packerboy

Javelin is defenitaly one of the top 3 rigs out there in popularity.. that should speak for itself. I personally don't like the location of the main closing loop for ease of packing, but the rest of the rig is slick. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Unrelated, but I've seen one jumper geek three seperate tandem videos on the same load... -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

A coach rating doesn't make someone a decent coach either. I'm willing to bet most D licenced skydivers with no ratings are in much better of a position to provide good coaching than someone w/ under 500 jumps and a coach rating. A coach rating is just an expensive piece of paper IMO. Useless. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

You: Hi... I'm having brutally hard openings, can you jump this rig I just packed to see if it's just me? Me: How about I take video of your opening to see your body position and watch you pack and have a rigger look at your line trim? Beyond that.. send it to the manufacturer and ask them to put a couple jumps on it. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

LOL.... I like how it states in the ad that the lines are cut... and down below they try to sell you lines as additional accesories! -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I'm about 9-10 minutes propacking a tandem if I have to as well.. it's doable. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Read Scott Miller's column on the main page. It might help. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Pro pack everything.. VII's Sigma's student gear etc. Had 1 tandem mal in over 1'000 pack jobs. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

All openings are "in brakes", that's why you set the brakes. Personally I don't jump those canopies, but I have learned through being a packer that rolling the nose or pushing it in on a Stiletto greatly increases the chance of it becoming a "Spinetto" upon opening. If you are having brutal hard openings on a Katana, you should have a professional watch you pack. You can pack those like crap and they still have beautiful openings. So I've heard... I've only jumped it a few times, and I couldn't believe how soft the openings were... didn't feel any force at all. And when I pack for myself... I pack like shit, I won't lie. Different when I pack for someone else.. but I have packed a few pretty damn messy ones on the tiny brand new Katana's and have had nothing but good reports come back. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Good way to get better at packing faster.... Pack on those sunny days when you want to get on another load. How many loads are you getting on now? 5-10-20? I'm guessing not 20. 5-8 maybe? I've never been there, but I assume on a nice bright sunny day The Ranch puts up quite a few loads. You could probably take 45 minutes to pack and still get on 8 loads in one day. Your gonna be wiped at the end of the day, but it would take at tops 3 or 4 weekends (40-50) packjobs before you are packing in less than 10 minutes. 229 in a bag made for a 209? 100 packjobs and you'll be able to put your 229 in a bag made for a 190. 200 after that and you'll be able to put it in a bag made for a 170 (although closing the container may be a bitch). When you get good at packing... pay a packer because packing sucks. But at 100 jumps, you should be packing your own gear IMO. You may think you know your gear intimately, but if you can't pack a sport main in under 20 minutes you don't know it as well as you should. Some of the stuff you will learn along the way may save your life sometime. I have 1000's of packjobs on a whack of different systems and I still learn stuff about gear all the time. I've SEEN the stuff that you should be looking for when packing. I've notified people of serious issues with their own gear that they missed because they don't pack. Some to the point of grounding the rig pending some rigging work. I am willing to bet that in a frenzy of packing a crapload of rigs in one day that I have packed rigs that have maintenance problems with them that I did not see. Why? Because I'm lazy? No. Because I'm incompetent? No. Because someone tossed me a rig because they wanted it packed in 5 minutes and I packed it in 5 minutes. Packers miss stuff that you should notice on your own gear. It shouldn't be the packers job to replace your worn closing loop, or shorten your loop because you have it too long because you suck at packing. Or untwist your brakelines, or tell you that you need a new pilot chute because it is baffed out. Will they? Probably.. at least I would. But this should be your job. This stuff you won't notice unless you pack. I just quit being a packer, and for the first time 2 weeks ago paid a packer to pack for me so call me hypocritical if you will. But when I want to get on that sunset load after just landing from a sunset load... I'm on it, only because I don't have to wait for a packer. Being able to pack a rig in 10 minutes will get you on far more loads than paying a packer who can pack it in 5... after they finish the tandem, or student gear, or someone who beat you to them, or their own gear. Except in Burnaby... those packers kick ass!!!! It's alot easier to get good at than people think... once you put 10-20 jumps on your own packjobs and get confident, you really start picking up the pace bigtime. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I know of people well past A requirements that can't pack in 25 minutes.. let alone pack at all. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Forget para-gear -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Not all of them can. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Absolutely there is a difference between not knowing how to pack and not packing because it sucks. Do you know how to change your closing loop? Shorten it? Do you know when to close it or shorten it? Would you recognize a misrouted bridle during a pin check? Are you sure about that? Are you comfortable connecting your own main to your container? If not, do you think you would notice if your cutaway system was not connected properly? Are you sure about that? Do you know how your RSL works? Where it is supposed to be connected? When, how, and why to disconnect it? Do you know for sure you don't have grommets on your rig that have become unseated? What about general wear and tear on your system? Do you only get that checked when you get a reserve pack job? This shit can kill you. Although your packer is supposed to be supervised by a rigger, chances are he/she isn't a rigger and can and will miss some of this stuff. Not because they are incompetent, but because they are busy, and you paid them to pack your parachute, not inspect your system. They should find this stuff... but they are not responsible for your stuff.. you are. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

A good tracking dive feels a lot more like flying than any other discipline IMO. It feels a lot like flying... makes me somewhat understand why someone would spend half a good canopy amount of money on one of those silly birdsuits... -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Packing sucks. It paid for enough jumps to get me to the point where I can now afford to go out and get instructional ratings, so I'm done with packing. I guess I should change my username. I'll still pack for myself, but when I go on vacation to a larger turbine DZ that has a bunch of packers... I'll probably pay for one or two. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Haven't seen them on anyone up here in Canada.. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

How do the Gatorz keep the wind out of your eyes in freefall? Freeflying? The CurvZ glasses have foam around the lenses to form a seal with your face. I would love to try the Gatorz, but I would hate to spend that kind of money to find that I can't handle the wind in freefall. Some people can and do wear normal cheap sunglasses in freefall, but I can't. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I see more people wearing CurvZ motorcycle sunglasses than Gatorz up here. Probably because we don't have a heck of alot of places to buy the small stuff and don't want to pay S/H and customs for a pair of glasses. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

There are no dropzones in Costa Rica. After my trip to Costa Rica (only 1 week), I was actually relieved that there was no dropzone though. There is so much to see and do in that country that I felt that going to a dropzone would have wasted precious time I had to enjoy other things the country has to offer. I guess that could be said about any place, but I felt that since I can jump anywhere... including at home, that had I spent a day jumping I would have regretted missing other stuff to do it. Difference is that you lived there for a couple of years I guess. If you do a search about Costa Rica on this site, you may come across a quite spectacular story about the incident that ended skydiving for the time being in Costa Rica. Perhaps since you lived there before, you should be the one to start up a new operation there! -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

In Canada I'm positive they would respond anyway. They can't legally decide which caller is right and which is wrong without investigating the first call. What if the person they called back to wasn't in the know? -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

How do you react to someone when they find out you skydive and they tell you... I was at XYZ place when I was XYZ years old and seen a guy jump who's chute didn't open... How many whuffo's do you know that know of fatalities at your own dropzone that you know didn't possibly occur? How many whuffo's do you know that when you tell them where you jump they tell you... Oh don't jump there, I hear they are unsafe and a whole bunch of people have died there as a result, when you know all the facts and history about your place, and know it is a safe place. Apparantly I know at least 5 or more whuffo's who have been at the scene of a bounce. Some even remark about somewhat recent incidents at my own dropzone that I know for fact did not happen. Do you tell them that you know for a fact they are full of shit? Or do you just nod your head and say wow that must have been terrible and walk away thinking "They have no idea how much of an idiot they just made of themselves"? I prefer the latter, but some people I just want to call them a liar to their face just to see how they react to that. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

People still use dialup? -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I don't know how it is down there in the States, but here in Canada, at the very few dropzones that I have been to, we still have a very smalltown mentality about trusting people. Everyone leaves their gear laying all around. Kind of like leaving your door unlocked when you live out in the country. Sad, very sad.. but I think I'll be more carefull now, even at my home DZ. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I could be wrong, but I think I've seen some video of the PD guys doing CRW on HP canopies. They also do alot of really wicked manouvering around cliffs and forests on mountains. Not to mention team swooping. These guys are definately really comfortable around other canopies and objects in the sky. (Of course it is mostly their own team they are around in the videos, not an Otter load full of wildly different experience and wingloads) But, I'm not sure those guys are hacks in any discipline. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson