LawnDart21

Slug, can you enplain this?: "I agree shit happens and skydiver #1 was partially at fault" Having not witnessed the accident, my only assumption here (correct me if I am wrong) is that Skydiver#1 landed, and was stationary while grabbing his gear up (read as not walking back to the hangar yet). I'm failing to see the "fault" of skydiver #1. Head on a swivel? Most people look "down" as they collect their gear. Nothing pisses me off more on a DZ than hearing a landing canopy yell "Look out" to someone on the ground. If you are still in the air, you can STEER away from things. I hope jumper #1 is okay, and if someone can please explain to me his "partial fault" with more than just "he should have had his head on a swivel-B.S., I would greatly appreciate it, Muchos gracias. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

28:3:0 -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

2:28:0 Good weekend. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Yup, that is certainly a valid counter point. The thing is though, at 120mph terminal, I have more confidence in my PD 143 opening and not blowing up, than at 180 mph with my tandem reserve opening and not blowning up under similar (at MSW conditions). Plus, lets say overloading my personal reserve blows it out on opening, I only damage myself. If a tandem reserve blows, you and your passenger are f'd. I just dont see putting a passenger (mostlikely a whuffo stranger) in that same risk that I would put myself in under my own reserve. I know the consequences of overloading my resevre, they (passengers) cant make that educated decision for maxing out/overlaoding a tandem reserve Great point though Crutch. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Here something to think about, the 500lb limit is essentailly based on the reserve's ability to deploy safely at tandem terminal. Its the manufactures "limit" on what they feel is safe. My question to you guys is this, if you have a tandem terminal reserve ride, wouldnt you feel more comforatble knowing you werent at the limit (500lbs) of what the manufacture says the resevre can open safely at? I've been 490 out the door a few times, and in retrospect didnt think it was the wisest decision. Most big people wont go through the student progression, so is it worth pushing the envelope of safety to show someone freefall that probably wont be back? Just something I've been thinking about lately. I still take big people, but I dont't go near the 500 limit anymore. Your thoughts? -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

From the moment you meet them, until you give them a parting high five when its over, you need to project total confidence in what you are doing. (Not to be confused with being egotistical). For that 30 minute period, from gearing up to landing, you are responsible for their lives, and I find projecting a confident attitude in what you are about to do with them is critical in easing thier mind about the jump. My intro goes like this: "Hi, My name is Tom, I will be your gravitational tour guide today, I only have three rules on my skydives. Rule #1, please do not grab my arms during our jump. Rule #2, Your arch is very important, lets practice it together, & Rule #3, now pay attention, this the most important rule of all, and that is of course to have fun, that is why your hear today, to have fun. You and I both have only one job to do on this jump. My job is to keep you safe, your job is to have fun, I plan on doing my job, so all that is left is for you to do yoru job and have a great time. Are you ready to do your job? (Yes). Great. Now even if you forget rules #1 and #2, I am still gonna bring you home, we'll just have more fun if you remember all three. (Insert big smile on my part)." Then if they still appear nervous, I point to my fiance in the hangar and say: "See that beautiful woman over there? I have a date with her tonight, and I plan on keeping the date, so I'm coming back, so if you stick with me, you'll come back too........you just can't come on the date with me when we get back, she's all mine." (Insert bigger smile) I find doing tandems to be the most rewarding jumps i make these days, its an odd combo of being totally humbled by the trust the students place in me, along with the inner belief that I can handle anything that is throw at me up there. If I didnt firmly believe in myself and that I can bring every student down safely, I'd stop doing tandems. Phew, I'm exhausted, gotta get back to work. Best of luck with doing tandems! You'll do great! Just be confident in your ability and stay humble, you'll change your student's lives up there! Blue skies! Tom -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Preface: I only have about 450 tandem jumps, I'm not an authority, this is just my opinion: I am a firm believer in the benefit of doing unstable exits (front flips and back flips) on purpose from time to time, out of various aircraft. Lets face it, if you do tandems long enough, not all the skill in the world will keep you from going unstable on exit periodically. What flips do is put you (purposely) into an unstable position and allow you the opportinuty to practice getting stable in a relatively controlled environment. As a footnote to the importance of being able to get stable from an unstable exit is that I am also a firm believer in the "Dont use the drogue to get stable" theory. I hate seeing video of a TM going head down just after exit, due to the poor body posture of the student, and about to roll over, throw the drogue to get stable and regain control. At 10,000ft plus, you have time to allow a rollover to occur and get stable, and THEN deploy the drogue in clean air. Not trying to bust on you Phree, but if you are reaching back for the drogue as you complete a backflip in anticipation of throwing it belly to earth, you might need to consider rethinking your exit technique. You should be stable, then throw, not throw as you are getting stable. All of that is of course a moot point in the follow up to my first quote is of course "Your not supposed to go in either", so i think an unstable drogue toss is better than no drogue toss, but my observation is that some TMs stop flying thier bodies, and simply dump the drogue out the door to remove the need for flying well. Back to the flips, I do them from time to time, premeditated with someone that has already made a tandem, the gear manufacture agreed it was an acceptable practice for unstable recoveries, and yes, it is also quite fun............. peace -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I think that charging for new cypres loops is acceptable. I replace them everytime, and while I would like to be able to say, "it's on me", I have to pay for either the premade ones or buy a roll and make them myself, so it is a monetary investment. If I only did 2 or 3 rigs a season, sure I'd say "its on me", but I expect to pack 50 reserves this season, and it can add up. I wouldnt charge anything extra, just what it cost to get them from airtec. As for everything else, I think an "A to Z" inspection of the rig is appropriate as included in the repack price. I look at it as a chance to be a "Para - Detective", I still get a kick out of just scanning gear for problems. Its a good mental exercise. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

When I got home from Dave's course this winter, I was really motivated to improve my sewing skills. Lets just say that my canopy patch for the course wasnt the easiest thing I had ever done.....lol....I think Rags is still shaking his head at my first attempt......lol Anyways relating to this thread and tools, having a kick ass loft to come home to, I set out to sew myself fabric holders (like gear bags that open like a book) for all my tools. The one thing that always stuck with me in the course was "COUNT YOUR TOOLS", and having quite a few tools, I thought, what better way to ease that process than by making holders with specific slots for each tool. Now I have 4 fabric holders, each one a different size, that hold all my tools and fit in my Craftsman tool box. Now when I finish a pack job, I review my four holders, and make sure everything is in its place. It works great, and now I can sew like a pro. (well, not like a pro, but atleast like an amateur.....lol). -Tom -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

This is my third season as a TM/Coach, and I was thinking the other day about the "Sue happy" society we live in and the potential for student law suits stemming from the DZ. Up till now I never really gave it much thought because, to be honest, I never really had much to sue for in the event of a law suit. But now, as my wedding is approaching and we start looking at houses, I realized that we have 2 cars a good retirement savings, and with the addition of a house, our assets are getting bigger. With that said, how do you other instructors out there go about protecting your personal assets from the law suit feeders that are looming in the shadows? I'm just trying to get an idea of how to best protect our assets in the event of a future law suit. I know the DZ waiver is designed to protect the DZ and the instructor, but in the event of ever being sued, I am trying to cover all my options. Thanks for the input. - Tom -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I have approximately 500 jumps on Cobalts, I currently jump a 105, I have a 120, my fiance is on my 135 and my best friend on the DZ jumps a 150. My fiance has over 100 jumps on the 135, and my friend has over 100 jumps on his 150. Thats approx. 700 jumps in total, and not one bad opening pn four seperate canopies made at four seperate times. My fiance and I are packing/rigging fanatics and as such are meticulous in our packing and follow the Atair recommendations. My buddy is much less proficent and still packs great openings. I know there will always be people that want to bash the Cobalt, or the company, but come on, let up a little, its a sweet canopy and flies great in my opinion. As for flies bigger, I had the opportunity to do back to back video loads all day on my Cobalt 105 and on a Crossfire 107, back and forth all day. The Crossfire is a good canhopy, no complaints, but it definitely flew smaller than my 105 over a 2.0 loading. The 107 was very twitchy and super sensative to oversteer, where as my 105 flew better and was less sensative at that loading. I'm not an engineer, I make noclaims other than personal experience, and with 4 canopies, I have not experienced, seen or heard a single bitch about the Cobalt openings, flying or flaring. C'mon, can't we all get along? -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

My handles: Cutaway= PROBLEM Reserve= PROBLEM SOLVER My fiance's handles: Cutaway= BAD PACK Reserve= REPACK! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Don't get me wrong, I still like freefall, but lately all I want to do is hop & pops to swoop the beer line. Freefall is fun, but I care more about the swoop these days than the jump itself. Anyone else? -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

For me it would be Mirage, Atair, PD, Bonehead, Firefly & Go Fast, I have never in 5 years, had a bad experience with any gear manufacture. On the contrary all the above companies have all give me exceptional customer service whenever I picked up the phone to contact them. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I think that the malfunction rate for tandem rigs is always going to be lower than on sport rigs for one primary reason, the experience of the packers. Typically you have DZ employed packers that have packed a zillion rigs and are highly proficient with what they do, ie, they are specialized in packing tandem mains. Where as most sport jumpers that pack their own mains, only have "x" number of pack jobs that corresponds to the number of jumps they have. A jumper with 150 jumps has only (in theory) 150 pack jobs, and as such is less effficient than the packer packing tandems that has 2000 pack jobs. When we are first starting out in the sport we have so much to learn and to keep in our head, and I have observed packing proficency to be one of the harder things for newer jumpers to become effioecnt at. Hence, my theory is that tandems malfunction less than sport rigs becuase the people that pack tandems "typically" have more experience than people packing sport rigs. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

It's gotta be a BASE rig, as they state on their add, it is being sold with NO RESERVE!!!!! Ha Ha Ha! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

LOL! i guess i did! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Found it. www.parachuteriggers.com Thanks! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Does anyone know if Altico has there closing instrcutions online anywhere? I checked their website and couldn't find it (no to say it isnt there, I just couldnt find it). I am looking to add the Dolphin to my rigging book, and cant find any manuals out there. Thanks for any input/help. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

These days I usually spend my weekends doing tandems from sun up to sun down, and while I have always tried to squeek in a fun jump or two each weekend if the schedule permits it, I am finding these days, I prefer to just sit onthe ground if I have a load off and just rest. My busiest day was 17 tandems and three fun jumps, 20 in a day. Now adays, I take those random three loads down and sneak a nap in instead. I hope to make more fun jumps this season though. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I'm kind of wondering what added benefit buying a Comp Cobalt can provide, given your jump numbers, over a regular Cobalt, or even going to a square or semi-elliptical canopy? Atair's website lists the CC as an Ultra High Performance canopy, and states "Pro Pilots Only" and "for experienced pilots only" on two differnent pages on their site. You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders, but also a bit niave about canopy progresion. At 150 jumps, you shouldn't be under such a high performance canopy, regardless of your years in the sport, or your intended slow progression. Plus, a 1.45 wing loading is well within the "danger area" of canopy flying. Just my .02. Stay safe and please, please be careful if you are intent on jumping that canopy. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I was thinking the same thing! Yikes! Well, if you ever wanted to learn how to "Stand Fly", that's one way to learn......lol. Seriously though, I think everyone frets about losing their video gear, which is normal, I mean at a quick estimate, my Bonehead FTP with video and stills on it is pretty expensive. When tandem students ask about it, I tell them its my $3000 hat. What I have found is that most serious videographers place their video gear on thier home owners insurance or rental insurance. It adds a few bucks a month in coverage, but they jump knowing they can cut it away and lose it forever, and be able to replace it with ease. Just a thought. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Thank you Wally! You know I talk with my fiance (also a jumper, lucky me!) about being a TM and how it gives me a feeling of being a "temporary super hero" sometimes, because it allows me to show people our environment and experience for the first time, and how I get to witness first hand the "life changing" effect it has on them when we land. Volunteering makes me feel the same way in a sense, it's so humbling yet so reaffirming to be able to make such a drastic and immediate positive impact on the quaility of their lives. Plus, I got two new great friends out the deal as well, as Don & Jeanette (the two I volunteer with each week) have become a big part of my life. Both of them will be attending my wedding in October, and we all (Don, Jeanette, my fiance and myself) have this very special bond between us all now. It's pretty cool, I never saw it coming, and thats the best part. We've all become so close, it no longer feels like "volunteering", its now just spending time with new friends! Thanks again! Tom

Okay, so about two years ago, I was on a sunset load, and pulled high to enjoy the sunset. I remember sitting there watching the magnificent hues of the sun reflecting off the clouds and I started to think to myself how lucky I was to be a skydiver, and how thankful I was for being able to see & appreciate this wonderous view. Shortly there after, I realized that I wanted to find a way to say "Thank you" to the world around me for being so priviledged to do what we do. I did some research and found a local nonprofit organization called MAB (Massachusetts Association for the Blind www.mablind.org) and signed up to be a volunteer. I have spent the last two years working with people that are blind, taking them grociery shopping, paying thier bills, reading mail, etc, and I just wanted to take a moment and offer to the community here, my observations of my experience. I once thought skydiving was the most amazing experience my life could find, but I have found that volunteering has become that life changing expeirence and actually now makes my skydives that much more amazing. It has redefined how much more I now appreciate what I see and experience up in the sky. Well, I justgot back from having coffee with my blind friend Don, and I wanted to share my experience with you all, in hopes that it might motivate someone to take a chance and see if they can get involved with helping some in their community. I know we have a ton of great people on here at dz.com, and we all do what we can to help others in our own way, I just wanted to share how amazing my experience has been working with the blind these last two years, and ask of you, if you have the time, to see if you too might be able to find the time to volunteer with an organization in your area. There are thousands of blind people around the country that are out there waiting to change your life, and I just thought I'd see if I could use this as a means to motivate some to go find them.

Great, and now Mary is an unemployed packer......... -- My other ride is a RESERVE.