vpegyed

I tore my ACL a couple of years ago, did a tandem last year and then completed aff and earned my A license before I got a cadaver's ACL put in and part of my meniscus removed. I just started jumping again in July after surgery in March. I would say that as long as he/she realizes the risks involved (even those out of one's control) and knows how to minimize stress on that knee regardless of the situation, go for it. But I'm no doctor haha. Now, my injury was over a year before I made my tandem (I didn't have insurance to fix it) so I had plenty of time to adjust to having an f-ed up knee.

Thanks for the help, you guys confirmed everything that I was thinking. I just didn't know if the difference in fabric would make a significant difference in the speed.

I didn't know if this should go into this forum or under the canopy piloting section, sorry. I've just gotten to the point where I'm going to be off rental gear and jumping my own gear and staying current making 10-20 jumps a month now that time and money allows for it. I've been jumping sabre 2 230's for my last 30 or so jumps, and the parachute in my container is a PD-230 (0-3cfm fabric) with less than 100 jumps on it. My question pertains to the canopy's penetration into the wind loaded at about .95:1. What would be the forward speed of this canopy at this wing loading. I've searched trying to find a real answer but just a bunch od ambiguity. The main reason I ask has to do with the upper reaches of the wind limits. Anything more than 18 I felt a little uncomfortable in my rented sabre 2, just because a gust could easily have me flying backwards. I know it doesn't mean much, but I've stood up and felt totally in control of my canopy for landing on nearly every skydive I've made. I "feel" the lift generated by my canopy during a flare and love flying my canopy more than freefall. I always do practice flares before entering the pattern.

If you're going to buy through the forums here, just be super patient. I started seriously looking back in October, then around Christmas I found a wings container from 2005 with an older reserve that was in nearly perfect condition for $1200. Found a vigil for 800 bucks with 14 years left, and I'm borrowing a friend's main. I've seen a few great deals but people jump on them pretty quick. It just depends on if you have a common body type or not. Everyone wants beginner gear :) Good luck with the search.

I'm thinking I'll rent gear when I start back too. There's no sense in jumping brand new equipment since I've yet to jump the gear I bought recently.

Doc says I'll be out from any real activity for at least 5 weeks, but walking with a badass knee brace after about 1 week, so there's a bright side.

So, I've been reading the forums and pretty much all of the information on dz.com since I made my first tandem a year ago. I've acquired a decent amount of knowledge to be able to ask pertinent questions to the much more experienced jumpers that I know. And I do realize that I have so much more to learn. I'm in no hurry, I've got the rest of my life to enjoy this sport. I've only figured out one person that I know so far, and that's Glideangle, and he actually did my A license check out dive back in early February. I'll owe a lot of beer next time I'm at the dz, for sure. Goals? I want to learn about every aspect of the sport: rw, crw, freeflying, wingsuiting, rigging, you name it. I've been addicted to the point that I'm pretty sure I've see every skydiving related video on youtube and elsewhere haha. I got lucky enough to get 30 minutes of tunnel time for my birthday which I promptly used last weekend at IFly Austin with Waz and Aaron. The downside to this post, however, is that I get to have my meniscus repaired and ACL reconstruction next Friday, so I'll be out of the game for a while. Hopefully the weather is awesome this weekend and I'll get to jump. I figured it has been a long time coming but I guess the introduction is better late than never. My name is Vince, and I have a problem :)