kaerock

I was reading something about "LightTrack" onL&B's website, but the info was several years old I think...I haven't heard anything else about it. I think it's a nifty idea. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

This doesn't reduce your field of vision at all? It would seem to me that it would give you less clearance and would make it harder to look over or under it when checking your blind spots. It doesn't sound like a fantastic idea. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Specifically to answer your question. The Sam 120 and Kat 120 are almost identical except for a few things. I believe the Kat has a longer line set. The Sam, of course is air-locked, whereas the Kat isn't. The Sam is using Vectran brake lines to foster good trim over the life of the lines. From what I understand those are the ONLY deviations between the two construction-wise. I haven't flown the Katana, but I am now a staunch supporter of airlocks after going from Stiletto to Samurai and being in a situation where having a solid, rigid canopy (Sam 105) saved my ass (literally). Oh yea, when people bitch about air-locked canopies on windy days after landing, they just don't know what they're doing :> -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Clewiston and Miami are not Fun-Jumper-Friendly DZs, they're tandem factories. SoBe on the other hand was the opposite. Much to my dismay, last weekend at Clewiston, everyone left went and played paintball instead of jumping with 3-4 hours of sunlight left. So it's 1.5 hours to Clewiston, two to Miami where we might get in 5 jumps at the most, or two hours to Sebastian with the potential for more jumps. SoBe fit my needs perfectly, I hope they can get something together ASAP. :/ -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

yes. go. Regardless of how good you think you are (or how much you think you suck) you will come away knowing a lot more than you thought possible. If you're just starting out, or you're hot shit, you'll realize how much you didn't know before talking to Brian. I walked in thinking I had it down, and realized I knew a minute fraction of what there was to know. go. it will help you enjoy canopy flight much more, not to mention save your life. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Not to mention that a lot of riggers don't mark the number of repacks/uses on the canopy itself. It's a poor record and the pack card is usually more correct, but most people mistakenly don't send it with the canopy either. -Rory Because all of the history is not on the canopy. Even though the number of repacks and jumps are on PD canopies that is not so with all canopies. In addition items such as repairs, pull, PH and porosity test would be on the card. All of the cards associated with that canopy should stay with the canopy. You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Wouldn't it be nice if it were that easy? -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Support a skydiving event? I was talking about cancer research. I care not about what corporations want. They often profit at the mercy of others, they should make up for it and help improve the quality of life rather than the size of their bankroll. Yes, they DO owe us. -Rory reply] Do you think this hasn't been tried in the past? Have you ever tried soliciting a large corporation to support a skydiving event? A skydiving related charity event isn't like most other charity events - people die skydiving. Large corporations don't like it when their name is connected to something negative... like death. I disagree. No one OWES any of us anything, regardless of how much money they have or how they got that money. You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Here's a thought, not directed towards anyone in particular but... The US government has what, trillions of dollars in reserve. The Real Gross National Product of the United States last year was 9.9 trillion dollars. The national income for the United States in 2003 was 8.5 trillion dollars. The United States spent 471 billion dollars on defense (bombs, murder, death, et.al.) in 2003 How much money do you think a bunch of skydivers could raise from individuals and small businesses? I think that these are small fish, people need to solicit those with billions of dollars to throw around, not individuals that are struggling to navigate a dog eat dog economy. There's a larger picture here that people are not seeing, grass-roots fundraising is minimally effective compared to what the US government and corporations are capable of financially. I think people need to help each other out with what they can, but if money is required, let's hit up those who have the most of it, put the responsibility on them. They couldn't have gotten rich without us, they OWE it to us. I say we take THEIR money, not each other's. As far as the calendar goes, I've written it off as a T&A product, I'm sad to say. I do not think selling products showing skin is an acceptable means for supporting breast cancer research. It IS selling sex. A fully clothed woman can be posing suggestively...that IS sexual. When you sell something with images of women wearing suggestive clothing or poses, it's a T&A mag. JFC is not selling beer, it is not selling a car, it is not selling a dream of having a harem of women stand at someone's beck and call. I think the calendar undermines the intention of the creators. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Yea, it's pretty damn easy to modify your packing methods to not include dragging your rig. I do my locking stows by sliding my bag towards the rig just a tiny bit, making sure I have tension, do the stows. Then I get up, move my bag to about 12-18" from the end of my risers then do the rest of my stows, making sure the lines are not tangled, twisted or snagged. I do this in one movement so it saves me time and energy. If you have good tension on the locking stows, you'll not have a problem with the rest of them. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Are the xf2s using Vectran? And in general, will Specra SLINKs be a problem with Vectran lines? ...contention between different tensile strengths and different materials... -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

I have a question and a suggestion for you. What do the instructors or experienced jumpers at your DZ think about you flying a Jedei 120? Do they think that you're a pretty level-headed, conservative pilot that has a good history of being on the ball? The Jedei is a great swooping canopy. Even lightly loaded it is very conducive to getting good swoops without having to take it low. It can scare you if you're not prepared for it as it has a long recovery arc..basically it keeps up the dive and the speed from the swoop for a long time before slowing to it's natural glide. If you intend to move into swooping, it might be an option for you. If you intend to do some swooping, the priority is to find a mentor, instructor, or take an advanced canopy pilot course. You can fly the canopy conservatively and it'll be a lot of fun, or you can swoop the hell out if it. Either way, you need to be on the ball with that canopy more-so than what you're used to. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Ya mon. Nothing beats sitting down with someone that will go over ALL the basics and round out all the corners. Having prepared material generally means you won't leave any gaps, unfortunately, no one really has anything complete enough here. The best thing I've seen so far is Brian Germain's book (1st edition), it's not free, but it's something that is worth paying for. -Rory Ya know that's a great way of putting it. I think I'm gonna stick that little sentence in my bag of one liners I think there are some fundamentals that can be learned here, but they are BETTER learned in person when taught by qualified people. Blue ones, Ian You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Absolutly! The can of worms opened from this topic is ginormous :>. Taking a canopy control course is the best way to progress short of having a mentor at the local DZ that will offer to do training. You will find severe limitations trying to get help here on it since everyone will offer up bits and pieces of info that are just way too disjointed for anyone to make any real headway. This is a great place to tweak something in particular, not to gather all of the fundamentals you need. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Perhaps you should try a different approach to those with less experience if the method you use doesn't seem effective. Certainly being a broken record won't change anyone's mind. A mark of an excellent teacher is they are able to convey the same piece of information in different ways dependent upon the way the student learns. That's what I shoot for, anyhow. One method that does not work in almost any circumstance is "when you hurt yourself, because you will, all I'll do is say I told you so", and its variations. Fight ignorance with knowledge and education, not with fear and ultimatums. -Rory Well, if that's what you want to do, then good luck. I'm not going to cry if I read about you in Parachutist. Yeah, sounds harsh, but I'm tired of this shit happening and have basically reached a point that I don't give a shit after people quit listening to those with more experience. Sure, X said it was ok, but Y says its not, hey, I got Z to say its ok as well, so it must be fine. You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Which wasn't soon enough. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

It's preference. There's are a lot of myth and FUD arguments about each type of stow. Therefore, the discussion of it will cause a heated debate :> -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

The fact that the slider came that far down isn't a problem in itself. What could happen is that it could come down so far so fast that it could pop one or both of your toggles... Now you're spinning and can't release the other toggle because the grommet is in the way :< Many people collapse their slider and then slide it down passed their toggles, as far down as it'll go and have it float behind their head in order to get more riser separation and less drag. There are several things you can do. If you've got hard links (Rapide links) you can get plastic bumpers for them, that usually stops the slider before it gets to the riser. If you've got SLINKS, you can get these little "hat" things that cover the SLINKS and can also stop an advancing slider. Your rigger can also probably sew something onto the top of your risers, but it's not usually a good idea. Talk to your local rigger about what you might be able to do if you feel that the slider on the risers is not something you're comfortable with, as I mentioned, most people eventually fly with the slider below the toggles. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

This is why often swoopers (and myself included) stab early, then plane out very high on windy days. We do this because our forward ground motion is reduced into the head-wind, tricking our brains into thinking we're about to screw in, when in all actuality, we're probably on a perfectly good recovery arc. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Actually, all of these things can help solve the problem at hand. People have been doing mods like that and even more esoteric ones for many years. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Bingo. This is why it helps to have mentors at the DZ. Experienced people should offer help and suggestions to newer folks. Also, it's the responsibility of newbies to ask tons and tons of questions from as many people as they can and find out who is good for specific things (i.e. swooping, freefly, camera). It's too bad that people feel like they know it all, even when they have x-thousand jumps, we should never give up being a student just because we finished AFF. -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Ian, I was making no assumptions about how he flies...I was simply stating that perhaps there is more to what was going on than what was apparent. I also feel using jump numbers as a sole metric is insufficient. That said, if he's been warned or talked to about people being uncomfortable with what he's doing, have those people offered to coach him on those things they find fault with? Simply warning someone about something that you think might be wrong is insufficient (again I make no assumptions about who said what to the guy). I think those with more experience have a duty to mentor the newer folks when they can. If I see people blatantly screw up, I talk to them in a teacher/student manner rather than like a drill sergeant or parent, it seems more effective. I agree that there are just plain ol' knuckle-heads out there that probably won't understand without some pain involved, if they invade my space and make me feel unsafe I'd consider using 'alternative' forms of persuasion :> I do agree with the tunnel statement as well, it may teach you to fly well, but it doesn't necessarily teach you survival skills in the air. It's easy when everything goes right, but your real test is what you do when the shit hits the fan. My point was basically that there is often more to it than what people assume, and that in general, people should work with each other rather than being a Fascist Rule Nazi. I had no opinion on this guys situation as I don't know him, I was generally speaking. -Rory I don't care how much tunnel time someone has, 50 jumps is still only 50 deployments. There's a lot more to jumping camera than getting the shot. Well that's cause you've never seen me on rollerskates...although you did see the whole "sock thing"...sorry you had to be subjected to that!! Blue skies Ian You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

You sound pretty desperate, my condolences :> -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Have you flown with the guy? Is he good, or does he actually suck? Does anyone else ever mention 'that guy is a fucking nut, he's gonna take someone out one day'? Basing it upon pure jump numbers is rather narrow and shouldn't be so cut and dry. What do the instructors and staff there say about it if you ask them? I've jumped with people with 50 jumps and have a solid sit, other people take much longer. Tunnel time is also a factor. Saying you're flying head-down doesn't mean you really are, either :> -Rory You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

My gf took the class when she had less jumps that you do now (probably) and learned some invaluable stuff, like the kind of stuff everyone should've learned as a student. If you ever get a chance, try Brian Germain, he'll bestow fantastic knowledge upon you regardless of how good (you think) you are and how many jumps you have. :> -R You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE