bwilling

Hey Steve, are you sure it's not Irving Texas? If so, you're kinda right between a couple of good size dz's... Skydive Dallas Skydive Texas I've never jumped at Skydive Texas, but can highly recommend Skydive Dallas! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Wow! Great pics of a great subject! Hey, I knew Mike McGowan back before he even started flying camera... he was working at the now defunct McElfish Parachute Service loft, and jumping at a small dz in Decatur Tx... I quit jumping, start back 17 years later, and now Mike's a world class FF photographer... pretty f'n cool!!! I think we should talk him into a girls of dz.com shoot... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

This is easy, really... draw it on the side where half the fatalites in skydiving aren't happening under perfectly good parachutes, and we'll be making some headway... You can debate this until the cows come home, but as long as people are being severely injured and killed under the very instrument that's supposed to save them, skydiving as a sport has a problem... I realize that skydiving itself is inherently dangerous, but in almost every other area of the sport, we try to minimize the risk... and if we start doing that with sane canopy selection, and continued education in canopy control, we could cut the number of friends being hurt and killed in half. and I'm all for that. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Liar, liar, pants on fire! LOL, like I should talk! Look what I'm doing in this old pic, stowing the excess on the Stevens System! God, I'm old! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

One of the problems with making a chop/no chop determination on a marginal canopy, is trying to decide whether or not it could get potentially worse as you make your descent... I had broken steering lines on opening once, and they were, well, involved with the C-D line groups... The canopy was actually flying ok, with a tendency for end cell closure on the side of the offending lines, but it was square, steerable, and mostly stable. But I ended up chopping it. Why??? Because I wasn't absolutely sure that it wasn't going to get worse as I tried to fly the canopy in to land... I flew it all the way to decision altitude, but decision altitude being what it is (time to make a decision!) I decided that I wasn't absolutely sure that I had a canopy over my head that I want to fly all the way in and land, so I chopped it... You gotta love skydiving, a sport that demands skillfull decision making under pressure!!! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Why is it time to downsize? "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Dude, if you're still living in pop-up hell, you need a new browser! Get mozilla here... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

That's true, but it doesn't mean that velcro won't work when used on a harness & container, it just means that it requires regular maintenance to remain effective... but so does the spandex BOC pouch, which is used on the majority of rigs in use today... both require regular maintenance to remain effective... Think about your cutaway handle... what holds it to your rig? Velcro. Would they use velcro if it wouldn't hold (subject to almost direct wind blast in belly to earth, and substantial blast in a head down positions)? No. They use it because it works. You don't hear of too many premature releases of a cutaway handle tho, because the velcro almost never wears out, because the handle is used infrequently... and if you keep the rest of your velcro (and spandex pouches) maintained, they will function properly also... I'm not defending the Dolphin as the most FF friendly H&C built these days, they're not... and every year, H&C mfg's release new designs, that offer better and better riser, pin, and bridle protection, in response to the increased demands that FF puts on gear... But you made a blanket statement that FF'ing a Dolphin was a "bad, bad idea", and that's not necessarily true... a newer, properly maintained Dolphin, is certainly as FF safe as some of the 'older' gear that I've seen people FF with, and should be fine for a beginning FF'er to learn on... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Based on what criteria? Your rigger rating and extensive knowledge of gear? Your vast experience with many type of rigs, made over your whopping 59 jumps? If it's really bad a idea, give him some reasons why! First, find out if it's an older Dolphin with snaps on the riser flaps and exposed bridle, or one of the newer ones with tuck tabs, and much better pin and bridle protection. I hate it when people diss a rig like this with no facts to back it up! The newer Dolphins are at least as freefly friendly as a lot of the older Mirages and Javelins that people are doing FF with... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Wendy, that is so cool! What a great thing to be able to share with a family member! Now where's the video... there is video, isn't there? "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

There's some good video of swoop to base techniques in Skydive U's video, "Basic Body Flight Theory". You can order the video off their website here. It's not cheap, but then again, neither are training dives. And it is an excellent video... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=305151 Here's an old thread where people discuss their experiences with various sized reserves... But if you're in doubt, the smartest thing to do would be to go bigger, the next smartest thing to do would be to demo the size you're considering buying, (under ideal circumstances, of course!)... then decide. Good Luck! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Great explanation Bill! I saw someone fly thru really bad turbulence one day, and it was one of the scariest thing that I've seen skydiving... the jumper ended up with a normal standup landing, but only because he didn't panic, and he continued to fly the canopy every step of the way, using the techniques you described in this article! But man, was it ugly! He actually got a standing ovation for his landing! Thanks for helping to make skydiving a safer sport for all of us! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Yeah, what he said! I jump what amounts to a freeflysuit with grippers, and can fall with most people, but I still need to get the featherweights to put on weights to stand a chance with them... but that's one of the things that was different when I came back after a 17 year layoff... the slowfallers were actually increasing their fall rate to help in playing nice with others... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I looked into this once, while I was looking at a used Reflex... the guys at Bomber told me that the fully articulated harness was easier (and less expensive) to modify than the standard harness... might be something to consider if you're thinking of going that route. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

If there's no video... it didn't happen! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

The subject of hard openings has been beat to death in these forums, and if you do a search, you'll find lots of revelant data regarding hard openings in general, with some specific to the Sabre... I have a 210 Sabre, but it's got a pocketed slider on it, so it snivels like crazy on opening. I don't roll the nose at all, and roll the tail just enough to control the pack job, quarter the slider, but don't pull it out over the nose... Don't be afraid of the Sabre... any canopy has the potential to open hard and slam you, the Sabre included, but there's lots of ways to tame the openings (packing technique, larger or pocketed slider, etc...) on those faster opening canopies... and the Sabre is a nice docile canopy at low wing loadings, making it an ideal canopy to learn to fly on... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

John Sherman I think, but I believe he sold the loft to John Storrie (of Shoot & Chute fame)... John and his wife Sarah (great people BTW) both jump the Prestige... it should be fine, and yes it was a good deal! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Sounds liks it's time to move up to "A" league, you cherry pickers! Congrats tho! Hockey is a great game! I started playing in-line hockey years ago, and eventually moved to ice (I'll never forget my youngest brother asking me "Where in the hell did you learn to ice skate?", cause he grew up in Texas too!)... but unlike you, I suck, and play in a D or low C league... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

YES, like the next day. WTF?? ahhhh... the joys of online 'dating'! I've got some experience with the online dating thing, and if I can tell you one thing that I've learned for sure about it, it's that none of the preliminary emailing and chatting means jack squat, until you meet that person in real life! I've come to view it as great way to meet people... nothing more, nothing less. If you meet more people, you increase your chances of having the kind of emotional connection with someone that will lead to a lasting friendship, or possibly even romance. But you won't know for sure until you meet them. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Well, I went right from a 300 (rental) to a 210 (yeah, I bought it)... Okay, I did have over 500 jumps at the time, but had been out of the sport for 17 years when I started jumping again, but the last canopy that I jumped when I quit was a F-111 7 cell, that was like 270sf... and I only made a 1/2 a dozen jumps on the 300 before downsizing. I'm about your weight, 260-265 out the door, and I can honestly tell you that I think it was too big of a downsize for me, and I had a lot more jumps than you when I made it! I made about 60 jumps on that 210 before a shoulder injury (hockey, not skydiving) forced me to sit out again, and I stood up all but one of those jumps, but still... there were some hot, humid, no wind days that I wish I had bought a 230!!! I think you'll be a lot happier (and safer) if you find a good used 230 Sabre, Hornet, or Spectre, and something like a Tempo 250 or PD-253, maybe a PD-235, but I wouldn't go any smaller than that... I have a ride on my PD-193, and can honestly say that if I had to buy again, I'd look for at least a PD-218 (which is the biggest thing that will fit into my current container)... Take all this with a grain of salt though... I'm pretty much a closet canopy nazi, and was surprised to see the shift to smaller canopies when I started jumping again... that and I'm old, and soft landings in all conditions, not speed, is what I'm looking for from my canopy! Good luck, and remember... "There are old skydivers, and there are bold skydivers, but there are no old bold skydivers." "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

just bought a new house cost me a pretty penny clouds will not matter "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Well, that's a grey area... technically, every jump might possibly kill you (and you can verify this by not opening your parachute... once!) But the spirit of "Bonus Days" requires that it be out of the 'ordinary', so a properly handled mal doesn't count, but one that you screw up probably does! Take my bonus day incident for example... we planned a 5 way out of a C-182 (don't ask, I can say 'over gross'), dragging a diamond with a stinger out the door. I was on the tail of the diamond, and as I took grips on the jumpers in front of me, the stinger behind me grabbed me by the shoulders, and started yelling something at me... I couldn't tell what he was trying to tell me, but when he grabbed me it had the side effect of me pulling on the legstrap grips on the guys in front of me, which was the signal to GO! So they went! Of course I went with them! But I wasn't really ready, and I fell off the tail... no problem, I just started flying into my slot. I felt... well... funny, but couldn't quite pin it down, so onward ho, gotta get to my slot. As I neared my position back on the tail, I made eye contact with a friend flying on the left wing (outside center?), and he had this look on his face.. this look of terror. He starts pointing frantically over his back, which looked clear and fine to me! It was then that I realized he meant me when he pointed over his back... so I looked over my back. Now I realized what the stinger had been trying to tell me! My container had opened when I bent over to take grips, and my d-bag had fallen out onto the floor of the plane! And when they went, and I went with them, he had no choice but to toss it out after me! So no shit, there I was (just had to throw that in )... trailing my main behind me in freefall, still in the bag, and looking might ugly. I might mention now, that I had already had one premature opening on this container, a solo jump, dive out exit , boom you're under canopy at 7500' kinda thing. So I thought this was the same thing except the pilot chute got snarled, and wasn't going to open, bag lock, whatever... But I'm high, and I know that, so I don't panic. I calmly reach for the cutaway handle, and pull it... hmmm, what's this??? It seems that there's so little drag on the stuff that the risers don't release. Still high, still plenty of time, so I just reach up and pull them loose, one by one... ahhhhhhhh, quick look over the shoulders, and now I'm clear (stay tuned). I'm still high, and it's really windy, and I'm jumping a round reserve (long time ago, okay). so I lay there and waited to pull my reserve... 2000' now, less chance of getting blown to Oklahoma, so I hit the reserve, and feel it coming off my back. Good feeling... Line stretch, and I look up to watch the reserve open... what I see next scares the shit out of me! Oh, my reserve is up there, and opening, but next to it is my streamering main, still in the d-bag!?! The reserve opens normally (thank you God!), and the main swings around and hangs underneath me, hanging by the ROL mounted pilot chute, which has been in the pouch the whole time.... shit! Bonus Days. "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

Bonus Days Okay, I'll start by telling everyone that I can't remember the origin of the term "Bonus Days", but that I remember the term from my early skydiving days (1978-1983), and it has just stuck with me over the years... "Bonus Days" are all the days you get after you're involved in an incident while skydiving that might have killed you, but didn't! Ordinary jumps don't count (but maybe they should! ) I'm on bonus days, and there's been a couple of posts very recently, by individuals that are now living on bonus days, and it made me wonder how many more of us are on "Bonus Days"... If you're on bonus days, tell us your bonus days story... "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

I thought I'd second that! bb posted this in another thread some time ago, and I felt compelled to rebut it then but didn't, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to do it now! I've never met her either, but based on all that she's written here, and all that she's done in organizing events for everyone's enjoyment, she's a total doll! And I've seen her pics on this site, and she's damn cute! Too bad she's too young for me! "If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."