encinoadam

Tom - Thanks for the excellent feedback and advice on rig mods. I will look into having both mods completed. As far as my rig, technically, my Spectre 150 is the only main I have. I weigh about 160 pounds, so I think out the door, I am wingloading it at about 1.2 or so. I didn't get this rig with birdman jumps in mind, but I bought it after about 100 RW jumps and it has worked so well for me (sure, one or two mistakes!) that I haven't felt the need to downsize. The openings have been so consistent that - despite pack jobs that need a lot of work - I have never had a cutaway on this rig (had one on my old rig, though). Along these lines... any thoughts on soft-pillow reserves for flying birdman (yes, I have one)?

I'm doing about 70 mph on my Classic, but trying some new advice tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Can someone explain to me why the rig corner mods and the longer bridle will help anything? I'm jumping an Infinity container and a Spectre 150. Is it worth doing mods on this or should I just be careful on deployment?

I didn't think I'd find much sympathy. Dude... I was looking at pics of the 300-way. I couldn't help myself... I'm thinking about suing Skydiving Magazine for contributory negligence....

My point is.... what does it matter whether I was drunk, shaving, reading, smoking crack, whatever? It was a dumb move to pull and the consequences were the same regardless. This makes it all the more dumb that some states are trying to ban using the cell phone while driving. You can crash while doing all sorts of dumb stuff. No?

The sad truth is... we were both sober.

Ya, I was doing about 35 mph when I hit a Jeep Cherokee, completely stopped. I mostly slid underneath the Cherokee, because it is so high and my car is so low. One of the hidden costs in skydiving that no one ever tells you about.... And, ya, I am a dumbass.

Hope this image serves as a sobering reminder to all of you!

Yes, this just happened all of a sudden. In my prior fifteen jumps, I had never had it happen. My friend was jumping a Spectre 190, but wingloads it at about 1.5, versus the 1.2 that I load my 150 at. Ya, we still pull high. My guess is that in a spinning mal, regardless of the type of jump, you should regain stability before pulling silver (altitude allowing, of course!).

This weekend, my pal and I were jumping Birdman. (Note to all busy-bodies: I jump at many different drop zones, so don't assume this incident happened at any particular location, i.e., my home dz) Anyhoo, I was jumping my Classic that I have about fifteen jumps on. My friend was jumping his SkyFlyer that he had two jumps on. On his third jump when he deployed, he ended up with really bad line twists which turned into a spinning mal which he had to chop. He went to his reserve, perhaps too quickly, because he ended up with lines twists there, too. Fortunately, the canopy flew straight and he kicked out of it. He had a similar problem on his second jump, and I also had a similar problem the same day on my Classic (but my canopy, a Spectre 150, still flew straight). What the heck is going on? My guess is that it is not a packing problem, but a body position on deployment issue. Anyway, we spent a lot of time talking about it and just decided to post it here and see what kind of advice we'd get. Anybody??

On Monday, January 20th, I was driving my car. While I was driving, I was reading the latest issue of Skydiving Magazine. Out of nowhere, traffic in front of me completely stopped. I looked up from the magazine a bit too late, and slammed into the car in front of me. Both of my airbags deployed. I totalled my car. I hurt my right hand and arm in the process. Let this serve as a reminder to anyone that says Skydiving is safe.

I just have about ten or eleven jumps on a Classic. Admittedly, this might be a bit on the conservative side: I deployed at 5,000 on my first 8-9 jumps (though I wasn't jumping with other people). On the last jump or two, I started jumping with other birdmen, separating at 5,000 but deploying at 4,000. My perspective is that you should do what feels comfortable. I'm sure in another dozen jumps or so, I will start separation at 4,000 to 4,500 and pulling at 3,000 to 3,500. We'll see. It also depends on how many people are on the jump, but with the increased horizontal speed and the decreased vertical speed, you have more time to play with, while separating much quicker than on a regular skydive. Just my thoughts.

Some of the posts in here.... are just plain stupid. No wonder many people refer to the people here as "a bunch of 50 jump chumps." That's pretty much what we are.

I've only got about a dozen birdman jumps... but I was jumping without an RSL beforehand and continue to do so now. I'd rather have the extra second or two in order to return to a good body position before pulling. The opposing argument is that you might waste altitude in doing so. Therefore... I continue to pull a little high when flying birdman. Just my opinion.

Not sure if this is the appropriate place for this or not, but I just started jumping the birdman suit this past weekend and had an interesting situation. I have 200 jumps and went through one on one instruction on how to fly (using a Classic). In spite of excellent instruction, I still managed to tumble on exit for a good ten seconds on my first jump. Closing my wings and balling up definitely helped, and a few seconds later, I was flying just fine. My subsequent three jumps went fine (even the exits), aside from a bad deployment because of my leg wing not being completely closed (it hurt!). To change gears for a moment... my experience has led me to decide to stay with the Classic for awhile instead of going for the SkyFlyer ASAP. Birdman isn't that difficult to fly. But, until I have my exits and deployments down pat (along with barrel rolls and all sorts of other stuff), I think I'll continue to have a blast with the beginner suit. Just my humble thoughts.

I'm researching (cutaway) pull force on mini-risers versus standard risers. I remember there being an article in Parachutist or Skydiving about this about six months ago (about). Does anyone recall which issue it was in? Also, I have heard that standard risers reduce the load by 100-fold, in other words, a 1,000 pound load requires a 10 pound pull. Is this true? Lastly, how much more pull force is required on minis? Thanks for any info!

The Container: The container was an old Rapid Transit, with either a PD 210 or PD 230 (probably a 230). This reserve on this container is a two pin system. When I looked at it, one of the loops had been cut, and the other was missing altogether (presumably also cut). SOS-Pull: Apparently, there is some debate at the DZ as to whether or not she beat the Cypres. In case I was unclear, she did not land with the bag-locked main trailing her. She was able to pull the SOS-handle, but whether or not she pulled it just before or just after the Cypres fire is unknown at this time. Technically, a bag-locked main should not block a Cypres-deploying reserve - but again, I don't know this to be the case. Mandatory Cypres: Also, I don't believe that DZs should ever require a Cypres. It is too easy for people who truly don't want one to fake that they have a Cypres (i.e., use one that is older than 12 years old, one that is broken, one with no batteries, one that is not turned on). I don't believe that any licensed skydiver should be forced to use one. I am just amazed at the number of people who don't. I don't like the idea of "Big-Brother" and am annoyed that people are given tickets for driving without seatbelts "for their own good." I think children should be required to wear seatbelts, just like student skydivers are required to use an AAD, because they aren't qualified to make that type of decision yet. Once they are 18... or off student status, they should be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. Just my thoughts.

Yesterday, I saw a student with about fifteen jumps have her Cypres activate her reserve. She had gone through an uneventful coached jump, at which time she attempted to activate her main around 3,500 feet. She ended up with a bag-locked main. She attempted to then pull her SOS handle, but was unsuccessful in doing so. She claimed to have pulled on it with both hands, as hard as she could, but was unable to budge it. My feelings are that she may have been pulling on the webbing instead, but that is just speculation on my part. She swears that she pulled on the silver handle. She was still attempting to pull it, when at 750 feet, her Cypres fired. No analysis has been conducted on the rig as of yet, so one could argue as to the exact cause of the hard pull on the SOS handle. She was able to pull the SOS handle after her reserve opened (while she was still in the air). When she landed, it was not immediately known that her Cypres had fired. Upon discovery of this, the student said she had "completely forgotten about" her Cypres. I realize that AADs are a volatile subject (especially here), but here is a girl that would be dead right now, if not for her Cypres. I've always been a believer in the Cypres, and I own one myself. I'll stop short of saying that they should be mandatory, but obviously for students, I'm glad that they are (or some form of AAD). I know that there are a lot of arguments that having a Cypres could create a dependency on it. While I'm not sure if that happens or not, here is a situation where I am just about positive that the student would have died otherwise. I've been more than a little surprised to see several new skydivers, fresh with their A license, decide not to purchase a Cypres with their rig. I completely agree that once off student status, it should be up to the individual jumper whether or not to use one. I also believe that it should be up to people whether or not they use seatbelts when they drive or helmets when they ride. But again, I am shocked when I see people who refuse to use these safety tools. As I watched Jim Ewald's (skydiver that was paralyzed in Apple Valley in 1996, who died two weeks ago of a heart attack) ashes spread in the air last week, it occurred to me that he also may have been saved by a Cypres or some other AAD (he went low for a student that did not pull). I have 200 jumps and have been jumping for a year and a half. I know that isn't much. But I have never seen anyone complain of an unwarranted Cypres fire. I'm not looking to spark a bunch of vicious debate about this (remember, I said they should still be optional), but if you insist, I can handle it. If you don't want to own or use a Cypres, it's okay by me. But, I've seen all I need to see to know what a valuable tool it is. Adam