Light weight jumper needs to fall FASTER!

[Shredex 0]

Tonysuit Spacesuit $290 new.
http://www.tonysuits.com/jumpsuits/spacesuit.php4

Get all supplex or spandex arms and back for extra slipperyness

[chuckakers 426]

Quote

not sure if you lot are taking the piss, but....

in student gear, wearing a baggy "normal" material suit I was falling at around the 95mph mark.

I didnt want to wear lead, so I bought a Symbiosis LOPO, which is Nylon Taffeta fronted, with spandex arms and generally a tight fit.

My fall rate is now in the 130's.

Part of your change in fallrate can probably be credited to experience. Students & novices often fall considerably slower than more experienced jumpers because they are stiff. As they gain experience they begin to relax, arch better with their back and hips, and speed up.

The only true test is back-to-back jumps with both suits and the same body position. I doubt you will see a 35-40 mph difference from a change of jumpsuits alone unless the suit you described as a baggy "normal" suit was REALLY "baggy", and even then a 40 mph difference would be pretty incredible.

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[richardw38 0]

well I wouldn't describe the student suit as mc hammer pants or anything. you are probably right, about body position. I am probably a little more relaxed now as well. The suit definitely has made a noticeable difference tho.

I might borrow a student suit and compare just for interests sake.

[cbuffalino 0]

So I went out this weekend and obviously didn't have a jumpsuit to use but I was able to get down to the formation on a couple jumps when I was second out chasing the base on speedstar attempts. I overshot a couple times actually, but had a little more success than previously. I id'd a couple things I'm doing that are wasting time and increasing separation so working on those problems should help as my skill improves.

I had the most success when I was the base and people flew to my relative position because it decreased the amount of work I had to do to get to another jumper and I linked up twice.

It's really discouraging not to be able to get to the group which happened on a few jumps and I guess it's just something I'll have to learn with time. Improving my body position helped and once I can get into a good jumpsuit I'm sure my range will improve a bit. I'm going to be doing some coaching soon to get some usable feedback. Most of the guys I jump with are more paying attention to getting in rather than what each individual is doing right or wrong. I got some video that I'll be going over soon so that's a good tool to have.

Thanks everyone for all the help and advice!

Never give up on something you can't go a day without thinking about.