tdog

Racing to get an "A" is not a race. Every rating/licence will come in time... I would try to get thru your instructor required dives (If AFF, levels 1-7 typically) quickly. Then you can do solos and coach jumps when time allows. Focus on the first skydives, not the "A". Once you are allowed to solo supervise, the program becomes less structured and more ad hoc. I would also, on christmas break, or over long weekends, travel to a wind tunnel if time and money allows. Get maybe 30 minutes spread out over a weekend. You can do this before your AFF, and before you turn 18. Tell them your goal is NOT to have fun and play around, but to learn solid skills so you can rock out on AFF. This way - your coach jumps after AFF will be easy (and in some cases not required or more advanced to challenge you) - and you will have no problems going quickly thru AFF as you will be comfortable and relaxed - and that is half the challenge as it is the mental, not physical, exhaustion that normally inhibits quick progress. If you come to Colorado - I have some real good friends who work in the tunnel and can help you out, plus over christmas holidays - you can get in some snowboarding too. PM me if you want options for places to stay (the skydiving world typically does not allow fellow skydivers to pay for hotel rooms).

Sorry about that.... I knew it was when I posted it, but I was feeling the urge... Snotty is a good word, because when you are snotty, nasal cannulas don't work so well. I for one have allergies. I would need to find an alternative anyway. (like put the nasal cannula in front of my mouth). Sorry if I offended ya...

Which links?

I could be sarcastic and ask how many jumps you have been on with the little "aquarium tube" (such as the cannula tube you posted without the things to put in your nose) you have been on. Because, almost every load I have been on, the skydivers figured out that the little slits in the chin of a full face helmet allows passage of the tube to right in front of your mouth. You can actually fill your whole helmet with O2 if it seals tight and you get the tube in there. With the cannula, you have to get both into your nose, hope your nose is clear and not stuffed up, pass germs to the next person or have your own system, etc... I believe, if required, less skydivers will use it, and thus the whole purpose of having it is lost. And, with a wingsuit, try to manage the cannula. With a wingsuit you can hold the hose 1 foot below the end and use the stiffness to hold it right in front of your mouth. Once you zip up your wings and are sitting tightly in an aircraft, managing things on your head, like cannula systems, become awkward...

You are going to take my packjob to Finland? In all seriousness. It has been a year since I hired a packer (was on a video shoot and we had packers while we were working on the next shot)... But still... I want to set my own brakes. Please, please, please don't "fix" what I have done. I have discovered the small details on my risers that make me comfortable and happy. If I started the stowing of the brakes, don't "finish" without asking. Also... Any time your risers have a loop sewn on the riser, front or back, to "push" the excess into - you run the risk of a nasty mal. I have attached photos to show how it happens. It seems some large PD (and others I am sure) products have very deep brake settings and the loop between the toggle and catseye is large enough that this mal happened enough times in a row on some student rigs, that the rig owner opted to cut off the loops on the risers and leave the line loose. Here is a narrative of the photos - so you know what you are looking at: 1) Brake line stowed in keeper 2) On opening, brake line falls out, blows out, or is sloppy packed in the first place 3) With a bit of wind, a slider blocking view, or a quick grab - you by accident get your hand thru the excess loop. 4) with your hand thru the loop, you release your toggle. 5) Knot format #1 - around the riser 6) Knot format #2 - around the keeper loop Many rigs have these types of loops on the back of the risers. Use carefully. Oh... BTW. Yes, those are not skydiving risers, and they have some non-OEM mods, so don't try this at home kids...

I know many skydivers who "lock" their visor down so it won't blow open. Hence, the only way to have the nasal cannula would be to have the jumper jump with it, or remove it before the helmet is put on. I think the risk of another tube/thing in my face is bigger than the (lack of) risks of a tube being used...

Assuming we are thinking about the same fatality - I can say I was on the load, and will vouch the system works, and can give details about who was and was not using it, when it was turned on, and how effective it was. I will also say - with skydiving helmets being full face, the ONLY WAY TO DELIVER O2 to the user is thru a tube that can be inserted into the openings in the full face helmet. Cannulas and masks would not work for skydiving as just when you approach the altitude in which O2 is needed, you put on your helmet.

Do you have proof that an unconscious wingsuit will fall faster than 79 MPH? I have seen video and been in my own flat spin that went slower than that. The G forces tend to cause your body parts to extend out from the center, the exact opposite that is needed to get out of the spin. I bet you are right, but where is the proof for that comment?

By searching his other videos on youtube, you will find that he has made a series of videos about being quadriplegic. Some funny, some not so funny... So, the answer depends on your definition of "OK".

I did it for a few jumps, loaded about 1.45ish. Most openings were awesome. But, I also lost 1000 feet in a dive while I was trying to harness turn out of the dive and unzipping wings at the same time - without line twists. I opted to get a sabre2 for wingsuiting. I feel that I can open it dirty, open it low, and not have to worry about the opening when I am playing around in the bottom 1/8th of the dive... Much lower stress level.

If students were getting hurt left and right, I would not be an instructor. The pain I would feel going to bed at night knowing my students were hurt, would be too much... Can you break your leg on Level 1. Yes. Common. No. After you learn to skydive, these things will not be important anymore. Family, friends, house, lawn, etc - all replaced with new friends, family, and adventures, except for your new dead lawn, which will have a beauty of it's own in that it will never need another mow.

Trade rigs with a friend for two or three jumps... Do you get twists on his rig, and he has great openings on yours? To make this test valid, you pack your rig, he packs his. If the twists follow the gear, then: Take your canopy and make sure each symmetric line pair is exactly the same length, by grabbing the outermost "A" on each side and holding them tight at the harness and having your friend hold them tight at the canopy and checking for length. Then move in a line. Then another. Then repeat starting on the outer of the B. Then C. Then D. Then steering (with the brakes stowed as that is the setting at deployment). If all your lines are the same length - then consider trim in general. I have seen canopies with bad trim do real unexpected things (hard openings, soft openings, spin openings, etc) Maybe hire a packer to pack to see if it is your packing. Or pack your friends rig when he packs yours. If the twists follow the user: Have someone video your openings, a tandem video guy knows how to be close without hurting ya.

I am not a TM/TI - so I have no opinion.... However, I will say, I never have seen a tandem student roll on their back and spin while the instructor was fighting belly to earth to catch the student.

Not if my life depended on it... I wear a camera helmet where there are no snag point and nothing sticking out to stab the student or other instructor with... But I need full use of my hands. I would never trade the use of my hands, the risk of entanglement with the students gear, etc, for a camera shot.

I have video somewhere on DVD. Why are you asking? If you are looking to see the curriculum, my word of caution would be, the video is not going to be accurate. They tailor their instruction to the student. I have done a few training camps (custom, and the 24 jump/tunnel programs) with them. In one camp, there was a guy who was from Japan that was one of the best belly skydivers I have ever seen in the same camp with an older lady who was very athletically challenged. Each person worked on different skills. The guy from Japan they grouped with other experienced skydivers and they were working on aggressive fast blocks. The lady, they were lucky if she did not bounce off the net a few times between grips. But both skydivers improved - and probably quicker than with other coaches. So the video I would send you of our three way doing every block in the divepool, walking in on the net, and launching the piece in the center of the tunnel - would vary differently from those who actually make it look good, or those who are behind our skills... So, if you still want video - try to narrow down what you want and I can see what I have. I have probably 40 hours of airspeed tunnel coaching video, so....

From PD I purchased a stock canopy and got in in a few days. In the canopy/size I wanted, I had three color choices to choose from. That was last week. Last year I purchased a custom colored canopy and got it in 4 weeks. On every order I have put in with them, within 12 hours I had the confirmation and ETA date, and thus far they never have been late. When I purchased a skydiving container, base container, wingsuit, helmet - they were all very late and had long waits to begin with, and weeks into the order still would not give even confirmation the order had been received. Unfortunately, only one company I know in skydiving gives accurate ETAs (and before you flame I am sure others have had good experience with other companies, I am just saying what MY experience has been - yours probably has been completely different). T.

Justified and Ancient... I had to google this one... I know the songs. I sing along... But I am NOT THAT BIG OF A DORK.

And, do you know why "Jams"... No google...

You are now my best friend... (Do I even know you?) I went to a Blue Man Group show... They ended it with Last Train to Trancental... My friend said, "I did not know the Blue Man Group did that song." I hit him over the head and said, no... The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu are to blame... AKA "KLF"... Blue Men stole it!

I can't believe that most of the people I know don't know what/who/what/where KLF is (keeping this post full of ambiguities) - as I often take the "Last Train to Transcentral." Do you KLF too? No fair googling it - you either KLF or don't. Come on, am I the only one that goes to the Church of the KLF?

Ok, I thought you did. My come back was meant to be a funny response, not an asshole attack, but my humor was poor this morning... Apology sent via PM too, and 1st post deleted. Sorry.

Hey, boozy - now that I am back from a meeting and have posted my sarcastic reply to you - I am willing to have an intelligent conversation about this subject too. I believe you had a different experience on the 120 than the 135. I never said you didn't... I just said I talked to PD, and they said they made no intentional design changes to the larger ones, just what was required to make them open and fly the way they wanted. Honestly, I am surprised about what you said about the openings being slow... I have not found that on the 150 or 170. Also - since you compared the 120 sabre2 to the 135 katana - and said the dive was longer on the sabre2 - I thought about this... As I posted prior, I just got a Sabre2 for wingsuiting and as a second canopy. It is the same wing loading as my katana. You probably have watched me land and know that I do lame-ass by swoop standards, very conservative front riser 90s on the katana. I have dialed it in to the point I know my setup point, I know my altimeter down to the nearest 10 foot mark, such that I will land within my target area, plus or minus a few feet... A few weekends ago I was within 10 feet of my target 6 jumps in a row trying to fine tune my skills... I did the exact same setup with the Sabre2 on Sunday - 5 times in a row, to learn it's difference... Same altitude, same setup point. I found I was much higher, out of the dive, and flying wings level about 100 to 150 feet higher than the Katana - and overshot the target by over 150 feet. It felt like the bottom of a roller coaster hill, quickly leveling out and speed decreasing rapidly. Considering my setup altitude, the difference in altitude loss is about 40% in the same dive. So, you say: You are mixing wing loading and canopy shape in the same argument. I don't doubt you might be accurate for what you experienced. However, I believe, from my 5 jumps on the Sabre2 - that at the exact same wingloading - the Katana says in a dive longer, based upon real numbers. (although I will admit, based upon many factors other than just wingloading - like line lengths, scaling of fabric, you might have had a different experience with the smaller wings)

EDIT: I tried to be funny, but it did not come off as a joke. Deleted with my apologies.

I bet you were backsliding... Most people don't fall straight down, especially when learning. (remember this for your solo sitflies - as I have had a solo sit hit me in freefall due to their backslide). There is a simple solution: That is your problem. Most students/solos are doing so many flips, turns, etc - that it is not an issue... If you sit still, you can backslide a lot in the same direction. So - if you do any sort of solo jump - orient yourself perpendicular to jump run so if you move forward or backward, you go away from jump run, not closing the gaps to your friends. This applies for every discipline.

But does it look like I care? http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=17955992