Joellercoaster

It's not necessarily more affordable (except in terms of dollars per minute spent falling), but yes. If you're in the third group and life is putting pressure on your jumping days for the year, tunnel can be a convenient outlet. It doesn't scratch the whole itch, that is for sure. But it's kind of methadone to skydiving's heroin. (I have 49 jumps this year and... uh... several times that in simulated freefall. I'd love to jump more.) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

If we are talking about the same source of 'conventional wisdom', then it's aimed at the talented kids who are getting coaching as well as the average Joe. It says so right on the tin. Claiming otherwise is almost done by people who want to ignore it and pretend there is justification... and because we all think we're above average, the results are predictable - a population whose canopy choices all gradually creep further and further to the north of OK. Full disclosure: I was that guy too. Looking back, forcing myself to be honest? Luck. Just blind luck. And getting crap advice including the words "you'll probably be OK on it, just fly careful." -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Since you asked (and my opinion is worth what you paid for it): Not a good idea and I wouldn't recommend it to a student of mine. Two reasons right off the bat: - 1.1:1 is a pretty sharp wingloading for someone with less than a hundred jumps (and some people well beyond that). - 150 is getting into small canopy territory, where wingloading stops being a linear prediction of performance. A 150 at 1.1:1 is a very different beast to a 190 at 1.1:1. When there are two 'bad idea' factors, it's definitely time to think very hard about what you are doing and why. I suspect it has a lot to do with the fact that you have one now, and it's looking at you saying go on... I'll be fun... I'm right here... (Also, I agree with the various people who are worried about your 'cutting through turbulence' position. There might be reasons for you to get that 150, but that is not one I would feel all right about telling someone.) The Sabre2 is actually an aggressive canopy, for the class. There is a reason people train swooping on them! If you absolutely must jump your Micron, then I would strongly recommend putting something else in there - either a more docile 150, or (really for preference) a low pack volume 170. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Australians jumping through clouds are not necessarily breaking the rules. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I voted 'other', for cake. I think pies are just less of a thing here in general, both for eating and for *ahem* ceremonial use. Have seen a couple of people get messily caked, and I like it

I will be raising mine when I get it back from service. Probably +2. For whatever it's worth, I'm 200lbs before gear and I pull around 3200. I've been in freefall at 2 grand exactly one time in a thousand and have no intention of doing again. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

The problem is that most of these ideas have been thought of, and this one is no exception. With the result that spambot software can and does take it into account, once it becomes profitable (that is, when enough sites do it). Even CAPTCHAs are getting regularly defeated You end up having to combine active and passive defence... human moderators are definitely necessary. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

(Emphasis mine.) A lot of people assume that the skyhook will act as a MARD every time. This is not the case. The Skyhook will disengage, as it is designed to do as a safety feature, if forces are in certain directions during deployment. If this happens, then it functions in precisely the same way as a normal RSL. If you ride your mal down to 500ft, then chop and trust your Skyhook to work like it does in the ideal situation in that video with the BASE jumpers, then you are rolling the dice bigtime. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I haven't been a huge fan of them in the past, but dropzone.com seems to be experiencing a sufficient volume of spam that it's becoming a lesser evil. Nobody expects the moderators to read everything instantly, but some of it lives for days at the moment. Time to do some crowdsourcing! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

That won't help. The spam will just arrive three days later than it otherwise would have, and the volume will stay the same. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I don't think that Jill is likely to be a 'she', more of an 'it'. And dropzone.com desperately needs a 'report spam' button. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This is very country-dependent. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

+1. Outside training, coach jumps are most of my jumps. I love them, I'm apparently pretty good at it and my students do well afterwards. I could do many times more than I do because there's certainly demand. I love being "only a coach". To me, the time after AFF, that flex in the learning curve, is where skydivers are at their most interesting! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FTS2tdmyYM -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

No disagreement there. Both of these remarks apply to the USPA, which is a large but not even majority part of the skydiving world. For example here they are both 200 jumps (coach was brought down from 300 which I disagreed with, but we had a coach shortage), and it's a hard rule, not a recommendation. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Great stuff! And thanks for reporting back :) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Doesn't happen here -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Why not? It seems like there have been plenty of good, applicable answers so far. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

In the absence of moderators for whatever reason maybe a 'mark as spam' button that general users can click, with a threshold of (say) five to hide the thread and a penalty for misuse? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Aha. That was the perfect description I was looking for! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

No. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I am not a swooper, so the non-swoop bits are the bits that interest me the most. The Stiletto is brilliant (openings aside). But I borrowed a same-sized Katana last season for a while and hated it. Everything you do (including nothing!) loses so much altitude by comparison. It also takes forever to roll out; the Stiletto recovers from anything super quickly (and it's kind of addictive). I realise this is deliberate, diving and staying dived is important for swooping. But if you like Stiletto flying, you may find the Katana is not for you. Other things: the Katana I borrowed opened beautifully and softly, maybe the nicest of any canopy I have tried. But it felt less agile, if that is a word. I sort of agree with the person who said Crossfire; it's a lovely canopy and also incredibly nice on opening. I would also say that while the recovery arc is shorter than the Katana, in no way would I describe it as "short" in the way the Stiletto behaves. But maybe nothing else is -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I reckon this is on the right track. Headstanding, you are supporting your body on your neck muscles. Intuitively, it seems like this would make it harder for blood to flow back out of your head again. Handstanding, less so, but it's still a lot of upper body muscles working hard. Head down in the tunnel, your legs are doing more of the work. Your upper body is less tense, and blood can flow more easily through your neck. This is easy to test though - go find a kids' playground, and hang upside down by your knees for a while. Then compare to standing on your hands, then your head. Report back

This. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?