PiLFy

"I thought maybe you were jumping at the North Pole or something." I'm not that sick. "Now, what is the coldest you've ever jumped nekked?" Probably around 0° F. I once had to jump out of my sleeping bag in the middle of the night to pee. It was a winter camping trip in the Boy Scouts. It taught me never to drink too much before bed. As I recall. I jumped back into the bag pretty quick, too.

I sorry ... No puppy pic?

Sorry, Jeff. Ain't gonna squeeze ya, brother... http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/conversion/windchill.html I've jumped when it was about 20° F on the ground. That's about -30° F @altitude. Then, factor in the windchill from the chart. Or, you can scroll down further, & use the calculator. Depending on how you figure it (chart & calculator differ. Plus, the calculator only goes to 109 MPH.). It's between -86° & -100° F. In other words, PFC.

Here: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/conversion/windchill.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapse_rate I live well north of you. It's usually approximately 50 colder @altitude around here. Summer days vary more (Lapse Rate) between a 35-45 degree difference. Then, just add the windchill ... 72 is balmy. Wear an extra layer or two, & you'll be fine. Be careful not to wear too much ( = show an instructor). I used to freeze very easily when I was a student. I now like winter jumping. It's different, & a lot of fun. I think I've jumped down to around -100° F. As far as I'm concerned. Seventy two degrees is still summer. Have Fun.

You're welcome. I hope it works out for you. Not all tears can be easily fixed. Not all tears should be operated on. Some require several months to a year of disability. You didn't say what position or force pops your shoulder out. You may or may not be able to cope without surgery. My shoulder Doc is the top Ortho for an NBA team. I was advised not to have surgery on my two tears. Talk to your Doctor. He's the only one here who has seen your scans. He'll be able to give you the best opinion on this. Good Luck.

Hi Patrick, Sorry to read about your shoulder. Once you dislocate your shoulder. You have an instability that makes a second dislocation more likely. You've had five... Is there a wind tunnel near you to try? If your shoulder is too unstable. It's better to find out that way, than @13K feet. Have you worked w/a Physical Therapist to strengthen the joint? What did your Ortho say? It all depends on where your tear(s) are. I have a bad shoulder, but (throws salt over shoulder) so far have been OK. Someone I trained with needed surgery for it. If you're comfortable asking your Doctor about this. He can give you a more informed answer than we can. It would be great for you to get to a tunnel & see what's required of your shoulder in freefall. It would be a help to you for AFF, as well. So, the money would be well-spent. There are some things you can do to protect it. You'll learn to protect yourself during linked exits. You won't do any hanging exits (wing strut or Skyvan door). If you haven't, already. You'll learn how to safely strengthen your shoulder by a PT. I hope you can join us without your shoulder getting in the way. PM me if you like. Good Luck.

PD says this: "A Real Drag Collapsible pilot chutes have been available for a number of years. Most rigs being used today are equipped with one. These pilot chutes collapse after the canopy has deployed, which improves performance by reducing drag on the canopy in flight. A collapsible pilot chute will normally improve a canopy’s glide, make it easier to land, and will often let the canopy turn more smoothly and handle turbulence better. Some people believe that collapsible pilot chutes are not necessary on larger canopies, but the fact is they can improve performance on any size canopy. Even a relatively large canopy may have a full glide speed of 30 mph or more. At this speed, an inflated pilot chute creates a substantial amount of drag, and has a significant effect on the canopy’s performance." Aerodyne says (can't find the article someone quoted to me in the past) that for canopies sized 170 & above. The difference is negligible. billbooth: "Everything humans do to go faster entails risk....whether it's fast cars, fast parachutes, or for that matter, fast women. Highly loaded ZP canopies, micro lines, and collapsible pilot chutes and sliders, all add risk to your skydive. But skydiving itself is risky, and who's to say when the risk becomes "too much". The answer, of course, is "You are". Don't go too far, too fast. You simply don't need all the fast stuff on your first rig. Freefall ought to be enough for a while. I enjoyed the hell out of my few hundred skydives, and my main, a Para-Commander only went 10 MPH." http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3767101;search_string=collapsible;#3767101 Lots of opinions on this. I'm curious about it as well. For garden variety fun jumping, does a 1:1-ish loaded canopy really need a collapsible PC?

FWIW, I've about 50-60 jumps on a Pulse @.95 WLing. They open nice, pack nice, & land nice. I'm told the trim has them fly level & fast. I don't feel that much of a difference. The shallow glide does make timing the landing flare easier. The flare isn't as strong as a Sabre2, but more than enough. They're fun to spend the day jumping. Disclaimer: But, @99 jumps, what do I know?

"And yes... That was the time I closed the door." FIFY

Dude! Perfect landing in a tight spot . I've watched Bridge Day vids where no one seemed able to land in the clearing.

Thanks, Doug. I watched it using a different browser. Nice job guys.

No, this is the Post of the Month.^^ Truth Hurts.

Plus this one, Pal... I'll take any heat you've got, & shove it where you won't like it. That's hardly the point, though. Is it?

>but w/Newbies, sometimes "the camera caused the incident" proves to be very true. "OK. I've never seen one, but I could imagine one might occur. Do you have an example?" Again, I never said that here, but... DSE's list cites many. >Some Sky Gods have lost perspective, & gotten stuck in the Grumpy Tree.. "Yep. And I'm a canopy nazi, and I hate newbies, and I stick my nose in other people's business etc etc. If I prevent one incident for every 100 people who get bent out of shape with my opinions, I'm happy with that." And if a few hundred other Newbies fail to ask questions due to a fear of getting flamed, here. Resulting in a couple dozen serious injuries or fatalities. Are you going to be happy w/that, too? Because that's the climate you help create. That's a fine legacy for an educator. Congratulations. >It's a shame you choose to act like this "?? Like what? Being honest about my opinion? I'm not going to change my opinion so as to not offend someone with more delicate sensibilities. You can have a different opinion; that's fine. Your discussions might be a lot more valuable if you can accept that other people won't always agree with you, rather than making it into a pissing match." I didn't turn it into a pissing match, Bill. You did. You were asked quite nicely to bring something better to the table. Instead, you chose to dig your heals in. You allow others to have a differing opinion. Only to badger them if they do. Disagreeing is a good thing. It leads to further discussion & insights. I never said/inferred/thought that everyone has to agree w/me. Again, stop putting words into my mouth. You know what? Forget you. You have ceased to be relevant to my continuing education. I'm out of this now, too. It's pointless.

Then, I must be missing an applet or something. It won't play for me. It keeps locking up my PC after a few choppy minutes...

"This forum really needs to remove the sand from its vagina."

"he had diamonds inset in the RW-1 rings on the shoulder. The back-pad on that Vector 2 was made of fur." Pimp my Vector .

Props to you for taking the time & effort to present this to all of us, Doug & Grimmie. One small problem, though. Am I the only one without six gigs of memory on my PC? I can't play the vid... It just hangs up & stops. I tried turning off the HD in Vimeo. No Go. Is it possible to re-post it in a lower resolution, somewhere?

"In order, based on the video? IMO: 1) Not turning away from an impending collision 2) Not checking out his canopy, realizing it had problems and cutting away from it 3) Not having the skill to do a 4-way per the plan 4) Not having the attention to spare to jump a camera 5) Not checking the spot" What? #1 was "not turning away"? The primary cause of that collision was his virtually ignoring his three buddies once they exited. He had no idea where they were when he punched through that cloud. "Best way avoid getting hit? No be there." (Mr.Miaggi). Better separation would have prevented the collision, & all that followed. Edited to add: Oops, I forgot the disclaimer: But what do I know? I only have 99 jumps...

"Do you think it's possible that some people (who've never had to cut away before) could be scared to do so?" Absolutely. I used to look forward to my first cutaway in a warped-humor sort of way. I viewed it as a rite of passage. I'll now be quite content to wait several hundred jumps before one comes my way. It almost certainly will happen one day. I'll do it without hesitation when the time comes. I know my life depends on it. As well as the safety of those around me. I would jump (sorry) at the chance to do an intentional cutaway. I don't see how it could do anything but help preparedness. It would be a logical extension of the training harness. Such a requirement could have made the difference w/that young man (& potentially save his life).

A stupid claim, Bill? I shouldn't have to tell you this, but w/Newbies, sometimes "the camera caused the incident" proves to be very true. Though, I never said that, here. I've never said this, anywhere: "small canopies have nothing to do with landing accidents." Lastly, I have never taken the position that someone w/such poor general skills/knowledge should add to the mix by strapping on a camera. "...and to ignore that because one prefers that cameras be available for new jumper is foolish." Kindly stop putting words in my mouth. What we have is a difference of opinion. It's the basis for discussion, not a pissing match. Spootch is right. You clearly have a lot of knowledge you could share. It's a shame you choose to act like this, instead. Twardo is right, too. Some Sky Gods have lost perspective, & gotten stuck in the Grumpy Tree... You gonna delete my post too, Bill?

+ (another) 1... I removed myself from this thread when the sh*t started flying (yet again). It really gets tiresome. The tone is not conducive to learning (or teaching, for that matter). That guy's camera was merely along for the ride. That seems blatantly obvious to me. Should he take the thing off his helmet, & focus on basic skills? Absolutely. Was he looking straight ahead to get a good shot? Or, not checking the canopy to hide crash damage? Hogwash. He thoroughly ignored the planned 4-way. He froze when he saw the impending collision. He stayed frozen, afterward. He was too afraid to cut away, or even check his canopy. Panicked, he headed straight for home, cross-pattern, cross-runway (low), & all. This guy did far more wrong than strap a camera on his head. He would've wanted to show off his mad 4-way skillz on camera. He would've wanted to film the damage & cutaway for youtube. In this incident, nothing indicates the camera distracted him in the slightest. He would've performed just as poorly without it. It has been five pages. Can we move on, please?

Here, I think these are the two incident reports you want: http://www.uspa.org/USPAMembers/Safety/AccidentReports/tabid/81/ctl/Detail/mid/785/Default.aspx?xmdata=SakVDx0DWDBWKevXSEaFG8q0yqbUsWn7g%2frJ8aSiOTXFABbPaL5hYGNd%2fOIhOd4bbuW%2fDa4UKe5TTDhQgDTgFg%3d%3d http://www.uspa.org/USPAMembers/Safety/AccidentReports/tabid/81/ctl/Detail/mid/785/Default.aspx?xmdata=SakVDx0DWDC7BbQjSAU7FuylgIVHKQUWV5aS6%2fX5SlNWRFj0YB76nRCKs6PwCA70%2b0WyBadzdeAtG3jghD8ioA%3d%3d

I gotta go w/this one, Cal. I will add: do NOT wear tight-fitting jeans. You don't even want to know... Have fun, man

5~ If you suffer a collision, see broken lines hanging, & actually can hear extra material flapping in the breeze? You might want to at least look up...