TALONSKY

The best way to get through AFF is to save up enough money to get through (with a few possible repeats) then do AFF. Muscle memory works much better if there is not a huge lag time between jumps. Kirk

I did a hop-n-pop with Dan today; he had the Onyx supposed 105. After the jump I laid my VX 109 made in 2001 by Precision, out and we laid the Onyx over the top. My canopy is the Royal blue one and the Onyx is the light blue one on top. I may not be an expert but it seems as though it is more than just 4 square feet smaller. We lined the tails up and there is a good 12” difference on the nose clear across. Kirk

You can also get them from Tonysuit. At www.tonysuits.com Kirk

Well I put this under sprain since that is the only thing I have ever done to myself. However, if you look at the pictures attached it is a little more than your average sprained ankle. Standard answer to why, stupidity and High Performance canopy, they make great bed partners in the recovery room. I had about 500 jumps and was jumping a Crossfire 2 130 loaded 1.83 to 1. I had not eaten anything that day and was really dehydrated beyond the total stupidity of thinking I was unbreakable. My setup was waaaay off and I still initiated 180° front riser dive to come out of it at the end of the run way going up hill and down wind. Kirk

I have seen way more Z1's flip open...Were these guys freeflying or doing RW? I have no idea which is better for Freeflyers. The Z1 seems to flip open more after "incidental" contact doing RW...The button is right in the front and gets pushed down releasing the visor.. Like I said if these guys are freeflying I have no idea. Most freefliers I know wear an factory diver and goggles or some "half" helmet with a bunch of cameras on them Almost ANY helmet will be good for the average jumper. Most jumpers don't need a 400.00 carbon fibre jet pilot helmet with the gold trim....They don't protect THAT much more. A flip up visor is a good saftey feature in my opinion, but I never flip it up unless I have to, and that saves wear on the helemt and prevents it from opening on accident. That is very interesting about the Z1. In the over 650 jumps I have on mine, I have yet for it ever to come open in freefall. Maybe I got one that was made better or maybe you have seen some of the not so good made ones. Anyway, I have never had an issue with my Z1 and I am still on the original visor, I bet not too many of the Oxygens could make it that may jumps on one visor provided you flipped it open after openning as I do with my Z1 Kirk

Well, along with everyone else I have been using a Z1 for over 650 jumps now and love it. The visor is very strong I have witnessed friends leaving the plane with them open and the visor did not blow off, just try that with a Oxygen. I have as Oxygen sidwinder helmet and love it for video but the visor is flimsie and has a bunch of surface cracking from it flexing ( the helmet has less than 30 jumps on it total). I find it interesting that at first the visor was way too stiff as far as the setting most of the time I would not even bother trying to open it or close it becasuse of the hassle but after 30 jumps it opens much better but without a doubt the Z1 is a far better helmet in my opinion. Oh and I have contacts and have never had an issue with either helmet as far as contacts go but do to the weak visor in the Oxygen I would once again advise to get a Z1 Kirk

Well, along with everyone else I have been using a Z1 for over 650 jumps now and love it. The visor is very strong I have witnessed friends leaving the plane with them open and the visor did not blow off, just try that with a Oxygen. I have as Oxygen sidwinder helmet and love it for video but the visor is flimsie and has a bunch of surface cracking from it flexing ( the helmet has less than 30 jumps on it total). I find it interesting that at first the visor was way too stiff as far as the setting most of the time I would not even bother trying to open it or close it becasuse of the hassle but after 30 jumps it opens much better but without a doubt the Z1 is a far better helmet in my opinion. Kirk

I think they are a nice helmet. The latching system takes a little to figure out how to consitantly get it to unlatch but they are very comfortable. They are semi-flexable so I would not suggest mounting a camera to one but for a freefly helmet they work great. Kirk

Simply, why? I cannot think of any instance a student wearing head protection is going to help. I would venture to say that almost all head injuries are more likely neck related and had nothing to do with wearing a helmet. I don't wear a helmet, personal choice. I have yet to see or hear of an instance that would justify me changing my position. If you are going to bang your head on the airplane getting out or for that matter exiting with a student, you need to rethink being a TM. If you are scared, just say you are scared and don't hide behind anything! I can think of one simple reason to put a frappe hat on a student, my protection. Grated that the frappe hat will not absorb much but if I had to choose between getting hit by a students bare head or a students head in a frappe hat I will always choose a frappe hat. I have not personally been head butted by a student but I have talked to a few instructors that have lost front teeth that way. Kirk

They may not look the best but Protec helmets offer the most protection of any helmet in skydiving. Most skydive specific helmets are made to take small impact of like a foot in the face. Hell, my sons BMX full faced helmet offers alot more true protection than my full faced Z1 or Oxygen and it cost $200 less. Kirk

I know that my opinion may be an unpopular one but I always rotate the bag the way the manufacturer has designed the rig to be packed. I personally always pack my rigs the same way regardless of the type of jumps I am planning on doing (by doing so I feel it lessens the chance of a mistake). I can see having a rig modified with cut corners (a mod that I have never used in the three rigs I have jumped wingsuit in) I think a longer bridle is a really good idea and I can see the reasoning behind grommet to pin, but I have and will always rotate the d-bag the way the manufacturer has designed the rig to be closed. I can even see on the more advaced S3 the use of the pocket for the pilot chute, but I also feel by moving a vital part of the system ( the pilot chute) it would make it easier to have a problem finding it or going to the wrong location first at pull time. I like to keep things simple and consistent so that possibility for mistakes are limited Kirk

To be honest that helmet seems to be pretty ratted out. I personally would not buy it unless I could get it cheap for like under $100. I paid $200 for my Sidewinder 2 use and I have seen a few since that will pop up in nice condition around the same price.New they do go for $495 from Square One. Also the PC 105 fits with the smallest battery you can get for the camera but it does fit kind of tight, meaning it is touching on both sides of the molded lid when it is in place. Kirk

I have a Sidewinder 2 helmet with a PC 105 in it. My helmet was made for a PC1 series camera. I had to make a spacer plate in order to get the PC 105 centered in the area for the lens (about .400" thick). I also had to do some grinding to the cut out areas in the helmet to allow a LANC plug to fit which on a PC 105 is on the right side. I also needed to clearance around the area where the handle on the PC 105 was attached to. These are fairly easy modes to do. Kirk

Great. I was so hoping to be down during the dz.com boogie but going and doing some wingsuit jumps the weekend before also works quite well. Kirk

Well, I am going to miss the dropzone.com boogie by a weekend. I will be at PerrisValley Skydiving on May 22 and would really like to hook up with a few other birdmen. Kirk

I think your position would be very tough to be in. I am very sorry for what happened to your wife and I hope for a speedy recovery for her. I am not sure what I would truly do in your position but what I would hope to do would be not sue. The reason I would not sue is based on the fact historically it only takes one case to set a precedent that would have a HUGE ripple effect on the entire skydiving community. At bare minimum companies would have to get some kind of insurance against people that might sue (which would drive the already out of sight prices sooo high it would kill the this sport). I understand that there is a huge expense to your wife’s medical bills but in the end everyone in this sport knows the risks associated with this sport and accepts them. When buying equipment, I feel it is up to the individual to evaluate the equipment or have it evaluated to make sure it is safe and will perform as desired, and to educate themselves on every aspect of that equipment. So in the end, before suing please think about the far-reaching implications of your actions. God speed your wife’s healing Kirk

I will be safe and if some shit comes up and I get hurt, I know fully well what I was getting into and won't expect sympathy from anyone except maybe my mommy. _________________________________________________ The one thing I can tell you from my experience of blowing throw the wingloadings quickly is that you may think you know the extra dangers of a change in canopy or wing loading. It is only when you are put in a bad situation that the true dangers of the change will come into view. Every change to faster and elliptical canopies ups the anti so to speak in an emergency or turns what would have been a simple fix problem into an emergency. Kirk ____________________________________________

I have my PC105 mounted on a Sidewinder helmet. Which is mounted on the left side of the helmet. I had to do a little grinding on the helmet but I have access to the Lanc port and the video out port through the helmet. It is a pain but I can plug in the video out through the helmet without having to unmount the camera. In my case I can even plug in the video out and still get the helmet on for sighting in my ring site but I do not think many other helmets would allow that. Kirk

Hi Kim, ultimately the choice to down size is yours. The only suggestion I would offer is listen to the instructors that watch you land, and get more than one person’s opinion. If they and you feel comfortable with the change go for, but just remember that this kind of change may seem small but it just may in the wrong conditions be the choice between a bruise or hospital ride or maybe worse. I personally was wing loading 1.5 to 1 at 135 jumps and did great with it, but that is not the safest route or one I would suggest to follow. Oh and to answer your question, I would suggest if you are going to down size to not change to a fully elliptical yet, but stay with a semi elliptical Kirk

It is possible to USB video from a PC105 to a computer. You need to install the software provided by Sony. Then on thePC105 you will need to go through the menu structor to an Icon to turn USB streaming on. Kirk

I am not sure if I will verbalize this in the best way but your shoulders should be rolled forward (cupping your upper body, I even loosen my leg straps so I can move my shoulders as forward as possible). Your arms should fairly straight with an ever so slight bend in them (keeping the wing taught). Your hands should be holding the grippers. Your pelvis should be dearched (creating a cup from chest to thighs). Your legs should be spread wide and straight and toes pointed(to keep the leg wing taught). I think in perfect form your rolled shoulders hands and feet should be the lowest points of your body. In a Skyflier 3 this body position is very strenuous on the upper body. Just so that you know I weigh 220 lbs at 6’3” and can get into the 50 MPH range pretty easily and flying hard in the low 40 to just breaking into the upper 30’s, but that is after 80 wingsuit jumps and having to really try and go slow to keep up there with Manbird (Steve) Hope that helps Kirk

The other plus side to tandem would be the canopy ride. I do not know about other dropzones but our student rigs really are dosile canopies ( Falcon 265's), they really do not do much in the way of fun canopy ride. Where as the tandem canopies Strong Set 400 will at least make the canopy flight more fun, they will turn alot faster and spiral better than any student rigs we have. Kirk

I am probably going against what most are saying but I think Tandem is the best route for a first time jump. Over the years at my DZ I have talked to quite a few AFF 1 first time jump students after their jump and when asked how they liked it. Most responded with a kind of unenthusiastic it was good but I could have preformed better. Now I have asked the same question to a lot of tandem students and they all have that ear to ear grin and a very enthusiastic “It was incredible”. I think that since AFF 1 is to prepare you to get your license, the fact in the air you have a set agenda of practice handle touch’s and circle of awareness detracts from the experience a lot. Kirk

Well, all I can add is look for a part time job. When I started in skydiving, I picked up a part time job on the side. For over three years I worked a part time job in the evenings to pay for skydiving and the related toys of this sport. I really did not like having two jobs nor did my wife but it allowed me to skydive and be able to afford the normal things people have. Currently I have quit the second job and now do tandems to pay for skydiving. I am a firm believer of where there is a will there is a way ( it probably is not going to be an easy way but there is a way) Oh, one last thing when looking at AFF course the best way to get through it would be to save up all the money (including a couple level retakes) prior to doing any AFF. Muscle memory retention works best if you can condense it over a shorter time frame such as jumping every week verses jumping once a month to make it through AFF. Kirk

The best way to answer the question of if a 143 Reserve is too small is to demo one. For a minimal charge I believe $25 plus shipping or something like that PD will gladly ship you out a PD 143 Reserve that you can demo as a main. Lisa, I understand your reasons for a smaller reserve than main. I kind of was speaking more generally, in the fact that I think most people would want the biggest reserve they can get in the rig (keeping in mind that some do not want to have too big of size difference from main to reserve). Kirk