Joellercoaster

You're going to get a whole lot of "it depends" answers, because it does - on the container manufacturer, mostly. I'd hang on to your current container, get to a decent standard on your belly (your freefly coaches will thank you), and buy something freefly friendly in a size you'll keep for a while, a little later. That is of course just me. You're going to get different answers on that, too, though -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Agree with the other two. I have a Pilot 132 and a Stiletto 135 and have jumped them back to back a lot, and the Pilot flies flat but the Stiletto even flatter. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I've forgotten to turn it on and jumped after realising in the plane I'd done it. The AAD plays only a very small part in my overall safety, though I strongly think people should use them if possible. I have also at least three times looked sheepish in answer to the question "AAD on?" during a gear check, because we have those here in the nanny state UK and people are forced by our crushing bureaucracy to ask. Bastards - if we didn't have the stupid gear checks I wouldn't have to be embarrassed like that eh. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Me too, buddy. Me too. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

If you ever get rid of the harness ones, just take up 4-way and they'll come back. There are even slot-specific bruises (The shin/ankle one is a great reason to skip IC when your new team are figuring out slots...) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

You can still buy B12s! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I'm pretty sure that guy knew to put his legs in the leg straps too. I know it seems funny, but it's a serious point: distraction can happen to literally anyone. People with hundreds and even thousands of jumps have made this same mistake and exited the plane. If you look at someone's terrible mistake in skydiving and tell yourself, "I would never be stupid enough to make that mistake" then you are in trouble. This is precisely why we do gear checks. Everyone makes mistakes - the trick is to account for that, and have practices that will (preferably) keep them to a minimum, or (otherwise) catch them before they kill anyone. (Stupid, avoidable situations are a different thing - I'm talking about heat of the moment brain malfunctions here. If you're doing a naked Mr Bill on a Velo off some guy you just met's sailplane, I can't help you.) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I am sad to relate that the skysurfer.com.au forums are now gone, probably forever (dz.com seems to be the only skydiving forum that is still seeing a lot of traffic. And maybe a lot less than it used to. But I don't know for sure, guess that's another thread.) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I never met him, and now I never will. But his writing is a direct connection to the roots of our sport and community, a thread running through it almost back to the beginning. Skydiving as it is now is a product of generations of deep thinkers and inasmuch as it has a soul, we are in debt to them for it. Thanks Pat. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I have exactly one jump on a Mamba so I can't say much about it other than it felt twitchy. There were a few of them around the UK on Aerodyne-sponsored athletes a few years ago but for whatever reason they seem not to have gained a lot of the market here. Crossfire2 vs Katana though is very much a matter of taste. Both of them open softly - actually the Crossfire takes a little longer than I really like. Katana not so much on heading. The Katana is there to do one thing - swoop. And swoop it does, like a beast. But it must be flown actively all the time - the natural thing it wants to do is sink, and when you turn, it wants to dive and keep diving. If these are not what you want it to do right now, you need to be on your game and paying attention. The Crossfire is more generally agile-feeling. It rolls in and out of turns a bit faster and to me feels more "graceful". It certainly flies flatter, though not as flat as the Stiletto. I am not a big swooping person, but you need to put a bit more effort into getting a dive going and keeping it... I have seen people swooping the hell out of both canopies but the dive and flare of the Katana are noticeably better, even to me. I personally enjoyed the Crossfire2 a lot more from a flying-around point of view, and would definitely look at one as my next canopy if I was in the market. But they're pretty different and as usual, you should demo all three of them. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

The hard part about packing is not stowing the lines I am a fairly terrible packer (though admittedly I have done it a few hundred times here and there) and I feel like stowless would not be a great idea for me either. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

The question has been well answered by some of the people in the thread. But here is the thing Flight One explain in their 101 course, to sum it up: 1. Wind is simply the air mass moving over the ground. 2. Your canopy flies through the air mass, not over the ground. Everything else follows from that. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I'm a little too old to be a real tunnel bunny, but my time in the sport coincides roughly with the arrival of "tunnels for all" kind of availability. I had maybe the same number of jumps as you before I really took it up seriously, and... yeah. ^ this is most surely the truth. The tunnel gives you the opportunity to smash your time in freefall, to experiment, to really work on skills until they're polished. But it also magnifies your mistakes and weaknesses - not because of the air, but simply because you have so many references around you to show you how much you're really moving around! The walls hurt. Welcome back - flying is not the same as it was, but it's awesome. We (collectively) know so much more about how to do it now - I think you're going to love it. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Keep in mind that these people don't literally think you are mentally ill. It's just a thing to say, to continue the conversation. OK so it's a cliche, but so are many things people who don't know each other very well say. You can respond with cliches in return ("yep, totally suicidal I guess" / "nope, people who don't jump are the crazy ones") and change the subject or not, but the important thing is not to worry too much about it. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Your Australian license will be fine in Spain. The citizens not jumping locally with foreign licenses thing is standard. You will probably want to convert eventually, as your national association are surprisingly useful over your jumping career, and dealing with the APF over long distances will be annoying. Individual dropzone owners can require literally anything at all in order to jump there. It's pretty unusual to put someone with 70 jumps through multiple 2-instructor jumps to transfer over, but you would normally expect at least a 2-way checkout with an instructor... in the grand scheme of things though this is a hoop and I'd just jump through it. Go to Spain too, obviously. Whatever your licensing organisation, at your stage of the game staying current over winter is a great idea

https://www.facebook.com/freefallcamera/ -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

As you have suggested, it is almost entirely because the smaller reserve container looks cooler. And smaller rigs are sometimes more comfortable. Personally I am happy the option exists to have a range of sizes - I am not entirely sure I have finished downsizing mains forever (though I've been on this size for about half my total jumps now), but I'm pretty happy I don't have to get a reserve smaller than the one I have now :) Other people say care a lot about having a main and a reserve that will play well together if they end up with two out, but I think the idea that a highly elliptical 109 will fly nicely with a Smart 110 is suspicious - and the vast majority of us will go our entire careers without a two-out. Nearly all of us are going to land our little reserve at some point though, and some proportion of us will be in a tight spot or injured or freaked out while we do it. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Indeed. How pregnant? What kind of tunnel flying? What do you feel about acceptable situations? How good a flyer are you, and what kind of shape are you in? Are you alone or in a group? If the latter, how well do you know them and their flying? The line will be different for everybody, and for some, the line is "outside the tunnel entirely". I know plenty of kids who had (sometimes many) pre-natal skydives and tunnel camps. It's not automatically a terrible idea according to a random sampling of nearby doctors... but be sensible. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I'm 6'5" and 210... my solution has been new containers and second-hand canopies (actually bought my first main and reserve new, but I got a fantastic deal on that rig and never since). Container sticker-shock is real though - if you can find one second hand that fits you, absolutely do that. They do turn up, but don't hold your breath either. Don't compromise safety for a good deal on the container - main and reserve size is really, really vital and it's important not to get wishful on this front. There is no disadvantage in buying a brand-new AAD - they age and depreciate in such a way that everyone gets a very fair deal, pretty much linearly. If you pay full price for one, that is OK - but it's still a lot of money, of course! It's a tough market, for the same reason - if one comes on sale, it generally gets snapped up. Manufacturer coupons do exist, mostly as prizes in raffles or tunnel meets or the like. Nice if you win one or someone gives it to you, but generally (though not always) they're off the base price and you still pay full whack for all the extras (and you really do want the extras). You very occasionally also see them for sale, and never once have I seen it be a good deal. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Useful drill for one day you're doing a solo (or in the tunnel): Smoothly assume the pull position - right arm back with hand on handle, left arm across the front. Feel what it's like to fly it stably in that position and let the muscle memory settle in - do it a few times until it's smooth. Thinking about keeping your chin up and hips down, and not rushing, will help. Now, hold that position and, using just your front forearm and hand, turn 90 degrees in each direction by pushing your elbow up and down. Feel what that's like. If you have time, then try doing it with just your legs. I guarantee your pull time will get a lot more solid

Right on - this is an oft-neglected part of having good deployments, and can't be stressed enough. I also notice that you are able to accurately describe the behaviour of your canopy as it snivels and opens - which suggests to me that you are actively looking up at it! Try relaxing and looking straight ahead at the horizon; it will help you remain square in the harness through deployment. Also concentrate on maintaining a flat and level (or at least symmetrical) torso during your reach and throw. This can be harder than you think, and is worth a little practice (even in the wind tunnel, if you like that sort of thing). -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Were these DZ staff your AFF instructor? If not, you can and should ignore any and all advice they give you. So, if I went through my control checks (2 deep flares, turns right and left, maybe another flare) and felt OK landing a canopy that looked a bit funny, then I would have done the same. Relevance of this to you? Zero. You should also ignore me - doubly so, because not only am I not you, and not your AFFI, I wasn't even there. This will almost certainly be true of everyone else who replies in this thread, though some people will probably try and tell you what they would have done. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Not at all. The fact that you can do it in the tunnel is all the proof you need that you can do it. It's the same air, you're just wearing a rig and massively more full of adrenaline. Your instructors are right, listen to them

Utterly crazy. I thought that we were in the incremental improvement stage of speed skydiving - that modern point sports get to where the techniques and parameters are fairly well known, and occasionally someone trains really hard, has a great day and bumps the record up a little. Turns out I don't know shit. That's flat-out incredible! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This is kind of my life already. At the age of 41, I'm at peace with it - what should I care what those people think about how I go about my journey? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?