riddler

Forgive me for bringing up the Canopy Transfer question again - I know they are frowned upon. But I keep thinking if I'm below 1,000 feet and need to get under the reserve, that canopy transfer might be a good option. 1. Disconnect RSL (Mustard recommends using your teeth ) 2. Pull reserve. 3. If possible, release main. If you haven't already read, some background material on Canopy Transfer and also Colorado Cypres Incident. Now my question is this - it seems as though the reserve cannot always be counted on to inflate when deployed under the main canopy. Does this mean that there is a chance when I try canopy transfer that I'll never even get the reserve to inflate?

Agreed. A coach will not only help you learn to freefly, but will advise you on the added dangers of freeflying. There are risks that are more significant to free-fliers than belly fliers (and vice-versa), that you've probably never been taught in AFF. Save your money and don't buy a suit. Wear shorts and a sweatshirt to start. Spend the money on coaching. It will be a better investment. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Ear pain can be caused by a lot of things - most people that start jumping aren't used to the rapid pressurization going from jump altitude to ground level in only a few minutes. It normally takes a few jumps to get used to it - after you get a few more jumps, you may never have a problem again. You may have smaller than normal eustachian tubes. We see this problem with some SCUBA divers. Again, after a few dozen jumps, you might become conditioned and not have a problem. Also, your initial pain may be simply caused by impacted ear wax blocking your ear canal - you can do irrigation at home to help with that - it's an easy fix, or a doctor can help remove severely impacted wax. I do know some people that take sudafed or other decongestants prior to jumping and SCUBA - make sure to ask your doctor. I really don't know if taking medication prior to jumping is a good idea, but I do know jumpers that do it. Changing your helmet won't effect the pressure change. Also, I don't really know anyone that sustained permanent hearing loss from jumping.

Nice Kevin - this is my new desktop wallpaper. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

OK - so I guess this is more of a question for coaches, since I am in the process of getting my rating now. Here is what I've been taught. The coach should take some time before the jump and ask what break-off altitude the student would like. It should be well above the 3,000 feet hard-deck the BSRs require for students. 5,000 might be a good place. At 5,000, the student can turn and track, and the coach can observe the break-off technique of the student. If there's enough time, the student can also turn back and see how far they got in relation to the coach - a good exercise for improving your tracking. Now, if the student shows no sign of breaking at the designated altitude, the coach can wave the student off. I give a "tomahawk chop", or a "fluff wave" so as not to point and accidently give a pull-signal. There should be time for the student to get it, and if they don't, then the coach can break off at a lower altitude and hopefully the student will get it then. So, I like to pull by 3,000 minimum - I will often encourage a break-off altitude of 5,000. If the student doesn't break at 5, I give them a few signals and if they don't get it by 4, I turn around and leave. Anyone else taught this method? Or are coaches being taught to just leave? I don't think that's as good - if a coach just scoots off at a low altitude, that doesn't give the student much time to react. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

dropzone.com is also a great source of information, not only about water training, but about many other topics. Do some searches and you'll find some great facts and opinions here.

And as Skratch likes to say - "it's Skratch with a K, not a C". Oh, and we love you too B^2 - you are the coolest.

Your coach should have given you a signal to turn and get out of there long before he/she left. Did that happen?

0:5:0 Three coach jumps with skr, 2 fun jumps. That belly flying is a lot harder than I realized when I was only free-flying. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I agree - I think this is the same logic as not having internal riser covers. The Voodoo simply doesn't need them. One thing I don't like on mine is that the BOC spandex goes all the way under the #2 flap grommet, making it difficult to replace. I'm hoping they've fixed that on newer models.

Holy crap - he's gone fetal! Tell him to arch, ARCH!! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Ouch?

I am an artist The air is my medium My body the brush

Yeah - they're usually trying to make it back to the landing area under long spot, high winds. There is one safety advantage to higher WL - I never have trouble getting penetration in high wind. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

A good description of Impulse Force. I've done materials mechanics calculations on engines where impulse force was 6 times static force.

Hate to dig up an old thread, but I'm seeing more and more of these cordura BOCs. My gut reaction is that they are not as good as spandex, but my brain is having a hard time coming up with a reason for that. Bill Booth has stated in this forum that spandex BOCs are more reliable. So, I have a Voodoo container, and I have had one rigger tell me that the container needs to go back to the manufacturer to replace the BOC spandex. The reason is that the spandex goes all the way up underneath the grommet of the bottom flap. The spandex is two years old now, and it's getting a bit worn. I had a rigger do a few little things to make it close up better (the mouth is stretched out and a bit loose), and I'm not sure I want to send the container back to the manufacturer just to get spandex replaced on BOC. All this has me thinking about corudura BOC. Other than the "bridle milking", are there reasons that cordura is not as safe as spandex?

I'm currently applying for my coach rating, and I'm not a great skydiver. A coach is not an AFF instructor. They are not there to save the student's life. The student - even at 10 jumps - has passed AFF. They have proven that they know how to save their own life. The coach can save his/her own life and not kill the student in the process. The coach-student relationship, IMO is more of a peer-peer relationship. The coach has specific lessons to teach the student. The coach must understand how to verbalize what is required, how to demonstrate on the ground, and of course how to do it in the air. For new students, this is primarily about falling straight down on your belly, so they can see how their actions are relative to another jumper. But for new students, it is also about verbalizing safety that is not taught in AFF - things like don't tail-load the aircraft, understanding exit separation, and my personal favorite - the fine points of canopy control! I have had people with hundreds or even thousands of belly jumps ask me to coach them in how to sit-fly. The "coach" is nothing more than a formality of what used to be an informal process - skydivers teaching things to each other. You don't need to be a skygod to be a coach - there is a reason that USPA only requires 100 jumps. Someone with 100 jumps can teach a student about how to be safe. Someone with 100 freefly jumps can teach free-flying to someone with thousands of belly jumps. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

No - I don't want to try your wingsuit, and I don't want to try your Diablo either You seem to delight in wanting to get me killed. I found out last weekend, I can't even land my Lotus 150. Someone help me - I need a few hundred more jumps! Quick!

Ass-hat - as in they need something next to their asshole, 'cause they have no balls.

I am speechless. Didn't Patrick De Gayardon do this before he passed away? I've never seen video that good, though. I am blown away.

Asshat noun - A whuffo that pretends to be a skydiver or falsely claims to have done a tandem jump. I hope ya'll are using it in the proper context.

Amazing. Four years ago, during the Internet heyday, I wrote a search engine for a site called why.com. Actually, two of us did the entire site, went down to Silicon Valley to set it up, and watched it run for a year and a half before it got the axe. It basically allowed you to search for sites, rate the site (scale of 1-5), then get search results by the most popular site. I even wrote a floating toolbar that looks almost identical to the "Alexa toolbar", in terms of functionality. The funny thing was it was started by three Harvard kids that dropped out of school and got $5 million funding (basically from their parents and their rich friends) and spent most of it on elaborate parties (some of which I got invited to), promotional giveaways and expensive bottles of wine. Then, 18 months later, they realized it was not an economically viable model, stinted us on the bill and closed up shop. It's interesting to see some concepts repeat themselves.

If you go parachuting, and your parachute doesn't open, and you friends are all watching you fall, I think a funny gag would be to pretend you were swimming.

wha? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I have heard that delivery time for a new Javelin rig is 6 months. True?