are happier flying with toggles and it gives a better degree of control than trying to grip rear risers and provide a precise degree of control. I think the best advice is to do all you can to avoid the problem in the first place.

I always prefer both toggles are pulled on strong wind days. Pull both until the tandem collapses. I don't care if the cascades on the brake lines are pulled to the point they are near the guide rings on the risers. No chance of really reinflating. I will literally hand the toggles on landing to the catcher. If there are 2 catchers each can grab a toggle. When someone pulls one only - sure it turns the canopy into the ground but one side is still pretty much inflated. A gust of wind and I'm pulled over (It doesn't take much when you still hooked up to a passenger with a big canopy). What you do on your own gear when your by yourself is different from what you do when you have someone on the front of you. Ever try turning and walk/run around the canopy when you have a 230 lbs unfit person who's wobbly legs from the parachute ride strapped to the front of you while getting dragged to the floor by a gust on a partially inflated tandem canopy. Very different scenarios.

And you may get to use a reserve on your next jump. Id not seen or repacked a firebird reserve so i dont know much about them and that is the rub. PD is the brand leader, great track record, great quality. AAD’s - they are sophisticated devices which self check on startup and can be sent for testing/software updates at any time. Id have no problem buying used AAD from the 3 major brands Airtec, AAD or Mars

Id agree there are better containers than a wings but also why a firebird rush. Its a real off brand reserve and i would say any subsequent resale value on it would be low compared with the more established names like PD, Icarus, Aerodyne reserves.

Yes its called LOR 2. But was only found on the parachute de france containers.

I just look at the video and honestly most of the people pulling really were lame half hearted pulls. They did eventually pull. Most were pulling at 90 degrees to housing increasing pull force. Notice the big gap between cutting away and pulling the reserve and stopping when it got a little tough. Eventually using a bit of effort and pulling it. In my opinion the issue was the jumpers effort rather than the equipment. Pull it like you life depends upon it. Im sure scratches are an issue but i don't believe it to be the prime factor. I pull hundreds of reserves a year and don't experience hard pulls but i am pulling in the right direction. Correct training and emergency procedure execution are a bigger issue. Ive seen similar occurrences when people pull their reserves. Pulling once every 6 months does little to address the issue. I have no problem with people pulling their reserves. I dont doubt some containers are too tight as ive seen bent stuffeners and watched rigger struggle to close even using a torque device. Sometimes it is technique and other times its realizing when the closure loop is too short.

Spoke with them this week and they are in process of transitioning to new factory and hence not taking new orders. They are making new parts and dealers have contact details of Chris. They are definitely still in business and just transitioning at the moment.