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lintern

Where do I get a training harness to practice exit, arch, pull & recovery

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I've been jumping for 18 months now and I am struggling to progress onto freefall because I keep going unstable on 3 sec delays.

For more details refer to the following links I posted about my problems with 3 sec delays...

www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=725804;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=740298;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

Anyway, as I really dont want to give up I am considering AFF and was also thinking of better ways I can practice my exit, arch, pull and recovery.

I've been thinking of getting a parachute training harness that I can hook up to some sort of frame in such a way that I can do a student sill exit (for example off a table top) and be able to hang in the harness to complete the pull and recovery.

This way it will make me more aware of my legs as I will be hanging in the harness instead of landing on the ground feet first.

In practice my legs sometimes stay in the same position they are when sitting in the door - its as if Im unaware of them.

Does anyone know where I can get a harness of some sort that will allow me to put something together so I can practice my exit, arch, pull and recovery more realistically? (i.e. suspended in the air, NOT standing upright on the ground!)

Ideally something like a parachute training harness used when students practice malfunction cut aways.

Or a harness like that used in theater work to give the illusion of an actor flying. This type of harness might be better as I think they are suspended from the hips rather than the shoulders.

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Have you asked your DZ if they have some hanging harnesses? I think that most dropzones atleast have one laying around somewhere..

As far as where to purchase one, I'm not sure, most of the ones that I have seen/used were put together by a rigger at the dz.

So perhaps you could talk to an experienced rigger at your dropzone about making one? It really shouldn't be too hard to build and I wouldn't reckon it would cost too much.

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

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>This way it will make me more aware of my legs as I will be hanging
>in the harness instead of landing on the ground feet first.

I would recommend against this. How you sit in a harness has very little to do with how you arch in freefall. Arching on a creeper or pillow works a lot better.

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Here is my sugggestion for those with your paritcular problem. Forget aobut the hanging harness, because as mentioned earlier, it really doesn't help with your arch and in fact, actually creates a bit of a de-arch.

1. Find a door in your house or apartment.
2. Place your feet about eighteen inches from the door.
3. Place your pelvic region against the door, keeping your feet about shoulder width apart and 18" from the door.
4. The only thing touching the door (relative wind) is your pelvic.
5. Hands up as though you were holding the strut. but back away from the door.
6. Now make all movements (PRCPs) using only your hands in the symettrical movements that your instructors taught you. As your right hand goes down to the student handle, your left hand should move simultaneously to the top of your head (as shown in class).
7. Do this about 25-30 times SLOWLy ensuring your body does not twist... keep your shoulders sqare with the door, your eyes focused on a spot about 3 inches above your head.
8, Feel the pinch in the small of your back.... feel it until it aches.
9, Once you've done that to proficiency, you can then increase the tempo on your PRCPs.

On jump day... Find a door at the DZ and do it ten times with your gear on before going up. Then do that exact same thing while hanging from the strut.

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I can't answer your question about the harness, but maybe I can add something about your original problem?

I had quite some problems exiting stably from a C206 and doing my DRP's (Don't we like that forward exit.. :S).
Well, finally I managed two good ones, so I could do my first free fall. That was a 10" delay, observed by an instructor.
Of course, I went unstable, but I had lot's of time to go to delta, become stable again and pull.
My previous club changed to doing 10" delay for first free fall because experience showed that 3" delay was causing a lot of problems like your's. The combined stress of first free fall and concentrating all these new experiences in 3" appears to be too much for a lot of people.
So you start of with a 10" delay in delta position, and later work back to 3" and C&P, when you're more aware of your body position.

My new club changed their program to the same. Not because of me B|, but because it makes sense.

I always felt lucky I had the opportunity to learn free fall this way, because I feel I would have been stuck in 3" for EVER otherwise, considering the problems I was having with DRPs... I didn't have too many problems afterwards anymore and progressed nicely (some people might have a different opinion about that ;))

I'd suggest you convince your instructors to try a 10" delay. I mean, you demonstrated many times you can pull after 3", so why wouldn't you pull after 10"?? And keeping you stuck on 3" (or was it even back to S/L and DRP?) isn't really working wonders, is it?
I wouldn't be too happy about being stuck on 3" delays... I'd get so focused and stressed up about these 3" and pulling, that my body position would be the last thing on my mind, and the exit from the C206 isn't helping much either.
I can't see how practising in the harness is going to help you much... What will help is (like others said) practising on a creeper (preferably with a mirror) and somebody giving you feedback about your position. You can also practise at home to train the 'muscle memory', I just use a thin workout mat.

The only other real alternative seems to do at least one AFF-jump.

Good luck!!

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