Yossarian

it took me 70 jumps to learn but i did it gradually, id start or finish other peoples pack jobs, but whenever the weather turned good the temptation to jump would be too much.... finally went down on a day with zero vis and thunderstorm and got my packing chit. i think a problem i had was i was practicing on brand new kit so getting it in th bag was a nightmare and made me think i was no good at it, but practice made perfect. a problem i had was everybody i watched thinking they were better than everyone else and trying to teach me different ways. i basically picked the easiest looking and ive had perfect openings ever since, i think i found the key was pretty much symmetry

i was told the prop wash could spin the bag as well, dont know how true that is, all i know is i had line twists on all 10 s/l jumps, but none on 5secs+

my last static line jump was only 65 jumps ago so its still pretty fresh in my mind, the terminal deployments i had on student kit (exactly the same kit as my static line jumps, they just changed the d-bags) were a alot harder from terminal (not painful or anything, there was just a more noticeable jolt) added to the fact that there was now a transition from fully horizontal rather than the almost already standing position of a s/l jump. since i qualified however, and pack my own kit on a nice new canopy, the openings are much softer and as far as i can tell quite similar to s/l hope that helps, although experiences may differ using different kit to what i used (believe it was a manta 288 in a zerox container and the s/ls were done from a c206) edit for semantics

seems like a pretty healthy attitude to me, one i could probably learn from....

i dont mean a load organiser, i mean a jumpmaster, i was a jm on my last two pac jumps, and its not just the jm that knows, the jm makes sure everyone knows whats going on, with regards to deployment altitude, separation, jump type etc... ive heard people whove jumped in the states say that people just pile into the plane and sort out order on the way up, and that cant be comfy in a tightly packed plane...

jumped a silhouete (sp?) a few times and really liked it, think smooth is the best way to describe it, i liked the electra aswell, but then ive only done 74 jumps and ive liked every zp canopy ive jumped so i cant really comment with any conviction. ive only stacked a few landings (as in slid in on my arse), mostly under a mates pilot 170 but that was uber high winds (learned my lesson, never jump with gusts like that again) with about 40jumps but i like the idea of a multi-disciplined canopy that i can use for accuracy, crw (eventually...) etc, dont like the idea of swooping.

do you not have a jumpmaster that know all this stuff and sets exit order before you get on the plane? the dz's ive been to everyone knows whos doing what and pulling at what height, everyone gets in the plane in the right place and that seems to work

think i weigh just under 11stone, havent checked in a while, but i wear about 5lbs of weight on the average FS jump.

theres a video here from 1935 showing a mass red army drop, only one canopy and its round... http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=guestpass&id=perpk

i dont want to start swooping, the idea just doesnt do it for me, accuracy and the idea (havent tried it yet) of crw is more appealing (hence the triathlon). i dont really have enough jumps on anything for an informed opinion but i like the tri, although it still feels weird to look up and see something that square looking...

at the moment i jump either a pilot 188 or triathlon 170 that belong to my uni club and i really like the tri, although the flare can be a bit hard sometimes. ive done about 40 jumps on the pilot and i like it (especially the colour-coded line groups :) ) but i think its a bit big for me now (im only light). yeah suppose i did answer my own question there didnt i

i think this one belongs in this forum rather than gear and rigging as its less about kit more about my future jumping habits... im looking to buy kit within the next 9months or so and all my instructors etc reccommend getting down to a 150 then buying one of those to get the most out of it, but in about 15 months ill be going into the navy full time and could have layoffs of up to 4months (depending on if i get a run ashore somewhere with a dropzone), therefore should i get something like a 170 as that would suit the slight lack of currency? i should have well over 100 jumps by then if that makes a difference. i just dont want to buy something i wont be able to jump everytime because of layoffs. any suggestions/comments welcome, and sorry if this is the wrong forum

i love giving something back, i want to be a coach as soon as im ready (that being the key phrase, as opposed to when i have the required jump numbers). even at this early stage ill jump with less experienced jumpers moving through warp on their practice jumps, as i know i can fall down the tube, and i pass on what i see to their coach to help them along, i cant imagine charging a slot unless im wouldnt otherwise jump due to lack of funds (which unfortunately is alot at the moment, what with being the tax-dodging drain on society that i am)

i wear a buff over my head in the ninja style under my helmet with the neck tucked into a fleecy neck warmer, and i wear a pair of woolly socks over my normal ones. and, since a mid december jump from 16k where i nearly had to pull my reserve cos i couldnt feel my toggle, i wear skiing glove inners under my skydiving gloves. nice and toasty :)

i wasnt responding to anybody in particular, i was just saying that i wouldnt jump without one. if they didnt exist, i probably would jump without one, but they do exist, so why wouldnt I? i do, of course, respect the opinions of those who actively wish to jump without them, although in my mind i place them in a different category to those who would jump without one if there wasnt one available. my mindset doesnt even make sense to myself sometimes, possibly rational, possibly not, i wouldnt jump without an aad when skydiving, but id love to base jump, but only off a bridge. why? because the idea of flying back into something is what scares me about base. i would have started jumping in the days of rounds and jump-boots etc, i wanted to start jumping when thats all i thought skydiving was, but now i know that there are aads available, i can see no reason that i would jump without one, and feel i would be irresponsible to jump without one. im not afraid of dying in this sport, but i hate to think of what it would do to my family and those that have to pick me up, and my cypres is a safeguard to my stupidity (should i prove stupid enough to not look at my alti) or the many other factors that would bring about a cypres save. (apologies if that doesnt all make sense, just come back from the pub)

with regards to the financial grey area, i see it as necessary inconvenience. im a student saving every spare penny i have to buy a rig (less jumps, and when it comes to people persuading me to do so i have the breaking strain of a soggy kit-kat), but its something i wouldnt consider not buying one. i dont care what anyone says about aads, i know what theyre there for, and i wouldnt get a rig without one, and i certainly wouldnt jump without one. the number of unconscious or simply confused people saved by an aad far outweighs those killed by mis-fires, especially for those jumping lightly loaded canopies and not attempting high-performance landings. as far as im concerned, an aad is essential for my jumping and nobody is telling me otherwise no matter how many jumps theyve got.

surprised this doesnt happen alot really, considering how often ive seen people forget to stow the brakes or cock the pc

on the other hand, i think weston in the UK has just banned Vigils.

its all 'lies, damn lies, and statistics' you can make alot of statistics say exactly what you want them to say to an extent. when people say deaths per mile or deaths per jump, why not say 'deaths per times you get behind the wheel' - thats got to raise the odds for driving fatalities and bring them more in line with jumping. but if we have to use miles, why not use miles with jumping as well, say we jump from 3 miles high, that triples something with the jump numbers (dont do maths, but its got to triple something...). it is true to say that in the UK (for one year anyway, dont know which) more people died playing golf than died skydiving. the fact that most of these were heart attacks suffered by some of golfs older players is not important to the person using that statistic to say skydiving is safe. another thing you could say for many fatalities in this sport relating to low turns etc is that skydiving is as safe as the participant. skydiving is safer for me, the conservative pilot who wont turn more than 20degrees under 300ft jumping a canopy loaded under 1, who wont jump in high winds, and packs slowly and carefully, than for the adrenaline junkie 100 jump wonder loaded at 1.8 intent on swooping every landing and trash-packing to make the next load. when all is said and done, for me skydiving is not the riskiest sport out there (although obviously thats subjective). for example, i think skiing and snowboarding are far more dangerous, and i could reel off a fair few reasons why, some people would object to and some you would agree with. and another thing.... i dont like averages, if a man is standing with one foot in the oven and the other in the freezer, on average, hes a comfortable chappy. ok that possibly isnt the most sensible thing to say but i thought it was funny.

wednesday! be hushed! just realised the illustrious ed didnt actually book our slot gonna phone when i can charge my mobile and hope for the best... if you could reserve 10mins around the 1530-40 mark or 1450-1500 mark i would be uberly greatful....

thanks alot, i usually wear about 5lbs when i fly with her but shes got a new suit so that might change, thanks for your help and see you on tuesday. im lee from warwick by the way, ill be with ed from frenzy

with particular regard to bedford, im going there on a uni skydiving club trip there on wednesday and was wondering what the possibility of me doing a 2-way were, I have 72 jumps, she has around 60, we both have FS1 and are pretty competent at FS for our jump numbers, I've done 5 mins the tunnel (bedford) about 6mnths ago and everything was fine, in place turns etc, and i think she has about 20mins+ more recently, how much one-on-one time with the instructor would i have to do before he/shes happy for us to fly together? is it a set amount or discretion? i looked on the website but it just says 'when you're competent' or something similar. think weve got about 15mins booked between us

However, one can get an AFF rating with 350 jumps and 6 months in the sport. Time in the sport has value. you're joking right? 350 jumps? thats insane! i wouldnt trust any of the people i know with 350 jumps with a student of any level, let alone first jump aff, in the uk its 1000 jumps isnt it?

ah, retro, bet one of those would hurt if it bounced off your swede

whats a kicker plate?