Nabz

OUCH!! Looked painful looking at it.... any injuries ?

You can very easily remove the visor on a KISS.

Is the Cypress airworthy ? What is the DOM ? Thanks

Haha oops... how did I miss them locks on her head

RIP legend

This is VERY sad news!! Watching him and Fred is the reason I got into skydiving. Rest easy

I can see the video with the sound.... maybe your flashplayer needs to be updated ? Video of him going into spins and getting away from the instructor.... been there done that lol

I personally wouldn't consider this now if I was you. you havent even done AFF. How do you know you will really enjoy jumping ? What if you get a mal early enough in your jumping (pre 50) and realise its not for you ? Do you have the budget to complete AFF and get to your B licence ? What about the budget for tunnel ($$$$) to be proficient enough for camera ? What if you hate packing, like me ? Have you spoken to the people that work at the DZ (where you did the tandems) in your country to find out what its like to live/work at the dz ? A move like yours is to be taken seriously, unless you have a back up plan for the Netherlands in case the skydiving doesn't work out. I love the Netherlands but its expensive to live there, especially working in this industry. Fail to plan = plan to fail

I would have done the same as the camera guy, who knows what the tandem canopy would do once it caught air. It could have turned into a downward bi-plane had he not removed it. He made it out alive, I think he made the best decision at that moment...

I just did (from home) work computer had the video blocked. Sold me. Cheers

On the hook knife subject, is a hook knife strong enough to cut a tandem bridle ? I thought I read/heard they were made from a type of kevlar ?

I am not surprised, I went to Zhills in Feb and the instructor that did my buddy's recurrency jump wouldn't give him the video and said he would have to pay to get it. I got mine for free (different instructor) but he asked me to be quick and discreet.... why not give them to the jumpers ? Especially OP going thru AFF and paying what we pay to get licenced.

Thank you for clarifying.

Can you please clarify what you mean with a larger is less sensitive than ….. ? As in sensitive to the shock and will be more abrupt ? I fly a larger canopy (SA2 210) loaded 1.2 but last year was closer to 1.3 Thx

Didn't even think of that and honestly didn't even know there was such a thing as AFF bandit jumps. CRAZY!! If the student was aware of that and was trying to cut corners by going to this "No Shits Given DZ " than he is to blame as well.

Always looking to learn man and thank you for taking the time to reply and not thinking I was trolling you :)

Advice : don't give up Tips: stretching and doing some flexibility training (yoga is one example) Tricks: tunnel time

I have had two hard openings this year, one bad enough to give me ringing in the ears and not being able to see right (black spots) for a couple of seconds. One of my riser covers tends to undo itself if I'm tracking fast or sit flying (not magnetic) however its been like this for the past 130 jumps and only this season I got the hard openings. I fly a Sabre2 and it has less than 300jumps, had the rigger inspect everything and all seems fine. Hasn't happened since but its scary nonetheless when its time to save your life and you're second guessing if this one will be soft and buttery (95% of my jumps) or an insta canopy. I would love to be able to buy a whole brand new set up to take some of the doubts I have about mine.

Thanks for the explanation, from your perspective as a AFFI, I see how he wasn't up to the task. I saw exactly what you are describing, I saw it also as a coach that panicked and was all over the place trying to save the student, what I found idiotic was his reaction to the jump once it was all over. I tend to see it from my PoV that when I was a student I didn't rely on anyone to save my life, even if the AFFI is fully trained and competent at his job, at the end of the day if shit really hits the fan, he's pulling when the altitude isn't there anymore. Someone before me asked why didn't the student pull. That to me is dangerous as well, relying on someone else.

I never said he was not an idiot. I even said that the DZ needs to reconsider working with him. Since you have thousands of AFFI jumps, can you tell me what was dangerous about the coach ?

Canada you can be 16yo on a tandem if parents sign your waiver. Just gotta factor in a 14 day quarantine when you get here

We all know what we signed up for when going thru AFF, what happened to the student isn't uncommon and messing up is also part of progression, however this coach was all over the place - as some have pointed could be working on levels etc - but the reaction once he opens canopy shows you the kind of AFFI he is. I dont think the coach/AFFI did anything dangerous, however the DZ and its students needs to rethink working with him. We had an AFFI like that at the DZ, all he cared about was fun jumping (which is fine) but when he was needed for AFF,Tandem or cam he would bitch and complain. He didn't last long in our DZ.

Not uncommon at all. I got it on my tandem and on a few jumps when doing my AFF, however they are AFTER the jumps, like 15-20 mins post jump. I jump in Canada and I have an off season of 4-5 months and my first jump back I get the same feeling just not as intense. I personally think it has to do with pressure and decompression (maybe lack of oxygen as well I dunno), not sure how to explain it, but if I jump and depressurise my ears at altitude and when under canopy I feel nothing after BUT if I dont anything more than a 360 I feel it creeping on me. I have done 3 high pulls and same thing if I dont depressurize when opened I feel like shit. I do get nauseous if I read something in a car, so could be related.

I was almost 230 in shape( like you, fit not fat at all) when I got into skydiving, made some things harder (reaching for handle easily due to shoulders)… I did drop 20lbs in the last 1.5 years and things are a lot easier for me. All this to say, dont give up on this dream.

Hey Greebs, The journey is still going and loving it. 110 jumps in so far. There are 2 DZs in Ottawa, one that is about 45-50 mins away called Parachute Ottawa, it is brand new, the fly a skyvan however their schedule was very limited last year due to it being new, I will be going more this year. The other one is GO Skydive, my home DZ is about 20 mins from downtown Ottawa and has a very friendly vibe, they welcome fun jumpers and they have organizing and all kinds of events and boogies. We have a regular caravan, loads are pretty consistent on the weekends. There are a lot of tandems however its no where near a tandem factory, the best way I can describe it is Zhills, where you always have either room on the plane for fun jumpers or dedicate a fun jumper load only. Both DZO's jump, coach and do tandems. The time of year you have chosen however isn't ideal. Ottawa gets pretty cold (up to -40C) and 1 foot of snow fall in one night isn't unheard of during winter months, which means no jumping from mid October to end of April. Another thing to consider is it is still in the low digits at that time of year, anywhere from -5C to +15C and once up in altitude it is freaking COLD AF, ive done jumps at the end of April and it was an easy -20C up there, fingers are painful (even with gloves) visors fog and freeze when under canopy, easy things to do with your hands become pretty hard, another thing to consider is how wet, muddy and damp the LZ is from all the snow over the winter, so better land on your feet if you dont want mud on your rig. As a Canadian used to all this crap, I really dont mind especially after a 5 month break. If your dates are flexible aim for mid to end of may. September is beautiful, all the trees changing colors and all are amazing to see from altitude. Hope this helps and if you do come by hit me up and we can meet up at the DZ :)