evan85

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content

    179

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    0%

Posts posted by evan85

  1. 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.

  4. GLIDEANGLE

    I have to wonder if your "S&TA,DZO,Head Honcho" has an economic stake in you buying these canopies which are too small for you. Are they "right" for you because selling them is "right" for HIM?



    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.

  5. 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?

  6. jono

    ***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?



    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. :o

    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...

  7. 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?

  8. ChrisD


    And or start jumping and putting your hands to the small of your back or grab the bottom of your container. Both hands and arms! You can fly reasonably well with just your legs and watch what happens to your arch as well:)



    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.

  9. ryoder


    The day I found myself with a PC bridle wrapped around my shoe, I was *really* happy the shoe pulled off!



    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.

  10. ctrph8

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stiletto-120-9-cell-ZP-elliptical-skydiving-parachute-canopy-/321136362014?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ac538021e



    Just sayin'



    Quoted from the eBay page:

    Quote

    I am guesstimating 700-900 jumps on the wing
    the current lineset is severely out of trim
    there are a number of small rip stop adhesive tape patches on the top skin center cell
    no slider included
    Manufactured 10/1993
    This would be a good kiting or a project canopy. If you wanted to reline it, and add a slider, you could still jump it, but that's probably not worth the costs involved.



    Just sayin' :D;)

  11. sundevil777

    A packer isn't going to be nearly as careful at setting the brakes, stowing the excess, and many other things where being careful and neat can make a difference.



    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. bluebird932

    If you can put it on your head you can also take it off. I think its very goo d idea. I've done the same with mine



    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.

  14. Bitswd

    Simple enough question, but as always on DZ.com it turned in to the stupidest thread ever. The guy was just asking a simple question and it got turned into a pissing contest. And of coarse some young jumper camera references had to be added for effect.


    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. :S

    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. Deimian

    ***How about a radical dive on a tiny canopy?



    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. Quote

    Quote

    What are the safety implications of this? is it just a matter of making sure to not wear too loose of clothing and then you're good?



    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. Quote

    To do this, don't use all of your flare in one go, use just enough to get your canopy flying level, then as it starts to recover into a dive again, add a bit more flare so it flies level, and repeat until you run out of flare and you've timed it so right at the end you are inches away from touchdown. Practice up high to see how long you can keep your canopy flying level without sinking.



    ^^^ 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.)

  22. Quote

    If you truly have 79 jumps and 1 year in the sport, there's hope for us yet. At least some newbies know how their equipment works. I will remind you that it's CYPRES, not Cypress. It's a CYbernetic Parachute RElease System, not a tree.

    Ken


    Right you are, Ken. I was being so careful not refer to the Mediterranean island that I added an extra s :D

    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. Quote

    Increase firing altitude = instruct unit to fire at a lower barometric pressure.

    Offset for higher MSL landing area than starting point = instruct unit to fire at lower barometric pressure and to lock out and no longer fire at a lower barometric pressure as well.


    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. Quote

    why not just roll with the trusted cyprus?



    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.

  25. +1 for waiting until a packer has a bit of down time and asking them to help. Pay for a pack job (and maybe a bit more) and ask them to either watch you or do it themselves but go slow and explain. I did this at a local DZ and the packer taught me some great tricks for getting my slippery new canopy into the bag AND wouldn't even take my money. YMMV :ph34r: