mattjw916

My container Mirage G4 (M8 Model) was designed to hold a 280 main with the option to go up or down 1 size they told me. So if I start with the 260 and that's already 1 size down is that bottom skin fabric gonna make things to loose?I don't think that will be a problem. The sizing chart has down to a 9-cell full ZP 230 for an M8 listed as "soft" so a hybrid 260 should fit just fine. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

What hassle? If you don't want to pull down your slider put the "hats" on them... http://parachutistonline.com/safety_training/ask_a_rigger/soft-links-regular-links NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Closing in on 10 years without a chop but I took some breaks here and there... closest I came was on a Jedei 150 I had briefly. Most of my jumps are on Safire 1s and Nitrons with a bunch of other stuff thrown in... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Javelin Odyssey... seriously there's no debate between those two... just don't over-stuff it... I prefer Mirages but if I wanted a rig with a Skyhook, a cozy harness, lots of color choices, and a delivery time shorter than the age of the universe, the Javelin wins... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I'd suggest opening the visor after clearing your airspace and collapsing your slider under canopy... the visor is definitely not optically correct. Try it out sometime. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

meh, I wouldn't choose a rig solely based on the type or availability of a skyhook... there are other design features that are higher up on my priority list most low cutaway related fatalities could largely have been prevented by either just not going low to begin with or simply having a RSL installed (and actually attached to a riser) NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Unless they're taking a wrap with the brake lines I don't see any harm in telling someone to "flare all the way down" which just means "finish the flare" in my mind... not slam down the toggles to the point where you're landing on your back... Have you tried to stall a modern canopy? And by that I mean until it bow-ties behind you and depressurizes? It's not really something you can do with a simple stroke of the toggles. At this point I would just assign this book as homework and call it a day:http://www.bigairsportz.com/publishing.php#parachute NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

"professional" Step 1 in "clearing" a weapon is removing the goddamn magazine. A better troll caption for that video is "A Registered Democrat Conducts Gun Safety Training" NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Just "walking off" isn't very constructive though. Anyone with more than a handful of jumps should understand if there's going to be a fall-rate disparity. Part of organizing larger jumps is aligning fall-rates and dressing for success. New freeflyers seem to fail at this more frequently than the RW crowd (which is why it's important to not neglect the basics in the rush to get on your head). Even if you have an insane range of speed you aren't going to want to fly maxed out one way or the other though... small people need fast suits and/or lead and the anvils need some drag. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I use it on my Surface Pro... major improvement over 8 which was basically shit. Still leaves a lot to be desired but 8.2 should see the return of the full Start menu and other things since 8 was such a total failure versus 7's launch. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I used a Suunto Vector successfully back in the day.... a Viso is easier to read though and a better choice. Despite being a "watch" it actually worked quite well within the limitations in the manual (need to "zero" it manually). Honestly I hardly ever use a visual altimeter in freefall other than a quick glance after tracking away and rely primarily on my audible (and other skydivers) as reference. A Suunto was fine for filling that role and for timing hook turns, etc... YMMV... I wouldn't recommend it for any one new to the sport though so plan accordingly. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

the sample size is really far too small for those numbers to really mean much... Dirty Harry said it best, "A man's got to know his limitations." and if you're trying to push your limits on every jump, swoop, whatever... chances are you're going to find them at some point... add ego, drugs, fatigue, poor conditions, lack of currency, etc on top of that and you've just added yourself to the "circling the drain" group regardless of how many standard deviations above or below the norm you fit in... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Screw passing a barbie in freefall... real men pass the Concrete Rebound Hammer!!! Upon landing a single-malt scotch must be consumed (preferrably Laphroaig) and something must be either set on fire or broken/smashed in the landing area (bones are permitted, but not encouraged). NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

ah, the age old question... Q: Why do you jump from perfectly good airplanes? A: The door was open. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

you don't need to preregister, just show up and have fun IIRC generally balloon jumps recommend at least a B license level of experience (50 jumps) since you will be landing off the DZ... slots fill up very fast during the boogie so call ahead and have someone pencil you in for a particular day if you feel you'll be ready by then or you might miss out. I don't remember ever hearing about restrictions on Stearman jumps other than "don't try to hang from the plane and drop off when it's inverted if you have bad shoulders..." NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Think about it like this: You've spent less than 20 min in freefall and took over a month off between jumps. What other skill in life would you expect to be "perfect" at if you spent less than 20 minutes practicing it and then took a month off? Bumping into someone on exit isn't really "dangerous". It's just a fact of life on RW jumps. I got literally karate-chopped in the face on exit recently, it happens... just deal with it and continue with the skydive (because you really have no choice in the matter once you leave the plane). Doing tunnel isn't mandatory but it will reduce the performance pressure of freefall. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

just buy it... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

MOAR! NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

um, thanks for sharing NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

it's not really the best choice if you want to go down the swooping path... short recovery arc and all... probably better off trying a Crossfire2 or Nitron if you're looking for a performance increase from a Sabre2 without going completely bonkers NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[inline ronburgundy.jpg] NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Not really. Like people said, it varies by DZ and often the instructor's discretion as well. Single-sided release jumps (similar to an AFF level 4) are far more common based on what I've seen for a heads-up student (or even licensed jumper) that became uncurrent after an abbreviated ground school. I've even seen people with fewer jumps than me just go on a random freefly jump with an AFF-I as their recurrency jump. While this might make some people's heads explode, it probably isn't uncommon in the real world. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

If the gear is well-maintained I'd have no problem barrel-rolling/flipping until I puked all over myself whether it's an RTS, Telesis, or whatever... I learned on "old" Telesis rigs and clearly I'm still alive. I'm less concerned with type or age of the gear, although I have my personal preferences, than I am with how well it is/was taken care of. Since the OP did have a premature... clearly something was amiss. Parachutes aren't supposed to auto-magically deploy themselves, obviously. The rig doesn't care how/why you ended up on your back doing 150+mph or whether you call it a bad attempt at a classic style jump, freeflying, or just randomly tumbling out of control... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

you shouldn't make canopy size decisions at your experience level based on the ability to penetrate winds... reason being if you have to take a down-winder on a hot day you are now totally f$Ck3d and coming in like a meteor (relatively speaking) choose a canopy that you can land safely anywhere and then when the winds get shitty, take a break and jump later NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

to obscure the fact that most people don't secure their excess brake lines in a safe manner... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080