bibliwho

Members
  • Content

    33
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    N/A

Community Reputation

1 Neutral

Jump Profile

  • Home DZ
    Skydive New England
  • License
    A
  • License Number
    314045
  • Licensing Organization
    USPA
  • Number of Jumps
    50
  • Years in Sport
    1

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. It's on Amazon Prime here in the US. Didn't see it on the UK site, unfortunately. Use a VPN & sign up for a trial?
  2. One way to think about it is you have all of 2 minutes in the sport (i.e., freefall). Think about how many hours of practice other activities require to achieve basic proficiency, let alone excellence. Spending more time in the tunnel sounds like a good idea to me. As others have said, don't be too hard on yourself. It's easy to do because everything is so time-compressed & every jump feels precious. Enjoy the ride as much as you can & just keep jumping! It's hard not to get better as long as you keep at it & learn something from every jump.
  3. So, I've been in the market for a similar sized rig as well & did some research. Here's what I came up with based on info from the manufacturers' websites (all about 170 to 210). Getting a rigger's professional opinion would be a great idea to confirm, however. Icon I5 Mirage (G4) M5 Vector V353 Infinity I-45, I-55, I-65, I-65 N, I 74-N (Pilots only apparently for the 170's -- not sure what's specifically different about that canopy's pack volume ...) Evo Large Happy hunting.
  4. Any recommendations besides sweatshirts for jumping in the hotter months? Just imagining hanging around in the loading area & the ride up to altitude while wearing a sweatshirt under an already toasty RW suit. Good motivation to work on fall rate & range regardless!
  5. Still amazed at the duration of the spin, whether intentional or not. My question is about exiting during a spin like that. The tandem & cameraman exited right away, as I would have done (ideally), but the two others apparently rode it down for quite a while. Would like to know whether the best course is to exit right away, or stay put until X' to determine whether the pilot can correct the spin, or some other option. Is there a risk of hitting the aircraft if it's in a spin? If so, how big a risk?
  6. The vast majority of survivable skydiving accidents do not involve head trauma. Feet, ankles, wrists, shoulders, spines, butts -- this is where all the damage happens. I suspect this is one reason why there's not much available in the marketplace. I haven't seen any studies, but I believe the number of cases where greater head protection would have made a significant difference is vanishingly small. The other reason has already been mentioned. Greater protection generally correlates w/ greater weight. The effect of opening shock on the neck has been very well studied. Even a few extra ounces has a large effect & over the course of 100's or 1000's of jumps is far more likely to cause neck pain & other medical issues. I would not wear a helmet not specifically designed for skydivers.
  7. A number of dropzones have off-seasons during which they're closed or have reduced hours. As someone whose home DZ shuts down for the winter, I'm willing to travel to keep jumping. So it would be very helpful if the basic information about each DZ included information about their off-season hours (w/ the caveat to contact directly to confirm). EG Open mid-April to end of October; Weekends only from October to March; etc. Cheers!
  8. I also have a couple of fused levels w/ the hardware still in place. Not an expert researcher in medicine, but I do have a background in research so felt confident enough to see what I could find. There's a fair bit of research on parachute opening shock, but not much specifically tied to cervical injuries. I found just one article in the medical literature: http://ijomeh.eu/Skydiving-and-the-risk-of-cervical-disc-herniation,68219,0,2.html Standard opening forces appear to be in the range of 3-5 G's. My doc cleared me to play rugby, where forces range from 10-20 G's, w/ 40+ G impacts not uncommon. Based on this, I'm planning to continue. Still have very low jump numbers, however, so opening characteristics will be a big factor when it's time to buy my first gear. Will also be spending a lot of time picking the brains of packers for tips. You might also want to touch base w/ long-time camera guys like Norman Kent, who are used to jumping w/ some seriously large pieces of equipment attached to their helmets & who have even more motivation than regular jumpers to minimizing the stresses on their necks & spines. HTH.
  9. Btw, if anyone has a subscription to Newspapers.com, their archives include what seems to be a longish article on the 100-way from the 8/14/86 issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  10. FAI official record history has the date as July 5, 1986: https://www.fai.org/record/team-1788 Not much additional information, unfortunately. Same date & a few additional details on the rec.skydiving forum: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.skydiving/fJEyVleafug
  11. Can you clarify what you mean by shitty risers, Deimian? This is the first time I've come across good vs. bad risers (as opposed to simply old or worn-out).
  12. Website with no info for Skyhelmets: http://www.skyhelmets.de Facebook page w/ not much more: https://www.facebook.com/Skyhelmets-210211255784088/ Email: [email protected]
  13. Since you haven't started yet, you don't really know yet how your nerves will be once you're getting geared up, boarding, climbing to altitude, at the door, etc. So, don't psych yourself out ahead of time. You may experience all, or even just some of these as a huge rush but not necessarily as a huge source of fear, anxiety, etc. Wait & see :-) And even if it is the latter, remember that the intensity of those feelings generally decreases as your jump numbers increase. There may even come a time when you miss that intensity. It's one of the main reasons a lot of us came to the sport in the first place! So, let the process unfold & don't over-think it. I'm a 50 jump wonder, so clearly, I know whereof I speak ;-)
  14. And it's not as if Icarus has positive associations for anyone w/ half a brain. The name is pretty much synonymous w/ hubris and an untimely death. Lots of both in the skydiving world, but not exactly something to celebrate.
  15. As a new jumper who'll be in the market soon for a main & reserve, all this is making me want to run far away from anything w/ the name Icarus. Probably not too smart given that I'm sure I'd be ruling out some great canopies. But seriously, what a cluster.