tdog

At Perris 4 days ago, for my first jump at that DZ ever, they asked, "Is your very last jump signed?" They took a photo copy of that entry plus my USPA card plus my Drivers License... I wonder if I had a jump within currency, but did not get the LAST jump signed, if they would have let it pass. They really did seem to want the very LAST jump signed for whatever reason. I hope I could have given them a jump from a week before as sometimes I skip an entry every once in a while if everyone is packing up and I don't want to bug them... I saw another guy arguing about the last jump being signed. They denied him. But they DID NOT look to see if I was licensed (my USPA card I had did not show my license.) It appears that if I was self trained or filled up a log book with a bunch of fake signatures, and I was a USPA member, I could have jumped without them "catching it." At another DZ in CA - they asked when I last jumped, I offered my logbook, but did not even look at it - but were much more concerned with my A license.

I just spent some time with a coach in the tunnel and realize how much there is to learn and how much I did not know. Does anyone know of a good website/book/etc that shows different body positions and how it effects flying? Kind of like a "trick" book like I have for snowboarding... Not to replace coaching, but to supplement the learning.

Since you asked.... Here is my shameless plug. Dominic at Square 1 hooked me up! And, I just visited Perris for vacation (visiting California for Work, spending my work money on jumping. ;-) and because I have gear from Square 1, they hooked me up on the rental too. Wish I could have met him in person, but I had to run to work. Had time for just one jump after some time in the tunnel. The price was good, the service was great!

At 40 jumps I still feel a weird feeling in my stomach when the plane slows down and the flaps are extended... But I am now to the point where I have no fear of the door. I have a lot of respect for it... I found the fear of the door went away on AFF 5 - because I knew if the instructor was not with me I could get down on my own and I could save my own life without help.

I wanted used... But I could not find the "right" rig for me. So I bought new, but on killer end of year sales for "off the shelf" items - so I paid what some people pay for used but I got new. But - the time it takes to make a new container = rental $$$. That made buying new much more expensive... Here is my thought.... Buy quality, buy the right rig, regardless of new or used. It is after all, your life, that the equipment saves every time it is used. A ER trip = $4,000+, so buying a rig that is right for you in the long run will be less $$$ than buying something a few $$$ cheaper that is not right for you. T.

Wow – funny story... I can relate… When I learned to snowboard about 14 years ago - I remember leaving Copper Mountain and getting to the bottom of the first hill on I70 in my car. I all of a sudden floored the car thinking, "I need the momentum to get up the next hill so I don’t have to take of the board and hike." Then my skier friends reminded me that I was crazy, like skiers, cars have no problems getting up hills…

Here is my weird logic process - this story will turn full circle, so go with it. I purchased a 1976 Ford LTD when the car was 16 years old (when I was 16 years old too) but with only 50,000 miles. I thought that since it had 50,000 miles it would be cheap to maintain like a newer car with 50,000 miles. I was wrong. When it came to repair it, I found that some parts wore out by age alone, and other parts wore out by mileage alone, and other part wore out from age + mileage. Now to skydiving... I did 2 levels a day for a few weekends and weekdays. I spread it out over five visits to the DZ (weathered out some days too). I liked that... Just like the car, some learning comes from getting mileage in the sky, some learning comes from time on the ground at the DZ, and some learning comes from both. I can tell the difference, already, at my newbie level, in the students who have one weekend at the DZ and are past AFF versus the students who have four weekends at the DZ and are just finishing AFF. The ones who have MORE days are more knowledgeable about everything from DZ procedures to safety to seeing weather effecting operations. They also have met more staff and customers, and seem to be more willing to talk to you when you pass by. At least at my DZ, each AFF day started out with a 1 hour lecture/ground school on things outside of the planned AFF learning objectives. Everyone from AFF1 to 7 would be in the same classroom – so AFF1 would learn from AFF7 while AFF7 would make sure they did not forget the basic questions AFF1 were answering. If I had done AFF in one day, I would have only had 1 hour of time on the ground working on big picture things. By having 5 days, I got 5X as much time to work with instructors. I am all about not rushing it. Now I do think 2 levels a day is cool because by the second load you are feeling more comfortable and relaxed a bit.

Your clicky went to: Sorry, this site is temporarily unavailable! The web site you are trying to access has exceeded its allocated data transfer. Visit our help area for more information. Access to this site will be restored within an hour. Please try again later. http://www.geocities.com/ernokaikkonen/velcro_damage/ Perhaps you could attach the photo to a post in the forum???

I have attached a image that you may print and tape to the outside of the tape/CD for that video. I think it explains it all. t.

Thanks Bill for posting. I was hoping you would since you designed most of the stuff I use.

Let me clarify. I would rather save my life any day, and if that means throwing the handles - watch them fly! My comment about the money was suggesting what some other people said, not me. Nowhere in my emergency procedures do I practice thinking, “This will cost me money.” My question was to determine IF keeping the handles added risk, and therefore was a stupid move, even as skydivers gain more experience and feel more comfortable with their emergency procedures. I know so many people who kept their handles (including instructors of mine, for all those who say “ask your instructor”), but, are they risking their life to do so? I think, so far, everyone who has posted agrees keeping the handles adds risk, but the amount of risk is different depending on the person. I also saw the video that Councilman24 references – the double mal with a canopy tangled with the pilot. It was actually that video that made me think about this. It was the first time I saw the handles tangled in a reserve.

I have found other threads where the emergency procedures question; “To throw or not to throw the handles” is discussed. In a question that wide, the answers seemed to be that there is nothing shameful with throwing the handles, but keeping them, if nothing else, is less expensive. But, I have a much more narrow question. Does keeping your handles increase the chance of a double mal by having a bunch of 3’ cables flying around on reserve deployment? If so, are any kinds of malfunctions more dangerous to keep the handles than others? I understand some emergency scenarios are messier than others, so for the sake of the question, lets assume we are talking about the more “average” cutaways where the main is not already entangled with something and is expected to disconnect and fly away properly. If you are tangled with your main or someone else’s main, I understand all bets are off. I am hoping to solicit responses from people with many years of experience on dzs where they have seen many cutaways first hand either on their own rigs or from the ground looking up. In other words, do you have any educational “one time at skydiving camp” stories??? Note – I am NOT considering changing my own procedures by your response, but I want to see what others are thinking around the world to have an educated discussion with my local friends and instructors.

I was wondering why someone would buy a logbook with only 100 jumps... If the skydiver was very famous, wouldn't it be given away to someone special??? So I went to the site: Now, that is a wierd logic process. Buy a logbook for more than retail price so you can use the second 2/3 for your own jumps??? Sometimes things make me laugh.

Thanks for the pics... I wondered what they looked like...

A few differences come to mind. 1- lot more motorcycle batteries made and sold. Yuasa in particular is huge in comparison. 2- Your motorcycle battery weighs as much as your rig, I'd guess. Notebook computer batteries cost more too. 3- Yuasa won't be sued for wrongful death if their battery fails to start the bike. Fear of litigation aside, the reliability doesn't have to be nearly as good. Every 9 you add on that 99.9xxx costs money. 4- Storage. It used to be that car/bike batteries were delivered dry, and you or the store would need to fill it before use. I think they still may top off the charge. But the cypres battery goes directly into use. And it never gets recharged by an alternator. 5- and our favorite problem, the crappy dollar exchange rate. Ok - so I understand WHY a cypres battery is different. I was asking HOW they made it different since it is something buried away that I never see. I read the user manual from cover to cover - no details... I guess what I am asking - from someone who has had one in their hand - what does it look like, what is it made out of, those sorts of things.

He says, "I am sorry I didn't record your landing... But there was problems with my parachute... We will see eachother at the airport... Sorry Brother." (editorial) with a greatful to be alive tone in his voice. (\editorial)

My question comes from someone who has not seen the battery up close and personal..... My motorcycle battery is $55. My car battery is $75. (Both mass produced)... What design features and materials are in a cypres battery to make it so expensive? The 9V battery in my smoke detector is going on 4 years now, and I just tested it, and it works... I know, it has to save a life, so it is not your normal duracel - I am not trying to say it shouldn't be special, I am just asking what they did to make it so special it is that expensive???

But what ever you do... Don't get a crappy song stuck in your head and make your own music. This sport is just too dangerous for crappy music stuck in your mind. Someone once sung "Madonna - Like a Virgin Touched for the Very First Time" as they walked to the door... It took me just about the entire freefall to find something I could sing that would clear my mind of the previous song.

I have a friend with high jump numbers that got so sick of never cutting away (and feeling he needed practice) he finally rented one of the double-reserve rigs designed to be cut away and practiced. He used the RWS Vector cutaway rig for his "training". Perhaps that is an option for you?

How about you have them go out first and have the pilot take into consideration the climb out time on the spot. We had a 4 way take 20 seconds today, but since they asked for a 15 second climb out - we all had great spots... Now, everyone seemed to be counting to see if they knew how much time they really needed. They were pretty close. Whenever someone askes for a 5 second climbout, they always need 10 or more. I rather them take all the time they need to have a great dive as long as that time is accounted for in the jump run timing. Now, put three 4 ways on the plane, and all bets are off. T.

Not unless you live on a *VERY* dangerous street. Skydiving is high risk. Or live in Spain So someone posted the miles of driving = the danger of one skydive ratio. Wasn’t it like every 600 miles in a car = one skydive, every 29 miles on a motorcycle = one skydive? If someone was really bored, they could put together a chart of miles per city... I know the drivers in Paris and Montreal Canada scared the shit out of me... No offense to my French speaking friends, but I bet it is 400 miles in a car in Paris and 350 miles in a car in Montreal. If you guys ever lose the thrill of BASE or Skydiving – and need a “pick-me-up” rush, try driving a 24 wheel over sized, over weight, tractor-trailer thru downtown Montreal! (I had a CDL to support the company when they needed a backup to the backup to the backup driver, but I am not a truck driver at all, so I had sweaty hands whenever driving a 80’ long object in rush hour in any city, but Montreal made me stop once I cleared the city, jump out of the truck, and bow down to the ground and yell, “Land!”

If I ever fly with you, I am gonna buy this: http://www.hockeymonkey.com/ratcup.html (but at my experience level, you might want one too.)

“Remember, the last thing to go thru your head will be mine.” (I don’t normally like jokes about death in skydiving, especially to wuffos/newbies/tandems, but this has a certain “we are in this together” feel to it.)

After my "first finger incident" (packed by someone else on real nice new gear) - I now look before I grab and assume the worst, hope for the best. Never happened again once I stopped grabbing the toggles by brail and started grabbing them by sight. I even changed the angle in which I grab the toggles so I can see all my fingers and know they are clear of all lines. I think the solution is to look, regardless of the gear. I did an informal poll of friends. Everyone seems to have gotten their finger caught at least once early on and fixed the problem by looking. No one has said, “my gear prevents it.” Perhaps this shows that training could improve on this one little detail. But, it is probably like the drain plug on a boat… When my dad purchased his boat, the dealer said, “you will only forget the drain plug once.” My dad and I said, “we will never forget it.” We forgot it once… It was 50 degree water I gotta jump in. The one other toggle/glove experience that I learned a few years ago under a paraglider... Look at your hands before landing and make sure you are grabbing both toggles correctly and symmetrically. This came after dropping a toggle on landing and feeling the pain for days. Again, I was told this in ground school, but it did not sink in until I had first hand experience. With gloves it is hard to tell if you don’t have a good grip. I saved my ass yesterday by doing this - my hands were sloppy.

Well, just close the rig with half the reserve coming out, like when you see a guy walking down the street with some toilet paper coming out of his pants. When the customer asks why half his reserve is in a ziploc bag on the outside of the container, tell them that the container could only fit XXX cubic inches, and you did not have the authorization to cut half the canopy off, so you went to plan B. Then give them scissors and tell them that they can just cut the canopy off right where it leaves the container without the need for a repack, you put the important part inside the container for them. (Just for liability purposes, I will now say this whole post was a joke. No one do this, please!) But, seriously, as long as PD names the new reserve correctly, and manufactures update their sizing charts, I don’t see this being too big of a deal. If I don’t do my research when I buy my gear, it is my loss when the rigger tells me I made a big boo-boo and have to start over.