sundevil777

That's the problem. It will be my first jump in about 50 days, so I'd rather be at altitude with time to regain the feel of free fall. Not to mention totally new gear, and a nice high pull will give me time to mess with that as well (hopefully not necessary, but, you know!). I've also only ever jumped from a 206, so the exit and door will be super different. So many new things to be thinking about that I don't want to add hop n' pop to that list. I'd rather do that from my usual plane with my usual gear at my usual DZ. It seems like you're convinced that it is difficult to be stable while getting out. Keep thinking that way and it will be difficult. Stop that stinkin' thinkin' and believe that it is in fact simple. Anyway, you don't actually have to pull right away, so don't worry about having enough time to regain stability. You've got to have confidence in yourself, even if you don't think it is justified. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

consider the value of the container to be 0 or very close to that. If you try to sell it, you would find it near worthless. This doesn't mean it is unsafe, just that you should not put value on the container part of it. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I think one mfg realizes that it is not wise to expect a pressure sensor and its associated electronics to work well enough (and we need it be work very "well" - very precise/very accurate) for decades without a check. Every time a unit that is sent in for a normal check, without having shown any problems during self test, and it needs some repair shows that their performance standards are very high. The units of other mfgs can pass a self test, but we do not know how well they will make the fire/no fire decision when the conditions are close to the limit. There is no historical record of how well their units perform after 4 and 8 years in service. The fact that cypres has a 12 year warranty is worth a lot. Why do the others not match their warranty to what they claim will be the lifetime of the unit? I think a reminder of the philosophy behind why substantial maintenance is a good idea and what happens during cypres maint testing is appropriate. It is much more than putting it in a chamber and confirming that it works. A self test cannot confirm the accuracy and precision of a sensor, or that a cold solder joint will not function at all when the unit is later at some temp extreme, among other things. http://www.cypres-usa.com/english_maintenance.pdf http://www.cypres-usa.com/...e_of_reliability.pdf People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

One less worry with the Racer's pin protection.

My renter's insurance covers it even if it is stolen at a DZ, or from a car, or during travel with an airline...For me, adding on renter's insurance to my car insurance policy somehow lowered the total cost. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I think the primary benefit of harness rings is that they make it easier to replace/repair parts of the harness. I think the other claimed benefits are largely accepted without evidence. It is easy to find pics of people flying with hip rings that don't accomplish their intended purpose. Upper rings are even more ridiculous. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

This has been discussed many times. Among the threads with my reasons explained for being an advocate of tube stows for the critical locking stows is this one: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4369937#4369937 People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Your equipment very likely weighs more than you're estimating. It won't make a huge difference, but you might as well get it right. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

The length of the lanyard is not the issue with its ability to be a snag hazard. The issue is the shackle itself. It can grab a line, get stuck in a cascade or other point where line meets canopy, etc. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Those telling you that you will definitely want to downsize below a 210 should be ignored. That should be a long way in the future if at all. Different canopy designe have different flight characteristics, so the 230 and the 210 Spectre may be inherently not comparable. The Spectre doesn't have the flat glide ratio of many other designs. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

How do you know you will downsize from a 210? The WL you would have is actually a bit aggressive for you at first, and is what a lot of very experienced jumpers are at. The rig might be a decent deal, it depends on the condition, age and number of jumps of all the components (you've already said not everything is 1.5 years old on that rig). I don't think the curv is made in sizes for canopies you should be using. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

An old rigger that has been rigging since dinosaurs roamed the earth would be best for you to use for this consultation (well, they don't have to be that old, but be careful). The value of the rig is basically in the main and AAD. There is almost no value in the container and reserve - perhaps just a couple hundred total. That doesn't mean it is not airworthy, just that it should be really cheap. So cheap that if you choose to buy another container and reserve to use with your main and AAD that you won't feel that you wasted money if you are not able to sell the container and reserve. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Just be sure to be getting advice from people that have no interest in selling that rig, or in selling you something else, and that toughest qualification for you to judge - have a lot of gear knowledge and years in the sport. As long as the rig is appropriately priced and in good shape, it could be a good deal. You should be confident (by way of getting the opinion from those giving you advice) that if after a few jumps you don't want it, that you can sell it for the same price. What is the reserve and how old? People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Realizing that such fear of cutting away can creep into your thoughts (and for you it did) is I think crucial to beating that fear. This fear may have killed many. Much about this subject in this thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4519677#4519677 People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Quite right! I think it is so important for new jumpers to realize that their big student canopies are pretty good at doing a steady deep brake landing, but perhaps they should also be mentioned that just holding a full (all the way down) flare is usually not be the best way to do it. I understand that by saying "mush it in" you're conveying that, but I think newbies might not realize that it means that they still need to do more than just hold a deep flare. They need to know that they still need to fly it, and that might mean letting up just a little to keep the canopy from rocking back too much. Of course they must also know that letting up too much will make it surge forward/down. This is all obvious stuff to many, especially those that have had the opportunity to watch real competition type accuracy approaches/landings. It gets to skills that novices might really need to know, in case they flare way too early, or if they really need to put it down into a tight area when landing off the DZ for instance. Well said. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

The inside of the tube is said to be at 100 pascals, or about 150k feet altitude (1/1000 of normal atm pressure). It would be interesting to calculate how long, and how much energy/pumping resources it would take to bring that much volume down to 1/1000 atm pressure. They think that in the event of a severe depressurization of a capsule, they would just stop all of them and re-pressurize the whole tube. It wouldn't matter for those in that particular capsule that had suffered a really bad leak, as they would be near instantly dead. They might as well just keep the capsule going because there is no way that the tube could be re-pressurized quickly enough to save anyone. Anyway, then wheels (that were described as possibly being part of a capsule) would be needed to allow electric motors to drive the not really considered in the design wheels so as to get the capsules to a station. That would take a really long time! Every 5 miles or so there would be a capsule, trapped inside a sealed steel tube driving itself with wheels that weren't really even considered. There is no mention at all in the document of what the emergency braking system is or how it would work, just that it is there. Really, the safety considerations section at the end of the document is a joke. What if a capsule can't be driven by the not really in the design wheels? (they ignore that possibility) Would they have to get out torches and cut the tube open to get you out 100 feet above the ground? This while in a capsule that is super cramped and has no amenities. Much worse than being trapped in a plane waiting on the tarmac for a couple hours. They should have some way of controlling the roll of the capsule. It seems from what I read that they don't have that, except to say that when it went through the induction motor areas that it would be self aligning, but I think it would have to be pretty close as it approached. I suspect that more direct control would be needed. Taking the curves would be more comfortable if the g forces were always "down", which requires being able to roll. edited to say the inside of the tube is at 100 pa, not the capsule. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

felines canines and rodents People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I agree that for students, one procedure is probably best. I think it is interesting to consider whether experienced jumpers might mistake a bag lock for a PC in tow. I have the decades long habit of watching my PC lift the bag out of the container, so of course I know right away if I have a PC in tow. I try to keep shoulders level, but surely there is some impact due to this habit. I do not have a canopy that is vulnerable to doing bad things due to this, and would never want a canopy that is so nervous that shoulders being super even is so important. I think the only times I don't watch the bag lift out is when there are others relatively close by on opening and I want to continuously monitor whether they are heading at me after they open. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I find it amusing that people smack their analog altis whether they think the indicator is stuck or not, whether they have a brand new alti or one they suspect has been abused and has stuck before. It is probably a habit picked up from watching others smack their alti - so it must be something that is proper to do several times on the way up, must smack my alti a few times! I never smacked my analog altis, and if they had needed to be smacked to read correctly, I would have sent it in for repairs. Perhaps persistent smacking causes sticky altis! I am skeptical of claims that analog altis are so easy to quickly read. They are very easy/quick to use when you don't need a very precise result, but it is my experience that people actually look for much longer when they want to a more precise reading from the dial (like when you are getting close to break off altitude). As I said before, after so many years of using an analog, I didn't expect to prefer a digital alti, but I most definitely did. I also found the Neptune's larger digits (but thinner "stroke" of the digits), to be much, much easier to read than the Viso. To the OP - it is a very wise to not change too many things too quickly as you do more jumps early on. The things that are subject to change might be gear related, or they might be related to what you are trying to do on a jump. Changing too many things too quickly causes things to go bad in ways you won't expect. So, don't be in a hurry and consult those locals at your DZ that you trust for guidance. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

The display on the Solo and Optima is used for setting the altitudes where you want the alarms to happen and to adjust other settings. The display is not used to monitor the altitude, except in the case of the Neptune/N3 which switches to a mode where the digits get much bigger/take up the whole screen when in active alti display mode. There is no separate unit ("main unit" vs "helmet piece"), the sound comes out of the back of the unit, which is placed in the helmet. There is only one exception, the N3A, which uses ordinary earbuds, but that is not very common. The Solo and Optima are actually very small. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

It is strange that the quattro and optima II are the same price. I'm not convinced that a rechargeable battery is a positive feature overall compared to a regular battery. For digital visual altis, I like the display of the Neptune II much better than the Viso II in actual use. I suppose that means that I'd also like the N3, but the older Neptune is so much cheaper to pick up on the used market. When I tried digital visual altis, I didn't know if I'd find them easier to read or not, but after trying them, there is no way that I want to go back to analog. Everyone has their own reasons to like or not like digital vs analog, and people think differently about which is "faster/easier" to read, so don't take other people's word on what which is better for you. However, there is some good rationale for keeping an analog for when you don't have so many jumps. Fortunately, they are easy to pick up used for no more than $100, and can be resold for that years later. The Galaxy is the "standard" of visual altis and is really nice in that the lens can be swapped out for $8. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Quite right, my suggestion assumes that a person can't quite get it flared enough - that having more flare stroke actually is needed. So, as usual, review with your instructors, don't trust us. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

You might also consider grabbing the toggle at the top/nose, letting the line come through between your fingers. This will allow you to have a few more inches of stroke in your flare without actually pulling down the toggle to begin with. That extra bit of stroke can help especially with large canopies. This assumes that you can naturally reach all the way up to that height on your risers. Some will advocate taking a wrap/wrapping the steering line around your hand to get a deeper flare, but that has some significant disadvantages. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

Are you saying jump run speed is that near Vfe? If true, then I would expect flaps to not at all be desired. I don't know how that speed compares for various jump planes. You mean adds some wear, correct? People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

I've always thought that I hear my audible better when wearing earplugs, no matter what type. That has been noted by many others in the various threads about earplugs. People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am