Orange1

Well, I know that we are cheap compared to the UK (isn't everyone?) but that EUR35 is R280 identical to SCT = R160 jump ticket + R100 rig hire + R20 packing fee... although if you take into accoun altitude we're expensive I think our AFF prices are quite reasonable though? And there was a thread on rig hire a while ago where we seemed not too bad oh and... I'm an economist, what do I know from exchange rates ... we must have looked really cheap in 2001/2002 though!! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I got into the habit of tucking the wriststrap inside my jumpsuit sleeve from day 1 - using club gear and (like everything else ) the wriststrap was too big - did NOT like the idea of any velcro sticking out. Now i have my own and it fits fine but from habit still goes inside my sleeve. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

thanks... i'm gonna be in andalucia so was thinking of the DZ in seville rather than empuriabravia, i'll email them before i go to see what they need. jump ticket is exactly the same as an SCT jump including the same things! i thought we were meant to be so cheap in SA Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

They let you jump there before you got your A? I'm in Spain in about 8 weeks' time - I damn better get my A before then but if I don't would sure be nice to know i could still go jump Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

well.. i certainly can't argue with that one!!! you might argue we NEED a good view because of that l-o-o-o-o-ng ride up to "altitude"!! i think i might get a major culture shock when i end up in a turbine all the way to 14K d'you know jules? (i'm sure you do) was on a load with him a while ago and it was really cool watching him fly by while i was under canopy (given my limited jump #s was the first time i'd been all the way up on the same load as a wingsuit...) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I lived in Jhb for 12 years.. I don't miss that early morning winter frost at all... howevre I cannot deny that jhb is definitely better for jumping in winter than here ps pic of (over) margate on the dal's site by erik the viking, at www.skydive.co.za... does look very pretty but.. not as CT! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Margate doesn't have THE MOUNTAIN!!!! but you guys from joeys... as long as there's sea you're happy Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Hi Neil! Hope you enjoyed your sojourn in Cape Town, even if the DZ was very quiet... Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

2c from a newbie... "should have" done tandem first when he's already done AFF1 imho is not such a helpful piece of advice! anyway i'm betting most of the 'older' skydivers here never did and still seem to be pretty good at what they do... don't beat yourself up too much about the landing - it was your first jump, you were overwhelmed - which is normal - and you landed safely. oh, and you are definitely not the first student to lose the ripcord! and i know it's hard, but don't... DON'T... get into the trap of comparing yourself to other students! Human nature is to compare yourself only to those who do better, and that can be both disheartening and unnecessary... some will be better than you, and some will be worse than you (do a search here for the 'worst AFF stduent' video) - or better in some bits and worse than others - but eventually you all get off the initial learning curve roughly the same. and there's always more to learn it's easier to absorb instruction once you've actually done a jump... bit of a catch-22! learning theoretically about freefall and canopy control when you have no experience of your own to reference it to is one thing (I guess this is why a tandem first can be useful); learning the same things after a jump will make more sense to you. you'll be amazed at how quickly you pick things up the more you jump. go back, jump again - you very obviously want to - not every jump will be perfect, but before you know it you'll reach that day when door fear is gone, you have a great freefall and land on target (without help) and you will feel ... on top of the world! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Hi Johan Congrats, and look us up when you come to Cape Town. Then you can explain why you're named after custard Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

sorry i meant a vest, not a belt, leaves the weights on my hips. yes, under the jumpsuit. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

as mentioned the rig is recommended by the instructors - and the '20 or so' jumps mentioned above is the intermediate step-down, on a 168. If i don't feel comfortable downsizing after that, i won't. And if I do I'll be fully prepared to PLF if necessary at first riggerrob - thanks, the one instructor is also a rigger and has checked it - actually said he would have taken it himself if the harness wasn't too small for him! Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

ok - another of those things that you read but that only 'click' when you actually do them. I think what you are referring to here is the bit that Brian Germain calls "don't let it land"?... and watching some other guys do it properly on Saturday i think that may be what my mistake was - i.e. because my feet can reach the ground, i let them. Was hard to tell if I "fixed" it yet cos the winds were strong-ish Sat, so landing was easy but I have definitely learnt something - thanks guys edited because even I couldn't make sense of what I wrote originally hope this is better Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

From personal experience I find this helps, and thoroughly knowing the dive also makes you more confident going up, which also helps! fwiw... i went through static line where all you have to do on the first few jumps (before the canopy opens) is count (from "arch-thousand" to "5000"). simple, huh? i think i only managed to do the count properly by jump 4!! it took me that long to overcome the sensory overload enough to do a simple count of 5 seconds... Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Hi, My instructors have found a rig for me are happy with it once a couple of mods are done: Harness - Javelin, 1997, but in very good condition - needs BoC put on and hard housings which rigger will do. Has RSL, I will get AAD Main - Sabre2 150, 50 jumps - bit small for me at the moment but instructors reckon another 20 or so jumps I'll be fine on it (it'll be about 0.95 WL) and they are happy to put in a 'spare' Pilot 168 for me to jump with in the meantime Reserve - PD150 Doing a search under reviews and in this forum common complaints about Sabre2 seems to be end cell closures and off-heading opening? Not sure if there is anything I need to know about the harness/container considering it's relatively old? Seller is happy to let me put down a deposit as good faith till i can actually test jump the canopy itself and see if i like it, instructor has jumped it already. As said instructors are happy with the rig but any comments will be welcome - thanks Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Is this the main reason behind 'don't wear a vest' - for me, being short, a weight belt does end up with the weights sitting on my hips. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Newbie question: why? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

You mean like, people's hands? Edited to try add some value rather than just flippant remarks... http://www.cypres.cc/Sites/englisch/Background_History.htm http://www.parachutehistory.com/process/activation/sentinel.html http://www.parachutehistory.com/process/activation/hitek.html Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Seen a couple of comments about a canopy 'just being a means to get safely to the ground'. I love flying my canopy (even though I still have loads to learn about doing it), and was just wondering what the average dz.commer thinks ... assuming that no-one's favourite part is packing i haven't put that as an option Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

ryoder and canuck - thanks. i was told a while ago that i hadn't finished a flare (when i thought i had) and may well be repeating that mistake... i'll get someone to watch me this w/e if weather is jumpable. (it's not summer here, alas) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

LOL - mine was somewhat similar except after "look up" it was "WTF???? - oh, there's an open canopy. F*ck, what am I doing floating here 3000' above the ground? As soon as I get down I'm getting away and never doing this again". Congrats on actually being able to remember to count somewhere in there!! Mockingbird, I have 19 ff's now - not much more than you - but already is a huge difference in 'thinkability'. Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

I kinda included a 'slow jog' as a run-out - i.e. everything that involved taking more than one step at walking pace is there an official definiton for 'running out'? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Doing a search on canopies in gear & rigging, and I came across this from Jimbo: I've done 8 jumps on non-student canopies, the last 5 on a 190 (WL ~0.88), and had to run out the last 4. I had assumed that this was because there was no wind at the time, but now the above has made me wonder about my flaring technique (which I assume is what the "pilot error" refers to above). Do I need to get someone on the DZ to watch my flaring? Or is it common to have to run out no-wind landings? Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

Whatever it was, it's fixed now... Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

My display settings are to go straight to first unread post in a thread, but for the last day or so I just get put to first post in a thread even if i've read before Also once i've viewed one thread in a forum, when i go back to forum list it now takes away all the 'unread' markers on the other threads immediately.. is there a bug here? (I hope my explanation of what is wrong makes sense!) Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.