stimpy4242

Thank you for posting these pictures. Thats exactly what i was shown. The only addition I would make is at the very beginning after flattening out the canopy and making it the size to put into the d bag, he rolled the very end where the d-bag was attached underneath its self very small and tight all around that end. He said this prevented the air from entering back in. It seems to make a big difference. Thank you everyone for clarifying. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

I was down at skydive space center in florida and someone there showed me a cool packing trick to help me get my zp chute in the bag. Basically once it was in the bag it would look the same as if it were pro packed with the s curve, but he lay out on it and then rolled the very end under just a bit which did not allow air to come in, he then folded that long part in half over the chute and put that part in the bag and then dropped the s fold into the middle of the part that was in the bag...so basically it was the same shape thats in the bag when you finish packing it normally with the pro pack... JUST A NOTE. THIS WAS NOT PSYCHO PACKING. I KNOW WHAT THAT IS. Does anyone know what the above thing is called or have a video of it? Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

The Skydivin' Place is actually closest to maryland just about an hour from the harbor. www.skydivepa-md.com. However I would love to know about a belair DZ as I live in baltimore county about 20 minutes or less from belair since I am on the east side! If you are planning on opening one, let me know and I would love to help! Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

just do it...asking too many questions... Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

Any dropzone in nassau? Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

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So I have 99 jumps and was curious what people did for their 100th jump? Just curious if you did anything exciting or memorable... Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

We arrive in DeLand after leaving titusville only to find that this would be the DZ we would stay at for the remainder of trip. I was apprehensive because I had heard the pilots were being very conservative about flying with any weather and the teams may be a bit brusk! Well we jumped on clear days and the one time there were clouds we did fly below them and put out around 11k. So I imagine that if there had been a good cloud cover the pilots would have not flown or flown below them. As for the teams, they of course were in there own mindset, but they were friendly and would wish us good jumps before they headed out so I thought that was great. I realize they are working and we can't expect them to be all up with us and stuff, they are afterall a team. With that being said, the teams exited at 10.5k for comeptition height and then the pilot took the rest of the plane to 13.5 which was very cool of him and this was the same always. The landing area was very good with three spots to land. There is an onsite bar/restaurant with a decent menu and atmosphere. The packing areas are indoors and there are some covered outdoor packing areas. Packers will pack for you and are very accomodating especially if you have to get on a load. The charge 6 unless your canopy is 150 or less then it was 5. Very reasonable. Everything was great. It would have been nice if they had some type of lodging available, but they are on an airport and perhaps it just wasn't. Regardless they have a deal with the holiday inn giving us a rate of 59.99 per night for two beds and a nice pool spa available. The hotel was very close. I would highly recommend this dropzone for anyone in the area...nice view of the ocean if you are there on a clear day.

We decided to go on a skydiving roadtrip to florida and one of our stops was titusville. We were excited about lifts to 18,500 feet. Well the first day they flew two loads, neither to that altitude. Some regulars said they would only go to that altitude if tandems were there paying. We left that afternoon disappointed, but with raised hopes for the following day since they said to come back at 9am since they had tandems that day. Of course we came back at 9am and nothing. They said they were not going to fly until there tandems came at 11am. So we said forget that and packed out stuff and took off to DeLand and were off the ground minutes after we arrived before titusville even flew one load. The bottom line seems to be unless you are a jumping with tandems, don't plan on jumping at all. Also they offer a free bunkhouse which is great, but the headmaster of the bunkhouse has an attitude and some of the residents gave us a look like why were we imposing on them and they were staying there for FREE!!! All in all, there are plenty of dropzones in this area and this probably isn't the one to go to, unless they have a tandem then I imagine going to 18,500 is really cool, but we will never know!

298 Has been jumped! The softest landing I have ever experienced thus far. I have of course been using an old F111 421. Perfect stand up tippy toe landing. I am very excited about this canopy and size for me. I weigh 290 in clothes, with current rig I am about 330 OTD. I will be purchasing this 298 firebolt and am very pleased with the results. It also performs very well for a big canopy given it is fully eliptical. Anyone who is my weight should have no problems under this, after all I am not incredibly exprienced myself and I am doing just fine! Thanks again for all the help about this canopy. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

Got mine in and jumped with it...I think it is very comfortable. It was very easy to read and the offset made it even better. No troubles at all. And the replay was great. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

Oooh i completely agree about the dependency. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

I was not trying to suggest that the healthcare signatures came over night, but just that they came as with many professions it is becoming a standard. And while I will agree they are using "paper" medical records, the majority of them are printed from online trends and tracking. And they are generally digitally signed. Ever seen the notes that have been copied, you can hardly read those things its absurd. Well anyway, I agree the change needs to come in the SIM and that is what I was actually getting to. I think that might be a good change for the next version. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

Well as a novice, I don't want to rely on an audible for setting up my landing pattern. I would rather get used to the visual clues and recognize the heights for the standard pattern. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

I have to disagree with everyone saying it must be signed in ink for it to count. This is not true, think about all the other serious professions out there who have readily accepted digital signatures. Medical records are nearly all signed digitally and now we are talking about a persons medical history including things such as allergies and medications. While I am sure there is some debate among skydivers about who has the best accuracy, I am quite confident that accuracy among medical records supercedes it. While giving someone a skydiving license that may allow them to participate in a jump that would end up in their fatality, it is far more likely that screwing up a persons medications and allergies is going to kill them much quicker. So while the SIM states a signature it does not state a handwritten signature and as already pointed out digital signatures have been widely accepted. I am sure it is only a matter of time that the next altimeter has a touch screen to sign on or simply entering a jumpers license number will suffice. Lets be proactive and make things easier not duplicate efforts. In fact duplicate records often lead to mistakes such as logging the incorrect information between the jump 576839 in jumptrack and how you wrote out jump 576839 in your logbook. Oh I also would like to add how often I have seen in my limited time in the sport, logbooks signed off on whose information was inaccurate. Such as people writing landing within 10m of landing center when they landed off by 300 feet. But it gets signed. So what is the difference if it were recorded in the notes section of the jumptrack as well? Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

Thank you for all your oppinions after a while I have decided to go with the altitrack. A few reasons, one at this time I have no need for an audible altimeter that give swoop alarms under canopy as I am still a student. Two, I have no need for a waterproof altimeter as I am still a student. I have learned on the analog face and it works. I am also sure that I want to be able to look and know what the altitude is by just telling where the needle is on the dial and I also know that LCD displays do tend to give glare and are difficult to read when light hits them especially at an angle and I don't feel like having to adjust my wrist to read it accurately. It seems there have been many complaints about the neptunes new and old version with battery issues, or freezing and while I understand altitrack is electronic I have not heard any complaints about that. Thanks once again for everyones advice. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

Has anyone ever had difficulty reading the LCD display on the neptune in any conditions like a sunset jump or a heading into the sun or anything like that where you would have to readjust how you look at it to see? Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

I got to do the same thing. i found that my reserve needed to be repacked and as a student the rigger had me put on my gear and started asking me malfunction questions. Eventually the answer to one of those questions was CUT AWAY! He was like DO IT DO IT DO IT. And I got the chance to pull the cut away and then fire the reserve and feel it shoot of my back and accross the room...grant it no wind prevented anything else from happening, but then he grabbed it and ripped it off my back and let me see it "deploy." That was a good experience and the knowledge gained during that repack was very valuable. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

I will do that. I just called and left a message for them to send both the 298 and 350. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

I am going to be demoing the 298 next weekend. If all goes well I think I have settled out on racer 2k3 with 298 main and 300 reserve. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

Just wanted to say thanks for everyone's oppinions. I have learned one thing from this post and some other people that I did not know before and that is to demo the chutes. I did not realize the manufacturer will actually send you a chute to demo, both reserve and main. Never thought about hooking the reserve up as a main. I will agree with aubrey I would like a reserve bigger than the 300 but smaller than 400 and while they have not told me yet, they did mention they had something in between...waiting to hear from jumpshack...as for the 298 or 350 I am still up in the air. Also it seems that as this debate continues I will continue improving my skills and the rig will not even be ready for at least 4 weeks from when I order it. I have been knocking out jumps at about 10 per week and hope to have improved my canopy skills even by the time I receive it which I something I am also considering. If you have more comments please continue to post them. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

yeah 295 is actually my current weight with clothes and jumpsuit. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

Since it is difficult to locate rigs for guys our size used, I am also looking for a cost effective solution. One advantage of going with the firebolt and angelfire as well as the racer is the same company for all three and a deal is more likely. My understanding is that the 298 firebolt flys more like a larger canopy than others like it including the navigator 300. Is there any truth to this? Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

I am trying to find a rig for my size. My weight before gear is 295. I am working with jumpshack to get a rig, I am getting the racer 2k3. When it comes to canopies however I have a few choices and I want to make the best choice since I am buying new stuff that I don't really want to downsize later and have a BIG container. People keep recommending to me that I could use a 300 navigator so jumpshack has the firebolt 298. Would this work for me? I would be loading it about 1:1.1. Also the reserve is an angelfire 300. Now the next option up from 298 is 350 and for the angelfire the next up that I know of is 400, but she mentioned they might have something more than 300 but less than 400. What are you oppinions? I am very confident in my canopy skills since it was the skill that I had to prove myself on considering my size with my instructor. Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com

bump Jump at The Skydivin' Place http://www.skydivepa-md.com