skybytch

I had a fusion, L4-S1, in 2001 at 36 years old. Was back in the air after a year of recovery. I did have a good surgeon though, who understood and thought I'd be okay jumping again. He was right. Don't retire if you still feel the need to be in the air. Just adjust your skydiving to reduce the risk of additional injury. I'd suggest upsizing a bit and possibly changing to a less aggressive canopy but that's just me. I'm 54 and jump a Spectre with dacron lines at a low wingloading. Super soft openings, easy landings. It's not a sports car, but I'm less likely to get hurt flying it than with any other canopy I've flown, especially if I don't stay current. If you prefer a 9 cell, there are a few out there that have a reputation for soft openings. <standard disclaimer> I am not a doctor </standard disclaimer> Check with your surgeon to be sure it's had enough time to heal. If the answer is yes, well, you know what to do

Did a two way with the hubby this weekend. We completed everything we planned to do. I got to give him a big ol' kiss in freefall (fuck full face helmets). It was loads of fun. Except that I forgot how to arch, so I was sliding all over the place. When he gave me an arch signal, I thought he meant I should go low on him and then come back up. Which I did, still flat as a board. When he turned to track, it took a second for me to register that I needed to turn and track also, even though I had just looked at my alti and knew it was breakoff time. I was laughing at myself as I tracked and pulled. And then I completely forgot to pull down on one toggle to collapse the canopy in those kind of winds so I got some great new grass stains on my pants. My logbook says I have 1200 jumps. Why do I fly like I have 12? I know why. Skills are rented. I didn't pay the rent (ie make skydives) for 6 years, so whatever skills I may have had in the past have eroded to the point where it feels like I am learning to skydive all over again. Which is fun in a way, but it's kinda hard to do knowing that I used to be a pretty good recreational skydiver and now I fly like this. And there's nothing like six years out to push the overamp meter way above 10. Anyone want to chase me around the sky while I relearn how to do this shit?

Remove the word fail from your vocabulary. Did you learn something? Then you didn't fail. Were there things you did right? Then you didn't fail. Are you alive? Then you didn't fail. Student jumps can be way overwhelming. There are lots of people who have to repeat a category or three and yet go on to be excellent skydivers. Just keep at it. You can only fall if you don't try.

You're missing out. Borrow a couple open face helmets and go do a real kiss pass.

I know a former AFF instructor who got a kick to the neck on exit. Broke it. Don't know how he managed to do the rest of the skydive and land safely. He will never jump again. All because the exit went to shit. I know several people who have suffered shoulder injuries from funneled exits. Freefall and canopy collisions while in a cloud have happened. I believe that is one reason why there is both an FAR and a BSR that require a minimum distance from clouds. Shit happens. Because it didn't happen on that jump does not mean it was a safe skydive. You can continue to try to justify what happened or you can choose to listen and learn from highly experienced people who have seen shit and don't want it to happen to anyone else. I hope you choose the latter option.

Jump them both and decide which you like best. Don't be tempted to buy a container that will only hold a reserve that is smaller than anything you have jumped , ie keep your reserve close in size to your main. First reserve ride is enough adrenaline without adding in landing the smallest canopy you have ever jumped. Perhaps into a less than ideal place to land.

Me too. But sometimes your rigger isn't around so...

Aim for the dzo's car. Sorry, couldn't resist.

YouTube is your friend. Pack your head with knowledge at home, then find someone (preferably a rigger) to supervise while you practice. it is worth the money to pay them for the help if they ask. Excellent question btw. The more you learn, the more confident and self-reliant you will be.

Extra insurance is great, but pain still hurts. See if you can jump a 189 reserve as a main, or at least a 7 cell 190 main. Do it on a day with a bit of wind. If it's scary, if your landing sucks, if you can't run it out, do yourself and your kids a favor... upsize that reserve. Yup, it'll be pricey to get new canopy and container, but if you can afford extra insurance you can probably afford the insurance that having a reserve you are confident you can land provides. If you jump it and feel like it's going to be fine, great! Then you won't have to think about it should you ever need to use it. I say all this because I carried a reserve for a few years that was too small for my ability. When I had a very hard opening that broke two D lines, I chose to land it because I was worried about landing my reserve, especially since it would have been my first cutaway. The mind does strange things in high stress situations. i should have chopped. Later inspection showed that one of my steering line attachments was ripping out and there was a huge rip at the main p/c attachment point. It could have been really ugly, but I got lucky; I walked away with only a few scrapes and bruises. In the future, I'll be cutting away from anything I am not 100% confident that I can land safely. Having an appropriately sized reserve makes that decision easier for me. Again, just some things to think about.

Personally I'd be more worried about your reserve size than your main. Figuring 25 pounds for gear, your exit weight is about 250. Your reserve is a 189. That's a 1.3 wingloading. Ghost mentioned landing your main in a tight area due to a poor spot, etc.. Along the same lines, have you ever jumped a seven cell at a 1.3 wingloading? Do you want your first jump on one to be at sunset on a long spot over houses or trees? Downwind? Shit happens. If you aren't real accurate with your main yet, are you going to be able to land your reserve in a safe place in less than ideal conditions? As for downsizing, higher wingloadings generally equal faster landing speeds. If running a landing out now can have you tripping over your feet, is that going to improve when you are going faster? Broken ankles hurt. Just a few things to think about...

If your plan is to swoop, you don't want a Stiletto.

If the risers are equal, try jumping the same canopy in each rig; it could be harness related.

Hot tip - don't try to fit a bigger canopy than the container manufacturer says will fit. You won't like packing it and it will look like shit. But a Pulse 150 may fit an mt. Call Mirage and ask. They know better than anyone else what will fit in their containers. They won't mind answering your question.

IBTL

...can learn to skydive this year. Now do ya feel old? I recently went back to my very first posts here. I'm glad they all didn't go away in the transition to the new format, they bring back a lot of really good memories. Agree 100% with you Bigun. Thanks from me too, HH. But I still want that giraffe bbq.

If you are at all worried about the condition of any piece of used gear that you are interested in, insist that the purchase not be made final (ie seller doesn't cash your check) until you have had a chance to have your rigger inspect it. Actually I would suggest that even if you aren't worried about the condition. But like Lee said, after 50ish jumps, even in the desert, it should still be like new. The only other thing I would add is that condition also depends on the care given to it. If it was tossed down on the grass and not packed for a few hours on a regular basis there is an increased possibility of fabric degradation due to UV rays. Was is consistently trunk packed, and was that trunk clean (ie no grease or battery acid, etc)? Did it go to Burning Man, did a cat pee on it, did the previous jumper get injured and get blood on it, the list goes on and on. This is where the inspection by your rigger is so important. They will be able to find any issues that may have been caused by any of the above and/or things you might have missed in a quick visual inspection. It will probably cost less than $20 and it will be worth every penny if the rigger finds anything wrong with it. As for price, are you talking 30% less than list price, or 30% less than what they paid for it new (usually 20-25% off list price) or 30% less than what they are asking? How does the asking price compare with other similar used canopies on the market?

Yes yes yes. I'd have a rigger inspect any used canopy before making the sale final. Even a newer one with "50" jumps on it. Never know how the canopy has been cared for.

You! You! Fuck you! Gawd I've missed this.

Remi who?

If running out the landing on a no wind landing is too much now, it may be time to upsize. Us old farts don't move like we used to and it takes us longer to come back from injury. Why push it? Or you can always do the slide in on your ass thing. Not pretty but usually you can get up and walk back to the packing area with nothing injured, except maybe your pride.

Wow, bummer. My first canopy was a Fury and I jumped a Maverick a few times as well. Great canopies for the time.

As mentioned above, contact Parachutes Australia. They make SOS handles. They can help you.

I agree, it can definitely make it harder, especially at lower jump numbers. But there are always exceptions. A friend of ours is quite large, at least 250, always has been. He has many thousands of jumps, 30 plus years in sport and he holds multiple RW and CRW world records. He dresses for success; suits with lots of drag help a lot. I'm a feather butt and we have done some jumps together, including him officiating my wedding jump. The only fall rate issues were me if I wasn't wearing a snug suit (ie I didn't dress for success). But yeah, most of the larger jumpers I've known haven't stayed in the sport very long, at least partly because their learning curve is so steep due to their size and the fact that not every jumper, especially ones at about the same jump numbers, can keep up with them in freefall. But even if they don't do a lot of jumps, they got to experience skydiving as a skydiver not as a tandem passenger. That's not a bad thing :-)

Like Lee said, it may be difficult to find what you need used. Like little females, you are outside the "norm" for sport skydiving gear. If you are looking for used, don't stop at the classifieds. Try some gear stores. Some do sell used gear. But first I'd suggest going to your local dz and getting current - on their rental/student gear - before buying anything.