danornan

I rarely look at my altimeter and use it as a back up for my eyes. I keep it mounted on my mudflap and glance at it around pull time and canopy deployment. The rest of the time, it's rarely used. Audible is used that way too. I don't think the market would be very large or justify the time and effort to design, build and then market. My $0.02....

DBCOOPER

Carolina Sky Sports gave you a laminated card when you waivered in, that had you name and weight on. When you went to manifest you gave them your card and after the jump you walked back to the building and your card would be in a rack.

Same worded in the coal mines. It was a simple brass tag. All it takes is effort.

The design seems to take something that is simple and make it complicated. I'd still do a pin check !

countzero

At these check points it's assumed you're guilty until you prove yourself innocent. And it's not just DUI they are looking for. They look to write tickets for expired tags, inspection, insurance. They even look for flimsy reasons to get people to consent to searches of their car.

I disagree. I have been involved in several DUI road checks and not only are they well advertised but there are turn-offs before the check point. People still drive through who are obviously drunk. Everyone else gets past through unless there are other VERY obvious violations. This happened in Temple Terrace, FL. Results elsewhere may vary..

FrancoR

I would disagree that you cannot go wrong with the G3. It is a helmt from 2011 as you say but it is just plastic, there are a lot of full face carbon fiber helmets offfering better protection. Still a good helmet, but there is a reason fiber helmets are the material of choice for motorcycles if you want something really good that lasts.

I don't think it makes a difference whether the helmet is plastic or carbon fiber. Carbon fiber does look good... My motorcycle helmet, Schuberth, is one of the best, if not the best, and it is plastic and not carbon fiber. Motorcycle helmets are tested and must pass to be certified. I don't think that any skydiving helmets get tested.

MikeJD

***I can name several people, in the past few years, who wished that they had been wearing a full face hard helmet vs. the frap hat that they had on. I too, like many in the early days, wore a frap hat, but if you are jumping with others and wish for a safer and quieter skydive, you will put away that frap hat and get a decent full face helmet. It will give you a lot more protection.

I didn't mean to give the impression that I'm still jumping a frap hat - I've been wearing a full-face helmet for the last sixteen years or so, and there's nothing about the frap hat that I miss (well, other than its portability, and that's hardly the top criterion when it comes to choosing gear to protect your head).

However, I do think it was worth pointing out that a full-face skydiving helmet's resemblance to a motorcycle helmet shouldn't lull people into thinking that it provides a similar level of protection. As Rob says above, to do so the helmets would need to be significantly heavier and bulkier than they are. I know people who've been knocked unconscious, and who've had facial injuries, even while wearing a full-face helmet and where there was no obvious damage to the helmet itself.

I guess the bottom line is, get the best head protection you can, and be careful out there.
I agree on the frailty of the skydiving full face helmet. I've ridden motorcycles since the late 60's and would not ride without a helmet. Today I have the lightest and probably one of the safest motorcycle helmet and would still rather ride with my Z-1 for weight, comfort and visibility ! I wish my Z-1 offered as much protection as my Schubreth !

I can name several people, in the past few years, who wished that they had been wearing a full face hard helmet vs. the frap hat that they had on. I too, like many in the early days, wore a frap hat, but if you are jumping with others and wish for a safer and quieter skydive, you will put away that frap hat and get a decent full face helmet. It will give you a lot more protection.

I was in a canopy collision at opening and ended up quite a bit below 1,000 feet with a good canopy above my head. The other canopy was wrapped around my risers and threaded between my lines. I hesitated to try and land what I had for fear that the cutaway canopy might inflate during my base-leg/final.

I cut it away. My Skyhook opened the reserve so quickly that I had time to unstowed my brakes, avoid the helicopter that was warming up below me and land with one arm. Each situation must be evaluated on it's own merit.

Thanks Bill Booth !!!!

My point was that by asking the question, you are not sure, and if you are not sure, the answer is generally no....

When you are ready, you will know and have more confidence in your decision.

By the way, the PD will be a lot easier to pack...but the landing will not be as predictable as the ones you are used to. F111 is more porous and it is a lot older and the lines, unless recently replaced will most likely be out of true.

Again, the one to ask about a canopy downsizing question, with your experience, is your instructor. If you had several, ask them all.

By asking the question, I think you already know the answer. This is not the place for that answer though. Ask your instructor..

I don't think you will be disappointed at Z-Hills. This is the winter season and there are plenty of airplanes, skydivers, local food, shelter and things to do when the weather doesn't cooperate.

Deimian

***You cannot be responsible for or take corrective action for what happens above you.

Well, you can NOT dump your canopy right in someone's face. That is something you can do. Not that taking it too low is an attractive option either, but........

Of course, there are lots of things you should not do, but it is the responsibility of those above you to move, if you are below them.. Never a good situation, but looking above compounds the problem. Looking above you takes your eye from where it need to be and can create more problems.

YES to your first two sentences and NO to the second paragraph...

EvilGenius

I would say absolutely no to a barrel roll, as has been mentioned elsewhere the fraction of a second it gives you to scan for traffic isn't useful and not worth the risk. Plus there's the risk of heading off on a tangent if you make a mess of it.

What can be useful is to transition from a belly to back track take a second to scan for traffic then transition back.....at full power....without losing heading. If you've got this dialed then sure go for it but don't underestimate the maneuver, it's tricky. That said most of the time I'll have checked above me earlier in the break-off (depends on the jump type) and there's no need for these acrobatics. Oh and make sure you actually look where you going, staring past your feet at where you've been may be reassuring but you need to check where you're going to be!

Once had a coach tell me about doing layouts in his track and how one time he found a dude tracking behind him on exactly the same heading, but this is some ninja shit and I'm not quite sure he wasn't pulling my leg!

YES to "obelixtim.... If you really think you can clear your airspace with a barrel roll and not loose focus below, you are disillusion and possibly creating another problem. You cannot be responsible for or take corrective action for what happens above you.

obelixtim

The correct answer is NO.

If barrel rolls were an effective way of clearing airspace on breakoff from formations we would have been doing them 40 years ago when RW was the thing and everybody was doing formations. Its never been an acceptable thing to do.

No one ever advocated them as a way of checking for clear air after breakoff, and the reason is because its a stupid idea and a dangerous practice, as has been pointed out here.

Whoever came up with the idea needs to be shot with a ball of their own shit.

Breakoff protocols are clear and simple, and with everyone on the same page it is the safest method.

Break off, turn 180, and track like hell, checking other jumpers as you go, followed by a clear wave off before dumping. If you are low or nowhere near the formation when approaching break off then turn off and get the hell out of there. The low man has right of way. Separation both vertically and horizontally is essential.

Hundreds of thousands of formation jumps have been done over many years with complete safety, which proves the system works. The tool box already has enough tools in it.

Just because one or two incidents occur because people do not follow the proper drills is not a reason to start reinventing the wheel.

WTF is going on in peoples heads?

No one ever downsized to slowly, but many have downsize to fast. It's not a race and you have plenty of time. Use it to your advantage and learn how to fly safely, what you have. Get what you need, at the time, in your early career and fly it to the max. Listen to your instructor...

faulknerwn

I jump Racers which open pretty much as fast as MARDS - they open quick. I have had 20+ malfunctions over the years - the lowest I was ever open under a reserve was 1500 feet and that was 20 years ago when standard pull altitude was 2000 feet.

A Skyhook is almost like a canopy transfer...about 150 feet to be open. AND you do not have to pull anything. A cause of many deaths.

If you are cutting away low enough that you need a MARD to save your life you have seriously screwed up.

It happens and that is why !

Most of the replies in this forum are anecdotal and mine is that I prefer an RSL, along with an AAD. Both for different reasons. Bills reply is based upon years of research and that to me is the one that is most valid. I have used an RSL and my last cutaway way was with a Skyhook. Many on the ground said that the Skyhook saved my life. I prefer to go with the odds and not gamble.

Keep it simple, Use Chutingstar. I have on two different occasions and it was very smooth. Contact them and they will walk you through it.

They will inspect the gear and give you a written report. It is a safe transaction for both parties.

I've been diving for more than 40 years and have seen the damage first hand. It is so bad that I don't see significant changes in several lifetimes. It might just be too late. A recent trip to Maldives is sad. We had to look for living coral. On the other hand, south Cuba is pristine. The only anecdotal reason is that very few people live on the south side of Cuba !

It's summer time and in Florida, unless something unusual is going on, it rains most afternoons for a while. It's hot and humid.. You will still get in several jumps between the thunderstorms. That's just the way it is in Florida. Oh and occasionally a hurricane, but those are predicted...


http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi?Submit=Go&sta=KVDF&state=FL

My favorate. I use Vandenberg, about 15 miles from Z-hills and it is very accurate.

Mussel memory.... Takes a while to develop... Practice doing it 25 times... When I switched from keeping my pilot chute in a leg strap pouch to a BOC (bottom of container) pouch, I also had the same problem, at first. I had to change my muscle memory and that took even longer. Just keep practicing and it will happen as you want it to.

Perfect practice though. Have someone who knows what to look for watch you.

Can't say if this will help a student, but learning how to flat pack (all that we did in the day) sure seemed a lot easier to learn. You can lay it down and look at it the way that it flies and see if everything is where it needs to be. Line checks are simple and the only knowledge is the fold and placement into the D-Bag. ZP's are harder, but doable that way too. Easy to learn by video with a flat pack too.

NewGuy2005

She is focusing on teaching English, but I'm sure there are other options I want to make sure she explores. Any suggestions?

One of my best friends from early childhood did this right out of college and loved it. He also used the location as a base for travel in that area. No regrets and would advise anyone with the opportunity to do the same. He later went to law school, practiced for about 30 years and just retired in a northern WV. I wish I had followed him.

There will always be exceptions, and it seems that some skydivers seem to dwell on them for their final life saving decisions. After a canopy collision, and after a lot of untangling of lines from the other canopy, still inside my lines above my head, I felt that it was necessary to chop what was in my opinion an unsafe canopy to land.

I cannot tell you the altitude I was at when I chopped, but people on the ground thought it was way below 1,000 feet. For me, it was like a canopy transfer and I had what seemed like plenty of time to unstow my steering lines and get away from the helicopter that was warming up on the ground directly below me. I am very thankful that the demo gear I was trying had a Skyhook.

Contact Sunpath and they can tell you what the rig was built to fit, unless it has been modified. They can also tell you if you fit it correctly, if you have your correct measurements that were taken by someone who knew what they are doing. It is difficult to take your own measurements. With your experience, you should be working with a good rigger, instructor or a legitimate store.