Joellercoaster

You are quite correct Attention is oxygen I just like haiku -- "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 remain nonplussed This ridiculous saga Does not belong 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?

The actual steps vary, but depending on how much you weigh and what you do on your jumps, a few hundred of them are generally skydives. Get jumping

...and when they do, whatever you got here will be superseded anyway! (On the gripping hand, you then get to wait much much longer for your container while it gets built.) [edit: The epic wait time won't stop either of us buying a new Vector, obviously!] -- "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?

What she (and everyone else) said: don't do it. I've seen: - Ruptured eardrum (x a few now) - Inner ear problems so bad the guy couldn't stand for 24 hours - Temporary deafness - and, for one entire week of a memorable training camp, a teammate's nose start bleeding every time she went through 9000ft. All of those people could breathe through their noses on the ground -- "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?

RAPA would probably be easier for you? -- "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?

To skip a lot of the bullshit and misinformation in that thread: If you don't have FS1, then your jumps with others are supposed to be about working towards your FS1, whether it's a WARP training level or just practising some skills. That is, they're supposed to be training jumps. Solos are, of course, completely up to you. The jumps need to be with a coach or someone acting as your coach with CCI approval. [edit: this doesn't have to be just a 2-way, as long as the main goal of the jump is training the non-FS1 jumper. A zoo with only one non-FS1 person is still not OK even if it's with 6 coaches!] -- "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?

QuoteI once had this very problem, except my finger was stuck in the knot]/reply] Yup, me too. I freed it eventually, but it scared 50-jump me to the point where I still always, always look at what I'm doing when I reach for the toggles. -- "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'd put it that way too. It hasn't always been outstanding, and very occasionally it's been crap (big entities as well as little ones), but I'd say on average it's been pretty great. (I have no service provision interest in skydiving by the way, I can say this exclusively as a consumer.) -- "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?

Not going to flame you, but: if those are your options, go for the Sabre. The Crossfire is not a great idea at this point, no matter what size it is. They're popular for good reasons, but they also can and do bite purely because of their design. A few hundred more jumps on something less unforgiving will (hopefully) give you the automatic responses you'll need to stay out of trouble. Ignore people who say "Oh I had a large elliptical at 100 jumps and I was fine"; the plural of 'anecdote' is not 'evidence' -- "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?

Meta: Is there some pressing reason this neverending, ludicrous car crash has been allowed to spill over into S&T now? -- "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 great advice so it bears repeating

Actually, he recommends nothing smaller than a 230. Even if you are confident, current and getting coaching. Bigger is a plenty fine idea. -- "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 landed my Vision 150 @ 1.5 on rear risers a few times just to see, and it behaved very well. Great canopy, shame about the openings My Pilot 132 @ 1.7 seems harder to get right, only tried it once and got dirty. But I'm 100% sure it's possible. This is in line with JohnSherman's comment earlier about trim, I guess. -- "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?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQg8JKo_3ZQ -- "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 was more worried trying to figure out how the goggles might save you if you tried to go 'hand gliding'. -- "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?

OK. I think mine (at about 800 jumps) was a combination of poor gear maintenance and maybe sloppy packing. Out of trim canopy having some funky openings already but I kept on putting it off. My main isn't tiny or an agressive shape particularly, but it was a high enough wing load that twists that bad were not going to be recoverable in the time I had. All of these things were, arguably, things that don't happen to brand-new jumpers. -- "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?

Depends. Did he have good reasons, explore the alternatives and try to find other solutions before regretfully explaining to his customers what had driven him to this point, while leaving the door open if there was a better way? Then, yes. (I do all of those things at different times, so it's not just a case of I'm All Right Jack. Sometimes a DZO really does gotta do what a DZO's gotta do.) -- "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?

Just to put it out there too (in addition to 'orange is cool', which is true): If your profile is right, your wingloading on the Optimum is 1.43. On the Smart it would be 1.63. If they pack up roughly the same, that's gotta be an easy decision even if the Optimum is fractionally bulkier (and I don't know if that's true either)? Joel Would also like a bigger low-bulk reserve Santa if you're listening -- "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 think the things you're asking about are kind of separate issues too. Most people jump the same kind of canopy most of the time once they settle in, so their first mal is quite likely to be on that kind of canopy. If it's information about wing loads and canopy types that you really want, it's the repeat choppers you should be asking

Try to bring back video of your AFF jumps, a well filled out logbook, and get at least a couple of consolidation jumps done. If you do those things (especially the first two!), a BPA Club Chief Instructor will be able to figure out where you fit into the A license process here. The answer will quite possibly be 'exactly where you left off' (years ago, I did exactly this). Without those, they don't have much to go on. If you come back with a complete USPA 'A' license, that is probably better, but you may still have some extra requirements (canopy handling in particular) to complete before you qualify for a BPA equivalent. One good thing to do is to contact a dropzone here that you think you might want to jump at, and ask them what their thoughts are. Anyway, have fun, be safe, and enjoy the Polish weather! It can't possibly be worse than this summer 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?

We're getting off topic here (the right answer has already been given in the very first reply), but: 1.2 is really not a good value for a newly qualified jumper. -- "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 true, but you still need one on the plane to dispatch you. This explains why consolidation jumps can cost a little 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?

I realise that the plural of 'anecdote' is not 'evidence', but I couldn't help noting this: these are the two main canopies and sizes in our house at the moment, and they really do pack up the same. Both are somewhere between 400 and 600 jumps old, pack loose in my V347 (Smart 150) and firmly in her smaller Jav (PDR 126). Obviously there are variations even within canopy models though... make of this data point what you will. -- "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 just not true. The first time I went through AFF the deployment system was right-sided chest-mount ripcord, and it was fine. -- "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?