JeffCa

My first was a static line jump on a round parachute. Chose it over tandem.

This was good:

http://www.skydivemag.com/article/better-nil-wind-landings

hillson

Personal opinion: don't waste your first night jump humming it down. I've seen a lot of folks try to get that first one over as quickly as possible. Take a few seconds to watch the lit plane fly away and then dump. There is nothing like flying your wing alone in the darkness. Enjoy the view.

We have a city backdrop in one direction and I thought it was cool that the only way I could see another canopy over there was to see the city lights being blocked out by a black canopy shape.

If you fly a full face helmet, open the visor after you do your canopy control check to take it all in.

hillson

A lot of people hate them for legit reasons such as landings and anxiety with canopy traffic etc.

Our DZ does them so that no canopy traffic is around. They drop only a few individuals/pairs/groups per pass, so plenty of horizontal separation, with staggered pull times. The highest-loaded canopy pulls lowest, the lightest-loaded canopy pulls highest. This way you won't have canopy traffic unless somebody screws up their pull time.

NeoX

***Actually he didn't. That was his only rig. Care to take another guess?

Lee

This is still nuts though because he unhooks himself after deploying so he can hang by his feet. That's crazy enough just on its own!

No, that's not what happens, either. You've been duped by editing. Did you actually *see* the transition from hand to feet? Or did the video have a cut right at that moment? It was not done in one take, and that can be determined by anybody who watches the video, whether they're skydivers or not. Do you know how?

councilman24

One guy's scottish and ones an engineer. And they're both skydivers. Whaddya want?

I was thinking maybe RiggerLee wrote the website.

gowlerk

I would not hesitate to go with the Glide. Although the product and company is new, the people behind it are among the most experienced and well regarded in the industry. They left one of the largest and best known manufacturers where they were key people in the company to start up Peregrine. There is little to fear in dealing with them.

Yes, and according to their website, they even have a "special addition" Glide that they're making. I guess that means you get 2 for the price of 1?

ianyapxw

Quote

The rig that Velocity Sports Equipment built for the Red Bull Stratos high altitude jump actually had a releasable main and releasable reserve.

I'm curious why they did this, are there certain situations where he would go for reserve instead of main and then be able to cut away the main. I would assume he would always go for main first, and I'm unsure of the rationale behind a reserve cutaway.

My wild-ass guess is that a premature deployment of the reserve at over 100,000 feet would have been very bad and need to be cutaway.

Arvoitus

But now that I checked the numbers it was as far as I can tell 15 proxy WS vs. 14 swoop deaths.

So I was wrong for last year, but right for every other year before that.

Swooping kills more skydivers annually than not pulling, so clearly not pulling is safer, but why is PD trying to force us to pull?

Read Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Conequences, by John Allen Paulos.

Did you know that more people were killed falling in the bathtub than by wingsuit proximity flying? So sure, do your WS proxy flight, but skip the shower afterwards. It's dangerous!

I must admit that I'm often attracted to things because they're unusual. If skydiving was zero risk and it became mainstream to go to a dropzone on weekends, I might feel differently than I do now. It's hard to say though, because it's an impossible hypothetical situation.

CNN's reader questionnaire, written by a couple of academics. Check question #5.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/29/business/psychopath-test-infographic/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Apparently if skydiving and roller coasters appeal to you, it pushes you closer towards psychopathy. It's given equal weight in the survey to the questions about not being bothered by animals in pain and thinking people deserve to get conned.

mattjw916

I'll file this under the "obnoxious things" category along with people who jump with multiple gopros...

You mean like this clown (photo)?

sammielu

Skydive Radio did a review on the most recent episode. Seems really cool. I plan to get one. Any additional way to stay altitude aware makes sense to me!

Look at the logo on the helmet in the photo on Chuting Star. Seems that Skydive Radio guys took it? Is there a relationship between the show and this product?

I can't see the point in having one of these and an audible. It's hard to ignore the audible, but if you only have one, I guess this is as good.

chriscchristoph

I purchased the rig to be tight at 170, 168 for those who it bothers lol, intentionally so I wouldnt have to purchase another container later on after downsizing possibly twice. With that being said its difficult to get in the bag especially with the dbag mirage has, its a little narrow at the mouth. I guess I said 170 to put a general number for what i assumed was a general question, Idk but those 2 square feet are far aside from the question at hand. The packers at my DZ would testify that its far from an easy pack and that it would take some serious time to learn to get it in bag, my only issue is gettin that bastard in the bag everything else im able to do. Alot of good advice, alot of stuff I didnt consider. Like I said before though, no need to be worried about me downsizing immediately, I just wanted to know about how many jumps people had at 1.3 and that was answered pretty well.

I'm still on WL

If I recall, different canopy manufacturers measure their sizes differently, and have been unable to agree on a standard method. So the 168 might be a 170 by somebody else's standard, I don't know.

chriscchristoph

so my wingloading is around 1.2 at 85 jumps.


Reasoning is that a 150 would be much easier to fit in my container (which is TIGHT at 170) as far as me packing would go...

I got my Pilot 188 brand new, with a brand new container. Had a really tough time getting it to fit. I thought about a downsize. I asked my rigger if everything was the correct size and if the closing loop was the right length, and he told me that it was. I kept at it, and now at 152 jumps, the closing loop fits better (room to spare) and the rig looks cleaner when it's packed up. I got better at packing and it revealed that the problem was me. Don't give up so early. Was your rig sized for the container? Have you asked a skilled packer/rigger to pack it and see what they think? Take the advice of others here and learn to pack. That's not meant to be a biting insult, but it's naive to think that you are as good as you're going to get so early in your skydiving journey. Downsizing and possibly breaking yourself, to avoid learning to pack better, is not wise.

Also, not sure why you felt the need to change the number to 170, but you can talk to us like we know what we're talking about. We can all handle 3-digit numbers.

chriscchristoph

I have a 170 pilot right now

No, you don't.

http://www.flyaerodyne.com/pilot.asp

likestojump

******
I'm not aware of a local dealer for helmets where I jump. I'll ask the next time I'm there. Assuming there isn't one, what is the next best alternative?

I've heard that internet dealers will often send you 2 helmets in different sizes. You return the one that doesn't fit in un-jumped perfect condition.

WHO DOES THAT ?

I won't name names, but I was told that some of the biggest do it. It's not as outrageous as it sounds. They send you 2 helmets, on condition that they'll charge your card if you don't return 1 of them. Or they charge you for 2, you return 1 and they refund it. Pretty basic, no?

AlanS

I'm not aware of a local dealer for helmets where I jump. I'll ask the next time I'm there. Assuming there isn't one, what is the next best alternative?

I've heard that internet dealers will often send you 2 helmets in different sizes. You return the one that doesn't fit in un-jumped perfect condition.

Rigger at my DZ caught me packing the brakes without pulling the cat eye through the ring. He warned me this could happen if I forgot. I guess he was right.

labrys

Quote

He's never been, in his mind, entitled to wear the jump wings, either the American or Canadian ones.

Didn't he have to make training jumps to get the wings?

"The war's over and we've got all of these extra wings that we won't get to use. Here, take 8 of them."

Why so hung up on the elevated areas in the interior and jumping at altitude? Why make it more difficult than it has to be?

There are ice-free areas and above-freezing temperatures, at sea level, on the peninsula for a good part of the southern summer. Even beaches to land on (photo attached, just clear the penguins for a bit or find your own spot!). It's the Antarctic continent, but is not even south of the circle. I'd think the most difficult part would be the logistics of getting the plane overhead, not the jumping conditions. Best idea might be to get a helicopter from one of the tourist ships and do a hop-n-pop out of it. It's not a viable commercial activity, but for somebody with sponsorship and permission, entirely possible.

Krip

Charging different rates by country of origin sounds like the companies are profiling and would rather not accept certain customers they consider high risk.

I doubt it's that. They still accept numerous adventure activities from every country of residence. I'll bet it has something to do with them using different partner companies in different countries or legal restrictions..... Anybody know differently?

Amazon

***I've just been informed that this kind of thing is your specialty and that you were indeed making fun of me. Oh well, maybe somebody else didn't know.

I have actually been there Jeff ...and almost got a year long gig at the SA station not so long ago I was trying to figure out how I would get an Otter driver or the 130 guys to take off and slide the troop door up and just let me out over the station.

There really does need to be a sarcasm Icon on here.

I've been there, too. Just as a visitor, along the coast of the peninsula.

I was pretty sure you were making fun of me, but wasn't sure why, if you knew better, you were leaving in the thread for posterity that Antarctica jumps would involve severe ice, elevation, etc. So it couldn't have hurt to post and clear it up.

jezlevett

That is a shame.
I see that.
I guess Australians are higher risk?

It's because some many of you Aussies go overseas and get into drunken accidents, they got sick of paying your claims.

This one covers pretty much anything you can do to yourself, but it's more expensive:

https://global.ihi.com/Travel+Insurance/Single+trip/Buy+Single+trip.aspx

jezlevett

Thanks for your comment JeffCa.

I just read through world nomads policy. They only cover tandem skydiving. Maybe its been changed recently? That's a shame if it is. they look very legit and my friend recommended them as well.

I'm hoping to work towards getting my b license then hopefully my c license while there so ill be jumping quite a bit. If it was a one off i wouldn't bother with insurance.

Dang, their restrictions are different for every country of residence (no idea why). Living in Japan, I can get unlimited skydives on my policies. For you from Australia, one jump only.

jezlevett

Hi there
I am an Aussie going to travel to the USA for a year,

I want to jump there but I would like the comfort of medical insurance. Does anyone have any experience in this area?

World Nomad's travel insurance explicitly covers skydiving and many other "high-risk" activities.

https://www.worldnomads.com