alexafox

I had a damn good time! :P The Hot air balloon jump was the coolest thing I've ever done... Ever... Seriously... Amazeballs... Am I getting through on this one? Lol It was awesome! Learnt so much over there! TJ is a f***king machine! Inspiring stuff! Here's some footage of my second tunnel session! :) http://youtu.be/Zka6-EtBMlw SIIIIIIICK! I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

When I did my A license course I jumped for 9 days straight while camping at the DZ! I felt fine when I was there and then as soon as I got home and went to bed, I slept for 17 hours straight! Haha I still get exhausted after a weekend of solid jumping but it's always worth it! I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

I put zip ties around my handles for both checking in and carry on... I also had a whuffo in LA at my hostel go "Cool a parachute!" and pick it up by the reserve handle! Luckily the zip ties were still on it and it didn't deploy the reserve... That whuffo got a talking to, and I highly doubt he will ever pick a rig up by the silver ever again! Haha I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

HAHAHAHA! I've watched this heaps too! Absolutely gold! LOL I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

About 2 weeks ago at Perris being stuck in a dust storm under a canopy which I only load at .95 The wind changed direction after I started my crosswind and had to land down wind dodging planes and the hanger... My canopy coach said, and I quote "Fuck you were hauling ass on your final!" Turbulence and thermals were a massive surprise/wake up call for me! I started jumping in April in Australia (Autumn/winter) and I'd never had to deal with anything like it! Feeling my canopy fold and collapse and reinflate at 300ft scared the absolute bejeesus out me! I'm an athiest but I was f***ing praying!! Haha I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

That makes sense about flat folding it! I might have a day of trying all these different techniques and playing around with them! :) Haha I love the Kangaroo wrap comment! Hahahaha I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Thanks for those tips! I'm not sure what the SIM is but I'm asumming it USA related... In Australia I actually have a B license and I was well above my minimum opening heights! I pitch at 3,500ft and my hard deck from the start has been 2,000ft... I feel like that's pretty standard... Should I be thinking about opening higher? Since watching that Brian Germaine video again, I definintely wasn't minimising the excess bridle by folding it on my rig... I'm certainly doing it now! :) I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

That's a great tip! I'm always looking to make sure I'm not wrapping the bridle around the hacky but your way makes doing that impossible! Thanks! I'll definitely try that! I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

thats the most important bit, well done on your first, I hope you got the beers in. I sure did! :)... and then tequilla and then sambuca and then... etc etc. Haha I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Pack your PC differently, I'm pretty sure the link in the other reply is to a video showing you how to do that. If you use a packer, make sure you leave time to repack your PC when you grab your rig, so you can be sure you did it the 'right' way. No offence ladies, but it's not that uncommon for females to have a hard pull. It's not 'common', but 9 times out of 10 when a hard pull leads to a reserve ride, it's a female jumper. It's just due to less upper body strenght. For this reason, you need to use extra care in how your PC is packed and that your BOC isn't too tight (the recent incident in Elsinore was due to a tight BOC pouch). Finally, one tip that might work next time you have a hard pull, try bracing your elbow against the side of your container, to give you more leverage on the PC. When you pull without your arm touching anything, you're more or less using only your shoulder muscle, and with your arm extended and behind you, leverage is not your friend. If you jam your elbow into the side of your rig, you can use your bicep and forearm to do a 'curl' and maybe get the PC moving. Once it starts to release from the jam, you need to go back to using your whole arm so you can still get a good toss on the PC. The above, of course, is all dependant on time and altitude. Practice the manuver on the ground, with your rig on and all straps tight. Actually pull and toss the PC several times this way so you know the move. If you do have a hard pull on your first try, then jam your elbow into your rig and give it another shot. Some people say '2 tries, 2 seconds', some people give it 3 tries, whatever you choose, decide ahead of time what your number is and stick to it. Adding 'just one more try' is what kills people when they get too low for a reserve inflation. 100% agree! Especially about the upper body strength! Haha I better start hitting the gym! I did 2 normal tries then my 3rd was a leveraged try. As soon as I hit my hard deck I wasn't trying any more! haha My BOC is really tight as well! I'm a bit apprehensive about 'loosening' it though.. Is that really a good idea? I'm thinking cautious packing techniques are a better option! I think I'll definitely be doing some practice pulls on the ground using that leverage technique a bit more too! Thanks! It was nice to know my brain kicked into gear at the right time and remembered my procedures! Thanks brain! I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Hahaha no screaming but a big 'YAHOOO' when I touched down! lol Here's footage from the jump but you can only see me tracking off to my malfunction destiny... No footage of the chop! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ynCcvUKy3Q I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Interestingly enough, that's how I pack it! Haha! I know someone would post a link to this! I'm being a bit more diligent with having less excess now! I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Hey all! I had my first malfunction the other day and I'm hoping some people might have some tips for preventing this in the future. I had a hard pull, gave it three good goes then at 2k I went to my reserve. After looking at the BOC on the ground it looked like the excess bridle that was stowed in the BOC (about 3 or 4 inches) had bunched up and jammed as I pulled my hacky, preventing the pilot chute from being able to come out cleanly... Of course I'm now much more cautious about stowing that excess and keeping it clear from the PC but I'm just wondering if anyone has any little tips or tricks for preventing hard pulls like that? Any advice will be much appreciated! Cheers, Lex I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Check out Electric Mary! Awesome Australian classic rock band from Melbourne... Really cool guys as well! :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvmdZScEVKA I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

I'll definitely enjoy it, I can feel it. Even though I'm nervous as hell right now I definitely feel the excitement as well. What are the AFF classes anyway? Am I able to take notes and shit or is it all physical? Sports in general? Well I played soccer and aggressive inline skating competitively. Done some snowboarding, motorcrossing, and some Jet Skiing not competitively but quite frequently. At my DZ when I did AFF we started the classroom at 7:30am and finished at 8pm.... It was brutal... then we got weathered out two days in a row and didn't get to jump until day 3! Needless to say we were raring to go after that! lol I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Haha now everyone if going to be wondering what 'Plan B' is.... EDIT: Nevermind... I quoted it! lol I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

That's plan B! I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

I do that when we're dirt diving the track off part... lol '...and turn and track... "Shhhhhhhh" Haha I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

HAHAHA!.... I LOLed I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Hey all... So I'm heading over to San Fran for some Tunnel coaching at the start of August and hopefully getting out to Lodi for some jumping... All up I'm there for about 6 days and I'm doing late night tunnel sessions Mon - Thurs. I'll probably head out to Lodi on the Friday and camp out there friday night for lots of Saturday jumping! I can't find many skydivers on Couchsuring.org so I thought I'd give the forums a shot! Anyone willing to host an Aussie chick for a few nights? I can cook and I'll bring wine/beer/booze! If you want to facebook stalk me.... Go nuts! :P facebook.com/lexifoxx Hopefully some lovely skydivers will come to my rescue! Cheers, Lex By the way I arrive on 6th August and fly out early on the 12th Aug. I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Hahaha! Oh nice one! Well I'm sure I'll see you around shortly! :) I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Oh that would have been awesome! There were a few jumpers from my DZ that were there! Smeds and Nige and Kelly... Would have been great! I felt sorry for you missing out on the balloon jump until I read the "I was too lazy to walk over to another balloon" HAHAHA! I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

I'm fairly new as well and this came up early in my training as we had a few cloudy days... In Australia (or at my dropzone at least) the rule is to do gentle right hand turns. That way if there are other people in the cloud as well you're all doing the same thing and being pushed in the same direction. This also avoids too much drift away from the DZ. There will be a bit of drift depending on wind speed but it's far less likely that you'll end up being 11kms away if you were to fly a straight line down wind. (That actually happened to someone at my DZ.) Best bet though for your dropzone is to ask your isntructors... I've been in situations where we've intended on jumping through a big gap in the clouds but missed... Rather than saying 'just don't go in cloud' I think it's better to know best practices if somehow you do end up there... Hope that's a little helpful..Blue ones! I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Awesome! I'm liaising with the people now so I'll keep you posted on details. :) I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com

Count me in!! im doing one on Aug 4th out of perris as well. Which company r u planning on using? Awesome! I'll let you know if I can get it organised! :) I refuse to accept a mediocre life... facebook.com/chutefirst chutefirstapparel.com