Deimian

I completely agree with this, but I'd like to add that very few people build the muscle memory, or train, to make sure that the main successfully released. Bag-locks might not have enough drag to pull on the risers (especially with tuck-tabs riser covers) and the RSL lanyard. If you forget about that and follow your muscle memory you might fire your RPC into a trailing bag. Pulling both handles in order and quickly might not be enough in all the cases.

L&B recommends panasonic for their devices with CR 2330 batteries (ProTrack), and renata for their devices with CR 2325 batteries (Optima, Solo, Viso, Ares.....). I bought a pack of 10 Renata batteries in eBay for 15€. A pack of 2 in many skydiving related stores costs 7€-10€.

I've just checked and I have to admit that I was mistaken, there is a bit more than simply "land within X meters of the target". I don't belong to USPA, so please excuse that mistake. That doesn't change my point though. Night jumps are a very very specific kind of jumps, and IMO there are way more important and general things to care about than that particular corner case. The fact that you can be a rigger, world champion in freefly, the best tracker ever and land a 67 sqft canopy in a dime, but you can't get a D license because you didn't make 2 night jumps seems ridiculous to me.

No. My original post has a single point: "The logic applied on the quoted post is flawed". If you want to push something use the right arguments. Those were not. I didn't intend to say that we have to require everything. Besides that, I think there are way more important things to require to be considered a skydiving expert than night jumps. I think canopy piloting (besides accuracy) is one of them. Proper tracking can be another one. Proper gear knowledge another one. All of them more important for safety, and far more common (they are important for every jump), than making 2 night jumps. IMO making 2 night jumps doesn't prove anything.

Accuracy is. Canopy piloting is way more than that.

I didn't know that swooping was a requirement...... what is the minimum distance? speed? Carving or not?

Let me change a couple of things: So, there you go, mandatory swooping for everyone that wants a D license! And night jumps. And CRW. And dynamic freefly. And 8-way RW. And wingsuit. And............ everything! You can't be an expert on everything. IMO the D license should reflect that you are reasonably good on the common base that covers all disciplines. Night jumps are nowhere close to common. Canopy piloting is, and we are not mandating it as a requirement. And probably we shouldn't. Just my 2 cents.

I don't remember exactly, 2003-2004. Around that. But it has the new line set with HMA 400.

That's what I was thinking. The canopy is airlocked, so I'm wondering if the airlocks can cause somehow that the nose in one side of the canopy inflates slower than the other, for whatever reason. I'm also wondering if larger crossports can help to compensate that and push air quicker in the slowly inflating cells. Or maybe clearing the airlocks during packing can help. I don't know.

Maybe, I have to see how much time I have later today. But I don't put the risers below the reserve riser covers/flaps, if that's what you are thinking

The kill like is not an issue, there is plenty of slack in it and I always pull the line itself, after pulling the pud. Now, a worn out PC.......... that might be. There is something to take a look at. I can also quickly switch back to my normal POD, and check if that makes any difference. Thank you for the ideas! I am sending the canopy to the manufacturer, complete with risers, POD and PC. Hopefully they can pinpoint the issue.

That's interesting. I doubt it is my body position because this is not the first time I'm in twists with this canopy, it happens pretty frequent, and I make sure to have very neutral position on opening since it put me in twists twice on the same day. More elliptical canopies (crossfires and nitros) with the same WL didn't cause me any problem in the past. My PC has 350 jumps and it sure doesn't look like new. But has been working fine so far. I have an mPOD, so no stowing bands at all. Regarding the SB, do you mean this one: http://skydivewings.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Wings_Service_Bulletin_08325.pdf I don't think my container is affected. It is a W11 manufactured in late 2012. For me it looks like the canopy has asymmetrical inflation for some reason. The offset I see in my risers is right after I start spinning, not before, so I guess the riser asymmetry is the result of a different problem. I tend to close the riser covers with the risers being tight, without any slack. Could that be a contributing factor?

The canopy was diving and accelerating, and I was on my back over a forest. She wasn't showing me any love, and I am not the kind of guy that offers the other cheek . Once the canopy is diving it is pointless to try, in my opinion. Many have hit the ground hard with that mindset. If it was flying straight that'd be a different story, of course.

Not really. It happened once, but pulling on the rears it came down.

Since there are not many reserve boost out there I thought that maybe somebody would be interested in seeing how it worked in my case, in a real and not-staged cutaway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY2sndGBv_c First cutaway by the way. I'd also appreciate if any of the video analyzing ninjas have any insight on what happened and how to prevent it. I'm having twists pretty often with this canopy (in like 30% of the jumps, which seems unacceptable to me, even though normally it keeps flying straight), and I can't pinpoint the reason.

My experience with intrudair is similar. The RW comp suit is on par, if not better, with Parasport or Sonic. Very, very well made suit. The only thing I don't like is the crotch area. The fabric is a bit too stiff. So much that it pushes down a bit the leg straps, and my balls kind of get trapped on that area. I've never busted a nut with it, but I don't find it conformable. A bit more spandex on that area would help. But it could be simply a matter of fitting.

Ouch! I bought one recently and I didn't think about that. On the other hand, I am getting familiar with the forest where all the canopies in my DZ end up .

I have mixed experiences: -I had a second hand Viso I. It stopped working. I told them and they sent me a new Viso II, without questions. -I have a ProTrack. You can't turn it off. You simply can't, it is not that I am doing it wrong. A buddy of mine tried to follow the same steps as in his and it just doesn't work. I've sent them an email about it. They asked which year was it from. I told them that I didn't know (it is also second hand). No reply. No big deal, the ProTrack shuts down automatically after some hours. -The same ProTrack had a broken battery cover. They've sent me a new cover with screws and springs in no time. -The same ProTrack cracked on the side after a buddy used it in a helmet a bit too tight. I asked if I could buy a new case, since functionally it was still perfect. They asked which year is it from. I told them that I didn't know. No reply. I asked about the lack of reply (something like "should I assume that I can't get it repaired?"). Again, no reply.

That's pretty awesome. How did you call it? Mr. Wojciech?

The swoop risers of RI have the same idea: http://www.rigginginnovations.com/Pages/Store/ViewItem.aspx?ID=76 http://www.rigginginnovations.com/files/Docuemnts/Other/HOW%20TO%20STOW%20THE%20BRAKES%20ON%20RI%20SWOOP%20RISERS.pdf

Use a escrow. Even if he/she accepts PayPal.

Pilots have 9 cells. But yes, they are less aggressive than Sabre 2's.

Of course there are people that weight more than 190lbs.... But from 190 to 300+ there is a big difference. But you made a good point: "he may have to pay more [...] but that is his choice". Fair enough. I explicitly mentioned static line at the end of my post. Putting out a human is not an issue at all. But putting out a human of that weight, safely, *with the resources that most DZs have* is a bit more than challenging. However, if you add resources (buying custom gear to accommodate him, even though it will quickly depreciate), and are able to provide the appropriate training methods (SL or IAD), AND the student understand the limitations of his prospective skydiving career, then, by all means, go ahead. But as somebody else said, unless he is 7', I still think it is easier (and healthier) to just lose some weight.

285 pounds is not a joke. I would tell him to lose some weight and come back. Reasons: -Wingload: I am 190 out of the door. My first jump was on a navigator 260. That's ~0.8. Somebody in the 285 pounds mark will exceed the 1.0 wingload even on the largest navigator. I wouldn't do that to anybody on the first jump. -Freefall: Unless he is 6'5 he will falling like a cannon ball. Good luck to any instructor catching up. Besides that if his performance is not that good, with his mass and volume it would be pretty difficult for the instructors to keep him stable. -Health: This applies just if the 285 pounds are mostly fat, not muscle. But if that is the case, his heart won't be the healthiest one. Having a heart attack induced by the adrenaline might be a real possibility. Now, if the guy is 285 pounds of muscle in a 6'10 body maybe he can try static line. That won't solve the wingload problem though.

I have a similar problem with a summer suit. I asked a rigger and the told me that he could do it, but it is probably not a good idea. Sending it to the manufacturer will result in something better.