heavision

So I've got an open faced helmet and I'm having a heck of a time trying to find decent, clear goggles. I've gone through quite a few $10 ones and one $40 pair and they've all crapped out or just don't fit/seal my face. Anyone have suggestions? Let `em rip!!!

What type(s) of footware do you jump in, and why? Different stuff for different seasons, weather, locations, types of jump/landing? Please elaborate! Thanks y'all! Now, let 'em rip.

Any suggestions for hi-top jump shoes? Nike 6" SFB looks like a posibility. I'm thinking something between Chucks and light hiking boots. Not too chunky, some ankle support, comfy, solid, yada yada yada. Bring it!

I deployed NW (I think) of the field/landing area. Looked down and was above a highway--plenty of time/altitude though. I lined up to head back and land. I looked down and the highway was still beneath me, in the same spot. Tried .5, .25 brakes, rears etc. Highway was actually in front of me a bit now. I was being pushed away from the airport! Super high winds at my altitude--and all the way to the ground as it turned out. It was obvious I wasn't gonna make it back. So I started looking for a safe alternate landing spot. I elected to aim for a big spot as I am a new jumper and I was at the mercy of some serious winds. So there's the highway beneath me, a field next to it, then a river. So I aimed for the center of the field, trying to avoid the highway and river. I haven't done water training yet. I could see huge ripples sweeping across the grassy field; like a giant, invisible broom was sweeping across it--hard and fast. I was being tossed around a good bit. I focused on a good, open, obstacle-free spot in the center and began maneuvering for landing. I got closer and realized it was actually a corn field. But I was already committed (and low) so I landed there. No choice. Also; like I said, I'm a new, sub 100 jumper, AND this was my 2nd or 3rd jump on my new rig (Pilot 188.) And it was my first ever jump at that DZ. In retrospect, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to skip the jump altogether. The thought had crossed my mind: novice jumper, new rig, new DZ, high wind. Sounds pretty bad now as I'm typing this!! I would categorize myself as a safe, prudent skydiver; not one to make poor decisions. Now I'm re-assessing my judgement. I landed safely though, and I learned from the experience. And, given the scenario, I'm pleased with my decisions and actions. I would only second guess the decision to jump in the first place. Man, I guess I could've answered simply; "I didn't realize it was a cornfield until I was already committed." Sorry for the long-winded response--I had some coffee today!

I'm a new jumper. I landed in a corn field the other day. Tall, dry stalks. It took me well over an hour to untangle and gather my canopy and walk out. All the while I'm wondering what this is doing to my gear, especially my canopy. Upon return to DZ I asked if I needed to have my rig inspected or cleaned or anything. No one seemed particularly concerned, but there was no rigger around. A nice guy packed my rig for me and we laughed at my being covered in dirt, sweat, corn debris and god knows what all. Since this happened, I keep imagining corn syrup/goop, sharp dry leaves, dirt, pesticides, bugs (that may chew on nylon!), etc etc packed into my main and doing damage. When I go jump again I will ask rigger at DZ about all this--but I'm worried about what's potentially happening between now and then. So, my question: is there any standard operating procedure for post corn field landing (or any other super dirty landing)? Is it prudent/vital to get rig inspected and washed? Or is this a; "modern parachutes are so well-made these days, they can take it, don't worry" type situation? Do I need to unpack main immediately? (Dude shook it out before packing, but still; my imagination runs wild.) Thanks for any help, suggestions, wisdom.

Most of what I've read about canopy progression talks about which canopy is appropriate for your experience level, what WL is safe etc. and when and how you should progress to a smaller one and in what increments etc. I'm wondering: do people ever just switch to a higher performance canopy, but stay at the same WL, as means of progression? Because wouldn't it A) allow you to keep your current rig and not have to buy a new one to fit smaller canopy? B) let you demo different canopies with your own rig that you're comfortable with? C) I just realized A and B are kinda the same so.... I have no clue, this may be a terrible idea; so I'm asking. Hit me up with your wisdom!!

Wow, it may be a good idea to have chuckakers' list hanging up at DZs. Awesome. To the OP: are you referring to other skydivers, non-skydivers or both? I mean the people who say those things. Because, yeah, skydivers can a have a kooky, even morbid, sense of humor. But any first year psychology major will tell you that this is perfectly normal for people engaging in an 'extreme sport.' Other people could be worried about you so they're trying to warn you--like if its friends or family. If its not then maybe that's just wuffos that are envious so they have to try and break your balls. They're jealous of your courage and overall awesomeness. I can pretty much guarantee that the vast majority of skydivers you'll come across will be kind, supportive, positive, fascinating--shit, crazy!--people. So, welcome! It's an awesome community to be a part of. You'll see... We're lucky. Oh and be safe, learn as much as you can and have fun!

As someone who is currently in the process of buying a first rig, I gotta say I'm surprised and fascinated. I used to be heavily into mountaineering. And--at least when I was into it--there was virtually no used gear market as far as critical, life-saving items; ropes, harnesses, hardware/protection, etc. I was kinda shocked when I learned there was a huge market for used SDing gear. The obvious difference: riggers. God bless 'em! But yeah, when you're your buying a used life-saving device, everything is different. Totally different from buying a used anything else. As far as seller's claims about the gear; I think it's tricky. It's like buying a used car with no odometer. You really have no idea how many jumps or how well they maintained it. Stating the obvious: when buying used gear the rigger's inspection is THE critical step. No one's word or promise or vouch supersedes it--even if the rig looks "super clean, like new!". That's obvious, I know, just putting it out there for my noobie brothers and sisters!!

I was afraid because it was so early in my training. You go through EPs over and over; but I think, looking back, that I sorta had it in the back of my head that eventually I'll have to cutaway if I keep skydiving, but odds are it'll be a long time from now. I always knew it could happen on any jump and I thought I was ready for it even on those first AFF jumps. But I gotta admit; it startled me when it happened. I have 78 jumps now and I feel much more comfortable as far as EPs. That experience actually helped me, sorta woke me up. Now when I pull I always have my EPs right in the front of my mind. I get clear, wave off and then as I'm reaching for my pilot chute I'm in 'ready for EPs' mode. Plus, I now think of cutting away as just a hop 'n pop from under a crappy canopy.

Hey brothers and sisters, I seek your wisdom: Is it worth the extra $$$ to pay for insurance when shipping a rig via FedEx or UPS? I'm mean the insurance that the shipping companies offer. Or is it safe enough without? Faith, trust, tracking numbers etc. good enough? If you've shipped a rig before, did you buy insurance? Why? Why not? Bring it!

When I was still a STUDENT--5th or 6th AFF jump--I had what my instructor called a "riser walk through." When I opened and looked up, it looked like the h/c had done a cartwheel through/between the risers, a big X over my head instead of two Vs above my shoulders. I was spinning a bit and the risers were touching the top of my helmet. I remember laughing and and thinking; 'seriously? On my SIXTH jump?' Also I was scared--big time. But I was at like 5k. And I was really scared to cut away. I thought; 'what if whoever packed this main packed my reserve?' Fucker. Since I had some altitude I tried a controllability check. I found that if I held one toggle several inches--maybe 8--lower than the other, I could fly pretty straight and had decent control I got down; PLF, shaking, laughing, 'thank you god, thank you thank you thank you!!' THEN all the pro dudes at the DZ came running over, made sure I was ok--and announced that I was buying the beer??? I was like 'WTF guys??!!' Then we all got drunk together and had a blast. Q U E S T I O N To people who have had to cut away: is it really scary? I mean with lower speed mals, where you have time to think about it.

Noobie here. If we're talking about ways to expose new jumpers to all the different disciplines in skydiving, I have some thoughts. I know there's tons of great courses and coaches; but after AFF, renting gear, paying for jumps, then buying a rig, paying for jumps, helmet, altimeter, goggles etc, paying for jumps, take a road trip to cool DZ, pay for jumps, etc etc etc one's bank account has dwindled. So when experienced jumpers approach me--or vice versa--and offer advice or even to jump with me I feel very excited, lucky and happy. But, and I think I speak for a lot of us, we are scared of fucking up your skydive--this shit's expensive! Like, I'll be on the flight line or even in the plane and someone will say 'hey wanna jump together?' and I say 'Oh, I'm new, I don't know if I can keep up!' and they reassure me oh it'll be fine, which is super kind and magnanimous of them. Then we jump and I flail all over and look like a doofus. Then they avoid me on the ground. Actually thats not true, usually everyone's really cool, but I still feel like they wasted a jump--even though I probably learned something. I have an idea: color coded arm-bands. New jumpers could wear them and it would be a signal; "I'm new and I really wanna learn." It could also mean; "jump master, please tell me where to sit and when I should exit. And everyone, feel free to double check my rig." I would wear one proudly. And there could be a system: Red = just off student status. Orange = got some jumps, not B licensed yet. Yellow = I can do SOME shit but I'm still learning, feel free to offer advice. Blue = ....I don't know, but you get the idea. I'm just brainstorming. And it could improve safety: you see a Red arm band on your load, pay special attention to them; did they get a gear check? A double check? Did they set altimeter at ground level and double check? Got your goggles, helmet? Did they double check the wind, landing pattern? Do you know where to sit on the plane, Mr Red, and when you get out? All that kinda stuff. A number of those things have happened to me. Like I'm about to board the plane and a bunch of super pro dudes are there, plane pulls up and I have to raise my hand and say "excuse me, sorry, I'm new, gonna jump solo belly, could someone tell me what the exit order should be?" And there's that collective sigh, like, "aw man a frikkin noobie on our super awesome Red Bull skydive we had planned." 95% of the time people are really cool but when this does happen, it sucks. And it makes us new people wary about approaching the Cs and Ds for guidance. Holy shit, I just realized that I'm babbling, sorry.

Glidersports. Wow! just checked them out. They jump 365! Wicked. Thanks!

Yeah, thing is; I don't have a home DZ or a rigger I'm familiar with. I'm a new skydiver. I'm trying to find an alternative method. Cashier's checks are made out to a specific person, yes? They have show ID to deposit it? Is that safe, do people do that? To buy rigs I mean.

Hello brothers and sisters!! I'm trying to buy my first rig. I've found some I'm interested in. I don't have a home DZ to facilitate a transaction. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as buying a rig from someone in another state? Are there methods of payment where both the buyer and seller are protected? I was thinking: maybe there's a method where buyer and seller go to their banks simultaneously and sit down with bank officers and transfer funds? Both parties would have to have IDs and the bank would oversee the transaction. This would seem to insure that you're buying from the actual person the seller claims to be. Check this out: Recently I was looking at a rig, a great deal, I was psyched. Pursued it. Turned out the seller was impersonating someone. This 'someone' was a real person, a skydiver; the seller was an impostor using this guy's good name to give credence to the scam. I found the 'someone' elsewhere online, got a hold of him and said "hello Mr. (Xxxx), I'm interested in that rig you're selling", to which he replied; "Yeah that's my name, but I'm not selling a rig!" We both looked into it and, yeah, it was a total scam. Caught it in time, no damage. Close one. So now I'm looking at another rig and am 95% sure dude is who he says he is. But before I send payment, I wanna be 99.9% sure. There must be procedures to insure safe, secure payment for this scenario and others like it. People buy shit all the time outside of Amazon, Ebay, etc.--private, person to person sales--right? How do they do it? This post turned out to be about 5 times longer than I planned. I felt like I had to include that part about the scam though. Be careful y'all, research the person you're buying from and selling to. Its rough out there. I've felt safer under canopy in crappy weather!! OK, rant over. Suggestions? Let 'em rip!

It looks like Fly Free skydiving, in Festus, 35 miles south of St Louis, is permanently closed. Yes, no, maybe so? Anyone know?

Righteous. Thanks, Cat! I'll check it out

Peeps living in St Louis; where do you jump? Is there a rigger here, near? I searched and didn't come up with much. There was Fly Free, in Festus 35 mi south, but it looks like they've closed? There's Flying V but they don't allow A licenses, only B and above--WTF? (I'm A licensed, 78 jumps.) Where else?

Noobie here. I'm looking to buy my first rig and have been researching my ass off. Probably gonna buy a 2012 Vector III from a guy on this site. But I looked at quite a few Wings rigs too--almost bought one. How big-a-deal is this RPC thing? I saw the words 'design flaw' and 'should be grounded'. Is this just over my head rigger talk, or is it as scary as it sounds? Like, I gotta go change my underwear, man! Talking about RESERVE malfunctions! Yikes!

Amen, brother, amen.