sundance

My first complete pack job with no help but a little supervision was on jump 59 and I have packed every time since then except when my riggers have done reserve repacks and they did it. Until then, I used rental rigs while searching carefully for the right first rig to buy. Rentals come packed so there was no need to pack em, though I watched alot. However, when I started packing my own rig it was a bit confusing at first and I took over an hour to pack it for a while. Since then, my pack job time has consistently shortened but it still takes me 20 to 30 minutes, but I am a bit anal about it still. It is becoming more of a routine now. At first I hated trying to get the damn ball of snot in the D-bag, but over time that too became pretty routine. Anyway, I like knowing what went into the container when it comes pull time and the practice has/ and is paying off with continually quicker pack jobs. I don't miss as many loads anymore as I did in the beginning. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

I agree with that. I can't think of anything that I want to do more or enjoy more than skydiving. It is truly a passion. I made my first static line jump in 1974 in Idaho Falls. It was December. I was a freshman in college and while bored one day I found some books in the library about skydiving. Within the next few days I checked out every book in the library that had the word skydiving in it. I got one of my roomates enthused about it and we decided we simply had to go jump from an airplane, so we found a dropzone, went and trained for half the day and both made our first static line jumps in ass freezing weather and landed in the snow. We walked on clouds the rest of the school year. It wasn't until 2002, 28 years later that woke up one morning, felt the urge to jump, looked up Skydive Utah on the web, went out there that day and I made my second jump as a tandem student. Wow, have things ever changed in 28 years. I made my second tandem 1 hour later and I knew my life had forever changed, I was hooked big time. Then I found out I had to wait all winter to get into AFF, the cold season was upon us. In the 28 years between my first and second jump I explored the world oceans scuba diving, raced open wheel race cars, traveled the world, skiied, wake boarded, snow boarded, rode insanely on motorcycles, got married, had kids and pursued careers. It was a long time but I always knew I wanted to skydive again, just not how long it would take to get back in the sky. Anyway, I got through my AFF training in the spring of 2003 in about a month and have been jumping every clear weekend since. Nothing compares, it has become my life and my main purpose it seems. I feel horrible withdrawal at the end of every week, until I get out the door again and head over the hill. My 19 year old son just finished his AFF course and we made our first jump together last weekend. I guess I gave him the curse when I took him out for his first tandem when he turned 18. He got hooked instantly too. What an awesome thing to jump with your kid. We are looking forward to a ton of exciting skydiving together now. It seems that whenever I do something besides skydiving on a weekend, no matter how exciting it may be, I am always thinking I would rather be at the dropzone. Sick, I know. It takes a lot of sacrifices and a great desire, but it is all worth it. The friends and community I have found at the dropzone surpasses anything I previously experienced. Bonfires and bbq's, beer and stories and all the veteran and novices that I am always learning from is an unparallelled trip. No doubt, skydiving is the king shit of everything I have ever been involved in. Skydiving changes everything, I mean everything about life. It's incredible how there seems to be no significant age barriar at the dropzone. I mean, at 48 I am great friends with everyone there from 18 to 65 years old. We all have one great thing in common. Quite remarkable! Thanks and kudos to everyone who has helped me and continues to assist and encourage my blue sky endeavors, the DZO, the AFF Instructors, coaches and all my comrades in freefall. What a family, what a life! One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

For anyone who has met Jay, it's easy to understand the reason for your ranking. He is an awesome individual, extremely accomplished in many disciplines and truly great human being. It was an honor being around him while he was conducting training at the dropzone, even though I was simply observing. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

I am pleased to have Jay Stokes, world record holder of most jumps in a single day, in my log book. Spent a few days with him while he was training AFF Instructors here at Skydive Utah this past summer. On one jump Jay was sitting right in front of me spotting. The door flew open on the T-Bone, his head went out and came back in and he shouted right in my face, "cut", then "your gonna get wet!" and he was gone. We (a threeway) climbed out right after and launched. To our surprise as we fell down the hill, it was soon evident that we were falling through a hail storm. We could see the ground the entire time, but damn it stung like hell. We hung in there, throwing looks at each other of "this sucks a big one". A very memorable but painful skydive. LOL One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

Does cutting my pinky on the risers during deployment count? I bled on my slider afer landing while trying to gather up my canopy. LOL So far this is the worst. Trying to avoid serious mishaps with awareness and constant learning and continual skills enhancement, but also knowing that there are risks and I skydive because I am hooked, I love it, and I choose to live life adventurously and wide awake. Don't forget to pull or flare and a whole bunch of other stuff before and in between. Blue skies and safe, exciting jumps. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

I did a couple of S/L jumps in Idaho in 1974. Fun but scared the shit out of me. Then got too involved in education, career and family and never jumped again until 2002 when I did two tandems and moved immediately into AFF. It was scary, but oh so damn cool and fun. I have 120 jumps now. On my first S/L in 1974 I started kicking upon exit, flipped on my back and felt the pilot chute hit the back of my head, but everything else worked fine. In AFF I felt a degree of comfort and confidence having instructors/instructor there to assist. My first exit was solid and stable. Being belly down came quickly and somewhat effortlessly. Learning heading control and relaxing took longer. AFF Rocks in my book. My vote is for AFF. I think the progression rate is much quicker, more exhilarating, builds confidence quicker. My DZO with over 9500 jumps and experienced it all is adamant that AFF produces an overall better skydiver. I know, his opinion among many, but I place a fairly high value in his opinion. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

I jump at Skydive Utah in Erda. The DC-3 Southern Cross flies there as someone earlier posted. Feel lucky to have this plane at our dropzone. It has been down this season so far due to aileron damage incurred in a big storm in January. At this writing it is close to being repaired and back in the air, hopefully this weekend. Jumping out of this plane is awesome. Tons of room to get up and move around, even do dirt dives while riding to altitude, which takes 12 to 15 minutes to 12K to 13K. It doesn't fly without at least 22 jumpers and has seatbelts for 42. I have never had my jumpsuits and gear oiled jumping from this plane, however, if one is absent minded enough to stand in line of the props when it is being started, you can end up with lots of black spots. LOL Anyone wanting to jump a fun DC-3 should come out to Skydive Utah and take a ride. I'm posting a Picture of the nose anyway of the Southern Cross. Only one on hand. Blue skies... One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

How about: Cutaway Pillow: Gas Reserve Metal: Brake Don't anyone steal this before I get to have embroidered on my rig. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

You can sometimes get back a lost dog, or other thing of value but you can never get back lost altitude. Altitude is indeed everything. Consider this though: If you deploy at minimum altitude as an A license holder (3000 ft), most of the time I think you will be at or below your hard deck appropriate action point (2500 ft) by the time your main is inflated..... hmmm, not much time to assess and take appropriate action. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

I happen to agree with you. I am against excessive regulations myself. People should make their own choices in most matters. I too have ridden my motorcycle without a helmet at times just to feel the wind in my hair. My choice. But, when we do choose to wear a helmet, I think it would be nice to have options that offer genuine impact protection. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

Look at the liner and see if it resembles styrofoam. It is made of little expanded, fused beads of expaned polystyrene, vs some soft rebounding foam. If you crush a bit of it, it will not come back to shape. What kind of buckle does your helmet have? Mine has a plastic quick release pinch buckle. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

There seems to be a lot posted here on the subject of helmets already but for some good reasons I felt compelled to add my 2 cents. My good reasons have nothing to do with my experience in the sport (I only have 80 jumps and an A license), but rather with my experience in head protection. In my previous life I worked for Bell Sports (as in Helmets) as VP/GM of the Auto Racing Helmet Division and also for a time in same position for Private Branded Bike Helmets. In the auto racing side of the business, you are dealing with some of the highest energy impacts on this planet and what Bell has learned and built into all helmets for every sport comes from their experience in that extreme. When I first started skydiving it became quickly obvious to me that what most skydivers are wearing on their heads is as useless as a layer of monkey shit if they experience a significant impact. I understand that everyone wears helmets for different reasons in skydiving and opinions on this subject are akin to assholes, everyone has one. As pointed out in previous posts on helmet threads here, I think that probably all helmets specifically made for skydiving have little or no value for impact protection. I found this very curious and still do. Mid air collisions, a collision with a tail, landing collisions with the ground or other objects are certainly situations where impact protection would be beneficial. Your head will simply bottom out immediately on most so called skydiving helmets...resulting in serious brain injuries or death. I have read in these forums a lot about Protec helmets offering more impact protection. Well, perhaps a bit more, but not really much. The foam I see in most of them is feeble and too soft. It will bottom out quickly on a major impact but help in a minor one. Helmets that are optimal for impact protection are designed to self destruct and thereby manage the energy and prevent as much energy from reaching the brain as possible. EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) has proven over and over to be the best liner material to manage impact, but it also has to be molded at the correct density to provide optimum protection. Currently, I am wearing a Giro Snowboarding Helmet (built by Bell) with an EPS liner. It seems to work well, has a one hand quick release chin strap, great impact protection, fairly small profile (but not as small as real skydiving helmets with no impact protection), it's lightweight, and will fit an audible comfortably. I figure if I am going to wear a helmet at all, might as well get multiple benefits from it including, hearing protection, warmth, minor bump protection, major bump protection, large impact protection. True, some impacts are not survivable with any kind of protection. I saw this numerous times every year in the auto racing community, but I also saw alot of people walk away from accidents that surely would have killed them without the technology of modern helmetry. Opinions and perspectives welcome. I'm still curious One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

I bought a used Sabre 190 last fall from a fellow skydiver at my dropzone. It is my first canopy and I have put about 20 jumps on it. I have never had a slammer yet. It has a pocketed slider (which is supposed to help with the hard opening issue) and I always roll the nose on both sides of the center cell about 5 turns. I am loaded at 1.0: 1. Most openings the end cells are still not inflated until I pull on the rear risers and help them a little. As a first canopy I am very pleased with it. am a novice but I jumped a number of different rental rigs and other rigs for sale at my dropzone before I bought and can say that I enjoy flying the Sabre more than most of the other canopies I jumped. Hope this helps a little. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

Rigger Rob, can you elaborate on the differences in 145, 175 adn 245 Swift's, aside from the obvious size differences. Curious. Thanks The whole world is nothing but you One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

Thank you to all for your posts and the information you provided to my question. The recent first hand experiences were helpful as well. This is a great place to learn. Blue skies, Rodger One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

Kevin, Thanks for the feedback and perspective. It is a Swift Plus 175. I just double checked it. Manufactured in October 1992. Nice to know what to expect if/when I ever have to rely upon it. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.

Can anyone provide any information about Swift Reserves? I understand the company is out of business now. I bought my first rig last fall after completing AFF during the spring and logging about 55 jumps on rental gear over the summer, Javelin Container w/ Sabre 190 and a 170 Swift reserve. I have 80 jumps now. I just want to learn as much as I can about the reserve in my container for obvious reasons. One of the surest signs that intelligent life exists in outer space is that none of it has tried to contact us.