smokejmprwannab

whuffo: How high are you when you jump out? Me: It's normally best to be sober when you jump.

Spinny thing bad.

Keep in mind that smoke jumpers are wildland firefighters that jump, and not the other way around.

I'm pretty sure that the USDA Forest Service uses round parachutes and the Bureau of Land Management uses big square canopies, and both do static line jumps and have the majority of their gear (chain saws, food, water, axes, sleeping bags, etc.) dropped by cargo chute near the landing zone. The difference in the canopy choice between the two agencies may be that the forest service is more likely to be landing in, well, a forest. Big round parachutes may still have advantages when there is a good chance that you'll be landing in or very close to trees.

None. No time, no main canopy. Hopefully I'll get a deal worked out on a used main and can jump it on saturday. -Michael

Firefighter and EMT-Basic An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you see someone doing stupid and unsafe things, tell them. Or tell someone that will. Help people see their mistakes and learn from them. When an accident does happen, make sure someone calls 911 and do it right then. But don't overload the 911 center by having every person with a cell phone call. There's a lot that an un-trained person can do. - call 911 and get help coming - stand by the road to signal the ambulance and lead them to the patient - if there are no trained people to help the patient, the 911 operator may be able to give some instruction on what to do. - it wouldn't be a bad idea to have someone that is actually with the patient make another 911 call to give more information. (The operator might only get "we need an ambulance" from the person that makes the first call. More information about what happened to the patient helps the incoming crews know what to expect... kind of like a dirt dive). -Michael

Wow. It's even listed in inches for those of us who will never learn the metric system. Glad to have the specs. I hadn't seen a recent post about aerodyne dealing with hornets, so I wanted to be sure that I didn't buy a canopy that could never get relined. Thanks for the help. -Michael

I need to get a main and I haven't been able to get my hands on a used spectre 190. Plan B is a hornet 190 that my rigger is looking at. Haven't gotten in touch with the seller to see DOM and number of jumps, but the lines look good for now. When the lines do need replacing, though, are there still documents floating around out there that give the specs for a new line set? My rigger says he can make a new set if he has the right info for the canopy. Good to hear that the hornet's fabric makes it easy to pack. I've gotten used to the old F-111 that someone gave me, so packing a brand new zp canopy takes me forever. Does anyone hate hornets with a passion but love spectres, original sabres or pilots? Thanks. -Michael

Does anyone know what type of ram air canopies BLM smokejumers use?

I work at a local camping outfitters and we carry 2" tubular nylon webbing in our climbing department, so I would look at whatever outdoor stores are in your area that carry climbing equipment (REI, Great Outdoor Provision Company, etc).

pro pack

Are there any techniques I can use to pack my F111 Raider 220 faster (besides letting the packers deal with it)? Right now, it takes me 25-30 minutes from the time I lay it out, so I tend to finish at about the time the load I was going to get on is well on their way to altitude.

I have an old vector container that my rigger has done some work to in order to make it more freefly friendly. He installed a tuck tab on the main pin cover, bridle protection flap, boc, and put new velcro on the riser covers. However, it still has velcro on the riser covers, reserve pin cover, and will simply never be as good as a new javelin or mirage. My main concern would be that the riser covers could come unstowed. How big of a problem would that be? My rigger says that he doesn't suggest trying to sitfly in it, but doesn't seem to be completely opposed to the idea. advice?

well, it looks like we've found another jumper from unc that can go with us to collegiates. I haven't jumped with him yet, but I think we'll be able to turn a couple of points. The ones inside the plane count, right?

does anyone know where the whole tradition of owing beer to the dz started, I mean, besides the fact that most jumpers are raging alcoholics?