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Thanks for the quick replies guys! I left a message with FFE on friday, so I expect to hear from them soon. I took a detailed look at the manual & checklist and it looks reasonable, but definitely way more of a PITA than your standard Softie/Preserve combo. I have all of the tools except for the exotic break tie tape. I'm not averse to taking it on, but like you said, it'll be for educational purposes and take hours at a loss... unless the good folks at FFE talk me out of it Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

A customer brought me a Softie seat rig that hasn't been repacked in 10 years. I opened it thinking that I'd find the usual Preserve 1c, only to find a Preserve V (Diaperless round in a D-bag with a strange "lazy leg" system). I opened up the manual and found that it calls for several wraps of "MIL-T-5608, C/B, T/I (P/N 131708)" to be used as break ties. I've spent 20 minutes searching for a source for this stuff and I can't find it for sale anywhere. Does anybody know a source or any substitutes? Is it commonly used on military gear, or is it unique to the Preserve V? Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

Vents aren't of much use on slider up deployments, unless of course you have an object strike. Unless something really strange happens, a skydiving reserve will never find itself in either of those conditions. Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

I drive a 2000 Honda Insight hybrid that averages about 62mpg. It's been the best car that I've ever owned from a reliability standpoint (Mine is about to turn over 300K.) Honda had the same problem that Chevy is facing now. They spent a bunch of money engineering a fantastic car that nobody ended up buying (at only $20K) & they stopped production in 2006. The original Insight has a cult following because it can easily be modded to get 70-120mpg and nobody has come out with a car that even comes close to matching it's performance. I think that the Volt is a pretty well engineered car, but I wouldn't buy one because they're too much of a compromise. If I'm going to drop $40K on a plug in hybrid it will be one that weighs less than 2000lb and has more than 35 miles range on electricity before starting the gas motor. If the technology in the Volt was applied to a smaller and lighter vehicle, it would easily achieve 80-100mpg AFTER using up the plug in battery capacity. Leno got one of the first Volts and put 10,000 miles on it before he had to refill the gas tank. Given the utility afforded by the Volt (four doors, room for a gun rack, etc) I'm surprised that they aren't selling more. Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

Crap! My buddy bought tickets from Germany for the 21-28th based on the dates on the Zhills website! I guess we will be heading up the pre-Flock&Dock festivities. Will there be vendors/ demo suits available before the 29th? Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

Yeah, can we get a clarification on the dates. I've got a buddy coming over from Germany and I want to make sure that the dates listed on the Zhills website are correct. Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

I have a VX69 that came with a TINY stock slider. So small that it couldn't be tucked behind your head after opening because it was smaller spanwise than my shoulders. I switched it with a modified KA 97 slider and the openings are much better now. Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

Actually, I'm headed up for the course and would love to split a room to minimize costs. I'm also interested in tripling up if there are multiple people interested in sharing... I'll even volunteer to sleep on the floor. Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

Congrats on getting into UofC! My wife and I live in Hyde Park, where she is finishing up her law degree this June. I'm not sure if there are any other jumpers in Hyde Park, but the university doesn't have a club (yet). The closest DZ's are SDC and CSC, both of which are about an hour and a half drive. We moved to Chicago from the south and I will never get used to the winters up here. The summers are really nice and the DZ's are really busy, so bring your rig and your checkbook. Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

Frap hats really only offer much protection from small bumps in the airplane. If the student whacks their head on the ground on landing, it'll provide a little abrasion protection, but it won't really do anything to prevent a concussion or brain injury. I don't think many instructors would sign up to jump if the students were given hard helmets that actually would help protect from serious bonks to the head. If liability is the main concern here, just give the student the option of wearing a frap hat or not and make them initial a paragraph in the waiver saying, "I am aware that the use of a soft helmet is optional and I may choose not to wear a helmet at my own risk." I think having our students wear $350 paragliding boots would do a whole lot more to prevent the most common types of student injuries. Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

I've got over 1400 on my JVX 80 with no mal's. It still opens and flies fantastically. Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

I own my own tandem rigs. Yes, it's a big initial investment and it'll take a while to pay off, even if you're jumping full time. Be sure to budget for repacks, linesets and drouges and be ready to be turned down by some DZO's and scoffed at by some TI's. Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

Are there any pick-up VFS teams out there that need video for Nationals? I'm filming for a 4-way FS team and I want to stick around a little longer at Nationals and try to film some VFS, so give me a shout if I can be of service Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

Also, as far as model specific forums go, www.vansairforce.net is a fantastic forum for RV and experimental enthusiasts. They also have a very active classifieds section with some smoking deals. Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

I'm available to do video if you guys need help in that department. Good luck finding a 4th! Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.