GreenMachine

Good Morning Jason, You live in California where there are some great dropzones. Any instructor teaching at a USPA dropzone will know how important it is to teach you the proper way to handle potential emergencies. Regarding your question about canopy malfunctions and their rate of occurence. This varies based on many variables, some of which are controllable, but just as in the rest of your life nothing is guaranteed. With that said I am happy to say I have never had to cutaway or use my reserve. However, like the other guys said it could happen on any jump on any day so I practice how to respond to different situations so WHEN (not if) that day does comes I will be prepared. Keep in mind students are given larger, more docile parachutes, they pull at higher altitudes, they are required to have an RSL and an AAD. All of these things are in place to enhance safety. Lastly, Butters might be mistaken. You have already done 1 tandem so I would recommend the route of tandem progression. This is where you do 2 more tandems and perform some basic tasks. Then you take a 6 hour ground school class where you learn how a parachute operates and how to handle many different types of emergencies. at that point you would be ready to do your first AFF jump with 1 instructor. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Good Morning Gábor Szelei, I have to side with the other guys and say "No Way"!! My home dropzone jumps into a local highschool football stadium every year to kick off their fireworks show on 4th of July so I have some experience here. Honestly, I feel lucky to be included in these jumps. I normally fly a Sabre2-150 and just ordered a Sabre2-120. However, for these jumps I always fly a larger canopy, not because I need to but because coming in fast does nothing for the spectators or the sport. The goal is to make skydiving look relatively safe and fun, not swoop in fast and maybe wow the kids in the stadium who are too young to jump and can't afford it anyways. FYI --- This past year we did a practice jump in the afternoon so the 2 new guys could practice, which was good for them. During that practice run with no one there I swooped right through the goal post but for the show I brought it in nice and easy, landed on the 50 yard line, and got to hear a thousand excited people scream. That was thrill enough for me. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Hey 460, Man that sounds like your buddy got screwed by an idiot whuffo. I have jumped in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico but got their via a cruise so the locals never got a chance to touch my gear. However, I would not trust them with my dog more or less my rig. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Speaking of dumb novice statements, besides my own

I have worn a rig on my back through airports in Italy, Spain, Japan, and numerous American cities with zero problems. Sometimes you get into a funny conversation, other times they want to swab it for explosive residue but most times the TSA people just yawn. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Hey Chuck, One thing you mentioned earlier in this thread was about hand placement, specifically putting your hands on top of the toggle to give longer extension...you also mentioned something about it having to do with the student's actions. Since you have much more experience let me ask you how you handle this situation with your hands in that position: During the pre-briefing I teach the student that hands up means full flight and that we want full flight prior to landing. I always plan on a slide in landing so I have them practice holding their feet up. Once we open I do at least 3 practice landing flairs. Since most people never do situps they try to pull down with their hands to help pick up their feet. I tell them hands up, hands up, nonetheless, I have had times when coming in for landing when the student's abs start getting weak and they start pulling down on the toggles. Not hard like a flair but some. SO to handle this I usually just push up on the toggles until it is time to flair and then give the command to flair. I imagine people in NC and Zhills are just as out of shape as the rest of the country so you probably get some of this yourself. So the question is, how would you handle this scenario if your hands were on top of the toggles? Definitely not busting balls here --- I am still new to doing tandems and want to learn as many tricks as possible to bring my passengers and myself home safe. Thanks in advance to you and the other very experienced guys for the input. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

I agree with Samurai 136. As any who has studied the Manuals for a rigger's ticket will atest, there is way too much detail for a beginner. While working towards my A license my dad bought me the The Skydiver's Handbook and that was much more the level of information I needed then. Learning about the gear though is a great step towards becoming a safer jumper. Blue Skies Dustino. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Hey MB38 & Yuri, I just got time to watch those videos... All I could think was 'Holy Shit Man Pull'. Gald everyone landed okay. Peace. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Hey Chuck/SkymonkeyOne, I was there at Panama City Beach and saw the two freefall jumps made from the parasail that you are talking about. Wasn't there was a twist on the first jump? To give the crowd a scare the announcer acted as if the jumper had accidentally fell out of the harness at first... The jumper was a thin male, with blonde hair, about 30ish. I want to say the annoucer called him 'Johnny Lighting', but it might have been Johnny Utah. At the time I remember thinking it looked low as shit, even over water. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

I agree with Pops, the ONLY time I check my wrist above 10K is if I am coaching and need to tell a student when something happened. I too like have an analog on my wrist and an audible in my helmet. As anyone who has seen my kitchen cabinets or sock drawer can attest, I too am 'Anal Rententive', however it seems to me Scoop is worrying way too much about something that will be 2nd nature in another 50 jumps. My advice man, spend that energy on packing well and you will live a longer, happier life. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Amazing photos --- Thanks for sharing! ~Tom

Leaving it home makes good sense...that way it can't be lost and it won't fall into the wrong hands. As for Butter's comment about them being incriminating, sure it they find it on you after landing but I find it very difficult to believe that any judge would issue a warrant to search a jumper's home. There has got to be real criminals out there that deserve the time and attention. My last two cents on ALL log books, skip them. Each book costs money and takes a while to fill out. Being a geek I just store all my jump data in an Excel spreadsheet. It is very easy to search for specific information at a later date or gather aggregate data for a given variable. Plus no one brings a desk top computer to an exit Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Yeah, using gloves anytime you are working with ropes under load is a good idea. I have been successfully towed (and towed others) behind a golf cart using a large, docile, square canopy, and a long tow rope. A real good working knowledge of how to operate a parachute seems a must...unless it is a real forgiving situation, like using a boat Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

I only have 7 BASE jumps...but I can tell you that the used rig I bought (and sold right after my FJC) did not fit near as well as my past 3 skydiving rigs and I think that is part of the reason why the openings were so much more harsh. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

12 Kilometers does NOT equal 12 Miles

The affect of the tape is good but the glue from masking tape is a problem, hmm... Has anyone used 'blue' painters tape? I've used it painting outside in Florida (hot & humid) and never saw it leave any residue. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Hey Mike & TJ, Thanks for the replies. How reliable were these canopies for you guys? Any malfunctions? I read that Jay Stokes uses Falcons for his record attempts because of their reliability. No, I have no plans to jump a FALCON in the BASE environment. The idea is to use a size 300 to static-line from a tethered balloon. I emphasize, this is just an idea so no one should feel compelled to run to the FAA

Do any of you have experience jumping a FALCON? Below is the information I could find about this wing. Thanks for any input, ~Tom

Hey Guys, How are you able to specify with such exactness the wind speeds? Do you have wind meters at your dropzones? Just curious. I agree that the direction and consistency of wind plays a big role. Our landing area is very long North to South but not so much East to West, hence cross field winds produce more turbulence. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Not sure what my wind limit is yet, still pretty new myself...of course I think one's landing area would play a big role in making that decision. I did take a tall, 255 pound guy out of a cessna once, I landed from that jump and swore never again. The problem was space --- I am 6'2" and he was almost as tall so the two of us were crammed in there which made hooking up overly difficult. As for the number of tandems, guess it comes down to physical conditioning and mental alertness...I think doing 10 tandems in a day w/o packing would probably be plenty for me too at this stage

Congratulations Will --- that is a damn impressive feat to accomplish!! Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

I would love to give you shit for the scary simultaneous "chop & pull", but I haven't had a cutaway yet so I have no room to talk Dude, maybe you should pack your own chute for your next jump...Glad you are okay

In my opinion Yes, you should practice landing your canopy with rear risers. If you are flying student gear at a light wing loading it should not be too difficult or dangerous. Just ask a jumper with strong canopy skills to go over the logistics with you before trying it. Be sure to practice it up high several times before landing because the canopy will respond differently using risers than toggles. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Hey Magot, I think I found another Co-Ed for your club Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Blue Skies Guys, A while back I had a demo canopy that had no place to store the excess brake line so I experimented with different methods. One of them was seriously wrong because on deployment it locked both brakes.... Since it was a 120 loaded at 1.8 and I was below 3,ooo feet I knew I had to make a decision soon. I was able to steer and flair it using rears so that is how I landed it. In my opinion a moderately safe flying canopy is better than cutting away and rolling the dice again. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM