CanuckInUSA

Bad feeling because of the dream or bad feeling because you're about to do something new that appears dangerous and something you haven't tried yet? I'm sure plenty of people have already told you that hop n' pops aren't a big deal, so I will spare telling you this (even though I just did). Our minds have a way of playing tricks on us. Sometimes these are related to things which are more mental than physical and sometimes there is a real physical barrier and our minds are acting as survival instincts. When the task is mental, we need to dig deep down into why our mind is telling us that we can't do this task and don't jump until we've over come the mental issues. But it's not always that easy. The issues you are having concerning your up and coming hop n' pop are likely no different than the issues I had in my mind a few weeks ago as I prepared to make my first stowed exit on a BASE jump. I have found my PC hundreds of times on a skydive and logic would dictate that physically I wouldn't have problems finding my PC on a BASE jump. But my mind was messing with me for many a hand held exits until I finally said "#### it, I'm going stowed this jump". Now going stowed off of the bridge isn't a mental block the way it once was and you'll be the same with your hop n' pop. Bottom line is that it is your life and you are the one in charge of it. If you don't want to do something, don't do it. Maybe you'll change your mind in the future. But don't push forward into uncharted terrain until you are mentally ready to deal with whatever consequences come your way. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I would think that this is a good idea. I'm not against swooping (I do swoop) nor am I against people talking about swooping. I just find it ironic that when some swooping incidents do occur, all of a sudden people are wondering why it happened? Until we change people's attitudes about an ever so fun, yet ever so technical and unforgiving of mistakes discipline, the accidents will continue to happen. In case people haven't noticed, it's not just the young and inexperienced people who are getting hurt and/or killed. Experienced people are also pounding in. They just don't pound in as often as the inexperienced people. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Dang ... it's interesting to see so many experts come out of the wood works on this one. No doubt my views will not mesh with others, some will disagree with me and they may even choose to flame me. Cool I say ... bring it on ... Do we want to make the USPA into a baby sitting service? How about the DZMs and DZOs? Are we to assume that everyone who shows up at the DZ without 'X' number of jumps or 'X' number of years in the sport is a baby and needs someone to look out for them? If you are in the belief that the USPA will be there to protect us all, then is there any wonder why some people have decided to leave the sport and pursue other activities or leave the sport and pursue things like BASE jumping (where there is no governing body). Is there any wonder why every summer people are getting hurt or killed under perfectly good canopies? Summer time is when everyone heads to the DZ and no doubt some people (be it egos, be it just wanting to fit in) get themselves into trouble. Swooping is fun, swooping is sexy, swooping is dangerous and thus swooping is something that many people want to do. So instead of trying to make the USPA babysit us all, how about we try to change the image of swooping from fun, sexy and dangerous to something else. How about showing swooping carnage videos to first jump students and not just showing them the video, but analysing why this was a swoop gone bad. People need to recognize and respect the dangers involved in this sport and especially in swooping. Respect is what keeps us alive and then it's much easier to appreciate the things we see talented people do under canopy. There are no easy answers ... WL BSRs may save a few people (so it's not like they are worthless), but the only way to save people is to make the people respect the dangers in what we are doing up there. Swooping is fun, it's cool to watch, but we really need to change the image of swooping as the cool thing to do to be something along the line of "yes it is fun, but the margin for error is slime, so make sure you are swooping for the right reasons and make sure you take the time to get to know everything there is to know about how the canopies you jump fly before you start hurling yourself at great velocity towards that very hard bone shattering object called Mother Earth". Baby sitting skydivers is not the answer here!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey Chris I do think that people like you as well as others definitely have a lot of good things that can be taught to many jumpers. So the motivation behind this thread wasn't so much are we teaching the right things. It's more along the lines of "why are we so surprised that people are hurting themselves swooping"? Swooping is the hot and sexy thing to do at the DZ and it's no wonder why the newer and/or younger jumpers want to swoop. But maybe more time and instruction needs to be channeled towards general canopy control and not just at the DZ, but here on this internet chat forum as well. I'd be willing to bet that if you analysed the contents of this forum, you'd find little talk about general canopy control and tons of talk about swooping, gear and who's doing what. All fine and dandy, and if nothing is wrong with just talking about swooping, then people need not be surprised when some newer jumper hurts themselves trying to be like everyone else. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

With all of the talk lately concerning people hurting themselves under canopies they are not ready for, one must sit back and ask why do people feel the need to swoop as well as what sort of things have influenced newer jumpers to take up swooping? Why do we do it? Why do some people crater and what will happen in the months and years to come? Can we change people's mindsets or is going big (actually small when talking canopies) the only way to be noticed? One would assume that this forum exists not only for people to ask swooping questions but also to ask general canopy control questions. But a month or so ago when I said I was turning a new page in my canopy control (ie: to learn more than just how to swoop a canopy), I was publicly slammed by a few people to stay out of the swooping forum as the only thing people wanted to talk about here was: 1) Swooping 2) Techniques to maximize their swoops. 3) The newest greatest gear. 4) Who's doing what and who's got the video etc, etc, etc. This is all good stuff, but little talk is given to over canopy control here on this forum and is there any wonder why the newer jumpers (especially the younger male jumpers) are attracted to swooping. If that is all that is talked about here, then maybe this forum needs to be renamed to something like "This is the swooping only forum, stay away unless you want to talk about all your bad-ass swoops". And before the latest round of bashing is thrown my way, let it be known that: 1) I do swoop and (knock on wood) to date have done a decent job doing it. 2) I am not interested in becoming a PST person (likely too old). 3) I am interested in all aspects of canopy flight. 4) As a new fixed object jumper, accuracy is a huge issue for my canopy control. So before people start slamming me or some newbie. Maybe we should be looking in the mirrors to realize why some of the newer jumpers want to emulate the bad-ass swoopers. Swooping looks cool and swooping is fun when done right. But instead of glamorizing the discipline, maybe the skydiving community needs to place better emphasis on general canopy control and less emphasis on being the bad-ass swooper. There is no doubt that many of the hot-shots out there will totally disagree with me. So let the hot-shots flame away. Just remember that my interests in swooping are starting to diminish now that fixed object jumping has become a keen interest of mine. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Dang ... that was well said. I hope to meet you one day. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You won't see me going that low any time soon. That's for sure!!! But some people like to push their limits. Sometimes they're heros and sometimes they've pushed too far. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Besides asking the questions that Lisa has asked (Skybytch), how many jumps have you made on the 190? Learning to fly a canopy takes hundreds of jumps. I stood up 224 of 226 jumps I made on a canopy I sold not long ago. Did I master that canopy? The answer is no ... at least not when I remember those two times I didn't stand it up. Oops I'm not setting a good example here am I? ... Anyway as I said, learning how to fly a given canopy takes hundreds of jumps. A Sabre2 190 is a great canopy (I used to own one) and you'll love the Sabre2 170 when you're ready for it (once again I owed one of those as well). But how well do you think you know that 190 and how many jumps did it take you to learn all that there is to know about this canopy? In a high pressure event, can you absolutely say that you can for sure safely land that canopy under the worst conditions. Dang ... I can't say the same for my canopy so I think I need to get some more practice with it before I think about replacing it. PS: Like Manbird I have little knowledge about the Pilot canopy. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Nope ... how about on a mountain slope with the jumper trained in ski jumping and wearing skiis with their wingsuit. Maybe have a BASE rig along for the ride if their wingsuit flight doesn't go as planned. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yes any mal on that jump would be bad. But repeat after me ... BASE jumping is not skydiving ... do not confuse the two ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I did do a similar downsizing progression last year and this is how things went for me (they may or may not work for you). I put 225 jumps on a Sabre2 170 last year and then wondered if I should buy a Sabre2 150 or go elliptical. Well due to the fast recovery arc of the Sabre2, I decided to buy an elliptical Crossfire2 canopy. But what size? Logic would dictate that I should get a 149 (or better yet a 169). But did I listen to logic? Nope ... I started flying a 139 and had more scary moments under the Sabre2 170 than I did on the Crossfire2 139 (I would like to think that certain lessons were learned on the larger canopy and to date ... knock on wood ... the mistakes have not been repeated). So can one go from a 170 to a 135? The answer is yes. But that doesn't mean it was right. What has keep me alive so far ... once again knocking on wood ... is that I was trained in flight before I was a skydiver, I am a very current jumper (if you don't find me at the DZ on weekends you'll find me flicking myself off of a legal span in potato-land) and I did receive some canopy control training, I read books on canopy control and I dedicate jumps towards canopy control. But I very well could be another incidents report this weekend if I am not smart flying my canopies (especially that pocket rocket Crossfire2 119 which I haven't jumped in three weeks and only have 30+ jumps on it). Get to know the slow speed characteristics of your canopy before you downsize (of course following BillVons list is good as well). The reason I say this is if you know how to fly your canopy at slow air speeds, you'll actually have a chance to land it in a tight area and you will have flat turns and stall recognition as part of your eye-to-hand muscle memory. Swooping is fun, but being able to put down that pocket rocket accurately at slow air speeds requires time under canopy and may save your ass one day. Ultimately it is your decision ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You should know better not to ask these sorts of questions on a public internet forum. Talk to the people who know you, know your mindset towards jumping and know what sort of skills and judgement you have as they see you at the DZ. Here on the net, we don't see you jump, don't know what you can and can't handle and we will only give you mixed messages. Ultimately it is your choice. Just make sure it's an educated rational choice. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Pick up some aviation sectionals for the areas you'll be passing through. They show the heights of many As you're likely to encounter along the way. And for sure make a stop at the Perrine in TFs. But only if you've got the right gear. Do NOT huck yourself off of that span with skydiving gear. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I thought you were going to make some sort of comment about jumping off of this span. How high is it? How windy does it get in the mornings? How's the potential landing areas? Is it watched or could I just walk on it and jump and not worry about bgetting busted. Okay all things aside, I'm not really going to jump off of this span when there is a legal one located elsewhere in another state. So the locals need not worry here. I'm just having a little fun. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I was back at the legal potato-land span this weekend and based on my last jump which was videoed, I'm beginning to think that maybe my brake settings are already dialed in. More jumps are needed at the span before I take it to Moab, but I think I'm on the right track. On my first and last jump of the day yesterday around noon (before getting in the car for the long drive home), I went stowed off of the bridge with slightly more than a 1 second delay. I had good body position and thought I had done a nice neat pack job the night before. But I experienced my first bonified 90 degree off heading opening to the left. You can see the canopy on the video open 90 to the left, barely surge at all, then as I get on my right rear riser, the whole canopy pivots on axis (not moving forward whatsoever) until I complete the riser turn back on heading, pop my brakes and go about my merry way to landing on the beach. So maybe just maybe the folks at BR know what they are doing with this FLiK canopy setup and single brake setting. I'm now in a position to start doing floaters (my stowed exits went well this last weekend). So the next time I'm up at the span, I will be doing some floaters hopefully in low winds and with video and I'll have a better idea as to whether or not I should leave the brake setting as they are or if they need to be tampered with. Good stuff I tell you ... a few more trips to the potato-land span, a few hop n' pops on the canopy to learn to fly it backwards and then maybe just maybe Moab will be calling my name. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

0:6:0 No humps ... Six jumps at the legal span in potato-land ... No beer owed ... wrong sport ... I'm beginning to feel more at home with this fixed object jumping stuff. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Add in a lack of sleep or a little alcohol poisioning from the night before and you've got yourself a doozy. As someone who jumps in CO, I think I can tell you that while we think we get used to it (we jump at 17500 MSL), you don't really get used to it. It effects us all, even those of us who go higher than most of you on a regular basis. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

LOL ... we just took this test (everyone I work with) just the other day and I was tempted to post it here on DZ.COM, but didn't want to be guilty of posting mindless banter ... Anyway I scored an 8.28% making me a "poser" (keep in mind I do work as a software engineer). Anyway most people at work were in the upper 20s with another guy scoring in the 40s and two in the upper 50s. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Normally I'm somewhat reluctant to just give donations away. But for skydivingmovies.com I know I feel differently about donations as I have uploaded one special jump of mine (my wingsuit balloon jump over an urban environment) as well as several other older swoops when I was working my way up the food chain. So I do think people like me who upload stuff as well as people who download stuff really should donate to keep the sight open. If someone was to PM me Matts contact info I'd be happy to send him a donation and maybe he should think about setting up a PalPal donation link. "dropzone.com" and "skydivingmovies.com" are two great skydiving related websites that many of us likely take for granted. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

People ... people ... do we need to slap HH around for not keeping his website up-to-date? Isn't he already kind of pre-occupied adding servers and diskspace for "Bonfire" and "Speakers Corner" mindless chatter to remember about keeping his DZ pages up-to-date? I think we should cut HH some slack here (he is after all a really cool guy) and not worry about who's jumping what and what they're jumping. At least there is some jumping going on in the state and there are a few pretty interesting airplanes currently around to service the skydiving community. I've got my own little projects going on at the moment, that's why some of these DZs haven't seen my ugly mug recently (and may not see it in the coming weeks). But I sure will be happy sometime in July when I'm back in the state jumping knowing that I could choose to jump out of an Otter, a Caravan and/or a couple of King Airs all within a 2 1/2 hour drive (some obviously less). I'm sure there are plenty of people out there in the skydiving world who would love those options but don't have them. Move on to the next thread ... nothing more to see here. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I've seen you pic and I'm not sure why you'd say such a thing. But as far as killing kittens ... well that's a whole different ball game. I know girls are capable of such an act, but it's usually us guys who are doing most of the kitten killing. Now how's that for a worthless post? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

PM sent ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Tim I'm assuming you have a pair of these boots. How are they in terms of foot mobility such that they allow or restrict you from pointing your toes while tracking? I'm assuming they provide very good ankle protection, but at what cost? Then again I was jumping with my hiking boots last weekend and I don't have a whole lot of mobility in those boots as well, so maybe this is all a mute point? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Thanks for the info. I guess I will initially concentrate on dialing in my slider off deep brake settings, but at some point will also look into slider up settings. Stalky maybe, but you're not a fat ass (if you want to see some fat asses, go to the mid-west). I didn't introduce myself to you by my DZ.COM screen name during the Memorial Day boogie in potato land, but we did meet one evening at the Shilo while you were packing for the disabled fellow. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Ding ... ding ... ding ... we have a winner!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over