wicodefly

We jump until 15 degrees F and I've jumped even colder than that. It's managable but really, really cold. A couple of times my hands have felt frozen until I dialed in my clothing and gloves. It's a really bad pain and makes it much harder to effectively use your toggles, especially since your hands are up getting even less blood flow. Now that we have three tunnels nearby (US Midwest) it's a lot less tempting to jump in the cold but still fun. My advice is talk to experienced instructors about gear. You don't want bulky gloves or anything that interferes with your handles, etc. I usually wear two pairs of ski socks, two or three layers of Under Armour cold gear, Sirius Extreme gloves, a full face, and a Nike neck warmer thing. I see some people wear ski liners under their gloves which is probably a good idea. The advice about going to Eloy in the Winter sounds good. I've done it and enjoyed it. Eloy has a lot of visitors so be careful out there too. Chance favors the prepared mind.

My bad, yes, it looks like jumpshack.com's web server is down. I'm guessing it just needs to be restarted. The other "parts" (DNS records, hosting, etc.) that make a website work appear to be in place. I PM'd their owner (JohnSherman), hopefully he can get in touch with the right folks. Edit to add: If you're looking for something specific try pasting the link into Google and see if there is a "cached" link that comes up in the search result. Sometimes you can get to things that way or perhaps there is another website with that document. Blue skies. Chance favors the prepared mind.

Works for me. Try it from your phone or a different computer or something. Chance favors the prepared mind.

Another vote for Vertical. Vlday has great customer service and the suit they built for me is great! I'm getting a shortie soon. Check out their stock suits too if you're in a hurry. I had mine custom built and rushed. It took less than three weeks. Regarding ordering from Canada. It was no different than anything else. I filled out the form, put in my credit card, and that was it. The exchange rate favors the US Dollar at the moment so I even got an extra "discount." Chance favors the prepared mind.

I know it's. It exactly what you're looking for but these folks have a couple of Wibdows apps that I've had fun with. http://staticlineinteractive.com/CanopyGlide.php Chance favors the prepared mind.

Congrats Cat!

Heck yea! Congrats guys! Chance favors the prepared mind.

I know this may sound a little crass, but bear with me. In addition to the good advice give here... Get a good deal of life insurance (ensure that skydiving is not excluded but you have to 100% honest if they ask if you plan to), preferably before you start jumping again. You can even get a couple of policies. At least that gives her the comfort of knowing that if the unthinkable happens she, and any future children, will be taken care of. I have enough that my kids will be able to go to college and my wife will be taken care of. Fortunately I took it out long before I started jumping, but I was still a smoker way back then. My wife is not crazy that I'm a jumper but we've worked it out. It's more of a scheduling thing for us, but we just pick the days that work for us a week or so in advance and we tend to be good. Blue skies man. Chance favors the prepared mind.

Brian Germain told me that a Triathlon is the second hardest canopy to land. It's also the one so had trouble with at first. Good canopy but an older design and tough to time and get sufficient flare for some, especially starting out. Seriously, switching to a Pulse improved my landings and learning right away. Chance favors the prepared mind.

What type of canopy and loading? I ask because I had similar sounding issues. My canopy choice at 1.3 was too much for me at like 100 jumps especially since it's known for a weaker flare. I was basically piling in all the time. I upsized to a Pulse at like 1.0 and jumped that for a couple hundred jumps. Landings improved immediately. Now I jump a Sabre 2 170 and landings so far have been great. I've also taken some great canopy courses. Axis's class at Eloy and Brian Germain came to our DZ for a weekend class were both great. Another thing that helped me was Brian Germain's video "Solving Common Landing Problems" and his safety one. The book is great but it's really deep and didn't help me at first. The landing video helped a lot. Lastly, I wish I would have worn some knee pads (like the G-form pads) at first. Would have saved my knees a lot of grief from a couple bad ones. Once you learn it right it becomes a lot easier! Chance favors the prepared mind.

OP here. My new to me Sabre 2 is in the mail. Thanks for the opinions and explanations everyone. Given everything I've leaned and my goals a Sabre 2 seems to be the next step for me. Interestingly, I'll probably jump a Safire a couple times this week. Next time I can get my hands on a Pilot I'd like to try one too. Just to keep things interesting and try to learn more. Thanks! Chance favors the prepared mind.

Come on down to Skydive Milwaukee or Skydive Midwest. Big planes, good people. Lots of people come down from up North from time-to-time. Blue skies! Chance favors the prepared mind.

All I can say is that it adds up quick. It's a sport, entertainment, finding peace, and a social activity. My rationalization--however misguided it may be-- is that at the end of the financial day it's not too bad compared to doing all those things separately. Also my alternatives would be flying a plane or perhaps sailing which also add up. I printed out my account a while back at the DZ and it was more money than I thought but a steal for all the fun I've had and friends I've made. Tunnel and jump trips add up quick too. Chance favors the prepared mind.

Thanks all for the good info! Chance favors the prepared mind.

Hi guys, I'm looking to buy a new canopy that is fun to fly with a strong flare. I'd like to stay at 1.3 or below and I weight 180 lbs. I've had a Triathlon 175 and later upsized to a Pulse 190 for like 275 jumps which was nice but felt like a bus compared to the borrowed Sabre 2 170 I've put like 40 jumps on. I also have one jump on a Sabre 2 150 which was fun and easy to land. Anyway, Sabre 2's seem to be popular in the MidWest but I'm not crazy about the openings. Also, I'd sort of like to keep it inexpensive since I'll probably get something new next season. My goals are to become a really good canopy pilot. I don't have any plans to swoop or wing suit but that could change in 400 or 500 jumps. Any good alternatives or opinions are appreciated. Thanks! Chance favors the prepared mind.