tdog

As hooknswoop said... Regardless if it holds, what about a quick release in case of water landings or if you are stuck in a tree... If it held, and if it was "approved" by the powers that be, I would want to practice undoing it a few times for giggles.

Are you asking why technically it is not a good idea... It is my understanding, correct me if I am wrong riggers, the reason why a smaller canopy than recommended should not be used is that the closing loop might be too loose and could open when you don't want it to. If you have the container, I bet you could find a friend with a canopy you could borrow - and you could pack it then ask your rigger to give an opinion. Of course you could also ask Sunpath too.

I agree, from a newbie perspective... Start at "home" to learn the basics... How to save your life... Many DZs teach that well. Plus, without the local friendships, skydiving will not be rewarding. Plus, entering a DZ at 25 jumps with an "A" will be much harder than if you got your "A" at home. Then goto Perris or Eloy or someplace like that at around 30 jumps and get world class tunnel coaching one-on-one for 1 hour... Then do a 4way camp to build RW skills and work with a coach in the sky for many jumps. Dan BC's camps come to mind - and Pat at Perris is a wonderful tunnel coach for a newbie, speaking as a customer who used him at 25 jumps. I came home and jumped with a coach who was blown away at my improvement from Pat's coaching and the tunnel - but I just felt more in control and did not realize how much better I was until she said something. Money IS an option for me, but I saved up, and that is what I did. It worked well and I am flying better than my peers who have not gone to the tunnel or done the camps. Ego check here, please don't think I think I am a great skydiver, I still have so much to learn and plan on going to a tunnel+jump camp at least every 9 months, or sooner if I can get the money.

You know, I do lighting for concerts and theatre and trade show booths, et al. So often, I get people who say, "I did that in high school", as if that makes them an experienced professional... After all, a lot of people have participated in community theatre at their church, at a kid's school event, or somewhere... That makes them, in their mind, at my level. My reply has been, "What do you do now for your job?" When they tell me that they are a stock broker or doctor or lawyer, I always reply, "Well I did that in high school too, but I decided to go to school to have a rewarding career in something else." But to me, anyone who has skydived, even as a tandem, is part of our small community. That is when I tell them about what challenging new things I am learning, they realize for themselves they have not really skydived in the more complicated and rewarding sense. And that goes for me too. I don't even know everything I don't know.

Cool... You and I have a different point of view... I don't like to change things much back and forth... So I would keep them on always (on belly to earth jumps) and get used to them... But, if you are afraid you will not get the coach jump done with them, then I guess you have a point.

try www.rmhga.org (Rocky Mountain Hang Gliding Association) for their discussion forums. Much smaller user base, but they will help. Also... I was very happy with my Flytec 4010 vario when I paraglided. Good info, easy to use... Now they have GPS models... But there are cheaper units that you can get that just beep instead of giving you a bunch of useful altitude info.

Yes... Read what Skratch and Brian Germain think about AFF... They both have posted publicly that they think AFF is making good freefallers and bad canopy pilots.... I have seen both of them advocate SL... Search their posts for their exact words, I don't want to put works into their mouth... You are the first student I have heard make a comment that seems to support their claim - that with SL you don't move on until the canopy control is ready. Hey DZ.commers... Please, I think I might have opened a can of worms... Comments about this controversial SL vs AFF issue should be posted to one of those threads about canopy control you can find in the searches. I really don't want to hijack Orange1's experience here...

Tumbler, I too had a jump early on where I started to turn without wanting too. I picked a spot on the horizon to keep heading, and that did not work... I did some toe taps and fixed the problem... I also had a jump that freaked me out... I ended up on my back... The outside air was so cold (below freezing on the ground, I have no clue about the uppers), I think my brain froze - not mentally, but physically... It felt like FOREVER as I struggled to get belly to earth.. It was probably 2 seconds, but I had to use every ounce of brain power I had to get me over... I never had a problem fliping over before. Heck, on my AFF jumps I ended up on my back on exit a few times and flipped over very quickly... My instructors always commented that I was good at recovering stability. This was a new problem for me. What does not kill you gives you confidence... I was scared after that jump, but also more confident that next time I could solve the problem quicker, and that while 2 seconds felt like forever, I was not putting my life in danger at that moment. So the next time I had to work hard at flipping, like a few jumps ago where I was looking at another jumper, thus putting my head in the wrong spot, I did not panic and think I would never get over, I just relaxed, and did what I needed to do... When you panic (at least me) - tasks become harder than they need to... The more times you find yourself in an uncomfortable spot, the more confortable you will be at fixing the problem (again, for at least me.) My post is not to say I know how to fix the spin you had, but it is to say.... Keep skydiving... Don't let something small ground you mentally. The experience you had just might be 100X more valuable than if you had a perfect skydive. That is my two cents.

Andres, Keep the booties... (unless your instructors or coaches tell you I am wrong). I started jumping a friend's jumpsuit with booties on my 20th ish jump... Finished all my "A" coaching and did my checkoff dive wearing them. The first jump was quite entertaining - I was in a track until I figured out the surface area back there... But I quickly figured them out... Now I will kindly refuse to let anyone take my booties away for any belly RW stuff... Hint, make sure both booties are on good, because if one falls off, you get to have fun... Nothing you can't fix, but it is like driving a VW bug with 4 people hanging off one side and a flat tire on the other side. T.

I went thru AFF, and so did everyone I know that is a younger jumper (younger in jump years, not birth years.) Well I know some military guys who did SL, but their stories are different... So, it is nice to read stories about other people's experiences that are different than your own. I found the part about the canopy and tree to be telling about the priorities of static line progression. I personally have told people that I doubt I would be skydiving today if my only choice was SL... I just had a "hang up" about being attached to the plane by anything... Call me silly, but it still seems intimidating to me, and I question if someone gave me a SL rig, if I would even jump SL today... So, keep posting your experiences, perhaps even a synopsis of all your jumps when you graduate, so us AFF guys can see how the other half lives. Thanks for posting.

Amen, skydivin' sister. The stuff you see... You would think DZOs would put up padded walls and make the place like a playground at a day care center to insure safety.... Those logs in the parking lot and student training simulators always seem to attract all sorts of creative uses.

I have talked with Kelly a few times on the phone and e-mail... He was very helpful. Responded within minutes. My next container will be an Infinity me thinks... Kelly rocks...

Tradition??? I have been wearing a closing pin daily since my first skydive... Not a day before, not a day after... I have had two people comment on it, ever. First - a grocery check-out-clerk... "What is that?" The second person said, "Who went in?" Long story short, a friend of hers wore the pin from a rig of a friend that went in…. I told her that thankfully my pin celebrates life and freedom and my first jump, and is not a memorial to a lost friend. So, while it may be too popular or trendy for some, to me it is special, and I wear it for me, not for them....

Tandems help DZs pay the bills... You gotta respect that. Now, some DZs are better at others in finding a good ratio of fun jumpers to tandems... Everyone I know who did a tandem 'wants' to skydive more... Money, time, desire, etc - makes them say no... I have watched one tandem master at our DZ. After the tandem, if he finds out they liked it, he immediately introduces them to the AFF program, takes them into the classroom and shows them the learning aids used in the first jump course, and promises them that he would be with them on their first AFF jump! It seems he makes each tandem a working tandem, as he teaches the passenger things like looking at the canopy to inspect it after opening, allows the student to fly the canopy, etc… It is not a true working tandem jump unless the student asks for it, but he really tries to convince the prospective that if they come back they will be ready for the next step. It is all in how the TM treats the customer IMHO. Does the TM treat them like a amusement park ride or does the TM treat the customer like a new skydiver and teach them along the way?

Ya I did think about the fact you might be cracking my computer, but I don't want your source code... Karma in skydiving will catch up with us all... But, what is the "coolness checkbox"???

Installed. Can you modify it to remind me when to give the dog his heart worm medicine too??? Seriously, it works so far. Thanks.

Someone much wiser than I sent an e-mail to me: I told the same to a 30 jump guy two weekends ago when I looked up after opening on a 4way and saw someone else above me doing the same, after his sit tracked over our group... Just be careful and know how to be safe. I don't know much myself, so ask someone else...

Have fun....

I don't know about that, but I think the rules are stricter... Have you ever had to go into a weigh station and deal with the "authorities"... The thing is, these people make up the rules as they go... You can tell them you talked to Agent X at 3:33 PM on XX/XX/XXXX and got the advice you do not need a special permit because… Instead of calling that agent and asking if you talked, they simply say, “It is not my fault another employee of our organization told you that, I am still giving you a ticket for not having the proper stamp on this permit.” The worst weigh station is the one at the Utah Arizona border on I-15... Two people work at the same desk, one representing Utah, one representing Arizona. Every thing they find wrong, they give you TWO tickets, one for each state… It is as if they are in competition to find what tickets they can give you, like a game show. I only drove a truck when my company absolutely needed a 3rd backup guy... We hauled concert stages, and I was a lighting guy. It was not my job. I went to the DMV and ASKED THEM to remove the CDL from my license so I would never have to do it again. Don't get me wrong, there is something fun about driving a 80' long, over weight, over length, over width trailer with 24 wheels on it, where you have shifted gears 5 times and you are still going less than 10 MPH – thru a dirt field where a concert is scheduled, catching air on the mounds of dirt. Like a Jeep on cocaine. Just the government makes it painful.

I am the first to admit my spelling sucks... My grammar is a close second... But read the following news story... What have professors turned into...

Utah Saints... Now that is awesome... I have a MP3 server with thousands of CDs worth of music on it... (No public access, please don't ask.) The server is at work. When I need a pick me up, I always choose Utah Saints, KLF, or, Men at Work... Wierd selection, huh???

And, why am I always the last to know...

Have you tried 3 in the morning??? I slept at the IHOP at Perris, the DZ house near the tunnel... It seemed that the shift from 3am to 6 am was always underused...

I do lighting for concerts and special events. I got hired to do an Easter Service for 20,000 people in an arena for an progressive church... (Most of the service was with a full rock band, not your normal Roman Catholic affair). One of the church kids, 14 years old, who helped set up the rig, was so enthused about a concert sound system, he insisted we play his CD. He was such a dork I was worried. Boy does this kid have taste. I made him make a CD for me of all his favorite Techno/Electronic MP3s... I am now in love with Darude!!!! Check them out... Pretty electronic techno, like a Paul Oakenfold meets Underworld. I don't know really, I find it so hard to classify music, seems wrong to do so... But.... Wow... I think my next skydiving video is going to be all Darude.

Dave, I can't believe you want/can to wait until May... This sport excites you so much to ask so many questions that I predict you are going to go insane by then. What is the weather gonna be like this weekend in your neck of the woods? You don’t have to do a tandem, but you should goto a DZ and start mingling with the people and seeing what it is all about! Here is my problem with waiting... I can’t anymore. I personally, at about 12 hours post jumping, start to twitch. At 24 hours the stutter occurs... Two days I have hot flashes. At 1 week, if I can't jump, I start to turn funny colors... You should have seen me after a month when the weather + holidays ruined perfectly good weekends... This is my light hearted way of saying skydiving is addictive to some people, like me. Every jump is different. Some are high stress, like when 3 people that have been jumping longer than you have been alive invite you onto a 4-way, and you have less than 80 jumps. Then the plane only gets 8K because of clouds, and you try to do a whole dive in half the time... Some are low stress, like a solo at sunset where you simply float in space, perhaps choosing to exit on your back so you can see the plane fall away and the next jumpers leave. Some are challenging where you try complicated maneuvers that you previously practiced in a tunnel... Some are surreal where you can’t hear the wind and you don’t feel the wind, but you are simply in another world. Skydiving, to me, is so much more than what people talk about around here... Sure, this is a good place to learn about procedures, equipment, and politics... But, I won't even claim I have figured out why I like skydiving so much at my newbie experience level... It is too zen or too subconscious... It is way more than a piece of equipment or a rule that regulates us… And I am just a newbie too, trying to relate to you, since you have posted so much and seem as excited as I was in the beginning... The worst part about skydiving is waking up at 3am on jump days ready to jump, but waiting for the clock to catch up with your excitement. Why are you waiting so long… If it is a money thing, then just go watch for a while... There are a lot of people at the DZ who can't jump as much as they like because of money, but still hang out as friends on the ground. If it is a work schedule thing – call in sick… If it is a weather thing, pray for sun… If it is a impression that you don’t know enough to do the first jump, then try out the first jump course and see if you feel ready to jump at the end of the day… Why wait??