Bluhdow

There must be enough of these suits out there now for an objective comparison. I've grown up on the PF line (learned on a P2, now on a Havok) and my next natural step would be a V5. That said, the Colugo is very interesting to me (especially the quick toggle access). Both are targeting very similar buyers so I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks! Apex BASE #1816

I'm not a chef, but when I go to a restaurant and something seems funky I leave. Go check it out. Talk to the instructors. Ask about the program. In person > Internet Apex BASE #1816

Incidents are very rarely related to DZ practices, and almost exclusively related to jumper practices. Incident reports won't tell you much except how many jumpers likely made some poor decisions at a particular DZ. And, as others have indicated, you don't know anything about the sport so the incident details won't be meaningful to you. If you're already asking what kind of legal leverage you may have over a DZ in case you hurt yourself, I'd kindly ask you to find a new sport. Your well being is nobody's resonsibility but your own. If you pound in, it's not on the pilot, it's not on the DZ, it's not on any other jumper...it's on you. Apex BASE #1816

If you're a tandem-only operation you're missing any and all AFF business. Those slots must have decent margins as well. Nobody would want to do AFF at a strictly AFF/Tandem operation either, so just adding the more expensive services wouldn't be terribly helpful. Apex BASE #1816

I've owned both. Currently on the Sabre2. Pilot: Lower performance wing that the Sabre2. Flies very flat, but opens really, really nice. It's a great canopy if you're interested in wingsuiting. The nice openings and flat glide (to get back from a less than perfect pattern) are helpful with wings on. Sabre2: more performance and flare than the Pilot. Flies much steeper and dives a lot harder. Strong flare and more fun to fly and land. Openings can be inconsistent though, with offheadings and turns through your snivel. Learn to fly the openings a bit and you'll be better off. Apex BASE #1816

I have the PX with GoPro visor. My thoughts: Pros: Reduced snag hazard, steadier mount, better camera placement. Cons: You'll need a screwdriver to take camera on/off, lens won't stay up with weight of camera, mount won't fit Hero 3. I like it. I'm glad I have it. Would I buy it again? Maybe. Apex BASE #1816

I think he's right, actually. I know several people who frequent a "90s only" DZ. They are on small canopies doing 90s because they want a better swoop but can't increase the turn. I think the unintended consequence of the limited turn rule is that people will learn to 90 on a canopy and then downsize. Learn to 90 on the new one and downsize, so on and so fourth. All this without ever attempting to learn 180s or greater. I don't think it's the best course of action, but it happens. I've seen it. *Edited for grammar. Apex BASE #1816

After looking at each of the big guys (Vertical, Liquid, Tonfly) I went with Tonfly. Best mix of price, quality, and lead time IMO. Got the .618 - super awesome, super fast. Apex BASE #1816

>What was the last actual rule to be introduced in response to dangerous behaviour? Well, on a local level wingsuits, tracking suits, and tracking dives are all banned in Lodi due to dangerous behavior. That was a couple weeks ago. Apex BASE #1816

I'm more interested in this. How about splitting out another thread? I'm curious about the details...how can somebody cheat? It's all there in the photos/video as far as I know. Apex BASE #1816

Fixed it for you. Nothing is accomplished here by assuming that Icarus pressured him into a small canopy. By all accounts on this thread he seemed to be an aggressive downsizer on his own accord. Icarus could have intervened to stop this behavior, but that's another argument entirely. Apex BASE #1816

The best system I've seen to retain new jumpers is in place at Skydive Elsinore. They offer free coaching a few days a month and have a boogie (Bridge the Gap) once a year that is specifically targeted to new jumpers. Your first couple hundred jumps are hard and not filled with a lot of success stories. Doing a few jumps with a coach that go really well give you a nice boost that keeps up your momentum. Not unlike the golfer who can't shoot under 100...but every couple rounds he'll get a nice eagle or pitch in a birdie that refills his mojo. You can't legislate anything that will keep people around, and you certainly shouldn't lower the barriers to entry. They are there for a reason (to protect you, and me). The fact is that skydiving is hard. It's expensive, it's time-consuming, and more often than not your friends and family aren't going to be thrilled about it. All this combined with the fact that you're going to suck at it for at least a couple hundred jumps...it takes dedication and a love of sport. I think a lot of people like the idea of being a skydiver more than actually skydiving, you'll lose them after 30-40 jumps 100% of the time. Let them go, we don't need them. Apex BASE #1816

Havok all the way. Apex BASE #1816

Exactly. In the never-ending battle to reduce fatalities we seem to forget: "The safer skydiving gear (or law) becomes, the more chances skydivers will take, in order to keep the fatality rate constant." So once all the dust settles we'll have more rules, more red tape, more cost in enforcement, and the same fatality rate. My hallucination is that these potential rules may in fact reduce the total-lack-of-judgement crowd (e.g. Velo at 200 jumps), but I wouldn't be surprised to see the corresponding increase in fatals come from the intermediate skills crowd. Why? Because they will always jump the smallest canopy they "qualify" for per the rules/recs. So how do you counter that? Well make the rules/recs more conservative. So now, as in all law, we'll be legislating to the lowest common denominator. I think another poster put it very well when he/she said something akin to "make everyone wear diapers because one person sh*t their pants." All law inherently reduces freedom, usually the freedom to decide for yourself the best course of action. *Edited for spelling/grammar Apex BASE #1816

Not everything -Joey- said was right (in fact, most wasn't), but this was spot on. Every single time a jumper with 199 jumps suggests that he/she is even aware that camera technology exists the thread deteriorates into exactly what we see above. If you want to shake down jumpers at your local DZ, go ahead. Camera rules are written into the SIM and taught to new jumpers. I was told about it before AFF1. This horse isn't just beaten to death, it's beaten to dust. Apex BASE #1816

I don't fully agree there. Both cutaways seem to have complacency as the root cause. Both jumpers could have made smarter gear decisions, seen the type of suits they jumped. In general we're a safe discipline, but there are (compared to other disciplines like FF and RW) so many people doing dumb things with low deployments, unsafe stunts, stupid gear choices, skimming the airplane tail, outlandings etc etc that (in the eyes of somse DZO's) make us the group that does 10% of the jumps on their DZ, but seemingly causes 50% of the hassle and negative issues. In light of those events, I can see a DZO saying 'screw you guys...'. 2 normal cutaways are usually the result of standard packjobs that don't work accordingly. The cutaways mentioned here, seem to have a mentality problem partly at the basis as a cause. While I'm not ready to quote any specific examples, I suspect that Lodi (and every other dropzone) has had a lot of (more serious) issues in the past related to complacency, without a wingsuit in sight. Is swooping banned there too? How about CRW? Sounds to me like he was ready to ban wingsuits and finally found a "reasonable" excuse. I don't jump there, and I'm not personally impacted, but it's a bummer for the locals. Apex BASE #1816

Before you get too deep into skydiving you should learn how to listen to people who know what they're talking about. It will be important down the line. Apex BASE #1816

That's just some nonsense right there. Not two injuries, not two fatalities, two CUTAWAYS. He's never had 2 cutaways in 2 days from belly jumpers? Bet you anything he has. Apex BASE #1816

I had a .618 delivered to me recently. Awesome looking suit and I'm pretty sure it's indestructible. Came ahead of the quoted time, perfect fit, and they kept me posted on the progress of my order along the way. Highly recommend Tonfly, especially if you don't like waiting 6 months to get your new gear. Apex BASE #1816

I flew a Pilot 132 for about 25 jumps, loaded at 1.4, mostly with a wingsuit (P2 and then Havok). It's a pretty tame canopy. Super consistent and comfortable openings. Line twists were always flat-flying and never an issue. It's a little bit dull to fly and land since it's trimmed so flat...but that's not a big deal for many people. If you're wingsuiting a lot you'll appreciate being able to make it back from a long spot. I've since moved to a Sabre2 135. It's a lot more fun to fly but the openings aren't nearly as nice, especially with wings. Apex BASE #1816

This is more of a BASE question. Apex BASE #1816

Seriously? When you're in the water, just move your legs. If you can't figure this out skydiving/BASE/WS isn't going to be very kind to you. In addition to swimming, you'll also want at least some basic climbing skills when getting into BASE. You scared of that too? Is your goal to get into WS BASE as quickly and lazily as possible? That's certainly the indication based on this and other threads you've started. Start your research here: http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/wiki/BASE_Fatality_List Then learn to crawl before you try to fly. Apex BASE #1816

Ah, I forgot to (/sarcasm). Apex BASE #1816

Post your question here: http://www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?forum=15; These guys will be happy to answer all of your questions. Apex BASE #1816

Love the new bootie position "behind" the leg wing. Very cool! Apex BASE #1816