Praetorian

did anyone else watch "le mange INFERNAL" I speak no french but I'd bet its close to "the student from hell" I watched it once and thought at first it was a demonstration of an intentional spin in freefly .. then when I realised the AFF instructor (or french equivelant of an AFF) was fighting to save the studnet... scary .. but it almost looks intentional.. Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

I know Sport Bike riders who consider even knocking your helmet off the table enough to write it off... funney how none of them have ever dropped their helmets.. any hit that would have hurt you without the helmet probably did something to it. The foam/plastic lining absorbes energy as it gets crushed and will not spring back, any hit the helmet takes before the one you need it to take lessens the amount of energy it can absorbe by deforming and reduces the other property of helmets IMPULSE elongation helmets spread the lenght of the hit out, more time for the same force delivered lessens the Peak force deliverd (even 2 miliseconds over 1 reduces the peak force to HALF) Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

All and all a pretty funny experience.

Yup I've jumped with ripcords, (placed in BOC position) never lost one Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

Ultralight jump? I thought ultralights were restricted to pilot only .. NO passenger allowed? Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

I KNEW I missed something.. but if your keeping to the minimums (and not having any reserve rides as you can only pay for 3 repacks a year your not gonna have too many firsts or be rapidly reaching jumps ending in 00 much less 000 but to be fair Beer $200-year (ok maybe thats high.... or low depending on who you are and what you drink) Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

you dont need to try and get their student gear the rental shop has Saber2s as well Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

quick break down of getting into the sport (please feel free to add to or disagree with .. gear numbers will be mine) skydive Chicago AFP course (18 jumps training) $1800-2000 depending on how you pay and if you have to repeat any jumps 7 more jumps to get your A (min) do them over 2 days at $75/day for gear thats 150, plus $15 per jump for the ride up..thats 120 required packing course $45 now you buy your own gear USED container $400 +90 for new kill line pilot USED Reserve $600 NEW MAIN (couldn't find what I wanted used) $1600 USED Helmet $40 USED wrist Alti $80 USED Cypres $600 Used Jumpsuit $50 Reserve inspection/pack (nice rigger also hooks up main and inspects all gear ..damn nice guy) $50 rough total $5800 thats to get started say minimum to stay current is 3 repacks per year (no reserve rides) and 2 jumps/month at MINIMUM so just to stay jumping and only get 24 jumps/year you pay 150+ 360 in jumptickets so 510 thats no new gear, no reserve rides no extra classes and a minimum number of jumps .. no not a cheep hobby Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

Great pic ... damn I miss that view (my first jumps were at Kapowsin while I was an undergrad at UW) Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

I hope this dosen't come across as flip or sarcastic as I am very serious... why change your main? if you were flying it ok, you can jump a 190 for a few jumps to get back current, then get back on your 170, take a flight course and keep flying it, were you ever called foolish or accused of taking too many risks on the 170 before you got pregnant? by all means if you really think the risks are much decresed by uping one size or you were pushing it too far before the pregnancy and having a child is what it took to get you thinking clearly fine.. if not why second guess yourself, I'd feel safer taking some courese getting some profesional coaching then I would if I uped a size .. Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

cant bust the myth but I've been told that risers are the weak link, that they could be made stornger, but there really is not the point in USAF studies it has been shown that the human body can survive short duration shocks of some huge number of Gs like 50+ now if the shock makes be break my neck thats one thing, but I cant imagine any riser which could take 200lbs *50G for 10000lbs aparent force what about 70 or 80G, now in the study the harnes was more complete then a skydiving harnes so you probably wouldn't die technically from the G load but from your ribs being broken and severing your lungs and heart. Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

if you did a Mr Bill useing tandem gear is it still considered a tandem (lets assume you don't with a passenger) you get your 1000 he gets a Mr Bill for 666 jokes about a deal with the devil aside wadda ya think? Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

hell yea I'd do something satanic related (mostly to makefun of the concept that numbers mean anything ... just be sure to bring some "devil's brew" to share at the end .. night jump of some kind sounds cool Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

Me, I'd jump the sabre2 190 but thats because I have jumped a sabre2 190 and I load it just under 1:1 I can say that my first jump on a saber2 210 was so much easier to land then my 5th jump on a manta 288. I'd suggest a middle ground, find someone who will loan/rent you a sabre2 210, or a safire 2 or a Hornet.. so you have the same size but a decent ZP main, see how you do, if the improved lift from newer ZP improves your landings consider the 190 if not, well then pratice with a bigger main (not the student gear its hard full flare will not train you to do the "staged" or smooth flare for the sabre2) Note I am a novice I'm only posting my experience as to landing improvement with a better/newer zp vs F111 main .. be very cautious remember you will be loading the 190 higher then I did but your jump from a 215 to a 190 isn't that huge a jump and the better condition ZP might make up for it. be warry though as landing speeds will increase requireing better timing of the flare. AGAIN I'm A NOVICE just posting from similar experience to what you are considering doing. Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

you know thinking about it I'd be far more nervous getting on a plane as a tandem passenger now then going for a solo jump... I think its the lack of a chute on my back, that and the lack of control. Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

Funney (to me at least) that you wouldn't point to the faster opening as the major selling point, I already have an RSL, and while if I cut away I'm sure its gonna beat me to the reserve I dont trust it to do its job I still plan on pulling my reserve. I'd treat the skyhook the same, its just that insted of feeling foolish pulling silver while the reserve is deploying I'll feel foolish pulling silver after the reserve has opened. Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

In all seriousness I understand the wish to retrofit any existing gear with the skyhook, but if you could work a deal out with the other companys they could begin designing their "next" container to be skyhook friendly/equiped. Giving you some say in the implimentation of the skyhook in other company's gear to prevent the same type of problems you mentioned with the 3 ring, if the other companies have trouble paying you a fair fee to help/evaluate the designs or disaprove of you wanting veto power over the skyhook in their gear then thats their choice and one you can make public as to which companies choose not to work with you to improve the safety of the sport as a whole Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

on the plus side if you lisence the skyhook to all manufactures they will end up loosing money on the freebags too so it wont just be you :) Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

That had to be an "interiesting" ride, was it before or after jumprun? Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

Ok assuming its a big Helo, container or just a big russina bird, at summer fest I'll be a Newly A licenced skydiver, under 50 jumps to my name... will I be allowed to go on the helo? and is there anything I should know about a big helo jump like this that would give me reason not to allow myself to go even if I'm allowed? Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

you think if you quit/sell your gear you'll crave it less? ... interiesting logic Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

Ok, DMV, Tailgate but not a plane... if your all gonna be so cryptic I'm gonna start with the wild ass guessing Catapult? Cannon? Blimp? Helicopter? Harrier? if your gonna give useful hints please do, if you just want to mess with my head mission accomplished, if those of you who know just want to feel superior and tease the rest of us .... jirks .. but I'll buy you a beer if you tell me .. I didn't mean that jirk thing .. come on ... please? Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

First I need to make clear this is just thinking out loud not in any way an attack at Bill !!!!! When airbags, antilock breaks, and energy absorbing crumple zones were invented (I believe all by the same company but I'll have to check) the concept, plans and testing data were shared for FREE, licenced to every other car manufacturer for nothing. Now I dont want Bill to go away with no reward for his effort but you would think that the manufactures could get together come up with a reasonable deal and make the skyhook an option on every rig... not mandatory just included with the rig sorta standard equptment included in the price Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

I can only get to the DZ on weekends and the weather has sucked every damn weekend Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.

On bigair's web page there is a link to Brian's method of packing a pull out pilot, its different then I was shown, and when I showed it to 3 more experienced jumpers I got 2 "yup that looks better then How I do it show me again" and 1 "yup thats how I do it" it's supposed to make it easier for the bridle to drag the pilot out of the pocket, lessening the chance of a horseshue if you get an out of order deployment http://www.bigairsportz.com/pilot-chute.php Good Judgment comes from experience...a lot of experience comes from bad judgment.