ChutingStar Skydive News

As we wrapped up our final ChutingStar Parachute Rigging School course for 2019, I ended up placing this group's canopy patch right above our first course patch from 2008. Detailed memories of that first course 11 years ago are starting to fade, but fresh in my mind are all of those riggers and riggers-to-be who birthed what the ChutingStar Rigging Family has become today.

With the help of the late great Hell Yeah Jack Hammer and ultra detail-oriented Ryan Vosser, we kicked off the first-ever ChutingStar Rigging School in 2008 by pouring all of our knowledge, tips and tricks into John Barnes, Warren Cleary and John Dean. Warren, who didn't technically sign-up for the course, was woken up from the bunkhouse that morning and was told he had to take the course. Ha! He would later work for ChutingStar, become the lead instructor for our rigging courses for several years and earn his Master Rigger certificate. Continue reading →

ChutingStar's newsletter will help you stay in the know on the latest skydiving gear with links to new gear, expert advice blog articles and coupon codes for special event sales. Our e-mail information blasts are short and sweet...getting you the info you need to know quickly and allowing you to click over if you need the full scoop. Sign up at this link, or click the image above. You can unsubscribe, or resubscribe, at any time. Continue reading →

It was just more than 20 years ago that ChutingStar came into existence, originally as just a skydiving rigger inspecting, assembling, repairing and packing reserve parachutes on nights, weekends and in-between my "real job" of the time of being a newspaper reporter and editor. My first year rigging grew quickly as I became the main rigger on the drop zone, and was a skydive instructor as well as a rigger, fun jumper, swooper and 4-way competitor. My wife Stephanie pushed me over the edge into giving ChutingStar my full-time attention as I was running out of time to get everything done each day between my newspaper job, skydiving/rigging and still trying to play drums in local bands. I had to choose between one of those three to fully pursue...and ChutingStar it was. Continue reading →

Advanced Aerospace Designs released a new service bulletin on April 19, 2018, for all sport versions of the Vigil II and 2+ with firmware versions 05.05, 05.05, 06.01 and 06.02.

This does not affect any of the current model Vigil Cuatro or Military Vigil units.

According to the bulletin, the affected units will enter a CTRL-ERR mode if the air pressure is less than 300 hPa, which is at approximately 30,000 feet.

Continue reading →

ChutingStar's Crew would love to attend every event and boogie each year!

Unfortunately we can't physically be at every boogie, but we can help you and your skydivers in other ways. Read about the three different options below, and contact the ChutingStar Crew about attending or supporting your next boogie! Continue reading →

With the release of the STELLA electronic analog altimeter by LB Altimeters (aka Larsen & Brusgaard), skydivers are living in a brand new world of analog altimeters to choose from.

Even manufacturer Mads Larsen was surprised by the demand and response a few days before initial STELLA orders shipped out.

"The STELLA seems to have become very popular..." he told ChutingStar.

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Marissa Barclay's unique combination of a love of creating art for other people and her late father's business knowledge has skydivers worldwide flocking to her to transform their bland helmets into flying works of art.

Marissa has only been skydiving since 2013, but like most of us, she fell in love with the sport, culture and people immediately. She painted up her first skydiving helmet with her favorite animal, a crow. In this social media world, her posts of this helmet created a buzz in the skydiving community, and she soon found out there was a full-time market for customizing skydiving gear.

Compass & Crow Studios was born.

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Advanced Aerospace Designs, manufacturer of the Vigil AAD, sent out a new Product Service Bulletin today that affects more than 1900 Vigil AAD units with cutters manufactured this year.

The PSB is a mandatory cutter inspection requiring each cutter to be sent back to Vigil America or AAD. The inspection is due to a severed closing loop due to rough edges inside a Vigil cutter. The manufacturer will be inspecting each of these cutters for sharp or rough edges for repair or replacement, and then return to each skydiver.

To see if your cutter is affected, see the SN's on the full PSB here:  Vigil PSB 01-2015.

Continue reading →

Lesley Gale of Skydivemag.com interviewed ChutingStar's Mike Gruwell last month about the past, present and future of skydiving's largest skydiving gear retailer.

Curious about how the business came to be? Read on for the full scoop on how we all became to be G'd Up!

Continue reading →

Johannesburg Skydiving Club, November 9-11, 2013 Continue reading →