mattjw916

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Everything posted by mattjw916

  1. mattjw916
    um... Stockton is less than 600 miles from Skyventure Colorado which, unless you drive like an old lady, you can get to in less than 9 hours. I'm "confident" you can't learn to freefly from a book, video, or doing a bunch of solos. You _will_ learn a 1000x faster in the tunnel which is a more efficient use of time and money in the pursuit of vertical flight. You can stare at little figures all day long, but until you are in the wind with someone standing over you correcting your body position while you feel the air... it's all just theory. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  2. mattjw916
    save your money and spend it on tunnel instead... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  3. mattjw916
    Drum brakes still work too, but disc brakes work better... same goes for Sabres. There are just better choices out there. Ellipticals aren't as big of a deal as some people make them out to be IMO. Unfortunately most people hell-bent on jumping them tend to downsize crazy-fast compounding the error in their canopy selection. Personally after jumping a ton of different canopies, I'm staying with my "mellow" and predicatable Nitron for a while. I'm not really into some of the very twitchy and oversteery ellipticals floating around out there. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  4. mattjw916
    pull NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  5. mattjw916
    I'll be there!!! NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  6. mattjw916
    Um, how much tunnel do you have already? If you are new to the tunnel you will have to go through the IBA progression before you get to headdown, i.e. belly, back, headup, and various transitions with an appropriately rated instructor. Hell, I've got over 10 hours of tunnel and still haven't tried headdown in the tunnel yet. Check out this site for more info: http://www.tunnelflight.com/ NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  7. mattjw916
    downwinders are fun... low turns aren't... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  8. mattjw916
    I guess I'm the exception... it took me a couple weeks to get my A and a few more to get my B. C took me a while longer due to moving and weather issues. I'd have my D except I'm missing night jumps. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  9. mattjw916
    Yeah, I know a guy whose D-lic is in the low thousands somewhere and he only logs one jump per year for "currency" reasons so DZs don't give him shit for not logging. I think he has over 5k jumps and probably over 30 years in sport now so obviously opinions vary on the subject. Me, I have a pile of DV tapes to remember my jumps. I log sporadically now, usually right before I go to a boogie or foreign DZ. I keep better track of my tunnel time than my jump numbers, lol. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  10. mattjw916
    If you've ever seen tdog freefly, you'd realize they let anyone do it... I kid, I kid. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  11. mattjw916
    Tunnel won't screw up your freefall clock at all. Wearing an altimeter in the tunnel is silly lol and you will probably end up hitting the wall, yourself, or someone else in the face with it, ouch!. Concentrate on using your tunnel flight to work on whatever particular freefall skill you need to work on the most. If? I think it's a foregone conclusion that tunnel does in fact greatly improve your freefall skills. The more you do, the better you get, esp when you have skilled mentors and coaches that can communicate effectively and guide your progression. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  12. mattjw916
    Well perhaps the information is important to the people that _haven't_ flown in all the various tunnels... ya think? If you aren't interested, don't participate in the discussion. A discussion forum without people _discussing_ things is pretty worthless. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  13. mattjw916
    If you don't mind the dirt, heat, and static shocks lol... SVCO is a better "summer tunnel" and it's cheaper and faster too. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  14. mattjw916
    Buy yourself a ticket to Colorado and get some!!! NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  15. mattjw916
    sweet... I guess I'll have to fly home from NY for this so I can get my tunnel on. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  16. mattjw916
    That's wierd lol... It's hard to see what's going on if the slider is in the way. I hold mine under my chin so I can see everything; I never liked putting it on my shoulder since, esp with new canopies, it would squirm around. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  17. mattjw916
    I have and Dallas isn't any worse than any other major American city I have ridden in. In fact, I would say Los Angeles is far worse since people drive faster in LA than any other city I have been in. It's probably because when you can manage to find a open stretch of highway everyone goes crazy and drives 100mph. Case in point the 210 and 118 freeways. I grew up in LA and even I think it's ridiculous to drive that fast all the time lol. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  18. mattjw916
    Riding a motorcycle, in and of itself, is not "dangerous". Doing stupid shit on it is. If anyone thinks riding a bike is more dangerous than skydiving, they really should seek additional training/mentorship, because it isn't... statistically or otherwise. I've been riding street bikes for as long as I've been driving cars and my "accident rate" isn't any higher on one of my bikes. In fact for many years, all I had was a bike, so I know what it takes to commute day in and day out on one rain or shine. The only major accident I had was due to my lack of experience at the time and not leaving myself "an out" and then having a car pull out in front of me. But, because I was wearing the proper gear, I walked away with only minor injuries and a destroyed motorcycle. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  19. mattjw916
    I'm not a big fan of the "put every girl under a Spectre" strategy that seems to be the popular answer. Try demoing canopies and deciding what _you_ like. Personally I think 9 cells are easier to land and I don't the steep approach and slow turn rate of a Spectre. I started with a Sabre 2 loaded under 1:1 right off of student status and never had any real issues with it. Think about trying the Silhouette too. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  20. mattjw916
    Everyone already put a lot of good info here but I'll throw in my 2 cents: Starting at the top: Chin up, back straight... don't reach behind you with your hands. Think about pushing back with your elbows keeping your arms slightly bent pinching your shoulder blades together and thrusting your chest forward. Upper legs perpendicalar to torso and knees wide for stability. Lower legs perpendicular to upper legs pushing down with your heels. I never call it "sitflying" either. Esp since I can fly daffy headup and I'm not usually "sitting" at all. Have fun! NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  21. mattjw916
    meh... don't force yourself to go jump... I got bored and have been doing tunnel like crazy to work on specific stuff and catapult my freeflying to a new level when I start again. I even have a brand new rig sitting in my living room disassembled and I have no desire to start working on it at the moment. Come out to our tunnel in Colorado. It's pure heaven. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  22. mattjw916
    Just one of the reasons I don't like or use RSLs... complication. Before the carnage begins... a 2-out is a preventable situation. The best course of action is to not end up in one in the first place. Maintain your gear, practice/perform EPs properly, respect and adhere to your hard deck. Your comment, "keep the reserve" made me laugh though... I don't think you have much choice in the matter. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  23. mattjw916
    Any new updates, I just found out I will be spending 4-6 weeks in NY. I'd be nice if I got to fly while I was up there. I don't want to get tunnel withdrawl. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  24. mattjw916
    I still like it to just give people a taste of what it's like to get vertical. I prefer equal drag top and bottom personally but some people just need a little more help to start. I agree it builds dependance on arms, which is bad, and a problem I still struggle with, to a limited extent, in the tunnel. I don't have the problem in the sky though. Probably since my freefly suit has less drag than the tunnel suits I wear normally. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080
  25. mattjw916
    ...must be a freeflyer's rig. You wouldn't want to have a preemie headdown at 175+ NSCR-2376, SCR-15080