DanG

If cost is the big obstacle to buying an Oddessy, you can still get a regular Javelin for $175 less. The only thing you miss out on is the cut-in backpad, and wider leg straps. Stainless hardware and riser inserts are now standard on all Javelins, Oddessy or not. I just got my new Javelin with harness rings, kill line pc, hackey handle, and "Javelin" sewn on the side cause it looks cool. From my dealer (who is very reasonable) it came in a little over $1400. - Dan G

So how long do you think the average, well-treated ZP will last before the porosity of the fabric will make a difference in how the canopy flies? I just bought a very used, but well taken care of, Stiletto with a fairly new line set. It has about 1000 jumps on it (150 or so on the lines), but it seems to fly fine to me. - Dan G

Any opinion on toggle carves as opposed to hooks? Yanking a toggle down at 150' is one thing, but I've seen some people generate a lot of speed with a relatively slow toggle turn started at a higher altitude. Thanks for the info. - Dan G

Actually, there are a number of air skills you have to demonstrate (either on tape or with the Course Instructor) and then take the certification course. Once you complete these things, you are on "intern" status (which is where I am right now). Then you have to do at least fifty one-on-one coach jumps with actual clients, and submit as many as you can on video for review. If they like what they see, you become a full fledged coach. No one said it was easy, but that is why SDU has such a good reputation. - Dan G

The Skydive University Basic Body Flight Coach Certification Course is excellent in this regard. The course is four days long, and goes through training philosophy, types of learning, very specific ways to teach each module, and analyze how your client is doing. It includes what to look for, how each drill should be done, the number of repetitions of each drill, and how to gauge if a client has learned the technique well enough. The course costs about $400 and is worth it. All the training materials you are looking for come with the course, but as you have said, they are not going to give away something they spent years developing. - Dan G

Spiraling down is dangerous. You need to stay in your sector when approaching any RW formation, no matter how big or small. I don't have the freefly skills to backtrack to a formation, although I've seen it done and it works. Assuming you don't blow past it. I think Steve1 might be asking about smaller moves, i.e. you find yourself thirty feet high with no horizontal room to swoop. In that case, I use a postition called 'RW stable'. This position is taught by Skydive U as part of Basic Body Flight. You can fall very fast, still steer, and don't have to be a freeflier. All you need to do is bring your arms in, laying your hands flat on your chest. Stick your feet straight up in the air behind you, and relax into a hard arch. Using this position I keep up with sit-fliers and drougless tandems quite easily. - Dan G

On a recent jump, my friend's Vector II reserve flap came open on climbout. I spent the whole freefall reseating it. On inspection on the ground, we found that you could open it with one pinky finger if you pushed it to the side first. I checked some other Vector II's around the DZ, and they had the same problem (to less of a degree than his). - Dan G

I don't know anyone who uses the still photo capability of their camera for skydiving purposes. The memory stick is for the still photos, as is the MPEG compression. The only time I use the still capability on my PC-5 is to rip shots off of the DV tape. Then, it doesn't matter that your still camera has megapixel resolution, because your DV tape doesn't. Get the PC-9 if you really want a new camera, or try to find a used PC-5 on eBay. - Dan G

All of these techniques work, especially Tee's advice of breathing in through the nose and out of the mouth. I tell people at my DZ to do that, but they generally think I'm pulling their leg. I also keep a bandana in my jumpsuit (is that a bandana in your jumpsuit, or are you just happy to see me?) and wipe the lens (inside and out) dry after takeoff. This helps keep down moisture which may have formed while wearing the helmet during takeoff. And I put the helmet on at the last possible moment. On my first jump with the lens installed in my Factory Diver, it iced up so badly I couldn't see the other two people I was jumping with. When they docked on me, I just held on and didn't let go until break-off (there was a little hole in the frost where I could see my altimeter). I tracked like a banshee, and pulled high. I couldn't even see my canopy opening. Very scary. Since then, I've been much more aware of fogging/frosting issues. Breathing correctly and wiping the lens down seem to work well. - Dan G

I'm not a rigger, but I must disagree that the Vector II is suitable for freeflying with only mods to the riser covers. The reserve flap on older Vector II's tends to open very easily. The tuck tabs are not large enough, and if the flap is pushed to the side at all, it will flip open. Also, the main pin cover has a very small tuck tabe which seems to loosen over time, and no velcro to help keep it in place. I agree that tacking down the bridle is absolutely necessary, since the same amount of bridge is exposed on the Vector II as on the older Dolphin. I won't freefly in my Dolphin because of the poor bridle and riser coverage, but with the Vector II, you get poor bridle and riser coverage, as well as poor main and reserve pin coverage. I think the Vector II is fine for belly flying (even then the pin coverage bothers me) but in answer to the original question, if you want to make a Vector II safe for freeflying, sell it and use the money to buy another container. - Dan G

Whoa, calm down. I think the reason Remi is trying to correct you (whether you like it or not, you are mistaken on your terminology) is that some people teach different techniques for dealing with the two main classes of malfunctions: partial and total. Some people (including the USPA Integrated Student Program) teach that the proper resonse to a total malfunction (nothing out except maybe the PC) is to go straight to the reserve ripcord. They believe you shouldn't waste time cutting away. For a partial malfunction (you have something out, but it isn't working) the proper response is the pull the cutaway handle, then the reserve ripcord handle. Whether or not this method of dealing with totals is correct is the subject of another thread. It is important to make a proper distinction between partial and total malfuntions because the responses people may have been taught are different. We have standard terminology so that people across the sport can all communicate without confusion. I'm sorry, but a streamer is, by definition, a partial malfunction, no matter how scary and dangerous it may be. So is a line-over, unrecoverable line twists, and even a broken riser. - Dan G

In response to: -- Who has poorly designed tuck flaps? Vector II. Terrible reserve pin cover. My friend jumps one, and I spent almost an entire freefall recently flying next to him trying to reseat it after it came open on climbout. We were turning pieces on a six way, and I didn't want someone landing on him and knocking the pin loose. Once on the ground, we looked at it and determined that we could open the flap with one pinky finger if we pushed it to the side. We figure he must have pushed it open against the top of the door frame, or maybe the wind just got it. They also do not have very good main pin covers. Anyone who freeflies in one is crazy or ignorant, and is looking for trouble. The Dolphin's reserve and main flap are excellent. My Dolphin has over 700 jumps, and both sets of Velcro are as good as new. Easy to check, won't come open in freefall, what more do you want? Bridle and riser coverage are another issue. - Dan G

I believe it was Brian Germain who recently wrote a letter to Parachutist criticizing more experienced jumpers for standing by idly while less experienced jumpers jump in winds which are not safe for them. Mostly, I agree with his sentiment. It is up to the more experienced jumpers to lend their wisdom (usually gained through error) to those who are newer to the sport. On the flip side of that coin, if you are a less experienced jumper, you would be wise to observe not only the practices of your contemporaries, but of the 'older' folks as well. It seems to me like people in the under 100 jump range tend to be pretty conservative when it comes to wind limits. So do the people with over 1000 jumps. It is the folks in the 100-200 jump range which really scare me. They know just enough to be a danger to themselves. If you are unsure about jumping due to wind conditions, look around. If the students are grounded, that is one clue. But a better clue is when you see the hot 4-way team (or the badass freefly guys) having a seat and whipping out old videos. Follow their lead, a lot of them broke bones and egos learning that (as the old saying goes), "It is better to be on the ground and wish you were in the air, than be in the air and wish you were on the ground." - Dan G

Not to cast a shadow of doubt on this Wings-love-a-thon, but every time a Wings container is mentioned to my rigger he laughs. Why? He repacks one for a friend, and when he pops it, the pilot chute basically falls to the floor. The spring they use is very small, and doesn't have much energy when compressed. Personally, I like to see my pilot chute flying accross the loft when I go in for a repack. That being said, I would also like to say that Dolphin might not be a bad choice. I know that some riggers have aproblem with their use of a plastic disk for the reserve backing, but I've heard that they are changing over to aluminum. I've put over 700 jumps on a Dolphin, and it is holding up wonderfully. I am also a large framed person (6'2" with fairly broad shoulders) and my Dolphin feels like it was custom made. With the new freefly mods I think the Dolphin offers everything that any other rig on the market offers, at 2/3 the price. In the interest of full disclosure, though, I am waiting on my new Javelin to arrive any day now. I guess I got tired of black, and needed a smaller container anyway. - Dan G

GeekStreak, I'm one of the Coaches/Videographers at Orange, I wonder if we have met. I'm sorry to hear that your student progression is going to have to wait, is it financial? On the RSL debate, I would also like to comment that camera folks don't use RSL's because of the higher possibility of a departing main snagging on a camera helmet. I had mine removed when I started jumping camera, but I also started pulling higher because of the higher possibility of complex malfunctions. I personally think an RSL is neither good nor bad per se, but can be good or bad for different situations. I would never use one with a camera helmet, and don't really want one under the elliptical main that I usually jump. On the other hand, I know people who have been forced into extremely low cutaway situations where an RSL would really come in handy. In short, it is a personnal decision which one should make after having all the facts. I'm encouraged to see that this discussion has remained informative and to the point, and not turned into a bitching/boasting match like it often does with these types of topics. - Dan G

In response to: > "Staying out of the way" works when you're jumping a student canopy, and when loads are small. Once you get a high performance canopy, and start jumping with more and more people in the air, you have to learn the skills needed to fly in a pack and land with a group of other jumpers. Bill, I agree with you. I suppose I did not do a very good job of explaining my point. Learning to fly in a pack and land with a group of jumpers includes learning to control both the horizontal (right and left) and vertical (glide slope/descent rate) movement of your canopy. Most DZ's do not teach people these skills. I spend at least a little time during each descent allowing a 50 jump wonder to spiral past me under his PD-190 because that's all he knows. Then I get to try and float around behind him while he does S-turns on final because he cut his downwind leg too short. If everyone (the VX-66 pilots and the PD-190 pilots alike) would spend a moment looking around and identifying all of the other canopies and pilots around them, then people would be able to take a reasoned approach to avoiding each other. The PD-190 pilot we see me under my Stiletto 135 and think, "Maybe I should let him land first." I would look up and see the VX-90 pilot coming in and say, "Hmm, let me get clear so he can land, then I can swoop in behind him." That way we can achieve vertical and horizontal separation. I didn't mean to say that landing patterns were bad. Only that landing patterns in and of themselves do not constitute safe canopy control. Just because you entered the landing pattern exactly -where- you wanted to doesn't mean you entered it -when- you should have. I hope this is more clear. Thanks for taking the time to read my long winded thoughts. - Dan G

I completely agree. I did not mean to say that everyone should not land in the same direction (whatever that direction may be). The problem I see is that students are taught landing pattern, landing pattern, landing pattern, and learn nothing about maintaining vertical separation with others in the pattern. At my DZ (Twin Otter, but still fairly small) we endeavor to combine both a landing pattern and stacked landings. When someone violates one, he is probably okay (although still reprimanded) if he sticks to the other. Safe landing needs to be a combination of horizontal (landing pattern) and vertical (landing timing) separation. - Dan G

My mentor taught me, and now I teach everyone else I run into: landing pattern is not important, timing is. If two people are landing and one lands at 5:01, and the other at 5:02, what difference does it make which direction they are headed? The goal of every jumper on a load should be to find his place in the stack of people waiting to land. If there is someone slower in front of you, either float in brakes until he lands, of spiral past him. Landing patterns are just icing on the cake (and certainly make things much safer) but if everyone lands in order, then you can't possibly have a problem. - Dan G

I think long legs certainly help. Booties, too. The people I have seen who have trouble with a really flat track are those with the "natural arch". Also known as the "freefall accelerator", or, in some circles, "beer gut". They have trouble cupping their upper body. The best trackers I have seen are tall and thin. Once you get it all down, just make sure you don't track into the next county by accident. - Dan G

When initiating a track the first thing you want to do (besides finding a clear heading) is to extend your legs until your knees are fully locked. Then roll your hips forward and suck in your gut. De-arch your spine, then cup your shoulders forward. The very last thing your should do is bring your arms back. Bringing them back too soon, before you have built up some forward momentum, will just result in tipping you head down. Also, to help with your stability, don't bring your arms any closer to your body than 45 degrees. Keeping them wide will give you a more solid base of support. Steer with your legs, and keep your head on a swivel. On your next jump with video, ask the videographer to video your track, preferably from the side. A good coach or instructor should be able to help you realize your maximum flat tracking potential. Have fun, - Dan G

What you should get also depends on what you are used to. If you are a freeflier, and have never flown booties before, maybe flare legs would be better. I fly RW when I am not flying camera, and use the heck out of my booties on both suits. As far as wing size, I feel a larger wing is more flexible. I weight 215 out the door, and am about 6'2". Without my big wing (I have a Windline with their largest wing) it would be very hard to do a good video of a 100 lb. girl dressed in baggy sweats. On the other hand, if you need to go faster, you can always collapse the wing, arch hard, and take your arms and legs out of the wind. I can keep up with drougeless tandems for quite a while on my belly if I have to. Lastly, realize that flying a wingsuit safely (not to mention proficiently) is harder than you might expect. Whatever suit you get, make a few practice solo jumps with it. Do simulated deployments, turns, swoops, orbits, etc. Everything you might want to do with a subject in the air in front of you, you should try by yourself first. Most importantly, relax and have fun. - Dan G

Although I know people who jump without a visual altimeter, I'm not so sure it is always a good idea. My Skydive U Instructor told me a story about one of the European national eight-way teams which used a particular brand of audible (I don't know which one), and no visual altimeters. On a particular training jump they were forced to do a number of go-arounds due to traffic. Because they were at 13,000 ft. for a specified time (8-10 minutes), every single one of their audible altimeters reset itself to 13,000 ft. as ground level. The jump apparently resulted in several AAD fires. The same coach (who does not use a visual altimeter, but always carries two or three different audibles of different brands) also admits that a visual altimeter is a nice thing to have in case of a malfunction, and a very nice thing to have in case of a collision/wrap. Think about all the possible scenarios you might encounter when deciding to remove any piece of safety equipment from your gear. - Dan G