shmali

I hear ya there. I had a nice RC Helicopter that i just recently sold to help facilitate the purchase of my new rig and audible. I've been trying to liquidate some other items that i don't have a use for. (anyone interested in a 21' new tv, or a 7' mobile lcd ). I do believe in the balance though, as much as i love skydiving there is a certain point when i just have to sit a couple of loads out for a while. But the first one back is always a nice refresher. Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

I don't really know if we have it better or not but i do know that we do have it 'safer' than the 'Old Days'. As far as how things have changed with respect to the sport i've heard many of my more experienced instructors/friends/etc tell stories about how most of the organization that has come into the sport has taken away some of what use to make it what it was. The ability to go and just do whatever with less of the concern that is put on safety these days. Now don't get me wrong i'm perfectly fine with all the safety checks and stuff. But a little bit of that 'wildness' from the stories kindof does have an appeal if you know what i mean. Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

So, do you have any interesting stories you'd like to share? Or do we have to wait until you are the 'Old-Timer'? Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

How about skydiving INTO Peru and then trecking out. I don't think i'll ever get it 'out' of my system. The first jump back on a weekend always stirs something inside of me, it may settle but it will always be there. Skydive Forever Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

THe pilots at my dz use the gps pretty damn well, but when i went through aff i never spotted for the 'whole load', i did learn to spot while the pilot set up normally using instruments etc. And still check spot regardless if i'm first out or last out (granted if i'm not first it's more of a glance to make sure i'm still relatively near the dz as i exit). While i was learning to spot and check winds etc. i routinely asked the pilot questions who was more than helpful in providing me with answers right before exit and such. I was never discouraged from spotting but more encouraged. The first couple of times after i learned to spot i had people asking me if i had spotted before and then still conveying tips on things to do. I'm not really sure why the jumper didn't check the spot or even have someone helping them check the spot (if they were new to it). Just seems to fall back to that golden rule they taught us growing up 'Look before you leap' Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

I wasn't actually around when it happened but one of my instructors (way back when) was grounded at our home dz when he downsized to a 103(don't know canopy type) he pretty much took his wingloading from 1.1 - 1.6 . They refused to let him jump it. Cause the the team to move dz's until he went down to florida and took a canopy class for a bit and got a letter of proficiency for the canopy. They let him jump it after that. Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

It's not the one in the skydiving movies ftp although the mal looks the same in both that and the video above. Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

When i first started jumping a few months ago i couldn't get enough of skydiving. If i wasn't jumping i was watching videos and reading forum post trying to understand everything. When i found the mal videos at skydivemovies.com i was half scared half curious. Every one i watched actually made me feel a little better about jumping. I was able to see that yes these things do unfortunately happen but here is why it went wrong and how to avoid it. I routinely find myself (on the ride to alti) checking around the plane looking for the stuff that had caused or been a contributing part of the mals. It's natural to be scared when you first start but like everyone else has said don't scare yourself out of jumping. Think about everything you see in an informational perspective. How can this make me (you) a better skydiver. ---------------------------- Its even worse on the plan ride up.... ---------------------------- try sitting back closing your eyes and just clearing our mind. Don't concentrate on everything that has happened, only what your about to do. Go over the dive flow, review handle procedures (muscle memorization) Eventually that scared feeling starts to get replaced with good feelings of good time with friends. hope this helps Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

So i just caught a clip on RealTV of this guy doing a static line. It didn't sound like he was a student but i'm not sure. Well he had an unstable exit and ended up having a mal(looked like line over/tangle on one side) that took him about 5-10 secs to cut and pull his reserve. But here is the funny thing he had a round reserve. I didn't think that round reserves were used in static line. Anybody know anything more on this, or saw the same clip and can elaborate. Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

Hey man congrats on the b-day, but you know what they say --------------- It's been a great '1st' year ------------------ BEER!! Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

------------------------------- +White shorts over my leg straps (anyone see a problem here, I put the rig on and it looked safe enough) ------------------------------- I had a buddy who once put a pair of jogging pants on over his rig because he had just had it 'cleaned' and wanted to try and keep it clean. Well during freefall/opening they slid down over his ankles. He ended up having to plf and got everything dirty in the end. (It was a funny site to see him trying to pull them up under canopy as he floated by). But that is the only thing i would consider with the white shorts. Since their shorts you probably would be able to kick them off pretty easily. Hope this helps Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

So what cool sayings do you have or have seen on soft Cutaway/Reserve Handles. So far i've seen Plan B Acme Airbrake Oh Shit/Crap/etc.. Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

I don't have that many more jumps than you (52) but my instructor told me to kinda visualize the point when you could kick someone in the head and thats when you should start to flare. It's worked for me so far even helped me to stand up a downwinder. Granted it also helps if there are people or other such items around that are of the same height so that you can guage against something. Hope this helps. Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

Take this for what you will. How about as an added safety precaution you tie a rope to your cutaway(if you use an RSL disconnect it) and then to a tree (anchor yourself to something else with a slightly shorter line). That way if your main anchor line gets pulled loose the main will cutaway leaving you standing there (hopefully). Maybe even holding the brakes or secure them to something else so that if it does cutaway they at least collapse the canopy so it doesn't go fluttering off into a tree or so. I have no idea if this will work the way i described it. If anyone has any comments on why or why not it shouldn't be done i'd like to know. Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!

Personally i have had 3 downwind landings since i started skydiving this past july. my first one was at jump 12, it was light winds (i was doing a hop and pop) and i misread the windflag so i ended up just barely missing the tarmac and hitting some dirt/rocks inbetween taxi way. Scartched my hand up but otherwise it was ok. I bought gloves to help avoid any further incidents and things were well until around jump 27, this time i just completely messed up wind direction and by the time i figured it out i was 20 ft off the asphalt and it hurt. I had a partial plf that ended up turning into a belly slide because i 'stopped flying' the canopy (ironically enough i had taken my gloves off because i felt i was doing that much better lately). Last incident was 2 weeks ago on jump 39, i set my pattern a little shallow and found myself facing oncoming traffic, by the time i corrected and got out of the way i was too low to comfortably turn around to come back so i just got over grass, flared pulled up my legs and ran it in. Most everyone i have spoken to has said that landing crosswind is better than landing downwind(if you don't know what you're doing) And i agree, even a little wind resistance might have helped my first 2 mishaps, but i guess you should do what you feel most comfortable doing (without putting yourself at greater risk). If you are more comfortable landing downwind than crosswind then land downwind. just know before hand what to expect Pineappe Death Juice, If you have to ask you'd rather not know!