KolinskyDC

Hey everyone, Fairly new to the sport and absolutely loving it. I am about to get my A license (if the weather will ever cooperate) and have started looking at used gear online. I know it is a pretty general question but does anyone have any ideas of where to begin. Any suggestions on which brands are better and why? At my DZ they have given me some input, but when I get online there is so much and just don't know what to think. I have been jumping a Navigator 260 (student gear) and did try a Raven 220, which I did not like as much as the Nav. I was told I would prob want a 190 even though I did not like the 220, was told it was the maker and not the size, so how do you know what the hell to buy? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

On my last AFF jump, was still having a tough time with the whole landing pattern. I know it is pretty easy but was just having a mental block for some reason. So anyway I am doing my E2 (last AFF jump) and told the radio guy to not give me advice unless I was really screwing up. Well after my last back loop, went to check altitude and found out that my altimeter had fallen off. Did a double, no actually a triple take then looked at my JM and pulled. Got under canopy and prayed that he realized I did not have it, which he did and got to the ground and they radio'd me in, no problems. It definitely freaked me out and my instructor said that the look on my face was priceless and he wished he had a picture of it. Otherwise all my AFF experiences went pretty smooth, did not have to repeat a single level Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Okay, tried 3 times to make the previous post a link, but still can't figure it out, sorry you will have to cut and paste the address. If anyone can tell me how to do this, would greatly appreciate it. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Don't know if you guys have seen this yet, someone sent it to me when I started AFF and I thought it was pretty cool and really helpful. Animation of all the AFF levels. http://www.skydiveelsinore.com/jumpstart/index.html Melissa Click here: Jump Start - Flash Skydiving Tutorial[url] "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Here is the guy that I had mentioned in my previous post. Pretty cool stuff. http://www.parachutehistory.com/skydive/records/blind.html "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Interesting that you brought that up. One of the instructors at my home DZ was talking about this guy who is blind and skydives. Not sure where this guy is from but I will ask this weekend when I see this instructor. The whole concept is absolutely amazing to me. I know that if I became blind I would continue to jump, because I trust the people at my DZ so much but not sure I would have the courage to start already being blind. Supposedly this guy did a two way with another blind guy at some point. He always wears radio, but 1 time he was too far out and they couldn't help him with his landing, not sure what happened. The coolest thing is that this guy says that he knows when to flare when he can hear the crickets. Hey, maybe I should try that

Just do it....Know that your instructors would not have passed you and cleared you for solo unless they thought you were ready. Your last couple of jumps were basically solo jumps anyway, just someone there to watch. I was very nervous about my first solo also but after I was out of the plane it was actually much more relaxed than my last 2 AFF jumps where I had to "perform" for the instructor. I have no doubt that you will be fine and everything will fall into place as soon as you are out of the door. Have fun and let us know how it went. It is actually an interesting phenomenon, as nervous as some of us have been at times to jump and as much hesitation we have had on the ground before a jump, somehow we always end up in the plane and then jump out of it....Go figure!! Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Haha, my very first jump, well 4 of my friends and I went for a tandem and had this brilliant idea that we were not going to eat or drink for 4 hours prior to our jump (we heard that some people throw up or pee their pants), but as you know a 4pm appt turned into a 6:15 sunset load, okay so there I am at altitude, dehydrated, hungry, and in sensory overload, literally thought I was gonna pass out, then my instructer decides to do a back flip out of the plane....needless to say.... the skydive was a little more than I could handle, but hey, couldn't have been that bad, have been back there almost every weekend since

My skydiving birthday was July 19 and have only got 15 jumps in so far, would have more but have no control over clouds, rain and wind otherwise would have been more. I am from the Boston area and it is getting cold but I will keep jumping as long as they let me...snow jumps!!! One more thing I finally landed on my feet on my last 2 jumps...WoooHooo!!!...very excited about that and I did my 1st jump on my own pack job..Yea, I know...BEER x 2 "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Hey Mindy, First, welcome to the sport. I am fairly new to it myself but maybe I can help a little. A previous poster had commented about making sure you are doing it because you want to instead of feeling like you have to. Once you have that question answered well then just do whatever it takes to get your self relaxed. I jump with a group of girls, we all started together, so when we are in the plane, we feel pretty comfortable together and I usually yell out a couple of WoooooHooooo's and as silly as it sounds it gets rid of excess nervous energy and takes the edge off. I takes several deep breathes and calm myself and often yell again as I exit. If you drink coffee before you jump, I would also suggest that you don't, I find myself very anxious with caffeine in my system. Also, you did not mention if you have done more than one jump in a day and I will tell you, after the first one the next are much easier and more relaxed, so I would advise trying to do 2 or 3 of your next jumps in the same day, it makes a lot of difference when I jump. I hope some of this helps, good luck with your future jumps. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Hey Myriah, Didn't take much to figure out that it was you I am quite the detective. Thanks for the reply, I will watch out for any upcoming clases that are being held and will jump at the chance to take one. So where have you and that hubby of yours been? The last time I saw you was the day of your wedding, congrats, by the way. Hope married life is treating you well. I will be up at Jumptown for the next few weekends, trying to get in as many jumps a I can before it gets ridiculously cold and all we can do is hop n pops. Hope to see you guys up there one of these weekends. Tell Goose I say hello. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Actually, I said I will be doing this when I am 70 and probably will be up until it is my time to go...hopefully many years later. Hey maybe when I am 70, I will be taking my great grandchildren for their first tandems...cool thought. I have a 4 year old son and already he runs around the DZ saying "Mommy, I want to go jump out of the plane" too bad he has to wait 14 more years. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

I hear you on that. I have actually given some thought to getting my pilot's license, so I can fly to warmer climates in the winter to go skydiving, because I can't imagine going 3 months without a jump and I don't fly in commercial planes...go figure. My family is baffled by that one as well.."You won't fly in a plane but you will jump out of one" Makes perfect sense to me, but not anyone else. "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Thanks for the link. I will be in Orlando this spring and will definitely set something up at Deland, it is only 40 miles away. Someone at my DZ also mentioned something about the wind tunnel in Orlando, to practice freefall skills, sounds like a good time. Has anyone tried one before? Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Hey everyone, First just let me say, I wish I had discovered this sport sooner in life. It is the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my life and I am a total addict. I jump at Jumptown in Orange Ma and the people there are so incredible and welcomed my friends and me with open arms, truly like family now. Myself and four of my friends went up in July to do our first tandem and all of us thought it would be a one time thing. Boy, were we wrong, it is amazing how quickly it becomes such a huge part of your life. I honestly think I will be doing this when I am 70 even though my family thinks it is a "phase" and will pass. I talk about it constantly and think everyone wants to strangle me cuz they are so sick of hearing about it. Any advice for a newcomer would be greatly appreciated. I did read something about a canopy class with Scott Miller (I think that was the name I read) So who is he, where is he and how do I get in touch with him? I definitely need work in that area. I really enjoy reading these posts, informative yet entertaining. Look forward to chatting with some of you in the future. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"