Treejumps

I'm here because it sucks me in when I should be doing other things. Its a bad habit like cocaine but cheaper, but proably just as hard to kick. I used to just check the body count, but now I peruse everything. 99% worthless garbage, 1% useful information. It seems more like a social club for freaks, outcasts, and other miscreants who skydive once and a while, than a skydiving site. Why am I here? Because I can't help it.

Any properly fitted harness will perform the same with regards to harness input. I don't care for Javelins, if for no other reason than the fact that they do not turn and stitch the end of their chest straps. Most swoopers open their chest straps all the way to improve canopy performance, and with a Javelin the chest strap could inadvertantly come un-done. Probably not a problem, but it could be. I have unhooked my chest strap to swoop and while I did like not having it, I wouldn't make it a habit.

Team Old and Brittle is about to make a BASE jump. Somebody help push my wheelchair!

Jeanne, I'm not french and I don't ride motorcycles. From reading your posts it sounds like you see yourself on the outside of some group at your DZ that you want to be a part of. Your going to have to work that out on your own, and it has nothing to with me. I am a videographer and have been for over 5 years. Clarely, I spend a lot of time with tandems, and as mentioned before, I enjoy working with them and do everything I can to make their jump special. Aside from that, I'll help anyone any way I can, and I answer any question any newbie has. This thread is about people who make one jump and think that immediately makes them a skydiver. I disagree, and said so respecfuly, along with my reasoning. How you could derive from that tht I am a skygod in a clique who talks down on newbies is beyond me.

CR and Vertigo both have a great video. If you have only 116 skydives, I think that you should not bother with the videos. Jump more and find someone to teach you. At 116 jumps you're probably just getting your skydive pack job down to under 20 minutes, Don't rush things.

Yo Ron, Thank you for articulating how I feel about the tandems. They're great people, and I enjoy being a part of their 1st jump (lots of videos). I encourage them all to come back, and do everything I can to make their jump a great experience, but as you said, it just does not make them "skydivers". This does not make me "skygod", or mean I have a huge ego or an attitude towards them, its just a fact. I've worked with dozens of new jumpers teaching freefly, and will answer any questions from any jumper anytime. My opinion is based not on what I consider someone to be, but what they run around calling themselves. If you made one tandem and you are plannig on making a go at it, you are "learning to skydive", and that is what I think it is honest to tell others. When you can roll up to a DZ, manifiest, and jump on your own, then you are a skydiver. Its not derogatory, its just reality. Relax.......

Bla bla bla bla bla. Tandems come and go. One in one hundred will ever make a second jump, and the rest hang out on dz.com. I'm not macho, or a skygod, but just like many of you I don't really do too well spending time hanging with wuffos (i just get bored hearing about everyday life). Do you invite every single person who does a tandem at your DZ back to your place every weekend? On the other hand, I don't find myself throwing around the ever popular "I'm so superior to you becasue I'm so much more open to new people (who will be gone in 5 minutes)". Sorry, I do like to hang out with my skydiving friends. No, 1 tandem does not a skydiver make, just like sitting on the back seat of motorcycle for a ride doesn't make you a rider (best metaphor I could come up with). In most social circles you don't blast your way into the middle and start spewing all that you have to say in the first 5 minutes. I guess while on-line people can get away with that which would get them the door in the real world. Incidentally, I think that if someone has made enough comittment to get a license, thats about the time I think "skydiver" becomes an accurate description. If you go to France for a week, are you French?

1 jump and 39 posts, all in one day. A perfect addition. Perhaps sex.com is a more appropriate hang out. I'm not in a bad mood or anything, but how do these tandrems find their way here so fast? Are they handing out DZ.com cards with tandem certificates these days? Soon we we'll all remember when dz.com was a skydiving site for skydivers. Trolls go home!

Is that a real picture? Look at the time code. Are you sure you wern't up to something else at that time?

I have win 2000.

Can anyone help. I'm using Adaptec CD Creator 4, and nearly every time I make a CD it crashes my system. I haven't been able to get it to burn a data cd to get all these MP3s off my hard drives, and it basically just sucks to have such unstable software. Any suggestions on a new program? Preferably free, but if I have to I'd pay for it. Thanks, Tree

I have not participated in the blade running, yet, but I have studied it since it is on my to do list. For starters, if you are not an EXPERT canopy pilot, you will either get hurt, or spend a bunch of time walking and sliding down the mountain. It is no walk in the park, and certainly requires tremendous canopy skills. Even the highest performance canopies require lots of front riser input to stay on the glide path of mountain slope. Considering that its easy to go 40 mph (70 - 80 KPH) in that configuration, any inadvertant contact with bumps, trees, or hard snowpack will break you. On the other hand, if you are just trying to ground launch and take a leisurely canopy ride down the mountain, remove your PC and bag, tiw your slider down, leave your chest strap as wide open as you can, then lay your canopy out behind you on a steep alope and start skiing as fast as you can and you should be able to launch. You will find it works better if you hold your rear risers in your hands so that you can control the canopy as it starts to inflate. Beware windy days on big mountains. Anything other than a hP canopy with a good pilot will just fly away from the mountain. Beware landing facing uphill. (splat) THis is called canopy soaring and its been for decades. Leave the blade running to the pros. Have fun. Tree

Geez, Mike, YOU make them and you don't even know what they are? BTW, I didn't say they were for intentional high speed deployment, that was straight off of JumpShacks site. Sorry, I'm just having fun with you on this. I don't jump Racers, don't like them, but don't find them difficult to pack at all. After years of dis-crediting tuck-tabs I find it comical that Jumpshack now has them. I guess velcro has finally died in skydiving. R-I-P

"From now on I will stick to getting advise from my friends and people that know me". Are these the ones who have "talked to you" after you did something foolish, as you mentioned in your other post? Sounds like you have already been close to hurting yourself or worse, others. Take heed and live longer.

Still waiting for Mike's definition of a speedbag/freebag. My understanding of the speedbag (per the shack's web site) is that is is to protect "FreeFlyers and Speed Divers who reach speeds of over 200MPH. At high speeds we are much more prone to line dump because of the increase of inertia". Not to sound silly, but I hope that even Jump Shack reccomends SLOWING DOWN before deploying. Besides, not many people freefly in racers, and I doubt that many speed skydiver are on board either. I digres. Just waiting for Mike's definition of speed/freebags, or is it free/speedbags?

Your response pretty much says it all- I already know everything and will do what I want. Don't say you weren't warned when you are looking up from you back with a bunch of people standing around you shaking their heads.

Just beacuse I don't spend a lot of time fine tuning my profile does not mean I'm not a rigger. I did not say that I did not know what kind of bag I recieved. You said that. I was fully aware that it was not an industry standard bag with a line stow pouch and safety stow. I called and inquired about getting a standard bag, for which I was required by Nancy to sign a waiver. I declined since my g/f was getting a Wings container, and the Racer to be sold. Now that we have settled that, how about YOUR definition a a speedbag/freebag? You're previous answer would lead any reader to believe that you really don't know what makes it a speedbag or a freebag. Answer the question, please, and no cute answer like "the one we make" this time. By the way, I have since had the old bag returned. I can post pics of the old vs the new if you need help seeing the difference between them. The new one has no safety stow, and rubber bands instead of a pouch, but does NOT have all stows as locking stows.

AS much as I thought the bag I got was a bad idea, a freebag/speedbag with every stow as a locking stow is worse, much worse. I'll set my stopwatch now and see how long until a bag lock occurs with that system. That is a black death design. period. Fortunately for Racer, not many jumpers really understand their reserve systems. If more jumpers understood this speed/freebag system, I am confident they would not jump it.

Perhaps the definition of "speedbag" would help everyone undestand what is and isn't. According to JumpSHack, this is a speedbag. http://www.jumpshack.com/default.asp?CategoryID=TECH&PageID=Speedbag&SortBy=TITLE_A This pretty much says that a speesbag is defined by every stow being a locking stow. The freebag I was sent did not have every stow as a locking stow. Please tell me what you consider a speedbag freebag.

The "new" racer freebag is not a speedbag. It is a standard racer freebag with rubber bands instead of a safety stow (bungee), and rubber bands instead of a velcro closed line stow pouch. I know, becasue my g/f lost her freebag and the new on is as described. There are mafunctions that are possible with rubber bands instead of a line stow pouch, mainly, a bag lock. Should one line bight go through another you would get a bag lock. Think bands always break? Why do bag locks ever occur then? The safety stow vs bands is less of a problem than the line stows, but there is a reason why the entire industry abandoned rubber bands for locking freebags shut. Incidentally, the grommets are brass, but they are coated, so rubber break-down should not be an issue. For those that don't know what a saafety stow does, it is a single bungee cord that creates both locking stows of a freebag. If one releases, they both release because the first stow releases the tension on the second. The Racer was a nice design, 25 years ago. Its nice that they finally updated it, but they really should just design a modern rig rather than trying to throw chrome wheels on a 72' Charger. [edited to remove personal attack]

Actually, ALL people agree that velcro rigs are not acceptable for use with wingsuits. Why would you even consider it? It is a bad idea. I always have to ask, "where do these people come from?" Why would you even consider it? BASE eats up people like this. BTW, seeing that there are now skydiving and base specific rigs for wingsuits, I think it is safe to say that YES, airflow over a rig has been studied, and NO, they have not concluded that it would be a good enviroment for the return of velcro.

Why bother posting and asking questions since you already know everything. I mean, wow, you can ride a motorcycle! BFD!. It won't help you a bit when you get in a corner, have to land off, get cut off, or hook it too low on a day that the air is hotter, colder, or more or less humid than you are used to. You've asked and you've been told that your logic and reasoning are flawed, but now that you've been told and you still won't listen, well that is just plain old stupid. When you bite it just, remember that you were told. BTW, I woulld be interested in seeing if you can even fly your canopy to even 50% of its potential. I doubt it.

What up Sean? Did I read correctly that you got an FX? Nice. Swoop on brotha!

Actually, it was 232'. http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/index.asp?id=50600

You are right about one thing, that you are in the minority with you thinking. If you can't swoop to a stand up landing in a 5' circle, 10 out of 10 times, you still have plenty to learn and downsizing won't help you a bit. I'm a 2.4 on a 120 VX, and will never need to downsize again. Am I getting complacent? No. With only 700 jumps on that canopy I'm just now starting to really get everything out of it. Another couple thousand jumps and I'll still be getting more and more out of it. My next canopy will be a 135 Xaos 27 (if they ever respond to my requests for a demo). Will I be complacent under such a modestly loaded (2.0) canopy? Not chance, as it takes hundreds (at least 500) before you really know a caopy well. Your logic and reasoning are flawed, and will earn you a trip in the pretty van with flashing lights.