Canadianfella

I learned of this technique a few years ago from a guy who used to be a test jumper for PD... I have used 2 closing loops on my main before and currently only have one because someone else broke theirs and needed an extra... I'd say that's another pro... you don't NEED two, but it never hurts to have an extra one!

This weekend at my dz, on at least 2 occasions, students were confused because our dzo thinks it's great fun to ensure all student gear (of all sizes) needs to have exactly the same colour canopies... and instructors got them mixed up... That being said, it wasn't at any time an issue because we teach students how to fly properly without the radio... but the first thing I do once on the ground with student in the air is make radio contact... i'll even do it while i'm still under canopy sometimes just to make sure they're able to hear me.. i'll have them flare or do a turn... if there's more than 1 in the air, we have 3 different frequencies for radios... and only 3 aff instructors... so we're good there!

If people are "stowing the brakes" with elastics at the d lines with a bight of brake lines, you may see more problems... During the week at the DZ i'm at, the instructors pack without the "brakes stowed" as mentioned above. Openings are generally great. On weekends the packers use them... openings are generally spinners, divers and line twists... Is the bag coming off your back and spinning already or do you look up, see a nice snivel and then when the slider comes down, line twists? If you have 1000 tandems, you shouldn't have to worry about your body position... you should be good enough to fly your openings... even with this "stupid" on the front of you... Also avoid pushing the nose into the packjob... that seems to cause problems with our packers too... all we jump are icarus 330... anywhere from 25-1000 jumps on the 15 or so canopies we have right meow. Line sets are in various stages of disrepair...

Put your kid through an IAD/SL progression... he'll get more jumps for his money and spend more time at the dz (which hopefully means learning more overall) AFF students seem to worry more about freefall and dread the canopy ride... in my experience they don't seem to pick up canopy as quickly because there's SO much more to worry about AND they're always afraid of the bloody hop and pop.... SL/IAD students spend their first 5 or so jumps getting out at 3k... no biggie... they're more responsible for themselves and like i said, spend more time at the dropzone... and for someone who's keen to learn and learn well, it's good to be around the dz... you learn more... you get to know people more and in turn, have more opportunity to progress in the sport. my 0.02$

And if the dink at the FSDO decides he doesn't like what he sees, or is too stupid to understand, you wasted your time and have to find another FSDO to go to... Example: I have a CSPA rigger A rating. 10 supervised pack jobs, a 40 hr course and 10 more on my own for a "continuous" rating. I held this rating for 1.5 years before trying to get an FAA senior rating. I had 35+ packs... only 10 signed in my log as supervised. I also had a letter from a Master Rigger and my DPRE present to say I had done all my packs but the guy wouldn't let me do my written test. The guy then proceeded to approve a friend who had his 20, one of which was supervised by ME... signed with my Canadian license and seal number,.. AND had the nerve to ask if the logbook was for "main packs or emergency packs".... FAA guys are 'typically' dinks... CYA is my suggestion. LOG EVERYTHING and find someone to sign it off... if the FAA can find a way to screw you, they will.

Once upon a time I was taught my a TM I/E to put my non-pull hand on the back of the students head to protect my chin on opening... This works great. I have never been head-butted by a student... As for landings, that's a whole other story... but it really shouldn't be an issue. Put your head off to the side... Works great for me. *also allows you to whisper sweet nothin's in their ear easier! ;)*

I never take any of my piercings out. I have both nipples and my nape done. Full rings on the nipples, barbell on the nape. I was once warned by an asshole TI in .... that I would get risers spun to my nape (on tandems) and should take it out before it got ripped out. I've done just about 1000 jumps with it and never had an issue. I also jump fairly docile canopies with a very small chance of getting extreme line twists like that so i never worry about it. I HAVE once had a nipple ring *almost* rip out on opening. My chest strap was not extremely tight on a belly dive wearing only a T-shirt. Somehow my nipple ring caught in the buckle on my chest strap and pulled the ring apart. My full hoop turned into a barbel. I bled slightly and it hurt like I had just pierced it again. I had to squeeze my harness closed to loosen up the buckle to get the ring out with both hands... Luckily I was well above 3K when this happened so I had time to piss around with it. I jumped the rest of the day with tape on that nipple. I haven't worried about it since. A number of times I've taken girls for tandems who had me adjust the harness before getting into the plane to make sure their nether-piercings were not going to get tugged on during opening shock. These are my most memorable tandems!

That's what she said...

Although I am here in Canada and know nothing of currency mandated in other places or by other organizations in skydiving, I do know that every other profession I've been involved with (school teachers, skiing instruction, snowboarding instruction, etc.) there are currency requirements. The difference is that the organization does not encourage instructors to do the same thing over and over and over again for 20 years... They update information, they change policy and procedures and they change with the times. This is how skydiving organizations should go as well. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT is key to maintaining a high quality level of instruction. Take for example the dropzone I currently jump at: Some of the instructors have been teaching for 10+ years and in that time some things have changed for first jump courses, how you dispatch students and the levels of PFF. Some of the coach stuff has changed as well. If these instructors haven't taken a course in 10 years, how are they to know if they are not willing to listen to the younger, more recently certified instructors? If a professional development requirement is mandated for say, every couple years, it then becomes the instructors job to ensure they have the most current information and methods out there. If they don't take PD or take a new course, they do not maintain their ratings... it's a pretty simple concept. This will encourage instructors to keep up to date - not just continue doing things the way they've been doing it for the last 10+ years. Because someone who's been doing it wrong for 10 years will just continue to do it wrong if all they have to do is dispatch x number of students or coach x number of jumpers the same way they've always been doing it.

Just be sure NOT to use UPS. My roommate just bought a rig that shipped US to Canada... labelled GIFT... value of 600$ or so. A month later got a bill from UPS for 160$ in brokerage.

I disagree there Andrew... Although I haven't been to EVERY dropzone in Canada, I've been to a fair number and read through most websites. In my experience and research, 18 or 19 is when you can start... unless you're in quebec, in which case you can do a tandem at 14 with parental consent. Most dropzones, as rob states, go by the ol' waiver rule... legal age of majority to enter a contract or you can't jump because the waiver is void otherwise.

My statement was broad based and not a personal attack for not knowing equipment. The lack of gear knowledge in this sport disgusts me, hence my statement. I disagree with you though about what comes with a rig. If I am purchasing a rig, unless it is specified that it is missing components, I expect it to come with what it would from the manufacturer... That's a pretty basic request I think and one that you should be able to expect. I think it is pretty inappropriate to advertise a rig for sale without mentioning details like that. If I'm not going to send risers, I mention I am not selling risers and let the buyer make the decision. If I've jumped the reserve and lost a freebag/pc and have only the container, i'll sell it as such.. an INCOMPLETE rig... This goes for any component that should have come with the container from the start. Same with canopies. Obviously we're not going to agree on this though because lets face it, people are ignorant and skydivers in general don't give a shit about their gear. The bigger issue and the one I believe Morgaine was trying to make was that this asshole changed his story from "I thought they were in there" to "you never asked about them" once she complained about the toggles not being in the box. What ever happened to common courtesy?! When someone complains about a product you sell them, you make it right. Had this guy even offered to buy the $20 set of toggles from paragear for her, or split the cost, she probably would have been happy because he acknowledged the fact that he screwed up, instead, he decided to be a dick about it. As mentioned before, skydivers are supposed to be your friends and you don't screw your friends.

principle...

In hindsight, yes, perhaps this should have been asked. On the other hand, it is common knowledge that toggles, especially reserve toggles, come with the container system. If you know anything about your equipment, you know that this is the case... In this case the seller first claimed that they were packed in the box but then later states "you never asked." Sounds to me like the guy is trying to squeeze a few extra pennies out of a sale. This is a dick move. Skydivers are your friends and you don't screw your friends.

Definitely sounds like the problem. If you take your main to the local rigger, he/she can extend the lower half of your brake lines for you... I think it cost me 10 or 20$ (if that) to get it done to both of my old canopies... And I recommend getting it done ASAP. If you're not able to pull down on your front risers, you probably have no slack in your brake lines at all... which is shit, cause you could very well be flying in part brakes all the time.. which can (depending on how short those brake lines are) drastically reduce your ability to fly your canopy AND flare your canopy.

I've travelled with my rig(s) both base and skydiving through many Canadian and American (western) airports and never had a problem carrying it on. They often like to swab it and always ask what it is, but never stop traffic because of it. I always make sure I have a cypres or vigil xray card ready to hand to the security people just in case. Hell, last time I flew out of... um, Palm Springs I think, they joked about needing it!

I called new zealand... I got someone on a cell phone who was obviously not at work... he gave me the number to an office somewhere and I got an answer to all the questions and concerns I had regarding icarus canopies immediately. I cannot say that their customer service is anything but incredible! Sorry to hear you're having a hard time dealing with them.

In the Canadian system of coaching, we have two levels... the coach 1 is allowed to jump with solo students to teach things like loops and barrel rolls... The coach 2 is responsible for teaching levels, sliding, swoop to docks, etc. etc. To get an A-license, and B-license, you must do specific jumps with Coach 2's... I've seen a lot of 100 jump skydivers in the last 4 years, and although it may not be a huge sample size, I don't think I've seen many that were capable of swooping to a 4-way or doing levels well, let alone TEACHING it to 10-20 jump students... It seems like the US system for coaching is VERY relaxed....

I tend to wave off my camera person around 6000', reach and pull... I'm jumping EZ 425's.... never had a problem in 125ish tandems (i know that's only a few) until this past weekend I had a lineover (that thankfully cleared itself). When I looked up and saw that thing, I was VERY glad I had lots of altitude to deal with a problem. Stay high... the canopy ride is fun too!

Just make sure the one you get does not have a HUGE (read 1"+) lip coming out and over the front of your mudflap. A buddy of mine had a couple made in Perris for him and gave me one until he got his second rig. I never took it to the sky b/c it had that huge flap... Had it wiggled loose in freefall, it would have slid right up below my 3-ring system and prevented a cutaway... I like the way Monkycndo has it setup with a SMALL lip on it.. that shouldn't cause the same problem.

so you fingertrap a 4" piece into the middle of it so it's thicker/stronger in the center where you'd normally be pulling from? did i read that right?

I haven't seen it put together, but I saw it jumped at Kamloops May Meet, the weekend before US memorial day... it was quite impressive how quickly the reserve came open! The system definately works!

As an instructor, nothing makes me happier than a student who comes back looking for more. I'd rather see a student come back and do another jump than anything else. A solid handshake and a "thank you, where do I sign up for the first jump course?" is all I hope for. Anything else is just gravy!

Been packing my PC like this since I had about 30 jumps.. I teach every student I have to pack like that and tell everyone I see doing it differently my reasons why!!! Great video! Thanks!

I was just told the other day that groundbreaking was close to on schedule for the end of may and they'd be open for flying by christmas!!!!! I can't think of a better present!