darkwing

I strongly advise you to put the bag in the way the manufacturer says to. Anything else is snake oil. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I vote infinity. Reasons as above. It is a very rigger friendly rig. I have 500 jumps on mine. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

the body of the fabric (i.e., how stiff it is) has a major influence on how much drag it produces. As the fabric gets used and washed its body will decrease somewhat. Heavy cotton/polyester blends are a good choice. There should be some suitable ones at any fabric source. I know I saw some at Walmart recently. You might also find some suitable acrylic fabric, but my preference is for the aforementioned cotton/poly. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

It seems to me quite appalling that the videographer pulled without tracking. Note how close the troubled jumper was after the video guy opened. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

"crock of shit" is a bit extreme I think. While I agree that there are plenty of people who have skills either well above or well below their nominal experience level, it is still useful to have simple measures of performance. One reality about any simple performance indicator is that it is flawed--regardless of how hard you try to make it valid. I have no quarrel with those who would like to increase the performance requirements for the D license. Go ahead and put together a *workable*, achieveable set of requirements for each license and submit it to the USPA. I think there is a lot of sentiment to support some changes. Also, do not make the mistake of believing that any set of standards makes any specific jumper bomb-proof. There are plenty of dead guys who you would have categorized as truly skilled. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

His terminal is somewhat slower than yours. Plus he is tougher. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Caveat - I'm not a tandem instructor. I was on the DZ last year when one of our Tandem instructors had 3 prematures in one day, on two different rigs I believe. They were tracked down to being a result of a big Tandem instructor, and perhaps too much of an arch. I can put you in touch with the tandem instructor if you wish. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I think that it will vary. Many of these requirements are set by the DZO they can still do what they want, but some are also a result of USPA guidelines and BSRs. USPA has not yet adjusted their guidelines to accommodate the new license structure. My personal view is that the old should transition to the new, that is, if a C was required for something before a C should be required under the new standards. This has the effect of upgrading proficiency requirements, which I think is good. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Have you tried the rig manufacturer? Any competent loft should be able to whip up some pads too. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

If all you had to do was bag it, the fault was his. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I don't have anything substantive to add, but I will say that I think it is possible for you to become a skydiver, and I wish you luck. Please keep us posted. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

My last tunnel visit was an hour, with 5 people. We were all dead at the end. It was too much for us. 6 people is a minimum for an hour as far as I am concerned. Just going in an relaxing would be fine, but then you wouldn't learn anything, and it would be an expensive way to relax. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

My wife is into gardening and the cats. I'm pretty much gone all weekend and she doesn't notice. She putters in the yard all day, and sleeps with the cats at night. We both enjoy the arrangement. No kids. It has been suggested that she has a boyfriend. As long as it doesn't interfere with skydiving it is OK with me. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

In the old days when I did deal with students, a refusal was met with a brief discussion, not pressure, asking if they are sure, etc. One go around, and then descend. I never would have jumped out and let the student descend alone. It wouldn't even have occurred to me as an option that I would abandon the student. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

If a person is afraid to do it (not saying you are, just maybe inconvenienced) in training, just imagine how they'd feel when it happened for real, but unintentionally? -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Is there another low timer you could form a 2-ay "team" with? I bet it would be easy to get a high timer to ground coach you, and work with the de-brief. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Generally your reserve will be lower performance than your main, so don't get a reserve smaller than your main.

I think it ends up being an issue of personal preference. I prefer Lost Prairie. I don't need to jump with 3000 other people, 500 is fine. I love the weather, especially the cool evenings and nights at the Prairie. I understand that there will be a helicopter at the Prairie this year, but probably no WWII bombers. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Let me clarify my view a bit. Video is good, coaching is good, two videos would be better, as would two coaches, as would more jumps, as would jumping every day..... Just remember, we jump because it is fun, and agonizing about whether or not we have a coach, or the right coach, or video, or the right video moves the emphasis into the wrong place. The single most important thing is the 4 people who do the skydive. Their dynamics, personality and otherwise, are far and above the most critical aspect to the success of the team effort. Once again I'll say it. Just skydive, and let the other stuff happen when and how it can. Don't postpone skydiving because you haven't got the video or coach worked out. You will still improve. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I doubt that the clear material is as durable as cordura. But it would be good otherwise. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

Check your email. I sent you some comments. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I'll throw in a bit of a different perspective. A long time ago I was on a very successful 4-way team. These days I'm on a casual one. I think that while video is good, it isn't as important as just getting 4 people together and making a bunch of skydives. Get occasional video, let new camera flyers jump with you (safety always being a consideration), but don't worry too early about putting a video person there with you. Just jump. Go ahead. Let the flames begin. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I'm certain that canopies are not test jumped by the manufacturer prior to shipment. They are tested during development, but certainly not as part of the day-to-day sales. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

I think it is nuts to suggest that you need 10-15 low speed deployments. As mentioned above, reserves seem to do just fine. I wouldn't bother doing even one. -- Jeff My Skydiving History

The paradactyl and thunderbow are pretty different generations of canopy, with the dactyl being newer by about 10 years I think. A couple of my teammates jumped Dactyls, even did CRW. Dactyls pack much smaller that thunderbows. -- Jeff My Skydiving History