Reginald

Not on purpose. Just a squirly exit..... "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

This one is from my cert course. Look...now look again. What could go wrong?!? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Vote for my new PD reserve's color! The off the shelf options are White, Yellow or Light Blue (already have one this color). A rigger once told me to get Yellow, as it is easier to inspect the stitching. Any of you riggers have a preference for reserve colors? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Well, the issue is not "that it did not function as designed" but instead that it did function as designed but was misdesigned! It is not speculation that they misfired. What does the manual say about using it in a pressurized aircraft? That would be interesting reading. If it says to not use it in a pressurized aircraft than many people made a mistuke using it on the record. You are right we need more info. But the one thing we can say is that Vigils MIS-fired, Cypres I's found somthign that made them think there was a problem and asked for service and that Cypres II's handled it without a problem. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Sorry I have to totally disagree with you on this one. The Vigil’s MIS-fired because their algorithm was not sophisticated enough to understand that they were in a situation inconsistent with free fall. I assume the pressure changing too fast was the issue and the AAD’s would be seeing something like this  (passing through 750 feet at 800MPH). The Vigil fired, the Cypres I said “my sensors don’t seem to be functioning properly please check me out” and the Cypres II said, “Hmm, this is not a possible skydiving scenario so I’m not going to fire” And yes before anyone gets on my case I’m making up the 800MPH as an example we don’t know what the real numbers were. Sorry the Vigil’s just plan misfired! It’s a shame we didn’t have a test of an Argus too! This incident makes me more comfortable that I have a Cypres II! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Is this what your instructors told you? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Well since you already ordered it does anyone's opinion matter? You'll love it. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Well it was the Brits, you know how they like everything to be orderly. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

When I do hop n pops I get my second tone going off (which is set for 3,000) if I'm doing hard turns. I have never had the final flatline go off though. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

I ordered new gear off student status. I did not like any of the used options and good used gear is not that much cheaper than brand new gear. With brand new gear the harness was guaranteed to fit perfect and I have no worries about the condition of the gear. 800 jumps later I still jump the same container, just with one downsize in canopy. I’m very happy with my decision to buy new gear off student status. If you think you are going to downsize canopies several times in short order (which is a bad idea anyway) new gear is a less attractive option. I do have a new set of gear on order for yet another downsized canopy (still at a very conservative WL for my jump numbers a 1.35) and I plan on keeping my current gear so I have 2 sets (double backs here I come!) "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Well, it's not required for an instructor to jump with a person compleating the requirment so i doubt that is it. It just needs to be loged. Maybe they want a person to show the skills personally as opposed to being "base" for a group of expierenced skydivers to dock on. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Texas has high winds too…the more jumps I get the lower my wind limits are. 30 MPH? No way for me! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

True, but its more fun to blame me for not knowing what day the superbowl was Yeah, and some other joker was hanging around like a fool too. Superwhat? Is Airspeed in it? No. Oh, I’ll just hangout here at the DZ then. Seriously, for anyone that missed it, Ron did a great job of talking a team through all the random exits and the block moves. This is stuff people pay good money for and he was giving it away FREE! Ron (the nicely dressed one). "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

We teach in a downplane to “cut away immediately.” Even under student gear it is at best on the margin of being a survivable landing. What we teach students they will carry with them into their years as a sport jumper, so they better be taught to cutaway because on normal sport gear a downplane is a killer. As for the chances of an entanglement almost be definition with a downplane the risers are well separated. This is not the case necessarily for a side by side, however. As for getting a downplane “back together” the chances are close to nil. By definition the canopies are creating a self-sustaining situation. There is a slight chance it might happen but not something I’d bet my life on. Long story short, “downplane – cutaway immediately!” "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Glad you lived, now spend the next month thinking that an experienced jumper was telling you that you were about to do an unsafe jump and you did it anyway. You got away with it this time…. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Um, why don't you try calling the comapny and asking. You might bet a beter response 1 386 736 7589 "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Nicely done. How does ti feel to know you might have saved someones life? "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Why did you ask for people’s opinions if your reaction is to lash out at anyone that disagrees with your predetermined opinion? People that have a mind set such that they start with a conclusion, look for information to support their predetermined conclusion and ignore all evidence or options to the contrary tend not to fair well in this sport. You will learn better and faster if you become more open minded. the more you learn the safer you will be, which is your ultimate goal. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Great post. I think you made some good points and were honest that you made mistakes. Humans by nature make mistakes and you are a good man for posting your experiences so openly. One thing you said that bothers me was, “My “instinctive training” was to go bang-bang on the two handles, and I didn’t stop to realize that I had missed.” I see people practice their EP’s like this all the time and I believe they are ingraining bad habits on a critical process! It is NOT a race to see how fast one can pull the handles! It is a slow methodical process. Pull cutaway handle, confirm main is detached, pull reserve. All in all it should only take a couple of seconds. However, I see people go “bang-bang” in a half second all the time. Personally, I don’t advocate a two handed EP but I do believe it is acceptable. Whatever choice people make they need to practice their EP’s realistically not “bang-bang”! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Altimaster III and 2 Pro Tracks. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Many DZ's have a max weight of 220. Honestly, hiting the max weight only allows you to jump. It won't let you jump well. Heavy skydivers find the sport difficult for a number of reasons. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Good thing I've got time on my hands today. What a post! It's great to hear you thought the tunnel time was a benifit. I think the self confidence you got is probably invaluable...in addition to the air skills. It's great you passed L5 this weekend. Congrats!

I think I know your front center. How do ya'll keep him in a plane when it is below 4.5K? Oh he can go just not with me! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

If you got out the door at 4K and held it 10 seconds you were breaking off at 3k? And this is a good idea why? What were the actual exit and break off altitudes? Personally, my teams breakoff is 4K so even on bad weather days we won't exit below 4.5K. Time enough for a nice exit (5 seconds) and then breakoff at 4K. Track and pull by 3k. We won't try a team exit below 4.5k. "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

Just looks like a fun ride to me and a chance to practice a roll over too! "We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP