JeffCa

I'm not very experienced at this, but I'm thinking that exceeding the maximum weight on both of your canopies, and being way above the recommended wingloading for your experience level is not very bright. My signature line at the bottom of this post is coming to mind. I don't mean to be morbid, but if anything happens to you, the comments on here will not be very kind and will be very focused on the decisions you made with gear selection. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

I've received a PM suggesting Utah. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

Hi all, I'm hoping to do a tunnel trip in the near future and want to get some ideas about the most conveniently-located tunnels from those of you who have been around. I want to do this without a rental car, but it seems like a lot of tunnels are out in the middle of nowhere with not much around. Here are my requirements and bonus points: Requirements: - enough power for freefly (Malaysia and China out) - competitive prices (Singapore out) - solid coaches - easy public transport from nearest major airport - easy walk or public transport to decent accommodation, restaurants, other things to do when not flying Nice bonuses (not required): - on or close to a dropzone - direct flight from Tokyo (examples: Toronto, Sydney, Dubai, London, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc) - no advance visa required (Moscow out) Which tunnels, if any, are a good fit for the above? Thanks for your help! "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

My first was a static line jump on a round parachute. Chose it over tandem. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

This was good: http://www.skydivemag.com/article/better-nil-wind-landings "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

We have a city backdrop in one direction and I thought it was cool that the only way I could see another canopy over there was to see the city lights being blocked out by a black canopy shape. If you fly a full face helmet, open the visor after you do your canopy control check to take it all in. Our DZ does them so that no canopy traffic is around. They drop only a few individuals/pairs/groups per pass, so plenty of horizontal separation, with staggered pull times. The highest-loaded canopy pulls lowest, the lightest-loaded canopy pulls highest. This way you won't have canopy traffic unless somebody screws up their pull time. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

This is still nuts though because he unhooks himself after deploying so he can hang by his feet. That's crazy enough just on its own! No, that's not what happens, either. You've been duped by editing. Did you actually *see* the transition from hand to feet? Or did the video have a cut right at that moment? It was not done in one take, and that can be determined by anybody who watches the video, whether they're skydivers or not. Do you know how? "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

I was thinking maybe RiggerLee wrote the website. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

Yes, and according to their website, they even have a "special addition" Glide that they're making. I guess that means you get 2 for the price of 1? "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

I'm curious why they did this, are there certain situations where he would go for reserve instead of main and then be able to cut away the main. I would assume he would always go for main first, and I'm unsure of the rationale behind a reserve cutaway. My wild-ass guess is that a premature deployment of the reserve at over 100,000 feet would have been very bad and need to be cutaway. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

Swooping kills more skydivers annually than not pulling, so clearly not pulling is safer, but why is PD trying to force us to pull? Read Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Conequences, by John Allen Paulos. Did you know that more people were killed falling in the bathtub than by wingsuit proximity flying? So sure, do your WS proxy flight, but skip the shower afterwards. It's dangerous! "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

I must admit that I'm often attracted to things because they're unusual. If skydiving was zero risk and it became mainstream to go to a dropzone on weekends, I might feel differently than I do now. It's hard to say though, because it's an impossible hypothetical situation. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

CNN's reader questionnaire, written by a couple of academics. Check question #5. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/29/business/psychopath-test-infographic/index.html?hpt=hp_c1 Apparently if skydiving and roller coasters appeal to you, it pushes you closer towards psychopathy. It's given equal weight in the survey to the questions about not being bothered by animals in pain and thinking people deserve to get conned. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

You mean like this clown (photo)? "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

Look at the logo on the helmet in the photo on Chuting Star. Seems that Skydive Radio guys took it? Is there a relationship between the show and this product? I can't see the point in having one of these and an audible. It's hard to ignore the audible, but if you only have one, I guess this is as good. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

I'm still on WL < 1. I think a lot of people here will jump in and advise you that you should buy gear that is suitable for what you have now, not what you plan to do in the future. It's what they told me, and it's good advice. So the next time you buy a container, don't do the "tight fit" thing, in anticipation of 2 downsizes that may or may not ever happen. Now you're in a position in which you're beginning to think about downsizing just to fix that choice, and even though you tell us you won't do it immediately, it's clear that your hand is already being forced. Do you have the ZPX version of the Pilot? If not, you could go that route, because it packs smaller. Pilot 168 seems like a popular size that will sell quickly if you want to unload it. I know at least 2 people looking for 170's, but I'm sure they'd settle for a 168. If I recall, different canopy manufacturers measure their sizes differently, and have been unable to agree on a standard method. So the 168 might be a 170 by somebody else's standard, I don't know. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

I got my Pilot 188 brand new, with a brand new container. Had a really tough time getting it to fit. I thought about a downsize. I asked my rigger if everything was the correct size and if the closing loop was the right length, and he told me that it was. I kept at it, and now at 152 jumps, the closing loop fits better (room to spare) and the rig looks cleaner when it's packed up. I got better at packing and it revealed that the problem was me. Don't give up so early. Was your rig sized for the container? Have you asked a skilled packer/rigger to pack it and see what they think? Take the advice of others here and learn to pack. That's not meant to be a biting insult, but it's naive to think that you are as good as you're going to get so early in your skydiving journey. Downsizing and possibly breaking yourself, to avoid learning to pack better, is not wise. Also, not sure why you felt the need to change the number to 170, but you can talk to us like we know what we're talking about. We can all handle 3-digit numbers. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

No, you don't. http://www.flyaerodyne.com/pilot.asp "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

I've heard that internet dealers will often send you 2 helmets in different sizes. You return the one that doesn't fit in un-jumped perfect condition. WHO DOES THAT ? I won't name names, but I was told that some of the biggest do it. It's not as outrageous as it sounds. They send you 2 helmets, on condition that they'll charge your card if you don't return 1 of them. Or they charge you for 2, you return 1 and they refund it. Pretty basic, no? "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

I've heard that internet dealers will often send you 2 helmets in different sizes. You return the one that doesn't fit in un-jumped perfect condition. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

Rigger at my DZ caught me packing the brakes without pulling the cat eye through the ring. He warned me this could happen if I forgot. I guess he was right. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

Didn't he have to make training jumps to get the wings? "The war's over and we've got all of these extra wings that we won't get to use. Here, take 8 of them." "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

Why so hung up on the elevated areas in the interior and jumping at altitude? Why make it more difficult than it has to be? There are ice-free areas and above-freezing temperatures, at sea level, on the peninsula for a good part of the southern summer. Even beaches to land on (photo attached, just clear the penguins for a bit or find your own spot!). It's the Antarctic continent, but is not even south of the circle. I'd think the most difficult part would be the logistics of getting the plane overhead, not the jumping conditions. Best idea might be to get a helicopter from one of the tourist ships and do a hop-n-pop out of it. It's not a viable commercial activity, but for somebody with sponsorship and permission, entirely possible. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

I doubt it's that. They still accept numerous adventure activities from every country of residence. I'll bet it has something to do with them using different partner companies in different countries or legal restrictions..... Anybody know differently? "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth

I have actually been there Jeff ...and almost got a year long gig at the SA station not so long ago I was trying to figure out how I would get an Otter driver or the 130 guys to take off and slide the troop door up and just let me out over the station. There really does need to be a sarcasm Icon on here. I've been there, too. Just as a visitor, along the coast of the peninsula. I was pretty sure you were making fun of me, but wasn't sure why, if you knew better, you were leaving in the thread for posterity that Antarctica jumps would involve severe ice, elevation, etc. So it couldn't have hurt to post and clear it up. "So many fatalities and injuries are caused by decisions jumpers make before even getting into the aircraft. Skydiving can be safe AND fun at the same time...Honest." - Bill Booth