sammielu

^^^ sure, but they didn't start with them as students. Start with the school gear, then change only one thing at a time.

^^^^ makes sense considering global/international shipping wouldn't include ground shipping options (plus who knows what the customs requirements are!)

I personally have a deep lovery for Safire canopies - the Icarus brand equivalent of the Performance Designs (brand) Sabre. Safire (not Safire 2 or 3) are not manufacturered anymore (they're on to the Safire 3 now) so... they're cheap. My advice: Look ok facebook in the buy/sell groups. PM me and I'll help you get thete. Put an ISO ad for Safire 169, include that you're open to other 9 cell canopies, and see what responses you get. The advantages of a used canopy like that are: Cheap!!! I currently own 3 Safires and used to have another. They each cost around $500. Sometimes they need linesets, as all canopies do. Linesets including installation are $300-$400 and are good for about 500 jumps. Easy to pack because they're broken in. Sometimes placing an ISO ad makes people remember things they have stashed away... Good luck (and PM me, I'm good at helping people find things).

Remember that you're new to all of skydiving and cut yourself some slack - it takes practice to learn!!! You can practice solely in the sky if you choose, but it makes more sense to also practice on the ground. Mental and physical practice takes only a couple of minutes each day and prepares/trains your body to do what you're supposed to when under pressure. If you practice that count 100 times before your next jump you are way more likely to just go through it when you're in the moment.

The Vigil 2+ already required batteries from the manufacturer or US service center. I get the shipping concerns too, battery whatever is a big dumb mess these days, and it makes sense that all units now follow the same procedure.

Sun Path is presenting a seminar on the development of the Aurora at PIA Symposium. Sounds interesting!

4.5 years, 1550+ jumps, 1 cutaway (jump #41), 1 injury (ankle sprain as a student, planted my feet trying to stand up a landing - learned that's not how to do that). I've landed 2 (maybe 3) malfunctions after determining the canopy was under control and cleared minor malfunctions more times than is possible to count. I'm conservative with my main canopy choice, size, and conditions I wI'll jump in. I'm also extremely current, this will be my 3rd season as a full time instructor (SL and TI). I get in the hanging harness at least every 60 days and go through currency review data every couple weeks (it's my job and all). The lesson here is: learn your stuff, practice often, listen to your instructors, riggers, and mentors, choose those people carefully and tune everyone else out. I hear the malfunction rate is about 1 in 1000 jumps these days. The more important thing to remember is that fatalities and major injuries usually happen with good equipment and the problem is human error in decision making or execution. So- keep your head on straight. I know from alcohol server training that statistically 1 in 4 drivers is drunk. I sold my parents on me jumping by assuring them of my desire to be safe and make good decisions, walking them through a gear check and explaining all of the safety devices (AAD, RSL, spring loaded pc for the reserve) - and why I have them and when I'd expect to use them (ie. my AAD is in case I'm unconscious). Add in the drunk driving fact and that I drive 75 miles a day to get to my job and that there are no drunk drivers in the sky... they approve now. There was a time when we would review every skydiving incident that made the news so they could be further reassured that I was aware of the situation and had a plan to prevent myself from following that fatality.

I wear my flysight for every jump (except CRW). It's given me peace of mind when I'm worried I pulled low or my pc or canopy sniveled "forever" - knowing that my version of "forever" is always less than 2 seconds feels great. Its also a way to correct my perception when I think I did X under canopy that used up Y feet of altitude... but I really did a crappy/half-assed X and it didn't work as well.

...and demonstrate a proper PLF. No one gets out of any refresher/review without PLF practice. The PLF instinct saves broken bones.

My dz does static line so the progression is different. For where you're at, it would require you pass a 30 minute review, do hanging harness EP practice, repeat a low-altitude jump to show stability, pulling on time, and proper canopy skills, then a repeat of your last passed jump. None of this applies to you or your dz, though, FYI. Sample questions I'd require a correct answer too: What is decision altitude (definition and your decision altitude number)? Why? What is deployment altitude? What is your minimum deployment altitude? How does that relate to your decision altitude? What is your breakoff altitude and breakoff procedure that leads to deployment altitude (that leads to decision altitude)? What are the 3 rules of pulling, in order of importance? What are the cloud clearance requirements above and below 10k? Properly plan spotting, exit, and opening point for the days conditions. What are your landing priorities? Draw, with altitudes, a landing pattern for the days winds. Show me your EPs. What is your response to the following malfunctions: Line twists, slider stuck up, collapsed end cells, toggle fire, hard pull, stuck handle, broken arm in freefall/under canopy. Show me, in a hanging harness, proper and timely response to the canopy malfunctions pictures (available on PD's website). Show me a complete gear check, with explanations about what you are checking for at each step. There's a good start. If you know all that, I'd let you jump.

Currency training is necesarry per USPA. Duration and jumps repeated varies from school to school. Call your dz.

I agree ^^^. Doctors have no idea the G forces involved with canopy opening. A friend had a shoulder dislocation this year and was cleared for jumps 3 times this year after intensive physical therapy to build the muscle. Each time all it took was one skydive (freeflying twice, canopy opening once) for the shoulder to dislocate again - the 3rd time after 6 full months of PT. Shoulders are different, I know, but build that muscle as much as you can. My friends repeated injuries are covered by L&I (because the initial injury was during work), but you might not be so lucky (and now he's scheduled for surgery and off jumping for at least a year). Better safe than sorry...

All the above experimentation sounds fun, though I think there's a simpler way to approach this. Baggier fit, slow fabrics do fall slow. Tight fit slick fabrics do fall faster. That said, your body modifies your fall rate more than any suit. As an instructor, having the option to jump a baggy cotton suit (or two) just means I can be lazy and don't have to work at all to fall as slow as small students, the same as adding weight makes it way less work to fall fast. Use it when you need it. Before you know it you'll have 5 jumpsuits and no reason to get rid of any of them.

Kris- you'll have to balance the fun/$$$$ for yourself. Eloy is super super fun. There are over 20 of us going for various parts of the Christmas Boogie from WA, start planning for next year and join us to share rental car, hotel, etc to make it cheap. Facebook me for more info :) --Sam

6. PRACTICE. Get in a hanging harness often and think through and physically walk through pulling your handles every day. (Also please make sure you remember which one comes first and why it's do important to pull the right one first!!!)

No. Gear checks start with the AAD, same order every time to not miss anything. Even if I'm turning tandems and the plane us waiting. Even if I just turned up at the dz and want the load going right now. Gear checks go pretty fast once you've done a ton of them, and as a SL instructor I was doing 6 loads a day with 1 gear check on me and 2-3 checks on each of 3 students each time... I got a lot of practice that year. Whether I'm turning it on for a jump or not, it's still important for me that it functions how I want and isn't stuck on some error screen that people have encountered, that could cause who knows what to happen...

Fear is good, use it to be careful and cautious, but don't let it stop you. Re: your new rig: remember that the next jump on it could be on that 160 reserve. Don't jump it until you're ready.

What they said ^^^^. My bruises when I started looked exactly like 4 fingers digging into my arms, embarrasing for my non jumper boule friend to have people notice, but I loved an excuse to talk about jumping!! Better fitting gear will fix it. In the meantime, tighten leg straps as tight as you can (to minimize up/down motion in the harness during opening) and ask your instructor how tight that chest strap should be (and main lift web adjustment, if you have one). When you're ready to buy gear: buy used. Search on here or PM me for pointers. You won't really know what features are important for you to pay new prices for for a fee hundred jumps... so jump, listen to your instructors, jump more, try things (try on all kinds of rigs on the ground), make mistakes, jump more, see what you like or don't etc... just jump, have fun, and remember skydiving is a long game full of fun where there will always be things you want to try or buy, but you have to keep money for jump tickets or no jumpy for you.

Risk depends on your experience with your canopy. If you've used rears for a couple landings or only in a canopy course, it's a lot of risk! Too much risk for a landing close to a hard object - earth. If you use rears to plane out every landing, much less risk, might be viable, make your own decision high enough to make that decision.

Leg straps allll the way tight to begin with means left shift during opening = more comfortable for openings. As a canopy course will teach you, a seated position under canopy means you're not adding leg input unless you want too = more control. The easiest way to get there is to grab your leg straps under canopy and shift them forward so your body is naturally sitting in the harness vs you doing a situp the entire flight down and manually holding your legs in this position. It takes some practice, but now I just shimy my but back until I'm sit ting and comfortable. Also being in shape helps in all of skydiving, including harness comfort. Squishy thighs = more squish to slide around and be uncomfortable.

If you don't know why you do/don't want a safety feature like a MARD, you're not ready to make that decision. Talk to your local rigger who will be doing your repacks and get their advice on what rigs/manufacturers/options they prefer and why - your canopy choices are a part of this decision making process as well (what will fit into each rig that will be comfortable for your body type and appropriate fit for main/reserve packing). Also discuss whether chest articulation makes sense for your body combined with the rig (size) you want to buy. It may be a moot point for you. PS. Not every available option is right for you!!!! Sometimes people check all the boxes and get things they don't want. B-12 buckles, extra wide leg pads (a no for most women and anyone with skinny legs), and extra long chest straps are an example.

^^ exactly. It's physics. I've used a hanging harness with a 2 ring system and it's much harder to pull. It's good to learn to "pull it like your life depends on it" from the get go, IMO. ;)

^^yes. It's standard at all the tunnels I've seen for coaches to buy big blocks of time at bulk rates and pass of the savings to people they coach. Discounts are pretty crazy when purchasing 10-20 hours at a time so they can instruct you and get paid themselves and it works out cheaper than straight tunnel time. It's a win-win, just schedule via the coach and ask how they want you to pay (some coaches get paid directly since they already paid the tunnel and they might prefer you bring cash).

No case for me. My carry on is my rig. My "personal item" is a shoulder bag with helmet, altimeter and personal stuff (gloves etc), the jumpsuit I consider essential for the trip, and my travel stuff (money, book, phone, etc). I'm more comfortable with my rig in my hands the whole time. If my luggage gets lost I will need some new clothes but I can still jump :)

In my experience, it's common to tighten the MLW and the diagonal back straps 1-2" in the plane. Leaving them loose on the ground (sometimes students are geared up for 20+ minutes before we board due to staffing) and tightening them that extra 2" is for passenger comfort. If it is a small adjustment like that, it doesn't affect safety, it is a customer service gesture. In a normal climb, we have time to again ensure comfort, restate the jump procedures, etc. In any type of emergency, comfort is off the table until safety is handled.