nigel99

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Everything posted by nigel99

  1. nigel99
    Absolutely.
  2. nigel99
    I've got more static line exits than you have jumps not because of military but because I struggled with drcp. But I still remember doing a 10 second delay from 4k and a girl who'd gone through AFF was freaking out about doing a clear and pull from 4k. I still think a hard arch would have fixed most of his issues. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  3. nigel99
    Wasn't the biggest problem that he dearched as he launched? I would have thought a nice hard arch would have made a hurried but good exit? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  4. nigel99
    To be honest I saw it as brand snobbery. Some people appear to get an almost religious devotion to brands (witness the Microsoft/apple debate). The Cypres is clearly the market leader and if my rig hadn't come with vigil I probably would have bought cypres. One thing that bothers me though about cypres is their algorithm. No algorithm is 100% perfect and you will either get false positives, or false negatives. Clearly vigil falls into the false positive camp. I have this nagging feeling that the total absence of false fires from cypres means that they have chosen the false negative tradeoff. Don't get me wrong everyone has to make the decision when designing their algorithms Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  5. nigel99
    And you still let him pack your reserve? Sparky He doesn't pack my reserve a friend does.We just happened to be talking about gear and AADs etc. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  6. nigel99
    -made in germany- Dude, I don't believe in the whole brand name buy in. Yes Cypres is the market leader, but that doesn't make it infallible. I was pretty suspicious of the riggers claim that something like 30% of the Vigils he's seen had failed. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  7. nigel99
    From memory the USPA sim has the details. The sim is available for free on the USPA website. If I get a chance I'll post the section number but it should be fairly easy to find. edited to add. http://www.uspa.org/SIM/Read/Section4/CategoryF/tabid/242/Default.aspx#951 Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  8. nigel99
    I have Vigil 2 and a local rigger was moaning that they are total junk and fail all the time. I hadn't previously heard of issues, a week later a friend's Vigil stopped turning on and needed replacing (still under warranty). It would be interesting to see if there really is a problem with reliability. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  9. nigel99
    There are much better tools for long spots than a Katana 97 though! In fact almost anything would probably be better for a long spot! True, a navigator 260 would be excellent for a long spot upwind. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  10. nigel99
    I read your posts. They make me sad...for you. How quickly we forget. I'm not the greatest fan of Shahs bonfire posts, but his skydiving posts are always serious questions. I really don't agree with the PAs in this thread. About half of the thread needs deleting, some stuff is good learning... Considering how many experienced jumpers land off, I wonder how many people have the same level of knowledge but keep their mouths shut? Anyway nobody has stated the obvious, if he jumped a Katana 97 he wouldn't get blown downwind in anything less than a hurricane. Only idiots jump in hurricanes so nothing to worry about. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  11. nigel99
    What thoughts do you have about simply stalling the canopy and simply dropping to a safe height? It's going to beat spirals, fronts and possibly holding. Obviously there is an element of risk that it doesn't recover gracefully from the stall - in which case you get the bonus of extra freefall after you cut away With regards to spirals if you integrate the speed and direction, the net speed due to the canopy is 0 and you are left with the wind speed. If you hold into the wind your speed is wind speed less canopy speed meaning you get better results. But it sounds more like a lack of experience in reading groundspeed, I know I still struggle to gauge my downwind run in higher winds. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  12. nigel99
    NO (at most dz's). Jump run is normally into the wind. If you track upwind you will be tracking up jump run which is a big no. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  13. nigel99
    Seriously Shah you need to get some basic understanding of how flight works. Rear risers reduce the downward angle of the wing, you descend and fly forward slower (unless you stall the wing so that you are falling) Getting back to the dz has killed people, it's much better to be aware early. I suspect that a huge part of your problem was lack of currency. When we don't jump often our knowledge doesn't really grow. If you were aware at the time you'd have seen that you were getting blown off and needed to hold. Odds are that you flew downwind to the dz, got there at 4k thought oh shit and then tried to hold. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  14. nigel99
    I sometimes wonder if providing 2 way radio o all jumped on a load would help. The problem is that our wings have become maneuverable enough that it would help. But I don't see skydivers being disciplined enough to make it work. First thing that would happen in the US is most jumpers screaming about their liberties being taken away. There simply isn't the desire to mitigate the risk of collision by all reasonable means. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  15. nigel99
    That's why we all drive cars here. We dont mix with the peasants yeah but have you seen the Mitchell freeway in the mornings? Besides the train is my dz.com time. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  16. nigel99
    She looked quite cute. Wondered if she'd be on Shahs to do list To well dressed to be a freegan (dumpster diving). Maybe pregnant and she had cravings? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  17. nigel99
    The woman sitting next to me on the train, stinks of stale smoke and wrotten cabbage. Yuck Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  18. nigel99
    Exactly. Here reserves have a service life and I can pick up a reserve for a couple of hundred bucks. There is no need for it to go back into service and it could potentially be used for intentional water jumps and stuff. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  19. nigel99
    Thanks squeak. I'll be out in the next week or two. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  20. nigel99
    I want to get a low cost 170 reserve (ideally a tempo) and put 10 to 20 jumps (hop and pops)on it, so that I get familiar with my reserves flight characteristics. Is adding a bridle attachment point something a rigger can do without having to replace an entire panel? Another fun option would be to borrow a static line rig that has a direct bag deployment and use that - but as not many people do SL anymore that may not be possible. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  21. nigel99
    I liked pretending to be a skydiver. >never felt anything more then a tourist or guest so manifest girl is out of the question. And i like the people on dropzone.com have met people from all levels. Don't let the snobs get you down. Only tandems are tourists. You don't have to forget any concept of personal hygiene and live in a trailer to be a skydiver Hanging at a dz is cool. Of course if manifest girl doesn't appeal, packer is good too. Bonus points for packing in a bikini. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  22. nigel99

    stressing out

    nigel99 replied to nigel99's topic in The Bonfire

    I'll ring a few ex Mil mates for you, That should have you on a plane back to Rhodesia in no time Cool you've got a time machine Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  23. nigel99
    Does this rule apply to your own advice, too? Catch22ish sort of, huh? Just musing... Mines not advice, simply an opinion Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.
  24. nigel99
    Main problem is its not fun anymore. 6000 in hole and my budget was 4000 for an A license . Even had a budget for a parachute at the end all blown, Each time it was but your so close and you do not want to waste the money you spent I think a break is in order a long break because I am a risk. Cut my loses Your advice comes late Nigel but not too late! I have heard about Wendy So Wendy how did you swing the money end of learning to skydive????? Sorry to hear that. No point if it isn't fun, much better to find something you enjoy. If you like skydivers manifest girl is a cool job
  25. nigel99
    If I remember rightly, you're a guy. That'd really be a huge commitment! Wendy P. Very true. My parents are super religious. They would have been proud to know how much I prayed on the way up. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.