what's your favorite hook turn

[skygod7777 0]

now, i consider if you are flat with the canopy, it's a hook turn. you may not of snapped it around, but you're flat with horizon during you're "carve", i say it's a hook turn. others may have different opinions

later

blue sky's and long swoops
kelly

"hook low, flare late.........dirt, tumble, dirt..........ouch"

[Zennie 0]

I do a 180, but it's more of a 90 degree slow carve followed by a 90 degree hard carve.

Gives me some very nice swoops.

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[Zennie 0]

Where's Levin's "540 Spiral of Death" option?

- Z
"Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

[Yoshi 0]

you see me every weekend.. 180's usually fairly slow, but every once and a while I steepen it up to a "hook"
fun fun fun..ohh and piss on you for not being able to get that canopy this weekend..
-yoshi

_________________________________________
this space for rent.

[PhreeZone 15]

Where is the 90 right 180 left option? I do those on occasion but perfer a 90 to 90 carving combo.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[skygod7777 0]

well, i did say 360 or more, so i guess that would count i have tried a 540, once, i didn't like it. first it didn't do anything more for my swoop, and second, the big one, i got lucky and did it right, but it scared me that i did it right right the first time, like not to high or anything. and just didn't really like it. (i did this when i had a heatwave, with about 600 jumps.)

later

blue sky's and long swoops
kelly

"hook low, flare late.........dirt, tumble, dirt...ouch"

[freeflir29 0]

I'm a big fan of the 90 right 180 left. In fact a lot of times I don't do a complete 90 right. Just pull down on the riser and get the left side light and a little extra speed. Then bring it around. The severity of the turn is completely dependent on traffic and altitude.

[MrHixxx 0]

I do a left toggle 90 right front riser 270 super pork chop swinger.

-Hixxx

death,as men call him, ends what they call men
-but beauty is more now than dying’s when

[flyboy62000 0]

Depending on traffic I normaly do a 90Rimmediately into a 270L, my second favorite approach is an overhead 360 left or right.

Blue Skies,
Adam

Blue Skies,
Adam
I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things . . . — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

[jumpkid 0]

I like to do a Phat 270L, for the simple reason to keep myself in the pattern. EX. On the downwind leg, do a 90 toggle to the right, now you are cross wind, give the sky a good look around. When it is clear, start a nice slow 270L carve. This keeps you in the pattern, it is sort of like doing a right 90 on to final.
The way I do the carve is too start with the front risers, just to get it going then alow for harness input for the last 180 degrees. If it is done correctly I bet you can out swoop people doing 180 hook turns. Carves are safe, you can bail out at any time, if you are low....... On the same note I'm guilty of Huckin a rectum tightening 180 hook from time to time... Peace keep your head on a swivel

[Pablito 0]

I prefer a 180 snap, but sometimes I do 90 carve and I finish with a 90 snap, it gives me more of an edge where i can judge altitude a bit beter. Latly i started to do 200 so i can carve during the swoop to get streight into the wind.
Cielos Azules, Blue ones.

"If you don't overcome your fears they will overcome you first"
Shady Monkey/6Segundos Rodriguez/AKA Pablito

[AiRpollUtiOn 0]

I like +/- 180° front risering.
I release the pressure somewhere in the last 90°, and if possible I go a bit further so I can make a light turn in the surf, love it.

I decide not to try this 1 out of 3 times, if there's something that remotely looks like it might become anything less than the perfect situation I just go for a shallow toggle 90°, this gives me more speed than you would expect.
Any landing that feels like stepping from the sidewalk onto the street is perfect for me.

"Don't make me come down there" - God.

My site:http://www.skystudio.nl/video.html
Some of my vids: http://www.youtube.com/user/TomSkyStudio

[garywainwright 0]

Be careful out there! Some of you guys haven't got that many jumps (sorry if that sounds patronising)

http://www.garywainwright.co.uk

Instagram gary_wainwright_uk

[freefal 0]

I've got around 300 jumps (out of almost 1000 total) under my Stiletto 135 @ 1.55 wing loading. I don't make it out to the DZ as much as I'd like to so my currency (probably the most important variable in swooping) isn't that great. The best balance of swoop performance and safety I've found is a nice 180 left carve that steepens as I dive then pull both risers a bit toward the end and ease out of it into smooth toggle pressure. Also, once I've plained my canopy out I let up on the toggles to almost full flight through the middle of the swoop then pull them back down for the flare at the end.
This method has a couple of advantages. First, I think a smooth carve will outperform a snappy hook any day in generating speed and with a carve you're never too far out from under the canopy so you're able to abort your approach and go another direction if something happens (like some dumba$$ under the Triathlon with blinders on didn't notice you!) Also, with a 180 you can see your entire approach and any conflicting traffic pretty well. A 270 will probably generate more speed, but since I'm just a weekend warrior who's not as current as I'd like, the 180 is fine for most of my jumps and still yeilds swoops typically in the 40+ yard range. If you end up a little low at the end you can adjust the amount and duration of the pressure on both toggles as well. Also, I always do a left carve. If you pick an approach and stay with it you'll get it dialed in easier and everyone you jump with will know what to expect if they're near you under canopy.
That's my 2 cents. I'm sure some of the people jumping sub-100 sqft. canopies can probably give a little more insight though.

-Chris
D-19162
PS. I keep seing all these quotes after everyones' posts. If you want some good ones, check out the quotes on the Austrailian BASE Association's page at: http://www.basejump.org/.

"Ignorance is bliss" and "Patience is a virtue"... So if you're stupid and don't mind waiting around for a while, I guess you can have a pretty good life!

[freefal 0]

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention the part about letting up on the toggles. If you keep yanking down on those things you're just slowing down your canopy and not letting it fly. Check out any picture or video of a nice swoop on a HP canopy and you'll see the toggles go back up halfway through to let that baby surf.
This doesn't really apply to a rear riser swoops, but those are a whole different animal.

C-Ya
Chris
"A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not why ships are built."

"Ignorance is bliss" and "Patience is a virtue"... So if you're stupid and don't mind waiting around for a while, I guess you can have a pretty good life!

[skygod7777 0]

i'll tend to dissagree just a bit. i jump a fx, and i have never let my toggles back up that far, or at all for that matter. on a stilleto, the toggle range is much shorter, so you almost have to do that so you don't go shooting back up in the air. but if you start out not flaring as deep, then you will not have to let them back up. if sounds like you may have to dig out of the corner a little, and then let up. but with a canopy with a deeper toggle stroke, you'll just go back into the ground if you let up that high. now all of the pics you do see on the fx's, vx's, velocity's, xaos's and so on are from them comming in with so much speed, they may not need to flare as much as usuall, but they flare deep, then let it back up.

later

[freeflyz 0]

Pain or death is a good teacher

[eames 0]

I'd go so far as to say that with certain designs (e.g. a Stiletto) at the right wingloading and with the right technique, a person should hardly have to flare to plane out, if at all. With a different canopy, at a different wingloading, it would be a whole different story.

But if it's just for fun, there's no wrong technique (as long as you're safe).

Jason

Looking for a canopy?

[bobsoutar 0]

I used to aim to swoop my Stilletto so that it planed out on it's own and then gradually use brakes just to keep me off the ground until it stopped.

Been using an FX for the last 150 jumps and the brakes are quite deep so it seems to be necessary to smoothly apply enough brakes to get a similar result for the surf and then add a little at a time to stay above the ground.

I'm half looking for a 27 cell now so would be interested to know if the same technique applies.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

As Jason said, if you are just in it for shits and grins, then do whatever you feel. Back in the early 90's when the Golden Knights RW team was jumping Sabers, they would toggle whip the piss out of them VERY low and time it so that they would be on the upswing just as they came around the corner. Once there, they would release the toggles and slide to a stop with nothing in their hands. Darren Schuster was the biggest offender. Of course back then, it was also stylish to flip upside down in your risers and unflip just as you came around the corner. I saw plenty of those guys fail at that maneuver.

Today, the only real example of a die-hard "toggle whipper" around here who does know better is Matt Davidson of the newly re-formed GK 8-way team. It scares me to watch Matt land, but with 10,000 plus jumps, I guess he can do what he wants.

Chuck

[Remster 24]

Quote

Today, the only real example of a die-hard "toggle whipper"

I'd put Daniel Paquette in that category too... and at close to 10K jumps too, it's his call! lol

Remster

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Yeah, Remi, I could cite other examples, but the reason I said that Matt "knew" better is that he has gotten it through his head that risers are the answer, but still catches himself toggle whipping because he hasn't worked it out that he MUST be higher to get away with risers. Several other of those guys still toggle whip, but they never had any swooping skills to begin with. Of interest here is there are two guys on the newly re-formed 8-way team that always rear-riser their landings, very proficiently I might add. Andy Honnigbaum has the cleanest rear-risering technique of the bunch, but Greg Windmiller on the CISM team kicks ass, too.

Chuck

[skygod7777 0]

i have heard that the nights are forbidden to use there front risers. is this true, or just a bad rumor???

later

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Kelly,
that is totally false.

[skygod7777 0]

ok, that's what i thought, but i had noticed that a lot of them were toggle hooking at the nationals. so when a was told this, i kinda believed it, but it was still in the back of my head, oh hell that can't be right. so now i know for sure, thanks

later