peregrinerose

Define 'better performance'. I'd also suggest not skipping a downsize... go with a 170 for a hundred jumps or so before moving to a 150. There's a really big difference in response, even from a 170 to a 150. I had a 150 SA2 and went to a 135, and it was like flying a completely different canopy. I since switched to a Nitro 120... but I got the Nitro at about 1000 jumps and knowing exactly what I wanted from a canopy (good glide, fairly fast recovery arc, swoopable when I felt like doing some marginally higher speed landings, amazing accuracy and the ability to land it in a back yard if necessary, good flare, consistent openings, fairly aggressive response, etc). Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

We have 3 dogs (all large breed), 4 cats, and a rabbit. I furminate the pups weekly, cats as frequently as they'll let me (not often) and sweep the floor daily. The mammals are all downstairs, which is entirely tile, so that really does help a lot with the mess. Furnature down there is all easily cleanable, no fabrics... it's our kitchen/dining area and office area. Upstairs is much nicer, and a no pet zone. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

My first canopy was a Sabre1 170, I put a few hundred jumps on it. My back up container now has a Sabre1 150, probably 40 jumps on that one. No complaints, no hard openings, no issues. I wouldn't use it as my primary canopy, as I'm hopelessly in love with my Nitro, but it's still a good canopy. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Yep, his name is actually Wookie. He has the crazy hair of a wookie with the wolfhound in him, and Chad finally started to cave on the puppy thing while we were watching Star Wars. He's about as coordinated as a Wookie as well. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Scott, he's going EVERYWHERE with me. My cattle dog is getting old and a little cranky, my other dane has bad knee arthritis/CCL injury, so they have to stay home. Wookie will be at the dropzone with us Sunday if you guys want to meet him. Leash training starts this week, so we'll not be having any of that 'who's walking who' thing or need roller skates. I have a great book on clicker training that is working beautifully. He knows his name, sit, and down, puppy push ups (back and forth from sit to down to sit...) working on house training, 'come' and leash training next! He's the sweetest dog ever, and I'm so glad my husband is letting me do all the work with him, so he's totally my dog. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I do volunteer work for a Great Dane rescue out of Pittsburgh, after having such a great experience adopting through them (Dane/Elkhound mix). Well, after serving as transition home for an elderly dane I adored and hated to move on to her permanent home two days after euthanizing our 12 year old Greyhound, we were down to 2 dogs. For the first time in 7 years. A transition dog was required, and the rescue I volunteer with happened to have a litter of puppies available. A week of convincing finallly got Chad to agree to it (he has subsequently turned to a puddle of man-goo over this pup). See the pics of Wookie, and look how HUGE those paws are!! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Why regret anything? The positive choices I've made have worked out well, and the mistakes I've made, I've learned from, so that ends up as a positive too. Life's too short to look backwards. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Why does it really matter if said person is full of crap or not? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

So you have three AFF jumps, which means a maximum of three minutes of freefall. Have you ever mastered a new skill in three minutes? I haven't. Most people haven't. Skydiving is all a head game, it has little to do with mechanics and everything to do with psychology. Allow yourself to learn, to be imperfect, to struggle, it's ok. That is what relaxing is. The constant mental tension of trying to be perfect in three minutes of experience isn't relaxing.

Uh, Chad and I both do the quick leg kick to ensure that the other guy sees us if it's fairly close proximity and we're not sure. I was taught that 8 years ago when I started jumping, so it's been around at least that long. I probably actually use it once a year on average, so it's not like everyone's wandering around the sky kicking like idiots, and I've found it to be very effective. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

My bf now husband jumped for 1.5 years before I started. I never complained about him being at the DZ. I only complained if he forgot to call me after he jumped to let me know he lived, because I was absolutely convinced that every DZ in the world was a place of dead people and carnage multiple times every weekend That said, I was at the DZ all weekend without him. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Well, if you are close to an A, you have roughly 25 minutes of freefall. Have you ever mastered anything in 25 minutes? Calculus? Riding a bicycle? Driving a car? Most people require a lot more than 25 minutes of practice to do anything well. Moral of the story, hang in there, relax, strive for perfection but don't expect it. They are your legs, you have to learn how to control them, and the only way to do that is to practice. Which seems to me like a damn good reason to jump more Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Just quoting you because this is phenominal advice. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

"Learning as much as you can in the meantime" translates to "AFF instructors having to un-teach certain things and start over" If you're going to learn to jump, go learn to jump.... that's what we are for, is to teach you everything you need to know. Clogging your brain in advance really isn't all that helpful at this point in your skydiving learning process. Tunnel is up to you. I can't say it is particularly important at this stage either, given that you haven't done any AFF jumps yet. You may not need tunnel time. Being klutzy is good thing... I'm clumsy as shit, which is why I took up skydiving. I've spent my entire life falling over nothing, so it only made sense to take my total lack of coordination but amazing ability to fall to the next level. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

It sounds like you've never had a low vision evaluation. I'd strongly recommend it. What we do is work with the vision you have and teach you how to maximize it. Even a little vision is helpful for things like mobility, etc, and there are ways to decrease the fluctuation in vision by being more aware of how to maneuver things like lighting, contrast, etc. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Damn, it's like pulling teeth to get a diagnosis out of you! As an AFF instructor, I have taught students with end stage retinitis pigmentosa, as well as other less than ideal vision. Could you seen an altimeter? If not you'll need 2 audible ones (one for freefall, one for canopy). I'd also recommend 2 radios in case one dies. Dan Rossi found that out the hard way once. How is your peripheral vision? Could you see another canopy in the sky? The more information you give, the easier it is to help. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

This particular student... no. This isn't the first time he's had issues with awareness overall, alti awareness, etc. That's the problem with armchair quarterbacking... I know the student involved, have made multiple jumps with this student, and know how he tends to respond (or not) in the case of stress or disorientation. In a generic scenario, you absolutely have valid points, and with another student I likely would have turned/tracked. With THIS student on THIS jump, what I did was appropriate. That's why the armchair quarterbacking is a good thing though... all the scenarios get discussed. All the options and possibilities get discussed. Conversations like this one are an asset to the sport and should happen more frequently. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I did NOT say he was looking at me... I said that I gave a signal. Those are two entirely different things. How many hand signals have you given to students that they were completely unaware of? As I have said repeatedly, he had no awareness below the 6K, and this was confirmed in the debrief. Me turning and tracking would have had no effect differently as he had no registration of where I was. It's ok to Monday morning quarterback... had I turned/tracked at 5500, and posted exactly this scenario, some on here would be telling me not to turn my back on an obviously unaware student, because if he suddenly decided to track in my general direction due to disorientation, the results could be fatal in that particular instance (and this is exactly why I did not turn/track, and I would do the same thing in the same situation again). To me... directly watching an unaware student and maintaining an appropriate separation is safer than turning/tracking, potentially losing sight of said student, and setting both of us up for an in air or canopy collision. This is also a lesson that has been learned in blood, and I prefer that it not be mine that ends up shed. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

What is the diagnosis? Light perception? I don't ever take 'blind as a bat' as an answer... too many of my macular disease patients walk in saying that and walk out reading a newspaper, I just want to make sure that any information I give is actually appropriate to you. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I agree... if the student is aware of the instructor. In this particular instance, from the time he inverted, there was no awareness at all of where I was, no look at altimeter, it was that glazed look we've all seen on students from time to time. This was confirmed on the ground in debrief. Another opinion is that if the student sees you beat feet and deploy, it'll trigger them to do the same. Every student knows (should know) a track signifies the end of the skydive. If they see you backsliding, they may think the skydive is still in progress, and not recognize the urgency to deploy. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Of course...and also remember how many times in training we are told 'this is what you do for the course, but in real life.... ' There is no way in hell I'm turning my back on an unaware student and tracking. I'm going backslide to a safe distance where I can keep an eye on him, both for my safety and for his own feedback at the end of the coach jump. For the record, those on the ground thought I actually had tracked away due to the separation between us. It was one of those high cloud days where it's easy to see bodies in freefall. The looks on people's faces as we walked in from that jump were absolutely priceless... lots of concern and the S&TA had witnessed the low pull... he definitely handled the situation well. To the student's credit, he also handled the follow-up talks very well... he messed up, but is completely the type that will learn from it and move on and be a better skydiver for it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I disagree with you on this one. It's not possible for a coach to give pointers on tracking if the bottom of one's feet rather than one's eyes are directed at the student. At 5500, I was there (as I should have been given that it was HIS job to turn/track, and it's my job to know exactly what he's doing and when... If I'm not watching him, I can't give feedback), from 4500 down I was backsliding, still watching him... and nowhere near him, with plenty of separation for safe canopy deployment in the event he actually did pull on time. Edited to add... here's a review of Cat G coach jumps, which very specifically states that the coach stays in place and observes the track. This student had no awareness at all of where I was from the time he flipped at 6K down... so tracking/hand signals/pulling all are irrelevant when the student is completely unaware. http://www.uspa.org/SIM/Read/Section4/CategoryG/DiveFlows/tabid/237/Default.aspx Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Define 'blind'. I'm an AFF instructor, and a low vision rehabilitation optometrist. 'Blind' is a pretty broad range, from no light perception to 20/400, to 20/20 vision with no peripheral, so more information would be helpful. Dan's a great resource as others have posted. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

One of the hardest things for me is taking off the AFFI hat and putting on the coach hat in cases like this. A vast majority of my jumps now are AFF, so when I do the occasional coach jump, the instinct is to get right in there when the student brain farts. I had a coach student recently... The last dock, he reached, flipped on his back, about 6K. He was supposed to turn/track at 5500. He was belly down about 4500, I gave him an altimeter signal, but he was frazzled and didn't see it. He turned away from me and started to 'track' just above 3500 (at which point I pulled, hoping he'd see me deploy since his track was anything but straight). Every instinct was to chase him down, and give him 'pull' or pull for him. That is not the role of coach, however. He ended up pulling about 2300. When we landed, I was hoarse from screaming 'pull' at him as I watched him keep going, and my sphincter was definitely twitching. I now owe beer as this is the first student I've had dump low. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You seem to be addressing pain as the reason people would want assisted suicide. That is actually quite low on my list of reasons to want assisted suicide. If my mind is gone, I am no longer me, I am no longer happy, my mind is on it's way out, my body is failing with no realistic hope of recovery, I do not want to be a burden on my family or society as a whole. I also don't want to merely exist. If I'm not truly living, it's time to let me go... and THAT is why I believe assisted suicide should be legal. Pain has nothing to do with it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda