mnskydiver688

I prefer when someone is in the right lane ready to exit and then as the exit is approaching they realize it is one of the rogue left lane exits, so they dart across 4 lanes of traffic. That makes things interesting. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

Australia huh? Ok you got me there. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I knew that that was going to come up. Foreigners rebutting with "It costs way more here!" Don't you guys have a lot of taxes attached to the price of gas? And how bout those of us who live in areas where everything is so spread out we have to drive to get places? Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

My girlfriend gets very mad when I act more excited about jumping than seeing her. She knows that if she ever got in the way of my jumping things might go bad, so she makes compromises. Just like when I compromise and wear padded armor for one week every month. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

Yeah I just paid $2.49 a gallon. They slowly raise it back up, see when people make a fuss, then bring it back down. It is a vicious cycle. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I have thought about the erosion of our rights many times before. We are living less and less private lives. With more technology being used than ever before in our daily lives our privacy will continue to disappear. I fear that at some point we are going to reach a critical point and the s**t will hit the fan. I agree that we haven't seen anything yet. We are traveling down a dangerous and disturbing path. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

Another option for people on the "run" are adult diapers. "Opps I crapped my pants" seem to be very popular. Edit: I almost forgot about rapid dissolve TP. Using that would be like winning the lottery. If it stays together long enough you win. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I don't know about you guys but I use Egyptian cotton. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I would hope that for most people it has nothing to do with bragging. I jump at a small dz and most of the students that make jumps are still in the early parts of progression. I would like to become a coach to help out the other instructors when the students get close to the end of the licensing process. If I was able to jump with students without a rating I would do it. I want to be active in the process of student progression because I want to help continue to get new jumpers licensed. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I was nervous for a fair number of my jumps. I was very nervous when I jumped my first pack job. That was an interesting ride to altitude. To a certain extent fear is what keeps you safe, but don't forget to have some fun. Those butterflies I get before I exit the plane is what I look forward to. I like having my senses bombarded. That is probably why I started jumping out of a plane. If it doesn't feel like anything that person should consider some other sport. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I have read that the PD Spectre has nice soft openings. However I'm not sure if you want to go with a 7 cell again or if you are looking at a 9 cell. I'm sure other people will have more useful information, but I thought I would throw this in there. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

After reading this thread thoroughly I have realized something. It is said over and over again that if someone has low jump numbers, say below 500 they get told that they don't know crap. They can't do this they can't do that. In my observations rarely do you hear about stuff that people know, and do right. If when I began skiing back when I was very young I heard "oh man you don't know anything", I'm not sure if I would've continued. Instead I heard good you are really improving. You are doing this right. There are somethings you need to work on and here they are. Now I would hope that at DZ's this attitude can be found. On DZ.com though it seems to be the opposite. Everybody who has low numbers has felt the obligation to say "I don't know anything" Is this the kind of attitude people should have? To feel the need to put themselves down before making a comment? Yes, us with low jump numbers don't know everything but we know something. No one will ever know everything. I know, I know far far less than someone with 10,000 more jumps than me. Someone with one more jump than me knows more. Do people need to work on being in touch with their own knowledge yes. Do we need to make low number jumpers feel like they are a lower class skydiver until they get to an "acceptable level"? Why not concentrate on presenting a more balanced attitude when it comes to criticisms of lower number jumpers. Once again this is just my verbal diarrhea and I don't know crap. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I realize that I am out of my element but I can't help myself. Coaches as I understand it are there for supplemental instruction. They are there to oversee a students jump. That student has made multiple jumps by that point. They are not there to train students from the ground up. They are there to give a student someone to jump with and provide tips on how to improve. Let's look at what a coach really does as far as I understand it. They might help a student pack a parachute. They better know how to pack a parachute considering they have made it to even just 100 jumps. They review emergency procedures with the student. Any licensed skydiver even one who has 100 jumps has the EP embedded in there brain. They do a gear check. This is something any licensed skydiver does. They help spot the aircraft if it is needed. This skill is taught throughout the licensing process and they have most likely spotted the plane a fair amount even at 100 jumps. They watch the student in freefall and give pointers and provide a second set of eyes. Coaches are not instructors. They are not meant to replace instructors during the latter part of the training process. I know that many people will continue to believe that coaches should not be around and only instructors should be dealing with students, but I guess I just have a different understanding of what the purpose of a coach is. Anyway again just my thoughts. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I understand how this can make it appear that people who have just become coaches after 100 jumps feel as though they can afford to cut corners. I really believe that it is heavily dependent on who the person is. I plan on taking the coach course as soon as I can. I want to help out the club that I jump at. I also believe that since it wasn't too long ago I was in training I can give students a perspective that few instructors can because of how long it has been since they started jumping. I take safety very seriously. I hope to convey that to students when I become a coach. You can be safety conscious and still have fun. It hurts me to hear about a problem like this because it not only can hurt the people around that type of jumper and himself but it also can hurt people like me who are trying to help in getting jumpers into the sport safely but are losing respect due to this kind of behavior. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I will help. PM me Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I jump at Cessna DZ and so my decision to get a helmet was based on factors a little different than most. Mainly I use it to protect against bumping my head in the plane when we are boarding and moving around getting ready to exit. A 182 is pretty small and there are many places to bump your head. Also I needed a place to put my audible. I know it wont do too much but it just makes the experience more enjoyable. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

My first jump was a tandem back in the summer of '04. I took the FJC the next weekend and started my journey. Took a year off in between because I was an idiot and then got licensed this last summer. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I am interested in getting some viewpoints. I have been jumping a PD-210 F-111 canopy for about 15 jumps. My exit weight is about 185lbs maybe a bit less. The equipment i am most likely going to get is a Sabre 170. I have jumped it and a Monarch 170 a few times. I definately noticed a difference in the speed but I also discovered the flare is much more powerful. What my question is when downsizing from a F-111 canopy is the change in wingloading as drastic as going from a ZP canopy to another smaller ZP canopy due to the different nature of F-111 and ZP? Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

Although I am very new to the sport I have developed some opinions. A major thing I have noticed with skydiving that I haven't with my other sports is the lack of skills awareness. Being aware of ones limits is crucial. Skydiving can appear to have a very steep learning curve. This translates into internal pressures within a skydiver to get to an "acceptable" or "trendy" skill level. This can cause one to over-estimate their ability or take undo risks. While training I believe is incredibly crucial self awareness of ability is almost more important. As in any sport training can only do so much. Making someone feel comfortable with their present skill level and instill the value of practice and reasonable increases in risk. The part the USPA could play is to include this idea and really promote it in current training programs. Start pushing this very early in the training of a new skydiver. Have a training structure that re-enforces these ideals over and over again. Know yourself, know your ability, know your limits, and know how to safely become a better skydiver. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

Thank you for the posts so far. I have began to look at the speech in a different light. Even if the equipment has gotten safer you can never eliminate the element of stupidity. I enjoy other sports that have the potential to injure you or even kill you. I put a lot of faith in my equipment, but no more than what is deserved. I believe fear is a crucial factor in safety. If there is no fear then there is no drive to consider safety or practice safe actions. Thank you for the alternative perspectives. Keep them coming. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I am looking at giving a speech about the evolution of safety in sport skydiving. I am looking for some advice on pieces of equipment and other things that have improved safety. The ones that came to mind are Booth's 3 ring, Cypres, and training methods. I have read Chris Needels capital commentary in the latest Parachutist and that was very informative. Any veterans out there who can think of other major developments please give some tips. Thanks for any info. Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

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Ahh.. this is where i feel stupid... Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I had a few questions about wingsuits. If there is another thread that covers a lot of details by all means direct me to it so we dont waste energy being redundant we do that enough in the air. Anyway, I am wondering if when you want to use a wingsuit does it have to get integrated into your rig, which would mean if you all of sudden wanted to do a RW or free fly jump it would take some time to swtich back to none wingsuit flying? Also, I know this is a very relative and difficult question to answer but just how many jumps should someone have under their belt before attempting wingsuit flight? Any other info that would be helpful is appreciated. Thanks Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

I was always under the impression that when you wanted to start free flying you do a fair number of solo dives first in the sit postion learning how to control movement in all directions and then go to head down solos. Then move to jumping with other people in these configurations. Call me conservative but I see myself staying in the sport for quite sometime so what is the rush? If you get 100-200 jumps a year you will get going in free flying soon enough. But then again what do i know im just a lowly Whuffo! Sky Canyon Wingsuiters