evilivan

Fucking oath..... I'm listening to the 911 recording as I type this and there are no words. No words. I think my brain might atrophy. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Really?? I hadn't noticed..... I had my house keys on the same keyring - oh yeah, thats what they called. Dumass - as my bike keys. I was out for a ride one summer evening with some mates and at some point the house keys came off.... Amazingly I found them three weeks later caught in the fairing behind the front wheel (after three weeks of confusion trying to figure out the new rattle). As a result I don't trust those keyrings anymore... "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Cool idea, but I would be worried that it could get knocked off; those connector rings (do they have a name??) look pretty light-weight. You would be in a world of poo if you lost it on opening "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

No need - you speak English; you will notice that no one can do that even adequately over there... "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Likely you won't be getting any pay if you are injured and work in skydiving... Finish school. You will only be 22 when done (young in anyones book) and you will have more options - you can still choose to go skydiving at that point. I don't have a degree and I wish I did. I chose to travel - I didn't know about skydiving at the time and I'm lucky that I now have a job I enjoy and it pays well, but when I was starting out the lack of degree (any degree) did make things much harder. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

I haven't read all the posts in this thread, so I may be repeating stuff here..... Sounds to me like you have 2 problems: 1) The canopy is too big (or on the big side) for the bag; this is always going to make closing it harder. 2) You are loosing control over the fabric (yeah, I know, obvious...) On point 1); the bag isn't going to get any bigger (hopefully its not dangerously small, but I am going to "assume" that you've checked this out. Which means that technique is the only thing that will solve your problem. On point 2); when I transitioned from F111 to Zero-P at about 350 jumps, I had loads and loads of trouble packing - and this was on all new kit made to fit the canopy sizes I ordered. I was shown several methods of bagging it by very experienced jumpers, but the pivotal point of my learning curve (and this sounds very simplistic) was: never EVER. At all. Not even a little bit. Let go of the material until the first locking stow is in place. This does take some discipline; it is very common to release some pressure when you a distracted i.e. by making the bag ready etc. If you make sure that during the points in the bagging process where you have to use your hands to do something else, use all other available limbs to control the canopy - knees/thighs/spare hand/whatever. Having said all that, if you are psycho packing I would imagine this is harder because you need both hands to roll the canopy. I don't psycho pack, so I'm not qualified to comment, but the S-fold method does allow you to use your knees to help contain the material, and also allows pressure on the canopy at all times. Ivan "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

I could be there in a 1 hour cab ride, 12 hours on a plane and then another cab ride to your house, but I would need to know your cooking is worth it. Can you send me a sample? ....wish I could be there. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Absolutely excellent to meet you Mike; and doing that jump over 30 years since your last is testament to the fact that you still have bigger balls then the rest of us....

IIRC (and I do), I was to be cc'd with those. Thanks. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

No no, that would ruin your life - it would ruin the day for the 5 poor b*st*rds left without gear... "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Excellent idea Tree (and I think Russell can claim at least some of the credit). Jason's website makes it nice and simple to donate - thanks mate. If we go over the necessary funds, I vote the remainder goes behind the bar on the 14th to celebrate Nick's birthday

Glad you are OK mate I've circled an area of the canopy in the attached pic; is it just me, or does it look like there is a section of the top skin wrapped by some line? I guess watching the video that this was grabbed from would prove it either way... Ivan "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Good to hear you are safe guys.

Methinks Sean has been drinking ye old wife beater again "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

I've jumped both canopies of a similar size (smaller then your choices; 129/135) and they are both great performers. I currently jump Icarus canopies (a Xfire2 and an FX), but I am now moving to PD because of the customer service and general response and turnaround I have experienced with Icarus. If the canopy choice itself is a close-cut thing for you, I strongly recommend you consider customer service in your deliberations. Ivan Edited to add: Icarus had my Xfire for 9 months after I sent it back for a reline and test jumps (it was turning left); when I finally got hold of them, it had been in the back of the test jumpers car.... "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Don't really want to post my cell on an open forum - will PM you.... Look forward to meeting you mate, and boring you with questions about your experiences "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Hey there Jevto I arrive at Charleston at 1840 ish; if you haven't secured an earlier ride and like airport bars, you would more then welcome to get a ride with me....

Again? Dammit "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

So THIS is where the BASE jumpers hide when they are not spamming the BASE zone....! "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

I have been looking into this (medical only) for bridge day; I emailed Speciality Risk (the insurer discussed in Tom's search link) today to confirm that they still covered BASE - this is what they said: "Base jumping is not an excluded activity on our policy, as long as it is a legal activity. We recommend purchasing the hazardous sports rider for base jumping, as it is a form of parachuting and without this rider there may be grounds to deny your claim. Therefore, if you purchase the rider and are covered for parachuting then you would also be covered for base jumping. Please note, this is assuming no other exclusion listed in the brochure applies. For example, organized competitions are excluded on the is policy." I double checked that the "organised" part of BD didn't nullify the policy and they said as long as its not a competition, its OK. The quote I got today for Bridge Day (12th through 17th) is $23; this covers $1000000 medical coverage with a $500 excess. Hope that helps Ivan "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Fair enough. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Does it matter.....? "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Thanks for the spelling check Space - can't believe I missed that one and even edited one of my posts for spelling..... The object isn't actually an 'A', but I didn't want to post too much detail here as we are getting a little protective about our objects in the UK at the moment. In my opinion, this object is best jumped in very low winds; I undertand all the reasons for jumping with a tail wind on an 'A'. Anyhoo; I don't think my mistake was the wind, but the packing - and of course the spelling. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Nope. Which is part of the reason I suspect that the movement of the risers may have disturbed the break setting, basically freeing the break in the pack job. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

NickDG: as ever both the gentleman and the scholar. Thanks mate. A mistake survived is a lesson learned..... Edited for spelling "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent