Joellercoaster

Brings a whole new meaning to "flying by the seat of your pants". -- "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 are worrfress, Arrec Barrwin! *Ahem*. As you were. But now I really need to find a copy of Cutaway. -- "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?

Without an open main, you don't really have much "traction" against which to kick. Since I apparently have bad enough body position that I still get spun up pretty regularly, I get to think about this a lot -- "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?

Best of both worlds - have your AFFI wearing a camera. No distractions on the way down, and you get exactly the information you want, because it's what your instructor is looking at too. Some places do this for all their AFF jumps as a matter of course... I found it incredibly helpful when I did mine. -- "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 think all the above, rightly or wrongly, are perceived by some people as just "budget" versions of the first three designs. (Obviously I don't agree - I just bought an Icon because my instructor was convinced it was the best rig for me, as well as the price point - but I've heard that line from a few people owning one of the Trinity.) -- "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?

Rig 1. The 3-colour design of the container is already striking enough; grey webbing instead of yellow doesn't take any attention away from that. Actually, I like all 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?

Man, after all the trouble you went to to get a decent-sized main, container, etc... now this! Hopefully you're accruing huge amounts of Gear Karma. -- "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?

Would it be possible to attach one to its bridle with a swivel or bearing, so even if it did spin it wouldn't twist up? (Or is drogue spin just a thing, not really a problem?) -- "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?

What he said. -- "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 in the same boat. A bit. I dunno about the rush - that part went away for me halfway through AFF and hasn't come back. But I have to say I don't mind - jumping with other people brings a fun factor that far outweighs the missing adrenaline. Your mileage may, of course, vary. But stick it out - between AFF and qualification the solos are were a bit ho-hum, but then the big light came back on again -- "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?

Back to the beginning of this digression, this is actually why physicists only use the term "acceleration", and do away with "deceleration". It's not because they're weird and picky, but really because if you start trying to define a difference between them you end up having conversations like this one. The more you try to define it, the more you have to add more caveats and complicated descriptions. It *is* all the same thing. (Disclaimer: IANAP :)) -- "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 a new favourite skydivingmovies.com link. -- "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?

Don't forget your CH1! -- "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?

Haven't been jumping long enough to do anything No-Shit-stupid, but I've already managed stupid-stupid. Jumped with a cold. Could have been inner-ear problems or ruptured eardrums I guess (really stupid), and ended up deaf, but what happened was opening shock forced all the air out of my lungs and I went blind. Blind? Yeah, that's what happens when your goggles are totally covered in snot. -- "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?

Ooo! Shiny! Icons are definitely sharp-lookin'. (Although, do you have problems with attracting other bees under canopy?) -- "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?

Oooh! [rummages around to find old Aeon Flux DVDs in preparation - specially the one where she jumps off a passenger plane...] -- "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?

Two years. -- "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?

(FWIW, I'm in the same boat - slightly extreme body shape seeking buying gear.) Canopies: the upside of what GravityGirl says is that, if you can't find the size you want - buying a new main of a popular design (say, Pilot 188 or Spectre 190) means that when you do want to get something zippier, you will have no trouble selling it for not much less than you paid. You don't see them listed online because people don't have to; word gets around and they get snapped up. Containers: This is trickier. I'm 6'5" and thin, and spent a couple of months trying to find a secondhand rig that might fit. The only one I found was sold before I got to it, and because it was a Vector3, more expensive than the new midrange container I've ended up having to buy anyway. Sucks eh? (OTOH, I guess I do get custom everything now, so it ain't all bad - even if I do end up living on pot noodles for three months ) [edit: speling] -- "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?

Am about to order mine in the next couple of days, assuming my nylon crack dealer is reading their email. Have resigned myself to living very frugally over the next 12 weeks (having to buy new due to weird size) and paying cash. In the meantime I'll just jump enough to stay current, but it'll be worth it when it gets here eh? Counting the days... -- "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?

Likewise. The plane on the way up is my biggest fear. I guess some people suffer from "door relief"? Other than that, now that I've gotten over the fear of my legstraps coming undone during a spiral , I'm scared I might lose altitude awareness, I guess. -- "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?

Line breaks are nice! (Also, hasn't there already been a powered-reserve thread on dz.com recently?) [edit: sometimes proofreading is cool.] -- "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?

Yes, no (hopefully), and yes: clicky. Not that I had any lack of respect for AFF/Is before that, but... holy shit. You guys are a whole other level of professional if you do this every day. (Mental note to self: Do 1000 jumps. Quit job, become instructor. Take massive pay cut, trade for job satisfaction in spades.) -- "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 scary part is (well, one of the scary parts, but YKWIM): She's only using one. It's like she could do all those with one boob tied behind her back. Come to think of it, she probably could tie one boob behind her back. -- "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?

Keen to come and meet some people, but I'm technically still Australian so I draw the line at the Walkabout (though I did finally work out where the Curzon is the other day, x weeks too late ). [edit: it's a school night, what do I care what happens after kickout?] -- "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?

Disco suit? I'm pretty sure I have a pair of phat pants that pattern (different colours) that I still dance in occasionally. I vote 2