nightjumps

My thoughts, If you wish, Could help, Her through, Everything that's necessary for, Less pain and suffering and, Effortless recovery. Vibes, Lady.

Yes, they hurt. And yes, they can happen on any canopy.

Read this issue of "Skydiving Magazine."

Yeah, I got quite an ass-chewin from the pilot of the Cherokee 140. Opening the door and rolling off the wing apparently makes the airplane do some kewl aerobatics. :)

Well don't laugh that off, Roy wouldn't be happy about that!

This from someone who's user name is, "RoysPlayThing." Coincidence?

ahhh...just throw it away and then do your "Clear Alls."

On my head, from the minute I board. I'm always ready to exit the plane at any time. I know there are those who'll object, but strapping it to your chest has zero value. I don't think that one has time to put the helmet on if the plane shits the bed fifty feet off the deck.

Its called "self-serving Assumption (or Bias)." And, is a natural cognitive defense mechanism. We all do it and we've all seen it. If I did it well, I take the credit for doing everything right. If it didn't go well, we look for other factors that prevented us from doing it well and... well, they of course are to blame, not us. Its natural and our communication approach can be a factor in their recognizing what they should have done. Instead of telling them what they did wrong, simply ask them, "How could you have done that better?" or "How will you prevent that from happening next time?" or "If you could tell me three things you would have done differently on landing, what would they be?" Something like that.

That's exactly why, Dave.

12 ounces 5,000 reps. Just kidding. Is there a martial arts facility closer than the gym? Good exercise and they usually have free weights and workout bags. I've done the "at home" workout thing, but all of them, including free weights eventually become doorstops. If I "go" to the gym, I am there for the purpose of working out. Side step the in-house exercise a few times and they become transparent. Although, the dumbells work really well for packing weights. Just my $.02

They work OK, not great. I went back to using the mechanic's air hose to give the housings an air blast.

Yeah. Its kind of an unwritten rule. We should be diligent enough to ask for a gear check (they're still free). But not touch unless asked. And, if everyone is doing "Secret Agent" gear checks on everyone and just brings it to their attention... That should suffice. I've been on planes and seen someone's riser flap opened and told them about it and asked if they'd like me to fix it, which they usually do. Sometimes, they ask their team member to fix it and say, "Thank you." - which is cool.

You will forgive me for the humor in this, but I can't stop thinking about how this brings new meaning to the phrase, "Put out or get out!" Either way, you win

I think I'll pass on this.

Here's my shot at it

Jay set the first two 24 hour records. Mike Zang hit 500 in 24 hours two years ago. Dale Settle (Skydive Tulsa) did 104 in 12 hours out of a C-182 (5.5 minute turnarounds). Jay is going for the new record of 550 in 24 hours on 11/11 Don't try this at home kids. IT takes a helluva support team and months of preparation.

Good one, Dave. Worn out or too small.

I concur with Hooknswoop and Sundevil. I would venture to say the primary factors are 1) line stows too close to the risers, 2) uneven stows, etc. One of the biggest culprits of line twists are the last stow being uneven or too long and/or having a double wrap on the rubber band. As the bag leaves, that stow catches and kicks the bag off unevenly. Or, being double banded causes additional pull canting the bag as its leaving. I usually leave 18-24 inches of slck and fold it in the bottom of the pack tray. The last stow is only banded once, even if its a little loose. I do not double stow the first four (my bag has four closing grommets on the D bag - I'll use smaller rubber bands to ensure it is tight without having to double wrap) or the last, but will double stow those in between if necessary. With my own gear, I place the D bag in the pack tray straight up and down (I don't twist the bag so the lines are at the bottom of the container, but rather at the back of the container) to ensure a good clean launch. I use a little larger than required slider to help constrain the opening rather than double stows and rolling the nose. Hope that helps.

I disagree. Making the roll loose does not control the lines. The tighter, the better.

Hey Tom, I appreciate the correction. I was still under the impression that member-to-member did not apply to vehicles and such. That's good info to know. Thanks, Keith

While I'm not the strongest advocate of psycho-packing, I have found that it helps for the first 30 or so jumps on a new ZP. Once its "broken in" I go back to pro-packing. Hope that helps.

You can analyze the situation all you want. The bottom line is; you remaind "heads up" and made a good decision. Anytime there is doubt, you've made your decision (can I clear those power lines? = avoid, Can I fly this? = go to the reserve). Why people have doubts about going to the reserve, I don't know. Packing the main usually takes less than ten minutes. Packing the reserve usually takes an hour & half. Ten minute pack job or hour & half pack job. Easy decision. Reserve repack: $45.00. Rigger's choice of bottle: $25.00 Right decision... priceless.

While everyone throws the, "Third Party Liability Insurance" card on the table as a primary reason to join the USPA... It only pays if you have a situation where one of the parties is not a skydiver (course I'm sharing this with the guy who's written a great book on skydiving, but publicly for newbies to see). When I see that card played, but no explanation as to the specifics of the policy, I feel its unfair. Now having said that, I was a bandit jumper for a long time. Since getting back in the sport five years ago, have been an adament and staunch supporter of the USPA, but for more reasons than just the insurance... 1. They publish a great magazine that's very informative. 2. They helped our DZ a couple of years ago by interpreting some new laws and getting clarification for demo jumps. 3. Gathering statistics relating to incidents - a primary tool when focusing on incident reduction. 4. You can jump at bandit drop zones or USPA drop zones, so you have greater mobility. 5. By establishing a license and rating system, you agree to comply with certain standards of proficiency. 6. They provide milestones of accomplishment for multiple disciplines (RW, CReW, Freeflying, etc.) for time, jumps, duration as a member, etc. One can literally look at the requirements to achieve the next benchmark of accomplishment and work towards it. There are twenty years of goals to accomplish thru the USPA. 7. Instructor ratings are standardized. You can get Mr. Fandango as your Instructor or you can a USPA rated Instructor and know there was a standard of requisites to be met. 8. If you thought enough about the USPA to go to a USPA drop zone to learn, support that learning by joining. Keith

I have been wrestling with this for about a year now. What's made me consider adding a single tone old-style Dytter and incorporating that in the training is that in the past two years, I've seen two static-line students on ten second delays grappling for their main ripcord handle until the AAD fires. In one of the cases, the student pulled the main as the reserve was coming out resulting in a two out situation. While they have received excellent training and are a significant minority, it still made me think. If I stick a single tone Dytter in there, incorporate in the training that "IF" you here this and you are still in freefall, pull the silver handle. What's prevented me from doing it is; I don't want to be reactive to the minority and perhaps get another minority who hears the tone with a good main and pulls silver. Another reason for my thoughts on incorporating this is... we're changing the equipment for students over time... a lot of DZ's are going to throw-outs, ZP canopies, AFP, etc. So why not use all the tools given us... but right now, I'm on hold with this idea because I teach like old school... calibrated eyeballs, the count method, etc. and don't like relying on mechanical devices for making decisions. Unfortunately, good training is trumped by panic and adrenaline. Another thing I'm toying with is adding a small radio receiver to the student for verbal commands associated with the nonverbal hand signals we use. So if I give the "Arch" signal... back it up with a verbal in the student's ear. As we get to the bottom end... a "Pull" signal with a verbal "Pull" could help. This too, is in research and your feedback is appreciated. Keith