Johnny_Cage12

Ouch. The only advice I gave was to talk to his instructors. Telling him that some recommendations are based without the financials being considered is not advice about what to buy it is simply a statement. The safety of a jumper is #1 and I don't put a $$$ amount on that but buying every single size down from a 240 isn't necessarily the best option either. I liked the response that said fly a 210 for a long time then try out a 170 after 250 jumps. I never offered any advice about what canopy to fly. Also, like I said I don't fly the Safire2 now and havent yet. I am not at a 1.3 wingloading and dont jump camera. I never said the jumper should jump a 190 or smaller and never said his particular choice was conservative. I simply said talk to his instructors about finding the right canopy shape and size for him. It is advice that SHOULD be given on here more often or we need to retool our instructor training programs. I think its funny that you add your thoughts about my last post, cut the couple parts out so that you can justify your 50 jump wonder claim yet don't even address councils post about not wearing a helmet. Not addressing that part is irresponsible. But enough with the thread hijacking.

Lloyd, Fair enough. I don't actually fly the Safire2 (and have more than 50 jumps) yet but will look to be more careful in what any of my posts imply either directly or indirectly. I took issue with council offering baseless advice that "some" say its better to not fly with a helmet or in particular a Cookie helmet than flying with one. That is NOT good advice. So instead of listening to that, I was recommending he talk to someone at his dz. But just as a final note, I do think that everyone is different when it comes to skills both while falling and subsequently under canopy. Now I am not implying that I am a 50 jump wonder or that I know a lot but I talk with a lot with people that have thousands and thousands of jumps (one over 14000) and I am willing to listen and learn all the time. I think specific jump requirements are very limited in protecting a jumper. Now I think they are necessary but they have their limitations. While a jumper may not need to wait for 200 jumps to put a camera on his/her head to be safe, some jumpers are not ready at that jump number so what I was trying to say to the OP was to talk with your instructors and find out a good way to plan your downsizing. BG offers a good (and conservative) chart for downsizing but you may find yourself ready to downsize before that or you may find you need more jumps before going smaller. A trained instructor with multiple years in the sport will have very good insight (especially after watching you land a couple of times) and whether it will be safe to downsize. Good luck OP and blue skies Lloyd. Good looking out! John

I am glad you agree with the first part. But I am guessing you are referencing me with the "Consider your source" which I am curious to know where I offered any advice about what canopy this guy should fly. I simply said it would be a good thing to talk to his instructors. I have never met Terry either and I am sure he is offering helpful advice. That certainly isn't the case for all advice given on here. Motivation? I simply told the guy to talk to his instructors. I didn't offer to sell him some sweet 170 or anything like that. And of course medical bills will usually cost more than a canopy but that does not mean everyone should just jump a 290. The goal is to work to downsize in a safe manner. That was my motivation. Wow that sounds like great advice! I would also recommend talking to your instructors. Sorry for the sarcasm but after "considering the source" you seem to offer similar advice. Not all newbie advice is bad especially when they defer to those who have been in the sport a long time. And maybe I take it for granted but my dz has some of the best instructors around, the owner is a sitting board member and safety is the most important thing. Maybe that is why I trust their advice the most.

Probably tomorrow. I jumped a Sabre1 last weekend and the openings were brutal, especially on the 170. To the OP, what I found out was the key to packing the original Sabre is rolling the nose. Count your first four cells and roll (like you would the tail) towards the center. Leave the center cell alone and count and roll the last four cells also towards the center. Once you have checked and separated the lines, flaked the canopy and quartered your slider, etc, roll the tail and then neatly pack the canopy without affecting the rolled nose or tail. This should help improve the openings. That being said by the time I really figured out the trick my thighs were so bruised I didnt want to jump anymore. Cheers, John

Seriously?!?! Who? Talk to YOUR instructors at YOUR dz to find out what will work well for YOU. While being conservative is a good thing, most people will offer advice that is easy to give when it's not their money. With that being said, pick a canopy that will fit you well. You should be able to land your canopy comfortably in all wind conditions safely before moving on. Picking a canopy style that is sized correctly will make your choice a good investment. The best people to help you with that decision are the people that watch you land on a regular basis. This is true but will be different for each skydiver. Talk to the people who know you best. Blue skies, John

Billvon, Those are all good points and they are certainly noted. I was able to try on a rig with dual pillow handles and feel comfortable that if needed I would be able to grab and pull both pillow handles or I obviously wouldn't have chosen it for my rig. I know it is easier said than done because in the real deal there are things happening that you simply can't predict. That being said I have to trust myself to make the right moves when needed or I know I shouldn't be diving. I can only base those steps on the people that have taught me from day one (and now people on DZ too). I think this thread is great and will continue to look for more responses. If (or when) I have a cutaway on my new rig I will be able to shed more light as it seems most people on find their true preference once they have done the cutaway for real. To sum it up... I don't want either handle coming undone when its not supposed to and I want to make sure that each handle can be pulled when needed. I think that dual pillows will be the best fit for me. Also I hope that we don't find any correlation to incidents based on pillows vs d ring because that leads to people copying posts on this subject and using them as an "I told you so" which is sad. I have seen some instances (I think his name was Tim who downsized from a 210 to a 135 or something crazy like that) where it has happened and that benefits no one. This topic is entirely different than RAPID RAPID downsizing and will lead to good debate for a long time. Blue skies all, John

As one of the "newbies" who recently purchased a rig from Gary with dual pillow handles I thought it is only right to explain my train of thought. I jump at a very safety oriented DZ (a little profile research will help determine where) and I talked to instructors, veterans, the owners, etc. before I bought my gear. That allowed me to receive very good information based on MY landings, skills, etc. that makes me feel very good about my purchase. The rig I bought is equipped with an RSL. Now I know that doesn't mean I don't have to pull my reserve handle but it is an additional safety measure that I am glad to have. I didn't get a reserve pillow because it looks cool or matches, I got it because it is the same as the other side and I don't think "Ok grab the pillow first then the D ring then pull the pillow then pull the D ring." I think "Grab right, grab left, pull right, pull left." I do this multiple times on the ground, once before I get on the plane and always before I go out the door. It is so ingrained in my head that I don't relay on shapes the help me get out of a sticky situation. I want muscle memory to lead me to safety. It may be personal preference or in time we may find that a d ring is a better option but if it is determined that d rings are better I will make the switch for both the cutaway and reserve. I trust my hand strength (rock climber) and feel like if the pillow is ok for the right side it is ok for the left. If it was ok for neither I would have asked for dual d rings. With all that aside I feel very fortunate to be working with a dealer that cares about more than the bottom dollar. Thanks Gary...you rock! John

Depending on how comfortable you are under canopy will drastically influence your reaction to a stall. I recently took a canopy class and the instructor gave us the opportunity to do a full dynamic stall (4000 feet in the air) to see what it was like. He said that the first time you stall your hands will be so far above your head so fast you won't know what happened. I thought I was going to prove him wrong...but he was right. I fully stalled and while thinking about only going half way I couldn't stop my hands from raising the toggles to the non-brake position. I tried it a second time and basically did the same thing. My advice is to spend time high above the ground practicing stall recoveries because it will be extremely beneficial when you need it. That being said you can cause malfunctions pretty easily by recovering too quickly so be extremely careful when starting out. Blue skies, John

Hi all, I am guessing I already know the answer but figured I would verify my thoughts with the Family. I am about to buy a helmet and one of the options is a chin cup with cutaway vs no cutaway. Now I expect the response of "it's your life and you decide what it is worth to protect it" so I figure most people will tell me to get a cutaway system. I won't be throwing a camera up there now but would like to sometime in the future. The manufacturer does not retrofit the cutaway system so it is now or never. Do most people who fly with cameras have a cutaway system? Thanks for the help! John

Hi all, I am in the process of buying my own gear and have come to the altimeter stage and need some advice. I have always jumped just the wrist mounted Galaxy and have had nothing but good experiences. I will be buying a helmet soon and am interested in getting an audible altimeter as the reviews that I have read sound awesome. I would prefer that one of the altimeters have a computer for logging jump characteristics. What setup and combination of altimeters do you all use and what recommendations can you make? Thanks for the help! John