voltage

ah how will the weather be around March/April ? We germans are used to cold weather Not sure yet where we are going. I read that in Z-Hills there is a 200way camp so maybe not the best time to start when you are coming from a cessna DZ

I bet you all forget until March ...

Just booked the flights, in March we are coming to Florida. First time in the US First time jumping at bigger dropzones First time jumping from bigger airplanes First time (for me) hopefully jumping with more than one person / 2-way First time .... uuuh How is the beer price over there? We want to camp on the dropzone etc. and spend all the money for jumping. Any tips appreciated. Yippeeeee!!!

Thanks for clearing this up. Always good to get second opinions.

Is there really only one way? No difference in what you are doing (relative work, wingsuit)? I ask because I don't know. The method I described above was taught by my instructor who also is production manager at the gear manufactor so I am confident it is the way it is supposed to be packed on that rig (Next) for student/RW jumps.

I am wondering about how you stow the POD in the container and why. From my instructors, I learned to stow the POD grommet up / line stows to the botton of container. Excess line I stow like in the picture (first down the container, then up in the middle, the rest in circles). Some packer told me he likes "free stowing" some of the lines in a similar pattern, I think to avoid line twists, is this recommended? Another thing would be opening out of a track, I suppose. I've been told you shouldn't do it, but I figure that wingsuit people will have at least a little bit of forward movement while opening. How would you pack the POD and excess lines then? My question is because my new container will have dynamic corners (because I want to get into wingsuit asap) and I wonder how I will have to change my packing. Thanks, Andi

Thanks again, thats really multi-function headwear. If my account is drained from too many jumptickets a can just go rob a bank with that, don't even need to take it off. haha next week jumping... I can't wait ...

Thanks for that. I am in a similar situation - want to finish to get my license and the weather here in Germany is about freezing at the moment One more question - could be by english. What is a Buff Neck Warmer / Mask - where to get it? From what temperatur did you feel you need such a warmer more than just googles and helmet? brrr.... (just thinking about it)

Thanks guys for the information pro/con dacron and about the links, surely helps to make an informed decision, even in addition to the plenty of information already available by searching here. That decision would still be dacron with slinks for me. I got a nice PDF from PD's website regarding how to install slinks. Is this something you normally do yourself (changing main canopies) or let your rigger do? Andi

Question from a student: When you start out with your first gear, means you start on a bigger canopy, what type of lines and connector links would you order? What would you think about that decision: 190sqf Spectre with Dacron lines and Slinks for a jumper about 180 pounds out of the door I mean I got unsure of my decision when asked by a gear shop person "do you really want Dacron on your canopy? Nowadays people don't use that anymore". But as I understand it Dacron will help me save my back in case of those few hard openings. I have learnt on a canopy with Spectra lines and one time got an opening that I could feel in my back for several days. Nothing permanent, but I do care for my body and don't want to experience that again when avoidable. So what do you think about my choice? Will the drag do very much on a 190sqf Spectre and will it be alot bigger to pack? Thanks for comments, Andi

So you know what the exact materials are? How do they compare regarding porosity, thickness, slipperyness, tear strength etc?

hm, there are some reserves available that pack even smaller than this new PD-R at comparable sizes according to this chart http://www.prueferverband.de/Geraetedaten/Packvolumen-R.pdf IIRC one of the paratec guys said that they are using this extra special material already (on their Speed reserve) for some time that PD was until now trying to get their hands on.

No, thats not possible! What if I look up under canopy and faint because the colors are so ugly or I am so ashamed to land it that I just have to cut it away. That would be dangerous so I want to stay on the safe side and get myself a nicely coloured canopy. Thanks for all the information. I will see if I can get my hands on the "Zero P packing video".

Question from a beginner packer: I have heard from alot of people that new ZP canopies are not very easy to pack As I intend to get such a beast, does it make any difference in packing methods? I still do side-packing (where you lay the canopy on the ground and use lots of space), but want to learn pro-packing in near future. My expierence to date is limited to F-111 and that works just fine once you get the hang of it. Andi

Don't go with Extreme Sports Cafe. I have been cheated by Mr. Northcott (trying to do a AFF course with them). They are just reselling the tunnel time anyway, so you end up paying less if you book directly. http://www.genting.com.my/en/themepark/skyventure/index.htm theme.park.sky.venture@genting.com Mail to them what time you will come, and how much time you wanna take, and they will get you a reservation. Most of the time it is not a problem to extend (when their schedule permits) or shorten your flying time on site, you pay just the time you fly. I found that for the first tunnel experience 30 minutes is a pretty long time (tiring), so if you stay a few days you might want to break it to more sessions than one. I did the the same thing after my Level 4 and it helped me alot. The prices there are so cheap so you can just play a bit. Note that there a no skydivers with the instructors, so you should know yourself about what you want to practice. They are very comptent in tunnel flying, though. Overall a great experience there, I have been there 4 times already, sometimes just for fun. PM me and I can give you some more tips regarding hotels etc. edit: to make link clicky

Very nice offer. To laughn:gas... One thing to add from my hindsight: very good idea to ask for opinion here and not keep struggling about it all by your self (or talk only to whuffo friends who suggest you: stop skydiving). Because that is what I did (after reserve ride on AFF 4) and I would have been happy about an offer like that. The tunnel helps. After I tried backflip and even sitfly in a SkyVenture type tunnel (hard walls) and suffered alot of pain I felt so reliefed that there are no walls when skydiving again that I mostly forgot about my fear. ok the confidence helped too.

Overcoming the fear was a big motivation for me to go skydiving actually. I did my first skydive about 6 years ago (FJC, AFF 1 only), and it scared the shit out of me. I loved the feeling of freedom and acomplishment that went along with a successful stand-up landing on my first jump but I wouldn't want to jump again at that time. But it stayed with me since then, and when the money and oppurtunity was there I decided to go for it last year. I was scared even more because I knew what to expect but was also determined to face it. I managed well up to my level 4 jump where I had a reserve ride. I took 2 weeks off the training after the reserve ride, but it did not change my decision. After that I started to use some mental training. There is a book I can highly recommend to first time jumpers: Mental Training For Skydiving and Life (John J. DeRosalia) The book shed some light on why it is not the best thing to visualize all the bad endings that can happen in a skydive but rather visualize your skills, how you want your dive to be, etc. Unfortunately, I had chosen the wrong place to take my skydive training (beware of Skydive Thailand!!!) and was not able to continue because their plane broke down and I did not get any of my money back. So it took me some month, but then I started an jump course here in Germany again and this time just went right through the course. Maybe because my determination was way higher than my fear so I also was able to turn it to excitement on every dive. You ask why skydive? Because you CAN. edit to add: I also went to a wind tunnel while training and it helped for skills and confidence, both.

I don't worry about flying wingsuit. I know that I need more experience to do it. But this doesn't help me to stop talking and anticipating about it. I just love the idea of it. Guess where one can find me next summer... probably not much more than 13000 feet away from an airplane that can take skydivers up EDIT to add: I know about the german forum, thanks for the advice. will go there and introduce myself, too.

hello people, how many non-native english speakers are around here? how do you handle skydiving terms in your mother tongue? That thing is a bit special for me because I started my training with an english-language USPA course and finished it in germany with mostly german terms. My instructors had some funny looks when I started yelling "PROP Up Down Out ..." instead of the german terms they tought me. So the former drills worked well :-) But serious, I am just looking around for buying gear and find it quite difficult to find fitting terms in german that I am comfortable with speaking. how do you say "wingsuit" in german? Also, what does it mean when someone adresses you with hun or honey .... in germany you see mostly couples who are married for much too long adress each other like that. Andi

I think this is different by country maybe? At my DZ nearly all the people pack on their own as most are - maybe not short on money but happy to save the extra expense... Packing interests me for another reason. I want to learn very much about how my canopy works and pack it myself before my jump so I get a feel for what packing gives me what ride (line-twists, fast or slow ...) And, altough *sometimes* it is an unwanted thing to do (when you are listed for the next load in 20 minutes and have to pack in a hurry) generally I like doing it, because I already feel the anticipation of the jump while neatly folding my life-saving device How much experience did you have when you started packing for other people? How many packers do you have around your DZ? Just curious because I just started to consider this as a possibility to earn some more jumps next year

cell phone use in freefall? Can you elaborate on that? A friend of mine took his cell phone after he landed out 2 times and had to walk back one time (he is student too...). so I might consider that. But in freefall? "YEEES HUN I WILL BE HOME SOOOOON"

do you know they want to set a new german record (150 way) in eloy from Nov 02-11 ? so I think you might still meet some fellows when you arrive there. http://www.fscdaedalus.de/

hi baby well that bit of humor might help to endure my fellow germans but be careful, who knows, sometime i'm coming to the UK to get to know the british way and how to make fun of you. ah and to skydive of course.

I had some trouble with my ears in the past (had only 20% capability on left ear and that was fixed in hospital at an early age). My experience in skydiving was that on my first or second (don't rembember) jump I had trouble "cleaning my ears" on the ride to altitude and after the jump (already under canopy) I had some pain in my ears, but no blood and no lasting problems. One hour later it was gone. Since then I never had anything like this anymore and I feel the pressure equalisation in the plane happens easier and more naturally.

I am not sure if you can do that (search by area). Another suggestion, you could just go to a dropzone nearby to watch and get in touch with the people there. My experience is most of them are very friendly and when you are interested in the sport they are happy to tell you about it. 2 weeks ago I had been chatted up by a couple while walking back to the packing hall. They just came to watch and asked me really a thousand questions about the sport. The funny thing is they were not the youngest ones anymore (might be 70ish or 80ish) but their open attitude surprised me. Altough after 10 minutes talking with them while holding my BIG student canopy (I still have to figure out a comfortable way to hold that much fabric without pulling it over the ground) I got tired and had to leave them alone