UDSkyJunkie

Best opening canopy I've ever owned (or jumped, for that matter): an F-111 PD 9-Cell 170. Dead on heading, nice snivel, but not too much... like clockwork, even if I dumped in a track. Sabre1 135: not too bad, but would occasionally open hard (never painful) and would frequently whip a 180 to the left. Sabre2 120: Flies like a dream, never opens hard, but NOT consistent. Every opening is an adventure, although after about 100 jumps I figured out how to compensate for it. Never jumped one, but the consensus seems to be that he spectre is the nicest opening canopy out there. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Who knows? So a guy who's had sex 50 times total with 20 different women has sometihg to brag about when he's talking to a guy who's has sex 500 times with 2 women? "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

270 single-front-riser with harness on a Sabre2 120 loaded approx 1.45:1: 400 feet. Come out of the turn with a little opposite harness input, and it seems to work very well. Rear-riser or toggle flare, depending on the landing. Sometimes on cold days I need to start maybe 50 feet lower. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Here's my take (I am a rigger) #1 is technically required, but in my opinion a non-issue #3 is poor customer service, especially if they didn't tell you ahead of time that there was an additional fee for straitening out the main. I would not go back to that rigger. #2 is proof that the rigger is not doing his job. I would not jump his packjob, and be tempted to try to get my money back, although that might not be worth the trouble. Sorry you got screwed, buddy. That's why I became my own rigger! "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Dude... did you even read my next post? Older or less expensive does not mean inferior. My first rig: Vector III, zero jumps: $650 + $150 for harness resizing Sabre 135 with fresh reline: $900 (would be much cheaper today) Micro-raven 150 with 1 use: $600 3-year-old cypres: $600 So for under 3 grand, I got very safe gear. I don't think people should skimp on their gear, I just think you don't need all brand new stuff for your first rig. Sure, you can get a Sabre2 with 300 jumps for $1200. Or, you could get a Sabre1 with 300 jumps for $500. You can get a virtually new container for $1400 or $800... you just have to look around. And you can get a new cypress for $1000, or a 6-year old, equally safe cypress for $500. Granted, the cypress is life-limited and you'll have to buy a new one sooner, but that's several years away, and when you're already shelling out several thousand dollars for gear and student training, it might help to save a few hundred dollars in the short-term. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

I promise it will get better, even if you're still out of shape. The amount of anxiety and adrenaline in your body is so high during your first dozen jumps that it just takes everything out of you. By the time you've got 50 jumps you'll look back at this and laugh. When I had about 150 jumps I did my first 4-way meet. Up at like 6:00 am, 6 jumps in one day, creeping, dirt dive, mockup, trying to wrap my mind around the dive pool, pressure to perform, emotional ups and downs... by the end of that day I felt about like I did the day of my first jump. But imagine how much more actual energy went into that day! The best thing you can do for yourself is to increase your endurance... running, cycling, midget-tossing, whatever. Things like yoga are good too... flexibility will reduce a lot of your end of the day aches, and mental calmness will vastly reduce the exhaustion. good luck to you! "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Given that knowledge, $4300 may be a good price for that equipment. Personally, I think that price is worth it only if: 1) The harness fits you very well (does not require re-sizing). 2) You've test-jumped the rig several times and you're very happy with the comfort of the harness and the flying characheristics of the canopy. 3) You like the colors (silly, but it's $4300... why pay a lot if you don't like the colors?) 4) The container is small enough that it will accomodate a main at least 1 size, maybe 2 sizes smaller. While it's certainly not required, typically jumpers will buy a smaller main within their first few years. If the container can't fit a smaller main, then you'll be stuck looking for a new container if and when you decide to buy a new main. 5) You can afford the $4300 without sacrificing too many jumps. I've seen a lot of jumpers get beautiful, expensive gear when they've got 50 jumps, and then they can only afford a few jumps a month. Lots of jumps are way more important than fancy gear. Your first rig needs only to be SAFE. 6) You've had a rigger and instructor look it over, and they agree the equipment is in good condition and appropriate for your skill. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Wouldn't recommend brand new equipment just yet even if you could get it for that price, which you probably could. You'll probably be looking for other gear in your first few hundred jumps. Here's the price I would be looking for for what you've described: Sabre2 150 with 300 jumps: $800 - $1000 PD 143 reserve with no rides: $650 - $800 Safe, freefly-friendly first container: $600 - $800 Cypress2: $100 per year of life left. Cypress has a 12-year life, then is not legal. If the Cypress is coming up on the 4-year mark, find out if it needs the factory maintenance and/or new batteries. If it does, adjust the price accordingly. Total cost: between $2500 and $3500. The price asked for seems high, unless the equipment is very new and in perfect shape. If it is, my personal recommendation is to look for something a little older. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

When I started jumping, I was 125, 5'7" (about 170), so almost exactly your size, and not particularly strong. Strength was never a problem. Flexibility, being relaxed in freefall, and adaptation to the unfamiliar environment get you a lot further. When you've got 5 jumps, jumping is exhausting on all levels. I remember my frist jump... I was wired for an hour or two, and then I crashed as if I'd come off a cocaine high! By the end of the day I could hardly move or think. Today, I can bust out 8 dives and be ready to go do 8 more. This has more to do with a relative lack of anxiety, smaller adrenaline spike, familiarity with the environment, ect than strength. That being said... I've been going to the gym for 2 years, I've I'm now very strong for my small size. I'm a 4-way guy, and the added strength has helped me noticably on exits and during prep work (creeping, at the mock-up, tunnel flying...). It would be almost impossible to pick out muscle groups that have had the most benefit. The better all-around shape you're in, the easier it will be. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Hard to explain in words, but here goes. Upon landing we found that - the cypres had fired - the "loop" was still intact (meaning if you put a pin through it, it would still hold a container shut) - The tip of the loop was cleanly cut off, making the loop thin in that region... resembled when a closing loop is worn and fraying, but cleaner. This could only happen with a flap-mounted cutter (like a vector) as opposed to a backpad mounted cutter (like a dolphin). So picture this sequence of events: the ripcord is pulled, there's a very short moment where the pilot chute is pushing the flap out, away from the loop. At that time, the cypres fires. The loop is maybe 2mm thick, and the cypres cuts only 1mm. If it had fired a millisecond earlier, it would have beat the jumper and cut the loop, and if it had fired a millisecond later the loop would already be fully extracted from the cutter, and the blade would cut nothing. Weird stuff... impossible odds. But life is stranger than fiction, right? "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Don't have any personal low pulls (so far I've kept it above 2000' except my reserve ride, still about 1800). But I've witnessed a couple... 1) Watched a newbie skysurfer chop, spend like 10 seconds unstable chopping his board, and dump the reserve at 750ish... we know the altitude because the very tip of the loop was cut (he beat the cypress, but by so little time that it fired and cut the very end of the loop as it was being extracted). Calculate the odds of THAT! 2) Watched a 1000' hop-n-pop from a Beech 18. One guy had a malfunction, tried to fix it, and dumped his round reserve around 400'. Then watched him disappear behind the trees. He got a fully inflated canopy at about 50'. 3) There's a video of two freefliers who break off real low, and the camera guy's on his back. Flips over, and all you see in the wide-angle lens is a house, a tree, and a driveway. He dumps, misses all three, and "lands" in the lawn with a half-inflated main but survives with several broken bones, and is still concious enough that you can hear him saying "I'm ok! I fucked up... I'm ok! I fucked up..." on the video. Saw all of those before I ever jumped. That's why I don't pull low! "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Just one more thing to add... the other two of my teammates got a lot of their coaching from "that guy" too... myself and one other as very new jumpers, and the other not so new, but came from a small DZ without a lot of high-level stuff going on. So in this case, "that guy" brought up his whole future team! "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

"That guy" took me up on a lot of jumps when I was a newbie... several hundred jumps and 3 teams later I got pretty good. In 2006, the same "That guy" took a slot on my team, and we proceeded to take 6th at nationals in intermediate... it's the best score he's posted since the 80's, and the best ever for me and the rest of the team. A few of us try to pay that guy back. Right now, I'm as strong a flier as he is, maybe stronger... but then I'm 28 years younger and 115 lbs lighter too. Someday, I aspire to be a lot better than him. But if I do, and the two of us cross paths later, he'll get on any dive with me he wants. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Slight alteration to that... "I've yet to meet someone who does 50 jumps a year who STILL has any skills worth learning..." I've met a few who had skills, then got real uncurrent, and lost them. And I admit I met one person who had quit for 14 years, and was back up to speed and better than 95% of the jumpers around him within a couple dozen jumps... I couldn't believe it! Of course, he did win an open-class silver at nationals in 86... "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Never had to deal with this yet, but if I did, I wouldn't ask for my money back... and I'd go buy the pilot a beer for saving my ass! Anyone who would demand their money back is being very cheap. Yes, they did not recieve a service they paid for, but really... you're going to have aircraft problems leading to an early exit what, maybe 1 jump in 1000??? Is the $22 really worth it? Plus, all but maybe 5 DZO's in the country are more poor than the jumpers they fly all day anyway. As a packer, I have packed about a dozen malfunctions (out of 8 or 10,000 packjobs), and have been paid for all of them. I never asked for the money on those, but I always got it. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

My DZO had something like 12,000 jumps and had never been pied. Everyone knew it, but noone would pie him because he said he would hunt down and beat the shit out anyone who pied him, and he's the kind of guy who wasn't joking. So one day he was playing tandem student for one of our up-and-coming instructors. We knew our DZO would never hit a girl, so we got all the women on the DZ organized and when the tandem landed, the TM (also a woman) held him while all the other ladies pied him. It was the stuff of legend! You're NEVER safe "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Sabre2 120, 1.45:1, 200+ on a good day. Not consistantly yet, but I'm getting there. Sabre1 135, 1.25:1, never measured, but I'd estimate my best was around 150 ft. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

If they want to learn, and they're trying hard, I'll happily jump with someone right off student status. It's only fair, lots of people did this for me, after all. If they suck and have no plan to get better, they can have 10,000 jumps and I still won't jump with them (yes, I know people in this category!). "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Yeah, by "old-school Sabre" I just meant "Sabre1". The term Sabre1 bugs me because I remember when the Sabre was the best canopy out there. You're quite right that there's nothing wrong with them... I have 500 jumps on a Sabre 135, and it's a great canopy. I still believe it is, by far, the best first canopy for your money. Of course, try convincing that to someone with 50 jumps who keeps getting told that they are "old" "outdated" and open "incredibly hard". "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Funny story... I know a guy who went to another DZ, and then realized his rig was out of date, so he pencil packed it in the car, and went up to manifest. They thought it was odd that his rig was last packed in april of 2004, and previous to that in september of 2004 (this was in like june of '05). He had written down the wrong year on his pencil pack! I've never pencil-packed myself, but I've been solicted to do it for someone else (i'm a rigger), and even offered the $50 I would get to really pack it. And I've been met with irritaiton when I've refused. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Anyone who thinks GEAR is expensive should try to fund 4-WAY TRAINING!!! I've spent enough on 4-way in the last two years to buy my gear 5 times over. Or my car twice. Or put a nice down payment on a house... and my team doesn't even train that hard. I shouldn't complain, because I love 4-way... it'd be insane to spend that kind of money if I didn't. The same goes for all aspects of skydiving, wether it's gear or coaching or tunnel or training jumps. And, as has been said here before, gear is only expensive if you want it to be. One of my teammates is a professional musician. Not a lot of money there. His rig is a Vector II with an old-school Sabre 190, Raven II, and a cypres. He got all but the AAD about 8 years ago, with like 20 jumps on it, for something like $1800, and the rig still has tons of life left in it. These days, you could probably score that same rig for under a grand. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

As grusome as it is, I could see the value. It's true that many people would still not believe it could happen to them, but perhaps some would at least think twice. I had the "advantage" as a student of already knowing at least a dozen people who were killed jumping, and it has certainly affected my decisions. A "bounce book" wouldn't have been as strong a message as I had, but it wouldn't have hurt, either. Having a "before" and "after" photo, along with names, dates, and places, experience level, ect... and specifically LOCAL places and RECENT dates would probably help it be more effective. A lot harder for the rest of us to be willing to go along with, too. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Talked to my dad this weekend, turns out he remembers you from Z-hills. Says he bought a rig from you back in the day! So there ya go... small world, eh?

That's about how my jumpsuit fits, and it's exactly what I need it to be. Actually, still need 18 lbs of lead for my team. (5'7", 140 lbs) Your jumpsuit is too tight if: 1) it restricts your flexibility 2) you're sinking out on every dive Otherwise, the tigher the better, because the more it conforms to your body, the more control you have in freefall. "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

Agreed. Anyone who claims otherwise is blatantly not paying attention to human nature, and grossly overestimating the other person's ability to read your mind. Sorry, I couldn't resist On a more serious note, I think responding to the media writer who creates an inaccurate story is the worst possible thing we, as jumpers, can do. This is because the writer is NOT going to help us out, even if we are polite, and the vast majority won't bother to get their facts strait in the future either (or cover another skydiving story in the future anyway). These articles need to be sent to USPA, who will know the proper way to react, and the correct FAA people to discuss the issue with to ensure that the FAA has their facts strait before they go off and create legislation to "prevent such incidents in the future". "Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."