Reginald

Okay I got a new RWS Micron and a brand new Sabre 2 last week. I had my rigger assemble it. As per his basic deal he assembles it, packs the reserve, hooks the main up but does not pack the main. So I was sitting around this weekend staring at the torrential rainstorms outside and debated whether I should haul it up to the DZ next week and pay $6 (plus tip!) to a packer or if I should get sporty and do it myself. Now I can pack okay but usually slowly, 15 minutes on average. I really don’t like packing and use a packer when I’m doing team training or AFF, which accounts for most of my jumps anymore. Yes, it’s an excuse but it’s a good one! So, I decided as a matter of principal I would pack it myself. Just to say I did. It took about 40 minutes to get the canopy in the bag. Now to digress I’ve been jumping a 170 in a container made for a 190. The new canopy is a 150 in a container made for a 150. The new d-bag was the smallest damn thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I have sandwich bags bigger than this thing! So after 40 minutes I got the main in the bag. It only took one try and admittedly I was packing very slowly…. I thought the hard part was over! Then I went to put the bag in the container. I forgot how damn stiff a new container is! OMFG! So I wedged the bag in the container and tried to use a pull up to close the container. I couldn’t get it closed. The closing loop length was fine it was just the whole damn thing was so stiff! So I got a pair of pliers to get extra grip on the pull up. I managed to get the container closed. It took me 20 minutes to get the bag in the container and close it! So now an hour of my life has gone by and I’m in a sweat. I think I dislocated some internal organs… The lesson here…the next new container and main I get I’m going to put in a washing machine and run it thought about a million cycles to break the sucker in. Then I’m going to drag them both around behind my car down a dirt road for a week or two. Then as a coda I’m going to hang it like a piñata give it to a group of hyperactive kids who are off their ADD medication and give them a baseball bat and tell them it’s full of candy and money! They can go at it for a few days. THEN and only then will I try to pack it! Or the next time I can whip out $6. I love my packer, I love my packer, I love my packer… I can’t wait until I’ve got the rig broken in. In the mean time I’m going to make sure I take good care of my packer! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Why? I've got to second this. I don't think your logic is necessarly sound. PD has the most respected reserve in the business. You CAN buy a newer model from another company and it will likely be just fine. However, with a PD-r there are no doubts. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I have an 800 foot snivel. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Hmm, if that's the case than Bravo! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Getting a reserve out “very low” is a failure not a success. It could have been a worse failure, obviously. My concern with un-current jumpers is not around their flying skills but instead is around EP’s. This is particularly true for unusual situation/malfunctions. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I hear people say that by leaving more line free the chance of line twists is reduced. I’ve heard many say 24 to 36” of unstowed line is about right. While line twists may not sound like a problem, on HP canopies they can be potentially serious, hence some of the debate about the appropriate length of lines. A wise 40-year skydiver shared with me the history of problems due to lines catching main flaps, describing it almost exactly as Bill just did. His solution is to simply stow down to 15” but use only one wrap of a rubber band on the last stow. His explanation is that the lines only need to held clear of the flaps by the last stow not held tight like most of the stows. This both reduces the chances of lines catching the flaps and helps reduce the chances of line twists due to tight stows near the container giving the bag time to rotate. Any thoughts? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Oh, thanks Dave. We're all freinds around the state but you fail to mention Dallas. That's it, the friendship is over its WAR! Seriously, both SD Houston and Spaceland are gret DZ's. Aggieland is fun too. Lot's of good choices down that way... "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Save the planet! Eat lamb chops and wear polyester! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

1 short "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Ha, Haaaa, HHAAA, HAAAAAAA! Oh you're killing me man! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Psst, don't encourage him... it will just make him post more... "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Yeah, that student's exits sucked! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Here is another definition of “experienced”... “Having the wisdom not to get yourself in a bad situation to begin with” It’s great to be able to get yourself out of s s**t hole but it’s better not to get into one in the first place. Most bad stuff can be avoided by good decisions and behaviors in advance. Off-dz landings – check the spot, understand the uppers and the expected drift, have the balls to call for a go around if needed. Malfunctions – jump quality gear with a low expectancy of mals, which is well packed and checked multiple times. Aircraft emergencies – don’t jump at a DZ that doesn’t have superior maintenance. Getting cut off low – keep your head on a swivel. Those aren’t stealth canopies out there you can see them from a way away. All that said not 100% of s**t is avoidable... "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

It's actually not too bad, until I arrive at the DZ, that is. Last Sunday it was sunny and very few clouds. I called ahead to check what the wind speed was, and manifest told me it was about 10mph. Forty-five minutes later, when I got there, it had risen to 16mph and never came back down. The previous weekend, the clouds were at about 7000ft. when I called in--high enough for my hop&pop. But then when I got there, boom, the clouds decided to sink to 4000ft. The weekend before that, too cold. The weekend before that, wind speed too high. Before that, overcast skies. :( So you aren’t showing up at the DZ before they open? You’re calling in and checking to see if it’s okay? Dude, in a bad weather state like yours or even a relatively good weather one like mine you've got to show up early and stay late to get your jumps in. It sounds like you had some jumpable parts of the days you just weren't there! I have a student that pays his dues, he's there every weekend and he waits patiently. We got a jump in for him on the first load two Sundays ago. Two loads got up all day, and he was on one of them. He was happy and I was happy for him. It’s the students that show up about noon that usually end up not getting any jumps in. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Because they know more than you do and they know it is a problem. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

An AFFI told you you could "probably" cut away at 500 feet? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Hey Justin, unlike you I don't plan on using mine a lot! I'll try the main first on most jumps. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

No, the "waive and pull sequence" starts at 5,500 feet. Just like your's was. They are just saying that you better have a PC out no later than 4,500 or the fine instructional staff at the DZ will give you a hand. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Well, my rigger says that it is easiest for him to inspect a yellow reserve. So with the vote above and on his recomendation I'm going with yellow. Does it matter? Not much but hey I had to choose one of the three colors. ;-) "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

My 2nd alarm does go off under canopy (typically when I'm doing a HnP) but my third never does. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

As an instructor if I had a student with 15 jumps come up to me and say he got advice on how to stall a canopy on the internet I’d be mortified. Scott Miller (who’s class I suggest to everyone) has a 5 step progression in learning about a canopy. Toggle and rear riser stalls are part of that progression. Do you know the effect on flight of front and rear risers, do you know what surging the canopy does? Have you finished all the canopy control items on you “A” license card? If not than your ahead of yourself with wanting to stall a canopy. You should be getting canopy coaching as part of your “A” license. Tell your instructors your desire to stall your canopy and let them build a progression path for you. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I honestly don’t care how people choose to set the first two alarms on their audibles but I do have an opinion on setting the third alarm or “flatline.” Setting it ABOVE a hard deck means that people will hear it semi routinely under a normal canopy deployment and will become desensitized to it. Becoming desensitized to a flat line creates a situation where people potentially think “I have a little more time to try and fix it.” This can end badly. Setting it below a hard deck means you should have already been performing EP’s. Also not good. I am a believer that the flat line should be set AT a person’s hard deck. If you hear the flat line you start EP’s, no if ands or buts. Just one man’s opinion. Ron (the nicely dressed one) "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

By the time you hear tone 3 at your expierence level you don't have time to perform EP's. Your ADD will save your life, hopefully. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Not really. More to the point of your fall rate being slow. The first thing you need to do is to have a proper jumpsuite. The second thing you need to do is add weights. If you don't have a properly fiting jumpsuit fix that first it will make a huge difference. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I go to people like Eric Butts, Jeff Standley, Perry Perkins, and Dave Smithers. They don't always agree with each other, but they all think that the xf 2 is a good choice. Just make sure you aren't only seeking the advice or listening to people that you know will agree with your desire to get the hotrod canopy. Seek out some people that think it is a VERY bad idea and listen to them with an open mind. Then make your choice. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP