AndyMan

As an additional thought, why not the PD Navigator? It is made up to 300 square feet, which would give you a wingloading of 1.16 - a perfectly reasonable wingloading given your size. Remember that wingloading and weight do not scale linearly. A heavier person can be a bit more aggresive than others, so don't fret too much about insisting on a 350. Another option is the ZP.exe, made by ParachuteSystems http://www.parachutesystems.co.za/. They're fully rectangular, often used as student first-jump canopies, and made up to 285. That'll give you a wingloading of 1.22. Given how wingloading and weight do not scale linearly, that should serve you well. Plenty of 80-something jumpers buy canopies at a 1.2 wingloading and do so quite safely. Both are less expensive than any of the 350 canopies you've mentioned, and will have a half decent resale value since they're often used by skydiving schools. You should be able to off-load it without too much dificulty. Also, I think it's wise to avoid a 'one-off' solution if possible. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Not at all. Notice that my post was in the form of a question. Like I said: "Surely there are square tandem canopies?" I know many of the current 'hot' models are fully eliptical, but surely they aren't all like that? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'm curious about your thoughts on the Lotus. "Feeling the bumps" is a good thing. It means the canopy is remaining rigid and flying through turbulence, instead of expanding and contracting like most canopies do. Most canopies do not handle turbulence well at all, some will even expand and contract so much that the canopy actually collapses. Turbulence is exactly what the Lotus was designed for. Otherwise, The Sabre2 is a good canopy. So is the Pilot. So is the Safire2, although you might have trouble learning to flare the Safire2 if you jump it. Icarus sets up their brakes differently than PD. The Nitron is pretty aggresive. Kudos for acknowledging you're not ready for it. You're probably right. Both the Spectre and the Triathlon are 7 cell, and given that you're mostly flying 9 cells it's no surprise that these aren't hitting your sweet spot. You've pretty much got the field covered. My only thought was to also try a Sillouette from PD. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I know nothing. Surely there are square tandem canopies? Maybe the older style ones, like a SET? A big advantage of a tandem canopy would be that while they're expensive, he could recover a lot of the cost by selling it on the used market when he's done with it. He may have a lot of trouble selling an extra-large normal-sized main. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Wow. Tell us what you really think! Be honest! For the record, the first time I was ever truely happy with a jumpsuit was when I bought my first TonySuit. One WendySuit and 2 Merlin suits paled in comparison to my Tony Suit. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Ditto. I don't carry spare parts. Of my one cuttaway, I've kept all parts. Stocking parts for an unlikely loss seems like a waste of money. If I do find myself with lost parts, I'll dig my old container out of the closet. Even before I had second container I still didn't stock parts, though. I just don't plan on loosing any. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think my thoughts are similar. With the notable exception of a Main canopy and a harness/container, almost all of the gear I carry serves the purpose of being usefull when things go wrong, not when things go right. There's a common notion in skydiving that once somebody has done something once, they're better because of it. There's countless threads about only jumping with, or as some people put it 'relying' on specific instruments. Often there's an undercurrent of superiority - it seems like some people think they're better because they've jumped without AAD's, Altimeters, goggles, hook-knives, etc. Jumpers are chastised for 'relying' on gear because of they choose to not go without. I dispute this. Personally, even though I have jumped without AAD's, goggles, hook-knives, or altimeters, I don't think of those times as notches in my metaphorical bedpost, I think of them times as personal failings. They were times when I would have been unprepared for the unlikely. It seems that a good way to keep yourself alive in skydiving is the old scouting motto: be prepared. Intentionally leaving valuable gear on the ground is not wise. To a new jumper who hasn't developed an acute ability to judge altitude by sight, an altimeter is essentially a life saving device on every skydive. To the rest of us, it's a tool that we carry for when things go wrong - like an RSL, an AAD, or goggles on a CRW jump, etc. The notion of 'knowing altitude by sight' is interesting. I've been surprised at the number of times I've horrendously misjudged altitude. Usually my judgment of altitude is off most when things change, or when I'm put in unfamiliar circumstances. For example, on the few times I've sat in the right seat of the Otter for an observer ride, I almost always get nervous when the pilot is still diving the plane's decent at 4,000 feet. Other times on landing I've been convinced that we were going to crater well short of the runway, only for the pilot to pull off a textbook landing. Getting back to skydiving, I've found when I jump a new canopy for the first time I'm equally innacurate in my approaches. We are all faliable. We don't get hurt when everything goes right, but when everything goes wrong. Be prepared. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I was shocked at how true this is. A few weeks ago a demo team from Chicagoland did an intentional water jump into a local harbour. After landing they waited (floating....) for rescue boats to pull them from the water. Most were in the water for at least a minute, some close to two. The reserves were barely damp. Most of the wetness was confined to the 'ears' of the packjob, near the shoulders. The section that would've housed the Cypres was completely dry. Douva, got pics? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Yup. What's interesting is that individual has thousands of jumps, and has even been on several record RW jumps. Nobody ever questioned his qualifications, by every indication his ego was appropriately sized to his experience. The lesson I took from that experience was simple. Absolutely anybody can (and everyone does!) screw up. Nobody is immune from collosal brain farts, no matter how much experience. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Also, you might want to add Ward Hessig, of Mirage. wardhessig _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

A happy medium is an option that most other manufacturers are offering: "spandura". Yet another fabric from the people formerly known as DuPont, Spandura is a happy medium between Cordura and Spandex. It's a hybrid fabric made with woven fibers of Cordura, Supplex, and Lycra. It ends up with the wear properties of Cordura, along with some of the stretchiness of Lycra (spandex). It's actually a bit stiffer than Spandex, which does add to security of the pilot chute. Aerodyne offers it as stock, RWS puts it as stock on all their student gear, not sure about others. I'm sure Wings would be willing to use it, if he asked. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

In the software industry, the promise of a future product is called 'vaporware'. Do not ever wait for vaporware. When purchasing, consider the products that are available now. For example, PD has been promising a 135 and 150 square foot Kitana "real soon" for close to 2 years now. They still haven't released them. Anyone who waited for one gave up long ago and cursed themselves for waiting as long as they did. When given the choice between a product that's available and one that's not, there really isn't any competition. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Landing off isn't so bad. One of the golden rules: "Land safe, not close". If that means a long walk through Farmer McNasty's field, so be it. Talk to your instructors so that you know the neighborhood. Know what fields are good choices, and have a basic understanding of the terrain at those locations. GetBackItis has been the source of FAR too many injuries. Jumpers fall into a train of thought where they think they have to make it back. Don't do that. Doing that can put you in a corner where by the time you realise you won't make it, you're too low to avoid obstacles, or too low to turn into the wind. Avoid the corner, take the long walk. On every skydive, by 1000 feet you should pick an appropriate field to land in that you're sure you can reach. Once you pick that field, fly the pattern for that field, and try your best to land in that field. Sometimes newer jumpers screw up their pattern and miss the landing area. That's always going to happen, and generally isn't a major issue. The more important problem is on those days when the spot is long and the winds are calm, the minute you open you see that you won't make it back. Pick a safe alternate landing area ASAP. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

When I found myself in this situation a few years ago, I did what any self respecting video-guy would do. I tried my best to shoot good video. Crappy video posted here: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=393 In the event I witnessed, a unconcious jumper ended up spinning away from a ten way. A few AFF instructors who happened to be on the jump chased him, and noticed he had started to respond after a few seconds. The guy ended up pulling for himself 10 seconds after the incident. My limited experience is that someone is most likely going to go unconscious due to a colision, and that means you won't be holding onto them. You'd have to chase them, and they'll likely be spinning. Deploying a spinning skydiver is extremely dificult - and dangerous. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'm most curious about the first point. My copy of the IRM doesn't specify a passing grade for the In-Air Skills. What's the current standard? 2 seems odd as someone who can take the test on their own time with their own resources should be able to do just as well as someone who sat through the course - and the test is damn easy anyways. 3 and 4 seem like common sense. There's no excuse for missing rigging errors, and paperwork lag sucks. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I do. I can't speak to its accuracy in freefall, I admit that I rarely look at it then. I use it primarily under canopy to help hone in my swoops. I've never noticed any problems with its accuracy, either as an altimeter or logbook. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It can be more than that. My Icon shipped with cuttaway cables that are a bit short - presumably because of my 'non-standard' size was putting more flex in the chest ring than expected. It took Aerodyne over 4 monthes to ship me a longer one. During that time I never had a riser fall off, but did have the cables slip out of the housing after landing. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It's a fair question, so I'll answer. Keep in mind that the objective is NOT to jump the smallest canopy possible. The objective is always to jump an appropriate canopy. If you get to the point where you really want to downsize, but think your container won't hold a smaller main - then yeah, choosing an airlocked canopy might help. That said, it's a pretty silly reason to buy one of these canopies. There are far better reasons for buying an airlocked main, a good place to start reading is here: http://www.bigairsportz.com/airlocks.php Airlocked canopies are not "by definition" more high performance than their "standard" competition. At the proper wingloading the Big Air Sportz Lotus is perfectly acceptable for newer jumpers. The Samurai or PD Vengence is not. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Quite simply, I think lipstick is disgusting. Why women thinks it makes them looks better is beyond me. I've never kissed a woman who wore it. I'm 31. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The price of drugs in Canada is determined by a formula which takes into consideration the cost of development and leaves plenty of room for profit. What it doesn't do is primarily two things: 1) take into consideration the cost of advertising, and 2) allow for gouging. Drug companies aren't forced to sell in Canada. Despite this, they insist on shipping their products daily, and continue to sell at a profit. Life must be hard for them, indeed. Canadians are fortunate enough to not have to endure countless ads for the latest blockbuster (but often innefectual) drug during the CFL football play-offs... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think of them as packing one size larger. My Samurai 136 packs similarly, but a bit smaller than my Stiletto 150. You order directly from Brian. www.bigairsportz.com. I don't know of any official dealers for his canopies. I don't have a lot of jumps on my new Samurai, but I've always been very impressed with every one I've jumped. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That is factually incorrect. Most of the big drug companies are based in Europe. Canada has a few, too. Your economic argument is weak, too. There are countless studies done by economists around the world that suggest that the US health care system is the most innefecient one, anywhere. Here's just one: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=a4J.ER8r4CrM&refer=canada. Moreover, Canadians tend to live longer than Americans - that being one very strong indicator that not only is it cheaper in Canada, but it's better too. I'm not sure why you think this is the question. The model changes from one of pure government support to one where people have the option of paying for a higher level of service. This sounds an awfull lot like the public school system, where everyone pays for a good level and those who choose to pay for more can, by sending their kids to private school. The existance of private schools does not threaten the future of public ones. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That's the same case I use. I never thought of heat issues. I don't think any case will adequately protect electronics from a hot car on a summer day. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The "Hall of Shame", part II. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

And now in fine tradition, the "Hall of Shame", part I. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.