getting high on four ways

[Croc 0]

I have a tendency to float and sometimes it happens that I get in a situation where I remain 30-40' above three people. What is the best way to handle this potentially dangerous situation? How best to determine when and where to track?

"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

[billvon 3,111]

The easy answer is don't get high. If you can stay 30 feet above them, you can stay 1 foot above them (or on level.) It's a mental thing for some people. Weights can help, as can choosing your 4 way partners carefully.

[D22369 0]

Listen to what Bill said, some people, (like myself) need to wear them to play with others, also, you might think about a tighter jumpsuit, or one with a slicker material....


If you do float, be very carefull at breakoff, the low man may not see you and if you track over someone when they dump,...........BRRRRRRR nasty things happen.....

Roy

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[Evelyn 0]

I also have a tendency to float, even with my 13 lbs. of lead and tight slick jumpsuit. When I'm above the formation and can't get back down I will backslide and watch them from a distance. Then when they start to track I just turn 180 and track off in the opposite direction. I've learned to watch others while I'm tracking cuz I've jumped with some really new jumpers who will track in a circle, and also when jumping with a lot of people sometimes people end up going the same direction. I think the key is to watch others as your tracking and look around before you deploy. Anyway, that's what works for me.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing ~ Helen Keller

[Croc 0]

Thanks. I think I need to work on my arch and be more careful who I jump with before I try weights, but I'll keep it in mind.

"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

[Croc 0]

That's pretty much what I've been doing--just was wondering if there was some procedure that was normally followed in this situation. Thanks.

"Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so."

Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

"I think I need to work on my arch and be more careful who I jump with before I try weights"

While both of those are a good idea, I think some people make the mistake of believing that smaller people need to "learn to fall faster" or "get more experience" before they start to wear weights. The truth is that some people simply fall so slowly that weights are necessary both for them to fly well and to fly safely.
I am, at 5'7" and about 130 lbs, very small for a guy, so I feel your pain. The first thing you should do, if you haven't already, is buy a skin-tight jumpsuit with a nylon front... it makes a HUGE difference... but sometimes that just isn't enough.

If you regularly experience any of the following, you probably need to wear some weights:
-you can get down to and stay with the formation, but only in a hard arch
-you're OK as long as you're holding onto someone, but as soon as you transition to the next point, you have to really work to stay down
-you find that every time you try to make a turn or move forward, it makes you start to float

Weights can dramatically improve your flying, while being completely "invisible" from the saftey side of things, as long as you work with them gradually, and take care not to overload your canopy (10 or 15 lbs can really affect performance, especially on the smaller canopies that smaller people tend to fly).

I wore 6 lbs of weight and a really tight jumpsuit right off student status, just to be able to fly with anyone. I learned to fly well fairly quickly, but I would have a lot of "glitches" that I couldn't explain... most of them could be described by the list above. After looking at a lot of videos, I started to hear several people say that it appeared that I was having trouble staying with the formation, and maybe I should consider MORE weight. I tried it, a few jumps at a time, in 2 lb increments, and with each addition I could feel that the flying was easier. By the time I got to 14 lbs, it seemed like all the "glitches" had gone away... in just a couple dozen jumps I appeared to make a gigantic leap in flying skill... of course, I didn't really get that much better, it was just that I could take all the effort I was putting into falling faster and use it to fly better. Not only that, but I wasn't crashing into people from above, so I felt safer, as well.

To underscore all of this, about a year later, I joined a 4-way team of fast-falling jumpers, all with exit weights around 200-250 lbs, and all the problems that I had gotten rid of came back. This time I recognized them, and started to increase again... I found that I needed 18 pounds to fly with that team... for the whole year, I wore 18 with the team and 14 with anyone else, and it worked beautifully!

Anyway, back to the point: you can only do so much to fall faster, and it's never really too early to try some weights, just take it slow, and watch how you load your canopy... that 18 lbs changed my wingloading from 1.11 to 1.24; not something you would want to do overnight. And you might not need nearly that much... my 18 pounds is a pretty extreme case.

If you do decide to invest in weights, you will need to consider what kind to buy... I personally recommend a belt over a vest, as I find them more comfortable and they often can carry more weight. One of the best belt designs out there is the LeadBelly, which you can find in the gear section of www.4-way.org.
It can carry up to about 20 lbs and is so comfortable you almost won't notice you're wearing it, especially if it's outside of your jumpsuit. They run about $80-$150 including shipping, depending on how much weight you need and wether you're willing to sew the weights up yourself.

I hope this helps... sorry to be so long-winded.

Blue Skies!

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."