pinkfairy

Easy! 1. Get someone to show you how, 2. Do it many times. Packing is easy, but practice, and only practice makes you a fast packer. Jumping your own pack jobs is better practice than just packing and taking it out again, because you'll feel for yourself what makes a good opening. Talking or thinking about it won't help, only practice. PS the slider is important, as are straight lines, and not messing the whole thing up too much when you put it in the D-bag. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

I think it depends on the canopy and the type of jump more than licence. EPs are the same for jumpers with D and A licences. You can't pull super low just because you have a higher licence or more experience, the same physical laws apply. I D-licence holder who cuts away too low is just as dead as an A licence holder doing the same. All norwegian parachute clubs have a rule that says that you should have an open main canopy by 2000 ft, wich means that I with my fast opening Silhouette can pull at 2500 ft, while someone with a large Pilot or Spectre has to pull higher because that canopy takes longer to open. I go down to 2500 if I'm jumping a bigger formation, but I normally pull at 3000. And I've been at DZs where the spotting was so consistently bad that I had to pull higher all the time. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

The jumpsuit is not protective clothing, it might prevent some road rash, but that's it. Normal clothing has it's dangers, it has been discussed here earlier: Pocket linings and strings to tighten pants or jackets can cover or otherwise interfere with the main handle and shirts can cover the emergency handles, so make sure none of these things can happen. (there are lots of pants without pockets or with zipper pockets only, and a tight singlet or t-shirt might be tucked into the trousers). I would also not jump with a red T-shirt, as my cutaway handle is red. Covered or blocked handles has caused fatalities in the past. If you jump naked, you will of course be completely free of snag points and fabric that can cover your handles. And if you don't feel comfortable landing your canopy naked, then you need a bigger canopy. But the normal jumpsuit is a lot better to fly in than shorts or naked, so I recommend the jumpsuit.

It takes a manly man to jump pink! If you are a real man, people will look past your pink jumpsuit. I think used gear in bright colors send the message that you're not spending all your money on matching new gear, and are jumping instead. And I thought that men liked the "I don't care too much about appearance and clothes and make up" image. I plan to order a new custom made pink jumpsuit, and the one I have already has pink grippers, but I can wear anything: I'm a girl! I know there are real gay skydivers out there, but the ones I've met camouflaged themselves in black jumpsuits. And the guy with magenta grippers and half pink half lemon yellow spectre was straight. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Looks like fun, I need some more jumps to get to fly one. But mine would be pink! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Haha, good for you! My clothes just stop being stretchy, and then seem bigger. But I will not be fooled. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

It sure looks nice, but do you know how it flies? But by all means, walk around in it, you should have seen me with my new rig. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Not you, the OP

This is opinion, not fact, and should be stated as such. I hold a different opinion. I like the cypres, it's tried and tested. I know about several incidents where the cypres was involved, some of them causing serious injury, but all of them happened because the cypres worked as it should. If you want to know more about RSLs, read this excellent article: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=18

I think that's just part of online communities. All online communities that I've been part of. And then when I read a thread, posts by some screen names are always more interesting and likely to contain answers or solutions than others, and I always read those posts, because I'm still a beginner skydiver and have a lot to learn. I really notice the ones that are worth listening to more than the ones who posts uninteresting, negative posts.

Hi! AADs and RSLs work in different situations: RSLs makes your cutaway main help open your reserve either directly, by acting as a PC (Skyhook), or indirectly, by pulling the pin to your reserve container (Other RSLs). It's the drag in the main canopy that makes the RSL work, so the RSL won't do anything if you have a total mal or a PCIT. An AAD cuts the loop that keeps your reserve container closed if you're going faster than a speed set by the manufacturer below a certain altitude, typically 750 ft. So the RSL helps you to get your reserve out faster when you cutaway a main canopy, and the AAD helps if you are still in freefall very low, for some reason (unconciousness, lack of altitude awareness etc). AADs can also help when you cutaway your main, but you have to reach their activation speed for them to work and won't cause an immediate reserve deployment like an RSL. None of these devices, regardless of manufacturer or date are guaranteed to work every time, and can even cause some problems of their own: pulling your main at the same time as your AAD activates your reserve can cause a two out situation or even a main reserve entanglement. You should not rely on them and always practice EPs pulling all of your handles. RSLs are simple devices, and I don't think they complicate the rig, it should be properly set up by the rigger assembling the system, and you should know which ring the RSL hook goes on, but that's pretty much all. AADs today are good quality products, and a risk of it firing when it's not supposed to is very small. They often require being sent back to the factory for a check every 4 years, and are expensive, and you have to pay attention to the display when you turn them on to see if there are anything unusual, in which case the rig should not be jumped. AADs have substantially reduced the "nothing out" fatalities. Many people, in fact most people I know, have both on their rigs. I hope this was of any help. I think UTP still has some nice skyhook videos on their website, check them out: http://www.unitedparachutetechnologies.com/ Or the Cypres saves list: http://www.cypres.cc/Sites/englisch/Frameset_engl_skydiving.htm

And some people do it and don't like it! But there's only one way to find out. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

I think you should get a canopy size that you feel comfortable with flying now, and maybe downsize later. I also think that PD Silhouette would be an excellent choice for a lightly loaded main canopy. I love mine. A lighter wingload will mean that you can't get through high winds, so you'll have to set a lower wind limit than people sith small and fast parachutes, but I do think that avoiding strong wind when you are new is a good thing. I was told to get a 135, but didn't dare to fly it, so got a 150, that I'm still flying, and BTW, I wingload it at 0.94. I haven't tested this, but I do think that the freefall is pretty much the same with the 150 as with the 135. And yes, people who downsize too fast or jump in wind conditions that they can't handle have an increased risk of injury. So make up your own mind, and remember that it's supposed to be fun. I can't imagine that flying something that you can't handle would be fun.

Let's make a poll! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Congratulations! And a nice article too! Beer! I hope to get some more publicity for my next naked jump, notoriority is almost as good as fame. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

I've jumped both with and without a weight belt. A weight belt makes you fall faster, and generally, you won't have to wear a lot of lead to get an effect, I wear 8 pounds, and that enables me to keep up with almost anyone. When you wear a weight belt, you won't have to use all your energy on keeping up with the others, and you can actually achieve something instead of just struggling to get down. People say you should learn to fly properly first, but with your weight, you'll probably need the weight belt for most of your jumps anyway, so you might as well learn to fly with it. Make sure your canopy is big enough, I feel the difference even with my 8 pounds. I think some DZs won't let you jump with extra weights if you have less than 100 jumps. Others don't: I did almost all of my AFF jumps with a weight vest. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

My point excactly, it works in some clubs, not in others. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

You're not supposed to land it with the extra weight. You fly it over the parking lot, drop the weight, then enter the pattern. I thought about that, my weight belt makes me wingload at 1:1, and that is still very conservative. I land it with no problem. I knew I was going to jump RW, and I knew I would have to wear weights, that's one of the reasons why I got a big canopy. Maybe lightweight people who want to get into RW should consider getting a canopy that is big enough for them to wear a weight belt safely? Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Maybe the people you jump with need to put on some weight? I put on 8 punds of lead for almost every jump I do, and have no problems jumping with the bigger guys on the DZ. I actually like it when it goes faster, and I feel that I get more power in my inputs, and my big canopy is also more fun to fly with the extra weight. Both the bigger guys and the small ones should dress for success, and there aren't many with my fall rate, so I have to adapt. BTW I SUCKED at 80 jumps, in freefall, under canopy and in judging wind conditions. But then I broke my leg skydiving and learned the hard way about wind conditions, and got some tunnel time, so I stopped drifting around the whole sky all the time. It gets better!

Thanks for a very good post, most of us should really already know this stuff, but it's incredible what people forget and ignore. Allow me to add: Airplanes do have an option that we don't have, they can abort a landing attempt, climb and try again. We have to make the best of whatever we've got. And: New jumpers: 1. Collapsing the slider is not important on big, lightly wingloaded canopies, they fly well even with a flapping slider. I see people NOT looking ahead messing with their slider or taking off their booties when they should be focusing on more important things. And: 2. flying on half brakes makes you go down more slowly, a really good trick on a single airplane DZ is hanging on brakes and letting people with the faster canopies land first, that's a very easy way to avoid traffic. I have a very lightly wingloaded canopy, and spend a lot of time in the pattern, but if I time my entry into the pattern well, I'm not in anyone's way. New jumpers with big, slow canopies spiralling down are not popular. That's the two things that I see most often: people flying around not seeing where they are going, and the RACE to be first down. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Your plan could work, but non profit clubs will not necessarily work in the long term. Here in Norway, all DZs are owned by clubs, but less and less of work needed to run the DZ is done by the club members for free. Packers, instructors and manifesters are brought in from abroad, and paid, club members do clean the DZ building, but they get free jumps for it (With the jump prices that we have today, that's gotta be the best paid cleaning personnel in Norway), and if you want to jump with an organizer or instructor, you have to pay. It might start off well, but soon club members want to get something back for what they give. The DZs today are also filled with people who want to "Improve my freefly skills, so sorry, I can't jump with you!", or "No, I spent all my money jumping with the organizer, so I can't afford a fun jump!" They don't have time to pack student canopies for free or do the manifesting. At some clubs, I'm sure that having a commercially run DZ would result in cheaper jumps, because a DZO would want to keep things structured and organised. I know the "everyone runs the DZ together"-model works in some clubs, and the jumps are really cheap as a result, but not in all clubs. It needs effort from all, a good leader and people who work well together. Just my thoughts and real life experiences. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

"If you come any closer, you'll have to wear a condom!" Well, people should sit up to take up as little space as possible, but they have to lean on something to sit comfortably. I learned to skydive from the AN-28 YL-KAF, and it has proper seats along the sides. I didn't realize how lucky I was. Buckets of personal space, my handles and pins were safe, and what a lovely, big tailgate! But the Otter is quieter, and I like that too. Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Relax, lean on me, yes, your main handle is still there, and I'll check your pins for you if you want me to. "Doctor, doctor! I broke my ankle last year, and whenever someone sits on it in the Otter, it aches! Why is this?" "Sorry about having my foot between your legs!" "YOU! sit up! Yes, I mean you!" Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

Thanks! You too, Kevin, take care! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

SUBARU! Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet. I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?