ebusto

Anyone else with a GoPro notice any discoloration, primarily yellowing, of the unit? My girlfriend has been jumping one for the last couple of weeks, and it is starting to discolor. I jumped mine for the first time today, and it is already starting to discolor very slightly. I wash my hands much more frequently than a normal person should, but I suppose it might be oils from my skin.

I wear a Firefly suit currently. It has around 700 jumps and 60 hours of tunnel time, and is holding up quite well, all things considered. I should stop being lazy and replace the velcro on the legs. I'm going to get a replacement suit in the very near future, and Firefly is definitely a contender.

Where the hell do you people jump? Do you seriously not have anyone at your DZ that can belly fly well wearing a freefly suit? It's like an episode of the Twilight Zone.

I agree that it is easier to take leg grips, especially for the horizontal compressed and brouette, with grippers, but I've done all of the above (and seen many others at my friendly neighborhood wind tube) without grippers with absolutely no problem. If you can't take or launch a leg grip without grippers, then it is an issue of technique. Of all of the jump suits of serious freeflyers that I can think of, I can't think of a single one that has grippers. I'd love to see some video of people actually making use of them.

I wasn't trying to be contrary for the sake of being contrary, I simply disagreed with the message (and the tone) of the poster I was replying to. Belly flying in a freefly suit does not mean the skydive will be a disaster. Quite literally, I have never seen one freeflyer take a grip on the grippers of another freeflyer. Have you taken such a grip? You have a lot more jumps than I do, so perhaps I simply haven't encountered such a grip yet, and you have. I maintain the opinion that grippers on some freefly suits are so the suit can be used for both disciplines. If the OP is tight on funds and wants to spring for just one suit, a freefly suit is a valid option.

No, they're not. Freefly grips are taken on hands, arms, shins, feet, and heads. For reference: 4-way VFS dive pool: http://www.fai.org/parachuting/system/files/vfs_pool_2009.pdf 2-way VFS dive pool: http://www.gottunnel.com/NHTunnelMeet/2-WayVFSDivePoolv2.pdf I've never taken a grip on a jumpsuit gripper on a freefly jump, ever. I disagree. While you won't be doing competition 4-way, or serious big ways in a freefly suit, it is entirely possible to be a competent belly flier. Modern freefly suits aren't the baggy suits of yore. You may have a different definition of "zoo load" than I do, but I've done 10+ point 4-way, multiple point 8 to 10 ways, etc. in a freefly suit with no issues, in other words, completed as dirt dived.

I'm a regular at iFly SF Bay. By that I mean I fly there a couple of times a week on average. The instructors are great, in general. If you want my opinion on any of them individually when you get here, send me a PM. Explain that you're a skydiver when you go, and they'll gear your flying towards that. The tunnel is located by this huge shopping plaza with roughly one million restaurants, so there are no shortage of things to eat. There is also a hotel next door (Holiday Inn Express?). When you're not flying, you can go San Francisco, go skydive at one of the local dropzones, etc. http://wikitravel.org/en/Bay_Area

I vote that we kidnap Gareth and teach him to freefly, against his will if necessary.

Is anyone lined up to do freefly organizing? I asked on the Facebook event page, but it doesn't seem to get much traffic.

I've never been on a bigway. How is performing a barrel roll while tracking putting others at risk?

Let me preface this with the following: All of the cool kids log their jumps. It's the smart thing to do. There are, however, some of us that don't log their jumps. I quickly got out of the habit of logging because I felt uncomfortable asking people for their signatures. I use a Neptune and ProTrack to keep track of my jump numbers, and check the two at the end of the jumping day. Anyone have any experiences trying to jump at a new DZ without an up to date log book? Did the DZ call your home DZ, make you go up on a coach jump, tell you to go to hell, or none of the above? I've jumped at a few different DZs besides my home DZ, and have been lucky enough to not have a problem. I know this won't always be the case, and am curious if any others have been down this road.

I want to try yours when you get it. I've been eyeballing the Gas so I could ditch the prescription goggles and just wear my normal glasses inside a full face.

Getting kicked in the face is part of an important feedback mechanism. How else will your instructor convey that you have done something incorrectly? If you wear a full face, you neutralize this important learning tool. I recommend sticking with the open face helmet.

My cat is an excellent freeflyer. It is very difficult to find a tunnel suit manufacturer that will make a suit in that size and cut. You'll see us in the tunnel competition circuit soon. Keep your eyes peeled.

Clawed or Declawed? Since declawing is cruel, just wear gloves and a full face.

It is fast enough for VRW / head down, either solo or in groups.

I've hit the tunnel after a day of jumping on a few occasions. It wasn't any worse than flying after a normal eight hour work day.

I would very much like a 2 way event where one competitor from each team must be a cat. Please consider this. Thanks.

I don't see that as a problem. I'm glad skydiving isn't cool. People who want "cool" can go skateboard, or weave baskets under water, or whatever. If I had to rate how important the coolness factor of skydiving was to me, on a scale of 1 to 10, it would be -33. I like the various dropzones I've jumped at. They have airplanes, and other people who like to parachute from them. That's about all I care about. Foul language, skygods, unsupervised kids, that all adds color to the dropzone like a bit of pomegranate juice to a nice tall pitcher of lemonade. I don't think the sport is dying. Sure, there might be less people jumping this year than last year. It doesn't trouble me. As long as there are planes, pilots, and parachutes, the sport will live. Obviously the rising costs will drive some people out of the sport, but as long as we still know how to make nylon, there will always be skydiving. I would jump more if I had more time. I even converted my girlfriend to a skydiver. If I could get away with working less, then I could jump more than the day or two a week that I do.

I guess I don't have mad crazy "keep my big chunky goggles out of the relative wind" skills. I'll get there some day. In the meantime, lower profile works better, in my opinion. I also don't like my glasses squished into my face. The nose pad brackets are easily bent, causing them to get fatigued sooner.

They're fine for belly flying, but for freeflying, not so much.

As an alternative to goggles that fit over your glasses, you can get prescription goggles. They're much lower profile than the former. I'm on my second pair right now, the first pair lasted three years.

I like it when he eats elephant poop and sheep eyeball. Also, I think my girlfriend has the hots for him.

I tip $20 for each instructor, and I generally fly 30 minute blocks. I have no idea what is normal.

lots:4:1 Did my 500th jump, which was a great hybrid with 4 people in the base, 4 hangers, and 3 people outside shooting video / stinging. It came together quite well. First jump on my new jumpsuit.