kram88

Well I usually rely a lot on my coaches / instructors to spot for me and tell me which way to track. Tell me when to put on my goggles ect. Check my pins. Gear check me on the plane. I go over EP's the way up to altitude and practice cut away / reserve. Everything else. I guess the goggle part Im so used to someone telling me when to put it on it just slipped my mind. I know I shouldnt rely on people and Im trying to break that habbit. As for the low turn it wasnt like drastically low. I was turning onto final to face into the wind and did a 90 and did a cross wind landing but my pattern was off.. I was maybe 100-150 ft up. I didnt think it was super low and I didnt pull the toggle way down. but a lil more than a flat turn which I was trying to get at. They noticed it was low and mentioned it to me. As far as the hop n pop ive never been that stable on the hill and need to work on my exits. I know where I went wrong.. Just venting because these past few slip ups have kinda been eating at me and making me very discouraged and upset. Being careless/reckless/stupid...

Hey guys, I just now recently got onto my solos.. Past few jumps have been a little rough. Like I hit a slump or a little rough patch. Just not all the way there in my game.. First mock hop and pop went okay. Kinda did a low turn and hit a wind blade which isnt normal since Ive been standing up most my landings.. After that on my first hop and pop it was all sorts of fucked up and could of seriously hurt/killed myself. That's been bugging me since then. And today when I came back I jumped and was so set on my gear and thinking through the jump I forgot to put on my goggles prior to exit and couldnt believe I did such a dumb thing... I did a solo after that by myself and it went well and was happy about it. But like fuck a low turn a sketchy ass hop & pop and then didnt put on my goggles. wtf is wrong with me :\ Im asking for trouble.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXlgu-1gHrA

Yes was crazy how fast 10 minutes went by... but then again skydives go by relatively fast too... damn sport is robbing me of all my moneys >:[ I do my level 4 tomorrow or the next day so we will see how that one goes...

Hey guys, I did a lil tunnel time yesterday. I was getting pretty frustrated though and I wasn't picking up on it like I thought I would. My butt is sticking out and I'm not properly arching and also felt like I spent most of the time getting grabbed or on the net.. didn't feel like I accomplished much. Also I guess I'm not doing my turns properly either? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFiwqTuuDsg

I think ill just see how my lvl 2 goes sat. thanks though! I do want to hit up the wind tunnel here soon

Okay. I'll post the videos to my 2 AFF lvl 1 jumps later so you guys can critique them as well, still waiting for them to be sent over. Thanks for all the help!

I heard that you can learn bad technique at the tunnels though? So I was skeptical about going unless I absolutely have to.. What do yall think?

Yeah I was either going to check out the tunnel or try my AFF lvl 2 next week and see if anything resolves from there. I guess I just want to fix this quick as to being stable is a pretty important factor in your skydive..

Hey guys, I just did my AFF Lvl 1. I failed the first time and did it again that day and passed the 2nd. But looking back on the video my arching is very sloppy. If you will call it arching. My first jump I had my hands below my chest like I was fighting the wind, my legs were also very spread out. I can arch fine on the ground but when it comes to the jump it looks like shit and if it wasn't for the instructors holding on to me I would be all over the place.. I think part of it is because I cant relax and am very tense. Still quite a bit of anxiety. If you guys have any suggestions on how to remain arched in free fall or how to improve my stability please let me know. Thanks!

Got ya. Maybe im trying to move too fast then... Just wanted to be prepared. Thanks for the reply!

Im sorry I just took offense to her snarky reply, she could have came across a little more friendlier than that..

lol dude she didnt take much offense to it. No need for you to. She came off as rude. I get what she was saying but she could have said it in a nicer manner. I came here to learn more about the sport and lingo/terminology. Ill just stick to reading then if you guys have a problem with me trying to learn and ask questions. I get i will learn all this stuff when i start taking my classes but i dont know when that will be and i want to be prepared for when the time comes and also so i dont get myself killed out there. Whatever.

Just wanted to be prepared and have some knowledge before i start the school so i know what im getting myself into... I know im not going to learn to skydive on the internet. I need hands on exp but i can at least learn different things from this site. Thanks for being an ass...

But they do teach AFF.. and they have student rigs b/c they teach students.. they just arent looking for any helpers atm b/c they have too many. Also what is the 'hill' you speak of?

Hahaha that was pretty entertaining. Is it tough to get stable or what?

So you exit jumping towards the nose (front) of the plane? If you do it jumping towards the back your saying you will get tail swiped?

Hey can someone explain to me the exit. Like i dont understand it. My teacher today was saying theres like a slide thing the wind does so once you go out it kinda does a certain thing for you? or some shit? Also. The plane has to be positioned properly to jump out? What way does it have to be positioned? When do you know your good? How come i saw a vid about this guy exiting and straight flew right into the wing or tail once he exited? How did that happen? The wind just grabbed him and he ate it...

Cool. Well I just did my 2nd one. Wasnt like OMG exp like my first one (which is to be expected) always trying to chase that first high.. lol. But I noticed myself paying more attention and really focused. He let me pull which was cool. And we did 90 degree turns which was weird seeing as its sort of inverted. Tandems are cool and all but im ready to start my school and jumping solo :\ The manager there said they werent looking for anyone to do anything.. but im gunna keep trying back and bugging them until they crack :p

Whats the problem with clouds? Why are they a bad thing? Also how do you avoid a hard opening? I mean its the way you pack.. and those little rubber-band type things are to help with a smoother opening? How does one get a hard opening?

They are USPA certified but they dont do SL or IAD.. Also that's a good idea seeing if I can work something out with the owner. May just try and figure something out with that..

Hm... Yeah its drouge. My fault. She said that helps get you stable? Also does anyone know how good San Marcos' DZ is? Is it reputable or what? Also what are good wind conditions to jump on?

What does the drone do exactly for the tandem jumps? (dont know if thats the right word) Its the thing they release before the chute. So does it already pretty much make you stable in the air before you deploy? How much different is it jumping without one of those? Is it only for tandem jumps??

I love that quote. Its kind of what made me make up my mind to keep jumping. I read it as this. Out of all the jumps and you die on this one. (will you be content with yourself) with your life. Will you be happy going out that way. Will you truly be content with how you lived your life and it all be okay. It doesnt even have to relate to skydiving. So yes. From what i used to do back in the day. A lot of hardcore drugs and shit. That would be a bummer to one day just flop and OD. But going out this way i would be a lot more content and accepting cause i turned things around and also i would rather die that way than from an OD...

Yeah.... I figured I was talking to someone who wasn't the smartest in the subject or she just didn't want to bother with me. Always referring me to start AFF program... I know at my last jump I did about 6 months ago we were able to pull and they let us control the canopy. Just wanted to be able to learn how to get more stable in the air. Maybe move different directions. Learn how to control my body. Fly my body. Etc. It seems like the jumpers at the DZ dont really wanna bother with someone who is so new. Especially like the teachers/instructors. I get this impression that they are cocky.. and aren't really that helpful. Idk. Maybe not. Just get that vibe. And i feel like a newb trying to explain myself but not really fully understanding what im asking or talking about. :p

I called up my local DZ and they said they dont do static lines... I tried searching the web and wasn't having any luck. If anyone knows a place that does that around San Marcos, TX (Austin / San Antonio area) let me know. Also I mentioned the bit about maybe an instructor teaching me different things to do in the air while tandem... She was like well not much to teach you since your only in the air for a few minutes.... She wasn't being helpful at all :\ Guess im just gunna have to wait to get licensed and enjoy being harnessed to a guy until then.. Gayyyy. -On another note is there anything for me to look into for the time being? I go to the DZ from time to time and just watch people jump and watch them pack and ask questions... It doesn't seem like I will be getting licensed anytime soon. Maybe in the next couple years, but I would like to learn more about the sport for the time being. Learn different terms/lingo. Understand more safety procedures. Be informed. Etc.