Joellercoaster

I can't think of anything I would like to see less. The Olympic movement is spiritually bankrupt, mind-bogglingly corrupt, and symbolic of nothing but greed and power. If you think skydiving now is focused on money at the expense of its soul, wait 'til you let the IOC get their hands on it. -- "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 single best toy ever. -- "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) this last bit is surprising to me. Given that the US rating bodies (the manufacturers) went out of their way to provide rules governing camera flyers, and that we all know what an important part of the skydive they are - results and safety wise - this seems like a bit of an omission. Or am I totally missing the point? -- "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?

Thanks for the correction... I was on the right track but not precisely there And the difference in manufacturing locations is enough for some people to want to buy the Kiwi versions, even though they cost more. Included in this list is a guy I know with a Crossfire in each of his rigs, one from each factory, both bought new, and he seems pretty vocal about his preference. (Obviously this is second-hand, I'm not an Icarus owner, though I am very likely to be at some point. They're great canopies.) -- "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 would be Icarus, who are unfortunately not the same company as NZA, although they manufacture a lot of the same canopy designs under license (plus at least one more). I know a few people who prefer to buy their Icarus-ish canopies from NZ Aero rather than Icarus Spain, for one reason and another. Obviously this has gotten expensive lately, but it's still common! -- "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?

Yup. Your lower back and hips can take a beating, and it's also worth saying that high-performance flat-flying body positions are fairly unnatural... it takes (some) strength and flexibility to do them well. Tunnel will stress those, plus abs and pecs as well. Definitely worth working on, if only casually! [edit: This is all just a good idea, not essential. There are some pretty unfit, inflexible people out there doing decent quality skydives every weekend!] -- "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?

Most definitely! (Disclaimer, I am so far purely a belly flyer, maybe the freefly experience is different.) I, and a fair few people I know, have maybe five times as much tunnel time as actual freefall time, and it's been consistent over hundreds or in some cases thousands of jumps. It's not that we don't skydive, it's just that the need/want for tunnel never really stops. Tunnel is great fun in its own right. Also, the goalposts move... once you've done enough tunnel that you can confidently get head down, you'll suddenly find you are really dissatisfied with your grip-taking, or your translations, or your transitions, and the addiction has set in - you know you could probably learn these things by going and jumping, but you've just seen the most effective way to get from A to B (or now, B to C), skill-wise. Tunnel is fun, but tunnel training is a drug! -- "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?

Smart. Wise. And as you suspect, you can guarantee an easy sale when you finally get there - it took me a day to sell my 190-sized complete rig, and exactly six minutes to sell the 170 that replaced it the next time. -- "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?

Nope. (Note: I'm not one of the assholes, I don't feel like I have the gravitas to pull it off. But I'm genuinely glad they're around.) -- "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?

It's got fuck all to do with feelings. The more you ratchet up your asshole score with bullshit like this, the less people listen to you. Au contraire. The assholes on this forum are the ones I listen to. I love skydiving, and I want to keep doing it for a very long time. -- "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 think we must be looking at different Internets. And if this place bothers you, I suspect you've never seen 4chan. OTOH: You are fairly new to jumping, as is the guy with the Velo. I'm not picking on you here, it will change with time. But, your reactions have one thing in common: they both come from not having been confronted with the ugly, personal reality of skydiving accidents yet. And it's even worse when it happens from something obviously dumb. The harsh tone comes from a need to communicate the harsh reality. And believe me, it doesn't come anywhere near to doing that -- "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'm late to the party, but: great job. It can be hard to do the right thing when the tone of the criticism is so harsh, most people get defensive. But the tone is harsh because the realities are harsh, and the critics have seen them first hand. It must be even harder to come on here and say that, and I salute you for doing it. Just as Dave and Chuck's postings are mostly for the benefit of other new people reading it, yours will benefit people in the future too. If we meet somewhere, let me buy you a beer. -- "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?

MrsCoaster is a couple dozen jumps from making it to 1000 with no reserve rides. Ssh! -- "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?

Hell yeah! That would a sucky way to blow four hundred bucks... [edit: lost a helmet and ditter that way once early on, I know of which I speak ] -- "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 think he wants to do it because he has some holiday time, and he's going to be in the US anyway. Pretty sound reason IMO! I would say "get video of your jumps" though, as you'll find it a lot easier to slot back into UK jumping if you can show them your training. A freshly-minted USPA A license is a lovely thing, but won't necessarily be all a chief instructor over here might want to see before putting you on his plane. If you're lucky, you might find a place that is familiar with the BPA license requirements (there are some differences) and can make sure you tick them off along the way as well. Good luck, keep us posted! -- "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 might be true, but it's not for the stated reason. I know (at least) two dropzones run by people who started skydiving in the 70s that require AADs. -- "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) There's no good answer to that question - it will depend on you, your coach, and what your problems really turn out to be. But. 2) There is no such thing as "too much" tunnel. It's certainly expensive, but the minutes you spend in there will benefit your flying no matter how many they are - if your standard increases to the point where the rest of your AFF is a breeze, it's certainly not a waste. I know you want to be as efficient as possible and you're really focused on finishing your AFF, but your skydiving journey is just beginning after that. Even if you did ten hours coached, you'd still just be scratching the surface of what the tunnel can teach 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?

Now knowing his jump numbers, I would say his best way forward is probably a slightly smaller Pilot. Stilettos and Crossfires and (yikes) Katanas and (yikes) Mambas are probably still not a great idea at this point, even (comparatively) big ones. In that kind of size, Sabre2s are (IMO) less responsive than Pilots, though he might try one anyway. The Pilot is, for its class, very agile. And something out of its class is debateable at 300 jumps, though I realise I come in near the conservative end of this discussion. YFMMV. -- "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) Congratulations on your level 7, and 2) Keep us posted. I want to know how this turns out! -- "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?

You're about to get a pile of people all telling you what they have, and how much they like it. This will be interesting, and useful, but not as useful as knowing this: All the helmets are different shapes. People's heads are different shapes too. One person's OMG-comfiest-helmet-evarr will be another's couldnt-wedge-it-closed-ow-my-brain. Try on a bunch of different full-faces, and see how they feel. Then, buy the one that makes you look most badass [edit: speling] -- "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, amazingly, pretty good advice! -- "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?

Skydiving can be a hard place to be a shy person, at least to start with. It's true, a lot of the time you won't be asked... not because you're new, but because we are a bunch of fairly self-centred (not selfish, just self-absorbed) people and are too busy having a good time to look around and notice someone sitting on their own. Noisy, too. It can be easy to get lost in the chaos. Tourists aren't people with X jumps or less. They're people who dip a toe in the water then move on. They are, if we're honest, the majority of people who have made a jump. There's no harm in that (although it's fashionable to be rude about them), but it's also a disincentive to make friends with everyone who turns up. The odds are, they won't stick around. Don't wait to be asked to stay... pitch your tent and hang out by the fire. Stay and talk bollocks when the weather is bad. Some people really do jump with total strangers regularly, but most jump with people they know at least a bit. Stick around at the DZ, break the ice a little, and you will know people. Then, jump with them :) It can be intimidating, but stick with it unless the place you're at really isn't what you like. (Of course, people may just not like you. That happens in life too, sometimes, but let's assume you're just quiet?) Good luck, let us know how it turns out. -- "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 hard to do.... easy to get horribly wrong though (I can still hear that guy yelling "Chop iiiit! CHOP IIIIIT!" and I haven't watched the video in years). More like a maximum... I think there's a zone in jump numbers after you have the confidence to attempt it, but before you have the sense not to. (I'm not saying it doesn't happen - just a tendency I've noticed ) -- "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?

Like a few others, when this happened to me I was able to grab a rear riser and flare on one riser and one toggle. Had it happened earlier, I'd prefer to have grabbed two rears, but I jump a relatively predictable canopy so it was OK. Now I try and hold my toggles in a way that makes them harder to drop. -- "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?

*DING* -- "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?