Reginald

You willl find like everyone else the tunnel is a humbling thing. Once you progress to a sit you will find that you are all over the place bouncing into walls, etc. You never knew in the air how much you were washing around. Best advice is to take it slow and follow the advice of the staff. They've done it all personally and seen it done thousands of times too. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

On a tandem that gets to pull at 5,000. Not likely to have that much time on a sport jump "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Yeah that is a totally different situation though. I see a lot of people that think a hook knife is the only way to deal with a reserve line over. It's not and I'm trying to get people to think about it a little. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Why do you think a hook knife is for a reserve line over? Which is a popular thought on this board, btw. What other ways are there to try and clear a line over? What other uses are there for a hook knife? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Cool! What a wonderful story. I wish I could have been there to see it. So I guess this whole 'see who is better by skydiving' thing is superior to the previous idea of awarding medals based on who has the hottest looking team. Although it might have worked for a tie breaker. Again, congratulations to both teams.

Both are great but Elsinore is in my personal opinion more welcoming to low time jumpers. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Can i guess that Static Line is the only form of instruction he offers/is capable of offering? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

How do you feel about a 170 main and a 143 reserve? If you only feel comfortable flying a 170 main at this point in your skydiving career, why do you feel a 143 reserve is a good idea? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

So I take it you are trying to stuff a main in a container the manufacturer says is too small so you can do two downsizes of canopies in the future instead of one and still use the same container? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

That's fucked up. Yes it is but this DZ had a recent fatality where the jumper was under the influence. He died in the front yard of a family. We can get upset about the "bad press" but there is some truth to it. This DZ has had several fatalities that due to it's proximity to populated areas were highly visible to local citizens. How do we think the locals are going to react? More and more DZ's are having this issue. My home DZ moved a few years ago another 20 miles out of the city because the city was encroaching on it’s airport. The old airport is now smack dab in middle of suburbia. Good thing it moved. I was at Elisnore recently, they are working through local development issues too. One of the people on my team had a cutaway and was told, “if it goes into ‘that’ neighborhood it’s not safe to go in after dark looking for it.” Um great, not just development but crime ridden areas nearby. Our sport does have to deal with development encroaching on formerly isolated DZ’s. We can always say “we were here first” but that does not solve the problem, real or perceived. The inevitable fatalities that will occur in this sport are tragic enough when they happen at isolated airports and only skydivers have to witness them. They are both tragic and a PR problem when they occur in the front yard of a family or near a busy suburban street where others have to see them. A simple “we were here first” mantra won’t solve the problem. What the solution is I can’t say but this is a problem many DZ’s around the country face. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Unfortunately, you are seeing the hard cold reality of this sport, people die and get horribly injured sometimes changing their life’s forever. Some people delude themselves into thinking this is a safe sport. It is not. The risks can be reduced if one is smart about the chances they take. What kind of gear one chooses, what winds they sit down in, why kind of jumps they engage in, etc. are all important factors. I personally think the most dangerous trap is complacency. Just because a person gets away with something one time, or one hundred, does not mean they will get away with it the one hundred and first time. This sport is about calculated risks, choose wisely. I’ve had the displeasure of seeing several people die, most through mistakes, one even though he did everything right. Inevitability after a fatality, someone always says they are quitting the sport. I believe these are the people that had deluded themselves in the first place into thinking this is not a dangerous sport. Everyone that jumps should understand and accept that this sport is dangerous and any of us can die at any time, even if we do everything right. Man, I’m sounding like the grim reaper maybe I need to go grab a beer. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

See a Dr. and get x-rays. It could be any number of things including a spine issue manifesting itself with the symptoms you describe. You could be out a day to a year; get it professionally checked out. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Welcome to our world. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

So how does this gear fit into a canopy downsizing progression, as outlined by your instructors? What are you jumping now, what size is this? What size do you expect to be jumping in another 20 jumps and why? One of the key benefits to rental gear for students is that allows for a steady downsizing as canopy training objectives are met. It would be very highly unusual for someone to use the same gear right off AFF through getting an A license. Typically someone might downsize several times in this time frame and possibly change canopy type. Honestly, I would more concerned with getting appropriate gear for the remainder of your student jumps that will allow you to properly learn canopy control than I would be with a “return on my investment”. The best return on your investment you will ever have is learning canopy control. I strongly suggest talking to your instructors about if this gear will allow you to do that and follow their advice. This gear might be great for this purpose or maybe not. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I was honored to have Jay as my AFF Course Director. He is one of the most honorable men and best human beings I’ve ever met. He is a paradigm of honor; a shining example of the best qualities the US Special Forces aspire to be. He is 50 years old but is in better shape than just about any person I have every known. His skydiving skills are just about unparalleled. He literally has every rating possible. I forget if he is over 14,000 or 15,000 jumps but few people in the world have as many. I asked him about how many hours of tunnel time he has. His reply was, “I can’t remember how many thousands of hours.” Jay is an absolute machine. The only things that will keep him from this record are those outside of his control, plane turnaround times, weather, gear packing, etc. He is in my opinion the most solid component of the system. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I am. We see continued reports of Vigils firing when they should not; this is a defect in the algorithm. It is important for a device like this not only to fire when I should but to also refrain from firing when it should not. There are WAY to many cases of Vigils firing in circumstances that are obviously not related to an actual skydive; the device should be smart enough to understand the difference. No device is perfect and there could always be unique cases that fool even a well-designed AAD. I’m sure Cypres went through the same thing but that was a decade ago they have it figured out now. The Cypres 2 is rock solid. Vigil is not. Moreover Vigil has as much admitted the product is severely defective in that it says, ‘it is producing a “new” Vigil with less “inconveniences”. The more bizarre part is that since there is no factory required maintenance the units in the field now will most likely never get the software update, i.e. fix, the “new” Vigils will have. Yet, Vigil still advertises no “required” factory maintenance as a “feature”. Here again Cypres got it right. Oh, I better be careful or Vigil will start writing letters saying that “there are some intentional comments in various forums trying to spread rumors or make speculations as facts in order to destroy Vigil image in the mind of skydivers.” I think this is what bothers me the most. This is one of the most unprofessional statements from a company I’ve ever read. I’ve worked in the business world a long time and had to deal with all sorts of problems. It’s one of the most fundamental tenets of good corporate behavior and communication not to lash out at customers or critics. What an absolute bush league thing to do. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Here is a great source for learning http://www.uspa.org/publications/SIM/2006SIM/SIM.htm "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Why are you worrying about buying a rig yet? Seriously think about waiting until you are MUCH closer to getting your license. Also, neither of those rigs are particularly well suited to free flying. Don’t fall into the trap of buying something for the sake of buying something, or because it is available. Wait and find the right rig that truly meets your needs. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Not I. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

You apparently haven't seen "Cutaway." It's all about the tunnel time baby! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Ah you're right it says not to "tuck the nose into the center cells." "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Yeah, I’m with Butters on this one. A person doesn’t have to do 2k exits to practice emergency bailouts. Every hop n pop I do I practice pulling right after I pass the tail of the plane. My canopy normally takes 800 feet to open at terminal. I know for a hop n pop I loose less than 400 feet. I’ve done dozens and dozens of hop n pops from 3 to 5k. The lowest I’ve actually ever gotten out of a plane is 2,500 feet, however. I’ve pitched at terminal at 2,000 plenty of times, not that I’m a fan of it honestly, but for various reasons it had to be done. Am I comfortable exiting at 2K in needed? Sure. Why? Because I practice up higher. Am I comfortable exiting below 2k in a true emergency? Yes. Do I need to practice 2k exits to be comfortable with them? No. Honestly, at a turbine DZ they can't get the plane turned around fast enough to get back over the DZ at 2k so it’s kind of a moot point. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I like this one better #37 Normal Fire Activation in a car and these #30 and #31 Normal Fire Activation Depressurized Cabin and this one too #25 Normal Fire Vigil ON when travelling... I guess they have a pretty liberal interpertation of "normal fire" "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

As someone else said, why? You do know the manufacturer specifically says NOT to do this on a sabre2, right? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP