davelepka

This is not the way to look at it. If you are about to have a hard landing, a PLF is the way to go, not trying to stick the stand up. Standing up a landing is over-rated, and in no way a measure of skill. Being able to stand up (and walk away) after a landing is what's important. I didn't realize you're jumping at Z-hills. What you neeed to do is this, ask around and see who has a container that would fit both you and the canopies you want to demo (hint-look for guys who look like you size wise). Ask if you can borrow (or even rent) their container and reserve to demo some canopies. You'll need to provide a guarantee to replace anything you lose or damage. You'll also need a rigger to handle switching canopies (Sally Hathaway?), and you'll need to have the demo canopies in hand before taking the rig. You may have to jump during the week, when the owner of the rig is not jumping. The best way to get started might be to ask TK for help. He'll know what to do.

That's what you think. He'll eat everything in sight, then he'll steal your girlfriends shorts, and put them on to pose for sexy photos. The kind of photos that can never be destroyed. The kind that survive a trailer fire. Oh wait, you don't have a girlfriend.

Look dude, I read your other thread, where you were thinking about going to a 190, and you need to know that there isn't one answer to your question. You have to consider the size of the canopy, and the size of the jumper. Most people have heard the line, '1.2 on a 120 and 1.2 on a 170 are two very different things. The 120 will be quicker, and fly faster than the 170'. This is true, and it's related to the line length (shorter lines make for quicker handling) and the lower overall drag of the smaller canopy. This is why the smaller jumpers, 140 lbs and under, generally need to shoot for a lower WL when looking at gear in the begining. Otherwise you'd have new jumpers flying around under 150s and 135s. The thing is that sword cuts both ways. When you tend toward the higher end of jumper weight, say 220-230ish on up, you also have to make some special considerations. Now let's keep in mind - I don't know you, and I don't know if any of this applies to you, but - You have to consider things like how fast can you run? Be realistic if you're a bigger guy, because if you can't run as fast as your canopy, you'll need to consider the next point- How much of a fall or impact do you think you can walk away from? On a no wind day, you may be going faster than your legs, and take a fall. Or maybe the winds get funky on you, and the bottom drops out halfway through your flare. How are you going to fare in these situations? You're always going to have to keep in mind that many of the 'rules of thumb' in skydiving were made for the average sized jumper. If your size is either toward the lighter end, or the heavier end, some of the rules won't exactly apply to you, and you will have a few considerations unique to your size. I think the important thing to think about when selecting canopies is this - the main thing that will make you a better pilot is experience. The trick is to just keep jumping, and you'll get there. Even a very minor injury, like a sprained anlke or wrist can keep you grounded for weeks on end, so make choices that will keep you at 100% and keep you jumping, chipping away at the skills you need to go fast, and be safe while doing it.

Get real man, you bought a parachute for $250. If you've done any shopping around, you know that parachutes generally cost more than $250. On top of that, you bought it used without having it inspected. There's a fair degree of 'buyer beware' when it comes to buying used merchandise from a private seller. If you're old enough to have a A license, you're old enough to know better. Look at it this way, have PD fix it up and the end result is you spending $500 for a canopy with 200 jumps on the lines, and that PD has looked at, and brought up to their standard of airworthiness. You can feel good about the condition of your main, and you would have paid a fair price for a solid main canopy.

Base? You mean no handles, no RW, and no canopy traffic? Sounds perfect. Skydiving? Maybe, maybe not.

You're not looking at the whole story. Consider for a minute the amount of training, planning, and accoutning for safety that goes into a skydive. Now consider the same for the average drive to the store. Not only do drivers not plan, or train, they don't even pay attention to what they're doing. You're figures for drivers are from 2000, and I would imagine that the widespread use of cell phones, including texting, and iPods have probably kicked those numbers up a few notches for the year 2007. Let's also consider the likelyhood of dying in an auto accident in comparison to dying in a skydiving accident. More times than not, a simple mistake in a car will not result in death, whereas in skydiving, you stand a much higher chance of dying if you make a mistake. The OP in this thread, being married with young children has more than just himself to think about. Starting a new, dangerous hobby may not be a smart move for a guy in his position. I had years in the sport and 1000's of jumps before I was married or had kids. I'm not sure I would have started jumping if the wife/kids had come first, and to that end, I have not taken up any new, dangerous hobbies since then. Base jumping - no Dirt bikes - no Stunting a street bike - no Roadracing a bike - no All things I would be doing if it was just me.

It's simple, call it what it was, a cigar importing business. Cigars are big business, and most of them are produced out of the US, so somebody needs to import them. I'm sure there a quite a few legitimate cigar importers who don't deal in Cuban products, just pretend you were one of them. It's not far from the truth, and nobody is ever going to ask for a cargo manifest from one of your shipments.

It does look like it might limit your vision, of your handles and otherwise when compared to other full face skydiving helmets. Another problem is that others cannot see in. Being able to make eye contact is key when jumping with others. Often times, the look on your face is enough to let other jumpers know if you're ready to exit, or for the next point, or if you're confused or in trouble. Even if you had a clear visor, the smaller size of the opening makes it that much harder for others to see in.

Fine, if you want to nit pick, how about this - RSLs have worked as designed, resulting in a reserve deployment far more times then RSLs have failed, resulting in injury to the jumper. Happy now? The end result is the same, it's a good thing to have, leave it hooked up.

That's nice, but I don't see room for a flash. Could they do a custom extended platform?

I'll just add a couple of things, first off, this is a gear maintentence issue. Imagine if a riser were to just 'release' at a low altitude, like 100 or 200 ft. Too low to cutaway, too low for a reserve to deploy. The results would be disasterous, which is why education about your gear, followed by the proper maintenence is essential. Also, lets say this does happen at a higher altitude. Your point about the reserve PC possibly getting tangled up in the streamering main is a good one, but thats what the freebag is for. In case you didn't know, the reserve deployment bag aka the 'freebag' is not connected to the reserve like a main d-bag would be. The reason being is that if the PC, bridle, or d-bag should become entangled with anything, the reserve can still deploy as normal, while the freebag remains entangled with whatever. Of course, there's no guarantee that the freebag will work as designed, but it's there, and may save your bacon one day.

Fuck you. I'll argue with whoever I want about anything I want. I stand by my position, and don't need you to come along and minimize my position. I didn't have a case of the Mondays, I had a case of being tired of douche bags who have not made jump one making 'internet plans' to buy gear before they start jumping. It's reatrded and a waste of time. It was clearly spelled out in his other thread that this was not the way to proceed, but he goes on to open another thread looking for a local Cypres 'store' where he could get a good deal, and bring it back for service. This guy is no different than the jackass at the bar who talk a big talk about how he would jump, and that it's no big deal, but amazingly has never shown up at a DZ. In fact this guy is almost worse because after a few hours on the internet, he thinks he's done 'research' and now is 'informed'. Keep jumping, and you'll see what I'm talking about. Spend any amount of time trying to recruit jumpers, and see how much people like to talk about jumping, but when the day of their jump comes up, you'll also see how many people have 'car trouble' or a 'family problem', and don't show. Search my posts, and you'll see plenty of positive and constructive responses to people asking sensible questions. How do I pick a first DZ? Is AFF the way to go, or should I do a tandem? What can I do to be ready on the day of my first jump? These are good questions that get good answers.

These two quotes don't jive. If you're worried about the operation of your gear, pack it yourself. Any time a story about a mal, hard opening or other gear problem includes the line "The packer.....", the root cause of the problem is right there. Learn to pack your own stuff, and do it yourself.

Here's what they're talking about - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVE-_FGUXB8

Do you need to do a recurrency jump? If so, I wouldn't worry about the jump at all for now. Just show up to the DZ, and let your instructor take over. They'll do a review of the important stuff, then help you plan a fun, safe skydive. That's what a recurrency jump is for. If you don't need a recurrency jump, just take it easy at first. Plan a conservative solo, and dump high-ish, like a student. Study the winds and landing pattern, and maybe write up a flight plan for your canopy ride. If you can, get in a hanging harness and go through your EPs a couple times. The biggest mistake I see people making after a layoff is grouping up with their buddies, and doing some RW. You shouldn't have to worry about dirt dives, points, and canopy traffic on opening if you haven't been in the air for awhile. The sky is always the same, but you are not as sharp as you were before the layoff.

There are some DZs that do not allow jumpers to bring dogs, but I think that applies more toward the regular jumpers who show up every weekend and bring their dogs with them. It turns into a problem when you have several jumpers doing this every weekend, you end up with a pack of dogs, and a pile of dog shit. I'm sure if you showed up with a small dog, and explained that you were on a raod trip, and looking to stop by and make a few jumps, they would make an exception for you (provided you have a leash or enclosure, and promised to handle the 'clean up').

Funny guy. Look at my profile, I've spent the last 15 years, my entire adult life, jumping out of airplanes. The idea that I'm reading a skydiving website on a Monday morning should be of no surprise to anyone. You're the douche sitting at home dreaming about rigs you'll never buy, and trying to pick between designing a new Beemer or a new Benz (not actually buying either one). Trust me, if there was a jump plane running within 50 miles of me right now, I wouldn't be on the internet, I'd be jumping. It's called reality, give it a try sometime.

It is not uncommon for newer or bad riggers to have a little PC visible under the bottom flap on a Jav. On it's own, it's not that bad. Now that you've grabbed whatever you could see, and pulled it out, it's pretty bad. You're going to have the repacked, right? You weren't thinking about just shoving that back in, were you?

Aren't you the same guy who's looking at buying a rig before you have even started AFF? You didn't beleive anyone in that thread, when they told you to hold off until after AFF? How do you know what sort of gear you will want or need once off student status? How do you know you'll ever get off student status? You are aware that you will not be allowed to jump your own gear during AFF, correct? On the slim chance you are buying a rig your instructors would be happy with you using during AFF (the one from the other thread does not qualify) you would be making an even bigger mistake, as you would outgrow the rig within 20 or 30 jumps. You're the same guy who thought it was odd to have a reserve that was that would do anything but just barely save your life, right? That impression showed a fundamental lack of understanding of the sport in general. Maybe a good sign that at this point in your education, selection of life saving equipment isn't a great idea. A far as the Cypres goes, pricing is pretty universal, and there is no local 'store'. You order through a dealer, and service is handled at two locations worldwide, one in Germany one in the US. This is one thing I hate about the internet and DZ.com. The number of people with zero jumps who think that surfing the web is 'research' and that because they've done that, they're ready to skip all sorts of steps in the process of becoming a jumper. The same shit also happens to newbie jumpers, who feel that web surfing imparts them with the knowledge to do things that they're not ready for. Listen up dude, you're making a mistake looking to buy gear at this stage. At best, you stand to waste thousands of dollars. At worst, you stand a chance of injuring or killing yourself with your own ignorance. Step one is to get off the internet, and go find a DZ. Once there, take the FJC, and begin jumping. Follow the advice of your instructors to the letter. Do not try to come up with your own way of doing things.

Ok, I just read this more closely. Is it possible that you're involved in one of those situations where your electric is supplied by an outside vendor, and then delivered by the local power company? I know they started this practice in an effort to break 'monopolies', and give consumers a choice. I have choices in my area for electric and gas providers, but all of it is carried via the wires and pipes of the existing companies, and they charge for the delivery of the 'product'. Ideally, the alternate suppliers can offer a rate for the product that when combined with the 'delivery charges' works out to be about that same as using the power company for product and delivery. In your case, maybe your getting a shit rate from the power supplier, and then paying extra 'fees' for the delivery from the power company.

***I moved from a place twice the size WITH a roommate and my bill there with the same company was about $70/month. My usage itself is about $85 and i'm getting charged $59 delivery charges*** This is what sounds odd to me. If delivery charges are $59, does that mean that you and your old roomie only used $11 worth of electricity? How is it that your other buddy has a total bill of $60, and you pay $1 less just for 'delivery'? I would follow the advice from a previous post, and either go directly to the appropriate regulatory agency and file a complaint, or call the power company one more time and mention that you are about to file a complaint unless you can get an explanation, and some sort of resolution.

Hey, I did invite him to dinner.

You're a fucking retard. You should call that 'college' you're going to and get your money back. I hope your rig needs to go back to UPT for adjustments. Then you'll be gald you waited until the last second to place your order. Maybe they'll do you a favor and burn your container (like the last one) and keep you on the ground. Hey, maybe we can get together for dinner tonight?

I don't think you'll have a problem. You could use a backing plate like you said, but a large flat washer for each bolt on the inside of the helmet should do the trick. I tend to go with washers for any bolts through my helmet, just to give it a little more clamping area.

Have a look at the MLW, it looks long. Picture if the MLW was vertical, the length would be much more than the distance from the chest ring to the area the hip ring should sit. It also appears that the chest ring isn't helping things. Even if the legstraps were tight, the slack in the MLW would allow them to rotate around the leg. When you have too many rings on a harness, it becomes much harder to get a good fit in any body position. The harness has so much flexibility that it's easy to 'loosen' parts of it in certain body positions. The jumper in the photo should be concerned. There have been instances of jumpers falling through the 'hole' in the back of the harness, and during a premature deployment at high speeds, this jumper appears to be at risk for just that. It would be a mistake not to mention this to the jumper in question. If anyone knows who that is, please encourage them to have the photo and rig looked at by a rigger or over at Mirage. A few adjustments to the harness can shift things around for a more secure fit.