heavydude

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Posts posted by heavydude


  1. I had the generic rig bags fall apart due to the fact I have a heavy big-boy rig. Then I used a DeepSea (brand) scuba type gear bag that was pretty well used as a substitute. Have been using that bag for about 5 years. Lots of room for rig + stuff.
    It has backpack straps + rollers and expando straps on the side so when I am lazy I just rigger fold the main and put in gear bag if I dont feel like packing.

  2. My wife wouldnt even try that line as she knows the answer, however I am also real conservative and dont do anything outside of standard skydiving. Being over 50 I dont take extreme chances, however I feel regular skydiving to be a normal activity. That being said I wont hesitate to quite as soon as it stops being fun, I gave up sailboat racing a decade or so because it became too much work and little fun.

  3. I have had real good luck with Dropzone classifieds and have bought my rig, helmets, altimeters etc from classifieds. However also consider if you buy a package some parts may not be optimum for your use, my first container was nice(Javelin old but almost no use) However I ditched the first main because it was really bad. Old 9-cell F-111 Hard opening version. I then bought a cheap used main used that for about a hundred jumps(it was $265) Then finally rationalized getting a new Triathlon main which I love. Now my used cypress expired so I just bought a new Vigil which should be good for 20 yrs.
    I think this way I jumped regularly w/ money its just spread out over a longer time ! Also some of that Midwest and east coast gear gets allot less wear/sun/uv damage so it may be in better condition.

  4. Should not be a problem at Perris as they are probably most reliable with loads: Tourists, people from strange countries, military teams from strange countries, and my favorite: model skydiving chicks from LA.

  5. 1 windtunnel session was very valuable when I first got my bootie suit. The instructor showed me the dropped knee turns and up to that point never realized I could turn that fast. It was a radical departure from the student propeller turns. Eventually you will have a jump where one or more boots fall off your toe, at first it feels weird unless you dump the other toe, but you can compensate for it. Might be worth practising that but I am not an instructor...

  6. The WORST thing in Engineering is bogus bosses that pretend they are real engineers but dropped out and went to business school and then they supervise engineers. I have worked for some of these suckers and they deserve the firing squad...just like fake Military wannabes.

  7. I have been scuba diving since age 13 and still enjoy it, worked commercial, dove cave, wrecks and rebreathers also. The only thing I dont like about Scuba in a minor way is thats its become a tourist sport for old grannies and resorts treat all divers alike...
    Fortunately I have my own boat, usually dive alone, and do what I what most of the time. Skydivers to me seem a little more independant and adventurous than the Scuba crowd in general, but lots of people do both.

  8. I dont know what the deal is but I jumped an almost new condition PD300 for about a dozen jumps. I was cautioned by the rigger that these opened hard..... I subsequently had one jump where it opened so hard that the center cell baffle ripped and that cell only held due to leading edge tape. Had bruising on harness strap points. Never had that problem with a Falcon and of course new canopys, Triathlon, Navigators. I usually roll the nose also on everything I jump. Used Falcons I think are a good deal as you can get a hundred or so jumps for cheap, but once the F111 goes the flare gets bad also.

  9. Running about 230ish over the years..... I bought a lightly used rig from classifieds here. Had a Falcon 290 in it which was non-zp. That was OK for about a hundred jumps, the falcon was about $250, used but OK. At student level you aint that picky with rolling in dirt landings, etc. About 2 years ago I upgraded to a new Triathlon 260, its a nice canopy, opens swell and soft. They rent these at Perris so they were a easy transition. I am not worried about all the downsizing BS as I prefer to save my knees as I am in my 50s and also do a bunch of Ironmans each year so they get a beating from that already. The Aerodyne tris open nice and soft, are 7 cell stable units.

  10. I took a few classes w/ Sean at SDSD and was always impressed with his positive attitudes. We will miss his Camo outfits as he always jumped with some sort of Camo scheme or a booney hat. In my opinion he really worked hard at the sport and promotion of Skydiving.

  11. I got chased once by some big-ass sea lions near Zuniga Jetty once. they were pissed I got too close...
    Was sort of sceered that time. And then there were those dudes near Ventura that all they found were the Kayaks with big great white teethmarks several years back. Friend of mine was also blown out to sea when he "mis-judged" Offshore winds once. Got rescued by a passing boat luckily !
    Sea Kayaking is Usually pretty calm sport but like you said "stuff can go wrong"

  12. I would say no benefits to being bigger !
    Thats coming from a slimer me at 225 Lbs and 6.2 ft tall. Smaller people are sometimes sceered to jump with you. However with a good jumpsuit and practise I can match fall rates with most people.
    I did feel sorry for my AFF instructors at having to jump w/big weightbelts during AFF. Good thing is that most places have plenty of big people.
    We can push people out of the beer line easier ! HA, HA

  13. I learned so much stuff in the tunnel in the beginning as its less stressful than real jump: practise slipping FWD and reverse rapidly and then side side, vertical speed control and convetional turns and knee turns. Knee turns are a cool trick and tunnel is a great way to practise. Even watching other experienced flyers doing 2-4 way you pick up pointers.

  14. OOh I can help ! Its availible free online at some site called skydivingmanuals online or something !
    If you cant find it just send me an email as I have it saved on my work computer as a pdf.

  15. Students usually have to use clear most places as others have said. After that anything goes. Glasses suck however during packing when you lay on the canopy, I busted a few pairs while they were on lanyards, etc. Plus when its hot, sweaty they suck also. Contacts work great and I use the disposable ones. Most goggles work OK with them but I havnt tried with Gators, I think they would probably fly out. I did have the dreaded one contact fly out while tracking hard one time, was not that hard landing with one eye vision.B|


  16. Have fun with AFF ! Dont assume its easy however, I was fairly coordinated with various sports before starting AFF like Rock Climbing, Surfing, etc. Skydiving is like surfing in that it takes a while to become comfortable in body position jumping out of a plane. I thought initially it was going to be easy but the first 10 jumps although they went well really worked me good.

  17. Quote

    Yeah, I read that before.

    The big chunky look fits into swooping fairly well.;)

    My wife does Triathlons, you two can have them. I'm not going to drive a Subaru or eat twigs. :D



    Hah I am about as opposite of that as you can get, being Polish I believe in the power of Sausages and Vodka ! (and beer, steaks, pizza, etc.)