rjblake

Indeed - for the English speakers, this link will make life a little easier: https://voortbestaanteuge.petities.nl/?locale=en What is at risk here is the closure of yet another skydive centre in The Netherlands. It will not only impact the sport in the country in a big way, but affect hundreds of small businesses in the area. From the local bars, restaurants, campsites and hotels to the rigging lofts and suppliers. Hell, the airfield itself is threatened with bankruptcy given 50% of their revenues are from the parachute centre. The National Parachute Centre Teuge is a club - profits are put back into growing the sport, maintaining excellent equipment, facilities and the 3x Cessna Supervans. The FAI Worldcup and European Cups were hosted by Teuge in 2015 and all who visited and participated were treated to wonderful hospitality and facilities. Don't let this be another drop zone that gets closed down. It affects each and every skydiver. Please share this as widely as possible. Much appreciation and Blue Skies to you all

National Paracentrum Teuge in The Netherlands http://paracentrumteuge.nl/Welcome - fast planes, open 7x week in Aug and €20/jump. Depending on dates, the NL Championships may be on as well. Great DZ, people and facilities

Not a good looking picture! On the other hand, I had one of my excess brake line stows unravel after 50 jumps. Contacted the dealer who I purchased my rig through and Mirage had a brand new replacement set of risers sent (overseas) at no cost within the week. I can't fault that kind of customer service

If a Sabre2 doesn't open naturally most of the times, and by most of the times I mean almost every time, either you need to learn how to pack it, or you need to fix it. As I said, you have a problem with it. Well my Sabre 2 opens pretty slow and needs a little help. Have had since new and still behaves the same way after 70 odd jumps. WL1.2 on a 170. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvjyEYFQNUo And Nick - sorry to hear about the arm. See you back in the air soon!

Why not do it at Klatovy? Great dropzone and close to home. I did mine at Seville and it is great getting all jumps from 15,000ft+. Course price was excellent and accomodation excellent and cheap. Empuria is certainly one of the most expensive options if money is no object.

My experience has been to the contrary. Had a faulty altitrack and they replaced it without issue. email response took a little while; but problem resolved quickly. Know two others who had similar experiences

Guess I was really lucky then. My instructor is also a Master Rigger, so spent Day 1 doing ground school, theory and practice. Facility had a hanging harness for practicing EPs and also purpose built 'rigs' to wear and practice deployments and EPs. Got the opportunity to cutaway and pull a reserve handle on a rig that was just in for a repack; so an added bonus. I'm guessing mileage may vary; but it depends on the instructors and the schools as this is not required per the SIM for a Category-A jump from what I recall.

My 1st purchased canopy was a Pulse which I found opened great on every jump. Another jumper thought it opened briskly and hard; but I knew no better. Started jumping a Safire2 which snivels plenty and opens really softly. I personally think its a great canopy - docile if need be, but also pretty sporty if you want it to be. Guess what I'm saying is demo a number of canopies and don't limit yourself to just PD - there are other manufacturers out there.

Nice deal. At prices I pay that works out to around 28 jumps per month. Anything over that I'd be scoring. Too bad I live so far away

Was jumping an MC1 and had another guy cut across me 100 odd feet off the ground. Stole all my air. All I could see was the planet coming at me at a rapid speed. Text book PLF, but landed on a uneven mound which resulted in some titanium additions to my ankle. My next jump under a round a few months later I nearly ended up landing on the hard runway (was sweating bullets at the thought), but managed to make it to soft grassy field and had a very soft touch down instead :)

I got disc degeneration L5&S1 - had it for 20+ years. Pain and hassles come and go but working on core strength and the above have played a big part in helping. When I used to windsurf a lot, my back never felt better

Mike - Welcome to the skydiving world. I started my journey years back in the military when I was still fit & healthy jumping rounds. Never gave it a second thought leaping out the door, whether it was without kit, or fully loaded or in the dark of night. Fast forward 20 years and I got roped into jumping rounds for commemorative jumps. Was like riding a bike - loved it. Bit the bullet in March and did my AFF & USPA A-licence (1-1) in Seville with an awesome instructor. My exits were mostly all shit. Didn't look forward to my hop-n-pop even though it was from 5 grand (have jumped rounds from 700ft), but it was probably the best exit I did and was under canopy in almost no time. I've now got just over 120 jumps in and still feel a little nervous jumping out the door first jump of the day, but put in a bunch of back to back jumps and it all goes away. Solo jumps suck and it is so much better jumping with others - also helps concentrating on other things. I've had a really bad spot, jumped with an alti that failed on me, had twists, turbulence and made a few stupid mistakes; but all ended well. I go through a rigid routine every time I turn up at the DZ and run through my emergency procedures without fail at the start of every day - not just in my mind, but doing the physical movements to ensure I build the all important muscle memory. I've now got my B-licence and am just starting this journey, but look forward to each and every jump. Get those consols out the way, work on getting your FS1 and CH and let the fun begin :)

Good deal. In Holland I pay EUR20 per 1,000 in value. They do give 25 towards a repack if you use your reserve and cover lost canopies in case of cutaway

From what I know AADs are a mandatory requirement on all Spanish DZs as result of an incident some years back. Whether you turn it on, a personal call and I'm not sure or haven't seen anyone but students AADs checked on a flight line. Place is great, but have been short of jumpers so far. Pity, as opening weekend was busy and hoping this weekend is too - some great raffle prizes up for grabs for jumpers

I'd love to have all my jumps recorded on my GoPro; but unless I could find the perfect way to secure it so as not to introduce a snag hazard or a distraction when jumping; I can't see myself ever mounting it. Far better that I leave it to the professionals - that way I can see myself on camera and try to work on my mad skills instead - I sure as heck need the coaching above my own footage!

Thanks. Same volume setting for both.\ B9Quote That's weird as. From unboxing, I made a couple of changes to my low speed warnings and my Quattro simply worked from jump one using it. I can take some pics of mine later to show exactly what I've got setup; as at least it works for both hi/lo speed warnings. Have you tried to reset it?

Can't speak to the Infinity mesh, but if it's the same as used on the Mirage rig, then I'd say its pretty darn durable. The mesh on my Mirage looks identical to that used on my Kriega R30 motorcycle backpack which I use in all weather conditions, toss on the floor, side of the road, etc. and it has yet to show any wear after 3 years of daily use

Did my AFF al through A-lic without booties. Afterwards, got a new suit with booties - sure made a huge difference at break off and helped a lot when changing from using arms to turn, to doing leg turns. Did a jump the other day without the booties and my break off track seemed sooooo slow in comparison. Do like them and can't see a reason not to use them once you've sorted the basics.

Well, here is some more info: 1. Is only available on NEW rigs ordered 2. Cannot be retro fitted to existing rigs (even those just received) 3. Mirage offering a deal to those who just bought rigs recently 4. Lead time for rigs as increased to 12-13 weeks with Trap MARD 5. No information on how it is rigged/packed Guess time will tell

Do you have FAA approval for your MARD? Is any container manufacturer using it?

...and that is before buying beers - don't forget that very important part of getting your license. Spent 15 mins in the tunnel before AFF training to get stable position, turns, fall rate dialed in a bit; which I found to be a great help (one less thing to have to worry about in the air). My first minute in the tunnel was pretty useless and would have been a bit less comfortable in the air. I was fortunate enough to block of 2 weeks vacation to go from ground training to A-license in 8 days. Benefit of this was that there was no time off to forget what you'd learned in the air/on the ground before, during and after each jump and perhaps no/less repeat jumps. By Euro prices, sounds about the same price range.

Go jump! Damaged L5 & S1 when I was 18 in an army parachute incident. Went through hell for a while, still have problems with my back some 30 years later - work on core strength and the back is fine. Sit on my butt doing nothing and its not. Still jumping round chutes as well and loving being back in the air after what was far too long a lay off. The YOLO crowd got it all wrong - you only die once, so get out there and enjoy the living

Doug - sorry for the late reply. As far as I know, if you are a US citizen, the UPSA 3rd party cover is sufficient. Us poor foreigners jumping on USPA membership pay more for membership, but don't get the insurance cover; so when you meet a foreign member - say thanks for the subsidy

New DZ opening on 18th October 2014. They're having an opening boogie and have advertised a Christmas Boogie too (http://skydiveespana.com/boogies-events/). I've booked to go there from 18th Oct until 7th Nov and hope to get some good jumping in and meet up with some other friends. Anyone else heading there?

I may have missed the boat on this one; bu was facing a very similar dilemma. Pulse or Sabre 2. In the end, after reading all I could find; I decided I'd go with a Pulse 210. I've been jumping a Navigator, Solo's and ZP EXE's - all rentals in various condition. The one bit that worried me from the common thread was the flare. Top it off with the fact my first jump would be in a nil wind condition. Not a breath. Oh well, what could go wrong... Opened as high as DZ would allow me (4k due to traffic) and did some practice flares and drills. Flare seemed okay to me. On final, flared it like one of the loaners and soon found it that it had plenty of flare - even got lift and hopped up some. Didn't stall it or need to PLF, but landed nicely. I'm still trying to work out the sweet spot, but I'll get my brain dialed in for various conditions eventually (seems I'm either flaring too high, or too low mostly). It certainly opens better than the Solo or ZP - all have been on heading bar one pilot induced harness turn due to my body position. It packs small, and will allow me to downsize in the same container to a Sabre2 170 (possibly even 150 - although I doubt I will) if I get the urge. Screw the resale - I'm keeping this one for myself even if I do downsize. I'm confident I can rely on it for consistent performance on opening and landing.