JumpHog

Javelins seem to be pretty good for using a wide range of canopies. Last year, I purchased an OJ(sized for a 135 main/150 reserve). I originally had a 150 main in it, though it was a bit tight. I now have a 105 main in it and it still looks beautiful. It is very easy to pack, but it doesn't look loose or baggy at all. I have demoed a 95 main in it and it still looked perfect. I know that some rigs don't look very good when you put larger or smaller canopies in than it was desinged for, but the Javelin handles it beautifully. I do think that you would have a hard time squeezing a 150 into a 120 container though. I think you would have better luck buying a container sized for a 135 main.

On a typical, no-rush pack job, I average about 8 minutes with my Cobalt. When I am really busy and trying to make back-to-back loads, I can do it in about 3-4 minutes, assuming no one distracts me. The quickest timed one I've ever done was 2:08 from the time I picked up the canopy to the time I slung it on my back to get on the next load.

If it makes you feel any better, I have about 750 jumps and still hold an A license. Water training is REALLY hard to come by where I live. I found out recently that with the new BSR's, I'm supposed to be breaking away from a formation at 4500 ft or above. That sure makes life as a cameraman difficult!!!

I have been using SuperBandz for the last 600 jumps and have not encountered any problens with them. I'm not sure if temperature would make any difference regarding their elasticity, but I jump in Kansas, where we go from extreme hot to extreme cold during the year, and have had no problems. Was the bag lock simply caused by the rubber bands not letting go of the lines or were there any other factors involved?

Hey Johnny. If it makes you feel any better, I have 700 jumps and still no water training. Where I live, water training seems to be VERY rare (the last being Spring of 2000 with no hopes of any this year). I have all of my required night jumps, plus all of my pre-declared accuracy jumps for my PRO rating and all of the qualifications to get a tandem or AFF rating, but without the water training, I cannot proceed past my A license. Hopefully, I will be B-license qualified before I get my gold wings. We'll see. Blue Skies, Paul A-35500

I waited until after my first jump to call my mom and tell her I had done it. Both of my parents thought that I was out of my mind, and begged me not to do it again. Well, after 700 jumps and many talks with my parents, I have not only convinced them that skydiving is safe, but they are both scheduled to make their first tandems on Sunday. They are both anxiously awaiting making the leap. I never thought I'd see the day, when I would be skydiving with both of my parents. I will let you know how it goes. Blue Skies.

I was asleep with the radio on, when they came on and said that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. My first thought was that some private pilot in a Cessna had screwed up and hit the bulding. Anyways, I figured I'd might as well wake up and turn on the TV. After seeing the image on the TV (CNBC), I immediately new that this had to be a much larger plane. As I sat there thinking about how terrible an accident this was, CNBC began reporting that they had initial reports that the FBI had been investigating a hijacking before the crash. Right as I began wondering if this could have been intentional, I watched, on live TV, as the second plane crashed into the other tower. At this point, my heart sank deep into my stomach, as I sat there staring blankly at the TV. After witnessing this, I thought to myself that this was the worst thing I had ever seen and that it couldn't possibly get any worse than this. Little did I know the events that would continue to unfold during the next hour. As I remained glued to the TV, I watched as the reports of the pentagon being hit came in, and watched the two towers collapse. I spent the rest of the day in an almost surreal daze. No words can describe the thought and emotions that went through my head during these events. These are images that will remain with me for as long as I live. I pray for all of the victims of this terrible tragedy and for all of the widows, orphans, and childless parents left in the aftermath of these horrendous attacks. God Bless.

I jump a Cobalt 105 in a Javelin TJN container. This combination works fine together, without the rig looking loose or baggy. Just be sure to tighten your closing loop appropriately and you will have no problems.

The mid-west is not the best place to readily find water training. I live in Kansas and have been calling DZ's around here for the past year trying to find someone who is doing water training. Believe me, it is not easy. That is why I have over 600 jumps and an A license. Good luck. Paul Eriksmoen A-35500

Javelin OJ, Cobalt 105, PD143R, No RSL

I had almost the exact same thing happen to me today, but it was completetly my fault. I had swapped the risers on my rig during the week (and I was certain I put it back together correctly). Anyways, I was too lazy to take the canopy out of the bag to make sure (I have probably swapped canopies or risers on this rig a dozen times before with no problem). On the way to altitude on the first jump this morning, I even jokingly mentioned to the guy I was jumping with that "I hope I hooked this back up correctly." Well, that remark turned out to be more than a joke. Although I was 99% confident that I had reassembled it correctly, we had broken off early, so I decided to dump at 4000. Looking up during opening, I realised that something was definately not right. My left risers appeared to be twisted. I checked my altitude and I was at about 3,000, so I decided to do a controlability check. Did a couple of practice flares and left and right toggle turns (the left toggle was harder to pull during turns and flaring). After trying a few more flares, I decided to stick with it (now at 2000 ft). Just to be on the safe side, I steered to the ground using my rear risers (I was worried that if I used my toggle for a turn, it had the possibility to stick like that and continue to spiral). As I was grabbing my rear risers I realised that the rear riser on the left side was actually my front riser (whoops). I set up on a long final and prepared to PLF. The flare required some extra muscle on the left side (I flared with the toggles), but it was a soft stand-up landing. After landing, I took my rig to my rigger to see if she could fix the problem. After laughing a bit about the way I had reassembled it, we determined that I accidentally reconnected the front lines to the rear riser and vice-versa. I had a few people give me some crap that I should have cut it away and not landed it like that at that high of a loading (1.7). In my opinion, if it is stable, steerable and flarable, then there is no reason to chop it. Although, if I had dumped at my usual altitude, I wouldn't have taken the time to play around with it and would have chopped it immediately. Anyways, the lessons to be learned here is to take the extra time to double check your work if you make any changes to your rig (even if you're 99% sure you did it correctly). That other 1% almost costed me my first reserve ride. Well, I just thought I'd shard this with you all. Blue Skies, Paul Eriksmoen

Good choice on canopy selection. I think you will enjoy the Triathlon very much compared to what you are used to jumping. Although you can stack pack any canopy, you will find it much easier to pro-pack this canopy. It is very easy to learn how to do and once you do, you'll never want to stack pack again. Rather than having to walk around the canopy during each step, you can pack the whole thing while standing in one spot. The next time you're at the DZ, I'm sure either I or anyone else there can take the time to show you how to do it. Congratulations again on your gear purchase. Blue Skies, Paul Eriksmoen

I have put about 200 jumps on my sidewinder with a PC1 camera. I haven't had any problems with this helmet at all. I regularly use it from everything from tandem to head-down video and it works great. It is also a nice relief in the winter due to the fact that it is a full-face camera helmet, as opposed to most every other camera helmet on the market.

Congratulations again on everything. I had a blast doing your coached dives and an even funner time shooting that video. I look forward to making many more jumps with you in the future. Blue Skies, Paul Eriksmoen

Hey Paul. Man, I didn't realize you were hurt that badly. I saw your landing and thought that you were just bruised up. I hadn't seen you since then, but I just assumed you had moved. I'm sorry to hear about everything you went through. I hope you'll be able to get back out and make some jumps with us whenever you can. Take care. Blue Skies, Paul Eriksmoen

Call her insurance company and tell them that you need a rental car in order to get around. They should be pretty cooperative about it and agree to pay for it. I had my car (a '79 Trans Am) totalled a few months ago. I managed to get $5200 for it. Anyways, I am now the owner of a brand new rig ($5000) and a used car ($200). It was the best thing that could have happened to me. Anyways, you can tell that my priorities are straight. Good luck with the insurance battle.

Austin, Their website is www.skydivekansas.com. You can reach them at 785-640-3486 during the weekends and 913-301-3483 during the week. Just out of curiousity, how long ago did you used to jump there? Skydive Kansas is my home DZ, but I've only been jumping there for a little over a year. Anyways, you made a great choice on picking a DZ. The people are great and the owners (Jim and Jen) are two of the friendliest people I know. I hope to see you out there soon. Blue Skies.