christoofar

My brother rigged a pilot chute to his freefly board in case he had to chop the board for any reason. Still doesn't keep it from landing on a freeway and smacking a car and causing an auto accident.

Also whenever he had a mal of any kind when he was jumping the board he would land off the DZ to avoid dropping the board for that very reason.

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It does make a point for the fact that skydivers are safer in the air than anyone is on the ground.

These days I wonder what the word "safe" means anymore. Perhaps it's.. 'a sense of (false) security after taking established precautions?'

Y'all better thank y'alls lucky stars I'm not the one setting your insurance premiums!

The RSL debate has been pretty much been debated out to its farthest extreme, hasn't it?

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I got my rig like my rigger recommended whitout RSL
but now I'm not sure. some help please.

My AFF instructor went through the whole RSL debate hoopla with us prior to our first solo jump, mostly to emphasize the importance for GOOD BODY POSITION on opening. If I remember correctly, this is the common debate/arguments/points about RSLs:

Camera jumpers should disconnect their RSLs or not have them on their rigs. Camera jumps need stability on opening, the complexity of the helmet along with the RSL brings the level of confusion too high.

CReW dogs should never have RSLs on (if they are installed they should be disconnected). The need for seperation after cutaway is very important. RSLs can make CRW malfunctions deadly.

Tandems and AFF students must always wear RSLs and have them on. This makes obvious sense. The reserve needs to get out as quickly as possible and these jumps are almost always in the box position, it's a no-brainer.

The debate starts to come in after you get off student status. RSL (or Steven's Assist, if you still call it that) is an ancilliary BACKUP device. Some people think that the RSL complicates malfunctions and rightly so, others think that it is important to have to get the reserve out as quickly as possible, and rightly so.

Also... in a very, very, very rare circumstance the RSL actually does complicate your emergency procedures. It has been mentioned before that a premature riser seperation (on the side with the RSL) due to fatigue in the risers, links, or partial release of the cutaway cable can contribute to a pretty nasty malfunction where you have a malfunctioning main still over your head as the reserve system deploys.

Spinning malfunctions are also bad if you have an RSL on... if you chop in a high spin you are raising your chances for a reserve mal as well and you will have to clear it, if possible. If there is plenty of alti, I definately want to use some of it to get as stable as I can before I whip it out.

By now you can tell I am with the "need to deploy stable" crowd. I don't do low pulls, and I have pulled silver before so I'm very comfortable with going for the handles the next time it comes. I have set a personal rule to chop high enough to stabilize to get me a perfect reserve opening as possible and live with the resulting canopy.

Don't ever depend on the RSL or AAD to save your life. Like condoms, they can break or might not work out as expected. They are merely backup devices and are subject to malfunction. In additon, if you have these devices in your rig, you should know how to use them and how they may change your emergency procedures (i.e. inadvertent Cypres fire, riser seperation, etc) and MEMORIZE them.

Skydiving requires your brain, your body, and your equipment to be in working order before you jump. If it "doesn't feel right" before you get on that load, don't do it!

Hopefully this covers most of the RSL topic.

Phree:

I know tandem instructors loosen the straps on the student harness... there's also lots of slack and stops on them to move around.

I've loosened my leg straps before because of pain, but I've found it much easier to just wear bike shorts and/or and comfy underpants than to mess with the straps. I've had a chest strap pop on opening on an old vector (there were no signs of wear on the fritction buckle when it was last looked at). Scared the living beejeesus out of me.

It's just a paranoia thing with me, I guess. Those little straps are the only thing keeping me in the rig. I like to let them do their jobs and don't F with them while they're working so hard to keep my fat ass in the air.
I guess I would be less paranoid about messing with my straps if rigs had some sort of easily-removable buckle on the end of straps in addition to the stops that are in vogue right now.

With Javelins and Racers, whenever I am jumping with someone... I will take extra precaution and knot the chest strap slack to ensure that it's going no where in case some arm comes out of no where and knocks that chest strap loose.

Also makes sense to keep those straps tight and knotted on Mr. Bill dives...

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If I over heard a student asking about loosening a chest strap... you bet I'd be grabbing thier JM and letting them know what I heard. I've got just under 400 jumps and hardly ever loosen the chest strap. Its just not worth the hassle to me at my level of canopy flying.

I agree on this one whole-heartedly. I am of the philosophy that touching the leg and/or chest straps AT ANY TIME under canopy is very, very bad unless you are under excrutiating pain from it and you are willing to live (or die) by the consequences.

I am so paranoid about the straps popping out from taking the pressure off I have nightmares about falling out of my rig. I constantly keep them tight at all times and examine them in the plane almost constantly!!!!

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Yes, you have been reasonable and gentle in your responses, you seem like an alright guy. You don't seem like a person who's going to go into a DZ in Texas, lay down on the couch with your partner and make out, and then get all snotty and snap "what're you looking at?"

Anybody who lives in Texas and thinks that the whole state is choc full of homophobic-tobacco-chewing-redneck-southern-drawl-flannel-wearing yeahoos hasn't lived in Austin, the state capitol. There are more VW microbuses, latte bars, and flim-flam and public nudity on Lake Travis than you can shake a stick at.

And you know what? We like it that way.

I know one... his name is Corey and his home DZ used to be Kapowsin Airsports before he came and worked one summer at Skydive San Marcos. I don't know where he is now. Anyone know? (sorry, don't remember last name )

This thread has quite an erection. Did someone spill viagra in y'alls milk?

See! The freeflyers are all gay, GAY I tell you! I knew it!

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I am a female pilot and a skydiver. If you flashed me several things could happen. I could laugh or be impressed depending on size and piercings. It might get you laid if you are cute and nice. As for the extra altitude I would give it to you. How much is questionable but you would get some just for being ballsy enough to try it.

Oh by the way if a girl flashes me I'll give her all the altitude I can!!!!!!!!

I'm pretty balllllsy. Do I get extra for big nuts?

I use bersIRC....

http://www.bersirc.com Written in Borland Delphi, my fav. programming language.

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It could be worse.

HAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAH
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AHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHA
HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHH
AHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAH
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OMG I can't stop laughing hahahaha. I can't stand toddlers, serves them right! (psst the Tooth Fairy got knocked up and now she can't give ya a quarter cuz she's supportin' her crack habit)

They're staring at the picture taker's huge schlong?

For you Sabre2 owners... how many of you split-roll (4-1-4) the nose and how many just push the nose into the pro pack? Does it make a big difference on on-heading / hard opening?

All canopy pilots should learn how to make flat turns for final course corrections. This situation happend to me just last weekend.

Snowflake was coming straight for me after I came into the pattern and he was coming back from a long spot. I spotted him quickly and kept one eye on him and quickly checked the ground and for other jumpers. I noticed that he saw me immediately and he corrected for a downwinder so I kept my course level and flared for landing (BTW excellent running on that downwind!!!)

If he had not had seen me, I would have brought my right toggle down 3/4 and the left down 1/2 to do a flat turn to the right to avoid a collision.

If you are going to open higher than 5K, be sure to tell the pilot, too (so he knows you will be hanging around the airspace).

One thing you CAN do when you do not have windsocks, windblades or flags to help you gauge wind direction is to look at non-moving bodies of water (a.k.a. no ocean/rivers).

Ponds and lakes will have the ripples to one side if there is wind. The wind is coming from the far edge of the pond and blowing towards the edge where you see the ripples. It's useful when you land VERY far off (i.e. a cross-country jump gone horribly wrong.)

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Actually, honey chile, there are more women then men on this planet, and majority rules, therefore, the, er, "chics" are sane and the guys are nuts.

Hey! I resemble that remark!

A nice packing girl at my local DZ showed me an old track that's probably been known to everyone forever, but hasn't dawned on big dumb guys like myself.

If you have such big hands that you can't get those damn stows through the grommets, use your pullup cord to thread the elastic out through the grommit as if you were pulling your closing loop!

She does it to save time on large canopies and quickly gets the first bite started. I've done it since and it's made my life much more bearable!

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I recommend against flaring with one hand...especially if jumping a stiletto....

Sometimes flaring with one hand is unavoidable Nov 2001 I dislocated my shoulder in freefall. I couldn't get to the hackey and my right arm went limp. Had to pull silver. Out popped a Raven 181 loaded 1:1 (I was heavier at the time).

Managed to land the canopy with my working left hand... but I did a buttload of PRACTICE FLARES to make sure I wasn't executing a turn... and I admit the final second right before touchdown I ran like hell to keep from PLFing onto my already dislocated shoulder and managed to stand it up!

I saw that this morning too while boiling some coffee on the stove. It's been replayed on air about 6 times now.

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hey, I resemble that remark! Any state that can turn a boring word like "go" into geaux

See Phideaux.

See Phideaux run.

Run, Phideaux, run.

Okay... it's 4:30am.

I left the TV on CNN last night while working and fell asleep, only to wake up at an unGodly hour this morning.

I woke up... to JANET RENO partying in a CLUB in SOUTH BEACH shakin' her groove thang.

What an AWFUL way to start the day!!!!!

Aug 1 (shacking up with a friend... woo woo) to August 6