Jon26

Buy/borrow/steal em all, smoke, mirror, clear, red, blue and try them out to see which you prefer

I started learning to fly metal birds before i started learning to fly my body. I've got lots of pilot mates and lots of skydiving buddies and i'd say the cameraderie (sp?) is pretty much the same. The pilots tend to drink with each other more than with the skydivers and vice versa, but gravitation works like that. Birds of a feather flock together.

An old flatmate of mine who is always determined to talk others down to boost his own ego said to me "It looks like it'd get boring really quick. All you're doing is falling. I mean, How much fun can it be?" I found that funny. It's a shame that he'll never find out the answer.

Wouldn't be setting up a company where people can call and get a background check on used canopies they are thinking of buying like you can do for motor vehicles by any chance would you? Only problem is you are relying on peoples honesty for the background information so anyone wanting to sell a duff canopy to an unknowing customer/victim is gonna give you false info and tell you the canopy is mint. With no legal requirement to report canopy damage there is no reliable source for canopy background info. Unless you struck a deal with on-DZ riggers willing to keep an eye out for problem canopies for you.

I sometimes get a pang of nervous excitement at about a grand before reaching exit altitude until the door opens. For me, i think it's mainly nervousness about f**king up the jump for myself or my mates. But when you throw in the environment (temperature, noise, claustrophobia and, for me, thinking about how many pack jobs will be waiting for me when i land and how quickly i need to do them ;p) and the fact that you're probably talking to yourself in your head about whether jumping out of a plane is really a good idea (despite loving it every time), then i'd say it's completely normal for your fight/flight instincts to waver between moments of excitement and a bit of nervous anxiety. I reckon that because this sort of nervousness is in a way self-inflicted and "all in your head" the best cure / prevention is to either keep your mind busy by visualising the whole jump plan over a few times, admiring the view, meditating (like, on your breathing or something) or just chatting to the other guys / gals in the plane.

My unintentional HALO. Could've easily been my last jump. A reminder to turn on my dytter (especially when freeflying) and not to rely on it when it is on.

I've started taking an interest in ground launching lately too. I've watched some friends at the DZ getting into it. I've not actually done it yet, but i've been having a go of just ground handling my canopy on the PLA (after hours) and also on a little hill on the edge of the lake here in Queenstown. Just flying the canopy overhead and/or getting dragged around a bit :p really helps you get a feel for how your canopy responds to different inputs (toggles, lines, risers). Maybe give it a go before you commit to a proper launch. Have fun!

IMHO, noone can tell you it's time to downsize except yor instructor and even then, you don't have to. I've noticed there are a lot of v. experienced skydivers who jump large canopies. It seems like there's no real necessity (sp?) to downsize at all unless you are getting into swooping or just want to get a bit more ground speed for fun. I've done a bit of downsizing lately, mainly because i bought my own rig with a 150 main which i figured would last me a long time but is too small for me at the moment. I don't really buy into the downsize as quickly and as much as possible thing (yet) and am hoping to stick with the 150 for a long time. Anyway, i'm ranting, i just wanted to add that i don't think people should feel pressured to downsize at all.

I put a sweet used voodoo straight on my ccard before i had 20 jumps. I'm on 38 now but haven't used it yet as its a 150 but will be using it soon. Been using a friends odyssey since 30 jumps. So total of 29 rentals for me. I spent about US$3200 on the rig and the repayments work out cheaper than rental for me, and i get to use my own gear, with the peace of mind that it's FFfriendly. I'm pretty lucky that i've gone from our DZs old rental gear straight to sweet gear without doing the old gear stepping stone thing. It was just a case of patience and scouring the dz.com classifieds waiting for a bargain :)

Pro-packing is the way forward!

I wear contacts. I don't have many jumps but i have jumped with flexvision, flex-z, lane peerser, and cruisers. I've found that the Peersers are the most comfy, but flex zs have better peripheral vision and seem less prone to scratching. I've personally not had any trouble with any of them as far as dry contacts go, although i did climb onto the step of the Cresco with no goggles the other week. Even then, i didn't even notice!

Hey man, It sounds like you could have found the source of your problem already. The lines should always be even in length from either riser to the d-bag whilst stowing. If you are getting slack in some of the lines then either there is a problem with the way you are stowing each bite, there is too much slack between the stows or, (i'm betting) the risers aren't coming level from the container when you are packing. Try using a pack mat if you can, so you can fasten the risers together and make sure all the lines are equal side to side from the very start of your pack job. Also, make sure the brakes are stowed correctly. I doubt this is where the problem is happening but it's a possibility. Always tidy up the risers and lay them out tidily before you start. Hope this might help. And, don't let my jump numbers fool you. I pack tandems in a really busy DZ for work :)

I always feel drowsy after jumping. I think it's just normal. Skydiving puts your body through a very unusual experience so its not unusual to feel weird or tired after something like that. Also, i don't know about you but i feel like i'm absolutely peaking with excitement every time i jump and land full of beans and grinning like a cheshire cat. If you are not usually as "high" as you feel when you jump then its absolutely normal to feel tired afterwards. I get the same when i go flying too. Maybe its the excitement, maybe it's the pressure effect. I wouldn't worry about it though, i like crashing out, beaming from ear to ear and day dreaming afterwards its all part of the fun of skydiving!

Poor guy, i bet he feels quite bad about that one. But, in the guy's defense... has anyone else noticed the windsock and the huge cumulus in the background? What were the conditions like that day? Did the guy land on the station or did he snag it after being dragged by the wind?

Watching a couple of pieces of mal footage that were laying around at the dz i work at helped me out during my AFF. On my fourth jump, i encountered my first, and severe, line twists ( i was stable, honest!). They were pretty bad. I knew they were there before looking up. I could feel the risers crossed on top of my head and had to duck to get my head behind em to look up! I was obviously on a big canopy and it was square and flying straight but the slider was caught up halfway through the twists. Anyway, i couldn't remember what height is the minimum to cutaway when something like that happens. Since i had pulled way up at about 6 grand i had time to watch my alti and kick the twists out. I managed to untwist em by 2700. I had decided at the start to cutaway at 2500 if the lines were still twisted. Anyway, the point is i'd watched footage of others kicking out line twists and was surprised by how long they had persisted without chopping. Having seen that had made me more relaxed and able to calmly look at my alti while i kicked the twists out. I reckon if i hadn't seen the footage, i'd have looked up and said "WTF?" and chopped. Watch all the videos u can get ur hands on, i say. U might find urself in exactly the same situation u've watched someone else deal with.

What about freeclimbing?

Hmmm, yeah, you're right, i suppose. But i think marketing has a large effect. Skydiving needs exposure. Skydiving is rarely shown on tv and when it is, it's all BASE and, lately, wingsuits. The general public need to be exposed to more of the fun side of things rather than make skydiving look like the most dangerous thing in the world which it's not. If people realised how easy it is to get into skydiving, far more of them would join in, i reckon. BTW, I have heard of several fatalities snowboarding. It can be dangerous too.

Hi all, this is my first post on these forums. I am a newbie to the sport. I'm not really aware of the decline that is apparently happening but it is funny that the initial post on this thread seems to be questioning declining numbers whilst promoting exclusion of participants. Promoting numbers is easy. Marketing is 90% of everything as they say. I am also a keen snowboarder. A sport which is definitely not declining in numbers. The reason? It's "cool". Skydiving needs to regain its "cool" image to promote numbers. Simple.

Completed my AFF here a few weeks ago. I cannot fault this place. Motueka comes highly recommended by everyone I have talked dropzones with and I was not disappointed when I chose to do my AFF here. The staff are awesome, they are always willing to help you out and encourage you and there is a real feeling that everyone is determined to have fun whilst maintaining a high standard of professionalism. I can't wait to get back to Mot for the boogie in August and see the guys and gals. I will always remember and be stoked about my decision to start off my skydiving career here. See you there!