garygruber

Jumped a Pulse and a Safire. Did not care for either of them. A buddy of mine has a Spectre and he is older than me and loves it. That is next on my list...

just a PD 230, thanks

Folks, I am returning to the sport after a 12 year layoff. I have made 5 jumps on 5 different canopies and have not found one to my liking yet. I am currently jumping an old PD-210, but have put on some weight and at my age (67) I am trying to keep my wing loading to 0.8. Does anyone have a PD-230 in the closet somewhere they might want to sell? I know this is a long shot, and with a couple of more demo jumps I will probably find the canopy that is right for me, but I thought I would ask anyway. TIA.

Offensive language has no place in an article geared to helping people. Grow up.

1.5 years after an injury is too soon to develop arthritis. The only definitive way to determine cause of pain is through MRI and/or X-ray. Anything else is just guessing.

I had the same surgery. Took two years before my surgeon would clear me for jumping again. I did return to skydive and have had no neck problems since then. I do have an L5 issue that will need surgery sometime, but that it only aggravated by hard landings. Be patient. heal. I had my neck surgery when I was 42. I have had so many surgeries from motorcycle accidents, martial arts, etc. that I get frequent flyer miles from my hospital.

Action and thought are mutually exclusive and cannot be performed at the same time. The whole point of rehearsing emergency procedures is so you don't have to think when it comes time to deploy your reserve. You intuitively recognize the type of malfunction you are experiencing and respond appropriately. Thinking costs time, time you may not have.

If your handles are attached by velcro, you will probably need to PEEL them before you pull them. Never used velcro can be very sticky. Ask me how I know.

80 jumps is not the time to think about downsizing. Get some more air time under your belt first.

I had my knee replaced 8 years ago. I am back in the air after a 12 year layoff. My first two jumps were fine up until landing, and then a piled in like a sack of potatoes. Bad flare timing. I demo-ed a different main (209 Safire 2 -- wing loading 0.9) two days ago and while I did not stand up my landing, it was a much softer thud than the previous two. Just a little rusty and need a few more jumps to nail my flare point. If an MRI shows nothing, ask your doctor to send you for PT. You may have a muscular imbalance between the good and bad leg. The muscles that wrap around the knee are quite small, and need to be strengthened if you are not a regular work out kind of person. I must work out 3 times a week to keep my legs strong.