Jill_UK

ok that makes me paranoid, i have a Pilot 188 and a smart 175...

yeh skydiving is dangerous, there's no point disputing it, if you dont know what you're doing, you could die simple as that... you shouldn't take this fact for granted and for that reason you should try and learn everything you can (you'll gain more confidence when you do your ground school for AFF and know what to do in emergency situations, learn more about the equipment etc.), follow the advice of your instructors and dont take stupid risks and you should be ok... putting all that aside i dont regret taking up skydiving for a moment, i've had the best year of my life (which doesnt say much as im only 19) and in my mind the benefit outweighs the risk...

UK winter isnt that bad! i did quite a lot of jumping last winter and yeh it wasnt exactly nice but wear a half decent pair of gloves and it's all good!!

Hi, I'm planning to spend a few days in Perris 1-5th November bit I'm yet to work out how to get there... I'm flying from the UK to LA international and i dont drive, i was told to contact supershuttle but apparently they dont go there anymore and i dont think there is any public transport. does anyone know anyone that does transfers from LA International to Perris?

cool, what DZ?

yeh Nav 280 so it wasnt the end of the world, its all good i went back a couple of months later and did my AFF and a year later i have 123 jumps, B licence, FS1, canopy course and some freefly coaching done...

i didn't flare for my first 7 jumps, surprisingly enough i got grounded but managed not to get hurt...

probably the time i crashed into a concrete wall, or the time i narrowly avoided a moving combine harvester, or the times (yes, i did it twice) i crashed into trees, my canopy control needs some work

not really, initially i thought it would get cheap after AFF, then when i had my FS1 out of the way, and then when i got my gear, then when i did a canopy course, then when i got some FF coaching out of the way, then when i got my B licence so jump tickets got cheaper and that's where i'm at now... ...no im trying to jump as much as possible, so i'm still spending loads and it wont be long before i start thinking about camera helmet, wingsuits etc. and theres always boogies to go to etc. it will get cheaper, but you'll always want to do more...

I was really put off from going to Headcorn after all the abuse that it seems to get, even though it is technically our local DZ... The first time we went there we arrived at 3pm (in the middle of winter) and even though we had less than 30 jumps at the time, they were really welcoming, gave us a DZ brief and we were on a load within an hour! I've been there loads of times since then and I've always felt welcome. Everyone's always been helpful, giving us advice and packing lessons and that kind of thing... To be fair i haven't been to many DZ's but as a newbie i've experienced nothing but good things...

that's exactly what i did last year... I finished my AFF in Spain in September and then spent most weekends in the winter at Headcorn... if you're at the DZ enough, you'll get to jump eventually... i jumped enough to stay fairly current and went to spain every few months to get some more jumps in... it seemed to work for me...

im been more than happy with both Headcorn and Lillo... as I said before I'm a newbie so I don't have much to judge on, but Headcorn is my closest DZ and I've never had any problems... you may as well give Headcorn a go, if you dont like it you dont have to go back...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Life-Saving-DOES-IT-ALL-FOR-YOU-Skydiving-Gadget-CREEPS_W0QQitemZ7176648586QQcategoryZ106980QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I was 16 when i did a tandem, 18 when i did AFF and now im 19 with 114 jumps... i was thinking that i started quite early but apparently not!

that's probably the reason to be fair :) I'm very happy with my Wings and i was one of the people that gave it a 5* review... it is really comfortable; but for me it's the first rig i've jumped thats custom made and articulated so surprisingly enough it fits really well... it is really well made and in my opinion looks really nice (see attachment) and the customer service was very good... when i was looking at prices Wings was quite a lot cheaper than a lot of other options, which helps! but as i said it's my first rig, so i probably would have been happy with anything :) edit- apparently uploading an attachment is complicated in my world...

they won't cover my rig out of Europe for more than 2 months and i am going travelling for 10 months, so it isnt much good...

I know there are endless posts on this but I can't find anything that helps in this situation... basically i want to get my rig insured and I'd planned to do it through my contents insurance (Nationwide), I plan to get confirmation that the container, main, reserve and cypres are classed as seperate items and to make sure they are itemised on the policy and that should all be good... but the problem is that i am going travelling for about 10 months starting in November and Nationwide won't cover it out of Europe for more than 2 months... Harrison Beaumont and AXA apparently dont insure rigs anymore... i'm probably going to get the travel insurance through Endsleigh's extreme activity policy and the maximum claim you can do is £300 an item up to £1500, which obviously isnt gonna do much good... does anyone have any ideas?

I have a pro track in my pro tec, i've just held it in with a couple of bungies and it stays in place fine...

I havent got a phone number but if you PM mikew02 he should be able to help you as he runs freefall addicts with barry and lamorna if not you might be able to contact them via. skydive Lillo... as far as i know the freefall addicts email is working, well it was a few days ago anyway...

yeh i was, hi craig, hows life? you jumped since you got back? to be fair the rig is spotlessly clean in that pic but yeh i did stack it in on the first few jumps (it probably looked worst after i crashed into the concrete wall hehe) but the last 20 or so have been pretty good...

I got grounded on my AFF for basically not flaring for 7 jumps (my mate sprained her ankle pretty badly and she was flaring so they grounded me; narrowly avoiding a combine harvester, landing on a hard path, getting my canopy stuck in a tree and still not flaring probably helped in the decision!) i went to the gym and got some upper body strength and got contacts and went back a couple of months later to finish and all was good... i was completely gutted at the time but in hindsight it was a good call...

that might have been me lol not that, that was the only reason! I dont really know why i went for the wings over the icon, it was quite an impulse buy really, but i couldnt be happier with it! (see attachments...) and yes i went for the pilot and smart at well...

hi, just to reiterate what sneaky said the instructors at both Lillo and Letsgoskydive are complete legends! regardless of all the bitching and rumours going on I've had nothing but good experiences... I have nothing but respect for Dave, he did a lot of my earlier AFF jumps and really motivated me and gave me the confidence to progress in the sport (safely!). He really knows what he is doing and has always been there to give me advice and pep talks! Jordy is an excellent instructor he was very supportive during AFF and my first few jumps. he gave me endless amounts of advice, he helped me to increase my confidence no end and was generally a great person to be around! Barry did my last few AFF jumps and i bought my rig/jumpsuit through him. He got me out of a couple of tight spots on AFF (holding the throw away apparently isnt a good plan!) and was extremely patient with me. he is an excellent rigger and answered endless emails/calls when i was deciding what gear to get. Andy is an excellent AFF instructor who really helped me when i was working towards my FS1. He is a really good teacher and fun to be around... that's not mentioning how brilliant Mikey C was with my freefly coaching, Mike V with my FS1, Brian V with my canopy control, Luci B with my AFF and generally all of the instructors I've been taught by! they dont just give out ratings to anyone, they're all safety concious and are going to do everything they can to teach you what they know and keep you safe! i have loads of respect for anyone that is commited enough to get ratings and be an instructor, i know that i would have quit months ago if the people listed above hadnt been around to support me! any instructor will have given up a lot to be where they are and deserve more than to be treated like crap for no good reason...

well i only got back from Lillo like 3 weeks ago so cant really justify going back again lol... but it looks like it could be a good weekend here for a change! well he hasnt been doing any AFF for the best part of a year, so he isnt current, it's not exactly a big mystery...