Willi91

This is fun reading! I must say that I've learnt a lot and I've become smarter over the last couple of years since writing my first post on this thread. But to be honest, the only downsizes I kind of regret are the first ones. Going to a Velo when I did was a fine decision - but only combined with the fact that I received good coaching! If you have your head up your ass thinking you know it all, skydiving is not the sport for you. But if you're willing to learn from qualified people and to do what you're told, even though it might be the most fun thing to do, you're probably going to do good. For the last 300-250 I've been flying a Comp Velo 90 which I don't plan on swapping out for something smaller anytime soon. It's fast enough for me. A year ago I tried a VK. Then I bought one ;-) Did 150 or so jumps on a VK90 and now I have a VK84. Awesome canopy. I was worried that it would be too small for work jumps, but luckily it isn't. I love that canopy!

I agree. On my VC90 I turn at 820 ft for 270 and 980 ft for 450.

What makes you think that? Just wondering..

This is fun reading! I must say that I've learnt a lot and I've become smarter over the last couple of years since writing my first post on this thread. But to be honest, the only downsizes I kind of regret are the first ones. Going to a Velo when I did was a fine decision - but only combined with the fact that I received good coaching! If you have your head up your ass thinking you know it all, skydiving is not the sport for you. But if you're willing to learn from qualified people and to do what you're told, even though it might be the most fun thing to do, you're probably going to do good. For the last 300-250 I've been flying a Comp Velo 90 which I don't plan on swapping out for something smaller anytime soon. It's fast enough for me.

Has anyone got any experience with the Vigil Xtreme? I think it is time for me to change my standard Vigil II into a speed type AAD and since I've been happy with my Vigil so far, I was considering going for their Xtreme version. I'm looking for reasons to choose the Cypres Speed over the Vigil besides the usual reasons such as past incidents with missing cutters, no mandatory overhaul and so on.

I put a couple hundred jumps on a standard velo 96 WL 2.0 with an RDS-slider and to be honest the openings wasn't good. Once in a while it would be fine but most of them would smack open. I don't know what manufacturer made the slider, but definately not PD. Right now I'm jumping a comp velo 90 with an RDS and here the story is completely different. It opens quick, but not hard which is exactly how I like it.

Calling others assholes for not talking to you makes you the asshole. Maybe there's a reason they don't want to. If you were at my dropzone I'd probably be one of the assholes you are talking about, but the only one who would be sorry about that is you.

The best advice I would give myself 900 jumps ago is that you are never as good as you think you are. I certainly wasn't, but it has taken me a long time to realise that. When you are on top of your game at 300 jumps, you propbably aren't. Be humble and listen to what the experienced guys have to say.

Regardless of his motives for using his technique he is still an ambassador for the sport, just like many of us are, whether he likes it or not. Like I said, the swoops are impressive, but flying like that might give new jumpers a wrong image of how to fly your canopy. Maybe it is fun for Charlie going in the corner and digging out every time, but come on.. Since when was that OK just because it's fun?

Impressive swoops, but I have never in my life seen anyone use that technique in their turns

I've used my GoPro 2 for every single one of my tandem videos. I'm not a professional but I still think my work lives up to a lot of the work I see from the pros. I do have a concern regarding GoPro 3 and 3+. A lot of my friends who use them experience them turning off mid jump for no obvious reason, and for me that's reason enough to stick with the GoPro 2. I really hope this problem has been solved on the 4. And when it comes to flying below tandems - I'd never do it and I wouldn't want another guy doing it when I do tandems. Never. It's just stupid. I'm glad to hear that the one guy in this thread who disagrees is not doing videos anymore.

As far as I know, leaving the slider up can cause line wear. That's reason enough for me to pull it down if I was in your place. I don't get why people make such a big deal out of the fact that you want to pull your slider down all though you probably won't feel any significal aerodynamical benefits. Pull the thing down and make it a part of your procedure so if you one day start jumping something smaller where it acutually can make a difference, you've already got it under your skin. My humble opinion. Now do you have anything to cover your slinks or what exactly stops the slider from coming down?

The vast majority of students at my DZ have never done a tandem before doing their first solo skydive, AFF students as well as static line. As I see it, there's no reason to do a tandem before doing solos unless the student wants to. When someone asks me if a tandem is required I tell them no and that it's a waste of money if the plan is do solo jumps anyway.

I won't give you any money because I, like someone stated earlier in the thread, find it distasteful to ask someone for money to go have fun. But I will give you the advice of doing like I did which is to go abroad to do some work at a dropzone where you will get paid more and have a better opportunity to increase your skills. If it is really your 'truest' dream you should drop out of school and pursue a career in the industry. If you wont drop out of school, have some patience.

I've done a fair amount of terminal jumps with a removable slider on my velo and they tend to be a bit snappier than with the standard slider. I'm not saying that this will be the case on your canopy though. I can see on your profile that you're not jumping the typical canopy for the use of a removable slider. Have you checked with the manufacturer that it is recommendable?