steve1

I helped a guy change his a couple weeks ago. An extra set of hands comes in handy. Steve1

Ernokaikkonen, You do have a good point. I remember reading an incident report about a guy who did some minor sewing on the outside of his container and somehow caught his bag with some of the stitches so it wouldn't deploy, and he went in. So it is probably a good idea to have a rigger check it out. Sometimes though I wonder if we put too much trust in someone just because they have the title "rigger". I mean there is a big difference in riggers. Some have a much greater knowledge base. Technically I am a rigger. I mean I used to have a chest rating 30 years ago. I worked under an old Smoke-jumper Master rigger and learned enough to barely pass all the tests and earn the title. According to the FAA I am still considered a rigger. Today I can barely run a sewing machine and admittedly don't know squat about much of anything. So be careful out there. Don't take your gear to be checked out by just any old rigger. He may know less than me! Steve 1

I would think that a B license would be plenty to get on a load. I've static lined out of them in the army, but I'm looking forward to sport jumping out of one myself. They had a little one at Billings, Mt. that I could have jumped but it was only going to barely 2,500 ft., was quite expensive, and I had a bungie collapsible pilot chute at the time, so I didn't go. I've heard that DZ's that are close to military bases jump them all the time, but maybe the rules have changed on this. I guess I don't know much either on this subject. Steve1

Sebazz, A friend of mine had the same thing happen. He moves his gear around a lot between his DZ and home and his wife had stuffed the pud way in there so it couldn't snag on things. He makes so many jumps each day that he was probably tired and didn't check his handles. He now has over 6,000 jumps so it can happen to the best of jumpers. You did the right thing by not wasting time looking for it. Steve1

I made my own extension. I got some light weight nylon strapping, folded it over so there was a loop on both ends, and then sewed the crap out of it with my wife's sewing machine. It's about eight inches long and works great. It probably is a good idea to have a rigger check this out. There's a lot of folks out there who have never seen a psycho pack including many riggers. It's too bad it doesn't have another name such as the "safety pack" or "works every time" pack. I think the name psycho scares off a lot of people. It works great in my opinion. Steve1

Great story Chuck! Steve1

Drenaline, I love the way my Hornet flies, but it was spanking me about every other jump when I PRO packed it. I tried rolling the snot out of the nose and tail and it was still opening hard. So I started PSYCHO packing it and have had nice soft on heading openings on most jumps. (It's wonderful!) I've heard people say that para-commanders opened hard in the olden days. Well I've got over 300 para-commander jumps and I don't remember a one of them that was as hard as some of the openings I was having on my Hornet. I am thankful to whoever invented the PSYCHO pack. I've never tried talking to my canopy on packing (other than cussing a little bit). I'll have to try that next. It seems to work with horses, why not canopies. Steve1

Staso, It was so hot at Lost Prairie that I usually took my helmet off before a thousand ft. on take off. I know my dytter usually gives a couple of beeps going up. Two dytters may be the ticket. It's unlikely both would fail. Thanks for the info. Steve1

I opened my main. My Hornet opens fast but I have slowed it down some by psycho-packing it now. Sometimes I wish I had a Spectre. I broke a finger a couple weeks ago on a hard opening. I must have hit it on something on deployment. It usually opens slower when I psycho-pack. I have been experimenting with how I put it in the bag. My bag is one size too small for this canopy. Steve1

Drenaline, Those are good points. I sometimes wonder if this slower progression might be better than going from A to Z with AFF. I trained with static line so I may be biased. But I also know a lot of jumpers who trained by AFF, and they feel it is the only way to go. Steve1

Sebazz, You didn't mention any Montanians. I know a lot of them who can drink with the best of them. I must be getting old or something. I haven't done any serious partying for years. Not even at Lost Prairie. But there's always next year! Steve 1

One of the newcomers at our DZ is a former Recon Marine. He also went through HALO, Ranger, and Special Forces training. I would think that what he learned would be very applicable to changing over to civilian jumping. The owner of our DZ is a former member of the Navy Four Way team and a former world champion. He says he loves to train and work with people who are former military, because you only have to tell them once what to do and they usually get it. This is off the subject, but is it easier now to get HALO school? I would have given my right testicle to get this training back in the olden days, but it was very hard to get. I have a friend who jumps in Minot. He is an E.O.D person in the Air Force. They told him if he would re-up they would give him jump school (at Ft. Benning) and Halo school (at Ft.Bragg). We were all going on and on about how lucky he was. We were all green with envy. So he re-upped a few weeks ago. Since then both of these schools were dropped and his orders changed. Wouldn't that be a pisser! Steve 1

Lisa, Have Bill Von beam us all pictures. He's got some really cool gadgets. That way we can save everything for posterity.....whatever that means? Steve1

I while back I was going on and on about how wonderful dytters are. (We didn't have them back in the olden days). I think it was Rigger Rob who warned me not to become too dependent on these and to set them low to avoid this. Well I left the warning beeps well above pull altitude and usually waited for these to signal me that pull time was approaching. In other words I continued to become dependent on this little marvel in my helmet. Well the inevitable happened. I was on one of Mad John's loads, and he was the one who usually signalled break off. We broke off and I started tracking. It was about then that I got to thinking that we must have really broken off high because there was no beeping. So I kept tracking (after all separation is usually a good thing). About then I started noticing how big the trees were getting. My altimeter read well below 1500 ft. after opening. At any rate I thought this is a good example of what not to do. I was by far the low person on this load. The batteries had finally gave out on my dytter. Luckily everyone lived happily ever after. Steve 1

I've talked with people who have jumped out of Super Cubs. The way the doors fold up in flight it should be very doable to get out of. I have a farmer friend who offered to let me jump out of his. I called him up a while back and told him I was ready to jump any time he was, but he has since renigged on the deal. I think he is afraid something will go wrong. Maybe he's afraid I'll sue him for his farm or something. Steve 1

I've two daughters who may pursue skydiving. I'm still trying to pick the best way for them to train. The oldest will make her second tandem probably next week, and the youngest will be making her first. After that we'll decide on either AFF or static line. I have two good friends who own drop zones. One is strictly AFF. The other DZ trains on static line. I trained with static line back in the olden days, and I found it very adequate. The price of this program is considerably less than AFF, if you figure the cost per jump. This is a big consideration since both of my daughters are in college now and I still have to support my own jump habit. I mean it would have been nice if I was a little richer instead of so damn good looking. Steve 1

Sebazz, thanks for all the compliments. Actually I have lots to learn before I can jump with Mad John on a regular basis. That four way was exceptional for me. Loads of fun. I hope you can make it again next year. SkyKat, glad you were in that 32 way. It was inspiring to watch all you good looking girls, geared up, boarding the aircraft.....with smiles on your faces and courage in your hearts. See you there next year. Steve1

Since I started psycho-packing my hornet I've noticed a dramatic improvement in terms of softer openings. I'm just wondering if rolling the nose is a good idea. I've done this on the last twenty jumps and it still opens fine with a rolled nose. I put about a nine inch extension on my bridle (inside the bag). It seems a little too long. My bag is a little small on my new Javelin. I seem to have softer openings if the skirt of my canopy is completely inclosed in the bag (rather than hanging out a little) prior to making my first two stows. I've been experimenting with slight variations of putting it in the bag. Does this sound okay to you psycho packers out there? (Also there's a great web-site on groundrush.com that shows step by step methods of psycho-packing.) Thanks, Steve 1

The openings on my hornet were way too hard much of the time when I was pro packing it. I use tight stow bands and tandem rubber bands for the first two stows. Since I have started psycho packing the openings have improved wonderfully. I did have a couple of hard openings this past weekend but this may be due to some slight variations on how I put it in the bag. If you have a hard opening hornet I would really recommend trying the psycho-pack. There are step by step instructions (with pictures) on groundrush.com. Steve 1

A few days ago Mad John was talking about some people not tracking effectively with booties. His ideas on this were that they have so much drag that some people think their legs are fully extended but they are still leaving a bend in their knees. So when tracking off make sure your knees are locked. At least this is the jist of what he said. I'd like to hear further ideas on this. I love mine. Steve 1

I just got back from Lost Prairie. It was fun but in many ways it was a humbling experience. I arrived there thinking I was really hot and could still jump with the big boys, but I soon found out that I had a lot to learn. The first thing I did was bluff my way onto some of Mad John's 20-way loads. I was never kicked off but there was one jump when I should have been. He's a nice guy and let me continue jumping with them. On two of these loads I jumped with Bill Von. It's a real treat to be able to jump with people of his caliber. Bill spent much of his time organizing state record attempts. The women got theirs with a 32 way. The first 60 way was almost complete with only two with incomplete grips. More record attempts were scheduled for yesterday and today. I ran into a guy who was wearing a Dropzone.com t-shirt. It was Sebazz 1. He's truly a nice guy. I jumped with him on at least one bigger way and a 4-way load. I also talked briefly with SkyKat. Derrick was also there. The Pop's record attempt was also taking place this weekend. I'm not sure how it turned out. I was able to get a lot of attention and short lived respect by bragging about how I was once in the Montana State Record with B J Worth back in the olden days. But then there's always the inevitable question...."How many people were in it?" Uncle Steve..... I don't know why everyone starts to snicker or frown when I tell them 15 back in 75. At any rate I can't wait to return to Lost Prairie next year. One word of advice, though. Don't camp close to the bar. You won't get much sleep with all the hollering, screaming, and fireworks.

I met a golden knight a few days ago at Lost Prairie, who is black. He said he learned to skydive at Sky Monkey One's Dad's DZ. I think he is from Georgia originally. His arms were about the size of my legs. Seemed like a nice guy. Steve 1

Stevensville which is South of Missoula, Mt. is the most scenic place I have ever jumped. There is the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness on one side and the Saphire Range on the other. Some of the peaks go up to around 9,500 feet. Steve1

Grick brought up an interesting point with the routing of the pilot chute bridal. I don't think he was referring to pushing it up so far that it could catch on a closing flap corner. This could cause serious problems. The part I am interested in is the routing of the bridal at a 45 degree angle from the pin to where it is stowed under the container flap. Is this a better way to go? Can the pin protective flaps cause problems? On my Talon and Vector containers I go directly down from the closing loop, stuff the bridal, and then close the main closing pin protective flap over the bridal. On my rigs I've had no problems with this, but I'm wondering if it would be better to route the bridal over at an angle as Grick suggests. I've often wondered about this and have come to the conclusion that (on my rigs at least), it doesn't matter. I also know not all containers are built the same. What do you think? Steve1

Rhino, My wife runs all the time. She always buys Saucony. She's even ran a few marathons in them. To change the subject some, I really messed up my feet once. Maybe if I'd had the right shoes it wouldn't have happened. I had just received a new para-commander in the mail, back in the olden days. We decided we'd take it out para-sailing even though we'd never seen it done. We picked a hot sunny day with no wind (mistake number 1). I tied 150 feet of climbing rope behind a car and attached it to my new parachute. One of my drunken friends wanted to drive. (Mistake number 2). When all looked right he hit the gas. I'll bet I was running 50 miles per hour taking 20 foot strides before I fell over and got drug. The asphalt rubbed a huge raw spot off the side of one cheek. My heels were bruised so badly I could barely walk. And to top things off I had to send my brand new canopy to a Master rigger for some serious repair work. The moral of this story is not to try parasailing on a calm day. And always wear good running shoes when running in excess of 50 miles per hour. Steve1