erdnarob

Trying cutting a ripcord steel cable with a good pair of pliers, there should be no problem. Using the same pliers, try now to cut a Spectra reserve closing loop and you will see it's another story. Steel is a material so different than synthetic fiber. Making an assumption that if it cut steel it will cut a synthetic fiber thread is erroneous. Also, the electronic AAD's have a chemical explosive charge and no wonder they can cut a 1/8 diameter steel cable. Synthetic fibers have amazing features. Just think about Kevlar used in bullet safe jackets. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I think that you can likely be under overloaded mind when doing free fall. At the point that you cannot hear your audible altimeter. You may have noticed that in free fall, you and everybody else has the tendency to concentratre on the jump and nothing else. That's why doing skydiving is so exceptional in removing all stress of the ordinary life like problems at work, in the family, with mates..etc Hearing your beeper will comme with time. Just a trick, set up the first alarm 500-1000 above the pilot chute launch time altitude, when you are not too disturbed yet. Then you can still count few seconds and relax to be ready for the deployment. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

One of the most important measurement is the MAIN LIFT WEB. It is written on the rig harness generally on a reserve riser. To measure yours, ask a friend to measure the distance in inches between the little groove between the two collarbones below your throat and the highest point of your hip bone. Keep standing straight when doing so. Generally the rest of the measurements are proportional accordingly. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Unfortunately,at some DZ, students are learning to fly their canopy with radio only or so. Better yet, some instructors swear that students should be kept at minimum info because, as they say, they will forget anyway. I totally disagree with such an approach. As instructors we have to teach survival skills at any level. Radio is fine, but there is a way to use it with intelligence and educational approach. It's a bit more challenging for the radio operator but it works. Students at any level should know before boarding about : the wind line and how to "see" it, the descent pattern with key points (landmarks)in use and which direction he/she has to face to at landing (using landmarks on the ground such trees, runway, buildings, and... sun at the time of the day). Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You can buy from ParaGear on line. Ask them to send you a catalog. ParaGear is one of the most complete store for skydiving stuff. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Beware of glove/handle combination. It can be deadly. Wear gloves which allow you to feel precisely your main and reserve handles. And, REPEAT and do an ACTUAL PILOT CHUTE THROW AWAY on the ground. I cannot be clearer. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Your weight is 130 lbs and you want to jump a 210 main !!!??? Good luck when jumping with medium to high winds. Expect to back up and have little control for choosing your landing area. Check with your rigger and instructor. I also do not recommend you to have a reserve as big as your main. I would say, a size below is fine. And by the time you reach 50 jumps, as somebody mentioned it, you will probably regret your choice. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Unless the visiting jumper seems to be of low experience (according his/her logbook), I don't see why a DZO would ask the size of the canopy packed in a rig. I believe that after, say, 500 jumps, in 2012, you should be considered as experienced and responsible. I went in France in 1977 for jumping an almost brand new StratoCloud and having just above 200 jumps. The DZO had a look at my rig and said everything was fine. StratoCloud were rare in France at the time. They din't even know what was a rigger.(I had my rigger rating). Everywhere, some people in charge like to consider all jumpers as babies and irresponsible. IMO, it's an authority abuse. Just a few questions and logbook check will give them a clue. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

I have seen birds nearby when deploying. They just went away very fast. One time at Rantoul at the WFFC, I have seen an osprey below me, surprised, curious but friendly. My fear is about big ones like Canada geese and possible impact in freefall or deployment Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

According ParaGear catalog, 2006-2007 edition, the Stiletto 150 has 364 cubic inches of volume while the Spectre 170 has 451, but depending on your rig make, check for the compatibility chart for canopy volume. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

If you have access to a map with scale like Google maps type, check your spot on the DZ when in freefall, check again at opening, when your parachute is fully open, then get an alignment to the target while noting mentally your altitude. Go straight over the target or any landmark of your choice then note the altitude again when passing over. The glide ratio is the distance travelled versus the loss of altitude to cover that distance a) on the map, evaluate the distance between the spot (where you started your ride under parachute) and the landmark of your choice (eg. 3000 ft) b) substraction to get the difference in altitude between the altitude where you started your ride and the altitude you had over the landmark (eg. 3500 ft - 2500 ft = 1000 ft) c) do the ratio (using figures in exemples given: 3000 ft / 1000 ft = 3 to 1 ratio Is it clear enough ? Note 1 : repeat this procedures few times to check if you get about the same results. Do an average of the results. Note 2 : to do this, you need to have no wind since going downwind increases the glide ratio and vice versa. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

To survive our dangerous sport you should : 1) be healthy physically and mentally, a little bit crazy is fine 2) get knowledge on equipment and techniques thru coaches, instructors, books and web sites like dropzone.com 3) put your jumps together when in progression. Don't spread them in time 4) if possible do some wind tunnel training parallel to real jumps 5) do things at your level. Read USPA regulations and recommendations for your level and stick with them 6) have a rigger advising you for equipment when ready to buy one 7) know your equipment and how to use it. 8) if technically oriented, take a senior rigger course 9) for group jumping, don't go when the type of jump exceeds your capabilities 10) always perform good main packing 11) when in a group, track away far enough 12) under canopy, have your head on a swivel, danger is everywhere all around you and below 13) try to get a cut away training using a suspended harness including a real fall on a mattress 14) exchange views on skydiving with pairs. They will learn from you and you will learn from them Good luck and welcome in our sport Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

It looks like you have the Eustace tubes partially blocked up. Those are the connection between the back of the throat and internal ear. When blocked up, you cannot get the balance of pressure between the outside and the inside of the ear. What the doctor said if fine if not changing your awareness while jumping. But a more simple remedy is for you to buy eucaliptus oil in a drugstore. You put some drops in a bowl of boiled water still very hot and breath it for few minutes. Repeat if necessary. Have also some special lubrication drops for ears (no prescription in a drugstore). That will keep your eardrums supple. After a while, the problem should disappear but after a long stay away from jumping, it can show up again. Having a cold or flu makes it worst. Good luck.

According what I have read in skydiving magazines, a very hard opening can send you to the hospital and even kill you. The results can be : broken femur, broken ribs, aorta rupture, broken vertebrae, shoulder dislocation, broken neck... all have been reported along years. There are three main causes for it provided your equipment is OK : packing mistakes, bad position at opening time and premature opening in head down Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Openings can be various on Katana but if well packed and if after having launched the pilot chute, you resume your box position while looking at horizon, you have more chance to get an on heading deployment. Katana's are very sensitive to asymetrical loading when deploying. OTOH, if a Katana starts to spiral on the right side for instance, just get your right knee up. That makes more loading on the left side and it's generally enough to stop the spiral. If not, take the toggles. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Green light doesn't mean GO at all. Somebody should always have a look to validate the spot, but pressure from people jumping after you or your formation, like tandem or else makes the situation sometimes quite difficult. 1) Florida DZ 2008 : red light, load organizer checking but pressure from the following jumpers and GO. Results : 5 out of a 10 way landing in the forest. My third jump with a Katana and having to do accuracy in order to land in a small glade + half an hour to get out of the forest. 2) Illinois big Boogie 2007 : A 30 way from a Casa. Green light on, nobody checked the spot. Not a good thing from that jump and...nobody could recognize the area below. Landing between the corn fields. 5 miles from the airport. Several cars and trucks giving us a lift back to the DZ. This time, I came back with 8 other people with the UPS truck. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

As I mentioned in a precedent post, I have jumped so far from 45 different airships. Here they are : Aerospatiale A-Star H, Antonov An-2, Arava, Beechcraft 18, Beechcraft 99, Beechcraft King Air, Beechcraft Bonanza, Beechcraft Queen Air, Bell 206 H, Bell 230 H, Bell 412 H, Boeing 727 J, Caribou, Carvair, Casa, Cessna : 170, 172, 180, 182, 185, 205, 206, 207, Cessna 206 on float, Cessna Caravan, DC-3, DC9 J, Enstrom H, Fairchild Porter, Firefly hot air ballon, Helio Stallion, Hercules, Hughes 500 H, Loadstar, Maule Rocket, Norman Brittain Highlander, Norseman, Pac 750 XL, Pilatus Porter, Piper Chieftain, Piper Navajo, Piper Seneca, Skyvan, Tripacer, Twin Otter. H for helicopter J for jet Note 1 : I have missed the chance to jump from a B24, B17, Ford Trimotor, and a glider as well at the World Freefall Convention (WFFC). The jumps from the first two were 350$ and 99$ for the others. Note 2 : My regrets is to have missed the jump from the Super Constellation and a Goodyear blimp Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

A very subtle problem especially when the convergence is weak. Have your neck on a swivel at all time. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Really scary. Does the original Skyvan have an hydraulic system for closing and opening the door ? If my memory is OK, I think its big brother, the Sherpa, has one. I have jumped quite a lot from a Sherpa this Summer. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Any protruding object can be a potential problem : hooded shirt, long hair not stuffed in the helmet, camera on helmet, necklace out in free fall, boots with hooks, arm, leg, rig flap,...name it... you can even get your finger caught in a steering line at opening when putting your hands on risers. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

Maybe myself : CSPA : A769, B1217, C878, D364, DB Cooper 0290, Muff bros. 2187, Freak Bros. 2115, US Pops 7927, Can SOS 39, SCR 9076, SCS 6694, gold wings, diamond wings, Canadian CX 367, Hall of fame 1190, Coach 1, Coach 2, IA, IB, LE, EA, dispatching more than 2000 S/L and IAD students, 34 different round and squares canopies jumped, have jumped at 82 different DZs, have jumped at 12 different states and countries, 45 different aircrafts jumped, private pilot Canada YZP296303, airplane landing at 59 different airports as a PIC, 4 different airplanes flown, 4 continuous rigger education certificates from the FAA and PIA, more than 1090 threads and posts on dropzone.com, hundred of articles translated from English to French, working for 5 CSPA committees as a translator, dozens of articles written in Skydiving Magazine, Blue Skies Magazine, Canpara, testing the MagBag, Canadian record 102 way FS, have jumped from 2 different jet planes, jumped from a hot air baloon, have jumped at 15 demo, have done 12 helicopter jumps ....and still alive.... I can barely believe it. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

«««Deploying a reserve when you have a floating ripcord handle....!!!!????»»» This is exactely the problem, when the ripcord handle is floating, it is floating out of your reach (remember you go at 120 mph and the cable ending ball is at 2-3 inches further than the handle top). This is why I mentioned the Spectra ripcord with a bungee. The Spectra ripcord with bungee when in its pocket keeps a 1-1.5 pounds tension. So if by any chance the handle is removed from the pocket, it will stay against it. Have a look at this picture, this one is maybe clearer for everybody. When ready to pull in freefall, it is very disturbing to have a handle not at its usual location. This is not the time at 120 mph to evaluate too long what happens. This can be a cause for a fatal accident. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

WHY ???? Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

You can likely have a weakness in the shoulder by having too loose ligaments. A friend of mine had to give up skydiving because of recurrent dislocation of his shoulder. Personnaly, I have had three ligaments broken in the right shoulder (landing on my elbow). I got a two hours surgery by a shoulder specialist plus six months of physiotherapy. Now my right shoulder is working better than the left one. Surgeons are doing miracles sometimes. Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

When visiting another DZ make sure : 1) at the DZ to get directions about what to do and what not to do both outside and with the use of an aerial picture of the DZ and surroundings. 2) your reserve is not due for repack and have the packing card ready 3) have your logbook and membership card 4) to be ready to fill up a waiver 5) have a look at the jump plane and particularly its door, steps... 6) some DZ are tight and alternate landing areas well specified. Some farmers around do not like skydivers and it is wise to avoid their fields. 7) at some DZs, you cannot fly over the runway at 500 ft or below and you cannot land within a specified margin along the runway. 8) to observe other skydiver landings, to locate the wind sock and obstacles 9) have a good account or cash and check before going if they accept credit card 10) have fun