Weekend Vol Biv Kit

Jeff and I pulled together a last minute vol biv trip for this weekend.  We don't have any big goals, just to get out in the wild for a couple days, mainly as a shake down for his trip to New Zealand next month.   We are both on the west coast for work this week so the plan will be to huck off Laguna, east of San Diego and head north for a couple days.

Here's my kit for the weekend - all up weight less food and water is 30.6lbs.  Adding 2.5 lbs of food and 2.5 liters of water brings the total to 38.8 lbs.

Sleeping
1) Sleeping bag - Z-packs 30 degree, 15 oz
2) Silk sleeping bag liner - adds a few degrees and keeps the bag clean
3) Tarp - Zpacks Hexamid Tarp w/ cuben fibre ground sheet. 
4) Polycro groundsheet - since we will bivy in harsh desert terrain, a bit more added abrasion protection
5) Thermarest Neo Air sleeping mat, small size (42 inches).  I will also use my gilder as extra insulation for my lower body when sleeping
6) Patagonia neopuff synthetic hoody - mainly for added warmth when sleeping

Camp / Hike
7) first aid and emergency survival kit - standard stuff, bandages, whistle, signal mirror, etc
8) snake bite kit - threw this in there but the more I look at the weather (cold), I think I will leave it behind.
9 personal care kit - lite towel, wipes, toilet paper, sun block, advil, lip balm
10) misc ditty bag - 2 light weight headlamps, repair tape (gilder & camp stuff), extra lines (glider & tent), 2 spare pegs, fire steel, tender, butane lighter, digital thermometer, zip ties
11) Black Diamond Z-poles - carbon fiber walking poles.
12) spare clothes - extra merino wool base layer (top & bottom), Patagonia Cap 4 sweater, spare merino socks, fluffy sleeping socks.

Eat/ Drink
13) hydration kit - 2L, 1L and .5L platypus bottles.
14) mess set - meal hydration coozy bag.  Container has spices (salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil), tea bags, bouillon cubes, crystal lite packs, & titanium spork for eating
15) cook set - Snow Peak 700ml titanium pot, vargo stove, 4oz fuel, fire steel & butane lighter
16) food for 2-3 days - mix of pro bars, nuts, jerky, oatmeal, homemade freeze dried meals & meals from Packit Gourmet

Flying
17) Paraglider - Ozone Swift 2, size small
18)  Reserve parachute - Nevures Plum, medium
19) Harness - Advance Lightness, small
20) Rucksack - Advance Lightpack
21) Helmet - Smith Varient Snow helmet
22)Gloves & flight attire - 2 Buff's, 1 merino beanie, 1 pair merino liner gloves, 1 park Manzella goretex wind breaker over gloves.

Electronics (overkill)
23) Electronics - from top left:

• Garmin GPS Map 60
• Spot 3 GPS locator
• RescueLink  406 PLB (personal locator beacon)
• Gopro3 Black
• iPad Mini (in Alocksak)
• Anker 10k mAh spare battery
• Yaesu Vx-150 radio
• charging cables for phone/ipad/gopro & vario
• not shown - iphone 5 & FlytePark mini audio vario

Yes, It's over kill.  iPad is for checking maps and reading at night.  Gopro to document the trip &  radio for in air communications - we want to stay together.   There is also a bit of redundancy with both the Spot and the PLB.  For emergency help, nothing beats the PLB and but the Spot lets our wives track us (piece of mind) as well as allows easy coordination of a retrieve.  I could likely ditch the Garmin, but I've been using it as a backup nav for flying and hiking for years and I'm comfortable with it.

What you don't see:

What I'm wearing  - We will be starting off with a flight so I will have plenty of layers on for cold air at altitude:

• Exped expedition boxer briefs
• REI silk base layer (top & bottom)
• Smartwool hiking socks
• REI softshell pants
• Icebreaker merino t-shirt
• Mountain Hardwear fleece pull over
• Sierra Designs DriDown puffy jacket (no hood)
• Hard or soft shell, depending on temps - either a windshirt, a Mountain HW light weigh Softshell or a OR Helium 2. Depends on temps and chance of precipitation
• Salomon Goretex 4d Boots

Next, the items you might have expect but don't see:

• Rain gear - we are not expecting rain and a few spinkles or a dusting of snow won't bother us. If it looks like a downpore, the chances for flying are nil so we will scrap the trip and go ride dirt bikes.
• Water Filter - we will be in the high desert and will be packing in all our water  The only water I expect to find would be snow and we can boil that for cooking.  There should be some accumulation in the shade at the higher elevations.

Packing:

So where does all this fit?  Well, most of it goes into the harness for both flying and hiking.  The sleeping bag & clothes fit into the harness in the back protection pouch (after removing the foam back protector).  The sleeping bag is in a dry sack and partially inflated so it would provide a bit of protection in the event of a crash.

The tarp, sleeping pad, repair kit & ditty bag fit in the ballast pocket of the harness.  The electronics are mounted on the harness during flight or stowed in the helmet for hiking.  For hiking, the glider goes into rucksack first, with the harness, with its contents goes on top.  Then I can put the cook set bag in the rucksack, wedged between the two.  The first aid kit lived in small top pocket on the rucksack.   Water is stowed in the side pockets of the rucksack and I put the food in a Zpacks chest pack, attached either the top or front of the rucksack.

Should be a fun weekend.  I will post a trip report once we are back in civilization. Also gotta pre-thank Ron for the eventual retrieve we will be imposing om him.  :)

Escaping Winter, at Least for an Afternoon

I know I promised my next post would be on paragliding rucksacks and the selection process for a new one to use on vol biv trips, but....

The weather this week has been beautiful.  Yesterday afternoon it was 58 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  I headed to the Bessemer airport and pulled in just as Mark was launching.  I quickly setup and launched as right after I took off, Curtis arrived.

I flew for about 20 minutes then landed so I could force Curtis to fly the demo Geo 4.  I snagged his pig of a wing before he could object, thus leaving him with no option but to try the sleek new Ozone.   We both took off and buzzed around a bit.  I landed after about 25 minutes and started packing up my motor.  Curtis flew for close to an hour.

I gotta tell ya, I sure have been spoiled flying Ozone gliders the past 8 years.  His glider is supposed to be on the better launching motor wings but it was a chore to launch.  It's heavy, hard to launch, the risers are huge and the controls clunky.  I think Curtis enjoyed the Geo 4 also.

I will try to finish the bag post tonight and get it up tomorrow.

More West Coast

Another business trip to LA means a long weekend at Ron's in San Diego.  Finished up LA meetings Thursday and haul butt down the 5 to catch the last of the lift at Torrey. It was very, very light and cross but I got a flight in!

I headed to Ron's to wait on Jeff and Rob C.  Rob was in LA too and decided to drive down the next day and Jeff would not get in until around midnight.  Took Ron to dinner (BBQ) and caught up on email.

The next day the weather wasn't great for Torrey and I spend my usual Friday doing conference calls and emails before taking Jeff back to the airport to return his rental car.  Rob showed up in time for dinner and we hit the Mexican place down the street.

Occupy Vista!

Earlier in the day, Jeff and I had been sorting out our camping gear.  We both have our dual sport motorcycles in Ron's garage and all our bike camping gear stowed in one of his spare bedrooms.  He should start charging us rent.


Anyway, we decided to setup a simulated vol biv camp and sleep in the yard that night. The result was it looked like the Occupy Movement had setup shop in Ron's backyard.  I slept great, btw.

Saturday was the Bama-UT game, so Ron and I stayed at the house to cheer on Bama while Jeff and Rob C headed to Laguna Mtn with the San Diego PG club.  They took extended sledders and then headed back.  After the game (Bama whupped ass), Ron and I took the bikes for a spin up to Pala and back.  We got back just before Jeff and Rob and threw some steaks on the grill.

Sunday looked great a Blossom, and Blossom never disappoints.  We even dragged Ron with us, although after hiking up the hill with his heavy, old school gear, I'm not sure how much he appreciated us dragging him out there.  I had 2 good flights but never went to El Cap.  Both Jeff and Rob C. made it El Cap.  Ron had 3 good flights and top landings.  Gonna make him a thermal pilot yet.

Another fun trip to SoCal.

Rob C setting up to launch at Blossom

Post Alps Trip Update #2

I finally got around to editing some video myself.  This one is a big long, but I did it to show some of my motor pilot friends what it's like to fly XC without the use of a motor.  It's a summary of my 30km XC from September 12th that I blogged about previously.

Enjoy.  (Be sure to click on the 4 arrows to get full screen so you can enjoy the HD quality)

Going Nowhere Fast from Rob Reynolds on Vimeo.

Post Alps Trip Update

Jeff's been busy editing and he just posted a great video from the trip.  Check it out!

https://vimeo.com/75793418

Paragliding Saint Andre Les Alpes September 2013 from Jeff Thompson on Vimeo.

Welcome to St. Andre

I made it into St. Andre around 9pm last night... the drive too forever as I kept getting stuck behind trucks and caravans on sketchy mountain roads.  Jeff and Steve had cold beers and cheese waiting on me.


Soon after I arrived I got to meet Elena, half of the dynamic duo of Mark and Elana and our hosts for the week.  We are renting a gorgeous apartment at the end of their farmhouse.  Beautiful
accommodation and there is a LZ in the front garden.

Shortly after meeting Elana, Werner & Jackie arrived from Switzerland.  Jeff meet them last year and had a blast hanging out and flying with like minded people, so they coordinated their vacation with our trip.

After a good nights sleep, we headed up the hill for a morning sledder off the south launch.

Wide open launch and an easy flight to get things started.  The main LZ in town is at the confluemce of 3 valley and can be windy and turbulent,  and Mark's LZ in front of the house is just slightly better.  But no issues as we all had great flights.  Toward the end of the flights we all notice the bubbles of thermals, so once we landed we wasted no time in packing up and heading back up the hill.


Our second flight was more what we were looking for.  I launched and scratched around for a while to the east of launch, while Jeff, Werner & Steve went west.  Jackie, the sensable one, stayed on the ground as it was gusty and starting to look like it would overdevelop.


After boating around for a while, I got a really nice, extended climb that took be above launch so I decided to top land and get the car.  No sense in having to ride back up the hill in the dark to retrieve it.  While I as packing up, Steve came in and top landed in style to check out the conditions.

There were over 20 gliders in the air and most were on big ears to avoid being pulled into clouds.  After figuring that it wasn't going to OD, Steve took off again and I finished packing and headed down.  A quick stop at the market for more beer, cheese and bread and I picked up Steve in the Main LZ.  We go back to the house just in time to watch Jeff and Werner land.

Great day flying!

Here's some video from the second flight of the day:

 

Motocross & Paragliders

Jeff, Cuv and I were back in SoCal this weekend.  I was in LA for meetings Thursday & Friday and was able to get some flying in at Torrey Pines in late Friday afternoon before picking up the other two from the airport.

We crashed at Ron's Friday night and then headed to Elsinore on Saturday for the final MX race of the season.   It was hot and dry but the race was exciting (despite having to walk over a mile to a different Will-Call for our pit passes).  We got to hang out with Christina and the Rock River team and stayed hydrated with Bud Lites.

After the race, we decided Ron needed a new grill, so it was off to Lowes.  Jeff promised it would fit in the back of the rental.  It didn't.   We got lucky as an older guy was leaving and asked if he could help.  He had a truck and was headed right past Ron's, but his small truck bed was filled with an old grill he had just acquired for 5 bucks.  We were able to fit this grill into the trunk, put the new one for Ron in the bed of the truck and we were off!


The forecast for the local soaring sites wasn't great on Sunday, so we ended up back at Torrey, along with Ron and his visiting fraternity brother, Smith, from Birmingham. Good flying in very light conditions and Smith got a long tandem.


The main purpose of this trip (other than the motocross) was to test out Jeff's new LM5 and Cuv's new Delta 2.  The LM5 is a beautiful glider, handles great and glides like crazy.  Of course we weren't able to test it in thermic conditions so I'm still hesitant about flying it in big air.

I also liked the handling of the D2, even thought I was under the weight range.  Of course it was easy to stay up in the light conditions when you are light on the glider. 

Oh, Jeff's motor student, Joe, was out at Torrey working with Phil Russman on his P2, so we got to see both Joe and Phil and share a post flight beverage.

Thanks again Ron for the place to crash!

Next up in 2 weeks - our Alps trip!  This year the destination is Saint Andre in the French Alps!




Brief wing testing video:

Back to Blossom

Another business trip to LA, so I spent the weekend in San Diego at Ron's new place in Vista.   Jeff and Cuv joined me and we hit blossom again.

We all made it to El Cap this time - special thanks to Phil Russman (Lite Touch Films) for the encouragement to make the jump over the valley when I didn't think I was high enough.

Here's my track.

And a Doarama of my flight.
 


Here's Jeff's video:

Motor fun!

Sorry for the lack of updates - not much flying going on recently.  I used the down time this winter to get some motor maintence out of the way.

Anyway, I got my usual Saturday before Fathers day Hall Pass and used it to go flying!

San Diego Weekend

Rob C, Steve and I had business on the west coast, so we all met up in San Diego for some flying.  Jeff straggled out and joined us.

Rob, Steve and I flew Soboba on Friday and it rocked.

Then we hit Torrey Saturday morning, then Blossom Saturday afternoon and Sunday.  Great time and excellent flying, especially Blossom, although no one managed a run to El Cap and back.

My Soboba track is here.


One of my Blossom tracks here.





Some video from Blossom:

Ozone Ultralight 3- Mini Review

Received an Ozone UL3 in a 25M late last week. Incredibly light and small. 


I laid it out against a S swift 2 and a MS Geo3 - looks to be the same size and shape as a small Element 2.  The size of the risers is sick - so small, thin and light!

Photo comparison of the UL3 on the left, compared to a Swift 2 on the right, along with the light risers:

I put about 4 hours flight time on the UL3 last weekend at Torrey Pines. It was all ridge lift with the exception of one climb in the house thermal on the south side. Glide is better than expected and because I am light on the wing, I was usually the highest glider on the ridge.

My all up weight is 79kg and I was flying the 25M size with an Advance Lightness harness.

The good:

• launching is a breeze... very stable overhead too.
• very responsive, once you learn to give it quick, deep inputs
• surprisingly good glide - a bit less that 7.5:1 but I think I am light on the wing.
• typical smooth ozone handling
• love the light weight and packing size
• love the light brake handles - very comfortable, especially with taking a wrap.
• very easy to make a flat turn, without the need of outside brake

The not so good:

• the light risers are a pain in the ass to sort
• no brake line snap - just some velcro that doesn't work well. will be modifying that.
• glider seemed very slow (but I am coming from an A2/Swift2 as my usual wing)
• the speed system requires a good bit of pressure to engage
• weighshift is not that great, but once you get in a turn initiated, its easy to keep it in the turn without needing brake

Love the glider, but I think I am going to sell it and get a 23M. I got the larger size because I intended to use it for vol biv trips and wanted a better glide, but I think the 23 will be just fine and also give me a bit more speed for mountain flying where there are high valley winds.

Here is a quick video of a short flight in very light conditions at Torrey... I top landed after a single pass rather than risk a hike up from the beach.  


UL3 First Flight from Rob Reynolds on Vimeo.

Switzerland 2012 - Wrapup

Another great time in the Jungfrau - lots of flying and on the 2 days that were not flyable we did some hiking/exploring and rented downhill mountain bikes.  Loads of fun.

Here's some photo's from the week.

Parawaiting:

Rob C:

Launching at Mannlichen:

 

The crew, going for a hike:

 Hiking to the Lauberhorn:

 The crew, starting the muddy ride down:

 Post ride:

 

The town square slackline provided hours of entertainment... especially on the way home from the bar:

 

 Steve at the top of the Shilthorn:

 Jeff:

Steve:

Rob R:

Switzerland - Just a little taste!

We all made it to Switzerland - Jeff, Rob, Steve and I.  Today we took the train from Wengen to Niesen to fly this famous mountain site.

The valley winds were strong and we should have stayed in lea in front of launch.  We didn't.  Everyone had good flights but the landings in the valley were interesting.  Rob and I landed at the official LZ in a howling valley wind and lots of thermic bumps.  I was on full speedbar until about 6ft above the gound and barely penetrating.

Jeff and Steve landed in a tiny field near the train station.  They were about 2 miles up the valley and the winds were not as bad for them.  Rob and I got a nice workout hiking to meet them.

Looks like its gonna be a good week!

Sample from today's flying:

A Peaceful Sunday Morning at Torrey Pines

Spent the weekend with Jeff & Rob in San Diego.  Got to put some hours on the new Swift 2 - very pleased.  Love this glider.  Handles great, good glide & excellent speed.  Glides really well at half bar too.


Can't wait to hit the Alps with my new ultralight setup - Swift 2, Advance Lightness harness & a  Plum ultralight reserve.

Here's a bit of video from Sunday morning.

Peaceful Sunday Soaring

New GEO 3 for Sale.

UPDATE:  Glider is sold. Thanks!

Since the buyer I had lined up for my Geo 3 backed out at the last minute, its back on the market.

This is a custom color scheme Ozone Geo 3 in size Medium-Small. Colors are White/Light Blue/White/Blue and it has the standard risers.

Brand new, been out of the bag and flown for less than 6 hours from a grassy coastal ridge soaring site(Torrey Pines).

I purchased in December but didn't get the chance to fly it until this weekend. During that time, I lost weight and also went to a lighter weight harness and reserve. The result was I'm too light on this glider now. I am about 1/4 into the weight range.

Glider performed great but handling was sluggish. Once I added almost 10kg (21lbs) of ballast, it was a different glider.

I highly recommend flying this glider in the upper third of the weigh range (above 87kg - 190lbs or so - its a much better handling glider when loaded up.

Comes with inner stuff sack, speed bar, ultralight concertina pack. and light rucksack. Rucksack is brand new. I ordered a new one for this glider since the original rucksack that came with it got a bit scuffed from checking my kit on the flight out to San Diego.

Free ground shipping in the lower 48 US states.

Asking $2600 but make an offer, I need to move it fast as I have already replaced this glider with a smaller wing.

More info on the Geo 3 at:

http://flyozone.com/paragliders/en/products/gliders/geo-iii/info/

Weekend Trip to Torrey Pines

The DN's and I (Jeff, Steve, Rob) too a quick trip out to Torry this weekend to fly and go to the supercross races. Great time, got to fly Friday, Saturday & Sunday and had press box seats at the Supercross races thanks to Christina at RoostMX.

Take aways from the weekend:

- The Geo 3 needs to be flown at the top of the weigh range... handled very poorly with the light weight harness and reserve. When I backed 20lbs of ballast into the harness, WOW! Completely different glider.

- The Geo has a great sink rate for a EN B glider; until you push the speed bar. Sucker drops like a rock on full bar.

- Fared harnesses make all the difference. Jeff was on the top of the stack all weekend and we didn't know if it was because of his new Alpina or the fared harness (Impress 3). So he switched gliders with Rob C (Rush 3) and was still on top of the stack, even with moving down to a EN B glider. The drag reduction of the fared harness is significant.

- Rush 3 vs Alpina - hands up, the sink rate is about the same, but the Alpina is faster and turns better. Since this was Torrey, the air was smooth, so it will be interesting to see how the Alpina handles in the mountains.

Given the weight issue that I have with the Geo, I need a smaller size, so the I have a Medium-Small Geo3 for sale. Ping me if you want a great EN B hike & fly wing cheap.

2011 Alps trip - 3 Week Countdown

T minus 3 weeks until our annual paragliding trip to the Alps. We are headed back to Switzerland for the 3rd straight year. While the Swiss Franc's continue pummeling of the dollar doesn't make it nearly the affordable flying vacation it was 3 years ago, the sheer number of flying sites and their diversity (thermal, acro, turn & burn, extended sledders with a view), along with excellent public transport, stellar food and luxury accommodations keeps us coming back.

Once again our base will be in Wengen, where we scored the same apartment as last year (Thanks Mrs. Paterson!) on the top floor of the old Eiger Hotel. I'm sure Jeff & Rob will be terrorizing the locals at the Monkey Bar until 2 in the morning again this year.

Here's a taste of why we continue to go there - great video from Jeff of last year's flying.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sqrIpPopYI