danielcroft

The Ranch runs these kinds of rookie competitions. 2 way, 3 way and may be running a 4 way rookie comp later in the year. I'm a rookie and was in the 2 way challenge, it was fun. Especially considering that my wife was my experienced person.

translation: in spite of the advice of very experienced people around you including your DZ saying not to because you could end up dead, you're going to do it anyway. If you haven't already, you may earn yourself the title DGIT (pronounced digit). Please reconsider, not based on what I say, I have NFI but look at the jump numbers of the people in this thread & your DZ on top of that. This isn't a good idea.

I didn't pull on my first tandem either, felt a bit grumpy about that but it's all good. I had think gloves on because it was November here in the NE & just couldn't feel the golf ball. :( I found my second scarier than my first though, but still loads of fun. Go for it! Like someone else said, overload is pretty normal, your second should be a lot better.

I don't get worried with the door open being in the door, it's actually nice. I get a nice view, I can play with the wind and I can spot the DZ all the way up. OTOH I get freaked out by floating exits... go figure.

I've probably got about 1:40 in the tunnel now. Most people say my RW is way better than my jump numbers suggest (43) which makes sense. If you add my free fall from my jumps to my tunnel time I theoretically have ~140 jumps. Obviously it doesn't really work out that way but the tunnel definitely helped me learn things in a more controlled environment. I mainly practiced mantis & leg turns with RW skills work (with a coach) on my last trip as well as a little back flying.

Oops, sorry, my writing is crap. What I meant is that I'd trained and practiced two hand each side EPs but went one hand each side when it happened which I thought was odd.

How was it snagged? I'm curious about how the brake line was attached to the sight.

Glad you're ok. Good lesson here for me for sure. Have the same lesson well ingrained from riding a bike. Did you try double front risers to get some penetration? I'm curious because that's something I've been told would help but have no idea. I'm also loaded pretty light (.97) and have been wanting to do a sunset load for a while but have been nervous so I haven't gone yet. Also want to do a cross country but again, don't want to get into trouble with low light (our DZ only allows cross country on last loads on the weekend). Thanks for posting!

Thanks for the advice. I've had one cutaway and managed single hand each side EPs even though I'd never trained or practiced them. Pulled in the right sequence so I call it a success. Well, except for the fact that I caused the mal... I guess the way I look at it is that, I'm not going to fly a camera any time soon but I may well be unstable going to my reserve. I wonder if the skyhook would be a better system *for me*. I don't see it as the panacea for all RSL woes but it seems to solve a problem that I may well have. It's not a real concern for me right now though because I'm not buying a new rig so I have time.

Thanks Rooky, I'd actually found those since my post.

Answers here anyone? This is a critical point in the argument against RSLs. To sum it up (please correct me if I'm wrong *NOOB*), there'd be more people dead if we all took off our RSLs. A solution is available but not generally available. If I were to buy a new rig, I'd have one with a Skyhook but I don't have that luxury.

I'm going to count to three! 1... 2..........

I'll turn this thing around, so help me!

Congratulations!

It's the inverse Schrödinger's cat.

I can't win. I'm banning myself from this thread.

How does that work in the pattern? Our DZ has the tandems out last because they're usually pulling the highest & down last.

Great point. Is it all about the landing then? Or maybe I just didn't want to die more than you guys? I love that people have this built in desire to distinguish themselves from others. To pick out differences and then pick on them. If you think that tandem skydiving for tourists is a "carnival ride" that's fine but to suggest that people who get into the sport via tandems are somehow less a "skydiver" is really poor form. It really smacks of insecurity IMO. I can see that people who are willing to jump from a plane on their own (S/L only btw) maybe have a higher barrier to leap in terms of entry into the sport but for fuck's sake people, falling from 13.5k with someone you don't know attached to your back hoping that they'll save you? It could be suggested that that's even more crazy.

Do you know of any video on this? I'm really interested to see what goes on as I'm way too new to jumping out of very high things to have any idea on this stuff.

The reported pack volume of a Spectre 190 is 475. I looked this up because that's what I have, for comparison, I believe (please double check) that the pack volume of a Sabre 2 190 is ~416 IIRC. Here's the link to Paragear showing the Spectre's pack volume: http://www.paragear.com/templates/parachute.asp?group=92&t2parent=2&t3parent=9&parent=35&level=4 edit: to make clicky

Thanks, sorry, I should have searched first.

I think the main reason for putting it in a bag is so that your rig won't get messed with. Accidental deployment of the reserve would suck in an overhead. Maybe the experienced people could confirm/deny.

LOL. People already laugh & point when I show up to the DZ in my one piece leathers so, I figure I'm half way there...

Is there any standard around actual helmet protection that's either in place or on the cards for skydiving helmets? As far as I'm aware, only Pro-tec has a CE certified helmet. All the rest aren't certified to any standard. For the record, I'm a motorcyclist and I'm into having good protective gear. I bought a fairwind helmet with the comfort liner.

Skydiving had never crossed my mind at all until my wife wanted to jump for her 30th birthday because she'd always wanted to (news to me at the time!). Since then she's been jumping regularly, has a B license & is a coach. She loves the sport more than anything. That was clear when, after braking her hand on an awkward off field landing (4th metacarpal + pins) she went for a tandem skydive with a friend who is a TI. The pictures showed the pure joy she experiences when jumping. None of this would have happened without tandem skydiving. We discovered skydiving through tandems. She did want a thrill ride & wasn't interested in pulling or turning or any of that. I was, asked my TI to show me how to turn & all the rest of it, didn't get to pull due to thick gloves - it was November. I didn't start skydiving until 2 years later when I decided I'd like to get my license because I wanted to overcome my fear. I'm firmly in the belief that tandem skydiving increases the population, the people on a thrill ride are just like tourists. Yeah, they can be annoying and they probably don't "get it" but they're only there for a taste, I hope that they like the flavor and come back for more but they never get to try it without tandems. My wife has since done another tandem skydive with our friend. I was on the same load, it was great.