Ron

I wonder if they would approve of your situation? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Not what *he* said at all. The label said that if you made 50 jumps with 10 soft standing landings in the target area on a 15% larger canopy then you could jump this smaller one. Which is more than most people who downsize do. 50 jumps on a larger canopy showing control is more than most people do. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yes, but any skydive is like a deep scuba dive. Most of the reefs by me are 20-60 feet deep. That is a pretty easy reach for an OOA diver. In one of my classes we HAD to do an OOA from 40 feet and the biggest danger was lung overexpansion injury, not running out of air. Now I also cave dive. That would be a much better comparison, but still on a cave dive I have at least one buddy that can assist me. The same cannot be said of skydiving. As Bill said, not many ski jumpers die each year... I don't know enough about climbing, but I would venture that most do not consider it "safe" either "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I would disagree with every scuba dive would end in a death... A 40 foot reef dive with a 100% OOA situation is an easy fix. A hop n pop carries the same basic risk as a 13k jump. Now, would you classify a ski jump or rock climbing as "safe"??? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Name another sport that once started will result in death unless you and your gear function correctly. Name another "safe" sport that prints fatalities in its national magazine. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Your "one jump, one exposure risk" is only true if you ignore currency as a factor. Your coin toss is random chance, and while that may work for chance of a malfunction for instance.... How a jumper reacts to a malfunction can easily affect the outcome, unlike to coin toss example provided. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I average 300 a year and have for 17 years. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You are ready when you can consider the camera and take it into consideration, yet not let it interfere with all the skills you have to already have to not screw up a normal skydive. The 200 jump limit is because for 99% of the population it takes 200ish jumps to have enough repetitions of basic skydiving survival skills to be able to start to consider adding complicating factors. YOU may think that it is silly, but name me one person who died in this sport that didn't think they were OK to do what they were doing. I can tell you that I almost bounced on my first camera jump, of course I thought I would be fine.... Instead, I got a canopy at ~500 feet. And of course, you are going to ignore any advice given until you find advice that supports what you want to do.... Normal, but not smart. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It happens with pull out and throwout. I had an MRI last mth and am dreading the result. ~5k jumps. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Panic. People burn in without deploying a single parachute and they have normally done it several times before. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It is a dead art.... But I hope you are joking. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It is talked about, but very few students actually have to do it. Instead, the otter flies over, the light turns on, the dude gets out and it is considered a spot. Shame really... It is a life saving skill. I have taken groups of jumpers to cessna DZ's to teach them, but fewer and fewer want to learn. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

saw a guy try this.... He ended up ripping his container apart on the tarmac after he fell. One thing to consider (and he didn't) was that once you land, the canopy will have drag and may pull you backwards. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You jump at Skydive 35 South of Ft. Worth. I would look at getting a coach to talk to you about RW skills, your "dive" was more of a de-arch than a dive. Skydive Dallas has SDU coaches, I don't know if S35 does.... Get one. If I am in the Dallas area, I will do free coaching for you at Skydive Dallas.... But I don't know when I will be back at SDD right now. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Not an issue. The stuck bag could also have been due to the pilot chute not being able to get out of the burble created by the three of you. Without the two JM's (Or even one extra) it might have been nothing. Doing AFF, I have seen PC's float around in the burble till I grabbed them or pushed them out. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Anything is better than nothing. But the reserve is the best bet... Less likely to mal, more gentle flight characteristics... etc. Main is better than nothing, but most of the people I know would jump canopys that would not be a good idea to deploy and land unconscious. Waiting for the AAD?????? Really????? I'd rather you not just assume a person has one and then trust it to work. Now, don't blast past your own hard deck. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

No, not 40... "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Find me giving technical advice to someone elses student. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yeah, but the 400 dollar plane ticket from FL would not exactly save me money in the long run "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And anyone with a few hundred jumps all thinks the same way. Yet he didn't at 100 jumps and that kinda is the whole point. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Then you have your answer. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Worst idea EVER. You could also just end up flipped over on your back. Plus, which knee do you plan to drop to turn what direction? You do know that it is not just dropping a knee that does anything, but a much more complex move? I can drop a knee and sit still, or drop the same knee and turn either direction. Your plan is not well thought out and could just INCREASE your problems. Why not just listen to your instructors instead of trying to self diagnose yourself on the internet? Do you routinely go into your Dr's office with a treatment plan already planned out, or do you listen to the Dr? Advice on technique should be gotten from a coach or an instructor.... It is fine to listen to advice about fear etc from newbies... But I'd bet the instructor also knows those answers as well. Maybe I am just stupid.... But I tend to think the INSTRUCTORS know more about skydiving than people with just a few jumps. You don't see too many instructors giving technical advice to STUDENTS over the internet... And there is a damn good reason for that. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And thats the problem.... People don't know what they don't know. I can't tell you the number of times I have had an AFF student debate with me about some bit of "advice" they "learned" from the internet from some guy with a cool user name and 10 jumps when the student tried to self diagnose an issue. Several times I have had to ask the student to quit reading the damn internet for advice.... It really only hurts the process. Once I just flat out refused to jump with a student that wanted to argue how the dude with the cool user name seemed to give a better solution than the one I was proposing. After talking with the Chief instructor we told the jumper to either listen to us, or have the dude with the cool user name do her AFF jumps. And as for taking skydiving advice from the internet.... People don't know your issue, they do not SEE the problem and can only go off your best explanation.... And remember you are HAVING A PROBLEM and therefore by definition do not really know what is going on. So they take your questionable explanation of the problem, try to understand it without being able to see it, then try to communicate via writing a complex solution to a problem they really don't know, and then you have to understand the solution to the problem they don't know and understand the solution even though you had a problem in the first place..... sheesh!!!! That is a recipe for a disaster! "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Simple.... you earned it. Back in 2002 a bunch of us threw together an Intermediate team for 8way. We were doing quite well for a throw together team and I felt kinda bad.... One the the Golden Knights Chris Talbert asked me what was up.... He asked me, "If you were here in open and I was kicking your ass... you think I would feel bad about it?" The point being that: 1. The USPA rules allow the AF to be there. 2. The AF does not always win. 3. It *IS* a competition and the point is to win a competition. You and they registered in that class. Good on you for trying to bring a guy up, but this is a competition. Yes, it does. While you have raised some of the same points I have raised in the past.... I hope they did enjoy the win. You don't like the rules.... Petition the USPA to change them. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334