mircan

I have little under 50 jumps on that canopy/container now and all except the mentioned two were soft. It`s a Safire after all. I had to upsize my opening altitude because the canopy was open much lower than I was comfortable (hop and pops from 3k feet were a bit scary). So why 2 hard ones in two weeks? I`m pretty consistent in the way I pack. Just on the last one I did squeeze and press the bag a little more than usual... So i thought of slider issues... dudeist skydiver #42

I think there is a good video of that event on skydivingmovies.com. I still watch it sometimes when I stumble upon it on my PC. dudeist skydiver #42

Can oversized deployment bag be the cause of hard openings? Let me explain... I jump a Safire 2 139sqft which is packed in a one number in size bigger javelin container. Recently I had 2 hard openings which are not common on this type of canopy. After first time, I thought that it was because poor slider control, but after second time (now being very careful about slider control) I`m 100% sure that the slider stayed all the way up to grommets and was properly quartered. The only thing that I came up with is that the canopy has space to move around in the bag after I put it in (when stowing lines, putting it in container etc.) and that this causes slider to move slightly down the lines thus inducing rapid opening. Is this even theoretically possible? I pack a lot of chutes for me as well for the others and nobody had any problems so far, except me. My new container is coming soon, but I don`t want to get slammed again before it arrives. Opinions? dudeist skydiver #42

If you want to try something else besides TV, you can try the laser-diode key-chain. You know, the cheap Chinese ones that kids play with. - Mount it on a helmet near camera with some duct tape. - Turn it on and center it so that the red dot is in the center of your camera display. - Put the helmet on. - Adjust the "sight" that it points at the red dot.. - Take the helmet off. - Take the laser off. My2c. blues!

Congrats! IMHO rear exits from Mi-8 are the best! Here, I found some pics for you. Mi-8 exit1 Mi-8 exit2 If you happen to come in the vicinity of South-East Europe, You should try it sometimes. dudeist skydiver #42

I get off when crowd is watching me.

Tandem and me. Pic by: Milan Todorovic dudeist skydiver #42

dudeist skydiver #42

Is there an issue with fathers? My father saw me jump only once doing a demo where everything went OK. I came sinking down "accuracy style" in deep brakes (on tuffet). He said that he never imagined that these parachutes fall down so fast... dudeist skydiver #42

Last weekend I had a slammer with my Safire 2. The canopy is new (~30 jumps), to that point it opened for 700-800ft. I was bragging how soft my openings were. Even while I packed for that jump I was explaining to a fellow jumper how to pack for slower opening, so I`m pretty sure that I did everything right when packing. It just slammed me. And with loaded Flat Top Pro on my mellon, I can tell you that it was not pleasant experience. My point is that sometimes it is just "skydiving thing" (like one of the previous posters said) and not the canopy. Still the next jump went fine, nice and soft... dudeist skydiver #42

I have FTP like the one in the pic1 and, if I`m correct, you were explaining about FTP in pic2? Right? dudeist skydiver #42

I`m stupid and I can`t figure out how can an FTP fall off even when the latch i in "open position? It is still attached with that second "lock" (sorry, I don`t know how to say it in English ) Can anyone post a picture? dudeist skydiver #42

First static line with round and belly reserve at year 18. First square at jump 25. First demo around jump 150 at local mall parking lot. Money was an issue through college, so I didn`t jump so often as I wanted. Now, packing and doing video provide most of the money for jumps. Paycheck provides for gear and fun ones. jump smiling! dudeist skydiver #42

Copy/paste whole text into google search. Follow the first link. (just to avoid seller endorsement) This shirt says it all... dudeist skydiver #42

Well... yes yes yes (even helped me quit smoking, which I did a lot when under stress) nothing more than before yes, but less and less with every jump... - In general there is work and there is skydiving (with just a little other stuff). I love my work, but now I see it as a money making activity that supports my skydiving. As one of the previous posters said, you convert any amount of money to skydives (and for me the equipment too). - Over the course of time, i got more and more friends related to skydiving, and less and less whuffo friends. I`m on DZ every weekend, or somewhere else with skydiving friends. Many of my friends broke relationships because of jumping. - My students think I`m cool, but most of the other people don`t. General notion is: "You got away with it once, now you are just pushin` it." - All of my travels are skydiving related. - Being a skydiver, has no significant impact in the attraction of the opposite sex (girls anyway). They say: Oooh... Cool. I could never do something like that. And that`s about it. Find something else to pick up chicks. - My alcohol tolerance went skyhigh... Lot of things about skydiving/lifestyle relationship can be found, where else, on skydiving t-shirts: - My girlfriend said if I jump one more time she was leaving...I'm sure going to miss her! - Live To Jump, Jump To Live - (and my personal favorite) "WARNING! Skydiving is a highly addictive activity that may result in sudden changes in your behavior and personality! Participants may experience some or all of the irreversible side effects. EXCITEMENT! PLEASURE! EUPHORIA! Additional Side-Effects Include: Sudden urge to spend thousands of dollars on skydiving equipment! Peaked curiosity about turbine powered aircraft and small digital video cameras! Inability to sleep past 7:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings! Frequent cases of daydreaming in the workplace. Loss of interest in routine, boring, weekday activities! Repeated viewing of weather forecasts with frequent uncontrollable outburst of rage towards meteorologists predicting rain, low clouds, or gusty winds! Inability to enjoy any conversation that is not skydiving related! CAUTION! Do not participate in skydiving unless you fully understand the impact of these side effects and are ready to accept full responsibility for your actions! SKYDIVE!" P.S. I kinda became pornstar too. I can endure whole 55 seconds now! wov! dudeist skydiver #42

I like it a lot! Color on those airlocks really make a difference. Wow!

I think this combination is pretty visible in all conditions. Plus, it`s beautiful in afternoon sun.

Non skydiving related: "using flash memory instead of a door key" dudeist skydiver #42

Yes. I`m somewhat paranoid. I like them "fresh packed." You see, I jump 99% on weekends. So the canopy stays packed for 5 days. OTOH sometimes I "dare" and jump 5 days packed canopy (like last weekend). But I also pack for money, so packing is no big deal. I can do it fast and with just a little effort. dudeist skydiver #42

I repack after every jump, no matter if I`m going home after or not. And I almost always pack at home the day before I jump in order to be ready to jump as soon as I get to the DZ. It sucks when you miss load only because you were not packed. Also, being a vidiot, you have more time to set up your headgear (don`t have a home DZ, so I carry all my gear with me all the time). my2c dudeist skydiver #42

I can only say about slightly bigger skymaster 290. we put guys with about 120kg (kilograms, I don`t have time to calculate wingload in lb (pounds) to you) but no big deal. Skymaster is humonguous. Just listen to your instructor. I jumped only once with this canopy (test jump) and even then I had about 300 jumps so far, so i can`t talk objectively. It is slower than navigator and all of our students prefered Skymaster over PD Navigator more. Even me. It packs easier. Again, ask your instructors, but have no fear. You are gonna like it. my 2c dudeist skydiver #42

Yeah, once you make any type of fold you can use almost no force to keep it in place. Just press it and hold it. The power is not in the strength, but in the technique. Try to fold first S fold and to press it with just two fingers, lightly. Then you can keep in it place for 20 minues with one finger. No big deal. The b*tch is not going to move anywhere. As long you just put your knees on the sides. No force needed. Just find your sequence. I mean, if you ever become desperate, f*ck, I`ll video my packing, and send it to you. No problem. I`ll even speak in english if you want it (oxford dialect) mircan dudeist skydiver #42

And, for the occasion when you do not have a chance to moist the air stick to the: Use your palms, forearms, elbows, knees, feet, chin, forhead... whatever works for you. It won`t be long before you have 'your' sequence of 'what goes where and when.' It helps if you have a rigger friend (like me). He can show you those little tricks right there and then, so you can get it right away. my 2c dudeist skydiver #42

Yup. Those were the ANs There are lot of them here, but they are a bit too expensive to jump now. Still, we jumped almost whole last season from it. Sweeet (and slow).... dudeist skydiver #42

I`ll try the fronts and see. So far I made just a couple of jumps due to the bad weather. And half of those were on bad spots, so I was just trying to get back to the DZ and didn`t have time to realy fly it. I thought it would open slower though... tnx dudeist skydiver #42