LGreg34

I'm happy to hear all of that, Chuck.

Love the avatar Bolas.........your 600th was sooo much fun, even if you did take us out.....lol.

Yeah.....it's like -5 here this morning. I'm leaving for Perris tomorrow.....THANK GOD!! A day and a half to jump and 2 days in the tunnel. I am soooo ready!! Hey, I'm looking forward to meeting you at the Marco Island Boogie! Not much longer now...YaHooo! Don't forget your Barbie!

Lol........it IS getting easier for me with the use of reverse S folds. I think the same as you; I need to LOVE my parachute and treat, but all I could do there for awhile was call it all kinds of profanities! Hopefully, I'm over that now.

Ahahaha.......my sentiments exactly! I'm getting there slowly but surely but damn, it taking me to the brink of insanity at times! I'd really like to have a nice, peaceful, wonderful, loving relationship with this canopy but it truly is making it tough for me to do that at the moment!

You are right. I am beginning to calm down about it. When I posted, I was practicing for the first time totally unassisted alone, at home and it was either post, or go outside and scream at the top of my lungs and have the cops called....lol. I'm better now, and thank you for the advise. It all makes perfect sense.

I appreciate all the tips. Knee pads sound like a good solution. I see a lot of people at the DZ with permanent brown spots right below the knee. Good tip!

Thank you, and thanks again to everyone for their replies.

Lol.........smart ass.

Thanks again Sid. The Reverse S Folds in your "Tips and Techniques" worked for me. How do you feel about the Physco Pack on a Sabre 170? There are mixed feelings about it at my DZ. I'm afraid to try it.

Got it in.........thanks to Sid's site. Again, thanks for the encouragement. I don't know about packing tomorrow though. My thumb is so bruised from stow bands.........yowwwwch.

Whew! Went to Sid's site and found a tip on reverse S folds and put them in the bag as you go. Got it in.........but have no energy left to do the stows at the moment.........lol.

Everyone, please pray for us both...........lol. We could use it.

Lol.....that's what I hear.......it gets easier. Well, I'm ready for that like..........right now! I just bought my first "new to me" rig. It only has a few hundred jumps on it and it's beautiful. The Sabre 170 is still slippery as hell. I have sought help from a few, very qualified people and they have been very helpful. I get the concept, just can't maintain control of it while S folding. I can do all the rest of it just fine, just still can't get it in the bag without losin it. Guess I just needed to vent. Thanks for the encouragement.

I'm beat up, My upper arm and shoulder is killing me.......I'm ready to scream!! I CAN NOT get the freakin thing in the bag!! It slides around all over the damn place and gets all distorted. I am not putting a lot of pressure on it. WHY, oh WHY won't it stay where I put it!! I get the bright idea to practice tonight before going to the DZ tomorrow........looks like I'm takin it in a LUMP, dumping it on the floor with a $5 bill on top of it! I've had it! This sucks! Other people can get this done. Why can't I!!!

All the information I can get is very helpful. Thank You!

Thank You!! Just what I needed.

Does anyone have a working link on Psycho Packing. I've tried a few that were down or something wrong. Just got a "new to me" Sabre 170

For me, the jump you are getting ready to do is the jump that helped me relax to a more managable level. It was just a few weeks ago for me too. On this jump, you will learn that this all works. The methods that are taught are tried and true. I had to work up a little "nerve" to bring my legs in. When I did, I pulled out of it too quickly and was on my back. I simply tucked an elbow, rolled over back to my belly. It worked!! It also made me feel VERY good that the second I got back on my belly, my instructor was right there in my face giving me a big thumbs up for getting back over by myself, but he was right there if I needed him. Just listen to your instructor, do what he says, take a deep breath and exhale right before you do it.........it'll be great!

I've done both. When I was 20, I did the static line course. AFF was brand spankin new at that time and only a few people did it because of the cost. I got to a 10 second delay and found out I was pregnant so I stopped. 21 years later when some friends wanted to go do a tandem, it hooked me again, so I went back and did AFF. BOTH scared the shit out of me, but I will have to say that AFF was worse as far as fear goes until after Catagory D. That's when I truly learned that I had much more confidence in myself and could completely trust my Instructor, and it became much more fun. At the end of that dive, I was to do my first back loop. I worked up the nerve, did it, ended up on my back and did a half barrel roll to get back on my belly. The second I rolled over, there he was in my face, ready to help me if I couldn't get back over with a big grin on his face giving me the thumbs up that I had gotten back over by myself. I couldn't help but smile back and think, "there he is, my guardian angel." The point being, these people do know what they're doing and they are there to help you if you get into trouble. The Hop N Pop was, of course, nerve racking because it was the first time I left the aircraft totally alone, but I had had no trouble with stability on exits so that part wasn't a concern. In conclusion, I believe that AFF is a much more efficient way to learn quickly, and in my thinking, doing something like this, I want to be as good as possible, as quickly as possible. Ya know what I mean? That's my two cents. Good Luck and have FUN!!

Thank You!! I want to go back today so bad I can taste it! I'm only 6 jumps away from getting my license because I made 9 jumps many years ago. A couple more days of jumping and I'll have it. I've just got to pony up and get those coach jumps in to get that proficiency card filled out! What great fun yesterday was! I got to downsize canopies a little to a 230 which fit me so much better and was so much lighter than what I had been jumping....yea! On my graduation jump, my instructor told me to be prepared for anything and after he threw my ass out of the airplane for my unstable exit and we got our dive flow done, I looked at my altimeter, saw that we had plenty of time left and thought, "what now?" Well, he had something in mind........he came down on my back and rode me like a horse (kind of)!! I was laughing so hard.......it was GREAT!! After that, the hop n pop went just fine. What a wonderful day!

It's been a long time coming! I dragged my AFF training out WAY too long because of well, a lot of things , but finally got it done today!! I'm so happy, I could BUST! Let the games begin!!

Oh, I don't feel that I'm kidding my self about the risk of death or injury in sky diving. I would have just liked to have been further along and a little more comfortable with the sport before having seen something like that.

No I don't Michael, is there a particular reason you ask?

If there was permission given, that is a different story but I tend to believe that it WASN'T the man in the picture that gave permission. Yes, it was the intent of who sent it to me for it to upset and make me think about what I'm doing and being so new to this, it worked, but not enough to make me really want to stop. It just burned a pretty ugly image into my mind that I had to deal with and I didn't appreciate it.