Jethers203

I agree with the Aggie. Learning fundamentals on a parachute with a 1:1 ratio is the safe thing to do. Especially since it is a Sabre 2. They are the shit. Very forgiving in every way. Remember, you can always sell the chute later or just put on some pounds to up the wingloading. John D-24352

Dude, I don't want to pay $20 a jump. I want to pay $17.27. Can you figure that one out for me? And what the hell is up with the picture? John

Have you tried a Sabre 2???? They are nothing like the original Sabre. They shouldn't even have the same name. Awesome openings, better performance, and there is no problem with elevation. I jump mine wingloaded at 1.5 at 4200 ft in El Paso. There are also some loaded at 1.7ish out there that perform awesome. Atleast demo one out. I am sure you will be impressed!!!!! John D-24352

I'm saying Eric Fradet as well. Although, Craig Girard has his share of medals, Eric has a shitload. How much would 25,000 jumps cost anyway????Damn John D-24352

I love them both. The best part of the skydive for me is the exit, but closing on a big formation is a close second. Getting there before everyone else is the grand prize. Canopy rides are the shit as well. Landing in front of spectators especially on DEMOs are a rush. John D-24352

When I blow bubbles, they always get popped in freefall?WTF.

Yeah, what a load of crap!!!! I wish I could do a perfect stand and kiss a chick on my 13th jump!!!! Nononono, I wish I could jump with Dennis Rodman!!! John D-24352

Oy, You gotta write something. I got my hopes up for nothing.

That is true. 2 is 1 and 1 is none.

I too would have to say Airspeed, but especially Craig Girard. It was my first trip to Eloy when I was 16. My dad and I went during the school week so I could really pile on the jumps. Every load I was on, Airspeed team Vertical and team Zulu were on. As we traveled to the end of the run way in that old bus, I sat right across from Craig and we began to talk. He asked me, "how long have you been jumping?" I told him, "since I was fifteen," and he was like "me too!!!!!" He thought it was cool that me and my dad skydive together because that is what he use to do with his father. Anyway, at the end of their training day, he came up to me and asked if I wanted to go up on a jump with them. I sayed hell yeah and we began the dirt dive. It turned out to be a 13 pt. 6-way with team Vertical. Added to it being one of the best jumps of my life, their camera man Stein filmed it without us even knowing. It was great. Nowadays, every time we go to Eloy, Craig always goes out of his way to make us feel welcome. He is just a great guy. A real champion of the sport. Literally. John D-24352

SSkydiver where did you see this? My friend is selling a Sabre 150 with the same number of jumps and same date. Sounds like the same chute. John D-24352

Are you a CJ major at Sam Houston? I go there and I am always looking for skydivers. That place needs a club. John D-24352

That made me laugh!!!!! Good one!!!!

Raven III as well. Mine was horrible. It kicked my ass all over the sky. I think it was made wrong. I sent it back, got my money, and bought a Triathlon. The Tri. was a pretty damn good canopy to have early on. John D-24352

This is the sizing chart off the Mirage website. You are looking at either an M5 or M6. This also depends on your size. http://www.miragesys.com/order/sizing_chart.html John D-24352

You just need to find the right size G3. Have you tried the Mirage website? You can do it. John D-24352

I haven't read the above, but I am familiar with the dytter, Time-out, and Pro-Track. The dytter is annoying in every way. Don't get one. The Time-out is a pretty okay audible, but doesn't do anything except beep. It is easy to use, but both Time-outs I have had have broken in some way, shape, or form. Pro-Track's are the shit. They do everything you could ever ask an audible to do. The only downside is the price, but paying so much saves you precious beer drinking time in the end. It helps with logging, occupies time on the ride to altitude, and is pretty damn accurate on all the stats. I love breaking old speed records and playing tetris on the way to altitude. Just kidding. If you want the best, get a pro-track. I can say much much more, but I am to busy playing with mine. John D-24352

My triathlon sniveled about 600-800 feet. After jumping a Raven, I didn't mind a bit. If you get uncomfortable openings, star the slider and roll the nose with the tail a bit. I did this all the time, but check with your instructors before hand and see what they think about you doing this. It is a great all around canopy. John D-24352

I have about 400 jumps on a triathlon. The slider seems a bit big, but is around the same size as other canopies. It also seemed big even with the slider collapsed. I think that was because of that single string to collapse it. The slider still flapped around even while it was collapsed, but the parachute was great to me. The easy packing zp makes up for all minor flaws in my opinion. Don't let the Spectre jumpers talk trash either. John D-24352

Good job with the pics. What happened to the building, trees, and ditch? I guess all the powerlines make up for them though. This is why I love doing Demo's. Jumping into a place you have never seen before is a rush and helps out a lot in these situations. Nice work. John D-24352

I guess I wasn't to clear earlier, but I wasn't at the DZ when this happened. My Dad who has a thousand something jumps was the one who relayed the story to me. Skydive El Paso is my home dropzone, but I live in east Texas at the moment. I still haven't heard any good imput on what you all would do if there was a health problem in the plane at 10,000 ft. Let's see what you all got!!! John D-24352

Right on skygod7777!!!!! I started skydiving when I was fifteen. My buddy just took his daughter up on a tandem and she is 10. She loved it. However, I wouldn't take my daughter if I could help it. The reason is she would get hooked and I'd be broke. You can make skydiving as safe or as dangerous as you like. John D-24352

All good points everyone. Just to clarify my first post. Skydive El Paso is located in Santa Teresa, New Maxico at Santa Teresa airport. It is a small place and is about 5-10 minutes away from anything. The ambulance took like 40 minutes to get that distance. We never count on ambulances when we are out there. We also can't count on residents in the area. There is just desert everywhere. One thing that has helped our DZ in some cases of broken ankles and such has been a stretcher. We have an old army stretcher that is easily portable and fits perfectly in the bed of a truck. It wasn't used in the stroke incident, but we have definitely gotten our money out of it. You can pick one up at army surplus stores. Keep it safe John D-24352

This is a message from my Pops about an incident that happened at my home DZ in El Paso last weekend. Hey Guys, Yesterday (Sat.) I went to boxing then out to the DZ. Time: 12:15 p.m. There was hardly anyone there because a bunch went to Marana. It was colder than heck! Ruban, Chris, Liz and I went on a jump. When we got down and started repacking. Time 1:45 p.m. Ruban said he did not feel well, that he felt cold and clammey and that his stomach felt upset. The wind was also really blowing so we cancelled. I finished packing and left. The only persons remaining were Bob, Liz, Carlos (a chiropractor) and Ruban. Time: 2:30 p.m. Bob(the DZO) starts to wheel in the planes when he hears Liz yell. He runs over and Ruban has collapsed and is not breathing. Bob starts CPR on his chest, Carlos starts mouth to mouth. Ruban's pulse is growing weaker and weaker and is almost lost. All his body functions cease and his bowels empty into his pants. Doesn't look good but they keep at it and they get him breathing and after a few minutes he seems to stabilize. A few more minutes and he sits up. At that time he says, "I can't see". He is completely blind. (Stroke?). A few more minutes and the decision is made to not wait for the ambulance that has been called. Ruban's sight starts to return. He is talking. Carlos loads him into his car and takes him to the hospital. 40 minutes after being called and AFTER the wounded is gone the ambulance shows up. (Call for an ambulance, call for a cop and call for a pizza and see which one shows up first). Ruban is in the hospital having tests today. You know all I know. Glad we didn't go on that last load. Dad I wonder, on average, how many people at a DZ know CPR and would be able to perform it confidently and successfully. What if this would have happened at 10,000 ft in the airplane? What would you all do? I think that there should be a plan for things like this. Maybe an idea for the next safety day. John D-24352

Good point, but doesn't the warning label also save the manufacturers from lawsuits? I totally agree that there is always a margin for error in a sport like skydiving no matter what!!! If he was still in a bit of a track on opening however, that does not flow with what the warning label says, "A parachute may malfuction even when properly manufactered, packed, and operated." It has to do with body position on opening and that could have been why his D bag felt awkward leaving his back. I have finally heard a solid reason for the whole problem. Knowing this would have helped a lot earlier in the thread. John D-24352