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eipmoez
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Velcro Rigs
Hi,

<disclaimer>
I'm a total newbie, with only 7 jumps from the legal span. I'm currently trying to make up my mind about what gear to get. My first jumps have been on a Soft Cock velcro rig. I'll be back at the span in November to make more jumps on the Warlock pin rig. Also, I will not be doing Wingsuit base for a long time to come.
</disclaimer>

I thought I had made up my mind about getting a pin rig, but after actually having had the opportunity to spend some time packing a velcro rig a few weekends ago I'm slowly starting to change my mind in the pin vs. velcro debate. I have no experience packing a pin-rig (in base) yet, but that will change soon. Hopefully I'll have a better basis for a decision then. In the meanwhile, I'm hoping people here can add to the debate.

The two main benefits of velcro-rigs I see are the following:

  • Less chance of distorting the packjob when closing the rig. (I know a pin-rig can be closed without distortion, but why make it harder on myself?)


  • The rig makes noise when it starts to open, meaning that accidental openings (while climbing an object for example) will be detected sooner.


    • Anyway that was just to explain where I'm coming from. This thread is not to start a pin vs. velcro debate. There's plenty of existing threads about that on DZ.com and Blinc already. The actual reason for starting this thread is because I'm having some trouble finding opinions about the different rigs out there.

    I'm sure most existing rigs from the major manufacturers will all do their job satisfactorily, but while I'm shopping I might as well try to find out what's the best out there.

    I've read Tom's article about "My First BASE Rig" and he recommends the Gravity Sports rig. Unfortunately I've also been told that for the time being its manufacturer has dissapeared of the face of the planet Wink. If anybody knows if Dennis McGlynn does custom orders and how to get in touch with him, I'd love to hear. Otherwise, I guess I'll have to look elsewhere.

    Is there anybody out here that has jumped different rigs and has any opinion on existing velcro rigs? I'd love to hear your stories. I think I should at least be looking for the following features:

    1. Stiffened Velcro (probably standard on all rigs these days)

    2. Finger-pockets in the top and bottom flap that go underneath the velcro. This will allow you to close the top and bottom flap tighter without exerting pressure on the pack job.

    3. A piece of velcro near the bottom right corner (on the face of the container though) and then another one near the shoulder, for routing the bridle on handheld jumps. I suppose any rigger could add this to a rig easily though.

    4. Wide velcro strips. I've seen what small strips can do, while climbing over the railing Crazy. Fortunately it was for a practice exit over grass, 2 feet high Wink.

    5. Pocket in the top flap for the shrivel. No just for premature openings in flight, but it also seems good while climbing, etc.


    Are there any other features I'm forgetting? It seems (living in North America) the following containers are the obvious options

    1. Medusa

    2. Reactor 4

    3. Perigee 2

    4. Wizard


    Any opinions on these are more than welcome. I tried the reviews on Blinc but there's not much information out there. Feel free to add a review there instead of adding it here. I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who had the chance to jump a velcro rig from more than one manufacturer.

    Thanks!

    Eipmoez
    TomAiello
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    Re: [eipmoez] Velcro Rigs
    In reply to:
    If anybody knows if Dennis McGlynn does custom orders and how to get in touch with him, I'd love to hear. Otherwise, I guess I'll have to look elsewhere.

    The best "Vision-like" rig is the Soft Cock. In my opinion, it's also the best velcro rig around today. But it's rare, as it's not a big commercial endeavor. Still, since you live in the Northwest, you might be able to talk Ray into making you one.



    Is there anybody out here that has jumped different rigs and has any opinion on existing velcro rigs? I'd love to hear your stories. I think I should at least be looking for the following features:

    In reply to:
    A piece of velcro near the bottom right corner (on the face of the container though) and then another one near the shoulder, for routing the bridle on handheld jumps.

    In my opinion, the velcro on the shoulder is the important one. I wouldn't worry too much about the lower corner velcro. Also, be sure that it's the hook velcro on the rig, and the pile on the bridle (otherwise there is some small chance that the hook on the bridle could snag in the PC mesh briefly).