brabzzz

The sooner the better. Helps avoid any bad habits like belly flyin! Yep - a jumpsuit would have saved you some grief. I stopped jumping tevas after it occured to me that good trainers were cushioning the landings SOOOOO much more. Could have been worse though...naked jump!

That shit actually happens? I was gonna say 'i hope you left the slider collapsed/packed slider down or left a toggle loose'. Looking back through the thread, it turns out you did - even if accidentally! Awesome. Bad attitude just f**ks me off at the DZ. If you're not gonna be friendly, pack-up'n'pi**-off.

My instructor gave me the age old line 'better down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here'. I ignored that and got the 170 @~1.17 instead of a 190. I shredded my poptop and 'rolled' across half the DZ under that canopy following a downwinder - 200 jumps later. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

According to the paragear canopy comparison chart (to be taken with a bucket of salt), a Raven 181 packs smaller than the PD 160. However, there are those that believe PD makes the best reserve on the market and are willing to pay for them and deal with the larger pack volume as a result. Horses for corses. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Don't worry dude - i suspect most of the heat was direct at me. Any canopy related question gets a similar response - they mean well and they're still alive so they did something right (though you can't tell if they're limping...). -------------- Now that my comp has uncrashed itself, my original reply. Hell yeah. And the chicks dig it!!! I've been there more than once when the worse has happend to good friends under conservatively loaded canopies. It is humbling to see how hard a lightly loaded canopy can bite. My first rig at 50 jumps had both canopies at 1.17. I'm still here though...which could have been luck as much as anything, but i'd like to think it wasn't an unreasonable canopy choice. Sure, i could have got a Skymaster 230... He could go for the raven/techno reserves - iirc they pack smaller, and therefore get the 170/190 whatever big reserve he wants whilst keeping the container good for downsizing. It is all well and good to say that people should begin sub 1:1, but in the real world few do - for the worse admittadly. Lack of time, money and patience all contribute. Also, as he points out, if he's jumping most weekends and a custom rig won't be ready for months... --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

I'd do it. Statistically, how many reserve rides are made unconscious? 1.25 might not put you down as gently as a 1, but it's still better than the alternative. And if you hit power lines, a house, a truck, a combine harvester, 'out at sea' or a lion enclosure - it makes no difference anyway. Best stay conscious, eh? IIRC, a PD160 is more like 175 sq.ft. - if that makes it psychologically more comforting. Still, the only correct response from dz.com would be go and ask a bunch of instructors/jumpers you trust. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Helllloooooooooo! 1) Unisys - Worth the money or would a hip ring have sufficied? Is unisys just the addition of chest-rings to a hips only harness? Anyone care to shed light on the 'patented unisys harness stitching' that only the factory can repair? Sounds like an excuse to get bent over a barrel for future repairs.... 2) Am I right in thinkign the cadmium (sp?) hardware is still nicer then other manufacturers plain old steel? 3) Has anyone got a pilot 140 filt inside a M0 or M1? It's packs 5% bigger than a Sabre 135 (on paper). I've been warned it's gonna be tight. Is that tight as in tight or tight as in tiiiiiiiigggghhhhht? --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Docked on a tandem with 2 others at 300 jumps. No dedicated video guy. Nice jump. You'd have to be f*cking stupid to be dangerous. If you don't have the skill, stay the hell away from the tandem - or even the load itself. It's not a function of jump numbers, only you and (more importantly) the TI know if it's going to be safe. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Yes, for the vast majority of people, I imagine AFF abroad is cheaper and faster than UK SL. Faster without a doubt, cheaper depends on where you go and how long SL would have taken. I was very definitly both for me...and it would have been even had i been able to finish SL in 18. Given UK weather (you've got winter between now and April), the jump rate for a student at UK DZs, and getting those 18 jumps in is going to take a while, and the lack of curreny is gonna make it more expensive. And very few do it in 18. OP - Jargon? http://www.skydivebristoluni.com/training.html Explains the training methods, briefly compares them and has a pretty handy glossary of all the jargon. Edit: another one http://www.bpa.org.uk/glossary.htm --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Hey due, AFF without a shadow of a doubt. SL is a dinosaur that has no place outside of a military environment. Faster and probably cheaper than SL if you do it abroad. The only downside is that you arrive back in the UK 'suddenly qualified' and have to become a 'DZ regular' without the process being handed to you on a plate by being a bumbing student. If you reckon you can hack that, go AFF.

The fact you are asking the question should answer it. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Join the club. Their customer service is pants. I'm not one to b*tch and moan online, but it was a lot of money for a suit, and, apart from the suit that fits ok, the rest of the 'experience' was bollockes. Late, near non existent customer service etc etc. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Heya, out of curiosity, what is the super special sponsored deal? For a truly cheaper rig i'd happily advertise anything and be sponsored by anyone! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

As with many aspects of life, tits get their owner far. edit: Met a guy in Norway with 20 skydives and ten times as many base jumps. Not the recommended path - no DZ would let him practice his wingsuiting due to lack of skydives...which makes it kinda hard to do wingsuit base! edit edit: As for the higher proportion of female student base fatalities (if true) ...It's as likely as anything to be the fact most base jumpers are guys, and, guys being guys, will do almost anything to get girls...including being a mentor/teacher in base when a guy with similar skills might have got told to bugger off and come back with more skydives! I doubt reflexes or any physiological aspects have anythign to do with it. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Yeah, same concept but your one looks really fancy! http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3741/copyofdscf0576fj3.jpg http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/4258/copyofdscf0577rj0.jpg There's the Norway pendulator. The lines are not really visible in the first pic, but hey. You sure couldn't do one every 30 secs there. It takes at least that long to climb up! Haha, i did mine at midnight and jumped the next morning. Loved the place, highly recommended. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

The pendulator in Norway was cool. Probably more scary than the jump itself. Best get a couple of beers in first! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

I think I pack mine facing in most of the time. But sometimes I forget and pack them facing out, or one in, one out. Like you, i recall being told by someone 'how' to do it, but it's worked for 500 jumps using an odd mix of the two. All I get is furry brake lines, but that's because I'm too lazy to stown the excess line). --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

edit: post deleted. Will read the question first next time --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

D-handles can be pulled with broken bones. Either with a damaged hand that wouldn't have the strength to grasp and grip a pad or literally with the bones that are sticking out! They are a bit more of a snag hazard, but poorly mateing the velcro (on either pads or D's) or general gear neglect/lack of checks, is, imho, more likley to get the reserve out prematurely that an actual D snag. Disclaimer, never had a snag, damaged hand or reserve ride...but thats how i'd rationalise my choice of metal D. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

iirc, it's ok on most rigs. But, iirc (unlikely) if you have chest rings on an old teardrop sf, there is no room for a metal D. The low profile metal D's they offer on vectors look the business. Kinda the best of both worlds. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Either my first SL: "Head down, de-arched, kicking and screaming." Or my FF1 jump, a 28(?)-way 2-plane head up tube jump. Signed by Eli and Tim Porter. Obviously 'favourites' for two rather different reasons! ;-) --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

The one time i wore a serious amout of lead, I landed f*cking miles away. A really sweaty walk back. I also knew someone that had their fatal incident wearing more weight than they were happy with. It wasn't the main cause, it probably didn't even contribute - but it's another complication, another thing to worry about - and that may have been a tiny littly factor, taking a fraction of their concentration off the important bits of the skydive. Why bother? Weight is for fallrate. If you don't -need- it, I fail to understand why the hell you'd want to bother with it! There is a video online of some guy swooping a 280 (or something). There are also some pretty cool vids of people bouncing under little canopies. Look n learn. edit: To answer your question. Yep. Good idea when you're ready fo it. I'd do it (so probably a bad idea!). Obviously can't say whether you are or are not though. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

he powerboat and bike was gay, especially as it looked like the escape could have been made by unicyle and pedalo. That aside, very cool toplanding. I heard the price of chartering a heli over london runs at about £800/hour (could be BS). With a stack of rigs and 4 jumpers, it might have potential. Potential for maybe (justifiably) getting shot in the head and getting the heli pilot in shit. But fun regardless! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Well, my fav of only 5 base pics. One of my first jumps! http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/9223/specialklp3.jpg Cheers to the dude that took it...for the life of me i can't remember your name at the time of posting! -----> Alex! Just remembered! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

yep, that sounds like the one. It cost more but most of the stuff that's optional on the basic model is already present. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com