accur8shot

I just took Brian's course, too, and it was awesome. Everything just makes more sense afterward and it makes flying the canopy a lot more aerodynamic and fun.

Any clip with that kind of music in the background usually spells trouble.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQKUqNYu2eo&feature=related 2007...so that means the kid's 10 now and probably flying an 84 Velo. Forgive me if this has been posted before.

I jumped at Skydive Chascomus today and it was an absolute dream. If you are coming to Argentina - drop your plans and take the short ride out of Buenos Aires to this place. Beautiful views, beautiful women, friendly helpful people, good gear to rent - probably the best vibe I've experienced so far. Plenty of English speakers around, too. The LZ has a bunch of cows... which was hilarious, because they all stare at you as you walk across their pasture to get back to the hangar. I can't wait to come back.

My girlfriend emailed me the link to the news story yesterday. I sat on a bench and read it on my phone three or four times over. Your dad saved the lives of several people. It doesn't get any more noble than that. I hope you find some comfort in the fact that people who didn't even know him were thinking about what a hero your dad was.

Thanks, B.

Has anyone else ever hyperventilated during freefall? I made my 25th jump a few days ago and when I exited the plane, I began to hyperventilate. I worked it out by picking a heading and just relaxing for a few seconds, but it definitely freaked me out for that first bit. I usually wear a full face but I was wearing an open face helmet on this jump - not sure if that had anything to do with it. Anyone else ever have this experience?

I took a few days away from the (semi) cold North to try to get some jumps in Florida. Decided on Z-hills as my first stop. Very laid back atmosphere, nice sprawling airport, easy to locate LZ, good coaching, friendly people, nice pro shop, fast turnarounds on loads - no waiting...what more can you ask for? The rest of the weekend was a washout as far as weather goes, but I had a great day at Z-hills and would recommend it to anyone.

"You are allowed to jump with a full face helmet before you have your A license?" Yes. Nothing in SIM precluding it. (edited to include quote)

I switched to a full face helmet a few weeks ago on my 16th jump. I bought a Bonehead Revolve and it's the cat's nips. I love it. On my 15th jump, with an open face helmet, my goggles became slack and started flapping around my face. Although I handled it, I wasted the second half of my freefall. Right off the bat, two things I noticed right away about the full face helmet when I jumped was that there was a tremendous lack of wind noise and I had an easier time seeing things (less wind flapping around your eyes - tight goggles or not). Sort of a freaky feeling for me is that the ground seems to rush at me faster if I look straight down when I'm looking through the visor of the full face vs. using an open face and goggles. I also love that I can keep the helmet on and just pull the visor down at buzzer time, and then when I'm under canopy, I can easily flip the visor back up to open-face mode. I can see myself using my lightweight open face and goggles just to change things up now and then. But for me, full face - and in my case, the Revolve - is much, much better overall. Open face = cheaper, lighter weight, more sensory feeling. Full face = more protection, quieter, eye protection+helmet in one package

Bouncing off a llama reminded me of my buddy's first AFF jump. Start watching at 2:26. My favorite part is the guy who turns into a giant, rolling piece of pink cotton candy at 2:36. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV9jAxjNNsk

Not that it helps you, brother, but for others who may be reading this and thinking about ordering their first jumpsuit.... Bev Suits has a guarantee that includes making alterations for free on new jumpsuits. Personally, I did a ton of research about jumpsuits prior to buying one. My girlfriend was getting sick of measuring me. And every time we re-measured there were differences - it was frustrating. I decided to wait until I could make a trip to a dealer and have them measure me themselves. Depending on your options, if you are planning a skydiving trip, you can visit a DZ with a jumpsuit manufacturer on site, like Freak'n Suits in Clewiston, FL - inside the Skydive Air Adventures DZ. I jumped there on vacation a couple of weeks ago and got measured up by the manufacturer while I was there, so I am feeling confident that it will fit. The price was super cheap, too, and their reviews are great. I second the motion about selling it - it will fit someone. Good luck!

I recently finished AFF at a DZ up North and wanted to make a couple of fun jumps while visiting South Florida. After reading the reviews here, I decided to make the longer trip to Clewiston even though I was staying in Miami...and I am glad I did. As a student, I am trying to get as much safe, solid instruction as possible. I made a few coached jumps over a couple of visits, and the instructors assigned to me (Smitty and Shiva) gave me great feedback. Some of the things they showed me have really helped me under canopy. Only negative is that after making a landing away from my assigned LZ (unplanned), some douche asked me why I landed on 'his' LZ (the swoop LZ), and while I resisted the urge to get all NYC on him, it still sticks in my memory. Try instructing instead of bitching next time, Superman - we are all newbs at one point. Not sure if he worked at the DZ or not, so I am not holding it against the place - great time, great staff, the DZ is good to go. Another huge plus is that they have Freak'n Suits on site, which makes great suits for a bargain, so if you want a custom-made jumpsuit, you can get measured right there.

As a new jumper myself (just finished AFF a couple of months ago), I can tell you that watching video of my jumps helped me A TON and I'll give you 2 specific examples. On my first AFF jumps, I could not really maintain a solid heading - I always picked up a spin and couldn't figure out why. When I watched the video of my AFF 5 jump, I noticed my arms seemed stretched too far out in front of me. On my next jump, I changed my arm position - and that completely fixed my spin. That was a major turning point for me... it was the correction that took skydiving from cool-but-frustrating to fun. I also noticed that on two of my AFF videos, I was beginning to get unstable as I waved off and pulled - I was dipping a leg when I'd reach for my handle. The video showed it clearly but I wasn't aware I was doing it. I think about maintaining good body position much more when I'm ready to deploy now.