Divalent

It's really a pretty simple sequence of steps, and all the variants are basically minor variations of each step: 1. flop PC upside down. 2. fold in half (to make 1/2 moon) At this point, different techniques do things a bit differently, but the end result is that you end up shortening the width by another half (the simpliest variant is to just fold in half again by folding the curved side over to meet the hackey). 3. fan fold excess bridle on top of PC material. 4. roll up into a stick. 5. stuff into pocket But always preceed any technique with a check that the PC is cocked. A perfectly folded uncocked PC is not worth much.

There are many variants, but they are all very similar. This Brian Germain's technique, and is the one I use. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axCeYlY_6io

Ha! I got the same score as you, but I was 40.4% smarter than average. Because the average score was down to 17.8 when I took it (vs 18.3 when you took it). (Doubtless the drop was due to all the folks from here that took the test in the interim.

296

woo hoo! And I know what you mean about the time thing. For me, the realization that I wasn't about to smack into the ground within mere seconds after stepping off the plane ("So I gotta do this, then that, and quickly quickly quickly(!), so I can pull and SAVE MYSELF(!), aaaaaaahhh!") was a key mental milestone.

Actually, the discussion of your choices and viewpoints goes directly to the issue raised by the OP's original question: what does Novice, Intermediate, etc mean with respect to skills, training, and experience, and how do they relate to the choice of an appropriate canopy.

or maybe not minor, if'n it's hard to impliment. 1. In the classified section, ads are listed from recent to older (with premire member ads separately at the top). However, if you limit the ads to those from a particular country, you get the ads listed from older to newer. Which means that you have to click through multiple pages to find the more recent ones at the very end. Maybe not a big deal in smaller categories with few ads, but (for example) in the Main Canopy section, that can be several pages or more. 2. Not a big deal, but have you thought of giving the DB Cooper thread its own forum? I do sometimes find the threads in the history/trivia forum interesting, particularly when I see an interesting title in the "most recent post" column on the forum front page, but 95% of the time that column says "DB Cooper". I tried to see if I could follow that thread, but it appears to be a group of hard core (and non-skydiving) conspriracy theorists speculating about strange (to me) stuff. IOW, regardless of whether it might have once been of general interest, I can't imagine anyone who wasn't there at the begining (many many years ago) even checking into it (except perhaps to gawk at the residents). I mean, with a gajillion posts in that thread (which was a continuation of an initial thread with a gajillion posts long since locked), who will be joining or following the conversation other than those that are already doing so? So why not give them their own forum (maybe they will post new interesting info in new treads?) and remove something that (at least for me, and probably many others) is a nuisance that clutters an otherwise interesting forum?

Congrats!

Same with me when I first tried to get into the sport long ago (10 jumps). More recently I did AFF, and at least for me, much prefer that program. Static line felt like trying to get into a cold pool one inch at a time (dip your toe, go back and think about it; dip half your foot, go back and think about it; etc.). With AFF you pretty much get it all over with on one jump. (it helps to have done a tandem prior to that).

Excellent photo for illustrating the position that others were describing. BTW, it seems that one advantage of tracking palm up is that it would make your hand-mounted altimeter visible without changing your position/posture.

Congrats on surviving your first jump. Good luck with the rest of your training. Speaking of which, (not that I'm any sort of expert), but you might want to consider finding a new instructor. I'm just sayin'...

Yeah, the answer to #2 should have tipped you off (and the point should have been emphasized by your answer to #3). Hard to tell what is causing the deformation, but it looks like the left side stabolizer is pulled inward, and possibly knotted with the C/D lines coming off between cells 2 and 3. I can understand your reaction, particularly on a first jump. Seems kind of stable (if you do what you did; not realizing the cost involved in doing the things needed to keep it stable (and question 3 is not "is it stable if you are yanking on one toggle about 3/4 of the way)) and the alternative is to give that up for another round of freefall. Thinking back to myself at your stage not very long ago, I might have made the same, but clearly very wrong, decision. I wouldn't now, but I have enough jumps to where I would have no fear at all to briefly freefall again after a chop, and I better understand the risks involved in trying to land something in that state. Anyway, at least you survived without serious injury. So congrats. (And you don't have to buy beer! )

HA! a subsequent google search of "678-622-5584" pulls up this: http://www.gwinnettcarcare.com/content/bbs/board.php?bo_table=preowned&wr_id=7

Also so that it won't show up on a search done normally for a phone number. A lot of shady dealers sell used cars on craigs list by getting straw sellers to pretend they own it and sell it from their home. This way they avoid regulations on car dealers. If you ever show up at someones home to look at a car, and the person (typically, a recent immigrant) doesn't seem to know a lot about it, doesn't have title to show you (or has title which shows someone else owns it), and claims it's owned by their cousin, chances are its really a dealer car. (And likely one with a major issue that they want to hide.) A way to find out which ones are these people in advance is to search for the contact phone number, you often find it attached to ads for other cars (or in some cases for the actual dealership). Always asked the purported seller about their ownership history, and then ask see the title to the car. Leave immediately if the title doesn't match their story, it doesn't belong to them, is titled at a different address, or was very recently acquired.

Oh yeah, like anybody's ever done that.

You are a braver man than I. At this point I'd be tempted to have it examined by a rigger (or do it myself, if it is something I could do) to at least eliminate something obvious (like, compare the actual line lengths with what the Mfgs specs are; size of slider; how the line stows behave in your bag grommets, etc.). Good luck. (Either that or stop sleeping with the packer's wife )

Looks like one is for sale. $120,000. Portable. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=112364;d=1 Edited to add: looks like you are the one selling it. So what does it cost to run per hour (including maintanence)?

Not true.. it happens about every five years. Actually, on average, every 7 years. (Everytime July 1st is a Friday) I got this email from a family member, and replied with the comment "stupid americans will believe anything that someone tells them in an email, even if a brief consideration would tell them it can't be true", but since Nigel got it, perhaps I should at least add Great Britian to the pool of stupid.

Based on all the different methods and contradictory advice I heard, seen, read, and watched, I'm begining to think all these techniques (setting the slider, burying the nose, rolling the nose, etc) are either all are unimportant, OR each canopy is unique and you gotta find the right combination for yours. (Except I am pretty sure it's important to pack the slider up, although I'm not willing to test to see if that is really is necessary )

Ouch! 7 of 7 sounds bad. Try packing with the slider up next time. Kidding aside, what have you tried (without success)? Rolling the noses closed? (that is supposed to help) Pulling out the front slider and/or burying the noses? (those are apparently not supposed to help, at least according to PDs latest packing videos) Just wondering, but is this something that is more likely with crispy new material?

I'm not sure I follow your reasoning. Wouldn't an immediate control check allow you to uncover the stuck toogle (or other steering line issue) sooner? (And, if one has to chop, wouldn't it be better to do so with the slider up, rather than pulled down behind your head?)

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

In theory, yes. OTOH, you might want to ask this guy if doing that is recommended: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpOCsQCKi7I

Congrat. Sounds like you made the correct decisions and with plenty of altitude. And glad you got all your stuff back. I haven't had to chop yet, but I worry most about mals like this where something just ain't right, but is potentially landable (and so the decision to cutaway is not immediately obvious).

You've listed things that are known and quantifiable with time and/or use of gear. Just thinking a bit more afield, you could also add an estimate of the risk due to less certain events: - stolen (without insurance, or cost of insurance to insure) - possible loss of value to a main after a chop (damaged in recovery, or lost for good) - possible loss of PC and freebag in a chop. Obviously these would be hard to quantify and space out over time and jumps (and I don't know, for example, what fraction of mains and FB/PCs are irretrievably lost after a chop), although taking the insurance approach might help. I can't imagine they would add too much (although the loss of a main, if it happened, would be huge).