squarecanopy

One way to see the mechanical differences between containers is to pack them, in my experience. I typically pack three different brand containers now and if you have that opportunity you may find that you like one better than the others. Ask alot of questions of the riggers and packers around you. Then you can get an opinion from other than somebody trying to sell you something. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Can't imagine why anybody would put a pocket slider on a Sabre2... Dave I have a Sabre 2 210 that I got from a big guy that flys a camera, out the door at about 270. He had added a pocket to the slider because of his head weight with camera. I was having hard openings on my first Sabre 2, but it was as much bad body position at deployment as anything. I pack with the three center cell noses exposed, and quarter the slider well, pay attention on deployment, and it opens nice every time. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

SVCO in Colorado has several great freestyle fliers that are also consumate instructors. The tunnel, IMHO, is the place to learn freeflying to get the basics quickly. It is actually harder to do in the tunnel than on a jump, so if you can do it there you can do it anywhere... Just burning a hole in the sky.....

What if the "tunnel" was a horizontal, donut shaped tube where you really could attain forward, continuous motion? What little engineering knowledge I have tells me it could be difficult and/or costly to accomplish, but it would be fun to fly in! Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Well you might just have to put up with those pesky ear infections then... Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Hey there Julie Bear! I think the doc was asking about flying because the RECIRCULATED air inside of airliners is so cruddy that they probably treat alot of frequent flyers for ear/nose/throat infections. I had not considered until now that the RECIRCULATED air in the tunnel might be higher in germs, common sense says it should not be a factor with the huge volume of air and only a few people (compared to an airliner with about the same cubic volume and 135 people.) If you would just stop kissing the glass so much... Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Broke my right ankle (actually a shattered fibia and broken tibia) when I landed and stuck my right foot in a prairie dog hole. I was off skydiving for 15 months while my leg bones, pride and wallet healed (off work 4 months, spent all my savings paying bills) but have made 75 jumps since I've been back without incident. I am working hard at making better landings..... Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Man I did not know that about Franklin. I have seen him perform and thought his act was really great. Sorry to hear he's gone. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

That brings up an old question. "Are tandem passengers really skydivers ?" IMO they are not. I agree. Passengers are passengers, no matter the type of aircraft. Airplane passengers are not considered pilots after one or two flights, and tandem students are not skydivers. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Roger that, Chuck. My wife would rather SCUBA than anything (she has one tandem, and that will last her for life), and I would rather skydive. Although I enjoy scubadiving a great deal when I am doing it, I don't crave it like I do the sky. I am Padi open water certified, so I guess I am one of the 3000. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

How many hours of tunnel time do you have? Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Why? If you're that worried about being too close to other groups on deployment then you're not leaving enough exit seperation. You are right about that. I try to leave more than enough separation , but I am always concerned about the group after me at Mile High as everyone there is always being pushed to keep separation down to 4-5 seconds ( that being even written on the wipe board at manifest last weekend). Please, all of you comment on why you would want all 3 divers to track. I understand that it will give max separation for the 3 of us, but I am reluctant to track at Mile High except perpendicular to jump run because of previous close calls at deployment. I am very interested to learn from this. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

I am sure that the unregulated and unpoliced world of bungee jumping is not going to report on themselves like we do, so I am not surprised that you are unable to get stats. Skydiving is unique in the world of sports on injury and fatality reporting. I have lost one acquaintance scuba diving and one skydiving. I have known about 20 people who have died in small airplane and automobile accidents. I am not looking forward to that ratio shifting as I continue in this sport, but I am not going to stop jumping either. I too feel (statistically wrong, obviously) safer waling along at 165 on a sitfly than I do driving my truck down the interstate at 80. I know that driving is safer, but I also know if I die skydiving it is less likely that it will be caused by someone else than if I die on the road in my car. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

I am not a rigger. I have changed my main twice myself and my PD slinks were not tacked originally nor are they now. I am not having any problem with the tabs being exposed and this is the first I have heard that they may need to be tacked. How do you tack them? Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Many good points made here. This discussion needs to revisited regularly so that we all can dispel the false sense of security that we get skydiving. As for me, there is no doubt that statistically driving is alot safer than jumping, but I accept the danger and work to manage the risks. I think that the only deaths I will really lament in our sport are the senseless ones- if we die doing this dangerous sport ok, we all know that is a possibility, but to die because of an avoidable accident such as low altitude canopy collision is painful to those of us left behind. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

I am a rookie too. What I have learned so far with two ways and three ways I have done is that we PLAN the breakoff and assign a specific duty to each jumper. Typically on 3 ways we have one jumper stay put, one tracks perpendicular to the jump run one way, the third tracks 180 degrees from the first tracker(again, perpendicular to the jump run always). That puts us plenty far apart at deployment, and staying away from the group ahead of us and behind us. Good for you for seeing the screwup here and learning from it. Blue Skies Safe Landings, Bill Just burning a hole in the sky.....

[Depends how it's measured. Something to consider is that since the area of a circle math formula is Pi R squared, the area of the 14 foot tunnel is substantially larger due to the radius "squaring". Therefore, a 12 ft. tunnel has 113. 09 sq. ft. of area, where the 14 ft. tunnel has an area of 153.93 sq. ft, no matter how it is measured. I like the SVCO tunnel because it is close to my house (20 minutes) and it is recirculating, stable temperature in the tunnel, less power usage, etc. I really like Eloy simply because it IS and "feels" so much bigger inside whether flying solo or doing 4 way RW. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Buy a used rig first. Get the one that most closely fits your needs and physical size, of course. You may be surprised at how much your needs/wants change after 200-300 jumps. THEN you can bust the bank and get that pimped out rig that really is just what you want. Patience in this case is a very good thing. BSSL, Bill Just burning a hole in the sky.....

IMHO the tunnel is excellent for body control and learning to maneuver in a small space. There is nothing better for learning control relative to others. My time in the tunnel has enhanced my freefall control a great deal. The statements already made here about the things that can only be learned skydiving are also very true in my limited experience. Two real life examples- one of my tunnel buddies with 65 jumps and a B license went on a four way with jumpers he had never jumped with, and those three had about 350-500 jumps each. He was able to maintain his position relative to the earth and two of the others were the ones chasing all over the sky. Second, I watched my son, on his 15th skydive, sitfly and carve a circle around me while keeping an even 10 ft away all around the circle, and finish up with left and right cartwheels just before our breakoff altitude. He has about 10 hours of tunnel time. I am very proud of his freefall skills, but he flys and lands like a 15 jump skydiver. Those skills are only learned during skydiving. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Both of my shoulder are jacked, and need surgery. I stay in the air by doing specific shoulder exercisees using some simple rigs called chest expanders. Go to Matt Furey.com to see them/purchase them. They have helped me immensely to get my shoulder muscles strong enough to hold everything in place for both skydiving and tunnel flying. I can do 15 minutes out of an hour now in the tunnel, before I could do about 4 minutes before my right shoulder would give out. BSSl, Bill Just burning a hole in the sky.....

When humans set the Bible aside and follow their emotions you get fanatical religion. Whatever God Almighty meant for good can be perverted into something goofy/ridiculous or even evil. I think these coconuts are just plain ignorant of the truth. It certainly won't help them get to heaven to do these things- Just burning a hole in the sky.....

Are you a Marine?!?!?! I thought you guys are like the boy scouts and NEVER tell a lie...LOL Both my sons are skydivers and Marines, they would say Semper Fi ! Thanks for all your hard work and sacrifice these last 4 years! And back to the thread...I will ditch work at least 5 or 8 Fridays this coming summer to jump. My boss is cool with it because I bust my hump for him the rest of the time. The call of the clear blue in the summer time is just too much to keep me at my desk Just burning a hole in the sky.....

I was on an "RW" ash jump with another jumper, and he used the ziplok plastic bag trick. He held the bag in both hands, and after I released his arms and moved back, zipped the bag open slightly, stuck one finger in to keep a good hold of it, then opened it the rest of the way and the ashes left all at once. It made a large white cloud right above us that was seen by the rest of the family from the ground even though we were 9000 agl at release. Some of the ashes were also released that day by his siblings doing tandem jumps with very small quantities of ashes in a small jar or 35mm film container. Extend arms, remove the lid, tip it slightly and let the relative wind do the rest. Just burning a hole in the sky.....

I saw an SR71 take off from Buckley ANGB (now AFB) east of Denver back about 1983-4. It climbed out at about 70 degrees to the horizon and was flat out of sight in less than 2 minutes. What a wild aircraft! BTW The main reason Denver has so little smog compared to some cities of similar size is that.....Kansas....sucks... Just burning a hole in the sky.....

No kidding!! I was riding a friend's crotch rocket yesterday at about 105 mph and looked down at the ground rushing past, remembering all the broken bones, casts, surgeries, time off of work from the good old motocross days, and realized why I don't go this fast this close to the ground any more. It is just damn dangerous! Skydiving is more my speed these days, at least when the ground is close I am putting along at 20 mph. Just burning a hole in the sky.....