darrenspooner

I did it - gold, red, gold, gold, gold, gold, gold, red, gold And for the Javelin, black and gold Yee haa, thank god I can stop obsessing now, and sit back for 17 weeks til sunpath get the bloody thing made. Thanks folks, but mine will definitely be the coolest out there.

Fantastic, I'll do that. I could put a twist on that by drinking so much I puked then look for the 2 dominant colours in the puke, and design the canopy with those. Having said that, orange and green won't look great.

I'm ordering my new Sabre 2 and Javelin container today and can't decide on colour schemes. What looks really cool? Anyone know of a good site with loads of pics? (pics of canopies and containers that is ) Many thanks ***Die with yer boots on

much obliged

Intuitively I would expect that to be the case too, but the pound is very strong against the dollar and weak against the euro at the moment, so the exchange rate is far more favourable to buy in the states. I checked out european prices and it will cost considerably more to buy in europe. But thanks anyway.

left arm and left leg folder in, the rest hanging out. Yee haa!

I'm in the UK and now ready for a new rig. Current UK-USA exchage rates make it a great time. I want a Paratec Next container, Faqtor 150 main and Speed 150 reserve, in custom colours and with a few extras. Any USA distributers like to give me a quote to ship or carry to UK? Or can anyone give me a link to USA distributers of Paratec? Many thanks Darren darren@stgilesclinic.co.uk

That's why I love my protrack so much. I know its not official, but when your dog chews up the paper logbook its better than nothing.

Adam, I posted this to someone else a few weeks ago - Hi I've done close on 100 jumps, and started with AFF. But more to the point, I'm a clinical psychologist. There is a relevant psychological phenomena that many people experience which is best seen as a fear of the fear itself. Panic about a skydive is irrational to a large degree. Sure, people hurt themselves and there are fatalities, but as sports go its not that dangerous. But the experience of panic is so overwhelming that its frightening. As you panic grows so does the suspicion that something terrible is about to happen. Most people that panic think one of the six following things - 1. I am going to pass out 2. I am going to lose control 3. I am going to die 4. I am going to have a heart attack 5. I am going to go crazy 6. I won't be able to breath Panic is terrifying, so people automatically tend towards avoiding situations in which they might panic, such as being trapped in a small plane. BUT, panic is a survival response. Therefore it is designed to protect you. Therefore it will not hurt you. If you stick with it without running the panic will go. The reason this happens is because we only have a limited amount of adrenalin, and once its gone its gone. The more you exposure yourself to the thing you are afraid of (ie anxiety, not skydiving) then the more a sense of mastery you will develop as the anxiety reduces, and it will. Clearly, all newbies get anxious (at least if they are human), but I think it is the diabolical discomfort of panic that you are afraid of, and the sense that you will lose control or go crackers or something. If you'd like any more info drop me a line on darren@stgilesclinic.co.ukDie with yer boots on

You're lucky. I was on my 1st AFF consol and I was in the door so exited I nearly wet myself, and poor Milko was doing the door putting his hand up to me to say "wait, wait" and i thought he was offering me the secret handshake so I was shaking his hand like a madman, until he like extracted his hand from mine and practically hurled me out the door. Now he walks past me with a wary look on his face.***Die with yer boots on

I do take your point that my statistics might not be correct. However, my point really, even if I wasn't very clear about it, was to say that a whuffo's panic about skydiving is irrational. Panic = fight vs. flight response, and this suggests the panicker has a belief that serious injury or fatality is a certainty. Its not. It is very very far from that, and the chance of injury can be minimised even further by being safety conscious, wise, well-balanced and mindful. The chance of a fatality if you and your planeload do everything right is exceedingly small. So thinking accurately about risks is an important judgment for all skydivers and their loved ones.

Hey This seems to be getting too regular for me to be replying to stuff like this. I'm a skydiving clinical psychologist. Have a few ideas. Firstly, ask her what she is afraid of. At least then you can help her to think rationally about it. Skydiving is pretty safe when compared to other sports that seem totally safe. I bet she wouldn't have a problem with you going skiing or horse riding, and statistically they are way more dangerous. Secondly, one thing that will enable her to feel less anxious is knowledge, so the advice of some of the people here is good advice - take her to the DZ for observation only. I wouldn't advise getting her on a tandem. Not every one enjoys it, and if she's one of the ones that doesn't then you might just reinforce her fear. There are always plenty of non-jumping partners and spouse's that will talk with her. Help her to feel part of a community rather than an outsider. My experience of most skydiving communities (except for a bunch of wankers in Australia!) is that they are very supportive, laid back and sensible. Thirdly, and this is a basic principle of human leanring, the more you do it, the easier it should get for her, as long as she's not in denial. Its like anything that we're afraid of, the more we do it the easier it gets. Like, imagine the scariest film you ever saw. First time you're hiding behind the couch. If you saw the same one 4 times a day every day for 8 weeks, it would lose its ability to cause fear. Same as if your wife went to the DZ and watched you jump 4 times a day for 8 weeks. Eventually, the situation would lose its ability to frighten her. Good luck. And if you or your wife want to e-mail me then that's fine.***Die with your boots on.

This was the point where I stopped being terrified and started being confident. Knowing you can recover from instability opens up the world to you. And as everyone here says, just relax. I know its hard to do, but you WILL get stable real quick. I'm sure you have done this trick, but, get a piece of card and cut out a symetrical human shape. Then fold it in half, with the fold line form the top of the head to the crutch, so the centre of gravity is obvious. Then chuck it in the air and see which way it orients itself to the ground. You will flip over I promise. Unless you have a huge hunch on your back! Good luck

think you need to wash your sheets after a dream about Britney and Madonna

Good luck this weekend. What I do at pull time, every time, is expect a malfunction. In my head I throw, count and I'm ready to look for my handles after I count 4000.

If its of any reassurance, I was extremely anxious until I got about half way through my consols. I allowed myself to become completely unstable in freefall and then worked out it was easy to recover. From that point on my confidence has grown massively. Like facing anything scary, your confidence will grow and your anxiety will reduce, the more you challenge yourself and do it. Might be worth trying to desensitise yourself before jumping next by climbing in the plane with someone else, sitting by the door, and then getting them to open and close it over and over. Better still, if you have a nice jumpmaster, good weather and caring skydivers on your load, see if you can sit by the door on your next lift and have them open and close the door all the way to exit. Good luck. Practice makes perfect.

Hi, I'm a skydiving clinical psychologist. Know a bit about dreams. While Freud said that a dream about a cigar could be just a dream about a cigar, most of the time our dreams are just symbolic. So your dream about going in might mean something else about your life right now. Of course, if you haven't jumped in 6 weeks then you might be getting that withdrawal thing that we all get, and therefore the nerves are tingling a bit, but I'd say your dream was probably to do with something else going on in your life. Death in dreams is quite often a good symbol. Its about something dying to make place for the birth of something new. Any big changes going on in your life at the moment? Jobs, partners, house move, anything like that? Anything you need to make a decision about? Try not to worry that you dream means something sinister. Its probably nothing to do with skydiving. Its probably just your mind trying to work something out while you're asleep. Have a good one on Sunday.***I stand corrected...said the man in the orthapedic shoes

4000, fantastic. I was inspired by the chap who is about to do 500 skydives in 24 hours. That's one jump every 3 minutes. Now that's progression.

There are few things more satisfying than surviving your first packjob. Good on yer. I was a slowly-progressing weekend warrior and happy to let the local packer do my kit. But then I got a 1000ft sniveller and had the cutaway peeled off in my hand ready to chop when it finally opened. So I learned to pack that day and have not let anyone touch my kit since!***I stand corrected...said the man in the orthapedic shoes.

Yeah, but I think the psychoanalysts would have something to say about psychologists who skydive. Angst, penis envy, looney tunes?

Hi I've done close on 100 jumps, and started with AFF. But more to the point, I'm a clinical psychologist. There is a relevant psychological phenomena that many people experience which is best seen as a fear of the fear itself. Panic about a skydive is irrational to a large degree. Sure, people hurt themselves and there are fatalities, but as sports go it sees a lot less injuries than other sports that some people see as much safer such as skiing and horse riding. But the experience of panic is so overwhelming that its frightening. As you panic grows so does the suspicion that something terrible is about to happen. Most people that panic think one of the six following things - 1. I am going to pass out 2. I am going to lose control 3. I am going to die 4. I am going to have a heart attack 5. I am going to go crazy 6. I won't be able to breath Panic is terrifying, so people automatically tend towards avoiding situations in which they might panic, such as being trapped in a small plane. BUT, panic is a survival response. Therefore it is designed to protect you. Therefore it will not hurt you. If you stick with it without running the panic will go. The reason this happens is because we only have a limited amount of adrenalin, and once its gone its gone. The more you exposure yourself to the thing you are afraid of (ie anxiety, not skydiving) then the more a sense of mastery you will develop as the anxiety reduces, and it will. Clearly, having a reserve jumpmaster like that would unnerve most people when they are about to do something so un-natural. But I think it is the diabolical discomfort of being anxious that you are afraid of, and the sense that you will lose control, rather than being in a plane. If you'd like any more info drop me a line on darren@stgilesclinic.co.uk***Die with yer boots on

Persevere. My advice is to have a chat with the CI. Its not in the interests of any DZ to put off potential members. Don't forget, they are all operating as businesses, so for a CI or owner to learn that they are losing money because of the attitudes of their members is going to raise an eyebrow. Go to the CI and talk to them as if they are a child. What I mean by that is, leave all your emotion at home and simply say it like it is, really calmly, how it makes you feel, and so on. If you sit down with the CI and say "can we have a chat bout some stuff" in a really calm voice then chances are he or she will listen. If you are insulting, abusive or defensive, chances are you'll be met by the same. Good luck***Die with yer boots on

Sorry, I'm a muppet. You're right, it was the other way round. Physics were right after all.

Hi, I've done 20 jumps on my Hornet 150. Varied opening, but generally hard and fast. I posted on here about slowing it down and got some good ideas. I roll the whole nose and stuff it in towards the back. The manual says to do this but not roll it at all. What are you doing? I spoke to another Hornet flyer on the weekend and his was opening fast, so he had a hole put in the slider. Its now a sniveller. I can make mine open a lot faster by simply hanging the nose without folding or rolling, and squaring the slider or having the slider sticking out the front quite a bit. Failing that, I'll swap ya. ***Die with yer boots onQuote

I have 85 jumps, and consider myself to be a very safe and cautious jumper. But reading through the strings on here I think some might see my choice of canopy as being a bit too small and twitchy for someone at my level. Its a Hornet 150, and I load it to about 1.25:1. I don't do anything stupid, I'm gradually learning how to fly it better and better, I am not too proud to land into wind rather than turn late, nor am I bothered if I land on the other side of the airfield after a bad spot. My landings are okay. Chewed grass a few times, but did that on my 170 as well as student canopies. Should I be more conservative and upsize for a while?***Die with your boots on.