skron

The students at our DZ do all of AFF with a rip cord. After they graduate and have demonstrated they have the basics down, they go on at least one jump with a AFF instructor where they do practice BOC throws. The instructor makes a fake pilot chute handle to throw. After they have demonstrated that they can switch over safely, they do their first jump on an actual throw out. As a student it seems like a pain and pointless, but looking back it seems to have been an effective method. Well behaved women don't often make history.

Look closer...there's also no slider. I'm guessing the extra hardware has something to do with a removable slider for high performance landings. If I'm wrong I'm sure I will be quickly corrected. I am not a swooper, so as I said I'm just guessing. Well behaved women don't often make history.

I too started freeflying too early (about 35 jumps, not 12). Of course at the time I didn't know I was doing it too soon, I just wanted to play with the big boys and girls. I found out quickly it was too soon. I ended up on the ground for 3 months with a broken back. Freefly speeds are much faster than belly speeds and when you don't slow down enough before deploying you end up broken. You said you wear the camera to show you whatyou are doing wrong.... Hate to tell you this, but you need someone else to wear the camera to get that feedback. You wearing a camera doesn't show you your body position whether your flying on your belly or your butt. You don't necessarily need a coach to help you improve your skills. Find an experienced jumper that is willing to help, believe it or not a lot of people want to help newer people get better. You just have to ask. And be careful of coaches. You don't need a whole lot of skill or experience to get a coach rating. (And before the coaches kill me for that, I am in no way saying that coaches don't know what they are doing. Just that not all coaches should be coaches) Another thing about freeflying too early.. Yes its a lot of fun, but I am not so good at RW now because I focused on freeflying too early. SLOW DOWN Enjoy every jump. You have plenty of time to do everything if you take it slow and don't do anything stupid. Well behaved women don't often make history.

If you go back and READ the original post you will see that it says "no fatalities". I understand that there are many skydiving incidents every weekend that are not on these forums. However if you know of any fatalities that didn't appear here PLEASE enlighten me. As far as the 'incidents' you mentioned, most of them would be moved out of the Incident Forum to a different one. Generally the Incident Forum is for fatalities and serious injuries. I apologize if I offended someone by feeling like any weekend without a FATALITY is a great weekend for us all. Well behaved women don't often make history.

It was a good weekend for skydivers! I have developed a habit of checking these forums every Monday. Do you know what for? Fatalities... I know its kind of morbid, but unfortunately they are so common lately that I feel the need to see if we have lost anyone else. Its really sad how many jumpers we have lost this year. Every time I see another post it gives me a sick feeling in my stomach. Sometimes they were freak accidents and other times they were preventable. No matter the circumstances they are all tradgedies. Thank God no fatalities this weekend! Please everyone be safe! Well behaved women don't often make history.

Like already stated any canopy can slam you at any time and you may not be able to figure out why. I packed my boyfriend a really hard opening once, and I think that when I rolled the tail I caught the nose up in it. This caused the nose to be thrown out instantly when the tail unrolled. BTW I don't roll the nose so its easier to get it caught in the tail. The buckling afterward? Just a guess, but think about what your body is doing on a hard opening. Your head, arms and legs are all thrown forward possibly causing the canopy to surge forward, then you come back to neutral and look up and maybe even arch some transferring the pressure the other direction. I could be completely off on these, but hey another point of view never hurts, right? Well behaved women don't often make history.

I do not fly a wingsuit yet, but I am planning on it and am attempting to take all the proper steps before doing so. The SIM recommends 500 jumps or 200 jumps made in the last 18 months. That is obviously just a recommendation and not a requirement. As with any part of skydiving, it is all based on the individual. Everyone has different learning curves, abilities and personalities. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have flown wingsuits with less jumps than recommended and been fine and I think there are probably plenty of others with more jumps and are not ready for a wingsuit. I have been doing research on different wingsuits, doing tracking dives, and asking questions of experienced wingsuit jumpers and would hope anyone wanting to fly this advanced piece of equipment will do the same. Well behaved women don't often make history.

I have to agree. I only have 266 jumps and have never flown a camera. I feel I have progressed faster in freeflying than some others I know that put a camera on their head at 50 jumps. Eventually I would like to be a videographer, but for now I am having too much fun learning new things without the distraction of pointing a camera in the right direction. My body position looked a lot like the OP's pics when I started. My suggestion to the OP would be to leave the camera on the ground and focus on body position. Well behaved women don't often make history.

+2 I agree with both the last 2 comments. I have to admit I'd like to know where you jump because it scares me that your instructors response would really be "just go to 3" if what your saying is true. Have your instructors looked at how the rig fits you? I know I am not very experienced but I do know through common sense that if your chest strap is at your neck or higher your risers (and toggles) are going to be higher, possibly preventing you from flaring all the way. I am a small girl also and had some trouble flaring student gear. It will get better when you get gear more suited for you. But in the meantime you need to push it a little farther with your instructors to make sure you are jumping gear that is safe for you! Well behaved women don't often make history.

I am a deputy sheriff in NY. Well behaved women don't often make history.

Thank you all for all the advice and info. I think after considering it all I will demo a Nitro, Safire and maybe one or 2 others in about the same size as my current canopy. Then when I'm ready to downsize I will know which one I like the best. Thanks again Blue Skies Well behaved women don't often make history.

I think you misunderstood what I said. I don't want to downsize in order to get a little rig...I want to downsize (or possibly not downsize just switch type of canopy) because I want something that is going to do more for me than my Sabre 1 and in another 6 months I believe I will be ready for that. I am only trying to get a little advice before doing so from some people who have different canopies and are willing to offer advice (not criticism) to less experienced jumpers. My only reason for stating that I'd like a little rig is because I figure I will only buy 1 custom rig and want it to last a long time. Well behaved women don't often make history.

>>you dont mention what weight you are or what wingloading >>might consider a stilleto 120. I am 135 lbs w/o gear. I am afraid of Stilettos. I have heard horror stories about them, seen 3 cutaways from spinning ones and seen someone bounce on landing one. Could someone tell me more about the Nitron? It was suggested but I'm thought it may be too much performance for now. Also I am planning on buying a new rig when I get a new canopy, so I want to wait until I can get a 120ish no matter what type so I can get a little rig. That might sound silly from a newbie, but if I'm gonna spend that much money on a rig I want one that will last a looong time. Well behaved women don't often make history.

I have been jumping for 1 year and have 232 jumps right now. I started on a Triathlon 160 for 125 jumps then went to my Sabre 135 (I am 135lbs). I realize that I am still inexperienced and no where near ready for high performance. I used to hate landing and no wind days, but I have dialed in my Sabre enough that I now look forward to no winds and have learned to love the speed. I want to downsize and go with a little more performance in about 50 - 100 jumps from now. I was considering a Safire 119. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice? Well behaved women don't often make history.

I am glad I saw this alert! He sent me another email yesterday saying I could take my ad down because he would be sending out payment today. But what is he trying to do? Does he send out bad checks and hope you'll send out the gear before you figure it out? These are the emails I received from him. ----- Original Message ---- Hi Sarah Kron, On 4-Jun-2008 someone submitted their contact information in response to your ad in the Dropzone.com Classifieds. Please reply to this email to contact the person directly. Username => Jemmons URL => http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=63609&d=1 Name => John FromEmail => [email protected] City => Country => Comments => Am making and enquire about the camera you have for sle on dropzone so i will like you to mail me back if you still have it for sale and you can reach me on +447943210762... HI I don't have a camera for sale, just the ring sight. It is a cross hair sight. Thanks Sarah Hello, Thanks for your swift response, I'm so glad to hear from you and would say that am really interested in buying the (Ring sight) and i will be happy if you can sell it to me because my son has been troubling me because he use it in Australian so i have to get it for him. i have a Dhl account for shipping pakages and with that i will use to ship it down to my Location. Pls kindly get back with your final asking price and i will be glad to issue out the payment to you which will be in bank draft/check for the payment. If you are okay with my arrangement,pls kindly get back to me with the following detail's NAME: ADDRESS: ZIPCODE: MOBILE NUMBER: I await your response soon, Thank's and GOD bless you and youir family. Regards, Well behaved women don't often make history.

A few quick tips 1. Make sure you get as much air out as possible and cocoon it as small as you can. 2. When you put your knee on your folds, just place your knee on it to hold it in place. Don't push down or the whole thing will blow up before you get it in the bag. 3. Once you have it folded and under control quickly put one corner of the flap of the bag under one side of the canopy and put you knee on the bag to hold it in place. Then you can get the top corner of the bag around the same side of the canopy and get the other corner of the flap under the other side, put your knee on that and tuck in the rest of the canopy. As soon as you get the whole thing in the bag put your knees on it. Well behaved women don't often make history.

I also had a back injury when I had under 100 jumps. I fractured thorasic vertebrae on a hard opening due to the fact that I didn't slow down out of a sit. I was out of the sport for 3 months (that was the longest the Dr could possibly talk me into staying on the ground) and also very nervous going back. I only have 165 jumps now so obviously take a instructors advice over mine, but I would recommend starting slow. I did hop n pops the first few times out to regain some confidence. And one thing I have learned myself and by watching other students...There is no shame in being on radio until you are comfortable and consistent. I have seen people refuse the help of having an instructor on a radio and make bad decisions and end up in near collisions or off landings that have resulted in injuries. Better safe than sorry...especially in our sport. During my injury I wore a custom molded back brace, but it is not something you'd want to skydive in. I don't know of anything that would be all that comfortable. Just take it slow and go over your flight plan, winds and other landing factors with an instructor before you go up. Well behaved women don't often make history.

I have to agree that this is just asking for something to go wrong. Don't get me wrong I'd be there with a video camera, but I wouldn't join in. Here is something you could try instead that we have come up with at my DZ: Swoop bowling - Inflatable pins which you can find online, a pair of swoopers, and no wind. Well behaved women don't often make history.

Thank you all for you help an advice. I did contact Merriah directly and she has already been very friendly and helpful. Here's to the start of another weekend of jumping. Blue skies for all.... be safe. Well behaved women don't often make history.

Really?? Do you know her? You don't think she'd mind if some random skydiver PM'd her asking advice? Well behaved women don't often make history.

I have recently become interested in freestyle and was wondering if anyone had suggestions on where to find videos. There doesn't seem to be many out there. I have read about Merriah Eakins and others but can't seem to find any of their videos. Do any freestyle flyers have advice on where to begin when trying this discipline? Thanks for the advice. Blue Skies Well behaved women don't often make history.