Kalrigan

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Everything posted by Kalrigan

  1. Makes sense definitely. I think I'll do that, and jump a 170 for at least 100 more jumps. Glider thanks for the links, I'll print them right now. Edit: So I just read Brian's checklist and decided to stay on and buy a 170. Haven't had the chance to read the other one, still at work, but I'm gonna start working on what Brian said in his. Thanks again guys, this was a big eye opener.
  2. Matt and Anachronist thanks for replies. I am definitely not trying to swoop, not soon, and hopefully not ever. My main concern is flying something comfortable and safe for me and getting a rig that could last me at least a couple of hundreds jumps. My skydive ends once I throw the pilot chute. After that it's find home, land safe, pack and go up again. A few spirals and what not but nothing too dangerous and nothing too low.
  3. Good point, I'll see what my instructors say when I'm up tere agai and see what they say. I have no problem sticking with a 170, rental or mine doesn't matter, I'm really in no rush to downsize. I was just wondering about how y investment into a rig should plan out. Thanks for your input.
  4. Hi guys, I have a quick question about downsizing since I will be looking into buyin my first own rig this winter. Here is the story: First things first: I'm 5'10-5'11, and I weigh 150-155 pounds, depending on the day. My exist weight is 170-175. During PFF (it's basically AFF but Canadian), I was using a 250. Now I'm sitting at 36, and I jump a Pilot 170 (rental). I've had solid stand up landings on every single one, accurate within 5-20 meters almost every time, *knock on wood* Everytime I have downsized I have taken the time to open high and experiment with the canopies so I feel comfortable with them. I feel comfortable on the 170, I will still be jumping it for the remaining of this season but my question lies about the off season when I will be looking into buying my own rig. What am I better off doing? Looking into a container that can hold a 150-170 with a 170 canopy to stay on for now, and if I were to downsize later I could keep my container and simply change canopies? Or shall I grab a 150 and should be ready for it once this season is over, or even if I had to do a few more jumps on the 170 at the beginning of next season before starting to use my own. I've been on the classifieds here almost every day for the past month and a half and it's been hard finding something that would work perfectly for me, so I've been weighing my options. Edit: I know downsizing too fast is dangerous and can break you, which is why I'm asking you guys if this sounds reasonable for someone my size. I will speak to my instructors and people who taught me, but that will have to wait for when I get to go to my DZ again. Just bored at work, looking at the classifieds.
  5. Mine did. I mean I did try a L and an XL at my local dropzone just to be safe, but the chart was pretty accurate for me.
  6. I usually wear a Large, but my G3 is an XL. Perfect fit.
  7. If that belt in the video is anything like the ones in the 182s that I've jumped from, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be too hard. It all depends on the belt snapper and his position I think. There might be a possibility of him not being able to reach it too. Would the pilot be able to help him at that point? It's a 182, he's not that far from him.
  8. There's also the argument that while you're still training your eyes and learning altitude awareness, you'd be better off NOT buying an audible altimeter. That's the argument I heard when I was a newbie skydiver, and I didn't get my first audible till around 200 jumps. Waiting that long forced me to develop good habits of checking my wrist altimeter, and also helped me to develop both my eyes and my internal clock. Because I do mostly the same types of jumps (belly flying in the smallish group range, either 4- or 8-way training, or small to medium sized group fun jumps), most of my skydives last the same amount of time, give or take a couple of seconds, so my internal clock is pretty finely tuned. It's only when I exit at a substantially different altitude (higher or lower) that I can't rely as much on the internal clock. But, I am very rarely caught off guard by my audibles; in fact, usually it's the other way around, where I find myself wondering why it's not breakoff time yet. All this is not to say "don't get an audible yet" but it's food for thought about continuing to build those good habits of checking your altimeter, using your eyes, and developing that internal clock, rather than relying on an audible instead. Oh I completely agree with that. That advice was given to me when I started and I'm sticking to it. The habit of checking the alti frequently is something I want to always keep. Having that and training my eyes to the altitude I think is very essential. Sometimes when I jump with my friends who have hundreds of jumps, I feel that I check my alti too much in comparison but it's fine, I'm ok with that. They are more experienced, they have better sense of time in the air, and they have audibles as well. I'm ok with checking my alti every 3-4 seconds right now. I'm just thinking of the future, when I start doing real formations, I think it would be nice to have for break off time and what not. I appreciate your advice though, good to hear from someone who stayed without an audible for a few hundred jumps.
  9. You're right NWFlyer, the price difference is small so I guess might as well get one with all the features. Iago, I can't rely on my eyes yet. I mean I look at the ground every time I'm flying to see how it looks at differen altitudes, but it's going to take time for me to be completely comfortable with that. Phreeloader, N3A you say? I'll check it out, that sounds nice. Thanks guys.
  10. Would you say the logging ability is worth having?
  11. So many diverse votes, I like that. Seems like I really can't go wrong with any that I pick. Thanks.
  12. I've started looking into audibles, and I'm planning to buy some time in the near future. I was wondering what's a good audible to get? I've been looking at a few of them and I'm not quite sure which one would be good enough to do the job, one with the basic features covered that every skydiver should have in their audible.
  13. Congratulations man, that's great to hear. Your journey has just begun haha. :D Remember how I said I will be taking 2 weeks off work and hope I can get my A done? Well I ended up getting my A, and I'm about to start working on my B now.
  14. Just like everything else you do in my life, if you no goals you will get bored. I have everything planned in my head, and it goes something like this: First I wanted my solo so I can jump alone, because it was thrilling. Second I wanted to get my A, to feel accomplished and be able to do 2 ways with some of the people I made friends with here. Next goal is B, Coach 1, C, and then Coach 2, wingsuitting for some new experience, and maybe one day AFF/PFF instructor. I will always be working towards that goal, and every jump I will make will be for that goal. That keeps me motivated, happy, and excited. I will be learning more and more new things with every rating there. One thing that keeps me really going is wanting to become a Coach 2. It was really hard getting a Coach 2 jump going at my DZ, for me during my progression towards my A and other people since most of those coaches do tandems. My thinking and goal is that I want to become a Coach 2 so one day I can help other novices with their jumps when they need them because I have no interest in becoming a TI. Giving back to the community for everything it has given me, and more, is what I want to do. That is my goal, and it's what keeps me looking forward to my next progression. The second I was told I got my A, I looked at my friend and told her: "Time to start working on my B", like immediately.
  15. Thanks man. I took vacation time off starting Sept 6th until the 23, so I hope I'll be able to get one of them to jump with me so I can get my A already, long overdue. Either way, stick with it. It will get easier, mentally that is. The less you stress about your jumps, the more fun you will have and fun is the most important reason to be in this sport, for me at least.
  16. LOL, one of my instructors almost literally did that to me once, toward the end of my AFF. I showed up at the DZ not planning to jump, I had to take care of some paperwork. He saw me and he went: "how are you?" - "good" - "are you jumping?" - "no, man, I have to..." - "ok, now go get your rig" -"... but I wasn't planning on... I was... I wasn't only... I was..." - "DUDE. Go get your rig NOW, you're jumping with me". That day I finished my AFF and did my first solo right after that. God, I love my instructors. :) I can only wish to other people to find some as good as mine. Haha your story is pretty funny. Luckily I had great instructors as well, definitely made me jumping out of a plane a lot easier than I have imagined.
  17. Nervousness is normal. I'm also quite new to the sport, I'm at 25 jumps only, should be working on my A but goddamn it's hard getting a C2 to jump with me since they're all busy with tandems so I've been doing fun jumps. Even after I finished my PFF (it's like AFF with small differences here in Canada) I remember days where I would look for excuses not to go to the DZ, or sit in the parking lot of the DZ nervous hoping someone would come out, pull me out of the car, strap a rig on me and throw me out a plane. All that is gone now. I went a week without a jump and started having withdrawal. Eventually you'll get used to the feeling, and the door will become your friend. Hell, now I can't wait for the door to open so we can start getting the hell out. My last 2 fun jumps were probably the most fun I've had since I started. I don't know how it is in the US, but a C2 is supposed to teach us how to backfly here in Canada, at least where I am. But on my 2nd fun jump today I decided to give it a shot, I recover quick now so figured why not give it a shot and worst case scenario I would stop if I tumble and arch to go back on my belly. Man, backflying for a few thousand feet feels so awesome, checked my ulti every 2-3 seconds to make sure I don't lose altitude awareness. I can only imagine how much more fun this sport will get. Stick with it. You will miss the nervousness one day, I don't yet, I'm happy about that right now, and I'm pretty sure one day I will again. Probably the first jump next season will make me feel that way again.
  18. I mainly game on my PC, so that will still be the case next gen. Out of the 2 consoles I'll be picking up a PS4 for sure. Not sure if at launch just yet, but eventually yes. I have a hard time ignoring games that are made by Naughty Dog, Santa Monica etc... As long as studios like that are with Sony I'll always be interested in a Playstation. Things like Halo, Gears, Forza etc... don't interest me. FPS games on consoles also don't do it for me as I play them all on my PC. On that note, the current launch lineup for both consoles looks pretty lame.
  19. Start now, get at least your solo done this season and then continue where you left off next Spring.
  20. I used to go into a spin as well when I first started. Here are a few tips my instructor gave me that helped me tremendously: 1) Heel checks: these help you bring your legs to level and easier to take it from there. 2) Practice leveling at home: when you're home, watching TV, playing video games or reading a book, arch on the floor and keep an eye out on your legs. You don't really have to arch too hard, just lay on the floor on your stomach holding the book or controller and lift your legs as if you are skydiving. If you have a mirror that allows you to see your legs at least it would be great, if not simply look back every couple of minutes and see how your legs are positioned. Fix them as needed, You can heel checks here as well. 3) Straight stand (just came up with the name): when you're not doing anything but standing (cooking in the kitchen for example, or standing at the DZ having a smoke, stand straight with your legs and feet touching each other. Looks funny I know, but it helps programing your brain to get used to the level or center point of where your legs should be in comparison to each other. I did those 3 after my 3rd jump, came back for the 4th I think a week later and haven't span since.
  21. Oh interesting, never heard of that place. Thanks for the link, I'll look into it.
  22. Oh I know I'm in no rush. I have tried on my tunnel coach's G3 in Large and it was a bit snug, then tried on my PFF's instructors XL and it fit me like a glove so I'm very confident in that size. Thanks though. :)
  23. Thank you for the quick replies, and Peter for that informative post you posted. Now comes the doubt, I'm considering just waiting for Chutingstar to get the red G3 in my size in stock, they said it's going to be in their next shipment in a week or two. I at least know exactly how much they are going to charge me for shipping. The idea of Paragear not giving me a price and just charging whatever they want doesn't sit well with me. >_< PS: That's what I get for taking a week to decide what color to pick for my G3. :(
  24. Hey guys, I'm planning to order a few things but unfortunately the only place I ever delt with before is Chutingstar and they happen to be sold out of what I'm looking for. So my question for all you Canadian skydivers who ordered from paragear before, how are they? Did you ever have any problems with them? Do they have good customer service? Etc...
  25. This pretty much. Didn't last long though as I'm doing Coach jumps for my A now. >_<