Ether

Wouldn't you already know that you had succeeded in getting the PC out and throwing it, without having to look? I'm saying that if you had *anything* out, even just the PC, (IMHO) that's enough to warrant cutting away first before deploying the reserve. It wasn't me who said that, but ok..

Relevant bits quoted. You say "nothing happened" -- does this mean you did not succeed in extracting the PC from the pouch the second time? What concerns me is that if you *did* extract the PC the second time, but it failed to open the container, why did you go directly for the reserve handle, rather than cutting away first? A PC in tow can transform into a late-deploying main, which would have given you a two-out.. very scary indeed. And if you didn't have the PC out, how did the main inflate? That would suggest a loose BOC pouch (almost as scary). My instincts would have been to cut away first and only then go for reserve *in all circumstances* unless you are so low you absolutely must get something out instantly. (And even then after reserve deployment, I'd probably still pull the reserve handle just to be sure..) Disclaimer: low jump numbers, and I have never cut away or ridden reserve. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

In the words of NickDG... that's a nugget..

Ooh, an RFID tag might fit the bill.. I don't know how good a range they have though -- you'd want at least a few hundred feet. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

This thread reminds me of a related question I had: where is the best/safest place to put one's name/contact info on gear so that it can be returned in the case of a lost cutaway? Is there *anywhere* where a label can be pinned/sewn, or is permanent marker the only way to go? Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Absolutely. I had a terrible time in my first IAD jump (and several subsequent IAD jumps) because of dearching. After discussion with my instructors, we concluded this could well because of my rock climbing instincts kicking in -- feeling that I was falling, I pulled my limbs in to protect my vitals, rather than doing the opposite. It was only after switching to PFF that I was able to untrain this instinct. Yes, being used to heights and having good grip helped lots in that first scary climbout, but other training made (and still makes) things more challenging. (addendum) I have seen this pop up elsewhere too... when riding a motorcycle really fast, when wearing a backpack tugging at my shoulders, with the wind roaring in my face, especially when coming home from the dropzone, sometimes I get a really strong urge to stand up, throw my arms wide, arch arch arch... (and go splat...) Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Sigh, it's really frustrating using the classifieds. I've had a wanted ad posted for most of the season, and have gotten lots of responses from people wanting me to buy their Stilleto 135, Manta 290, or 20 year old rounds. And think that $5000 is a reasonable asking price... Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Switzerland's 288sq ft was on a F111, and the 235 was on a ZP canopy. He was only allowed to jump the 235 zp after landing about 5 jumps w/o radio in zero wind and 2 in pretty good winds with one being ground swatted (which he stood up). It seems that various DZs use a wide range of guidelines for when to downsize students. e.g. at my DZ, all students start off on 270s (or if they're really huge, a 290), and don't get downsized to a 230 until they have their solo - even in my case where I didn't get my solo until jump 23 and my naked weight is 135 lbs (putting my wingloading at just over 0.5) (landings by this point were getting pretty boring I must say!) Someone at the DZ (not an instructor, so I take it with a grain of salt) says I should not get off the 230 until I can land in the bowl 10 times in a row. This seems far more stringent than just "graceful standup landings somewhere near the mark" as quoted above. Just throwing that out there... Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Just to be clear, since I didn't clarify this point before, my instructor specifically said "you may have to wrap the lines a few times to get a stall". He has 5000+ jumps and is a well-respected active poster here. And yes, I understood that such actions could make the canopy unflyable and require the use of EPs. Hence doing this above 2000 feet. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

I learned a lot of things very early on by reading DZ.com threads. I also read a lot of things that I didn't understand, so I asked my instructors about these things at first opportunity. I also learned a lot of things that I thought I did understand, but I didn't.. as soon as this happened the first time, I started describing to my instructors all the things I was reading about, to compare my understanding of them with the actual truth. I do feel it helped my learning curve a great deal, and my instructors started introducing more advanced topics to me as I demonstrated that I was capable of understanding them. As for low-number jumpers offering advice -- I feel the best commentary I can offer is to provide anecdotes of things I tried that didn't work, or feedback on instruction that I misunderstood. It's easy for instructors or very experienced jumpers to assume that a n00b understands something in the same way they do, but without a frame of reference it's easy for misunderstandings to happen. Edit to add: Another example: I learned that the advice that a 100-jump-wonder at the local dropzone was trying to give me was something I should be ignoring, or at least discussing with an instructor before following. If I hadn't known any better, I would have taken advice from all sources as being of equivalent quality. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

You can jump without a rig too.. but you won't get to go again. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Demonstrating a stall (at high altitude) is one of the requirements for a CSPA solo certificate. Of course I didn't keep my hands wrapped in the lines. edit: added link edit again to add: There's a difference between "inexperienced" and "idiot". Please could you presume that low-number jumpers are the former rather than the latter? Thank you. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

That's certainly been my experience on the student canopies I've jumped. It took several (5+) wraps of the steering lines around the hands before I was able to get any kind of stall at all, and even then the wingloading was so light (~0.5) that I wasn't even able to get the tail to touch, let alone get the "big ball of crap" that I was going for. PS. Thanks for the discussion; I picked up a few new tidbits from this thread! Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Good luck with that. I'm 32 and I haven't told my parents that I'm jumping.. it's just easier if they don't know. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

When performing a Beer Accuracy landing.. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

I like Splatula Rigging's slogan: "we put the fun in malfunction!" Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Just how many accounts are we going to let Jeb Corliss make on this site? Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Ah the famous nut-under malfunction.. sometimes it's nice to be a girl. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

No problem -- just cut away from the jetpack when it runs out of fuel and deploy a canopy for it, then track away and deploy your BASE canopy. I'm thinking that Calvin19 is the perfect person to try this out. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Okay; I'm no doctor. I'm just quoting what they told me in the hospital, and I got no tape. My fractures were indeed pretty minor -- as tiny as they can be and still be called fractures -- so maybe this is the cheap Canadian medical system at work, or maybe this treatment was only applicable to situations as minor as mine. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Nope, for anything where the bones are in (more or less) the right place, they will just tape you up. For most fractures these days, they don't even use any bracing or tape, since motion speeds the healing process, and the mend will be stronger. Plus don't forget to self-medicate with lots of beer (and optionally herbal stuff ) and calcium. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

I experienced a nasty object strike on jump #15 (see my avatar), due to a variety of conditions: new DZ with different altitude, temperature, humidity, ground conditions, unfamiliar markings; different equipment; my own stupidity and failure to read the winds correctly. Since my toggle input didn't make any difference to my heading at this last moment, I knew I didn't know very much in advance that I was going to hit (the winds were strong and variable), but in my memory it feels like it took a very long time. I remember everything about the impact, including the bounce backwards onto the ground and the canopy falling down around me, and thinking quickly "I don't feel anything; what have I hurt?" The next thing I knew, I heard people shouting and running towards me, and I felt horribly guilty, knowing that I had caused my wonderful hosts to think that I had gone in. During the next few minutes, while several people assisted in checking my vitals (I will *definitely* be working to upgrade my medical knowledge and training in the near future), at the top of my mind was a strong need to prove that I wasn't too damaged, so as to assuage some of this guilt. I also couldn't help but feel proud of the skydive itself (I had accomplished several new things in freefall this time out), which made everyone laugh: "typical skydiver -- all busted up and she still says 'but the freefall was great!'". I decided the best I could do to make things right was to buy lots of beer, give out lots of hugs, and demonstrate all the lessons I had learned from that experience. Ultimately it came out being a net positive: I will heal stronger than before, and my ego has been sufficiently smacked down that I won't behave like many cocky novices I have met and read about. Looking for newbie rig, all components...

Let me just say... YES! (This will make no sense at all in the archives when I have switched my avatar photo..) Looking for newbie rig, all components...

They're not??? Looking for newbie rig, all components...