Canuck

I'm the same height, and until last year weighed about the same. I've found the Voodoo to be an extremely comfortable rig. It's a long and narrow designed rig as compared to any of the box shaped rigs out there. Plus, the new RI leg strap design (Voodoo and Talon FS) is the most comfortable out there. Period. Everybody will tell you what they own is the best though, so what you should do is to try on as many rigs as you can and decide what feels best for you. Canuck

Ben, We established in a previous thread that I don't know you. I am at Eden North every operating day from sun-up until sun-down, which makes me wonder why I don't know you. First you're asking about IAD vs. AFF, now, a few days later, you're talking about buying gear. Have you actually done a jump yet? How many? One step at a time grasshopper. If you haven't even done your freefall training yet, don't even think about buying gear. Like I said in the last thread, if you are really interested in taking up skydiving, and provided you have done a few jumps already, go to AZ for the Invasion, spend a couple weeks on a dropzone (instead of on dropzone.com), do some jumps, learn a little about skydiving, and then next Spring start thinking about buying gear. Lurk the posts all you want, but in my opinion it is totally useless to try and learn about skydiving without time spent skydiving. You will learn more in one day at a dropzone and night around the fire than you will in a year on the internet. Not trying to be rude, just sharing my thoughts. Hope to see you next Spring at Eden (I can't make AZ this year). Canuck

No I haven't jumped a Katana - I'd love to though. At this point though it's a useless canopy for anybody looking for something over 120 sq. ft. PD really needs to get some bigger sizes on the market if they are hoping to compete in the niche of second generation HP 9 cells. Oh yeah, one other canopy to consider if you are thinking about going outside of the North American market. The PV Demon is oustanding value for the money, opens beautifully, and has tons of flare. They have proven to provide great customer service at my DZ. For half the price of anything else on the market - it's worth considering... Canuck

If you rule out the Crossfire and buy something else, do yourself a favour and DON'T EVER jump one after, or you'll kick yourself in the ass for not having bought one. Crossfires kick ass, and as far as I know, Icarus is still the only company that has a 30 day no questions asked exchange. I've jumped pretty much all the 9-cells on the market. the Crossifre opens, flys, and swoops the best in my experience. I fly a Velocity now by the way, so this opinion is only slightly bias (I use to have a Crossfire). Canuck

Hey Ben, Not sure if I know you or not, but here's the deal. I am a PFF instructor at Eden North, and that's exactly what we do - PFF. We call it AFF simply to alleviate confusion as the dropzone does organize the Arizona Invasion boogie every winter and several people on that trip finish their PFF training in AZ. Only in AZ, PFF is called AFF, so that's what we call it. Edmonton Skydive Centre is a fine place, they just don't have many PFF instructors. On a typical weekend, the two they do have are usually doing tandems. There's not much difference between PFF and AFF. Basically AFF adds three levels that include teaching manouvers that we make coaches responsible for, rather than instructors. As for how many jumps are prerequisite for the PFF program, that is entirely at the discretion of the DZ. There are places that offer first jump PFF, although the success rates are low. My advice - go to the Invasion. With our dollar kicking ass right now, you wont get a better bang for your buck anywhere else. Canuck

That's what was wondering, but maybe with Jason and Dusty doing Evolution, Stephan decided to do his own thing to. Not sure where that leaves Amy and TJ, but I'm sure one way or another they will stay busy. Cool though. Canuck

What did they "fall off a truck"? Canuck

Over the years I have owned a few different brand new rigs. Unless there is very good reason for it, like a team that wants matching gear, I don't see myself buying new ever again. The deals you can get on used gear are just too damn good! I gaurantee you can find an excellent used rig, with a Cypres in it, for $3000. And I'm not talking about some old baffed out F-111 main. As far as size goes, as long as you get a container that is articulated, and there are tons of them out there, any master rigger can custom fit that puppy to you for a marginal cost. Just my oppinion, Canuck

Depends how worried you are abut the trim... Dacron will last thousands of jumps without failure, but as has been mentioned, it does stretch. I would guess that you would get at least the same useable life out of dacron as you would spectra. Canuck

There are a few professional cameramen jumping Spectres lined with Dacron to ease the opening shock with heavy loads on their heads - Tony Hathaway for one. I've heard, but don't know if it's true, that Dan BC has been jumping his Stilettos lined with Dacron for years (since his recovery from the plane crash). John Leblanc has actually said that anybody who freeflys should consider dacron in case of a premature deployment because it helps absorb shock. Canuck

Move this shit to the Bonfire... I keep clicking on this post hoping for some good discussion on wing-overs, and instead have to keep reading about who's gay, who's not, blah blah blah. I can't believe Chuch hasn't already shut it down. Canuck

pull a little low did we Canuck

Drives me fuckin crazy! Especially when people kite their canopies across the landing area to get closer to the packing area, swoop lane, etc. as if people are going to think they actually landed closer. I've seen Bryan Burke chew a couple new assholes into people for doing it at SDAZ. Kite your canopies somewhere other than the landing area, in your back yard, or on windy days when nobody is jumping. Canuck

I assume you are still wondering whether your Xaos will fit in a Voodoo 00. The short answer is yes, just like I told you in the last thread A dude at my DZ has a Velocity 90 in a Talon FS 00, and it fits great. Your Xaos 21 88 should have a very similar pack volume to his Velocity. As for the container, according to RIs website, the 00 FS and 00 V2 have the same main pack volume of 275. Canuck

You would squeeze it into the 00. I just sold my V1 because it's too big for my Velocity 96. I have a few friends with V0s and 9 cells ranging from 95 to 129 packed in them, and they all look pretty good. Word of caution though. If you are ever thinking about going to a 27 cell in about the same size, DO NOT get the 00. Another buddy just picked up a Xaos 27 98 and it just fits (and doesn't look very good) in his Talon FS size 1 (which I believe has the same pack volumes as the Voodoo). He would never get it in a V0, and don't even think about a 00! Hope that helps, Canuck

Years ago I watched a VERY small girl (about 5 ft. and deffinately sub 100 lbs) do her first jump (an IAD) on a Monarch 135. It wasn't so much that they wanted her under that small of a canopy, but the container it was in was the only one at the dropzone that came even close to fitting her safely. Everything turned out fine, but it wasn't a call I would have made. Sometimes you just gotta know when to say no... Canuck

Dude, what are you talking about??!!! Brittany Murphy is a total babe in that dirty girl kinda way, and that scene, without needing any nudity, was freakin HOT!!! Canuck

I'm still not making the connection. In fact, I see a pullout being safer for IAD dispatches. If you dislodge a throwout while climbing out to dispatch, you're done. If you dislodge a pull out handle, chances are it's just going to dangle there unless you subsequently snag it climbing back in or on the next climbout. I know when I do IADs I reach back and check my handle between each student, plus our pilots are trained to watch for that kind of stuff. I jump a throw out by the way. Canuck

Rad video dude - you've got your shit dialled right in. Not sure that a video showing you flying directly over the tandem pair, and even grabbing the drogue bridal, is the best to show to an aspiring tandem video guy though... Canuck

Gotcha. It's all in the semantics. You're right, it will not very likely return to level flight. Canuck

Don't lose any sleep over a hater... There is a misconception though that you seem to believe - that being that your canopy will not return to level flight after a dive. It will. It might take a while, but it eventually will. Now, whether or not the ultimate power band for the swoop is just after it has levelled out, or just before requiring a slight bit of input is a different argument. Anyway, carry on as you were. You're right, there is nothing in your original post that implies you are planning on bringing anything to the ground anytime soon. And shit, as far as I'm concerned, somebody with 3 jumps can practice rear riser flares at 5000 ft. The dumb posts are the ones that ask: am I ready to downsize? should I try and land with rears? can I do a blindman-ghostrider? etc. Keep learnin' Canuck

My experience with Velocity openings is that they are slow and snivelly about 19 times out of 20. Not really what I would call predictable either - they do tend to seek a lot during deployment and definately need to be flown through the opening sequence. However, I do jump my Velo 96 at 2.2 wearing my Flat Top Pro with an old style TRV in a d-box and a Rebel on a Stroboframe - not exactly a light set-up. For me, the performance after the canopy is open is worth the sometimes hectic, and ocassionally friggin hard, openings I get. Oh yeah, the few times I've had line twists, it flew straight and level while I kicked out. You can't even compare a Velocity to a Stiletto. I occasionally jump a ST 107 when I'm backing up loads, and I feel like there is nothing left at the end of the flare, unlike my Velo which has flare power that just wont stop. I wouldn't jump a Stiletto 97. I haven't, but would jump a Velocity 84 without any concern. Canuck

151 sq. ft. according to the PIA. Canauck

I have had the exact same thing happen under my Velocity 96. I was on the bottom of a 2-stack with an Onyx 95. It flew just fine straight, but as soon as we tried to make a left turn, the entire right side of my canopy folded under. Freaky ass shit! Fun though. Canuck

I really hope that is not what he is meaning, and don't think it is. Once you have committed to a toggle flare, do not, I repeat, do not, try to switch to the rears. As you reach for them, your toggles go up with your hands, and you just stopped flaring the canopy. I watched a buddy do it this summer. He wasn't hurt badly, but he deffinately skipped off his ass. Canuck edited to add: Damn I hate it when that happens. Chuck and I posted at the same time. Anyway, I stand by my statement - even if Eric use to do it. Unless you have your shit dialled right in - I think going from toggles to rears is asking for trouble.