nigel99

i disagree; just ask the instructor that had both hips replaced at the age of 35.. Haha, you realise that your post in no way contradicts Normis post, all it implies is the instructor needs to... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

My understanding is that a number of canopy related BSR's have been shot down over the years, and yet it is THE biggest cause of injury and death in the sport, and yet the BOD has done nothing of substance about it. I'm still curious to know whether you think the BOD is acting in the best interests of the 'general' membership? I serve on various committee's and one thing that is apparent to me 90% of members do nothing but will complain among themselves.The remaining 9-10% of active members act with a large degree of self interest and a personal agenda. Very few people are active in the true best interest of what-ever they are involved in. It is the job of a 'good' committee to modulate those forces, to try and read what the passive majority are most concerned about and to prevent the loudest voices having too much influence. My personal view is that the USPA has a substantive problem with membership trust. They try far to hard to appease the verbal minority, and I don't only include DZOs and Manufacturers in the verbal minority but they are certainly in the mix. I'd be very interested in your perspective? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

But, but , but...he swore he wasn't a Troll..... I've come to believe he has to be a troll. At first I thought it was misguided arrogance, but it simply can't be possible to be 'that' stupid/retarded/stubborn. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Doubtful as the rig is pre skyhook. He just needs a standard left hand side RSLdid you see the piece of gear he has received ? By the description it is the closest I can imagine. Would be more clear with a picture. I know what he needs. Searched the web and this is what I got except it is from Sunpath not UPT. http://www.chutingstar.com/skydive/upt-rsl-universal-lanyard-reserve-pin I'll speak to Chutingstar, seems there was some miscommunication as I didn't ask for a reserve pin

Doubtful as the rig is pre skyhook. He just needs a standard left hand side RSL Yip that is all I wanted. I'll take it to the dz this weekend as I'm curious. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

different RSL for different rigs. Some have a pin some pull the exsiting pin. My old Jav had a loop that pulled the cable and extracted the pin. Best bet would be to get it from Sunpath, give them the serial number and they'll send you the CORRECT ARE ESS ELLE It came from Sunpath (indirectly), they knew the model etc. I've never heard of or seen an RSL that doesn't have the snap shackle. It's no major drama, just curious what this is for... Edited to add: If you're at the dz this weekend I've got your mount. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Well a bit of a dumb question, but since I ordered the wrong thing once I need to get it right the second time! I've got a 2000 Javelin Odyssey and it is RSL ready but doesn't have the RSL. I emailed Chutingstar and ordered an RSL lanyard and just got delivered some funky RSL Universal Lanyard with Pin (that's the description on the packet). It seems I inadvertently managed to describe something that I didn't know existed and ordered it So what is an RSL lanyard for? It's basically a reserve pin with a few inches of line and a small piece of velcro. Cheers, Nigel Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Somewhere amongst all the noise, someone posted about the ground rush effect. From what I recall they said is that somewhere between 100-500ft you suddenly get immense ground rush, triggering an 'oh shit' response. They suggested that people may keep trying to fix the problem until the ground rush, breaks the spell. That seems completely logical as nobody intentionally chops to low or waits too long. From this you could potentially argue that actual hard-deck altitudes and deployment altitudes are irrelevant as it is a physiological response. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I disagree about this being better than doing nothing. At present we have an increasing number of people dying with partially deployed reserves. People already have the option of increasing their AAD deployment altitude, but that still misses the root cause. So we raise the deployment BSR, but that still does nothing to address people going in at reserve line stretch, it ONLY makes a few people feel good. Just look at the past 10 years of fatalities here on dz.com and you see the increasing proportion of 'low cutaway' type deaths. Edited to add: just clicking through the Fatalities database there is a sharp upward trend around 2009/2010 onwards. A number of them are listed as 'low cutaway' and I am willing to accept that the rise in popularity of Skyhooks is to blame - directly because people have started to blur the line of no cutaway decision altitudes. Raising the AAD firing altitude may help with "reserve at line stretch". Raising the minimum deployment altitude may help prevent 2 outs (although I think that is dubious). Neither does anything to help with low-cutaways. Precisely and raising the AAD altitude does not require messing with the BSR. The rest of the world is not scrambling to change deployment altitudes, we have an 1800ft requirement. As numerous people have pointed out 3k is pretty much the norm anyway. So we aren't solving anything with the change. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I disagree about this being better than doing nothing. At present we have an increasing number of people dying with partially deployed reserves. People already have the option of increasing their AAD deployment altitude, but that still misses the root cause. So we raise the deployment BSR, but that still does nothing to address people going in at reserve line stretch, it ONLY makes a few people feel good. Just look at the past 10 years of fatalities here on dz.com and you see the increasing proportion of 'low cutaway' type deaths. Edited to add: just clicking through the Fatalities database there is a sharp upward trend around 2009/2010 onwards. A number of them are listed as 'low cutaway' and I am willing to accept that the rise in popularity of Skyhooks is to blame - directly because people have started to blur the line of no cutaway decision altitudes. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Bill, your stance is really odd. I don't think I've ever heard anyone twist the band aid expression to make it a positive approach. I think whenever people talk about bandaid's it is universally understood to mean avoiding the real issue. A band aid doesn't fix a broken femur, and a higher BSR doesn't make a reserve/container open quicker. It may be typical internet miscommunication, but it appears that you are contradicting everything Ron is saying just for the sake of holding a different view. You've been around a while - putting aside the specific issue of the BSR, do you hold the view that the USPA BOD is adequately serving the interests of the GENERAL membership? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Nothing wrong with 250 solo jumps over your life. Stop having preselected views on who posts in the forum, you are showing your ignorance. Many many posters have only just started AFF or are low time jumpers, probably more than the guys with 1000+ jumps. What is shocking is your absolute arrogance that with 15 jumps you refuse outright to see that other people know more than you Whoopee, you managed to fall stable on your AFF, you are a true skygod. That statement alone shows just how little you know... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

First of all don't be afraid to PLF. Other than that the advice to get feedback from instructors is good. BTW I broke my foot on landing about 20 years ago and it still gets painful. For what it is worth I jump in sneakers, but I've jumped in sandals when I've forgotten my normal jump shoes. The sneakers are easier on my feet. Also my sandals are under RW booties so I'm not worried about ripping a toe off Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

First of all thanks for the detailed post. At face value it appears that Airtek are getting the heat for something that is essentially not their problem. Airtek appear to be doing what nobody else (including your PIA risk committee) are willing to do and that is address the elephant in the living room. That is reserves are simply no longer opening in less than 750ft. Without reading too much into what you've said it appears that the PIA risk management committee acknowledge that for whatever reason modern reserve/harness combinations simply aren't opening in time. I have no problem with progress, and if the experts decide that the trade-off between free-fly friendly soft opening reserves is worth requiring an extra nnn feet to open, I'm happy with that. What I'm not happy with is some screwed up abuse of a TSO loop-hole, were everything allegedly meets the TSO requirements and therefore performs the same as it did 20 years ago. The implications are huge, right through to a revision of what is taught for hard-decks. I was taught you don't chop below 1000ft, you go straight to reserve, does this performance creep now mean the reality is that should be even higher? The honest answer is we don't know! Added to the mix, we now have people being taught/told don't worry you've got a Skyhook, you can chop at 300ft. So now we are in a situation where if you have a brand x harness with brand y reserve you can safely perform EP's at one altitude, and another system has a different set of EP's. The catch is that other than anecdotal evidence we the user are blind to what to choose. I suspect we are going to see the number of people dying due to so called 'low' cutaways gradually exceed canopy deaths over the next few years. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

How many times are you going to ask this? NOBODY is agreeing with you. Not one. Do you have any idea how rare unanimous opinion on here is? You really don't have a clue how little you know about this sport. I'm going to guess you aren't even scared on the plane ride up, are you? You said that you read the "small format camera incidents" thread, and that obviously, all those people are idiots. And that you are too good and too smart to do anything like that. Don't you think that all those people thought that too? What in particular, what specific skydiving experience do you have to be sure that you won't do something stupid? Like all the others. You are suffering from Dunning/Kreuger. What is known around here as "Madd Skilz." The real experts on here have seen 'you' before. And all the other "youse" that have come and gone before you. Some went in wheelchairs, some went in bodybags. Get serious, get current or do tandems. This isn't Point Break. Care to post where your DZ is? I'm curious if anyone on here has encountered you. Or maybe you are a certain someone using another sockpuppet. And has changed his tactics enough that nobody recognizes you. Looking closely, the grammar, spelling and syntax are somewhat familiar. It's a lost cause. Nobody is going to change his mind, he's going to keep fishing till he finds the answer he wants to hear. In that light - do you have to be a USPA member to jump at Lodi? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Don't be surprised. You have been skydiving for literally 15 minutes and people who have done a hell of a lot more of it than you have seen people like you kill and injure themselves and others far too often. Seriously, either take up skydiving or quit completely. Or do the odd tandem when you feel like it. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

BTW - I think you'll find that this is almost universally seen as poor advice (especially over the internet). Cutaway and then pull reserve, don't plan on in air rigging. With proper maintenance I think 3 rings do their job and release under load. If you are at terminal and start messing around 'clearing' risers it is a waste of altitude. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Paid him or paid the dz? There is an important distinction. It's not uncommon to get 'attached' to an instructor and look to that person for all training. In the case of packing it may well be that a packer or jumper with time on their hands will do a better job than a DZO trying to do it personally with all their other responsibilities. As to landing downwind and the dangers, honestly chat to your local instructors. Some people have published the USA student priorities, the general principles are always the same, but each country often has a different emphasis or method of teaching the priorities - stick to the NZ method (OblexTim, is probably the best placed to give you advice) Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Most important thing is that if you've got a skydiving girlfriend she doesn't meet your wife there's been a couple of fatalities due to this Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Currency is important. You wouldn't imagine a marathon runner saying he trained 6 months ago, so he is 'fit and ready' to go - it's the same with jumping. If you want to do a couple of jumps a year, not bother with rules and have camera, we have a wonderful new mode of skydiving specially made for you - its called Tandem

Huh. The plot thickens. It was definitely Pastrana and only Pastrana mentioned in the BOD minutes: http://www.uspa.org/Portals/0/Downloads/Min_BOD_2008_09.pdf Why was this thread pulled from the grave? If we all started jumping without rigs, the manufacturers would suffer... Surely not to demonstrate the BOD only represents the manufacturers Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

That's not correct, did you get that from a Bond movie You can triangulate a mobile phone, provided it is on, but it doesn't need to be in a call. You certainly need more than the SIM, as you need the air interface (radio) Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Several companies are working on, or actually have, devices that might do the job as a main recovery option for under $100. See some of the links in this thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4512148 I'd be interested in your thoughts on what is they are developing. A more limited range unit is available now (~100 ft; and about the size of a triple thick US 25 cent coin), and one company hopes to have a 1/2 mile version out by the end of the year (but it's larger). Hi Peter, The core requirements that I see are as follows: 1) Cost of less than US$100 2) "True" radio range outdoors of approximately 0.5miles 3) Battery life equivalent to an Audible so a few hundred jumps or about 1 year. 4) Ability to differentiate between units 5) Timely search function. The Blutracker device is highly unlikely to have a genuine 0.5mile range. Most claims of that nature are based on the Friis transmission equation and are high school physics level. You need to account for fading margin and other effects, unfortunately due to marketing pressures nearly everyone uses the simplified Friis equation, so to really get 0.5miles, you'll want to see 2-3 miles advertised. Secondly recharging every 2 months, is a headache and I'm pretty sure most people would simply forget to charge it after the first couple of attempts, meaning that when you need it, its flat. Technically how I would do it: - Use the higher powered ISM bands (There are usually between 870 and 930MHz, depending on where you are in the world) - You would have a receiver unit (USB dongle perhaps?) that would respond to the rig based unit, so technically a transceiver. - Unit on the rig unit 'pings' once every 5 minutes. - if the rig unit receives a message, it will then actuate the GPS receiver and transmit the location once a minute for about 10 minutes then default to the original state. - possible have an audible beeper on the unit that can be activated remotely. The above would need the rig unit to be in sleep mode for the vast majority of the time, this gives you the years of battery life, that things like Ultra low power Blutooth can't. The big issues are regulatory compliance - if you make a unit for the USA it won't be legal in Europe and so you have issues with global travel. Cost wise you would need circa $100k for the development and then you would need to manufacture at least 1000 units to get a reasonable built cost. So you end up spending $250-500k for a really small market. Lets not forget that attaching stuff to mains, risers or freebags is a whole lot of safety considerations and rigging that also needs to be dealt with. In short as soon as you introduce a radio transmitter and you want to stay legal it costs alot of money. One really simple option would be to have something fitted to a riser that has the cutaway cable fed through it. When you cut away it starts beeping loudly every 10-20 seconds. The most complicated part of that is ensuring you don't mess with the cutaway system, and the benefit is that the battery would last for years as it is off until activated. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

From cutaway handle pull? He did not pull his reserve. Anyway, I agree with what Jerry said earlier in the thread--time of deployment from an AAD fire is not a TSO standard. While what Jerry is said is technically, it sure would raise a few issues if manufacturers started blaming the AAD for slow deployments. For a start I believe AAD's are required to not affect the TSO of a rig. So for example we say that pulling your reserve handle will get you a reserve in 300ft, but the AAD cutting the loop takes 1000ft. That means that effectively the AAD HAS affected the TSO of the rig. Very dangerous 'excuses' to get into and I'm sure it is not the case anyway. Regardless we have all got sidetracked on detail from the core of Ron's original post. That is the fundamental issue that the USPA should be representing the members needs and views. A major benefit of being part of an organisation is that the collective voice is more powerful than an individuals. So the USPA should be there to represent us to the FAA and the manufacturers. All the evidence points to them doing a very poor job and that for whatever political or financial reasons the BOD is giving far too much weight to manufacturers wishes. Not necessarily in this issue but in a number of issues. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Fair enough. It wasn't all the way out. I think what you are picturing and what I said may have been over-dramatized, and I did discuss it with an instructor was no big deal. It was pulled out an inch or two maybe not even that far. I do know i grabbed on it as if I was deploying, but was clearly wrong so tucked it back in whether or not anything came out. The reason I'd like to get an instructors view is that it is a really.tricky issue. I'd did very similar on a jump, we broke off about 1000ft higher than planned and I turned and tracked my normal amount and instinctively went to pull. As I got part way through I realised and just held the hackey part way out of.the boc for 3 or 4 seconds. In hindsight I should have just dumped, but I was at 4k not 9k. I'm certainly not saying what you did was wrong, but it might have been wrong. Hope that makes sense. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.