skybrat68

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Everything posted by skybrat68

  1. skybrat68
    I too wish I new how to post pictures but sadly you'll just have to take my word for it. My favorite picture was taken of me right after a beautiful rear float exit. I was approaching the building formation in my first attempt at a 16 way dive. I had only a handful of jumps so I was quite slow approaching the formation. I waited for the other 15 to dock and took out the entire formation but the picture was GREAT! Made me look like I knew exactly what I was doing. I signed everyone's log book "A Shooting Star Is Born!!"
  2. skybrat68
    New Orleans Skydiving Center Grand Opening JOHNNIE9LIVES 1202 29 Dec 10, 2003, 5:26 PM Check out the thread in the Places to Jump Forum
  3. skybrat68
    My sentiments exactly Lisa. I don't know what the winds were in Rantoul last year, but even those were a little much for me. Sometimes, it depends on if the wind are steady or gusting. I did find, after I jumped at the WFFC, that the winds were different there, more steady. I found Sebastian to be like that (higher but steady) since it's right on the coast. I prefer no more than 16 or 17 mph.
  4. skybrat68
    "It seemed like people did not want to do the obvious, and that is to stow it like it was stowed back when ram-air canopies were developed." __________________________________________________ What is the obvious way to stow the excess line? I don't have line retainers on my risers. Obviously I wasn't jumping when ram-air canopies were first developed. I find the suggestion in PD's report in reference to using a rubber band pretty handy. Personally, I run the extra line down the side of the reserve tray. Once, when I had even fewer jumps than I do now, I caught my hand on the loop (without incident) and taught myself a very valuable lesson about paying attention. Since then, the excess line stow has been a non issue for me. I think the research PD has done was necessary for people that haven't been in the sport as long as others.
  5. skybrat68
    That's Emmanuelle Celicout.
  6. skybrat68
    I don't think what anyone does with the excess line is a matter of being cool or not being cool. I think that it's definitely something being researched right now because people are wanting to know the proper (not cool or uncool) way to stow the excess line to stay safe. Others may have questioned what to do with it before but with no better suggestions, who knew?
  7. skybrat68
    Boy have things changed since I did my AFF in 2000. I knew it was different in that after you finish your 7 AFF jumps that you are required to do 5 coach jumps and I knew what you did on each jump in the 7 levels had changed a little but I was never pushed out of the plane. My first unstable jump was not in the exit but in the back flips. Of course, no one told me that was the purpose of the dive until we landed so getting that unstable was a complete suprise to me. I think I did a diving exit then the jump included 2 back loops and a front loop. My first attempt at a back loop sent me spinning into outer space and according to what I had been told to do on this jump, I had to try that again? My instructor said she was laughing so hard. She said she wished she had a camera to show me the look on my face after being that unstable and knowing I had to try it again. The second attemp was a little more successful and the front flip was a joke but I passed the dive.
  8. skybrat68
    ________________________________________________ Thank God! I finally have official BEER RULES!! I have been called the beer police at my dropzone now, I hold in my hands, the LAW!!! I will print this and post it and use it as a reference guide forever more
  9. skybrat68
    I am 5'3" and weight 120 and my torso is only 16 inches. I have always jumped a Wings. Currently, I am jumping a PD 126 and a Sabre2 135. My Wings holds those canopies well and will be just as nice for a 120 main. I have preferred the Wings since I was a student partly because they were a shorter container. Wings also makes an extra small harness to fit smaller builds.
  10. skybrat68
    Medic, I doubt it. The EXT is cool, but the largest reserve it will hold is a 126, and it's sized for largest main at 135. Heather, correct me if I'm wrong. _________________________________________________ Actually, the largest canopy combo for an EXT model is a 135 main and a 143 reserve. Paige
  11. skybrat68
    Hi, This is Paige from Sunrise Rigging. I have shared this information with our Master rigger in hopes of answering this question for you. Before we can resolve this issue, I do need you to contact me so I can get some more information. Thanks!
  12. skybrat68
    Gee, looking at the Price Difference, those must be Costly options. Cut-In Laterals are not an expensive option at Wings. This option is only an additional $100. Cut-In Laterals are a very comfortable addition to any rig but they are more effective, as far as forming the rig more to your body, for people with a smaller build. I have, however, heard reviews from people that are not so small that have the Cut-In Laterals say that that option makes a world of difference regardless.
  13. skybrat68
    I thought I was bad about calling beer rules!!! I've even been called "Beer Bitch" at my DZ!
  14. skybrat68
    I pack for myself 99.5% of the time for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, if I have a mal, I have noone to blame but myself. For the .5% of the time that I have someone pack for me, it's one other person that I trust completely and she only packs for me if I'm involved in some sort of event and I've already packed for most of the day and I'm just simply exhausted. The second reason I pack for myself is to save money for more jumps. I have a friend that figured he spent $750 on pack jobs in one year. That's 44 more jumps he could have made. After doing the math, he too packs for himself!
  15. skybrat68
    216:0 - I landed a step thru the other day. I looked up at my twisted risers, found my handles, thought (at 2400 ft) oh my God, This is LOW! then I thought since my canopy was flying so well that I'd at least do a control check - last ditch effort. With only 211 jumps, I reached up to release my brakes that were twisted up in the risers as well, not knowing what was going to happen and still prepared to cut away, and checked to see if I could land it. There was some tension in the lines but everything worked like it was suppose to. I was so SCARED I didn't even collapse my slider. I pack for myself so I'll have noone to blame for stupid packing mistakes. LESSON LEARNED
  16. skybrat68
    my kids say they're ghetto. Quoteit's all good as long as tthey match your FUBU's
  17. skybrat68
    My parents think I'm positively insane. My mother is constantly on my ass telling me that she's waiting on the phone call to come identify my body. She also condemns me for throwing myself out of airplanes and not giving a second thought to the children I've brought into this world that are certainly going to be 'motherless' one of these days. Maybe one day both my children and I will throw ourself from aircraft and REALLY drive her insane, that would be the day.
  18. skybrat68
    ***I don't like the Wings because of its (in my eyes) ugly, FAT look Have you seen any of the New Wings ? The old design was short and fat. I had one of the old design Wings and I loved it because I have a really short torso. I just got my new Wings Friday. There's nothing fat about it! The new design is slim and flat. It's beautiful. I've heard alot of people say they disliked the "pregnant" look of the older Wings but those same people that said that about my old rig have a completely different opinion about the one I'm jumping now. There's no comparison. I'll never jump anything but Wings.
  19. skybrat68
    I was told by a master rigger that as long as the reserve canopy is not exposed, the pack job can be hard as a rock. As far as your main goes, the container was built to hold a 170 main. The Wings harness/container system is built to be as small as possible for a tight, slim look. It may be a little hard to close but it poses not safety problems. As I have been told more times than I can count, the canopy wants to open.
  20. skybrat68
    I bought a lot of stuff used. I also bought my gear one piece at a time. First I got an altimeter and jumpsuit. Next I bought the container and reserve and rented canopies until I bought my own. Basically my first container would hold the PD170 all the way down to a 135. When I bought my first container, I knew I wasn't going to be on such a large canopy for too long. I believe when you purchase a container way early in your career, you have to compensate for stepping down or you will run into spending lots of $$$. I didn't by gear for about 18 months after I started skydiving due to finances and indecision. My brand new rig (ready today) will hold a 107 to a 135 and I'm sure I'll keep this rig for a long time. Money well spent.