FlyingRhenquest

Make your own and don't suck at catching them. A regular cue ball works for belly speed. Ahem THAT is why we catch our cue ball before we land! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Did you actually google on "Freefall balls"? I'm a little afraid to even try. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Not me man! I'm a lone gunman! I don't need some other skydiver getting a grip on me! They're just planning to dry hump me! This isn't my first wingsuit rodeo! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Oh God yes! Friend of mine lost his wallet at the DZ one day. Assumed someone'd made off with it. A month later he took a jumpsuit down off the rack and found his wallet in it! It had obviously not been cleaned in the interim. But then, it probably had not been used in the interim either, so at least it was mostly just his own filth he was wallowing in. It never occurred to me to ask how much a student jumpsuit would cost. I'm a dude. We tend to have a much higher tolerance for squalor. Though occasionally my room mate gives me a run for my money when we engage in our little battle of wills to see who can tolerate the most hair growing from the walls in shower before one of us breaks down and scrubs it. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

They typically start you out on a much larger canopy than you should be flying, set up to be as docile, controllable and safe as possible. You'll want something a little faster and more maneuverable as the canopy you're going to put a couple hundred jumps on. Most people seem to downsize at least 50 square feet from the student canopies I see them starting out on. I downsized from a 300 to a 230 over the course of 50 or so jumps. That 300 opened like a bitch (to be fair a lot of that was probably my body position and weight at that time,) steered like a school bus and had no flare to speak of. I'd punch the toggles to my crotch and it'd be like "Meh." I didn't even stand up a landing until I downsized to a 260. If you don't try several different canopies and rigs while you're a student, how will you form an opinion of what you want for your own gear? I suggest waiting at least until you get your A and then start looking if you want to. For AFF you're going to need a jumpsuit with handles. Later on you may or may not want handles. I honestly didn't really want a jumpsuit at all, so after AFF I tried to get away without one. All the coaches I got saddled with made me wear a jumpsuit. I finally caved and bought my own so I wouldn't smell like AFF student anymore -- a piquant aroma of fear, sweat and urine that makes you start itching the moment you start wallowing in it. I often felt the urge to go home and take a shower between jumps while I was a student. They'll probably make you use their jumpsuits. Have fun with that. You might be able to get away with your own helmet if it's not a full face one. Check with your local DZ. Definitely get your own helmet if you can. If they'll recommend one that won't get the AFF instructors panties in a bunch, even better. They like to give you clear goggles so they can see your eyes. While the goggles they give you are mostly sanitary, I preferred my own from early on. You can get some clear skydiving goggles on amazon.com for cheap. See if you can find a bundle of 1 pair clear 2 tinted for $20 or $30. Even if the AFF instructors don't let you wear them, you can still use the clear ones for night jumps later on. No such reservations apply in the tunnel. So if you're planning to do tunnel time, get your jumpsuit, goggles and helmet early. Tunnel rental jumpsuits also made me itch and want to take a shower. They didn't smell quite as badly of AFF student though (Less urine and fear.) They will probably give you a big play-doh altimeter for AFF. You can see if you can score your own used. Digital ones are more expensive but the benefits are many. I highly recommend a digital one if you can afford it. They may not let you use it for AFF, but you can later. A lot of the decisions made for AFF students are for the benefit of the instructors, not the student. If you're going to ask me to be there to save your life if you fail to, you're gonna have to make some concessions for the greater good. And also bring beer. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

The sheep here stop to turn right on a green light and don't stop to turn right on a red light. I really don't want to see how they handle a roundabout. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

You know I can only go to second base! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

You hadn't heard about that? Perhaps you should take a moment to review the Recent Headlines. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Ok. Here's my Craigslist ad. How's it work? "Hot young skydiver, into S&M, bondage and watersports, seeks bi guys and girls for total dominance. No weirdos!" I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Hmm, in the first like 15 seconds you're already more relaxed than every AFF student EVER! Just keep that in the sky. You could totally fly on your back now. It takes a while to get used to because all your controls are reversed. It's probably a good idea to wait and focus on good belly technique, though. There's still a lot to learn there which you'd miss if you just went stampeding on to freeflying. Get them to show you mantis style or something heh heh heh. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Great. I think maybe I'll just suck them back up into my body before each jump, now I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

I know I'm going to regret this, but WTF is a ninja boot? Photo please. http://imgur.com/PS52dTD http://imgur.com/VpAp3Iz Jumpsuit velcro straps over the hooks down by the ankles, there's no way shit's getting at those hooks (I never jump without a jumpsuit.) There's also no way those fuckers are coming off in freefall, I guarantee. Unless something rips my jumpsuit off first. I'm pretty comfortable jumping with 'em, and have made about 100 jumps on 'em so far. The wingsuit now sitting in my closet is, in my mind, a way more questionable thing to be strapping to me before jumping out of an airplane I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

One layer should be enough, it's a very weak signal. So your hat should be fine to block all the RFID implants in your skull from... guys... I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

You're missing the fact that it costs us about the price of 1 shoe to skydive. I'm guessing I'm not going to lose one of my ninja boots. The hook closed and then velcro my jumpsuit legs over the the hooks. Those things aren't going anywhere. Yeah! Score another one for ninja boots! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

How do ya feel about ending up in a wok as the lunch special...may as well cause a little more heartburn on the way out! I'll probably be delicious... I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

That happened to me on one of my first jumps. That was the longest canopy ride I ever had. Same here. Happened once - NEVER again. Pain teaches.... OK seriously, a distressing number of guys seem to have experienced this malfunction first hand! Were you being careful before? I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

One of my jump buddies who recently got his license bought a Sabre 1 with a couple hundred jumps on it and a rig from the 90's. Damn thing is practically new and he loves how the Sabre 1 flies. He didn't like its openings so much, until he had the rigger here sew a pocket into his slider. But he's actually looking to downsize to another Sabre 1 now, if he can find one. I can see where rig design has changed over the past couple of decades watching him pack, but his thing still gets the job done, and it's basically new. Due to its age, he paid less than half what I did for a new rig. I'm a bit bigger and decided to buy new after not seeing any used gear for sale in my size after a couple of months. About the same week my order was due to come in, someone put a full system in my size up for sale -- a Vector with 10 jumps on it, AAD, all the goodies, for $6800. Go figure heh heh. While my buddy's already looking to downsize, I'm not. I enjoy a long canopy ride. I milk my canopy rides for level fight and hang time. That's really the only time it's just me and the sky, and I want to enjoy it. So I figure I'm probably going to fly this thing for 500 jumps or more, and it'll more'n pay for itself. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

First the S&TA would have to accurately measure your container opening altitude. I've yet to see an S&TA up there with a tape measure or radar altimeter. If you have a digital altimeter or an AAD, I'm sure they'd provide adequate evidence if evidence were required. If you have an AAD fire (reserve or 2 out) that's also evidence. I have a couple of sub-2-grand "depl" altitudes on my Neptune. I'm told that's the altitude where you're fully deployed and in the saddle, which is borne out by the fact that I check my altitude at that point and sometimes during the deploy if it's being a particularly snively bitch. Those deployments were right after I moved my pull altitude to 3.5. I'd wave at that point and throw. Now if you subtract 200-300 feet for the wave, that still leaves you with a snivel of 1000-1200 feet! Once I realized how bad the problem was, I moved my wave altitude to 4000, which usually put me reliably in the saddle around 2800 or so. Funnily enough, my current canopy is a Safire 2, which has a reputation for being snivelly. But it usually opens reliably in 600-750 feet. While it takes less altitude than most of the rental canopies I've tried, it also manages to open more softly than any of them. I don't know how they do that. I'd guess some sort of sorcery is involved. The one D license buddy I talk to on a regular basis has an opening altitude similar to mine. He says he wants plenty of time to deal with malfunctions. I figure you're just going to pull wherever you're comfortable pulling and if you've survived long enough with your habits to have a D license, you're probably not a jackass anyway. I've never met a D who I thought was a jackass. Plenty of As and Bs. Hell I'm probably a jackass but I at least try not to be "that guy" heh heh heh. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Not a tax lawyer, but I vaguely seem to recall there's an exemption up to either a million or two million dollars. Two sticks in my head. After that it's pretty hefty, but most USA citizens will never be worth that much. 'Course you should talk to a tax lawyer, if you find yourself in that situation. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Yah, I decided to spring for new stuff too, and am loading it pretty conservatively (started off about 1.1:1 and am now closer to 1:1.) I'm not planning to downsize for several hundred jumps (if ever) so it'll more than pay for itself. I'm pretty sure I can just put a next-size-smaller canopy in this rig, if I lose much more weight. Why so many car wrecks? Perhaps it would be safer to just skydive to anywhere you want to go! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Meh. You don't look that fat. I weighed in at 245 on my first AFF jump. They clocked me at 170 mph on my belly. I've lost about 30 pounds since then and typically average 130 on an average jump. Now I have to go into a steep dive to hit my average speeds during AFF! Congratulations, by the way! Welcome to the sport! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Most people do Wendy P. Well the OP said he likes to pull somewhere between 3000 and 28000. This covers me as well, despite my lack of a D license! Really, that's the BSR the USPA should adopt! I guess that's why I'm not a chairman on the USPA heh heh heh. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Oh sure. Having some of the equipment incorrectly stowed is a nightmare of mine. Along with forgetting to remove the seat belt while sitting on the back bench. But it's not that hard to make sure it's all in the correct location prior to a jump. Contrary to popular belief, it's not that bulky and typically stays where you put it. It's not like, two bean bag chairs or something. *edit* When I was like, 8, I was tossing a football with a cousin of mine and at one point the football managed to bounce and spike itself straight into my fuzzy little nutsack. This was by far the worst pain I'd ever experienced up until this point. My uncle, who was an Indian (dot, not feather) doctor, told me I'd survive. This did not seem like helpful advice. So yeah, I make an effort to protect the junk. But the junk tends to be reasonably well behaved for all that, and thus far I have not had a problem with it while skydiving. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

What? You don't have a friend with a key to your house to gather up and dispose of the SDCS box?! When I was single and my Dad was alive, my best girlfriend always had a key to wherever I was living with explicit instructions to hightail it to my house and gather items. We called it the "Shit Dad Can't See" box. I would've done it for her also. One time she helped me move, along with my Dad, and my Dad picked up a sealed box that had SDCS written in black magic marker on the side with a smiley face. She almost knocked my Dad over taking it out of his hands saying she'll get that one. OMG... I haven't thought about this shit in years!! Oh, no. I want them to find those. Really, I should include a post card. It would say something to the effect of "Hi mom! Remember that time you made me go to summer camp when I was 9?" and "Hey sis! Remember that time you pulled a knife on me when I was 17? Oh, no reason. Have fun removing this dildo from my personal belongings! It was the biggest, blackest one I could find, under the circumstances." My family, yeah, fuck those guys. My skydiving buddies, I'll buy beer for! I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Eeh. The guys who pull under 2 grand will continue to pull under 2 grand (D-D-D-D-Dinosaurs! You know who you are!) and everyone else will continue to pull over it. It just gives the USPA plausible deniability if the AAD vendors want to raise their auto-deployment altitudes. I could see that having the unintended consequence of causing more people to jump without them, but if I'm under 2 grand in freefall something has gone horribly wrong and I'm going for the silver handle anyway. I also usually pull under 28000 feet. I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?