jerry81

Thanks Drew! That speeding up stuff makes a lot of sense to me- can't wait to try it this weekend.

Most skydivers will recommend you the container they are using. So basically you can choose between Javelin, Mirage, Wings, Voodoo and Talon FS, Infinity, Vector 3 and some people will even recommend the Racer . I think the decision is up to you- some of these containers are cheaper (Wings), some have added bonuses (like the Skyhook on a Vector), some look way cooler than others (like my Voodoo) but I think you can't really go wrong with any of them. Take your time, check out all the options that you have and then decide what you want.

Your description combined with what I was expecting from the title made me smile as well.

1300 with no cutaways, not because of any attitude that you mention, but because I haven't needed to. Strongly suggest you look at the Poisson distribution. Interesting. But if I understood it correctly, the possibility of not having a cutaway diminishes below 1% somewhere above 2000 jumps. (Note that it has been two years since I last did any "real" math, so I might be completely wrong) Anyway, I did not mean to say that I believe there is a group of skydivers who would fight any malfunction they get; my theory would apply to those situations that can be resolved both ways- either by cutting away or by trying twice.

You probably know at least a few of those guys who seem to make a mockery out of statistics and have a couple of thousands jumps under their belt without ever having to cut away. Perhaps you are one of those guys. What I'm curious about is; is it just a standard deviation or even something statistically not that unusual- if there are people who have four cutaways in 1000 jumps, then there should also be people who did not cut away at all in 1000 jumps (1 reserve ride/500 jumps is the average if I understand correctly, CReW dogs excluded). More simply; is it just luck? Is it meticulous packing and perfect body position on opening that contribute to your reserve never being used? Or is it your view on cutaways? By what I read in these forums, skydivers seem to look at them from two different viewpoints, the first being "If in doubt, whip it out" mentality, while others believe that it's better to think twice before using the last parachute you've got. Naturally, I'd expect people from the second group to have fewer cutaways. I found out yesterday that I seem to bend towards this way of thinking and it made me wonder if I'm right in assuming that those who have not yet cut away in their thousands of jumps subscribe mostly to this logic or not. Feel free to answer.

Except when you're a student with three jumps and it's all you can think about as you move towards the door. I can understand and even enjoy the dark humor now, but back then it was just really unpleasant.

Or at least appears to. Granted, I only did seven jumps with it this weekend, but so far it's doing what it's supposed to- shows altitude when worn on the hand, beeps when used as an audible and logs my jumps. Mine has version 1.15 loaded on it (I'll update as soon as I find a cheap USB-IR port), so I don't know if any of these bugs have been worked out already but this is what I've noticed so far; Airplane mode: the time to altitude was a source of amusement for everyone in our An-2; since the target altitude can't be changed in this version the Neptune was calculating the time we need to get to 4km and was displaying something around 20 minutes from take-off to exit at 3km. The rate of climb was jumping from 50m to 150m per minute every couple of seconds- while I know that our airplane does climb very unevenly I think the reason for such differences is still in the software. Log book: One very obvious bug in this version is the way you move from one jump to the next; Go to previous jump moves you to the next jump and vice versa. I hope this has been taken care of in the newer software versions. Another suspicious thing were the recorded speeds; sometimes, they seem alright and sometimes they're either much too big or much too small. Example: on one jump, my speed at 3000 was reported to be 100kmh (60mph) and on another 255kmh (170mph). Both were 2-way freefly dives so the break-off and deployment altitudes were more or less the same. I was wearing the Neptune inside my helmet (Z1 Evo). On the other hand, the max speeds seemed more or less OK. It would be interesting to compare this with a Protrack (too bad I don't have one at hand) and to see the graphs of these dives. Regarding this, a friend had an interesting idea- since the Neptune has a dot matrix display, it could probably show a rough graph of the speed in relation with time in relation with altitude. (Thus diminishing the need for a computer program that does the same thing. I think it's a great idea, but a bit uneconomical for Alti-2) General; when used as an audible, the Neptune issues a series of beeps at 1000' (~300m). Although it's pretty obvious, I think this could be mentioned in the manual as well. A nice feature would be some kind of keypad lock or just a sequence you'd have to press to turn it on. Even though it's a bit farfetched there is a possibility that a key will be pressed when I put my snug-fitting helmet on. Also, I noticed that the Neptune emits a faint humming sound whenever you press a key if the backlight is enabled. I don't think this is a cause for concern, but it did freak me out for a while before I realized what was causing the sound. I know Alti-2 has a form for suggestions and feedback at their webpage, but I want to try the latest version before making an ass out of myself by complaining about something that's already fixed. This short review was just meant to report my first impressions and overall satisfaction with the Neptune; after reading about all the bugs found in it, I was half expecting mine to shut itself off in freefall, but so far it's performed quite well and the few bugs that I've found can be corrected. Over the internet and with an IR port. How cool is that? (Yes, I'm a gadget freak too) I must say I'm satisfied with my purchase. btw, if you haven't already, read Kevin's review for more details about how the thing works.

Hi, first of all, welcome! You've entered an entirely new world and your excitement is quite understandable (we've all been there Spectre). Basically, most of them have either nine or seven cells and are square (rectangular, anyway) or elliptical in shape. Both that, the size (square footage- the numbers that come after the name) and the weight of the person flying it determine the parachute's behaviour in the air. As I said, with 6 jumps, you've got a ton of learning ahead of you (it never stops actually, there's always tons of things you still don't know in this sport). By the time you get your A you'll probably know infinitely more about skydiving than you know now and should have a much better idea about which canopy is suitable for you. And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask your instructor or us friendly folks at dz.com. And of course- have fun!

Whoa...makes me almost wish I was stoned.

Well, it begins good, but the style gets boring after a while and the story slowly deteriorates towards needless melodrama. And I'm not convinced the author knows much about skydiving or base jumping. Overall a C+, but then again, that's just my personal opinion.

Alchemy definitely rocks in the air, but the competition was still very tough. The Germans had a kick ass routine for their free jumps and the french team that in the end became second would have probably won if it weren't for the second speed round in which they lost their 1 point lead over Alchemy. Anyway, impo the gold went to the right team. As for the 8-way, the Russians turned their last point with about 2 tenths of a second left. You could cut tension with a knife while we were watching it. Very fitting ending for a World championship.

Well, there's a party planned for tonight (and tomorrow and saturday especially). How do you spot a in a crowd?

Just checking to see if there are any dz.commers at the Mondial. Maybe we can get together for a beer-drinking big-way or something...

Well, the situation you're trying to prevent is this; you land (at a demo or landing area not on the dz) with one contact stuck to the inside of your goggles, take them off and then spend five minutes poking yourself in the eye so the tears soften the lens enough for you to wear it. True story...

Well, in that case... The lowest I ever pulled intentionally was somewhere around, or slightly below, 2000'. We were training the whole day, I was flying camera and I got a bit tired of being open at ~3500. So when I got the chance to do a free fun jump, I just played around until I got to 3000 and then watched the ground getting bigger with a kind of sick fascination for another 1000'. And since I was jumping without an AAD, the whole experience was a bit more intense.

Hey, pssst, check this thread.

1.I was one of the only three jumpers in the air and we basically had the sky and the landing area to ourselves. I had just begun to experience the rush you get from a riser turn and was trying to get the most out of my canopy. So I did a hard left 90° hook into the wind and impacted still at a slight angle...grass stains on the pants prove it. I was trying to dig myself out like crazy, but of course nothing happened, because 2.my canopy was a beat-to-shit Falcon 215, 3.true, loaded at only .9 or something, but still. 4.I had about 60 jumps on that canopy, 80 on student Skymasters (270) and around 20 on an Impulse 150 5.About 160 jumps altogether. 6.As I said, I put a long grass stain on my left pants' leg, a smaller one on the right, scraped some skin, walked with a slight limp for a day and deflated my ego a bit. 7.Cost: a long moment of fear as I bounced from the ground, thinking "Shit, don't let my leg be broken, not when there's another ten days of jumping ahead of me!" 8.Down time: until the next load. Lesson learned: Always listen to that little voice telling you it's too low for a turn. Respect any canopy you fly, not just the ones that demand it loudly.

So was it a 2000 foot snivel or did you simply lose altitude awareness?

Bummer. I've had this happen so many times during this first year in the sport that I can with all seriousness say that good eyewear is the second most important piece of equipment for a skydiver with contacts. That said, another very useful reminder to anyone wearing contacts would be to never remove your goggles until you land. Flying and landing with just one eye can be a bitch (I have a nice video of a great downwind swoop followed by a not so great face plant because I misjudged the distance to the ground), but taking off your goggles won't solve a thing. Also, start carrying a bottle of your favorite eye drops in your jumpsuit. Stuffing a dried contact back into your eye is no fun, trust me.

Suicidal maniacs seems a pretty common term among pilots...

Well, for one thing, actual discrimination is very seldom the result of a persons hair color, while skin color and gender have been and continue to be very common causes for it. Jokes about the latter two have, imo, the potential to cause much more damage than simple blonde jokes.

Hey, if you're by any chance visiting Slovenia, the summer is a great time to make a jump at the most scenic dropzone in the country- DZ Bovec, located among the mountains near the borders with Italy and Austria. The price for a tandem is slightly lower (around 150€) and there are numerous other outdoor activities such as hiking, climbing, whitewater rafting/kayaking, canyoning, biking and paragliding you can enjoy while staying there.

Well, there's nothing about this law on the webpage of the newspaper that reportedly carried the story. Also, any Bosnian woman that would sue someone because of a joke about hair color they made would more than likely just make a bigger joke out of herself. Luckily, people around these parts still prefer common sense over unnecessary legal action.

What's the difference between like, love, and showing off? Spit, swallow, and gargle.

I just got home yesterday after two weeks of living in a tent at the dropzone and I actually felt I was missing something when I couldn't look at Mars right before getting into bed (my window is facing the wrong way). Maybe I should sleep outside... Or better yet, move back to the dz.