MrShave

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Posts posted by MrShave


  1. The stupidest thing I've done is this:

    Around jump 30 was in a 3 way RW jump on a long spot. We were all jumping rental gear, and I was flying an F-111 canopy (Falcon if I remember correctly) while the other two were flying ZP... At break off, I of course tracked away from the DZ and spent the canopy flight following my two friends saying to myself "if they can make it, I can make it! And I'm sure they are gonna make it!"... Boy was I wrong. I passed 3 good outs before I had to land in between two hangers... But for some reason, I flared with the rear risers like you would with toggles and collapsed the canopy at about 15 feet. left a nice divot in the gravel/moss and broke my ankle.

    But I've also, more recently, flew my base leg cutting off everyone on final... Luckily it was a slow day and only one person was there... Yep, I got a talking to that day...

  2. Calvinchu49



    It would be nice if there was some kind of "mentor" in place to help noobs. I've heard of people having wonderful smooth experiences which resulted them to remain super active in the sport. I've also heard of people who drop out completely and don't get further than their AFF or A License because they have no idea what to do and help isn't easily accessible.



    This is one of the reasons (in hind sight) that I was so glad to have learned at a small DZ. They have a small number of students going through the progression, so that even if you return once after your FJC, most of the staff would at least recognize you. It made it really easy to figure out who I could talk to while going through my student progression, and once I got my A, most of those that taught me, continued making fun jumps with me... So for anyone looking to get licensed, i would always suggest a smaller DZ over a larger one for this very reason! Of course there are negatives to this also, small, slow planes, not having large numbers of skilled up jumpers to get better, etc... But the community and family-feel I get at my home DZ make up for that.

  3. Ahhh!!! That's my Navajo and home DZ!!! :)

    I'll be sad to see it go with such a kick ass registration (November 420 Whiskey Whiskey!!!!)

    I can' tell you about costs or anything, but jumping out of it is interesting. The jump run is very fast (which is fun in its own right). The door can only have 2 people outside with one person in (so max 3 way linked). We've launched 4 ways out of it with the 4th person diving. Anything beyond that makes it hard to get everyone together. Our tandem instructors and camera flyers didn't seem to have any problems with it.

    We typically only flew it to 10,500 (but we have taken it to 12,500 on occasion). I'm not sure if that was due to operation costs or time to altitude (its a little quicker than a 182, but not much).

  4. I would believe it. Burning Man is a harsh environment for everything. The dust there is an alkaline talcum like powder, and its pretty brutal. People use vinegar to neutralize the alkaline (base vs acid chemistry) when washing hands, pots, pans etc... But I'm not sure what that would do to a rig. This year BM was incredibly dusty (dust storms pretty much every day from noon to 6pm). The packing area at Burning Sky (the camp that hosts the airplane) is pretty much out in the open (under shade cloth though, so at least there is some UV protection), so dust would have gotten all up in everything. Literally everything... Deep in the seems on the rig, ripcord channels, leg strap/back pads... heck, I wouldnt be surprised if you found it in the reserve freebag on a rig that never had a cutaway there...

    With how much trouble I have cleaning my clothes after burning man, I would never bring a rig I didn't care about there (hell, I wouldn't bring anything there that would break my heart if it got destroyed). Cleaning the rig itself should be pretty straight forward (soak it, rinse it, soak it again), but I have no idea what you would do about the parachutes (or AAD if they had one installed)...

    Hope that helps... And as a disclaimer, I've been to burning man 3 times, but I've never skydived there (the winds scare the crap outta me...) I'm also not a rigger, so take that for what its worth.

  5. Thanks for all the help on this. I got to the DZ this past weekend leaning towards the Vortex, but walked away having ordered the Infinity.

    The things that sold me on the infinity were the reserve pin cover and the placement of the AAD window. The AAD window placement on the Vortex really bothered me.

    I ultimately decided that the magnetic riser covers on the Vortex and cheaper price were not worth my desire for the AAD window location. I also had to weigh the opinions from others about the secondary riser covers on the Infinity. In the end, I decided to support my local company (I'm in the PNW) and went with the Infinity...

    I'm sure I'll love it, and cant wait to actually get it in my hands! :)

    Cheers

  6. Thanks for all the info everyone. I knew asking a question like this would get a lot of opinions. I know every container is safe, and how it really comes down to personal preferences. My problem was that I haven't jumped enough to know what ALL of my preferences are to make a better informed decision, which is why i figured asking what was liked the least would help shed some light on...

    And true to form, I still have no idea between the infinity and Vortex...

  7. Hello all. Relatively new jumper here looking to buy a new custom container (my current container, an old javelin, is about 20 years old, slightly too big for me, and really uncomfortable). I'm a conservative jumper doing mostly belly work, but want something freefly friendly in case I end up going that route. I don't see myself downsizing too fast in the near future, so I am comfortable spending the money on a new rig...

    I've narrowed it down to the Vortex or the Infinity containers.
    But the question I have is, what do you hate most about each container?

    A couple of my current thoughts about some other rigs I've looked at:
    Javelin: Is wayy to expensive for what I want out of it (about 1k more compared to the vortex/infinity).

    Wings: I don't like the reserve pin closing flap. I like to ensure the reserve cable has slack in the housing, and I can only do that from the D-ring on those rigs.

    Vector: Waaaayyy too long of a wait time. But in a perfect world, I would buy one.

    Mirage: My rigger hates them. I dont want to piss him off by a container that he thinks is a PITA to pack/rig.

    I dont really know anyone with any of the other containers out there.

    Lots of people at my DZ love the Vortex. The only thing I don't care for them is that the AAD window is next to your back. I like knowing that when others give me a gear check, they can actually check the AAD. I do like the idea of magnetic riser covers, but I dont think Infinity has those.

    I haven't gotten my hands on an infinity close enough to comment, but I've tried one on a few months ago... From what I remember, it was super comfortable.

    So, any help would be great! I'm leaning towards the Vector due to the reviews on the DZ, and the short wait time of 6 weeks opposed to 8-10 for the infinity.

    Thanks