grandmaster95

Well....my shoulder is still partially dislocated. My injury happened almost 6 years ago in a skateboarding accident. I had Xrays and did PT to make it better, but the sling they initially put it in made it heal in the incorrect location. So now I have a partially dislocated right shoulder. I have good strength in it and can do pull-ups no problem, flare no problem etc. I just don't have the range of motion to be able to reach my BOC. All through AFF i had to use a rip cord, intead of a throw out...which sucked. I hate the spring loaded pilot chutes (especially packing them). Once I got off AFF status and bought my own righ, I had the BOC converted to a left hand deployment by a rigger and I couldn't be happier. I can fly just fine and don't worry about getting hit or anything, it's just the mobility. Hell...I played football for 4 years after my injury happened and took some big hits. Every injury will be different though...but their are options for left handed deployment if that's your concern. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

Everyone has given you some really sound advice. I was super excited for my Hop n' Pops so I didn't get nervous. However, what my instructor told me calmed any doubt/nerves I did have. He said, "Remember, it's 5000ft...not 500, plenty of time. Face the relative wind, arch, relax and look for the tail of the plane. When you see it...pull." Then I did my second H n' P at 3000 and he told me the same thing. It's 3000ft, not 300. Just relax and and enjoy the ride. If you're looking for the plane on exit, your stable. Also remember that "stable" does not mean belly to earth, it means you're not flipping and tumbling out of control. Good luck, can't wait to hear how it goes! Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

I talked to him afterwards and he said it wasn't an issue while we were hanging out there. After the release he said it went sideways a bit but wasn't a hard correction. The pilot and passenger were both on the right side, and we were hanging from the left. We are about 300 pounds with all of our gear together. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

I agree, Nick is a great guy! Lots of fun to be around. I got down on the skid first, turned around so I was facing towards the inside of the heli, and then hung from my legs. She then kneeled on the skid and grabbed on to my leg straps and extended her arms. Then she lifted her legs up to my hands so I could grab her ankles and she let go. We managed to hold this position for about 3 seconds before my legs started to slide off the skid due to the slight swing it created when she let go. GoPro 3 Black was mounted to the tail of the heli. Lets just say we practiced it in the hanger for about 20 minutes before we made the attempt. We have another idea we want to try for our next heli jump. I"ll post it when we do it. :) Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

DZ suggested I share a picture apparently, so here it is ;) This is from our Halloween Boogie at Skydive Mesquite in Nevada. My girlfriend and I decided it would be a good idea to try some acrobatics from the skid of heli. Heli jumps were courtesy of Savage Air, add them on Facebook. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

Ive been riding bikes for over 30 years, and i rebuild a few too. There's a shit ton you can do about it. especially if you have a race kit in it, and you road ride it. You choose not to do anything. I was refering to the fact there is nothing I can do about HIS problem and the jackasses that right through HIS neighborhood. As far as me, I don't mind my bike being loud out on the city streets. However, when I'm in the neighborhood I'm respectful and take the back way so I only have to pass 2 corner houses. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

Haha I know some people who do this. I ride as well but I don't go screaming through neighborhood streets with it pinned in first. However, it's not exactly easy to keep a 1200cc bike with a performance exhaust system and race ECU, quiet. My bike probably idles louder than most sport bikes sound around 5K RPM. Unfortunately there isn't much I can do about it. So without knowing what the jackass in your neighborhood is doing, I'm not much help. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

I have problems with my right shoulder and it prohibits my ability for me to reach behind my back. So i had my container converted to a lefty and wear my altimeter on my right hand. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

Well, just a small update for anyone who cares. I recorded my 26th jump this weekend an finished my A licence as well. Jumping all my own gear now with my left hand pull out and has made things much easier! Heading to Eloy for the Rookie Roundup on this weekend! Can't wait. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

I'm in complete agreement. I bought a used protrack and it just needed some new batteries. I purchased a pack from Chutingstar to replace. Upon opening the door I saw one of the little golden springs were missing. I emailed L&B to see if I could purchase a pack of new springs from one of their dealers because I could not find any. The replied asking me for my mailing address and they would send me a new spring at no charge. A week later I got a new battery door, 2 new springs and screws, and a pack of new batteries. To say "thanks" I purchased a Viso 2 from them as my new Alti. Great customer service and great products! Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

Boyce Avenue has some covers that are better than the origanl IMO. Mostly because they do all acoustic music. Check them out. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

I don't know how much help I will be, because I'm just a few jumps ahead of you, but here is what I did. I worked on my swoop and dock last weekend while I was at the dropzone, talk about fun. I'm tall and skinny as well, plus I have poor flexability, so my fall rate is slower than most of the coaches I have jumped with as well. If you can, start with a linked exit and dock. Then work with your coach on matching their freefall speed by slowly letting go and staying together. Have the coach move back, then you go forward and dock. Once you've got that move on to a poised exit. Get to your coaches level with their help and dock. Chances are you'll be 100ft away unless you both have a perfectly timed exit. Then on your next jump have the coach leave a split second before you (they will give the count) and you do a diving exit. Because you're lighter and fall slower, plust them exiting before you, you'll be above them. Try diving for them instead of just arching. Bring your hands/arms slightly behind you like you're going to track, but you'll be slighlty more head down. Remember, it's most important to match the fall rate before trying to dock. Don't try do them both at once in the beginning, it will just cause you to be unstable. At this point you should be able to dock without any assitance from your coach. Again, there are probably many 'right' ways to do it. This is just what I did last weekend and it worked great for me. Plus, if you aren't stressing about what you have to do, and you just do it. You'll realize how much fun it is and you'll stay more relaxed. Like everyone else has said. Give yourself some credit. Everyone picks it up at a different place. With -15 minutes of freefall time you can't expect to be perfect. Just like you can't practice basketball for 15 minutes and go to the WNBA/NBA Good luck and let us know what works for you. :) Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

For those of you that are interested, here is what I found. SSK does still do their rental program. It is based on the old repack cycle of 120 days. To obtain a rental Cypres we must have a credit card number to which we can charge a $250 deposit. We assume whoever is renting the Cypres is going to keep it for an entire repack cycle or 120 days; if in the U.S. This roughly boils down to $2 per day. The renter keeps the unit for as long as needed, up to 120 days, then returns the Cypres to SSK. However many days that were not used are credited back onto the credit card number. The customer pays for shipping both ways and the time- frame starts from the day after we ship the unit until the day before we receive it back. It was a very prompt response and I plan to call today to get my order placed. It's a good option for those who may be traveling to a DZ who requires an AAD but doesn't have the money to front and purchase one quite yet. I also emailed Vigil and recieved no response. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

Correct, that did cross my mind. Like I said I don't really have a ton of options. The rigger that packed my reserve when I gt my rig would likely give me a good deal and wouldn't charge for a repack. Just install/deinstall. I'm still ahead at that point. I've contacted vigil and cypres to see if they have any rental programs. I'll let you know what I find out. As far as my shoulder goes, it's not in terrible shape, I just have limited mobility when reaching behind my back or out to the side with my arm straight (like flys while weight lifting). However, Its been like this for 7 years now and no major issues. I still lift weights daily, rock climb, mountain and dirt bike, and anything else you could imagine. I've never had it come in/out of place. It's just stuck where it is. Surgery would be 10-14 month recovery. So I'd rather not mess with it until something goes wrong. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."

Thanks for the reply and links. You're very right, I don't expect someone to just hand theirs over. I'd be able to get my jumps in over the course of a weekend, possibly two if I had one in my possession. I will see if anyone offers, but I'm sor sure going to look into rending one from SSK or Vigil and see if they will allow it. As far as the DZ, I think it's more that they want to make sure I'm comfortable with a throw out since I won't be using a rip cord forever. Turn to the storm and say, "Give your worst, and I shall give my best."