jmfreefly

Most people (according to what I have read), end up shifting their hips. This is usually what is seen in x-rays. Certainly large differences are compensated differently. Not sure if 9mm would make a difference or not. As for tightened suit, if you say you extend both fully (no more compensating knee drop), then the long leg is tight, and the short leg is loose. If you instinctively tried to tighten the short side, you may be inducing a turn that way. Modifying the suits are a pretty big pain in the a$$. I would make yourself a 'block' and tape in on the bottom of your short legs shoe. If that fixes it, then you could consider mods. I can't remember, has others jumped your suit and deemed it fine? j

You contradict yourself here. j

I am not so sure that being at half brakes (static state) makes the cells pressurize quicker. To clear closed end cells, i.e. flaring, changes the cross-section in the tail (dynamically), forcing the air that used to be there into the other cells via crossports. At least that has always been my interpretation. I have always heard that not stowing your brakes runs the risk of assymetric openings, and therefore should be avoided (certainly on highly loaded ellipticals). It is like turning the car on and instantly having it try to drive away. Truthfully, I never have bothered to jump canopies that way. j

Yeah, I haven't thought too much about why, but I have found that I can out-track on my back (in terms of both horiz and vert speed). Just arching and looking for the horizon behind you is superfast. On the last tracking dive I led, two others with Pantz were with me up until I punched it right before breakoff. Maybe they could have continued to keep up, but.. Everyone else wasn't even close at that point. Last time I thought about this stuff, I was trying to figure out how the rig played into the mix. Or maybe our dz just has crappy belly trackers..

Don't even think about putting it in your suit, it will be a mess. Ash will easily stain. Just take a look at the trim tape on this ash bag, post deployment. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=26659; I was thinking as a foot mount, like smoke. Like chuck suggested, I would choose a cutaway mechanism to open the bag. I would probably go for a slow deployment over a 'burst'. With all that altitude, the bag will have plenty of time to empty. (it will probably leave a 'contrail' cloud too, if it is the right conditions). The only thing about a cutaway is what happens to the cable after you pull it. Maybe you could rig a shock cord to pull it back close to the body. Ah, I got it.. Make the cable between your legs, so that after exit, you spread your legs for flight, that it opens the bag. You just have to be careful not to spread them in the plane. But, by all means, test jump the mount with flour beforehand. j

Hey, thanks for the story. It is funny how different dropzones are around the country. Our dz has lots of RW folks that are doing fun-ways and goofy stuff, and it is often the upcoming FFers that are concentrating hard on the plane to visualize the skydive.

Simple solution. After threading through the cats eye, tug on the brake line above the cats eye. If the cats eye slides off the toggle, it wasn't threaded below the ring. j

Holy Crap!!!! What are you doing to get 2 minutes of freefall? The most I have ever gotten was from a birdman jump at about 95 seconds. I guess I open too high. Regularly. I think my max is like 2:35 ish

Good stuff

I am pretty sure that you will never find pictures of his suit in detail. This was (as I recall reading/discussing with Jari) a big hurdle in trying to mimic his suit. Maybe I am wrong, but otherwise, I would expect to see webpages with comparisons of the suits, with all the bird-geeks out there. I remember hearing anecdotes about what happened to his suits, but I don't recall exactly who supposedly had them now. j

As a contrast, I have had just as good service so far from Alti-2. I had a cracked door on my Neptune, emailed them, and had 2 replacement doors, screws, o-rings FOC within a week. He also sent me the new hand mount FOC, as I had the old, big-ring style. My biggest problem with L&B is that their freefall time maxes out at 119 seconds. I emailed them whether a revision might happen to change this and they said 'nope'. But, I have gotten good service from L&B too. The numbers of dytters that I have seen replaced out there from user stupidity/error leads me to believe that they cost about $40 bucks to manufacture. I guess I would rather see them charge much less, yet not replace them if they get slapped off my helmet. j

man, you guys are a bit too up tight at your dz then! Usually it is the person I am jumping with that I ask. If they are too freakin bothered by it, then I don't feel bad if the video is missed. We have such video whores at our dz that no one minds. That being said, I do the same thing you do to turn the camera on. If in doubt, I just turn it off and on. Only on jumps that I really want the footage of do I 'bother' someone else in the plane. j

I think you answered your own question. Most people have some difference in leg length, but the rest of their skeletal frame/musculature compensates. The only way to really measure this is to sit legs straight, and measure from hip to toe. Sure, one is longer. But, your hips are cocked, which equalizes this. Thus, standing, you are no more taller on one side than the other. Otherwise you would be leaning to one side. Even when laying down, the musculature keeps this cock in your hips (for the most part), so I don't see this as being the cause. I know more than one flyer that was having problems with suit fit on a new suit, including suits that 'seemed too tight'. Pretty much the suit fit was actually caused by doing up their rig too tight or improperly. Once they loosened their rigs a little bit, the suit started fitting (and flying) better. j

Not worth it in my opinion. Just extra stuff to plug/tape/protect, whatever. I have a cameye on my video helmet for tandems, which also has a ringsight. I never use the button on the cameye, I only use it for record verification. My freefly video helmet is small, clean, and minimal. No ringsight, no cameye. since I am going to be editing the footage anyway, having an extra second of footage where someone checks the video light isn't a big deal. my .02 j

Hey now, Mel, no selling her to the masses! Shes my one and only. j

Well, I have tweaked my legstrap tightness without any problems. pretty quick to do if you have the room. I know in my rig, if I am moving around a lot in the A/C, my legstraps will work loose a little bit. If it is asymmetric, then it may cause some issue. Well, another few jumps on it might reveal it. I have also noticed some slight differences when I have had one sleeve 'turned back' a bit more than the other. The air didn't seem to inflate the wing as well. A little bit of wiggling, and I could get the sleeve rotated back in place (symmetric). j

I agree, that seems backwards.

Search the archive here about CD degradation. In some tests with burned media, CDs have deteriorated within just 13 months. I posted a link to an article a while back. I'm too lazy to search for it. I have never experienced it, but just keep in mind that it can happen on (I believe) super cheap medium. j

I don't see winds causing a heading change. A crab, possibly, but not a heading change. (certainly not over 180 degrees). My bet is still that your rig is akilter somehow, as Phree says. I know that when I am trying to tighten up my rig in the plane, I never can tighten it perfectly (the way it should be in freefall), unless I am in a skyvan and can stand all the way up. j

In what way do you envision this causing a reserve ride? A comment about the split ring: I would make sure that the split ring has NO sharp edges on it, otherwise you are back to a deteriorating piece of equipment again. A comment about Slinks: I would worry about this binding up in the grommet and not allowing the PC to collapse all the way. I have never tried this, nor seen it, but that would be what I would test first. And yes, I would just make a pseudo-slink vs. buying a set of 4. j

Hmm.. I guess a wingsuit could have a built in turn.. hadn't ever thought about that. I have noticed, however, that if I have my rig too tight, or asymmetrically, then the suit will not fit right. j

I'll refer you to the second paragraph of my original email: I -am- asking people for their experiences/reasons, both NEW (that would be you) and old. . Actually, I started freeflying because I felt like it. The same reason I started skydivig. BECAUSE ITS FUN. RW is not as fun as freeflying to me. So THATS why i started it. Ok, so you don't find RW as fun. Can you elaborate as to why? Is it because your DZ has 'clicks' that exclude you? And the only other RW folks that will jump with you are other newer jumpers that don't fly so well? Or maybe you are having trouble with a skill? Or maybe you don't like the structure of RW jumps? These are the questions that I ask the newer jumpers that seem frustrated with jumping right off of AFF. Often there are answers that yield new paths for the jumpers progression. Where in my thread to I tell you how to spend your jump ticket money? I will say, though, that if people decide that they want to jump without a rig, someone will certainly tell you that you can't spend your jump money that way. The point is, that there are limits to 'freedom to do what you want' in this sport. [of course, my example is extreme hyperbole] But, maybe I should expand on -why- I have been trying to find the root causes. My goal is to actually -help- newer jumpers a) stay safe and b) have fun. From what I have seen/talked about, more than a few people start freeflying because they feel left out, or never get the chance to do the fun RW. In cases like that, I want those jumpers to feel welcomed and integrated. If, on the other hand, they have learned skills to keep them safe (like how to track, fall rate, gotten their internal 'altimeter' tuned, etc.), but just don't want to do RW, then 'ALRIGHT, lets get you learning freeflying and working with a good teacher!'. The point is do do it safely, to have fun, and to ultimately learn. If people are unhappy, then they probably aren't learning (and certainly not having fun). What point are you not agreeing with? This wasn't a thread about 'RW must happen before FF', it was what factors at the dropzone may be causing/promoting newer jumpers to freefly. j

Why do you emphasize FRONT? As in not BOTH? or as opposed to REAR only. I have slider blocks on both my front and rears on my risers. It is a bit trickier to get them on the rear risers, as they have to go around the hard housing. But, I think it does a better job of keeping the slider from inflating. Am I missing something? j

Alright, I change my answer to whatever Brian says.

I think the training of your flying skills will translate even though you don't have a rig on in the tunnel. I know my sit flying in the tunnel is slightly different than with a rig on, but you body learns balance and adaptability (how your body affects/affected by the wind), not 'this position' or 'that position'. j