Travman

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Everything posted by Travman

  1. Travman
    Two factory fitted warning labels that always amuse me: Our skyvan has: Never open door during flight unless under order from A/C Captain. Our PAC 750XL has: All cargo must be adequately tied down. ^^ I always have images of the cargo (skydivers) being tied down in the plane.
  2. Travman
    I've seen the bedsheet thing done before and it worked well. Though if there are any other couples on that load someone else may think its for them! HAHA Heard of that happening to someone who saw a "Marry Me, Bec" written with a skywriter... it was for a different Bec in the area!
  3. Travman
    I don't mind most of the questions, but the one that annoys me the most is "How do you pack the chute?" But the most annoying thing is people that tell you all things fall at the same rate. Most people understand if you explain that this is without wind resistance, but I have had a few that seem to think they are the best physics expert in the country.
  4. Travman
    Personally I would be pissed off at a camera person filming my team that did this during comp. Its not just the money to compete, but the $1000's you spend training to compete.
  5. Travman

    tonto's words

    Travman replied to Taz's topic in The Bonfire

    I broke my nose on a barbed wire fence landing off DZ on a night jump. I decided to post the incident on dz.com. After I posted my experience Tonto sent me this message. As the incident was discussed some people starting trying to flame me. Tonto sent me this message: I never had the opportunity to meet him, but I always enjoyed reading his posts and I looked up to him and I hoped I'd get an opportunity to flock with him one day. I've been in the sport 5 years and being someone I looked up to, his death is the one that really hits me the hardest even though it was on the other side of the world. For some reason I decided to do a search on Tonto tonight and found this recent post so I thought I'd share Tonto's words.
  6. Travman
    I had a Voodoo V4 with a Sabre 170 before downsizing to a 150 in a Mirage G4. The voodoo was a great container. It was easy to pack and was comfortable. I find my G4 more comfortable, but both are second hand rigs and the G4 was built for a guy very similar in size to me (the voodoo I had to have the laterals adjusted).
  7. Travman
    Some dropzones in Australia are allowed to punch cloud. There have been many many times when I have jumped without being able to see the ground, so you really have to trust the pilot. There have been a few times when I have come through the cloud base and looked at the ground and realised it was a bad spot.
  8. Travman
    Personally I wouldn't let a newbie use a digital if I was an instructor. The first jump I did with a viso, I checked it on the ride up, checked it before exit. Then after deployment I knew I was a far way from the DZ, so looked at my alti to see the boot up screen. So picked a paddock and landed. I probably had about 250 jumps at the time. I know of quite a few incidents where low time jumpers (and sometimes experienced) have had indecision about trying to make it back or landing off, having no alti may complicate such a decision further. Also I think digitals give extra distraction on the ride up. How fast are we climbing? Whats the time? How long has this hold been? Will that low battery indicator last one more jump? Personally I can't see why a newbie would need a digital. I still keep my analog in my gear bag in case my Neptune runs out of battery or otherwise fails.
  9. Travman
    I had a voodoo and now I have a mirage g4. There are parts of each I like better than the other, the riser covers on the mirage are much better than the voodoo. I found the voodoo was much easier to pack - I find everything on the mirage such as settings the breaks much more fiddly than the voodoo. Also the toggle keepers on the voodoo were a much better system, but the dive loops on the mirage are much better. So I can't really say which is better, they both have strengths and weaknesses.
  10. Travman
    I think spending 30 minutes at 7m would have been very beneficial. I have been told by scuba instructors that 5-6m is the best safety stop depth as the air density allows you to off gas a lot of nitrogen. So that would have helped you a great deal. I have a dive computer that calculates my desat and no fly times based on my breathing rate, depth and heart rate, but even so I would personally wait 24 hours after surfacing before flying, even if it says I was ok. I know someone who got the bends from driving over a mountain range after diving. The 10 others on the course did the same dives and came back at the same time, so you never know.
  11. Travman
    I'd prefer to spend a bit of time kicking out line twists under a square reserve than spend the rest of my life trying to get stable.
  12. Travman
    I have a SCUBA diving computer that monitors my heart rate and just the other day I was thinking about wearing a monitor for skydiving just out of curiosity. Brian Germain mentioned a study in a course I did with him. He said they found the heart rate was highest during exit and deployment times.
  13. Travman
    Anyone had a close look at the new GAS Full Face from cookie? The marketing department has written an entertaining ad. Just wondering how well the engineering department have done creating the product. They advertise a liner with "intelligent molecules" that "flow with you as you move but on shock lock together to absorb the impact energy". They're due out next month. http://www.chutingstargear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17_33&products_id=578
  14. Travman
    I have used the same style of bag (hard case, with 2 latches and a combination lock) for 2 trips to the US with my rig. Once to Hawaii and once to Eloy via LA (landing in phoenix). My bag was not searched on either trip. But I guess it just depends on luck. I have just bought a TSA lock and will probably use a different suitcase and use the TSA lock on my next trip.
  15. Travman
    I just carry it on with me in a helmet bag. Its small and light.
  16. Travman
    Well 26,000 jumps will tend to do that!
  17. Travman
    When I downsized went from a Voodoo to a Mirage G4. I like both rigs. The mirage has better tuck flaps and a good flap to stop the hacky coming out accidently. But the Voodoo has more secure toggle keepers. I blew a break on my mirage a few times pulling the slider down over the toggles until I learned to be more careful. The Voodoo toggles were rock solid but still perfectly easy to get out when you want them. I've found the Mirage to be a bit more fiddly when packing. The voodoo was nice and simple, but with all the extra little tabs and things on the mirage it slowed my packing down a little. I had a Sabre 170 in a V4 Voodoo and that made it look pregnant. So not sure how you'll go with a 190 in it. For the first few months I was missing my voodoo, but now I am use to my mirage I am quite fond of it. I think you'll be happy with either.
  18. Travman
    I agree 170's are hot items and are the most popular first rig. It took me all of 30 seconds to find a buyer for my 170 when I downsized. But most of the people at my DZ seem to go for about a 1 to 1.1, and on occasion 1.2 for their first rig. So generally a 150 to 190. I did notice a lot of visiting instructors advising me to get a 150 instead of a 170 for my first canopy at my first Christmas boogie. So the culture at Picton might be different to other DZ's, probably because we have much busier airspace due to bigger (and multiple) planes.
  19. Travman
    To clarify, one of the instructors was on a Sabre 150, which would have been a wingloading of 1:1 for his first and the other was on something I believe was around the 200ft size, again about the 1:1 mark.
  20. Travman
    I disagree. I have never seen any instructors at my DZ recommend this sort of W/L for a first rig. Four of these instructors are currently representing Australia at the world cup of canopy piloting. Two of these instructors didn't downsize from their first canopies for almost 1000 jumps and have encouraged others to do the same. I think saying "it's the way it's done in this country" is a bit of a generalization.
  21. Travman
    Useful advice... I landed out on my first night jump No moon+high upper winds+barbed wired fence = broken nose+sprained knee Wasn't the best landing I have ever done
  22. Travman
    The first time I washed mine was to get the blood out of it (my own ). I was it every now and again when it needs it. Just gentle cold cycle in the washing machine, out side out. You could always handwash it. But speaking of jinxing, I've always had a superstition about washing it just before a comp... 1. for luck 2. in case it does come apart the week before comp in the washing machine. So yes.. it will jinx you!
  23. Travman
    At my DZ we often put 17 in. 1 in the co pilots seat, 3 on the step and the person right down the back seats across facing sideways instead of facing backwards.... yes it sucks!
  24. Travman
    The PAC 750 at my DZ was purpose built for skydiving, as I said they can be factory delivered for skydiving. When I was in New Zealand I met someone who worked for PAC on the 750 design so I had the opportunity to complain about some of the things I didn't like about it... like the fact they suggest up to 17 jumpers can fit (anyone that has been in a 750 with 17 jumpers will know what I mean), he found this pretty amusing. It was designed to be able to serve a number of roles and built as per the customers requirements.
  25. Travman
    Yeah, Hawaii is beautiful. I paid for my girlfriend to do a tandem there just so I could take my rig over for a jump (see attached). Another gorgeous place to jump is Canberra, the capital of Australia. Being a planned city it looks great from the air and we jump over parliament house and land right in the middle of the city. There is no sports DZ, so we usually only get a couple of jumps in a year over the city, but every jump is just gorgeous.