Chris-Ottawa

Yep, French Canadian. I don't willingly advertise the french part, that's just asking for trouble... "When once you have tasted flight..."

Hey Richard, Thanks for your opinion, I appreciate that. I don't feel like I've been pidgeon holed into upsizing. I really do love the opinions and advice I've recieved from this thread. I am very confident that I "can" fly this 135 very safely, but I have to consider how much risk I would be putting myself in by continuing to fly it this early. You guys are all right, why not upsize for now...then jump the 135. Given the same scenario, I'm sure I "could" safely fly a VX99 or something similar, would I? HELL NO. I feel confident/safe under the 135 and wasn't nearly as concerned as I am now from this thread. I just have a few choices to make and hopefully my choices do not put me in direct danger. Chris "When once you have tasted flight..."

Agreed! Life is a calculated risk. You can do things to lessen the risk, IE: Bigger parachute, no swooping, or no skydiving at all. In consideration of "life" in general, skydiving is putting you in a high risk situation. Skydiving is generally "safe" in the manner that malfunctions are not guaranteed, but it's still high risk that you can go in at any second. Wonder why they banned hook turns at most dz's... Swooping may come to that, possibly skydiving itself one day. Who knows. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Hey Mark, Nice to get that first hand advice. You confirmed what I already knew. I'm still going to present it to them and if they are still as confident as they were previously, I'll probably continue to jump the canopy. I'll just have to take extreme caution, and get as much canopy coaching as I can. I think that some people on here are thinking I'm trying to get on the smallest canopy I can so I can downsize quicker. That's completely inaccurate. I bought this canopy expecing to put 1000 jumps on it. I'm not interested in downsizing at all. I have no interest in swooping either. *My opinion here* but I think swooping is putting yourself at an extremely high risk that is un-necessary. I'm not sure the actual numbers but if no one was allowed to swoop, I bet the fatalities would be cut into very few per year. Only the true 'accidents' would constitute the fatalities. Now, I'm not going to go bashing swooping and try to stop it or anything, but you all know it's true. * I'm not speaking at you Mark, I'm just ranting to the general public about swooping. Thanks again Chris! "When once you have tasted flight..."

Aren't you in Gan? Im sure you have a french guy/gal or 2, I know we do. I see the Frenchie bashing is common to most DZ's around here, haha. *Note:Before any french jumpers freak out on me for being racist or stereotypical, I am french too. I still think it's funny. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Would that be a S/L, or would it be more of a PFF jump? I'm not sure if that means the instructor goes on a freefall with me, or if I do a h&P under his supervision from the plane, or is it like a Level 4 PFF jump with 1 instructor kind of thing? I'm gonna do some searching through the PIMs. Thanks for that info! "When once you have tasted flight..."

Well this is all good to know. Maybe it won't be a huge concern in the long run anyways. I can easily make it to Toronto to jump. And yes I jump in Arnprior. I just find the 60 days rule a bit low. I mean, I'm sure after 2 months, I'm still going to remember to pull. I'm gonna talk to the guys at the DZ this weekend as well and see what they do. I'm sure there will be a point where making a jump in 60 days just won't be possible. Unless we do a nastily cold H&P. "When once you have tasted flight..."

I know they do winter jumps, and I will go at every oppurtunity, but it's easy to get weathered in for 60 days and need to be coached to jump again. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Man, that's awesome. I can only imagine, I jump now on days where it's about 12 degrees celsius on the ground, and you get to 10k and the door opens, and wow, it's chilly. The day I did my tandem was October 22nd last year here in Ottawa, it was -6 in the morning, so around altitude, it was roughly -25ish (I know it's -3.5 per 1000k, but it's not a direct relationship, I think that's a guideline). When I jumped it was mid morning and it had warmed up to +2 on the ground, so it was still cool, but I didn't feel a thing and I was in nothing more than a sweater and a jumpsuit. So I guess freefall is out of the question in the cold huh? Hop n' Pops is the way to go? "When once you have tasted flight..."

That's an option as well, but I think we'd have to travel a decent distance to get to one. But That is a good option. Thanks "When once you have tasted flight..."

Would LOVE to.. And I am trying to, but costs might override that decision. "When once you have tasted flight..."

From my post above, I'm curious how many people know what these things are, or even better if you know someone who has these. Please only people from the deep south reply! ( I don't doubt that most have heard of them, but I bet it's not too common to see. """"" Do this some day when you;re bored. Walk into a garage in your area, then ask them to install a block heater for your car/truck. I bet they look at you in awe! Or try to buy gas line antifreeze, or windshield washer fluid rated to -60 (celsius). Not questions you see until you come up North. It's so common up here all the grocery stores sell these things, minus the block heater. No joke! Can you even buy snowblowers down there? hehe, I'll leave you alone now... """" *I love these forums...they amuse me and my retarded questions. "When once you have tasted flight..."

You have no idea. 35 F is 2, which we do jump in, and would love if our winters were that warm. Have you ever been to Canada in winter? This past winter it averaged around 5 Fahrenheit. That is a little cool, but I've see as low as -65 Fahrenheit. Have you ever been in anything near that? I think some people might underestimate how cold it actually gets up here. EDIT: Sorry reginald, this sounded like a slam, but that's not what I meant. I saw you were from Texas and was joking about the winters you get compared to us. It really does get damn cold up here. Do this some day when you;re bored. Walk into a garage in your area, then ask them to install a block heater for your car/truck. I bet they look at you in awe! Or try to buy gas line antifreeze, or windshield washer fluid rated to -60 (celsius). Not questions you see until you come up North. It's so common up here all the grocery stores sell these things, minus the block heater. No joke! Can you even buy snowblowers down there? hehe, I'll leave you alone now... "When once you have tasted flight..."

I've probably done that at some point, but damn. That's one of your favourite things to do? Thank god you got into skydiving.....Haha "When once you have tasted flight..."

now THAT I didn't know! Thanks! Not gonna happen this year but maybe next Does and A or B get any more than 30-90 days? "When once you have tasted flight..."

Oh you bet your ass we know how to dress warm, but it can get cold enough that the plane won't start, let alone fly. I've been in -54(celsius) and exposed skin freezes in seconds with no windchill. It's painful to open your eyes in weather like that, the liquid in your eye begins to crystalize if you don't blink every couple seconds. No word of a lie. I could only imagine what a 120MPH windchill would do. EDIT: You're in Minnesota, so you have a good idea as well, but as far as Cessnas go, Unless they have deicing in the wings, it won't fly. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Hey Everyone, I was just reading another post about currency and jumping after a 3 month layoff and was contemplating something. I'm up in Canada, and it gets cold up here, which inevitably means no jumping. We "can" make winter jumps, but the weather and alot of other factors need to co-operate. I just don't want to have to come back and need an instructor to jump with me to make sure I'm going to pull or something. My question is this: What can I do to prevent from being uncurrent over the winter months? (This can be upwards of 5-6 months to say the least). I can't afford to go south for the winter, I'd be lucky to get "somewhat" south just to make a jump. I know this has been encountered before, so I'm sure there's an easy answer. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Hey Bob, I know the FXC has been around a long time. That's not what I was commenting on, the FXC had some big problems from what I've read. I don't know about recently though, I've never heard from anyone using one lately. And was it not a mechanical AAD in the beginning? I was basically saying that Cypres has built their name and it had stood up to the test of time, not without fault, but it's pretty stable now. I don't want to get into gear battles, I'm sure all the products are great, I'm just stating why I made my decision, and most people around me convinced me to go Cypres. I have nothign against ANY of the other companies. Hopefully that clears up what I was trying to get across. "When once you have tasted flight..."

I agree with that and I have no idea on the actual specs and saves per unit or anything. The AAD market is widely debated. I personally was considering a Vigil or Cypres and my rigger said, why not spent another $100 and buy a Cypres which is tested and proven, so, I did exactly that. I'm sure the Argus, Vigil, and FXC are all great AAD's, their track record is just not there yet. That being said, Cypres had some issues when they first came out too, so in no way am I saying it's perfect. It's all subjective, I was just curious why you chose Argus. Thanks "When once you have tasted flight..."

If you don't mind me asking, why are you looking specifically for an Argus? If you do a search for other AAD's in the forums, you'll see that there are really only 2 that most skydivers would trust their lives to. Not to say it's bad, but the Cypres has been tested and proven over the years. Vigil is the other one that's building a decent reputation. I just bought myself a Cypres and yes, it's the most costly of them all, but it's also proven. Even the Vigil is having some issues that they probably fixed by now anyways. But some AAD's out there are misfiring on the ground or in the plane, basically they get confused into firing. Personally, I'd recommend Cypres2. Talk to some people around your DZ, they might be more blatant than I am being. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Nope, I've just put alot of research into online gear dealers for comparing prices and whatnot so I know of a bunch of the sites. There's a bunch out there. Most DZ's in the US also have gear stores as well. "When once you have tasted flight..."

I can consider it, but I'm not sure about F111. I wouldn't mind the Sabre2 because I've jumped it and loved it and it's flare. Only thing I didn't like was the end cell closures. I also like the Pilot when I jumped it, it was very snappy and also had a powerful flare, plus it had the most amazing openings EVER! I just really want something that will last me a long time as I have no intentions of downsizing at any point. I chose the Spectre because it was a bit ahead of where I am, but I could "grow" into it and ride the shit out of it for a long long time, if not my whole time skydiving. Plus, now that I know adding 7 lbs adds an expertise level, hell that canopy will last me forever with a simple weight belt, hehe. Edit to add: The Silhouette I jumped (50% F111), I liked, but everything felt mushy and the inputs were slow. It was a big canopy, 210, but still. I didn't care alot for the flare, especially after jumping the Pilot and Sabre2. It seemed very much like the Mantas, a student canopy. Maybe the slight taper of the pilot and sabre made the difference. I actually foud the pilot to have the greatest response of any of the canopies I've jumped yet. It felt very crisp and on rails. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Believe me, I've seen them, and am considering them. I also need to find out if I can get a 150 into a Odyssey sized "OJK". I'm not sure what my canopy is worth in comparison to a 200 Jump Sabre 2 150. My canopy was manufactured in Oct 2002 and has 35 jumps. Stock colours (purple, watermelon, yel, yel, yel, watermelon, purple). Lines are mint etc, it's essentially brand new. Anyone have a guess? "When once you have tasted flight..."

I agree, I think you're right. The 135 was surely a minimum, but if anyone said my instructors were wrong, I disagree. I know you didn't say that either, but it was implied more than once. As far as upsizing goes, I would gladly do it, but funds right now are tight and I'm not thinking anyone is going to be willing to trade me a canopy or anything. I would gladly jump a Sabre 2 150 for the next 1000 jumps, but I can't buy one, and I dont want one that's got 900 jupms on it already. The gear I bought is basically brand new, container has 55 jumps, Spectre has 35, and the reserve has 0. That makes me feel safe, and that's where my comfort is. I don't want gear fear jumping a "WELL" used canopy. I also don't want to be putting myself at greater risk by jumping this small canopy. "When once you have tasted flight..."

http://www.baddogservices.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=410 http://www.nouvelair.ca/ventes.asp?cat_id=5 http://www.agt.net/public/flyhigh/sales.htm http://www.iseattlecommerce.com/merchant/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=GG&Category_Code=AADs http://www.paragear.com/templates/parachutes.asp?group=19&level=2&parent=5 http://www.square1.com/manufacturers/square1/p1144.asp http://www.para-service.com/ There's a few to get you started. 2 are Canadian, one very close to you. They may not all sell Argus AAD's but call and find out, maybe they can get them. Chris "When once you have tasted flight..."