doorgirl

Wings because I could put a 193 reserve with a 190 main. (And I swapped out reserve handles since the low profile handle was a little too low pro for me as well Yossarian. Call them, they'll take care of you.) Love my Wings. It fits me nice, is comfy, keeps nice and tight in a sit, has great reserve pc launch, and looks pretty. My first rig was a Dolphin, and it was great for what I bought it for - my first set of jumps off of student status when I was stepping down through canopy sizes, getting comfortable being my own skydiver, and deciding what size and style canopy I wanted to jump "for real", as in pay the money for brand new, freefly friendly gear.

There's more ass at that dz than I've ever seen. No really. There is... it's next to an ass farm. Drive slow or the donkey farmer will get really mad. Oh, and sorry I thought you were a new jumper and wrote my post to that effect - I didn't bother to look at the jump numbers. Don't I feel like an ass...

I started AFF at Vermont Skydiving Adventures. I love that place. I don't jump there much because I live in NH and that's a looong drive over a short drive to SNE. The advantage of VSA is that it would be really close, with really great people with lots of knowledge. Disadvantage is its harder to jam in a bunch of jumps in a day since its longer to altitude and there are less seats going up and you have to wait your turn. But as a student I don't think you'll notice that much. The advantage of both Jumptown and SNE are that they are big DZs with Twin Otters that fly lots of loads and have really great people with lots of knowledge. Disadvantages are that they're a longer drive for you. And as a student you won't get many jumps a day anyways unless you sign up for one of the AFF camps or schedule your training during the week. But the best part is... all of the cross pollination between the New England DZs. We travel around quite a bit. The Vermonters at SNE and Jumptown. The SNE crew at VSA and Jumptown and CPI (Connecticut). Maybe even journeys out to the Ranch in NY, but we didn't make it out last year. And don't forget the pilgrimage to Florida each January for the Great White North Boogie when all of the New Englanders head down to escape that terrible cold. Basically, if you're at UVm you'll have plenty of places to jump and you'll be welcomed when you choose to travel.

Yup, I demoed the 193 from PD. Kim was very helpful and it was worth the $$ to me for the single jump. I'm analytical, and I like to remove all the questions I can since there will always be more. I'm glad that I know how it flies and I'm much more confident that I'll be able to handle the situation should I end up in a situation where I don't have much time to acquaint myself with the canopy. And with reserves as big as ours, I think the only way to demo is directly through the PD factory.

Or get greased the other way. Order 2 value meals from any fast food restaurant for each meal and your fall rate will speed up real quick!

I only remember having skydiving dreams one night, but it was a weird night filled with streamers. I started out the evening jumping belly mounted reserves, often having to pull them back in and throw them out again. I never saw an open canopy over my head and never had an impact, just moved straight to the next exit. They were lucid dreams, so I kept on trying to do whatever I could to keep from having another streamer. I progressed to more modern gear throughout the night, and started getting really tired of all of these malfunctions. So after yet another nice streamer I sighed, sat down on a cloud, disconnected the main, opened up the reserve and laid it out and then BASEd off of the cloud. I finally had a good canopy over my head, and the dreams ended. Weird.

Perspective really does vary. That's what makes life so interesting and fun. I think I felt more connected to the Spectre when it turned. Does that make sense? The moderately aggressive turns (on a similar level w/ Sabre2, Pilot, etc apparently) are why the turns felt "divier" compared to my PD210 the first weekend I jumped Spectre, but the feeling of connection with the wing is probably what made that not feel scary 'til I was close to the ground. Yes I know how to flat turn, but a step up in turn performance/alt loss increased the pucker factor when considering them low (100-150) though. That feeling of connection was stronger with the Spectre than the Sabre2 for me, which is probably why the Sabre2 scared me and the Spectre felt perfect for me. I felt like it would be easier for me to get myself into trouble with the Sabre2, and I would have more confidence to avoid trouble with the Spectre. BTW, flat turning or flare turning as a final small (0-45 deg) adjustment is in my Spectre bag-o-tricks now. If you're too skeered to turn your canopy, you may as well be under a round. (Or so says the 58 jump wonder.) Please take my opinions as what they are, opinions. Like Goldilocks taught us, everyone has a different "just right".

I haven't actually listened to them yet, but I downloaded a set of workouts from iTunes for free. They're called the Muscle Audio Workouts. Now if only I actually worked out I could tell you if they're any good.

I highly suggest demoing the canopy just to see what you think about how it flies. I demoed a Sabre2 210 and I thought the turns felt WAY too quick. I may just be a wimp, but I am sure glad I know that before buying a Sabre2! Next demo jump was a Spectre 190, and while I lost the same amount of altitude in a "hard" 360 on both canopies, I personally preferred the Spectre about 1,000,000:1. Rough estimate. I'm in love with the Spectre, but that's another thread. If you have used rigs in your area with the Sabre2 170 it shouldn't be too hard to demo it (at least I think it won't but what do I know). As far as other "comparable" canopies, I spoke with the gear store about Pilot and Safire2's too. They really wanted me to try the Pilot and told me that compared to the Sabre2 it was "turnier" up high but much easier to land, but in favor of keeping my jumpsuit a non-brown color I refused since the turny up high is what scared me. They said that I wouldn't like the Safire2 if I didn't like the turns on the Sabre2 and refused the Pilot. Your experience will differ, but in case it's tough to get demos where you are I wanted to provide another newbie's experiences. Good luck on your search!

I have a Dolphin D4 and recently switched out reserves. When I bought it there was a Firefly 176 in - it was a little squishy this way, but not too bad and riggers were happy with it. I switched that out for a PDR 193, which is just about as tight as I would want. I watched the entire inspection/packing process so that I could learn more about my gear, so I actually got to see the flaps and how they closed and stuff.

I did a tandem first, and while it was nice I definitely wasn't hooked and I didn't have much of a desire to do another skydive. My TM was awesome, but I just didn't have the feeling of freedom and flying that I thought I would feel and had been looking forward to. I ended up doing AFF because I was at a wonderful little Cessna dropzone with my boyfriend and everyone was having such a great time that I wanted to do it too. I absolutely loved the first AFF jump, and I haven't been able to shut up about skydiving ever since. On solo jumps I get that freedom/flying feeling, and that's what I love. Show up at a DZ some weekend just to hang out and you'll probably feel jealous of everyone that's flying and realize that you really want to do AFF. Or you'll realize it's not for you. Or it'll be somewhere in between and then you're decision still is a tough one. But at least that way you'll give yourself a chance to see if the skydiving bug bites you. Edited because I didn't get my point across the first time.

Thanks for the picture! It doesn't look too faded to me, although I'm sure you notice it when you're up close and personal. Nice to know that it doesn't turn charcoal.

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I've never actually flown near a black canopy, and something made me think that it would stick out in the sky - now I see that I was wrong. I think I'll pick some combination of Jade/Magenta/Blackberry that will stick out. Thanks again for all the replies!

Thanks! I'll play around with combos using Jade. Should I stick to 3 or less Jade panels so that I don't blend into the sky?

or a pirate... saw a cool thread on jolly roger canopies somewhere on here...

Its a wings with: black on the sides, reserve PC and flaps, teal on the reserve flaps, stripes B&D, piping and logos, and purple on the top reserve flap, reserve PC piping, stripes A,C,E, main closing flap and the mudcovers. I thought that PD had a teal, but realized a bit too late that I was mistaken or my screen has really inaccurate colors. Jade and Turquoise both seem different that I remember. Is the fading problem a fade to grey in 5 years or 2 yrs sort of problem?

I'm playing with canopy color combinations, and I don't know if anyone has any good reasons for avoiding mostly black canopies. I'm toying with the idea of a Spectre with the two end cells magenta and the rest of the cells black. *Finding the canopy: I think that bright pink will stick out like a sore thumb near any DZ, and putting it on the endcells probably makes it more likely to actually be facing the plane or ground-based searcher. And it makes it less appealing to the local bulls since pink is only part of the canopy. *I've seen plenty of guys in the last couple weeks with canopies with pink in them, so hopefully it's not too girly when I sell it years down the road.

It looks like Allied Electronics (www.alliedelec.com) has the batteries in stock. Eagle Picher went into bankruptcy and is in the final stages of reorganizing, so you might want to pick up a couple extra in case they discontinue this product. Here's a the order page: http://www.alliedelec.com/search/searchresults.asp?SearchQuery=LTC-3PN-S2

I think it all depends on how you react to the situation. You know your reactions better than anyone else and you need to take that into account. When I screw up my emotional reaction is after I'm on the ground, so I pretty much need to keep my feet on the ground until I assess why I screwed up and get over the adrenaline shock. That being said, once I get over that shock I don't carry that fear over into the next day or the next jump. If I did, I would really try to get back up there to keep the fear from building on itself. But for me getting back on the horse right away is the less safe option.

All three are great places to jump, and I'm sure you'll figure out what kind of environment you want closer to October. If you've gotten you A by then and feel comfortable at a smaller DZ, I really enjoyed jumping at SSD. If you are still working on your license and/or need gear you might do a little better venturing inland to Elsinore or Perris. Got my license at Perris on my 3rd jump there. Don't worry about it now man, you have plenty of jump time before you head out there. And as far as my post on the other thread, you may very well get comfortable enough jumping to venture out from your home DZ before you're at your A. Just go with what feels right for you. You'll know.

Do you want to get her involved or does she want to get involved? Even if you do everything to make it as safe as can be her knees might get hurt - and doing a revision replacement is a much more complicated procedure than the surgery that got her to this point. Just food for thought.

Lodi is MUCH closer to Big Sur than Perris/Elsinore, but if you're in Santa Barbara Perris/Elsinore will be closer as long as you miss LA traffic. Mapquest tells me Big Sur to Lodi is a little over 3 hours, and decades of vacations tell me Big Sur to Perris is more like 7 hours minimum. Santa Barbara looks like 6 hrs to Lodi and 3 to Perris/Elsinore. I've only jumped at Perris and San Diego in California, but it seems like there are people on here that love Perris, Elsinore and Lodi so they all seem like good choices to me. Is jumping your main goal or are you trying to mix it in with another set of plans? Also, there's always the possiblity of road problems on Highway 1 in the spring. ASK before driving if there's a downpour.

Assuming that you liked the vibe at the DZ you did your tandem at, go for it! If something in the DZ just didn't click with you, then it might be good to hang out a couple of the other area DZs before starting your training to get a feel of where you feel at home. I was a traveling student, to put it lightly: tandem at A, AFF 1-3 at B, AFF 4-7 at C, jumps 9-23 at D, jumps 24-27 (license!) at E, 28-29 at F and 30-33 at G. The massive number of DZs is a reflection of both a region where the DZs are friendly and jumpers flow from place to place and the fact that it's cold up here in winter so I HAD to go someplace warm. With all of that traveling, I look back and think that I would have had a more consistent experience had I done nearly all of my pre-A license jumps at one DZ. I am however glad that I didn't do all of my training at the DZ I did my tandem at since I didn't click there as well as the other DZ's due to the culture. While my TI was awesome, there were broader undercurrents at the DZ as a whole that would have caused me some grief. So find a place that feels like home (you might be there already) and get that license! We'll see you in the sky!

If outsiders are allowed I'd like to get in on it too. Grew up in Thousand Oaks and just LOVE the mountains in the Paso Robles area. Seeing them from above would rock.

OK cool, I thought it was needed above 15K, and since I've never used supplemental oxygen - or even seen it outside of a hospital setting - so I was wondering what that was like. Sorta like SCUBA I would image, but I have yet to try that either... But I guess that's moot if it's not needed!