seal_S49

That doesn't surprise me any. Plated carbon-steel hardware has served skydivers and the military well for decades. I have seen student and rental rigs with extensive use and no corrosion, because these were never abused. My standard practice for cleaning containers is by immersing them in mild soapy water and I've never had any corrosion problems after drip-drying these promptly. Of course, now that stainless steel hardware has gained in popularity, we're gonna start hearing the black death stuff about the "old" plated hardware. Interesting note: the only rust I've seen on well-maintained plated hardware was caused by the outdated practice of spinning both of the upper 2 rings of the 3-ring assembly during each gear check to make sure this assembly was free to function properly. Yep, when I was a student, I watched a training video (we had video then) in which none other than Roger Nelson showed us how to do this. The practice was eventually discontinued because many years of spinning these rings against each other would wear off some of the plating and allow a thin, circular stripe of rust to form. The lesson here is to avoid any abrasion that might wear off the plating, and from what I've seen, I'm not convinced that normal contact with harness webbing will cause this. S49

I'm glad somebody finally said this after all the recent pull-out bashing posts. Throwing any hand deployed pilot chute is like throwing a feather in a hurricane. Either of these objects will go with the relative wind no matter how hard you throw them in any other direction. Pulling the pud to full arm extension insures its exposure to good air, and releasing it promptly insures that the bag won't escape ahead of the bridle. Many years ago I was incorrectly taught to forcefully throw the pud away from my body and found that most people tend to let go if it at the half-way point (bent elbow) as they follow through to arm extension with an empty hand. Like the feather analogy, the PC will never get any farther horizontally from your body than the release point, and it can get sucked into your burble. Like any piece of equipment, the pull-out must be properly packed and deployed in the air to do it's job. Since I have control over both of these, I'll never have a reason to own any other type of main deployment system. In my years in the sport, I haven't read of a fatality that resulted from a horseshoe or PC in tow on a pull-out system. In spite of greater popularity and all the supporting "opinions," the hard evidence doesn't support the throw-out as being superior. Stay alive! S49

This lengthy post could have been titled "why pro packing is better." However, I thinks these disadvantages of flat packing are overstated. If flat packing was going to put substantially higher stress on lines and fabric, why would manufacturers still recommend it, especially for reserves and tandems? I've been to DZs that flat pack tandems & student rigs exclusively and they don't seem to have a problem with equipment damage & line twist. When canopies go out of trim, it's because of line shrinkage, not line stretch. There is a reason to alternate L & R sides of canopy on packing mat for every other flat pack job. This practice will distribute floor abrasion to both sides of the canopy so the fabric of one end cell doesn't wear faster than the other, according to at least one manufacturer. Just because flat packing is less popular doesn't make it black death. I think pro packing is better for many reasons and that's how I pack all mains. S49

OK, I hope I get equal time here. In your case I'd recommend dropping in the washer half of a #8 spur grommet with the spurs facing inward, smooth side flush. If you have a high amount of clearance from extensive use, that will give you something to hang onto to keep your grommet from falling out. And dude, you gotta find a better way to warm up your hot dogs before you eat them! S49

Thanks guys for sharing your thoughts. I've been asked to be involved during this event and appreciate the help with topics of value. The obvious challenge is maintaining the interest of a wide range of jumpers' experience. I plan on providing the intro topics and following with group discussion and Q&A. To anyone else reading this, I invite you to attend safety day at your local DZ. It's can be a great opportunity to see folks you've missed all winter. If you think that the topics will be too elementary (boring) for your level of experience, then you may be able to make a contribution by sharing your knowledge with newer skydivers. S49

What topics or activities would be of most interest to you during Safety Day next Saturday at you favorite DZ? S49

What's your priority--using the same equipment as more experienced skydivers, or staying alive? Your comfort level has everything to do with safety. Give yourself credit for having good instincts. You need approval for losing the retractable? OK, you have my approval. Now go get that A license! S49

This sounds like a case of "displaced yarns." If there are not loose fibers evident, then fabric may not be appreciably weakened even though we don't like to see this; permeability will be slightly increased though. If these are evident around the PC cap, this is our reminder to be careful when rolling and tucking the PC fabric there during closing; that is when most of this damage happens. Still jumpable? That's your call, but a more experienced pair of eyes will help with that. You'll see this condition on many high-mileage Javelins, but less if they were packed by rigger who has developed good skills here. There is a knack. S49

I like belly flying too. One reason that some newbies aren't interested in this discipline is that they don't get invited on the same loads as as you do. I can't help but think that if every upcoming skydiver had the opportunity to turn some hot points or dive late & swoop a big RW formation, they would appreciate how fun it can be. Getting more new skydivers involved is not likely and the entire RW community can take some of the blame for this. Until we make them more welcome and as long as we have some new jumpers who lack the patience and discipline to meet the social challenges of RW, freeflying will continue to be a newbie magnet. I'm not criticizing this--everyone wants to be accepted and feel comfortable. Freeflying has made a huge contribution to the skydiving community. I can here the replies coming in now... Anyway, welcome to RW!

I've seen the silicone used also but have chosen not to use it on reserve RC cables. Although a small amount will indeed lubricate metal without any problem, excess use will attract dirt. I'm not criticizing it's use, I just don't think it's necessary. I can't personally attribute excess pull force to a dry cable. However, I do lubricate the pin with silicone so it will have less friction against the closing loop and top flap grommet, because this will reduce pull force. Clean, free of snags, secure crimps at both ends, and Capewell SB compliance is good enough for me. Blue skies

The holes seem pretty small for being caused by bridle "pinch," but I agree that clearing the fabric from this area when bagging the canopy is an important habit with a non-retractable pilot chute. If you use a retractable pilot chute, the pinch point is actually between the link that connects the kill line to the canopy and the link that seats against the bag grommet. If the kill line was manufactured too short or it has shrunk from many jumps, these links will actually bear against each other as the PC is cocked. If cocking is done after the canopy is bagged, then this action can pinch a fold of fabric between the links and cause a tear when the bag is stripped off the canopy during deployment. I've seen big rips caused by this. To prevent this problem with a kill-line PC: 1) I like to see at least 2" of excess kill line slack in the bag after the PC is cocked. I manufacture my PCs this way and check used PCs to make sure the kill line has not shrunk excessively. 2) If you are in doubt about kill line length, cock the PC before bagging the canopy. But as you bag the canopy, the PC will probably retract slightly. If you need to re-cock it after bagging, reach inside to clear any trapped fabric. I use an adequately long kill-line and cock my PC after bagging the canopy. Years of this practice have not resulted in any damage to my main canopy. Enjoy you "new" main!

You rock, Devcloud; that's the concise answer I was hoping to receive!

If the owners' manual contained this information, I wouldn't have posted the question. If Sony could have given me the specification over the phone, I wouldn't have made the trip to the camera shop. After doing the legwork and finding my own answer, Sony called me back unexpectedly and verified the 30mm size; they went on to say that they do not market an adapter ring. Seems like a lot to go through to get a simple (but important) answer. Maybe this inf. will help somebody else sometime... I've found numerous sources for aftermarket adapter rings and these are available in both 30mm & 30.5mm. I'll let you guess which mm size I'm going to order for this application. As for anything that might "be stupid," I won't comment on that.

The ultimate wannabe -- you don't have any credibility of your own so you try to borrow somebody else's. BTW: in the photograph attached to your posts, are you the individual on the left or right? Is there any end to your ambiguity?

This in just the kind of "helpful" information I didn't ask for, AndyMan, but since you brought up the "hair splitting" thing, FYI: 1) Dragon2 is correct in that lens threads of 30mm and 30.5mm have both been marketed. 2) 0.5 mm = .0197", or more that 1/64" 3) .002" dia. can be considered an "average" human hair so .5mm is actually close to the thickness of 9 human hairs. 4) Although I don't have much experience with the metric system, in my former profession I have personally produced machine parts that were within a tolerance of + or - .0002" (count the zeroes) 5) If you think being within .5mm is close enough, then you can go screw a 30.5mm filter onto a 30mm lens -- I want the correct part.

I just visited a camera shop today, and while using lens filters as thread gages, I found that the internal threads on my TRV11 lens are actually 30mm, not 30.5mm. It seems that 30mm is standard for many Sony models.

I don't have a thread gage or any available filter/adapter to confirm this, but it looks like my Sony TRV11 lens will accept a screw-on accessory with 30.5mm external threads. Because I need to mount a 37mm-threaded Sony x0.6 conversion lens (#VCL-0637H): 1. Can anybody confirm that a 30.5mm to 37mm step-up adapter is required for this application? 2. Do all TRV11s have the same internal thread size on the lens assembly, or did Sony change this during the production of that model? Thanks in advance for any help.