daremrc

so 30 jumps later the smell is faint, but tolerable. after i open the gearbag I can smell it a bit, but once out in the open you can't distinguish it from other foul smells in the jump plane thanks all for the advice & PM's Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

I had something similar to this happen to me around #20-25. The canopy immediately went into a spin on open, I wouldn't call it a fast spin but similar to what you described minus the slider hang up. I straightened it out with a riser while popping thew brakes and held the toggles down for 2-3 seconds. When the end cells opened on the left side, the canopy flew straight and I landed it. This was on a 230 at maybe .85 not to say yours would've done the same thing, but the spin spooked me out and I thought I would have to cutaway for about 5-7 seconds. the spin was pronounced enough to catch one of the DZO's attention & prompt him to ask me what was going on up there. Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

this was the scariest part for me, as I had not planned ahead for the dislocation at all. At the time, I did not know it was possible to put both toggles in one hand and steer/flare like that. It just had never occurred to me with 8 jumps under my belt. I spent about 30 seconds under canopy going 'holy shit, holy shit' until I was able to get the arm back in. Had I not been able to re-set it, I might've just flown off into whatever obstacles laid ahead on my glide path. I now try turning & flaring with just my left, and just my right every couple of jumps incase I ever have this trouble again. Mind you without good upper-body strength, it's pretty difficult to do much flaring with that one arm anyways. All this trouble doesnt even begin to mention the stability issues you would have if one of your arms instantly turned into a dead fish at the top of a jump. Mine was during the reach/pull. dont mean to harp so much here but it scared the crap out of me, and happened to me after I told myself 'Oh, it's probably fine to just jump anyways'... It might not be a bad idea to schedule an MRI before your next jump. Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

i had multiple dislocations on my left arm before startimg this sport. found out that after getting to 10 second delays, the wind resistance on my arm would thow it out of socket and render in immobile. was pretty scary thing to happen on student jump #8. Had surgery & now things work well, so I guess its different for each injury. All that said, in retrospect, I would never again risk a mid-air disloation if I felt that one was possible or imminent. I posted quite a bit of detail about my shoulder ordeal here, if you search my sn you should find the posts... good luck with that Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

I took Brian Germains canopy course this past weekend at Skydive Tecumseh... All I can say is I feel like I got every pennys worth for it and did improve both my landings and landing accuracy. I'm sure I wont be able to do it every time, but the one and only jump I made after the class I stuck in the peas standing up and I feel alot more comfortable with picking a pattern entry point that will put me where I want to be for the last 50 feet of decent. Brian is very good at explaining the nuances of canopy flight and backs up the explainations with good slides and video. I think it's too bad that other newer jumpers at the DZ elected to fun-jump instead. As much as I'm against unneccesarry regulations, I don't think it would be a half-bad idea to add a BSR stating that one must sit thru at least 8 hours of canopy-piloting related training in order to get a B or abpve license. there's my review Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

thanks for the input it doesn't smell like cat business, just musty. So far as I can tell, it's mainly the main, the main bag, and a bit of the main container. well see what it smells like after the main has been hung in an airconditioned space... Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

Yeah, you're right I dont know how to do any of that except the main. Problem being, the airing, inspection, and repack was just done yesterday . I had two riggers on hand, one hanging up the main while the other packed the reserve. each one told me that the piece of gear they were looking at gear was older, but airworthy... In fact the reserve has never been deployed. I didn't realize how bad the smell was until I got it home and opened the gear bag back up, tried it on, and was told by my g/f that she could smell the main inside the container. I guess I was thinking about hand-washing the main tray part of the container where I'm assuming the smell is mainly coming from, but you're actually talking about taking everything out of it and washing the complete rig which would definately mean a repack. In light of it just being inspected and repacked, would you still have it done again just due to the smell? Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

Could I potentially wash the container myself? is there any do's/don't as far as what to use? thanks Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

the reserve was just repacked and was dry. just looks like someone put a damp canopy back in the main tray... Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

I bought some used gear from another jumper at my DZ. It's my first rig as a new jumper (and I owe beer...) The container is in very good condition for its age, and it fits my body well. Fit was a problem for me, and the reason I scooped it up when I found it. Anyhow, we opened the main up in the rigger loft yesterday and the thing smells a bit musty. The lines feel slightly damp to the touch as I run my fingers along them when I pack it. I didn't see any mildew or mold spots on the chute itself, but the smell is pretty strong even when the container is closed. If you've ever accidentally left your clothes in the washer for a day or two, you know the smell I'm talking about. Anyhow I obvously need to give the thing a good airing, but the smell is strong enough that I'm thinking it might take a bit more to 'cure' it. What, if anything, is appropriate to clean & de-stink-ify it with? Is there anything else I should be concerned about or examine seeing as the rig has likely been stored for a while in its damp condition? I dont think it's been jumped in 3-4 years. The main is 12 years old, besides the smell the fabric and lines appear to be satisfactory to me & my rigger, and I only plan on it getting me thru this season. This thing is not going to make me very popular on the ride to altitude unless I do something... I searched for stinky, smelly, and smell on here before I posted and came up with nothing gear-related

Thanks for clearing that up. no-wind landings seem to be my least accurate ones so I guess I'll be focusing on them before I get out of any balloons. Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

hmmm... that said I guess it's a good idea to work on accuracy landings in low/no wind. Can you explain to me what spotting consists of in a balloon? I mean, from what I understand about balloon flight, you just kind of float where you float, right? So by spotting a balloon, are you just deciding weather or not to get out when the pilot says 'OK, we're here...'? Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

I dont remember seeing this in the SIM, is that an absolute requirement of the USPA or the baloor operator? Another person up the thread said you have to have 100 jumps, so whats the story? thanks, I'm curious to try one of these at some point. Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

Hey Al.. Dont sweat it, the worst part will be the wait. I lived with my damaged shoulder for 10 years before wanting to continue in this sport prompted me to do it. I wish I would've done it years ago, because I have better range-of-motion now that I dont have to baby it & avoid the positions that used to dislocate it. My surgeon got me in 2 1/2 weeks after my initial consultation, it was outpatient, and there I was in my immobilizer sling for 6 weeks. I had surgery the day before Thanksgiving '06 and I'm jumping right now. Seriously, the surgery worked great for me and even though my arm is technically still healing, I'm able to work with weights, and climb & haul ladders at work with no worries. Just take it super easy if & when you have the surgery, the joint is very fragile then and even though you may feel like you can do things, you won't be back to 'normal' for 5-6 months. I was workign again on light duty after 1 1/2 months, full duty at 4, and skydiving at 5. frustrating to wait, but I was in your exact situation last september and here I am falling out of airplanes again in may Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

Jumptime Gear at Skydive Tecumseh stocks stuff... get in contact with them here: http://www.jumptimegear.com/ Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

experienced jumpers who have had tunnel time, including one who has shoulder trouble... I was thinking the same thing, about trying the arm out in a controlled situation rather than in the air, but ultimately decided not to. 10, 15, or 20 seconds of freefall seems to be OK right now, I dont know how several consecutive minutes would do. My arm feels good enough that I will try more than that the next tiem I jump.... This is just my experience with my arm tho, and like you said everyone should make that decision for themselves. Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

Hey, Al... Good on you for going to PT. Keep the excercises going even after the insurance runs out. a quick update, I'm 5.5 months out from surgery and I have made some skydives, the longest one being from about 7500' with about a 15 second delay and long canopy ride. no problems at this point... I just wanted to mention that I have been told a few times to be very careful about the tunnel, apparently it is very hard on the shoulders between the extended flying time & bouncing around off the walls. I've never flown in one so I can't give any first hand knowledge, but several jumpers have warned me to be extra-careful about doing any tunnel time until I am 100% sure my shoulder is up for it. I had originally planned to do some tunnel time to test my shoulder but afetr asking around, decided against it until i'm at least a few more months out from surgery. One other thing I've started to do is practice my flares & turns with both toggles thru one hand. I was lucky enough to be able to reset my shoulder under canopy when I dislocated last year, but it's good to know that as a plan B I can at least have control over the landing phase if I were to be injured again while jumping... Good luck Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

yikes, that picture isn't very work-friendly if anyone's browsing behind a corporate firewall... lol nice tho Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

Is there a listing anywhere of other locations that non-military people could experience an altitude chamber? Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

Hey, al.. I echo the above. Search my sn here & you'll find a post I made last summer after I dislocated during my student progression. I had shoulder surgery in November & am just now getting back to full ROM and strength. My injury sounds similar to yours, tear in the lower-rear part of my shoulder with dislocations when I would raise my arm above & behind my head. drop me a PM if you want any more details, but bottom line is that it never really did heal itself until surgery. surgery was outpatient & arthroscopic, and after hitting the physical therapy 3x a week for 2 months & doing my at-home excercises fairly regularly, my shoulder has more movement & stability than in has in years. good luck Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

Thats an even better reason to use cheapo glasses... so you dont have to think twice about ripping them off your face and chucking them if that happens. Just make sure you yell "FORE" first Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

where I come from it's called making a nest. I always do if I must sit and there are none of the aforementioned gaskets Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

I dont think i would ever spend $130 on sunglasses, period unless they were perscription. I lose & break them too much. I could buy 11 pairs of gas station glasses for that! Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

Anybody ever jump in something like these? http://www.maximumeyewear.com/productfolder/motorcycle-glasses/motorcycle-glasses/yellow-lens-glasses/yellow-lens-glasses.html#sunglasses I find that when I'm riding my motorcycle at dusk, if I put on a pair of yellow-tinted glasses I get a lot better contrast than thru the clear faceshield. Plus, you could definately see the wearers eyes thru these, and plus since they're designed for motorcycling, they keep wind away from the eyes. I bought a full-face helmet without a shield to continue my training in next season & I was thinking glasses like these might be better than clear goggles, especially near sunset Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.

My last jump... Good judgement comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgement.