Maddingo

It is really an interesting topic. Lightweight jumpers have this weird problem. Stay safe and fly backwards untill you have enough jumps, or risk a wingload of 1 or 1.1 on a small canopy and try not to fuck up on finals. I've seen some unstable shit in the air when lightweight jumpers hanged under a big canopy in turbulent wind. The canopy pressure is so low it is almost unstable.

Nobody noticed his dbag turned almost 90 degrees on it's own before the canopy came out? I think it's just bad luck or you dipped one side of your body, causing the dbag to rotate. Also nice save, but I'd try to kick out the line twist for a bit longer. It seems it was not a deep one.

As I told someone, enjoy this fear and excitement you get now. It is awesome that you are drained after 2-3 jumps. It takes 5, 6, 7... when you get used to it. I miss the fear and excitement after landing from my initial jumps. When I started I always looked at the skydivers sleeping the first 10 minutes on the ride up and thinking "What the hell?". Now I do it sometimes. It's a process that you must appreciate because it will dissapear trough the years and then you will have to constantly remind yourself that you are still falling to the ground at 200km/h+ and you should have the respect you once felt if you plan a safe and long skydiving career.

If I'm not mistaken a friend is jumping op143 with 139 Safire 3. It looks pregnant and ready to burst. Really tough to close, I'd say it is at it's limit of what is safe and sensible.

I tried both, the cookie is a cookie, pretty similar feeling. But the custom padding done inside the Tonfly is above everything on the market. The comfort and fit is insane, noise cancelation the same.

My 2 cents. Container that I bought holds 150 tight down to 120. I jump a 150 now and will for some time. It is harder to pack for the first few times (my 150 is crispy new), but I cannot say it is bordering to immposible, far from it. With the right technique you can pack it almost identical to the "standard" fit. I'd give any tight fit a green light if you are buying a container for the long haul. For the reserve.... it's your decision.

Thanks for the replies. We practice turns like in Brian Germains videos here, I stated wrong it is a 180 turn, sorry. 1:59 mark

Hey, I don't want to open another thread since there is a discussion going on here. Me and my partner are starting to train proxy flying. No docks, no bumps. Only controlled proximity flying for now. We both fly a microlined canopy squared, so no funny business with agressive profiles. Our goal is to learn every aspect of canopy flight and to do it safely. We have pilots at our dz that can give basic tips but none of them are CREW and for that matter there ain't nobody near to get 1 on 1 coaching. So if it is ok I would like to give a short description of our setup and our flight plan and would like to hear some advice, what is good, what is bad. We both fly a 9-cell squared canopy. I use a 150, while my partner uses a 139 since she is lighter. We have a 0.2 WL difference so I tend to punch trough the air faster and I also bleed a bit more altitude. 1st question would be if a weighted vest would benefit us during the flight so I wouldn't need to hang on my brakes/rears as much during the flight. For now I am the chaser she deploys after aprox. 3 seconds I deploy immedietly after exiting the aircraft. She sets up the heading and I start my controlled approach from the right side. We practice formation flight drill no lower than 2200ft, RSL detached. We break while keeping visual contact. I dive down to my final approach altitude and setup for landing. 2nd question would consider our break altitude. Is 2200ft considered safe or are we flying proximity too low? Our drill: At this moment we fly atleast 5m/15ft apart and are making sure we dont come into each others burble. We then make a 360 controlled turn without breaking visual contact after the base pilot gives a signal with legs. I switch into the inner circle and come out on the left side of the formation. After which we continue our controlled straight flight. 3rd question is the described turn appropriate? Is there something we are missing or should consider while doing the switch?

That sounds like a big no no. You shouldn't be able to pick up a rig with your bridle hooked with a pin as far as I know.

I did my AFF with full face from the beginning, a lot of us did. No issues. Modern helmets are no problem for jumping. If a student demonstrates he can operate the helmet locking mechanism easily it's fine. I never experienced any serious fogging, only on particular late autumn days, when it was cold. But noone learns to jump in humid, foggy, cold conditions and even then it only happened after the canopy deployed because the hot air from my breath started condensing a bit on the cold lens. The pros for beginners in a FF is certainly noise cancelation and reduction of sensory overload. I jumped without a fullface on just to see how it feels. Personally if you'd add the loud noise, cold, and that hard air blowing into every hole on your face I'd be much more stressed as a novice jumper. It also protects your face. It's more about the cost, it's normal AFF schools won't pay big bucks for FF helmets just so that the students will rek them.

Keep working on that tracking. It's a very crucial skill to have for future endeavours and safe skydiving with your friends. What you have showed till now won't do for serious formation and group skydiving. But it's normal just keep practicing on solos, perfect your track form.

The Mars is the best option out there if you ain't sponsored.

I'm 6ft 3" and jumped something made for a 5ft 4"... you can do it but it was stupidly uncomfortable. The chest strap could barely go around the loop, the leg straps couldn't be tightened more than an inch from their fully open position and the ride under canopy almost made me pass out in a spiral because of the legstrap pressure in my groin area... so yeah. A few inches is ok but that's it.

That's actually a lot of bs and no useful answer in this topic. You can get excellent AFF training for 1200 - 1500 €. Theory, 7 jumps and gear included. Certified instructors with debrief videos and radio connection for your initial landings.

I wanted to clear that he is just a heavy jumper not an inexperienced novice making a mistake purchasing an elliptic canopy.