Ruffles

Just playing the dicky devil's advocate here, but have you guys taken a look at the A.C.S. statistics for traumatic full arrest saves? We don't even work them in my county unless there are special circumstances involving mechanism.

I did a paper on this once for a physiological psych class. One component of skydiving that's kinda scary is that when we skydive, our brains release a neurotransmitter called Dopamine-4, which sends our brain a "chemical reinforcement" message, telling our brain that we really like the experience and to keep it up. Scary part: this is the same transmitter responsible for the reinforcement addiction seen in long-time cocaine addicts. The drug itself is addictive, but the reinforcement it provides via Dopamine-4 is the real killer as far as kicking the habit goes. So many of us are totally addicited to this sport and it becomes all consuming (myself included). I guess if we weren't skydiving, we might all be coke heads :)... .

Interesting philosophy Eric, how does Geegee feel about that? binley ..

Andy - listen to what I mean, not what I say. "I can think of few reason why I would ever think that someone should stop skydiving all together. I myself am the poster-child of fuck ups and I'm not gonna quit. "Don't think that I am trying to impress upon you that screwing up and doing a low pull means you should quit the sport" i'm out. ..

Lazer, I totally agree. I was trying to appease the more hard liners. I can think of few reason why I would ever think that someone should stop skydiving all together. I myself am the poster-child of fuck ups and I'm not gonna quit. My point is simply that when you do make those mistakes, you should not have to die from them if there is another option (Cypress for example). Don't think that I am trying to impress upon you that screwing up and doing a low pull means you should quit the sport, but alot of the people I'm trying to reach believe just that, and thats why I wrote it. I will make an edit.

Newbie here, not a lot of experience, but I'm not too dumb & I can use logic. If someone's AAD goes off because they lost altitude awareness, should they be in this sport? Perhaps not. If someone has a cypress fire because they don't execute emergency procedures in a proper timely fashion, should they continue skydiving? Perhaps not, this "sport is not for them". Should discovering that skydiving is not for you cost you your life? Surely not. Yes, perhaps people whose Cypres fire for some other reason than they were knocked unconcious, are big, fat, not-as-cool-as-you losers that you can banish to Siberia for fear they will contaminate our gene pool. But they have a right to keep on living their regular non-skydiving life and not end up as a blood stain on a runway because they are sub-optimal skydivers. Your mistakes shouldn't cost you your life. I'm way cool with individual decisions and personal responsibility (ie, if you don't wanna jump one, thats OK with me), but speaking from a newly-off-student-status perspective, all the grand-standing that goes on in these forums leads the newbie (like me at one point) to think that Cypres were only for incompetent or unsafe skydivers. Is this the message you guys want to pass on the the up-n-comers? ..

Johan, you need to move to the states dude. We're capitalisitc bastards over here!!!! If you're gonna bleed, get paid bro. ..

Anybody know if the Mirage G3 hard housings are metal or plastic?

Thanks for the tips gang. I was totally going there with the mindset of doing as many jumps as possible, but you're right; 4-5 debriefed meticulous jumps are way better than 8 rushed ones. I am pretty much beat after 4-5 jumps anyways. See ya there b2. ...

hey gang, newbie here. My friend & I are thinking of going to the easter boogie in Eloy. We both have 50 jumps and our own gear. I've never been to a boogie before, or any other DZs for that matter. I don't want to head out there with my head planted firmly in my ass and make a rep as one of skydivings new morons, so a couple of questions if you have a second. (1) Do they have packers out there that work fast enough to get us on at least a load per hour? (2) How much do they cost to pack for you? (3) Any common mistakes that newbies make at boogies that I should try to avoid? (4) I saw their website, but do you guys have any info on the DZ, like people, policies, vibe, etc.? (5) whats the weather like; people have told me the winds can be kinda narley in the afternoons. Thx, Clark ...

Purely out of curiosity (I jump a Silhouette & never jumped a Saber2), why do you think there is a big difference between the canopies phree? They're both semi eliptical ZP. What differences did you notice in performance? As far as the Silhouette goes, people at my DZ recommended it to me a a good starter canopy, but they also recommended the Saber 2, so that which one is better really I have no clue. All I an say is that I have never been unhappy or scared shitless under the Silhouette (1.1:1). It does turn surprisingly fast if you want it to, however. ..

I am just like you. I absolutely have to know how every little part works. How much is it to attend one of those courses and how long are they? ..

Ok, not to keep pestering you about the time line on licensing Bill, but are we talking months or years before this will be available to those of us with other-than-RWS containers? (can't wait can't wait). Thx P.S. "begging the question" means to apply circular logic to a discussion, not a discussion that is begging for a question to be asked. Blue ones ....

This thing looks friggin' awesome Bill. That whole RSL debate has been in the back of my mind on every jump. This alleviates that anxiety. How long before I can get one for my Mirage? ..

After 3 months (and 30 jumps) on my virtually new Silhouette 210, I just now read the actual spec sheet from PD in ParaGear and it shows me at an "Advanced" wingloading. My exit weight is 240, which puts me at like 1.1:1. The thing flies like a dream and all the landings have been stand up and non-scary. Is this a typo or did I just make an error getting this thing. I thought 1:1 was for new jumpers, and this is only loaded .01 above that. WTF? ....

Thanks gang. I thought it was a bigger deal than it really is I guess; kinda explains why nobody at my DZ seemed too concerned. I guess the name "Stilleto" just sounds like a narly, aggressive canopy and that kinda got my attention. Like my AFFI said , "its not output, itsa input". One other quick and semi-related question.... I just looked at the PD specs for my Silhouette 210 and it places me in the advanced category at a 1.15 loading? Did I just buy the wrong canopy? It seems to fly nice to me (25 landings and all standing).

I have a good pal that I dive with, has about 150 jumps and is a good pilot. However, he only has 150 jumps and his 2nd chute, after a sabre 150, is going to be a stilleto 120. his exit weight is about 160. I think thats about a 1.35 load under a high performance elliptical after 150 jumps on a square. Am I simply a canopy nazi or does this strike any one as inherently dangerous? My problem is this. #1- I have like 45 jumps and who the hell am I to be telling him what he should or shouldn't do. #2 - He is kinda the cool guy at the dropzone and no one else seems to be talking to him about this (ie the AFFIs, other jumpers, etc.). #3 - He seems to have this "not a problem" approach to things which is fairly well recieved, but may be blinding him to skydiving hazards. Any suggestions on how to approach this thing, or if I should be worried at all?

"Pre-second".. I like it. Were you able to avoid the "Beer Clause" by using that? I'll have to try it at my DZ.

Bill, how/ when did a Racer RSL kill someone? I am not contesting it, I've just never heard that before. What happened? Clark

The tension knot thing would have been a good idea, you're right. Unfortunately, the thing won't let me do an "Edit Post" to add that category. I've heard a lot of people talk about tension knots, dunno why I forgot. Incidentally, what does a tension knot usually become (i.e. spinner, malformed canopy, etc.)? Regarding canopy wraps, I didn't want to include them as this is generally not a component of an abnormally functioning piece of equipment (like when you do Crew, you get wraps generally, but it is not a malfunction per se, its because there was collision).

Yeah, that would be way cool, is there a way I can integrate that into the poll?

Please check off any of the malfunction categories you have experienced which resulted in you landing under a reserve (or main & reserve combination). Please limit the events to the last 10 years of your diving. Thanks.

I just finished jump 35 and its just STARTING to go away now. Damn, I thought it would never go. I used to get so queezy during my AFF I actually dry heaved before a couple of jumps. Yes, I am a bit of a wuss, but its going away now. Stick with it bro, I doubt you will be sorry.

I asked the 3 or 4 AFF instructors that did my training/coaching and they all recommended I get a Silhouette as my first chute; the best advice I've ever gotten. It is VERY soft on opening, and has an amazing capability to turn on a dime and be very forgiving at the same time. This allows the new skydiver to test themselves under canopy without receiving broken limbs for their mistakes. I can do a 360 turn in just about 1.5 to 2 seconds and yet the same canopy lands like a Manta 288; soft and reliable steering and turn recovery. I loaded mine at 1.1 and wow is it fun.The mix of ZP and F111 fabric makes it way easy to pack, as well as providing a "stepping stone" type of performance between f111 student chutes and high performance ZP ellipticals. The canopy is is also tapered, providing a mix of square and elliptical (way more on the square side though)performance capability. I have been to told by my dealer that this is the key to blending the crisp turns with forgiving landings/ recoveries. I love my Silhouette. It's a fantastic canopy to learn on. The only drawback, if you percieve it to be, is that the soft openings come at a price. Generally my chute takes between 750 and 1000 feet to open, if you roll the nose. At first, I thought I was having a malfunction, watching my canopy take 5 or 6 seconds to open completely, but my dealer said that PD designed the Silhouette to open slowly if you roll the nose. This is what gives you the soft on heading openings. After a few jumps, you get used to the slower opening. No big deal, just an adjustment. I have 20 jumps on it so far, and every one was exactly the same: on heading and way soft (what a concept - a painless opening!)

One of the AFF instructors I know has a B.S. in engineering and says he pulls in upper half of the five digits doing AFF full time. He could go to work as an engineer and make probably twice that..... Boy, I'm glad I'm not him, having to skydive everyday and get paid must suck.