Joolee

I jump a Sabre 150 (I'm 140lbs) and I have only had one banger of an opening so far which I think was due to the fact that I was new to packing it. Now I leave the middle cell out on the nose and roll the others about three or four times and tuck them in...have had lovely openings since then. It's worth putting the effort into packing so you don't cringe when it comes to pull time! Julie

Everyone jumping out in the States should count themselves pretty lucky...it costs £16 (what's that, about $28?) to jump from between 12-14000ft in the UK. We're not guarenteed blue skies either... J

Hello everyone, I thought I would tell you a little story before asking my question. Last year eight jumpers from Scotland decided it would be a good idea to drive from Glasgow to Empuriabrava for the Christmas Boogie. We set out on a snowy boxing day in a van with no windows, no seats at the back, and a bottle of Whisky. The journey took about 36 hours non-stop, and eveyone agreed that we would never do it again. To top everything, on the way back we were stopped by French police, who did a thorough search of the van, and shortly afterwards, when the exhaust blew up, realised that they had stuck a plastic bag in the exhaust pipe. We had left Empuriabrava at 9.30am one day and arrived back to Glasgow at 7.30 the following evening. This year things will be different! Has anyone been out to Empuriabrava at the xmas Boogie and flown from the UK? I know its a bit early to be thinking about it, but I was wondering how cheap the flights are? Any other suggestions for getting there at Christmas time? Anyone had a worse experience trying to get to a Boogie???? Thanks, Julie

- Is it safe to hold one toggle down until I get spinning and then suddenly turn the other way? *** When I jumped a Pathfinder 285 as a student, I found this the best way to play about under canopy. I am only 140lbs and it made no significant difference to the canopy...just made me swing out to the side a bit. I've not done it on any faster canopy though.

I do jump with a Cypres (because the kit I am borrowing happens to have one), but I often wonder how effective it would be if someone was unconscious - most likely spinning wildy on their back?

I can remember this happening to one of the lads at the DZ, twice in fact. The first time his reserve opened as he dived out of a Cessna (without a door), the second time an instructor stayed with him in the plane and all the other jumpers got out - although I think he was due to be one of the last out anyway (and the plane had a door).

Hello everyone, I felt the urge to share with you what a glorious weekend it was at Strathallan...I did my first freefly jump, my first funnel, my first successful 3-way, and the sunshine reminded me what I was waiting for each of those freezing winter weekends... Is anyone going to the Scottish Nationals but is not quite up to the competition standard? If you're at a loose end and want to do some fun jumps...I'd like to jump with some new people. Julie

I just thought it would be interesting to chat to some jumpers around the world. You can tell me how great the weather is where you are and I can tell you how I managed one jump at the weekend through a gap in Scottish cloud! Have any of you jumped at Strathallan, or were at the boogie in Empuriabrava at Christmas? Would be interested in hearing from you.