base615

How do they deal with swimming in the swoop pond?

I understand the two out argument but it's a rare day when a two out happens for a reason other than incompetence on the part of the jumper. Other may disagree but I base my personal choice of reserve on the basis that I don't want to be dealing with a relatively unfamiliar canopy the size of or smaller than my main when I'm super stressed, at low altitude, potentially with line twists to deal with while looking for someone's garden to land in. The smallest reserve I've owned is a 140 and I wouldn't want to go smaller, despite flying smaller mains. I see people at my DZ on 106 reserves loaded at more than the manufacturer's maximum loading and shake my head.

I'd love to help as I bought one and would like to use it but my local DZ banned them. Personally don't agree with the reasons for that ban but it's now just sitting unused.

I realise my progression may seem overly conservative to a lot of people but this, conversely, seems a bit aggressive for my liking. I’ve never quite been on a 1.6 W/L but I certainly wouldn’t have trusted myself there at 250 jumps. Still, if you have a good coach and focus exclusively on canopy then maybe it’s not an issue.

(Approximate jump numbers) 1-20: Manta 288 (0.65 W/L) 21-200: Sabre 190 (0.98 W/L) 201-500: Stiletto 150 (1.2 W/L) 501-700: Stiletto 135 (1.3 W/L) 701-1100: Stiletto 120 (1.47 - 1.56 W/L) Interspersed with above: Parafoil 282 (circa 200 jumps), various other canopies (circa 100 jumps) BASE: Fox 200 (circa 300 jumps additional to above numbers) -----16 year break----- 1101-1101: Solo 230 (0.9 W/L) 1102-1102: Solo 210 (0.98 W/L) 1103-1106: Solo 190 (1.07 W/L) 1107-1110: Sabre 170 (1.2 W/L) 1111-1121: Safire 159 (1.25 W/L) 1122-1134: Sabre 150 (1.32 W/L) 1135-1144: Sabre 135 (1.47 W/L) I have a Crossfire 3 129 (1.53 W/L) to move to in about 50-100 jumps depending on how I feel.

I currently jump a Vector from 1996 that is in great condition but I've seen 5 year old rigs in shit state that I wouldn't consider jumping.

DGIF about the Bachelor but I don't understand why tandems turn so low. I see them at DZs turning and frantically digging out of the corner constantly.

I see. I’ve not found those groups.

Dunno but the new generation probably identifies more with Reddit. I've just come back after a 16 year hiatus (20 if you don't count the years I only did about 2 skydives a year in amongst my BASE jumping) so you're not alone :)

Hey, I watched someone take a Wonderhog off Kjerag as recently as the 2000s so there are probably still nutters around who would jump it for the novelty if a DZ let them. Not my idea of a relaxing afternoon.

There are few experienced skydivers to whom NZA will sell a Petra, so I think he'll be all good.

Just go the Petra. Rules are made to be broken.

Of course it is, I'm saying that because the canopy component is also variable, the ratio makes that more apparent.

I get your point but I disagree with it. Miles per hour works because it's a constant - an hour never changes for anyone so only one part is variable. In the case of a wing loading, both parts are variable since it is expressed as a load for a particular canopy so I feel the ratio better signifies that.

Why is it stupid? It's the correct way to express it, no?

I'm not an S&TA or AFF-I but I wouldn't be advising this for someone with 45 jumps and find it difficult to believe anyone with those ratings would be either: I have nearly 1200 jumps but, after a hiatus, I have similar jump numbers to him since returning to the sport. I'm feeling reasonably comfortable again but I've only got myself back to a wing loading lower than that (1.32) so far. I'd be very wary of the wing loading I'm currently on if I didn't have the previous experience to call on. The one saving grace might be that a 1.35 wing loading on a 170 is a bit different from a 1.35 wing loading on a 107 or 120 but I still don't think it's a very good idea.

Yeah, confused what I wrote by bunching them all together in the brackets. Tracking / angles first or last, wing/tracksuiters always last.

Surely by the time you've done that the canopy is open and you've missed the window for getting the handle.

At my DZ (in Australia), movement groups (Wingsuit, tracking, angles) all either get out first and move down the jump run or last and move up the jump run. IMO, I think it should always be perpendicular to the jump run but I'm not in a position to argue with the rules :)

Personally I find it weird that DZs let people get into the coaching jumps before they’ve done their hop and pop. It’s a safety thing so that you’re comfortable making an emergency exit if required so, if it was me, I’d get that done straight away. It’s something people feel uncomfortable with but it’s the easiest thing to do and I think it helps with confidence. Then, as a heavier jumper, my issue has always been 360s in place or other manoeuvres where I lose visual contact, while keeping my fall rate consistent and not sinking out so I’d try and work on that. Link up with your coach and then 360 and try to come out on the same level every time. Try things you don’t learn well in AFF like side slides, fast fall, slow fall, etc. Get your coach to fall slower and move up to him/her. Vice versa with your coach falling quicker. Try unlinked dive exits where you present to the relative wind and transition straight into position to chase your coach down the hill, getting to him/her as quickly as possible while still staying in control. Also tracking effectively is essential to ensuring good separation when you jump with others and this can take time to get right. Ensure you’re tracking perpendicular to the jump run so you’re not getting into other people’s space and concentrate on making yourself a nice efficient wing so de-arched rather than arched in the track, move into it smoothly, pick a reference on the ground so you track straight and get a good 5 second track as efficiently as possible.

I don't think it was the instructors as they trained many jumpers successfully and most of the guys I did my first jump with had no issues at all. It was just me having the issues. In addition, it was a military DZ specifically for a display team so there wasn't really any need to push profit so there would be no need to milk anyone. They also asked the BPA if I could have an exemption on the dummy pulls based on the fact that they believed I would have no issues with a 3 second delay. This permission was denied. Equipment setup issues is certainly possible. Back then there were not the rigs with adjustable main left web and I'm pretty short (5'4") with short arms and not great flexibility in my shoulders so I never felt like student gear fit me well.

Looks like great fun. As far as I can tell, the Mr Bill passenger needs next to no skills so I can’t see any more issues with a B license jumper doing it vs. someone more experienced, but then I did once freefall a 121ft bridge in Wales so I wouldn’t take my judgement and run with it :)

IMO, and I caveat this with the fact that I'm a fast faller, there's only so much range someone has to fall slower. You can get a baggier suit made in poly drill or another slow material but there are going to be limits to how slow you can fall and still be able to move around the sky. It's much easier for someone to fall faster through arching , carrying weight, etc. so, if you're unable to fall together after doing what you can with suits and technique then the onus should be on the slower faller to do something to stay with you. I've done some jumps recently with guys at my DZ and had no issues staying with them in their civilian clothes but, as soon as they put on their RW suits which had relatively slow material and big competition grips, there was no hope. Given the disparity in fall rate once they put those suits on, I think it's on them to either wear weight with those suits or change the suit to a faster falling option.

Bit late to this thread but, while this may be right for lots of people, my experience is completely different. I started with static line or, as we called it in the UK, RAPS back in the mid '90s which was the only option at my local DZ. I could not get past dummy pulls and was therefore unable to move on to the freefall part. I found that, no matter how much I practiced on the ground, the dummy handle was never where I expected it to be due to the main container missing the canopy. I did more than 30 static line jumps over a couple of months with perfect exits, good form on trying to pull and never once managed to get the handle. I tried grabbing in different places in an attempt to get the handle but nothing worked. Frustrated, I was about to give up but the chief instructor recommended I go to another DZ and do AFF (I didn't know this existed until he told me). I breezed through it in less than 3 days, never having any issues finding the handle when it was time to pull. I'm sure static line works for many people but it was basically impossible for me.

I wouldn’t be changing the reserve in this one as this would just be for one main downsize probably. Once I downsize to the 135/139 main my plan is to order a custom rig (probably v310) to put a 120 in and would hopefully be ready for it once it turns up in 5 or 6 month’s time.