Re: [Zennie] Best all around 2 pin rig
I've talked to several very experienced jumpers who prefer the Gargoyle. Obviously, I recommend it in my "First Rig" piece, and Karin's Boyfriend felt strongly enough about it to second that recommendation when he
posted his thoughts about my thoughts. I believe he called it "simply the best pin rig on the market, hands down."
In reply to:
For those of you who have voted for the Gargoyle, I'd be interested in hearing what features the rig has (or implements better) that the others do not.
1) "Tuck" style pin cover. The cross tucking pin cover is clearly superior to the wrap around style. It allows for a fully stiffened pin cover without the hangup potential of the wrapped flap. This means that you get maximum protection at terminal, but can still fully close the rig at ultra low altitude. No confusion, no "what did I pack this for" no wiggling pins, no hesitations.
2) Customer service: Morpheus has the best customer service in the industry, bar none. I've bought (and jumped) gear from every major manufacturer (and several not so major ones). I am a very demanding customer, given to vocally (and publicly) expressing my opinions (both positive and negative) about gear. I'm sure that I irritate gear manufacturers no end. And Morpheus is still amazingly good to me. Examples include: offering to ship gear to Malaysia because Fedex (who had guaranteed delivery before I left) failed to deliver it to me on time, making retrofits and repairs for free (to both my container, where the retrofit was needed due to a communication error in which I was largely at fault, and my canopy, which I caught on a tree--and they patched for free), test jumping my gear to give me feedback on problems I was having (and offering valuable advice on toggle and brake settings), and manufacturing gear in my bizarre custom color combinations. I really can't say enough good things about them.
3) Good combination of other features. The rig isn't quite the most comfortable I've ever jumped (the Vision beats it out), but it's close. The price wasn't quite the cheapest I'd ever paid, but it was very competitive. The workmanship was flawless (as I'd hope all BASE rigs would be--and most are).
edit to add 4) Dynamic Corners: Dynamic corners (the "open" lower corners available as an option on the Gargoyle) are a very good idea. They allow the bottom of the pack tray to open completely, which minimizes the potential for pack tray induced spin on the way to line stretch. On newer Gargoyles, the wrap around bottom corner, combined with dynamic corners, gives the best of both worlds--the wide open lower corner of a Vision and the tightly closed, totally secure wrap around corner of a Perigee. While Morpheus intended the option for wingsuit use, I feel strongly enough about it on every jump that I've had my other (non-Morpheus) containers retrofitted (by Morpheus--did I mention they give great service?) with dynamic corners as well.
I'd say the Gargoyle has the best design by a wide margin, the best support by miles, and is in the top two in every other category I can think of.