michaelted57

I've done this for many of my rigging clients and students buying their first rigs. The key is to check out the rigger with the local dropzone and ask for references. Do not rely on any numbers or contact information supplied by the buyer or seller. contact the local dropzone and ask the DZO or rigger or instructors you talk to if they know of the person and are they legitimate. This is a first step only, but it is probably the best way to keep from being scammed by a fake seller or buyer.

I suspect this person is trying to sell stolen gear (user name Gabe_harr). He has listed a brand new AAD, brand new Main canopy and a brand new reserve. He has only been on the site for 2 days. He doesn't show any knowledge of parachute equipment. He has blocked out the serial numbers of all the items he is selling. SABRE2 by PD - Main Canopies - Dropzone.com OPTIMUM by PD - Reserve Canopies - Dropzone.com Vigil Cuatro AAD - Aads - Dropzone.com I hope I am incorrect, but the ads are just too suspicious.

I LOVE to see this article. As someone who has been around for 36 years in the sport, I have seen so many silly and stupid decisions by people just as Bill describes. I hate to point out that I started in this sports 36 years ago, and Bill was already a gear manufacturer, had already invented the hand-deployed pc and 3-ring release, and was making rigs that would accommodate square reserves. He says he's only been in the sport 35 years... Sorry Bill. Most of us know it's been longer than that!

Very good article! I have been skydiving for 36 years and working in high-noise environments for most of that time as well, and I now wear hearing protection on all my jumps. but I didn't start wearing hearing protection until it was too late... Now it is difficult to understand what people are saying and I have a constant ringing squeal in my head that is loud enough to drown out the sound of the motor running in my car. One thing that the author didn't mention is that freefall (even with a full-face helmet) is well over 100 decibels. In order to protect what hearing I have left I wear earplugs with a string between them so I can pull them out after my canopy opens. These cost about $0.25 a set when you buy them in bulk. Trust me, it is well worth it. I tell all my students to wear hearing protection as soon as they are off the radio, and to keep wearing it for their skydiving career.

That's a very easy test and a great idea (which should probably be done anyway). Thanks! If it comes easy, I'm automatically suspicious

This is a GREAT idea. If it comes easy, I'm automatically suspicious

"Rest Assured"? I am one of the ones out here trying to use this thing. "More User Friendly" is only true if the USERS find it so. The smaller font is harder to read, the layout makes it harder to find a specific category, Categories with new ads are not highlighted anymore, and there is no place for manufacturer, DOM, component model and number of jumps for complete rigs being offered for sale. I don't see anything advantageous with the new format. How much user input did you get before changing it? If it comes easy, I'm automatically suspicious

What happened to the format of this website? This new format is absolutely terrible and a HUGE step backward for the users. The classified section is hard to read, doesn't have the same detail, most of the ads do not open without an error message and the whole thing looks like the way it used to be back when it started; PRIMITIVE! I can understand updating a website now and then, but for Christ's sake don't do it until the new version is better than the old one! If it comes easy, I'm automatically suspicious

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I have had a couple Reflexes over the years, and pack several for friends that have them as well. Some have had the Catapult on them and some have had it removed (the Catapult installed IS the standard configuration for Reflexes, by the way). I had two reserve rides on mine, and have seen several others over the years. The one (small) advantage of the Catapult that I have witnessed (I have not witnessed an instance where the catapult saved anyone) is that without the Catapult, once the reserve PC and freebag have left the reserve canopy and are drifting to the ground, the PC tends to turn over and plummet to the Earth due to the heavy cap. The Catapult acts as additional drag so the whole thing drifts to the ground at about the same speed as a regular PC and freebag and a cutaway main, thus usually making it easier to find (near the main) than it would be if it fell at a much faster rate and thereby drifted a different distance in the wind. I am not joining the argument over the merits of the Catapult in a lifesaving situation. I am only making this one observation from experience. Take it for what it is worth (not much).

Ditto If it comes easy, I'm automatically suspicious

I was at Skydive City for the first time this last March for the Z-team sequential jumps. This is my new favorite DZ! Anything you need to survive and jump is on the DZ. You literally NEVER have to go into town if you come relatively well prepaired. The staff of the DZ is friendly and competent. It is a real pleasure to jump in a place like this.

An aquaintenct of mine at our DZ happens to be a sponsered PD canopy flyer, and so he gets all the cool stuff. This weekend he brought the new 126 Optimum Reserve (set up like a main) to the DZ for those of us who might want to try one out. I had just jumped a standard PD-126 last summer when the PD Tour came to our DZ, so I felt I could make a fair comparison. This new reserve packs up tiny! It looked equavalent to a 109 in pack volume when I put it in my rig. This is great for those of us who like the idea of a bigger reserve; with an Optimum Reserve we can get more parachute in our container than we could before. For reference, I weigh 180 lbs without clothes, and about 205 out-the-door, and I have about 4300 jumps. This loaded the 126 to about 1.6 to 1, which is way high for a reserve. I took the Optimum 126 on a relative-work jump with a recently graduated student because I wanted to see what the opening shoke would be like at terninal. I make a lot of camera jumps, and the opening shock at terminal is a big concern for guy (or gals) with a lot of weight on our heads. I watched my digital altimeter when I pitched to check my altitude loss during opening. I pitched at 3400 ft exactly. The opening was very firm, but not uncomfortable at all; certainly not any worse than some popular mains. The interesting thing was that as soon as I saw an open canopy over my head, I checked my altitude again, and it read 3150 ft! The opening felt like a very firm, STEADY pull on my harness, but there was no real "shock" as I expected. So this translates into a 250 ft opening with no trauma as is usually associated with such fast openings. NICE! We had a very stiff upper wind, so we had drifted a long ways in free-fall, and I found myself thinking I probably would not nake it back to the field (even if I had jumped my regular main). I did my CCC and was pleasantly surprised with the powerful flare and responsive turns. I went into half brakes to try to stay aloft in order to get closer to the DZ. The canopy floated very nicely, and I realized that I would make it back easily, so I tried to find the stall point so I could get a better feel for the canopy. I am 5' 10" tall, and I had to take a wrap of brake line on my hands to cause a stall. This thing could be landed in a very tight space if needed. Very quick recovery from the stall too. . . I then applied some rear risers to try to gain some of the lost distance from the stall and to see how the canopy flew in that mode. Rear toggle pressure was not light, but the amount of float gained was impressive. After I got back over the landing area, I decided to not turn into the wind because I was really too low to be making 180 turns on an unfamiliar canopy, so I landed downwind off to the side of the Dz out of the landing pattern. This parachute has a very fast forward speed for a reserve! This could be bad if you have a high wing loading and land unconcious, but you would probably still have the brakes set, so it would be slower than if you had released them. I was able to land the canopy standing up with only about three or four steps out of the landing (downwind with a wind speed of about 4 knots). I am confident that if I had landed into the wind it would have been a one-step landing. The only thing about this reserve that concerns me is that some will buy an even smaller container thinking they can get a very small packing reserve in it. This will make for some very fast landings under reserves. The idea should be to stay with the same size container, and be able to fit a bigger reserve in it. Remember, this is a FAST parachute. I would jump this parachute as a main, and like it (alot). It performs more like a main than a traditional reserve, the openings are fast, but not hard, and it packs up very small. This would be a GREAT main parachute for wingsuit flyers or for people who do a lot of big-ways (those of you who do big-ways will understand). The cost for this reserve is about $300 more than PD's traditional reserves. In summary: Packs up VERY SMALL, fast but not uncomfortable openings, POWERFUL flare, practically stall proof, fast forward speed (at least at high wing loadings), Slows down in toggles and floats wonderfully, flies like a main, lands more like a main than a traditional reserve, costs about $300 more than a traditional reserve. When Can I get mine?