ywoodya

i totally agree with you....you sound as if you were very aware of where you were and what was going on at the time.....and training helped you to deal with the problem promptly. My point here is that this guy continually dumps high, in fact you become a bit nervous when going out after him because you don't really know what he's gonna do. i might as well have a chat with him, i mean im not all that experienced and shouldn't be talking to people but maybe ill just find out on a personal basis.....if he has a problem he should talk to the DZSO? In terms of safety well you do what you gotta do. having your riser cover open during freefall needs to be dealt with and if you dump higher than usual then you sort of need to be prepared for collisions etc. sort of like each time you freefly (or skydive in any form or shape) you have to expect the unexpected especially when it comes to premature openings.... i simply have a concern for this individual and his safety. during my training at around the 50 jump mark i decided that i wanted to start dumping between 4,000 and 5,000 just to give me "another 10 seconds) but at the end of the day i joined with other more experienced jumpers who sort of insisted that i go down to a more suitable height being 3,000. I haven't gone any lower than about 2,700 but if i need to to get away from people then so be it, i'll just be prepared for anything that may happen (as always) and sort it out if required, so long as im under canopy by 1,800ft i'd be happy. thanks for your input, it's an interesting topic no doubt! yeah whatever!

Just a quick one. There's this guy at my local DZ who appears to have a fetish for dumping high. On the weekend he was in a 4 way first off the door then someone yells out that this guy is gonna dump at 5,000. My first thought is what the f*&k is he doing going first out with a 4 way if he's gonna dump high? I hope he has a good level of awareness for those coming out behind him. This is about the 6th time that I have heard about this guy wanting to dump higher than what would be considered by most to be a safe altitude more like 3,000. I understand that people can be scared of the ground but hey it's 3,000 deal with it. I think he dumps high because he is scared, he has over 200 jumps but you wouldn't think so. BTW, this isn't an attempt to slander, purely my thoughts on a safety issue.

I am soon to be travelling on an airliner and want to take my rig with me. I'm sure we all share the fear that gear can go missing and it is a preference to take the rig on the plane as carry-on luggage, or at least try to for that matter. I want to know how you guys and girls transport your equipment in the cabin of the plane, I mean I have a few cabin type bags but my gear just won't fit inside, it's either too wide or too long. I wouldn't think that it would be wise to just carry the rig on as is....am I right??? So all I'm asking for here is suggestions as to what I could put my rig in to carry on board the aircraft. Fanks

I have jumped from the skyvan a number of times and have had to open the door by myself plenty of times too. I know what you mean, I've seen people standing right beside me and they seem afraid to even go near the door until it is secured. I don't see the issue with it, you just do what needs to be done, make sure it's locked into position and the hooks are up and wait for that light to turn green and start ringing like mad. yeah whatever!