Freefalling or under canopy?

[wndrer73 0]

In the AFF classes, we have to pull between 5,500 feet (L1) and 4,000 feet (L8)... Well, after all the classes are done, do you guys prefer being in freefall for a longer time for the pure exhileration of it all... or do you like to open your chute early (say... 10000 feet or even sooner) and enjoy a peaceful slow descent towards the Earth?
Just curious... Somebody posted earlier that they've seen birds fly with them while under the canopy and it's an amazing feeling! I just wonder what is more thrilling for most people... freefall time, or canopy time? Or both, equally?
Sorry if this question has been asked a billion times.... forgive this newbie!
"Uh-oh, he's dead!" -- My video/photographer, after my first tandem jump

[skyhawk 2]

its both for me on my last jump on student gear i pulled high like 8-10 cuase it was the sunset load and just enjoyed it for about 1 min then the storm clounds started to head towards me so i got down as quik as i could :0
i like to pull low enough that i get as much freefall as possible but i can still play around under cannopy
the only thing you learn at school is to memorize

[Cornholio 0]

After only jumping twice, and having both of them open around 5500- 4500, I feel pretty comfortable with that altitude. I hear that more experienced divers like to open around 2500-3000 and that scares the shit out of me... I would rather open higher (at least 4k) and then have time to mess around and enjoy the ride, or spend the time dealing with mals (should they happen to rear their ugly head.) Maybe over time that will change.
Did you guys/gals feel the same way when you started jumping, and then gradually start to open lower and lower...
And right now, I like being under canopy much better than freefall, but I think it's just that fear thing that is keeping me from enjoying to it's fullest until my canopy opens.

[ltdiver 3]

For me, it's all in the friends you have with you at the time. Freefall and/or under canopy! Memories from past and present all flood back in wonderful feelings.
And yes, that red tailed hawk playing with me while I was under canopy there in Palm Springs will always stand clear as one of the best.
sigh,
ltdiver
__________________________________________
http://www.discover.net/~ltdiver

[NewGuy 0]

Luv them both... If I could only extend the time of one or the other, I would extend the freefall time.
Everyone once and a while it would be nice to do a canopy ride from 10K if we didn't have the restrictions at our DZ (air traffic requires us to deploy below 5K).
Then again, its sometimes nice to just hop n' pop... ahh, the tough choices of the skydiving life...
Cheers,
NewGuy

[Jabeln79 0]

For me its all about the Free fall. Simply I love it. Nothing else quite like it. Even on Hop N Pops. Before winter i use to always dump at 3500 or above since winter and all we could do were H N P's i have found my dump alti to be right about 3k down to 2.5K Altough some fellow jumpers want to start doing some CRW and i geuss i would have to open a little higher.
Blue Skies
Joe
"When they say jump you say how high" RATM

[Scratch 0]

The only time pulling at 10000k is worth it is when you have a couple of cans of beer inside your jumpsuit and a sunset to watch on a hot summer evening.

[Scratch 0]

Oops
Make that 10k or 10000ft...you choose

[kingbunky 3]

i was going to say, 10000k would be the ultimate high load!
"Jumping out of planes for the thrill of it all."
-J.Geils Band

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

Quote

Did you guys/gals feel the same way when you started jumping

When I did my first jump, I was amazed to hear of people pulling at 3k or less, now I'm one of them !!! I dump at 3k usually, but have gone lower - once on a student jump oops !!
You shouldn't put a knife in the toaster - but you're an adult now !!!

[Kelly 0]

right now, its definitally canopy time that i enjoy most. A friend introduced me to high altitude (13,500ft) hop and pops when i had around 20 some jumps and the awesomeness of it still 100%. I prefer canopy time mostly because so many worries are already behind you by then and because its just plain fun. I remember one jump.. at 8,000ft. Damo was on my right... we look over and see test jumpers jumping tandem systems. They road up to alititude with the rest of us then rode the plane back down to 8grand b/c they were pulling high, doing test jumps etc.etc. so they were getting out last and low. So there we are under canopy at 8,000ft and we look over and see them, also at 8,000 ft (a good distance away) exit, deploy the drouge, freefall, watched the camera guy break off, and deploy the main. Being under canopy and seeing that really gave me a feel for freefall drift. You could plainly see them falling on an angle. It was the most awesome sight ive ever seen. What really made me smile though was to have Damo, an experienced Freeflyer with a couple of thousand jumps look back at me screaming and smiling about how awesome that was. It felt like it was a moment in time we werent normally ment to witness but got lucky and happened to be in the right place at the right time..
I pull high on every jump, conditions permitting. Something about being under canopy.. I cant put the correct words to it, but its awesome. You can fly around, talk to friends, control most every little movement. Plus, you get to sit back and look around. Pretty sweet if ya ask me.
kel
http://kel197.tripod.com/skydivefriendsTRIPOD/

[freeflir29 0]

I almost always pull at 3K. I have started to occasionally pull a little higher so I can hang out and then swoop without fighting all the "Spiral" traffic. It seems we have lots of people that like to spiral......and then clog the landing area with there relatively large canopies. Makes me want to downsize just so I can beat them down......"I only have a C license, so I don't know shit..right?"-Clay

[nws01 0]

I love both the freefall and the canopy ride. Where I deploy really depends on what jump I am doing. If it is a RW four way we always break off at 4k and track which means deploying between 2.5 and 3k. If it is a RW 6 way we we break off at 4.5k and deploy about the same.
If it is a solo jump I will usually deploy at 4k which is what break off normally is and I play with the canopy. I Love doing hop and pops.
At first I was nervous. I had about 15 jumps and some of the instructors were going to do a track dive. I was watching them dirt dive when Ken one of them looked over and said Nathan come here your in this dive. I walked over and he told me to jump out, grab on to so and so's legs. Then two other people would grab my legs and we would track. At 8k the front man would go head down and break at 4k. Terry looked over at me and noticed I was as white as could be. Breathe he said. I tried to as much as I could. After completing the dive I was as excited as I could possible be. Watching break off and seeing everyone else track away. I deployed at about 3k and saw people deploy below me. That is when I realized that at 4k you still have plenty of time to seperate and deploy.
Nathan

[LawnDart21 0]

Back when I was a dumb ass......LOL, I used to like to jump at 14,000ft, and open up around 10,000ft on sunset loads. I would light up a cigarette (that being the dumb ass part) and turn my canopy towards the white mountains (great view) and just smoke a couple of cigarettes and relax. Now before you go accusing my of being a total dumb ass, it was always on borrowed canopies........LOL
"I live to EFS"
Tom

[skybytch 273]

It's all about the freefall. The canopy ride is just a way to slow down and land safely.
Think about it - in freefall you're flying your body, under canopy you're flying a collapsible wing.... if we could dispense with the parachute all together and just fly I'd be ecstatic...
pull and flare,
lisa
--
What would Scooby Doo?

[freeflir29 0]

"if we could dispense with the parachute all together and just fly I'd be ecstatic..."
You can...but it only works really well the first time..."I only have a C license, so I don't know shit..right?"-Clay

[AggieDave 6]

I love the freefall, though I do enjoy canopy time. Every once in a while I'll pull high and play with my canopy. Its fun to get a friend up there with you, too. A buddy of mine (flyingferret) and myself have done that a couple times, we'll swoop in on each other, flying around each other, playing with desend rates under canopy, etc. Just be careful if you do it with someone else up there, you can end up with some unintentinal CReW, which could end up very bad if you're not prepared for it (read: hook knife).
Something you should try is a day where the winds are cooking, go do a cross country, get a group of people to go with you. Bring a cell phone, just incase you land way off the airport and have fun. "Wait...are you selling Penis Mighters?"

[Brokeneagle 0]

Freefall time, definitely-- the beauty of the earth spread out beneath you while your friends and you play high above- ahhhhhhhh ....... Brokeneagle.
I'm really very gentle, no matter what my kung-fu teacher says...

[msdeva 0]

As a student - I loved the canopy ride because it was relaxing (unlike the freefall which was stressful).
After I got my A and was able to start jumping with others, I liked freefall more...
But now that I have a Stiletto 120 - I like them both equally.
I normally wave off around 4 and pull about 3,5 - I have a pull-out, so I like to give myself a couple extra seconds to 'pull' - literally.
At sunset - I normally pull higher to enjoy the peace and marvel at the sky.
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

[ShortBus 0]

right now its all about Freefall baby. student jumps were stressfull and i wasnt that into freefall because i was worried about passing. i dont have many jumps (40) but right now i need to get more skillfull in the air, i cant do that under canopy so 3k-2.5k ill deploy
Dan
"get on the bus"

[bill2 0]

I like both. The freefall is fast and exhilarating, and the canopy ride is relaxing. I usually pull around 4.5K to give myself plenty of time to handle any problems, but since I just got myself a rig I've been pulling around 6k and playing with the canopy.

[StevieBoy 0]

When I was on consol's I pulled at 4k every time, (someone somewhere is still watching)!! Now I wave at 3k, stall a little & think wow, at that point I seem to be able to see myself from above screaming towards Mother Earth, not too sure of total canopy out alti ( be nice to know though), but by the time I do my checks I'm still high enough to chop,
"Skydiving's a source, it'll change your life, swear to God"

[Spy38W 0]

Depends, on student status I got pretty used to pulling at 4.5 - 5 and being the last one to land, stayed like that for my first few jumps, then had a day were all we could get were HnP's from 6 because of clouds so we had did some 6 way RWs and I started pulling at 3, then 2.5, and have wandered down to 2 a couple of times. I do want to pull high sometime on a sunset load with a beer stuffed in my jumpsuit and a buddy to enjoy the ride.

[Kelly 0]

a quick check of your profile (cause "i stayed like that for a little bit" doesnt give me the impression you've got hundreds of jumps..) and youre profile says you have 40 jumps. Are you actually saying that youve got less than 50 jumps (or a few hundred for that matter) and normally pull at 2.5k, sometimes sucking it down to 2k? WTF? god damn. has nobody noticed this and told you to get your head out of the sand and realize you need to be pulling higher?
just being the safety (nazi) i am....
http://kel197.tripod.com/skydivefriendsTRIPOD/

[spinmaster 0]

For me it's both. On my AFF level 1, I miss read one of the JM's and pulled at 8500'. [shockedl] Well, it was actually quite fun. Sense then I've liked both. The high alt view is increadable...nothing like hanging a mile + over the ground. On the other hand...droping close enough to read signs on the ground has a unique perspective all it own.
BEWARE! I have better than 20/15 vision so for me to read a sign at 2-3000' is typical but not for most folks. Never pull low...unless you like broken legs and/or death
Oh, wait, I only have 20 jumps. Don't listen to me....I know even less than Clay.
Spinmaster Dan