nigel99

Wow, when a 132 is seen as a 'larger' canopy... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Careful of the quotes for a service in US$. A friend is having the 4 year done right now and it is AU$400+shipping. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Either 1) 1st Night jump. Definitely the closest I've come to riding the plane down. 2) Full story is in incidents. Having a skilled jumper dump my reserve deliberately as my gear was damaged (I didn't know, we couldn't communicate). The longest 5 minutes of my life, was riding down under a reserve not knowing WHY. I checked my harness a 1000 times and didn't budge a muscle Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Do you mind giving some background on 2? It sounds like a really out there story... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Hi Remi, This is why I disagree and say there is no coherent enforcement. The USPA has few rules and some recommendations, but individual dz's do have rules - but they are incoherent. We are hearing how some allow A+ jumpers GoPro's, others have B+, others C+ etc (that is simply an easy example - and not mean't to turn the thread into a camera thread). It is a mess and I don't blame the USPA BOD, but rather the culture. I'll drop the topic as there is zero point arguing on the internet that the 'Nanny state' approach might actually have some benefits Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Enforcement of what? Pretty much any rules, be it cloud clearance, gopros or sensible canopy choices. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

At J.Bay they inspected my gear, didn't they check yours? I know that at York it is generally pretty rigorous and that Andy will go over visitors gear. As to the questions about wingloading etc, I think that it might be based on reputation and license. It is such a small world over here people like you are pretty much known and accepted or banned as appropriate The US is such a mess in terms of coherent enforcement and the general attitude towards any form of rules, that I'm not surprised nobody asks or checks. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I see this perspective as part of what is wrong in the sport. Mind blowing freefly or relative work doesn't need a tiny canopy. The only discipline that really NEEDs a tiny canopy is swooping (possibly modern CRW as well). In fact it could have been used a positive message to sell their larger canopies. Our sponsored athlete is a kick-arse freeflier and look he jumps a 190. As a slight aside, I do find the NZ Icarus "Fuck yeah" offensive, and believe it reflects their overall attitude. I cringe every time I see a 'Fuck yeah' on a helmet or advert. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Just cause some idiot manages to cram a canopy into a container, doesn't mean it is a compatible fit. You don't really want to discover that it has boxed your reserve in so tight it can't extract when your at 1200ft as an example of a potential problem. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I heard good things about Pricey. Sadly I never had the opportunity tomeet him... Thanks for the feedback, it appears to confirm a common thread. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Where were you when I got distracted by my 'student' on a Coached jump and lost my frappe hat and Neptune? I don't remember us doing funky handshakes though (Although I will admit that riding to altitude next to skymama is possibly more distracting than a handshake) BTW, one thing the handshake can do is calm down 'peaking' students, by giving them a distraction and something else to focus on. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I thought I was the only person that thought this... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It's not in the OP's regs, but if you search for 'APF Manual for the Certificate B candidate' you'll get the document. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I don't believe the B-rels affect student retention. Personally I think there are people who come into skydiving as 'thrill-seekers' or bucket listers, and there are those who come in for the joy of flight or possible other motivations. I think the bucket listers and thrill seekers, tend to move on very quickly. For the thrill seekers the buzz, wears off and it is no longer worth it. I think the people who stick through, love to truly 'fly'. The key to retention for them, is to provide a framework where they get fun jumps in as early as possible. To achieve that you really need to encourage competent jumpers to jump with newbies. It isn't much fun chasing another newbie around the sky getting frustrated... That is why I think the proposed buddy system is good. I just need the APF to fund my jumps as a buddy

Andy, The levels consolidate the skills learn't during AFF and form 2 parts, freefall/aircraft and canopy skills. The B-Rel levels summary is below: 1) Fall rate and forward movement in freefall, stall and stall recovery under canopy 2) Pinning (2 way), turning on the spot, recognising grip tension and rear riser turns. 3) Side slides, hook turn recovery. 4) Side docks, flat turns under canopy. 5) Side shot monopoles, flare turns. 6) Outward facing docks, brake turns 7) Consolidation dive, canopy exercises at tutor discretion. 8) Turning points using outward facing turns, harness turns 9) fall rate while turning points 10) 3 x 4 ways with specific objectives. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

While technically accurate, if the person with 2100 jumps has just raced to the ground (as most people do) then you could argue they haven't really learned anything more about flying their parachute correctly than the person who's done it 500 times but really been focusing on learning. edit: That said, the person with 2100 jumps has a much higher likelihood of having been exposed to more situations that can develop than the 500 jump person. Ian Having recently done a canopy course, with one of the top CRW people, there is SO much you can do under canopy to learn about flying your wing on every jump. While the days of doing CRW after a 4 way are gone, there is nothing stopping you flying close proximity and doing drills all the way to landing. I can honestly say I've learn't more about flight in the past 15 jumps than the couple of hundred prior. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It is a good suggestion and as a USPA member I will support it, if it is put to the general membership. I currently jump under a much more regulated system (Australia) and although rules don't stop idiots, it does give the powers that be tools to enforce actions. In the last week, I overheard a jumper who has aggressively downsized (to the point that he is not allowed to jump his rig at our dz), comment that he sometimes wonders if he has downsized to fast as he sometimes scares himself! The USPA BOD has a mammoth task, as the general culture of jumping in the US is such that people demand 'freedom', but refuse to take personal responsibility and to be held accountable for their actions. Lastly, if I'm not mistaken some of the Scandinavian and European countries already have systems similar to what you are proposing, so at least there is a model to build on. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

From protecting your neck, I would expect placing your chin on chest is the 'best' option and looking up at the canopy has got to be the worst. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Sitting in the most boring 3 days of training. Can't help thinking that the emblem of a torpedo on the submarine teams shirts looks like a dildo :) Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Very good post thanks Dave. Some good food for thought. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

You know this is a recurring theme. L&B used to go beyond reasonable expectations, providing free replacements well after the warranty period, replacing abused equipment etc. Clearly the economics have shifted and they feel the need to tighten their belts. It is really sad that their previous generosity, has now resulted in sour grapes and a perception that they have somehow lost their customer service. To me customer service is responding to faults for equipment in warranty, sales enquiries and service issues in a timely and fair manner. Once you get into looking after equipment that is past the warranty date, then I agree that trade ins or repairs are a good form of customer service, that doesn't mean they have to be free. I personally will continue to support L&B, I think they have great products, and I've only had one dealing with them regarding my Viso and it did NOT result in any freebies. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Sure you can! It's easier, and safer, than having to be so, so careful about accidentally unstowing that toggle and maybe tangling the line excess! Personally, I've never understood this because I've never noticed it with the slider above the risers. Oh, well. Hi Andy, Interesting debate. I always put a lot of weight into your opinions (why does this sentence always , precede 'but I'm going to ignore you anyway?') Firstly you're absolutely correct that the value of pulling the slider down is minimal for most of us. So I'm in complete agreement on that front. As the video shows it comes with a not insignificant risk. Now for the ignore you part. My canopy really 'falls' out the sky with brakes unstowed, and I'm going to go with the general/wider view that Dave has put forward and pull it down over the toggles, while stowed. I'm also going to mention that it is an optional step and not needed on every jump. Having now jumped a few times pulling it down, I would say that for ME the visibility argument is not valid. Yes it gives me a clearer view of what is above and behind, but I can no longer see as much below and behind, and I ALWAYS check below and behind prior to turning... Add the distraction of pulling it down, and I don't believe I'll be doing this on bigger RW jumps. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Your procedure is what caused this problem in the first place....screwing with the slider before the brakes. Proper sequence: 1. Grab rear risers and check for traffic, being prepared to turn quickly if I need to 2. Check altitude 3. Unstow brakes 4. Controllability check 5.0 Check location 5.5. Take up flight path 6. Misc housekeeping. Andy, since canopies no longer have slider stops (I'm removing mine tomorrow, as they are worn out). It appears the common thing is to pull your slider BELOW your brakes. Surely you can't do that if you unstow your brakes first? It's going to put you on full drive with no hands in toggles... DISCLAIMER - I don't know at this point if I will pull the slider down past toggles, but from tomorrow it will be possible. At my wingloading I'm not interested in improved aerodynamics. I do buy into the argument that pulling the slider down improves visibility and since I do alot of 8 way and bigger that is a bonus. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

The 1000ft no cutaway is what I was taught. I still firmly believe in it. The problem is with skyhooks and the likes, people are now giving very 'woolly' on the issue and I've met at least 1 instructor who is telling people its ok to chop at 300ft provided they have a skyhook. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Well it speaks volumes about swooping, when a bat shit crazy base jumper, gives up swooping cause it's too dangerous Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.