Reginald

Yoru friends protrack is mesuring freefall time from exit until he is in the saddel. This will easily be 5 to 8 seconds different from what you are counting.

It's funny the more jumps I get the few jumps I want to be on. I'm more than content to limit the people I jump with and the size of the jumps I'm on. In some cases the other people are not ready and in some I'm not ready.

Okay, I’m thinking of jumping in Hawaii while on vacation. I wee there are 2 DZ’s right next to each other on the north shore of Oahu. I have heard that one is basically all tandems and the other is a more well rounded DZ. I’d like to know peoples vies of where a licensed skydiver should go. Also, how are the winds, etc. I hear they can be pretty high. Should I plan on arriving in the early morning or late afternoon or does it matter. I plan on going in late July.

Any input is appreciated. Feel free to PM me if you don’t want to post to the board.

Blue skies,
Ron

Bill,

It was great to have you out at the DZ this weekend and it was a pleasure meeting you. It’s sad I spent so much time on this board that I knew your license number. Heck, I forget mine sometimes but I remembered yours! Thanks for sharing some of your adventures with us all. I for one just love hearing about the pioneering days of the sport.

And to Kim and all the rest of you guys and gals in for the TSL it was a pleasure meeting ya’ll. It’s nice to have new friends up to our DZ and get to chat and jump with you all. Next time we’ll arrange for better weather though!

Blue Skies,
Ron

Nicely done...

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If I'm not mistaken, isn't the proper procedure to pull Red before pulling Silver? If he had done that, maybe there wouldn't have been such a mess at hand...who knows....it's what I've learned, anyway.

Read the SIM.

I only took a cursory look at the SIM (as I can’t spend ALL day surfing skydiving web sites at work) but here is what I get.

SIM 4,B,C,5,b If the pilot chute can’t be located after two tries or if deploying the pilot chute results in a partial malfunction, cut away and deploy the reserve.

I’d love someone to quote me the section saying on a partial mal, specifically a PC in tow, that you don’t cutaway. The only case I can think of that this makes sense is below 1,000 when you just have to have something anything above you and don’t have time to cutaway.

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isn't the proper procedure to pull Red before pulling Silver?

That is not at all agreed to be the proper procedure.

Here's a link to the PD and army study of 2 out scenarios.
It is arguable how it applies to different sized or smaller, high performance canopies, but it is a starting point for real knowledge rather than conjecture.

http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/dualsq.pdf

As I read his post you are missing the point. It's not what happened after the 2 out like the army study addresses but the fact that with a PC in tow he did not cut away. I was taught that with ANYTHING out you cut away before going to your reserve just because you run the risk of having an intanglement or 2 out otherwise.

Good for you! Now hurry up and get your A license so you can have some real fun!

Good for you. My first year is up in late August. It has been a great ride too. The people, the fun, the fact that everyone I know thinks I'm a bit daft. More than anything I appreciate how the high time jumpers have taken my under their wing and taught me about the sport. I just can't say enough about them.

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First, I have read the manual. It does not explain how to add missing jumps;

Sure it does, but let me help you through it.

1. Perform ACCESS.
2. Press MODE untill you get to the logbook page.
3. Press SET three times. Wait for the jump totals to begin flashing.
4. Press Set to move the total up by one (hold to add more than one) releasing set and pressing it again will make the jump total move down.
5 Press mode when jump totals are correct.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for Hours, then minutes, and then seconds of freefall.
7 Press mode one more time to end the procedure.

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So great, it is no help.

Try page 18 in the manual. RTFM.

Thanks the the feedback. I read this page. This discussed INITIAL setup. So you saying next jump will be the correct number 2 above the last loged jump, even if I change the totals? I guess we'll see since i already did it.

Okay, I did a hop n pop last week and did not reset my breakoff. I exited below my first breakoff alarm and the Protrack did not register the jump. Not a big deal but I would like to “add” the jump to my Protrack as I like it being correct on jump numbers and freefall time.

First, I have read the manual. It does not explain how to add missing jumps; it suggest that jumps and cumulative time be input before you start using it. So great, it is no help.

Has anyone just gone into the setup and edited the total jump numbers and time? Will it be smart enough to continue to associate the correct info with the jumps in which they actually occurred or will it just muck it up? I can always delete all the data and start from scratch but I’d prefer not to. There has to be a way to add a jump without ruining all the historical data.

Blue Skies,
Ron

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4. I'm not special, and you are not either...No one is. The ground does not care if you meant to do something else...It only cares what happened.

Ron this is the wisest thing you've said on dz.com. do you mind if I borrow this one?

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Edited for the hell of it, addressed to anyone: If you value your rigger, next reserve purchase get a white reserve with red stitching. Heck he's the only guy who sees it anyway and custom colors are just confusing.

Funny, my rigger (who helped me pick out my gear) said he hates white reserves as they are harder to inspect. He said to get a yellow reserve.

Well, take your Dr.'s advice seriously. As far as concussions go you do run a risk of biffing a landing and wacking your head or having a collision in freefall. My biggest concern would be a hard opening though. I’ve had 1 and I’m pretty sure I got a mild concussion (I saw stars which is typically indicative of a concussion), the whiplash and bruises on my legs and chest and shoulders and the like sucked too. A friend of mine had a VERY hard opening this past weekend, the hardest of his 3,000 jumps. He was knocked unconscious and came to under canopy drifting away from the DZ, shortly before landing. If he was knocked unconscious he did get a concussion.

It is up to you and your Dr. to discuss the likelyhood of a mild concussion and its effects on your body but this is NOT a riskless sport. If you jump long enough you will have a hard opening.

Best of luck to you!

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Id even go two or three days in a row of being out there around 8hrs and not get a single jump even though they sent load after load of tandems and funjumpers up.

Now to be fair tandems and fun jumpers don't have a 14mph wind limit like students do. this happens all the time at my DZ but it is explained to the students. Is this a possable explaination??

Um why do you only go up to 9+ days on the scale? Hell I probably spent 20, 30 or more days at the DZ siting and waiting. I was there on days when the instructors thought I was crazy because the weather was soooo bad it didn’t look like anyone was going to jump all day, high winds and thunderstorms combined with low clouds. Of course some of those days there was a few hour window of good weather. ;-)

My favorite quote from an instructor was, “I can’t guarantee you the weather will be good enough for you to jump today, but I can guarantee that if you aren’t here that you will NOT be able to jump”.

Ron (who skydiving has taught to be patient with the weather)

Well, it is totally up to the Tandem master and possibly the video guy too. Most TM’s won’t think about it unless you have 500 jumps AND both he and the video guy are comfortable with your flying skills and common sense in the air. I‘ve known guys with more than 500 jumps that were new to a DZ be refused when they requested to jump with a friend doing a tandem. I was honored when a TM granted me permission to jump with a friend even though I only had 75 jumps! The TM was one of my instructors and knew me and my skill level and more importantly my common sense in the air well. He gave me a 15 minute lecture (it was a slow day) about safety, the drogue (touch it and you die and maybe kill everyone else too), who’s life’s he was there to protect, the camera man, what to do it I fell low, etc. He said to get on level and 10 feet out and if he was comfortable he would waive me in to dock. He waived me in but I did not approach as I was nearing my breakoff altitude and I decided to be conservative and just waive. A month later I had another friend do a tandem and I was invited to come in and dock.

There are some guidelines such as 500 jumps, etc. but the only factor that matters in the end is if the TM says you can. If he knows you and is comfortable with you, you might be allowed to jump with them and come in and dock. Don’t get your feeling hurt if he says no, however. His job is to protect the passenger on the tandem ride and a low timer complicates matters.

BTW: I had a friend do a tandem at a DZ I was visiting and did not even dare to ask to jump with them just to manifest on the same plane and enjoy the plane ride up. Don’t underestimate this either. My friend said it was the coolest thing ever to watch me jump out of the plane a few people before her! Until she jumped out and then THAT was the coolest thing ever!

Ha, I fell your pain. I paid a packer the first 40 jumps on my new ZP. Only after that, having dragged it threw a desert and a swamp a few times did I even try and pack it myself.

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I know this is a strange question, but anyway: If the odds for a normal cutaway are like 1:600, what will the odds be for a main (or reserve) carefully packed by a rigger having a malfunction? I think reserve mal's must be extremely rare.. is it just me?

Good question. I've wondered about it myself. A main is stuffed in a bag in about 10 minutes. A reserve is loveingly prepared and packed. My rigger says he spends about 2 hours on a reserve repack; I'm sure some do it faster though. Hmm, 10 minutes to stuff it in the bag vs. 2 hours. I think the reserve is much less likely to have a mal.

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I did the same yesterday, and I have to show for it is a little bruised...............ego.

Ha, Ha, Ha. Ross you got that on video?

Love ya bro,
Ron

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Bill ain't gonna pull the handles for you.......save your own arse......always been the rules......

I have to pull my own handles? Shit I wish someone would have told me that. I thought it was kind of like a magical autopilot!

Seriously, obelixtim the point is that when I pull the handles I want the best and most appropriate gear being activated and for my experience level and after EXTENSIVE discussions with a master rigger a V3 with a skyhook was the best choice.

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Please note that the above letter about RSL's from the Relative Workshop was prior to the introduction of the Skyhook RSL. The Skyhook was designed to remove most, if not all of the "problems" associated with conventional RSL's. The Relative Workshop now recommends Skyhook RSL's to all customers, regardless of experience level. Jumpers who do a lot of CReW might be the only exception.

I’m a low timer ~ 125 jumps and I researched RSL’s and the Skyhook prior to buying my rig. I bought a new Vector 3 for a lot of reasons but the Skyhook was one of them.

Thanks Bill, I trust my life to you!

Well it was my first jump. So far it has led to a obsessive habit that has cost me $17,000 in less than a year.

LOL, my friend that posted this to his web site show me the stats from his web page. It looks like 1,477 people around the world have downloaded this video!

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I was fortunate for two reasons, 1 - I jump at what is arguably one of the friendliest DZs - Skydive Elsinore, 2 - a lovely lady at the DZ (Mel Curtis) saw that this clique of low time jumpers cowering in the corners of the DZ needed a helping hand to grow into the jumpers they wanted to be so she came up with the idea for the Excel program.

Yea for Mel!