Lazarus_762

I'm heading for the DZ right now...and my heart is already beating a little faster than usual...scared? Yeah, a little! But also, excited - I'm going skydiving! WOOT! Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

speaking from my limited experience, I think you are not afraid of being unprepared or of gear failure...my biggest obstacle was simply admitting to a deeper fear. Jumping out of an airplane is scary. It evokes a basic fear hard wired into every human- the fear of falling. Admitting that I am afraid was a huge step in my training. I asked one of the pros at the DZ how long it took to stop being afraid. He said he would let me know if it ever stops scaring him... of course you are scared! Admit to that deeper fear, take a deep breath, and JUMP! Like the shoe ad says, just do it Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

thanks! Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

sitting on the couch with an adult beverage in my hand, the side packing looked easier and more straight-forward...apparently looks can be deceiving. Having never had the opportunity to try my hand at packing, I was just wondering what experienced packers thought about the 2 methods. The general consensus seems to be just as you say, PRO is easier, faster, simpler...when I start learning how to pack, I'm sure I'll understand better. Thanks for your help, I appreciate it.

one of those threads is 11 years old, the other is 5 years old...I was looking for current opinions about current practices...thank you so much for your cheerful help. have a nice day. Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

was watching Pack like a PRO...have not tried packing yet, we'll get to that later, but it looks like the side pack method would be easier, and it is supposed to be a reliable method that produces good opens, so why don't more people use it? Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

ROFL! Indeed...I'll just jump twice as much next weekend! Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

wasn't able to jump last weekend - the weather was fantastic and my credit card was maxed out. This weekend, my card actually has some room on it, and its gonna be thunderstorms all weekend long, with Zeus throwing lightning bolts all over the damn place... FML. Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

"going into some sort of spin/ending up on my back, freaking the hell out and..." been there, did exactly that, felt like a total jackass...rest assured, AFF instructors are trained for these sorts of things. They actually expect you to make every mistake in the book, and they know how to fix it when you do. As for letting you just drift away, I don't really see that happening - all 3 of you will be going in the same direction...down! Go for it, enjoy it, listen and learn, you'll do great! Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

just don't *hurry*...don't put a ton of pressure on yourself to be some kind of rockstar. Take your time, listen to your instructors, and if you make a mistake, don't beat yourself up about, just learn from it and move on...in other words, don't be like me Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

true, true...money always intrudes. I need a rich uncle that I don't know about, to die and leave me a big pile of cash..."Dear old Uncle Whatsisname...what a great guy!" blue skies, dude. persevere! Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

dude, just fukkin jump...if you have to do it again, so what? It'll probably take me 15 jumps to make it thru level 7. Other than being broke all the time, it ain't that big a deal. Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

In my case, there was nothing sneaky about it. As soon as we landed, I knew I was hooked! It was about as subtle as a punch in the mouth. I told the JM, "Dude, I am in SO much trouble...now I gotta figure out how to pay for lessons!" I've been broke ever since. Accelerated Financial Failure...you have been warned! It's worth every penny Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

welcome to the club...totally addicted. "My drinking club has a Skydiving problem!" Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

Got some news for you. That won't change. Presuming you continue to jump, and continue to try to improve and learn (which is what you should do), you will have days that everything goes perfectly and you seem to learn everything you try on the first attempt. And you will have days where... That doesn't happen. LOL! that ain't news, bro...I have accepted a few facts about myself - sometimes, I am the slow learner of the bunch, sometimes I do OK, and sometimes I am amazed that I haven't managed to kill myself with my moronicity (is that a word?)...but I love this shit, and I will continue to jump, learn, improve, and do lots of PLFs until I get it right! blue skies, brutha! Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

OK, so it's a case of eliminating a possible complication, and at the same time, instilling a positive training habit...see, this is why n00bs need to ask these silly-assed questions...muchas gracias!

Kind of a n00b question, but I'm a n00b, we do that kinda shit...Was watching BreakAway (the training vid, not the cheesy movie) and they were talking about 2-out situations. In an unstable 2-out, they advised you disconnect the RSL, and chop the main...why bother? The reserve is already out, why take the extra 1.2 seconds to disconnect the RSL? Just grab the far-left riser, get the canopies separated by a few feet, and cutaway...am I missing something? thanks... Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

as an absolute Total F***ing New Guy, this statement says it all..."Lately, I've mostly been jumping with a Pilot 210 and *fell in love with it*."...Stay with it for another 50 jumps or so....then decide. Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

OK, cool...I'll quit stressing over it, and who knows, it may be a thing of beauty - probably not, but it's all good, and I'll be skydiving! Always a good thing. It just keeps getting better, guys! Thanks for the advice... Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

BWAAHAAHAA! Love it! would have done it today, but my credit card is as thin as a piece of tissue paper... Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

how the Hell do you practice for a backflip? Up until now, I have been able to practice and rehearse at home, at work, at the gym...where-ever. How in hell can I practice doing a backflip in freefall? WTF???? Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

I got 2 today...would have been 3 but that whole money thing keeps getting in the way... every dive gets better, and I get better with every dive! Sometimes my progress is pretty dang slow, at other times, I don't suck too bad...I'll get there eventually! Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

so after today's first jump, I looked at the canopy tag...its a Manta 290 zero P...it doesn't appear to be sacked out, and I was able to do some gentle stalls at altitude. (I also did some very nice spins down from 3000...sweet!) I can only come to one conclusion - it ain't the canopy, it's my timing. My timing sucks, but it is slowly getting better. You can read about it, watch youtube, watch other jumpers, but the only way to learn the timing is to do it. I coulda swore I was gonna get a standup today - until I didn't. LOL! Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

thanks for your comments and advice. I have very little xperience, but actually feel very comfortable flying slowly, in half brakes and doing brake turns and riser turns...I will be looking at deep brakes on my next few jumps, with clear traffic and plenty of altitude. I may be able to get the timing right on some nice gentle stalls, so I can learn the finer points of flaring with proper timing. I know I don't want to actually stall on final, just get a zero descent glide a few inches off the ground... easy to say! I am in no hurry to stop breathing, so I will be proceeding with plenty of caution. If the brake lines aren't actually detuned, then is simply a case of my timing sucks- which is highly probable. To be honest, I only have 6 AFF landings; 4 buttslides and 2 PLFs, so I still have a huge skillset still to learn...I'll figure it out soon enough Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"

if you want to learn, every jump will have value. If you can barely remember the first one, maybe you should do another tandem and really feel the experience, then go to AFF. Airtwardo:"There is a bit of difference between a rigger with a nipper and a guy with 138 jumps and a swiss army knife...usually!"