Asking for Opinions

[shward 0]

Alright, I am asking this simply to get some other opinions from experienced skydivers outside my home DZ. I have been jumping for about two years now, with multiple breaks due to military deployments. I just applied for my "B" license and have 63 jumps to date. I originally started on at 260 and down-sized to a 230 when I had about 30 jumps. I just dropped down to a 210 and have yet to land hard, I’ve had to PLF a couple of times but nothing that I didn’t walk away from. I’m 6’ and 220lbs. My wife is concerned that I’m dropping square footage too fast, she’s a non-jumper an usually on the EXTREME safe side. My question is, am I dropping size too fast?

Secondly, I’d like to start learning to sit-fly. A buddy of mine wants to learn in a tunnel, which I’m not opposed to, just want to ask what is the best way… 1minute at a time in the air or 30 minutes in a tunnel?

Thanks in advance to all who respond.

Life is short, eat more bacon, have more sex and jump anytime you can!!

[Amazon 7]

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Alright, I am asking this simply to get some other opinions from experienced skydivers outside my home DZ. I have been jumping for about two years now, with multiple breaks due to military deployments. I just applied for my "B" license and have 63 jumps to date. I originally started on at 260 and down-sized to a 230 when I had about 30 jumps. I just dropped down to a 210 and have yet to land hard, I’ve had to PLF a couple of times but nothing that I didn’t walk away from. I’m 6’ and 220lbs. My wife is concerned that I’m dropping square footage too fast, she’s a non-jumper an usually on the EXTREME safe side. My question is, am I dropping size too fast?

Secondly, I’d like to start learning to sit-fly. A buddy of mine wants to learn in a tunnel, which I’m not opposed to, just want to ask what is the best way… 1minute at a time in the air or 30 minutes in a tunnel?

Thanks in advance to all who respond.

Its all about the currency for jumping the canopys. Upsize to the larger canopy for now and do the whole Billvon downsizing thing. When you can do all the things suggested and are current, then downsize. Breaking yourself is not fun, err on the side of safety and you will be jumping for years to come. Don't get in a rush to display your mAd SkIlLz like how to break a femur. Of course if you do decide to display MaD sKiLlZ be sure to get video.

As far as sit flying, if you have the finances to get in the tunnel ... do it and get a good coach. The tunnel is an awsum learning tool where you can concentrate on just developing you back flying and then your sit( usual progression I have seen in the tunnel)

[skydiverkeith 1]

I can't believe how many posts there are about downsizing!

If you have to ask if you're downsizing too quickly, then you are.

Otherwise the thought wouldn't have occurred to you...

You won't see guys with 500 jumps after a canopy control course making a move from 1.1:1 - 1.2:1 and then saying "hmmm, I wonder if I'm downsizing too quickly..." (don't take that sentence too literaly. You get the point!)

Blue skies,
Keith Medlock

[shward 0]

Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but I wasn't the one who had the thought, my paranoid wife is the one who won't leave it alone. I think the reason is, a few weekends ago, she saw a guy with 30 jumps drop down to a 150sqft chute, ingoring advise, and then smear himself all over the LZ. It scared her and she doesn't want that to happen to me. The ST&A at the DZ has no problem with me on a 210 and I'm not looking to downsize again for the forseeable future. I understand that she is concerned, but I think she's going overboard.

Life is short, eat more bacon, have more sex and jump anytime you can!!

[beowulf 1]

I think it would easier and quicker to learn to sit fly in the tunnel then the sky. I learned in the sky and have had to fix bad habits in the tunnel.

[SEREJumper 1]

Billvon's canopy checklist:
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=792344;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

Brian Germain's downsizing chart:
http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf

Read the post and think about it. Can you do all those items, in no wind/ windy conditions? Have you taken a professional canopy control course?

At 63 jumps, most jumpers canopy skills are still very basic. You are slightly over 1:1 on the 230.

What is it that you want to get out your canopy? More speed, swooping, get to the ground faster, hate to admit your on a 230? I made the mistake of buying a 170 loaded at 1:3 with about a 100 jumps, could I land it, yeah most of the time, but things happened very quickly and I really had no room for error on calm days. Windy days were pretty easy. I wish I would have stayed at 1:1 a lot longer, but I listened to guys that said "you'll be fine on a 170".

Luckily, a military assignment forced me to upsize to a Navigator 220/ 130 jumps, then Spectre 230/ 350 jumps, then Spectre 210/ 800 jumps. I still have fun on my 210, you just have to know how to get everything out of it. I definitely feel more comfortable on my personal 170 because of the learning curve I gained on the downsizing (who would have guessed).

My advice, stay with the 230, read billvon's post, read Brian Germain's book "The canopy and it's pilot", take a canopy control course, squeeze every inch of performance out of the 230, figure out what you want to get out of your canopy flight and why.

Learn to backfly then your sit in a tunnel by a good coach. But then again, I would say get really good on your belly first. What are your goals in skydiving?

I'm confident to say, I'm not going to downsize past a 170. Why? It does everything I want it to, for my goals in the sport.

We're not fucking flying airplanes are we, no we're flying a glorified kite with no power and it should be flown like one! - Stratostar

[PhreeZone 20]

Remember from your A and B test studying the general rule of thumb that the USPA recommends is that for your first 100 jumps that should be on a canopy that is loaded at 1:, then for the 100 (up to 200 jumps total) after that you shouldn't exceed 1.1:1.

If you are 220 with out gear that is putting you at 245 with gear out the door. Is a 210 loaded at near that range? Its at 1.16, its close but its on the aggressive side for where you should be in your canopy progression. If your S&TA and 3 or more instructors that actually watch you fly and land all agree that the 210 is good for you I would stay a that canopy for a while before looking smaller.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[DigitalDave 0]

Just wanted to add that Brian's book is called "The Parachute and it's Pilot".

[thrillstalker 0]

If the dzo and/or s&ta have given you the green light, then go for it. I would follow the advice of people who know you and your abilities over some Internet opinions.

"Never grow a wishbone, where your backbone ought to be."

[timmyfitz 0]

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If you have to ask if you're downsizing too quickly, then you are.

Or it could be he truly doesn't know and is asking for advice instead of just doing it. Jumping to conclusions is not the best way to give advice.

[skydiverkeith 1]

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If you have to ask if you're downsizing too quickly, then you are.

Or it could be he truly doesn't know and is asking for advice instead of just doing it. Jumping to conclusions is not the best way to give advice.

I didn't give him "advice". I gave him my opinion because that is what he wanted. The subject of the thread is "Asking for Opinions".

But seriously, I still feel that if he weren't downsizing too quickly, you wouldn't need to ask. If he was 100% comfortable with his ability to downsize and went through the downsizing checklist and had done half brake landings, crosswind landing, downwind landings, double fronts, front riser turns, rear riser turns, flat turns, stall, and always has soft, accurate, stand up landings, then he wouldn't be wondering if he was downsizing too soon.

Thats the great thing about forums. You get a variety of opinions from which you may take what you need and leave the rest.

Blue skies,
Keith Medlock

[burtonjm 0]

Are you saying that I should not downsize until I have done landings using double fronts and front riser turns?

This shit, right here, is OK

[skydiverkeith 1]

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Are you saying that I should not downsize until I have done landings using double fronts and front riser turns?

Sorry I wasn't clear. I didn't mean landing following a double front, or front riser turn. I was refering to playing with them up high to have knowledge of how the canopy reacts to the input.

Blue skies,
Keith Medlock

[timmyfitz 0]

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If you have to ask if you're downsizing too quickly, then you are.

Or it could be he truly doesn't know and is asking for advice instead of just doing it. Jumping to conclusions is not the best way to give advice.

I didn't give him "advice". I gave him my opinion because that is what he wanted. The subject of the thread is "Asking for Opinions".

But seriously, I still feel that if he weren't downsizing too quickly, you wouldn't need to ask. If he was 100% comfortable with his ability to downsize and went through the downsizing checklist and had done half brake landings, crosswind landing, downwind landings, double fronts, front riser turns, rear riser turns, flat turns, stall, and always has soft, accurate, stand up landings, then he wouldn't be wondering if he was downsizing too soon.

And the fact still remains that he ask a question because he may not know what is considered good recommendations before downsizing. The list you present is good but he may not know about those task and therefore is asking questions. He is a new jumper after all, not highly experienced like yourself.

It would have been helpful if you would have included your list of task to complete before downsizing in your original post instead of just saying "If you have to ask if you're downsizing too quickly, then you are".

[skydiverkeith 1]

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Quote

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If you have to ask if you're downsizing too quickly, then you are.

Or it could be he truly doesn't know and is asking for advice instead of just doing it. Jumping to conclusions is not the best way to give advice.

I didn't give him "advice". I gave him my opinion because that is what he wanted. The subject of the thread is "Asking for Opinions".

But seriously, I still feel that if he weren't downsizing too quickly, you wouldn't need to ask. If he was 100% comfortable with his ability to downsize and went through the downsizing checklist and had done half brake landings, crosswind landing, downwind landings, double fronts, front riser turns, rear riser turns, flat turns, stall, and always has soft, accurate, stand up landings, then he wouldn't be wondering if he was downsizing too soon.

And the fact still remains that he ask a question because he may not know what is considered good recommendations before downsizing. The list you present is good but he may not know about those task and therefore is asking questions. He is a new jumper after all, not highly experienced like yourself.

It would have been helpful if you would have included your list of task to complete before downsizing in your original post instead of just saying "If you have to ask if you're downsizing too quickly, then you are".

Good point. Very true.

Blue skies,
Keith Medlock

[sinjin 0]

Everyone is talking about canopy choice and skydiving. It seems to me keeping the wife happy might be a better idea. If it means using a slightly bigger canopy for some jumps, it is worth it for better home life IMHO. It seems, if it really wasnt a big deal to her, you wouldnt bring it up here. Make the little woman happy, it will probably pay off in the long run. The smaller canopies will always be there, the wife maybe not.

Also consider what happens if you land off or do a night jump. You will wish you had that extra square footage overhead head.

dont let life pass you by

[stclaire2003 0]

Today I got the best advice I could have received on this very topic. I was reminded that Although I could theoretically downsize right now (according to Germains chart and my landings), would I really be ready for a smaller canopy in adverse conditions? I havent really experienced anything controversial in the sport yet.

I exit at 190lbs and fly a 210. Yes, I could fly a 190 now but what happens when winds shift, or theres a near colision, or something crazy happens? That downsize could mean the difference between a sprained ankle or a broken one.

So maybe that larger canopy isnt such a bad thing for awhile. I think for some people, the size of their canopy an ego thing..... Id rather take an ego-hit then 6 weeks in traction.

Just sayin......