evan85

Members
  • Content

    179
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    0%

Everything posted by evan85

  1. Respectfully, I don't think you fully understood what billvon said. One good resource (that it appears you have not yet read) is Brian Germain's downsizing recommendations. http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf This is not simply a chart of sizes and weights, but rather a 22-page document that (in addition to that chart) (1) explains the relevant variables and why they are important, and (2) contains a great list of Essential Maneuvers that "should be performed on the current size and planform before downsizing or transitioning to a more responsive design." You literally could not have performed all of these maneuvers even once each, unless all 23 of your jumps were full-altitude hop-n-pops that you dedicated only to this list. And we both know that's not the case. Please do yourself a favor and take a look at this list. There are a lot of things here that you really do need to be able to do. Standing up 3 out of 4 landings is simply not enough to be even close to ready to downsize. For example, Brian recommends that, before downsizing, you do 30 stand-up landings within 10m of target center, with 10 at no wind, 10 at light wind, and 10 at moderate wind. As another example, the fact that you made a 90 degree toggle turn at ~75 feet to get upwind is a huge indicator that you are not ready to downsize. That maneuver could (and would) kill you at lower wingloadings. (Only one size lower? I don't know. Do you want to test the hypothesis?) I know your response to me will be "but evan85, I already know not to do that again!" But you obviously didn't at the time. What else do you not know not to do? Some of those things will result in bruises and twisted ankles at low wingloadings, but broken bones/necks/backs/paralysis/death at higher wingloadings. In conclusion, don't be in a rush. Your rig isn't going anywhere if it takes you a little longer before you can jump it. The sky isn't going anywhere, either.
  2. I appreciate your clarification of what you're proposing. To be fair, when I said the body weight of a person, I was referring to you -- if you were unable to tread water for some reason, for example. If you're counting on being conscious and being able to tread water, etc., you're right that a few pounds of buoyancy could help. I'm interested to see the results of your experiment. One note -- I'm willing to bet the suggestion to wear 25 lbs of weight was to act like your rig, not like your weightbelt that you can simply jettison on landing.
  3. Was one of those "different ways" you tried to force the face down applying your entire body weight to the helmet?
  4. Are you thinking of the tail...? The standard pro pack does not contemplate rolling the nose at all.
  5. This doesn't make sense. OP is choosing between two PD reserve canopies, and this S&TA gentleman suggested that he buy the cheaper one. Even assuming that this guy gets a cut of the sales of any PD canopy (which OP says is not true) -- he advocated for the canopy that would net him less money.
  6. Not on the packing issue, but my Mirage G4.1 (which is less than a year old) came with the same dbag you have -- 3 locking stows, 2 front-back loops on which to attach nonlocking stows, and a final nonlocking stow in the center. I checked this weekend per my recollection and I could still see "Mirage G4.1" handwritten in white on the inside of the bag. I'm guessing this is the correct bag they use now. Anyone have different information on this?
  7. You can always get some 3M VHB (Very High Bond) 4991 tape and stick it on instead of bolting it if it makes you feel better. It's exactly the same tape that Gopro use on their mounts but I would still consider a cutaway. Given the increased surface area of Cookie's new mount, I reckon it would take a shitload of force to peel it off and the new mount is alloy so you can't expect it to break. I would stick it on so you don't have to put holes in your helmet NOT because I was under the illusion it might peel off when your screaming through your hard deck with a ball of shit attached to the top of your helmet. All good points. That said, the idea of a cutaway on a G3 seems a little odd to me. Do you have one? Have you ever tried pulling it straight up, even with the strap undone? It doesn't really move. Who knows if it would break your nose, rip off an ear or two, or even snap your neck getting ripped off after cutaway...
  8. So what's everyone's thoughts on this? I thought the idea of the sticky mount was that there's at least some possibility that it gets ripped off if there's an entanglement. With this mounted via screws, it very likely won't come off. I certainly see the benefit of less snag hazard, but this is better if there's very little chance it would come off if there happens to be some entanglement?
  9. Not sure this is a good idea for someone who is already having body position problems. Putting both hands behind your back/on your BOC can result in a more head-down attitude, which is not something you want at pull time.
  10. Good point! Interesting note -- wetsuit boots used for surfing sometimes have the same type of split-toe, but many have a bit of fabric between the two parts so you can't get your leash caught in there. That seems like it could be an issue here.
  11. I'm about 50/50 between using a packer and packing for myself, but it's for exactly this reason that I always do the following myself: set brakes, stow excess brake line, and un-collapse slider. I sometimes cock my pilot chute on the way out of the packing area too, but this is less of an issue because I always check the pin and blue ink on the kill line after a pack job (and you better believe it's not me that's going to take it apart and repack it if my pilot chute isn't cocked!). Some thing you need to know are done right. I'm fine with taking the extra 30 seconds it takes to do these steps myself to know for sure that they are done, and done correctly.
  12. Yes, but the question is, in what direction? Squeak is right -- you don't put the G3 on straight down vertically. So is it going to break my nose (or my neck) as it is pulled off after the "cutaway"? I'm aware this is better than just burning in under a streamer, but still want to understand what's going to happen when I pull that pillow before I get one.
  13. Saw one at my DZ with "-1" on cutaway and "+1" on reserve
  14. I'm totally on the side of keep cameras off people until they're ready, conservative downsizing progression, and safety in general. But this thread struck me as getting a little ridiculous. If someone puts their hand out and you're busy checking your gear, don't slap it. But it's insane to think that someone would not be able to check their own gear for 10 minutes or however long it takes you to get to altitude because they were too distracted thinking about how they were going to slap hands with someone. Let's try to keep the censure where it truly belongs--on things that are legitimately unsafe--so that we don't all become the boy who cried "dangerous!".
  15. As a low-jump number jumper, I've been very interested in these discussions as well. I have no intentions of disconnecting my RSL anytime soon as I feel it's great insurance for someone like me who hasn't had to cutaway yet. That said, to the issue at hand -- whether to cutaway a total mal or not -- I've seen a lot of info in different places, but would love to have someone summarize to pros and cons. I understand that some of those pros and/or cons only apply in certain situations, so maybe that could be made clear too. Hoping to make an informed decision for myself but the information I've seen is a little too spread out and all over the place. Thanks.
  16. What about that? Radical dives with speeds exceeding 78 mph (96/102 mph in Cypres Speed) might also happen at an altitude higher than 130ft (330ft). Even if this didn't happen, if I'm not swooping why would I want a disarming altitude? I understand that the lower you are in your dive, the faster you might be falling. Therefore it is more likely that your speed can exceed the firing speed at the lower point, and a disarming altitude can help to prevent such scenario. But for me I see two problems here: (1) if you initiate your dive higher, just to practice, you can still exceed that speed and "force" an undesired firing; (2) if you are not swooping you won't be in a controlled dive that you can pull out, and therefore you'll be in a fucked up situation that most probably will be slightly better with more nylon. For (1), you should know your gear and if you are doing such practice you should shutdown your AAD before the jump, like many swoopers do with "non-swooping" AADs. But for (2) I still can't see the point of the disarming altitude. Someone more knowledgeable please correct me if I'm wrong. I believe the answer is that if your reserve fires while under a functional (though diving/swooping) main with significant altitude, you may have a survivable two-out scenario. If your reserve fires at 80 ft under a functional main, however, you are potentially in a lot more trouble.
  17. It's pretty simple to think this through. Loose clothing doesn't have to be a safety problem unless it runs the risk of falling off, entangling with your gear or covering your handles, right? If you're jumping alone, that's about it, but a lot of people think that solos get boring after a while. If you're jumping / free flying with others and your clothing meets the basic personal safety standards above, can you also stay on level with the people you're jumping with reliably and track well? Will the clothing you're wearing provide any protection if you have a nasty landing? Agreed completely. One thing I never thought of on no-jumpsuit jumps is that your t-shirt could easily flip up and cover up your handles. Tuck your shirt in tight. Also good points on group jumps. If you're really talking about doing RW and not just belly solos, you're going to have a hell of a time with fall rate and moving quickly. You're also going to track a lot slower than other folks. When I do a group no-jumpsuit jump, we give an extra 500-1000 feet between breakoff and pull altitude because tracking will suffer. All things to think about, but if you do it correctly, it shouldn't be a problem safety-wise.
  18. A couple people have made reference to some problems, but let me be more specific in case you didn't pick up on it. There are (at least) two types of problems associated with cameras. The first, which you have identified, is snag-type risk. You are correct that a camera integrated into goggles or sunglasses eliminates this type of risk. But you're only half-way there. The other type of problem is the fact that you know you're wearing a camera. This can mean all sorts of things, like that you will be distracted on the ground/in the plane and forget to do a gear check/misroute a strap/click the buckle on your helmet/turn on your audible/all sorts of things. It can also mean all sorts of things in the air, like you focusing too much on getting your shot and not enough on making a safe skydive. There are many, many videos you can find of this -- I remember one specifically where the camera man films his buddy deploying, then rolls onto his stomach and realizes he's ~1000 ft or less off the ground. The 200 jump recommendation is not only so that you're familiar enough with your gear and EPs that you can deal with any possible hazard, but also so that you're comfortable enough for regular old skydiving that trying to get your shot doesn't make you neglect basic safety issues.
  19. ^^^ This. ^^^ I'll expand on that briefly in two ways. But first, let me tell you that I bought all my own gear (everything new except main canopy [200 jumps]) when I had about 30 jumps. Don't let these guys put you off -- everyone loves to riff the new guy. Anyway, here's the deal. Learn a proper 2-stage flare. When you're a student, the easiest way to teach (especially on gigantic student canopies) is just to have you do one flare motion all the way through. On a "normal" canopy (like the 1:1 you're now jumping), it's much better to do a good 2-stage flare. So what does that mean? That's where the second piece of advice comes in -- get a copy of Brian Germain's book "The Parachute and Its Pilot". It wasn't until I got a copy of this book that I really understood what my canopy was doing, why it was doing it, and what I could do to affect that in a real way -- not just the "pull left go left" you learn in AFF. Anyway, as Jack said, the first stage of your flare is to increase your glide ratio a lot, so that you're not flying nearly as steep an angle. A good estimate is to pull your toggles between ear- and shoulder-height, but this will be specific to you and your harness/canopy/risers/etc. What you're doing when you do this (or when you flare at all, really) is trading off some of the speed that you have for lift. By increasing lift, you have a much flatter glide, and you'll start to slow down. Now, in your flatter glide, it will be much easier to time the rest of your flare. (Remember NEVER let your toggles back up once you've started flaring and are close to the ground. Your canopy will surge at the ground and you will follow it.)
  20. You may or may not be surprised to know that this has been mathematically proved. Raymer, Dorian M. et al., "Spontaneous knotting of an agitated string". http://www.pnas.org/content/104/42/16432.full
  21. Ralph is indeed still the guy for new and used gear. He got me a great deal on a new Smart and a new Cypres 2.
  22. Right you are, Ken. I was being so careful not refer to the Mediterranean island that I added an extra s My stats are current. Appreciate the kind words. You're absolutely right -- the more knowledge that's out there (both within the community and without), the better for all of us.
  23. You missed a spot. I fixed it for you. All units have a "shutoff" altitude (generally quite low; e.g. Cypress 2 expert is 130 ft.), under which the AAD will not fire. Say you wanted to be extra careful and set your offset for 500 ft. up. Guess what? Now your Cypress will shut off at 630 ft. (or whatever it interprets to be 630 ft.) and not fire below that altitude no matter what. This is why you should not use LZ offset to increase firing altitude, and why Cypress 2's now offer this functionality separately: so you can change the altitude at which the AAD will fire without changing that altitude at which it shuts off and will not fire.
  24. Because the M2 is cheaper by almost half -- it's $999. Now, that's not a good enough reason for me (or, I'm guessing by your post, for you), but that's the reason people are giving the M2 a hard look.