fasted3

Silhouette But what do I know?

Huh? Why would it annoy anybody? Are you a packer and talking about yourself, or did you hear it from somebody else? But what do I know?

I always carry mine. A few more things I've learned: If you're going to miss the DZ it's better to miss by a lot. If you are close people will expect you to walk back, but if you're a long way off it's easier to get a ride. Land near a road. Be careful of wires and stuff, but being by a road prevents being lost in the woods or swamp for hours. Use your cell phone to let the DZ know you are OK. Tell them you don't need a ride and hitch hike back. That way you don't have to buy beer. Also, if you land out a lot you won't be a pain in the ass for the DZ. Make sure you get all your stuff in the car. Don't leave your helmet or goggles on the ground, and don't leave your PC hanging out the door. Make sure you get all your stuff out of the car when they drop you off. Don't forget your helmet or goggles in there. Carry some money. A couple of bucks for gas money is a nice gesture for somebody giving you a ride. You can afford it; it's cheaper than beer. If you have a choice between a field with one cow or one with a lot of cows, pick the one with a lot of cows. Happy landings

If you don't trust them to do those basic packing tasks, how can you trust them to pack the rest of the chute? I look at it 2 ways: 1. It is a courtisy to the packer to take care of that stuff. It's easy enough for me to perform those small tasks myself and save them some time. 2. By doing them myself, I know it gets done. Not that I don't trust them to do it, but everyone makes mistakes, and this reduces the chance that they will make one. Back to the original post: I think that packing an unopened slider is inexcusable, and the packer should find another job. If they did it on purpose, an ass whipping is justified. But what do I know?

Maybe so. Putting his gear on properly would have. Who's fault is that? What BSR would prevent it? Students need protection. Most of us agree with that. This thread started about a guy that isn't even a student yet, but now we're talking about licensed skydivers. How far should we go to protect them from themselves? How about a BSR about how to put your rig on? No, I don't want a BSR about how to put your rig on. But what do I know?

Actually, the USPA recently made a BSR for wingsuits, and in my mind that is more than a recommendation. Is anybody flying with less than 200 jumps now? Not at my home DZ. An unintended consequence of this may be an increase in logbook fraud. But what do I know?

Thanks for the answer, and a good one. I think I'm going more by eyeball than anything else; flying with other people cuts a lot off my time, so I don't use an internal clock that much. I like a long skdive and didn't care for freeflying, but I'm sure it's harder doing that to get it right than it is for me. I think it's possible to get pretty good with eyeballs, and they are my primary way of doing it. I hardly ever look at my wrist mount unless I'm double checking my eyes or my audable. I fly on my back sometimes but not too low. As for telling my beeps apart, I can do that since I hear two of them every time, and know when the're coming, pretty much. The third one leaves no doubt what it is, lol. It's worth mentioning that on jumps that are really going to shit, either through malfunction or instability, it becomes much harder to hear anything at all. My ditter is an imortant tool in my toolbox, but not my primary one. I believe that can be true for others that set theirs differently, and it is no less useful they way they, or you, do it. If anybody asked me, I'd say use one, but won't argue if somebody doesn't want to. Anybody reading this is probably doing it right. Still, I can think of at least one person that might be reading this if they had used one. Just my opinion. But what do I know?

I don't know Dave. Mine goes off at 5500' for my first alarm. The way I see it is if I don't hear it, maybe it's not working. I'm usually at a pretty good distance from the DZ to make it back at that point, but around then I'm paying attention to where I am, and where is that alarm. The next one is at 4000. From there, I pull by eyeball by 3k, sometimes I hear the one at 2500' at the bottom of a snivel, or if I choose to go a bit loweer, but haven't heard it without something out yet. My alti-track says I'm pretty consistant. I don't think I'm too dependent on it. I've jumped with no altimeter at all, and at my home DZ would do it again without too many worries. I'd be more careful at other places, but think I could do it safely enough if I had to. I jump with no helmet sometimes. You did mention new jumpers, and I'm not trying to push it for anybody. What works for you is fine with me. I'd like to hear your thoughts on my method, though. I got my ditter at 75 jumps or so. Those are the settinga it had then, and I never changed it. All I do is wingsuit. But what do I know?

Did the lines look fuzzy? Mine did, and did the same thing, (but not as bad,) till I got a reline. Since then, no problem at all. Safire2 189, loaded 1.2 The new lines look a lot more slippery than the old ones did, and it flies better too. But what do I know?

You seem to be saying: I have xxx jumps, and I must downsize or go to a HP canopy, therefore I'm better off going with the Stilletto. What I think is that you don't have to do either one at this time. It's a pretty good bet that sometime in your next couple of hundred jumps something will happen that will really take you by surprise; maybe someone cuts you off, maybe an off landing that turns out to be tougher than it looked from higher up, or something else entirely. Whatever it is, your chances of getting hurt go up by not being on a tamer canopy. In my case, it was getting cut off by a swooper when I had about 300 jumps. At the time, I was on a Silhouette loaded at about 1 to 1. I did most everything right, but still ended up hitting the ground pretty hard. I have no doubt that a smaller canopy or a higher performing one would have ended up with an injury. If the same thing happened now, I'd do a better job of it than I did then, just because of that incident. I also had an off landing that turned out much the same. I am now jumping a Safire2 at 1.2 and very aware that if I don't do a better job with those kind of things, I will get hurt. I am not ready to go with anythng less tame, for sure, but that's just me. I don't know how things will go with you, and I wish you well. You are quite right that high jump numbers will not guarantee that you won't get hurt, and low numbers do not guarantee you will, but if you're playing the odds, it does make a difference. Good luck. But what do I know?

Pressure changes only affect air cavities in the body, like ears and sinuses. If a filling is improperly done and a small air bubble is captured inside the tooth that would qualify as well. (Dental barotrauma; how's that for technical jargon, lol.) Unless you had an air bubble trapped in your leg, it was probably something else. But what do I know?

I take mine off for jumping. A snag could mean losing it - and a finger too! But what do I know?

I learned how to bowl from watching the Flintstones, and formed the habit of throwing the ball too hard. Despite repeated warnings, I just couldn't help doing it. One day the owner of the bowling ally had enough and gave me the 'skydiving speech.' But what do I know?

Not wearing eye protection was discussed here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3483899#3483899 A pretty good argument for wearing them, I thought. But what do I know?

What about a window shade kind of thing built into the gripper? A strong spring to hold tension when extended and roll the winglet back in when the rod is withdrawn. For the arm device, I'm thinking something a little more BatMan like - sleek, light, very low profile for the rod housing and control mechanism. The best bet is keeping things just like they are at pull time, but being able to extend the wings during flight. When it's time, fully retract the rod, and there you are back with your same suit. But what do I know?

Wrong! You would love flying with Lurch, and having discussions on the ground too. What about my idea Lurch? You know, I agree that a lot is to be said for actually flying, designing, and lot's of experience, however, I think it's best to keep an open mind to everybody, and I like this discussion. But what do I know?

Get a wingsuit! That's why I started skydiving, and the more I do it, the more it feels like flying. But what do I know?

What about a sleeve for the arm that had a rod that would extend out 1 foot, and have extra wing material roll out from the gripper. To deploy, withdraw the rod, and the extra material rolls back up. Extensions would be set on the plane; the release mechanism would need to be flawless, of course. Arm pressure would be increased, but the hands would be freed up from gripping, and the strength issue may not be too much to deal with, depending on the length of the rod. The sleeve could strap on, between elbow and wrist. Mobility would not be compromised. Extending the wingspan, even a small amount, is a way to improve glide. Sorry if this idea appears half baked, it is.

We did it at Pepperell with the CASA and an Otter for a couple of the big way flocks. August 08 CASA Boogie. But what do I know?

Yep, you guys are both right, sand, or current can pull you under. You can't fight Mother Nature. I worked as a diver for a long time, and I do respect Mother Nature. I will stand by my first point, which is to keep your head. That alone is the biggest factor in making it out of the tough spots, IMO. But what do I know?

I'd want to get out of the suit quickly too. Just want to call you on the first part. Wings full of rocks will pull you down, but water won't. But what do I know?

Absolutely. I wonder he would be more comfortable with a BSR stating that a higher number is required? I sure as hell wasn't ready for a big suit at 75, but I didn't need any rules to enforce it. Maybe some will be ready, or not... None of my business! But what do I know?

The most important thing is to stay calm. Easy to say, and harder to do, but without a calm resolve to survive, you may not. Everything zipped up: The first thing I would do is get my arms free. That would allow me to push up for some air, clearing the canopy enough if necessary to get a breath. I'd want arms and hands to do that. With a breath of air, I'd go for my chest strap next. With that open, it will be easier to get the front zippers down. One all the way down, gettting that leg free. Next, the other front zipper, again all the way down. Then dive out of the whole mess, under and away from it to clear water. With time under canopy, I'd do pretty much the same thing before I hit the water. Going all the way down with the front zippers would be important, I think, so as not to get the feet stuck. But what do I know?

I agree with you. Some are not impressed with using a tracking suit, but I was. I think it made the transition to a wingsuit easier for me, plus I had a lot of fun with it. As only 50 jumps are recommended for it, I think it's a great tool for the impatient aspiring wingsuit flier. Surely better than making 140 hop and pops.

When I first started, I got some really good advice that I have tried to pass on. I haven't seen it on here, so let me throw it out now. Most of you know it already, so don't be insulted; this is for the new guys. When approaching a formation, look at the horizon in front of them. If it is swinging wildly that is an indication that you are approaching at an angle and you need to back off. You want the horizon stable, which indicates you are on the same angle as everybody else. Don't just concentrate on the flock because if your angle is bad, when you get there you will be a dangerous meat bomb. But what do I know?