Tonto

Don't worry Superman. You can hold your own. t It's the year of the Pig.

I don't have many jumps on one, and the one I used was also a 135. I felt it was a poor canopy. Being released in the mid 90's it was up against the early elipticals like the Jonathan, as well as the Stilleto. The sonic opened quite fast, which was normal for the time. It was an "angled" canopy made from Galvanor fabric. I was toggle spanking back then, as were most people, so I don't know how it handled that kind of input. Several senior jumpers were bitten badly with very high toggle pressure when the canopy was above trim speed and caught in the corner. Only the Tandem Masters survived unscathed. Personally, I think it sucked back then. Now, I would have to say that it's a relic that sucked. t It's the year of the Pig.

There. Edited it to leave only the important bits. It reads better, and her true personality comes out more, don't you think? t It's the year of the Pig.

You're right, of course. We all hate beautiful women. The cool thing about this, is that in 60 years time, when her beauty has faded, she'll be treated equally by all the men! There may be some truth to it though. There's a song out here and the chorus goes "If you want to be happy for the rest of your life Never make a pretty woman your wife, So from my personal point of view Get an ugly girl to marry you!" t It's the year of the Pig.

With you there... There was a fatal about 10 years back when a skydiver with about 15 jumps tried to "AFF" his friend's 1st jump from about 4500 from a C172. Can't argue with someone who knows they're right. Besides. What's the worst that could happen, right? t It's the year of the Pig.

There is a world of difference between an aspect ratio of 2.1:1 and 2.5:1. To say the canopy will handle comparably is laughable. t It's the year of the Pig.

No. 2000. One of my swoop protege's was present and witness to it. he has about 400 jumps. It certainly helped put him in place on the pecking order. All experience is relative. t It's the year of the Pig.

Eeee! My Mom has one of those. She loves it cos "The bullets don't shoot out the side" and "The sticky thingy doesn't hook on my clothes" She can shoot with it though! t It's the year of the Pig.

I'd love to, but there's no option for "everything about her."

Recently, while at Eloy, watching some hot swoops, I heard 2 of the locals chatting. After watching a what I thought was an OK swoop, I heard one say to the other, "These 2000 jump wonders... They just don't get it." I'm sorry, I can't agree with your crit on Frenchy. Seeing 3 people with a combined jump number of 116 giving advice to someone with 41 jumps is simply terrifying, regardless of the content. If it's right this time, the student (victim?) will listen to the next instalment. How long do you think it takes before that leads to a problem? t It's the year of the Pig.

Fear is there to stop us from doing stuff. It's that simple. Sometimes it can be good. (Don't run off a 1000 ft cliff wearing only a speedo) Sometimes it can be bad. (Stay in your crappy job because you may not get another crappy job) As a Skydiving instructor, I'll help my students deal with their fear, but I cannot teach them to be brave. If they say "I can't do this.." then they're right, and they'll ride the plane down. The advice given earlier, "Just don't think about it too much" is VERY, VERY dangerous advice. It's the start of "I'll be fine... Lalalalalala" that leads to wasted seconds of shock and suspended belief when you are not fine, and you have the rest of your life to solve your problem, which may be about 12 seconds, but is probably way less. Think about it A LOT. Think about the consequences of not making the right decision, or of performing the wrong action for the event you're experiencing. Think about rigor mortis, and of your friends keeping the birds away from your remains scattered over 100 feet as they wander about with small plastic bags picking up peices while dealing with the grim but amazing realities of the physics and the constant surprise at that bit of you having made it all the way to where they're standing. Think about the consequences of failure. Having done that, learn to prepair yourself to deal with as many occurences as you can imagine. Dirtdive your worst nightmares in detail and learn to resolve them with the help of a trusted instructor. Practice, learn, drill. As questions, continue learning, stay current, stay sharp, learn to flick the mental switch from "Yahoo" mode to "Save yourself" mode on every skydive you do. After that, skydiving's a breeze. t It's the year of the Pig.

Your advice on using the rears is both canopy and condition specific. Some canopies prefer brakes, some rears. Some conditions, like downwind facing into a strong wind, require full drive, (Again, condition and canopy specific) while upwind and deep, brakes or rears will work better. As to the issue of different instructors giving different advice, this will happen. Trick is to know who you're listening to. Are you listening to the instructor who's a member of the hiking club and often walks back from poor spots, or are you listening to the instructor who lands back at the DZ without compromising the safety offered by an out landing? Many, many senior jumpers don't know very much about their gear, or how it works under different conditions. GPS has created a generation of jumpers who don't know how to spot, or who know it in theory and never get to practice. Those senior jumpers who jump (or used to jump) 7 cells, Low perocity canopies ("F-111") or have experience on rounds will understand more of the subtle machanisims of magically returning from beyond the poor spot, and will do so when required. The type of advice you handed out was OK, unless that jumper finds themselves downwind in a high wind hanging on brakes or risers. The guy who questioned your giving advice may be right, but often junior jumpers are intimidated by their instructors and ask their peers. Whether some advice is better than no advice at all? I don't know. t It's the year of the Pig.

From the PD site. The P.D. 7-cell is your canopy. Like the P.D. 9-cell, it is constructed entirely of traditional [low porosity] fabric. Designed and built for the skydiver who wants traditional 7-cell characteristics, including the ability to do low speed (braked) approaches for casual accuracy and demos as well as having excellent flight characteristics for casual C.R.W. The P.D. 7-cell will outperform all other low porosity 7-cells in all around performance. Openings, glide and landings are true to form for a Performance Designs canopy. If a traditional 7-cell is what you're after, the P.D. 7-cell should be your choice. The Performance Designs 7 Cell...Traditional 7-cell Performance! Why would you want to swoop it? There are many, many canopies better suited to the task. Should you choose to swoop this, you'll be facing high risk in return for shocking performance. You're also contemplating heavily overloading the canopy. PD's guide is as follows: PD 7 Cell-143 143 Max experience, 143lbs, Span 17.33, Chord 8.25 Aspect 2.1:1. It's very difficult giving advice on these issues when your profile is not completed. I see you are a SL instructor though. I'm guessing if you're planning a wing loading of 1.4 on a Low perocity 7 cell as a swooping canopy...... well...... I'm guessing.... t It's the year of the Pig.

Moved to Safety and Training. The purpose of this forum is to report, discuss and learn from fatal and serious non-fatal incidents. Most, if not all, new threads here should start with the report of an actual incident. General safety issues or small and potential incidents should be posted to the Safety and Training forum. It's the year of the Pig.

So could it be an abreviation of the term "Up and coming?" t It's the year of the Pig.

Those would be "fun jumpers" here. t It's the year of the Pig.

I've heard it too. I've taken it's context to be jumpers who are off student status, but are not yet at the Instructional level. I doubt anyone will be able to tell you WHY they're called "Up Jumpers." t It's the year of the Pig.

EEeee! I like that! Looked a little odd at first till I read "Concept." Maybe a future run of "Birthday knives" I like my Spyder edge. I have a sharpener that gets into the scallops, so while it takes a while, it gets done, and they hold their edge really well/ It's the year of the Pig.

I carry a Magnesium block with flint insert if I'm going away. Good for about 5000 fires... Also a small Swiss Army folder on my car keys with Blade, screwdriver, LED Light, sissors and a ballpoint. Thinking about this now, with all these edges about, I'm surprised I don't cut more stuff up! t It's the year of the Pig.

Yeah, we both have one of those. Lives in the gear bag. Unless we're flying commercial, of course, in which case they stay home. Those things get whipped REAL fast out of checked luggage! It's the year of the Pig.

I like to use them. I lose them too. The Delica is probably a top seller cos of all the ones I lost! I used to carry an Endura, but the way people pull back when you whip it out to peel an apple made me feel self consious. My GF has a Spyderco Dragonfly that will fit even when she's wearing a Bikini. Both of us enjoy having an edge. t It's the year of the Pig.

Ahh! The Stealth model! My favorite! I have a CRKT KISS Knife I'm quite fond of. That and a Spydero Delica. Nothing special. t It's the year of the Pig.

3 D grid? There's a whole planet out there in 3 D! That's all I need. t It's the year of the Pig.

With 18 reserve rides... my riggers obviously love me. I'm in there with frequent flyer discounts! t It's the year of the Pig.

Great advice for a novice. I'm not a big fan of the "Buy your rig for the rigger" brigade, but that may be because I travel quite a bit, and have dealt with different riggers. My rigs outlast my riggers.