drewcarp

How do you like the the magnetic dbag and BOC deployment "pouch"? Are there any clear advantages or is it just different and have you had any issues? Is the main handle heavy because of the magnets? That is a sweet looking rig by the way! They need to get one that looks like yours up on the website! Thanks for your replies guys!

I'm not here to bag on my DZ, I just like info on how to keep myself safe at it and ok yeah a bit of an exaggeration. The instructors def pay attention and know whats up but about half of the people I have asked have told me 45 degrees or 5 or 6 seconds and I rarely hear any discussion about separation or uppers/groundspeed. People just seem to wait about 5 or 6 seconds or looksout the door until they feel satisfied. I try and argue for 7 but it does no good coming from someone with 20 jumps, sometimes I get a "sure, yep 7 seconds" or a lesson on what the 45 degree rule is and why it works, which is always disappointing.

People actually talk about that shit? From reading here I thought they did and then I started actually skydiving and asked the person behind me how much time they were going to give me and and they usually look at me like I asked them the square root of something and mumble something about either 45 degrees or 5 or 6 seconds or say "plenty" or "GO!" So I always make sure to give the person out in front of me extra and hope the big sky theory pays off Question for you Bill, My DZ flies the Otter on the same direction jump run regardless of wind. How does that affect procedure?

So I'm shopping around for a first rig and think I'll get a new container and everything else used. All brands are currently an option but the Basik Seven seems pretty sweet. I'm just not sure if all of the different and non-traditional features are safe and not gimmicky. Hoping some experienced folks could take a look at container and tell me what they thought. I am particularly interested in any thoughts on the Magnetic D-bag, unique AAD cutter placement and magnetic throw out pouch (boc). Why would or wouldn't you consider it over say a Mriage or Vector or Jav or Icon? http://www.basik.fr/en/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=189&category_id=6&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1&vmcchk=1 Thanks!

Link up some sick skydive / base videos. As long as its entertaining. Do it. I miss skydivingmovies.com

Thanks for the link thats a fucking badassed vid. Got anymore?

http://www.bungee.com/bzapp/volcano/index.html "After the jump will have a long line ride back to the airport, once again traveling at around 130 kph while suspended 350+ feet below the helicopter."

http://birdsinparadise.com/ Check these out. I went last winter and it was awesome. They are based out of the same airport as Skydive Kauai. Real professionals and something a little different. I would give them my highest recommendation. Ask to fly with Tracy.

I'm going to Cochella music fest in Indio CA and was wondering... 1. Is there a DZ close to maybe squeeze in jump or two. I know Skydive San Diego is about 3 hrs away, any DZ's closer to Indio? 2. Anyone been before? Care to share how it was?

Sounds like a lot of fun, can we do AFF outta the heli? JKJK... My first instinct is that I should probably figure out what I'm doing before trying to add the extra traffic and crazyness of a boogie but if there are provisions to keep the inexpreienced like myself safe I would def consider it. Or if its close enough and the weather is bad at Z-hills I might just come out for a day to check it out and not jump. Would that be worth it? Thank you for the invite.

Hey thanks everybody!! I'm feeling better already about coming out. I've got 40 or so minutes of tunnel time from skyventure CO so I think that should be enough, although 15 of it was spent flailing around on the net trying to back fly, haha. I haven't jumped in 18 months so the nerves are certinly quite raw and its making my somach turn thinking about it, can't wait to get that first jump back out of the way, hopefully things will be easier after that? I'm getting in tomorrow afternoon, probably stop by for an evening beer and check the place out. Weds morning is game time tho. Only goal is to come back in one peice and with a few more jumps than I had and hopefully a few new friends. Thanks for your replies everybody!! If I meet any of you beer is on me. Drew

Hey there, hope this is an ok spot for this. I will be traveling to Z-Hills next Tues for a week to do some jumping. I don't know anyone there or even in Florida for that matter but I hope i can get some jumps done and have some fun. I'm starting to wig out a bit about the trip as i don't know anyone there and haven't really ever gone on a week long vacation alone before but I'm sure it will probably be fun once it's under way. I only have 5 jumps so I know I'm a newbie lame-o but was hoping maybe someone else who reads here has a story about traveling to a galaxy far far away to do AFF by themselves or something similar that would be encouraging to read before my trip? I'm thinking I'll pry get a hotel for the first few nights until I get my bearings and feel out the vibe and then camp the last few nights at the DZ if seems like I would be welcome and enjoy it. Any tips or things I need to know for Z-Hills camping, AFF, hotels, near by bars etc? Know it's a long shot but if anyone else will be at Zhills those days and doesn't know anyone else there hit me up and maybe we can grab some beers or something. Any tips on solo DZ travel or Zhills in general? I hear a lot of great things about Z-Hills but still a little nervous about a week long solo trip. And shit I'm scared as hell about the jumping too Hope you are having a good one! Drew

Thinking those rollerblades with the big wheels and a Woopy. Ever seen the big wheeled rollerblades? Then you could do it on grass to lessen the eventual pounding in that would really hurt but would probably be well worth it! How much do they cost?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuM5-wQ23es Anyone know what this is? Do they still exist or did this sport just turn into speed riding? That looks fucking cool.

Thats a good idea. I would be more than willing to help seed the torrents. Any other piracy nerds be willing?

I was thinking of going out to SDC and doing some AFP jumps in late October. (I have 5 jumps total, 4 AFF last summer) From what I've read SDC is one of the best places to learn how to skydive so I figured I'd make a little vacation out of it but had a few questions. 1. Are there any SDC AFP instructors on here that wouldn't mind answering a few quick questions that could PM me? 2. Does anybody know a cheap way to get from O'Hare to SDC? Is there a bus or something similar that regularly gets close? Boxcar to hop?=) Figure car rental or taxi would cost a ton. Would it be weird to go out there alone? Is it common for people to do that for training? I can't find any friends that both have the money and desire to skydive. I don't really mind but might feel kinda weird camping for 4 nights by myself, anyone here done that before? Thanks a ton in advance and if anyone has done the AFP at SDC and would like to share their story I would love to read it! Thanks!

These posts are encouraging, please keep them coming. I am in kinda the same boat but i wasn't really that scared for the first 5 jumps then I ran out of money and took some time off and found the incidents forum and read way too many of those (damn you DZ.com)....now I can't seem to get back into the air even though I want to more than anything else. Compounding the problem is the "hurry hurry hurry up and gear up I have 46 more AFFI jumps to do today, no time for a gear check i already did it for you..." DZ that is the only close one to me. Now i'm putting it off by making plans to train out of state. Anyone have any stories about coming back later after just a few jumps and being more freaked out than ever before and getting over it? To the OP, take the advice I should and just go do it, maybe we can work it out and jump together someday

Would you do that with a Pilot or Sabre2 and an AAD turned on? I get the reasoning, it just seems to be cutting it real close. If you are cool with 2-3 seconds to respond or be seriously close to deep shit then good for you, I just don't see my self having quite that kind of confidence. You obviously wouldn't have made it to 5000+ jumps without being smart about it, or you are just really, really lucky Guess if I ever get a few thousand jumps it might not sound that scary. Thanks. >edited to not look like an idiot. Thanks for the info guys you all know much better than I do.<

Hard deck traditionally means the lowest you would fight a mal to before cutting away, correct? Brian Germain said his hard deck was 2200 feet in the latest segment on Skydive Radio and he has like 13000 jumps. That sounds reasonable. At 1,000 feet every 5.5 seconds how can anyone justify a hard deck below 2,000 feet? I know a a lot of people pull at 2,000 but that's a different question. If you decide to cutaway at 1500 feet you have less than 3 seconds to find your cutaway handle, peel off the velcro, pull cutaway, find your reserve handle and deploy your reserve without a possibility of SPLAT, going by the "dont cutaway below a grand" philosophy.. That is like the time it takes to take a breath. What if your hand slips off a handle? Not knocking anyone, I know it's a personal decision but that seems like not enough time to me. Can someone who listed a hard deck lower than 2,000 explain why less than 3 seconds is enough time for you to save your life when you could have 8 or 10 seconds and still get a reasonable free fall? Is my math off? How do people pull at 2,000 with a modern canopy that might snivel for 800? AAD's can fire as high as 1200 right? Where is the room for EP's there? Or is it just treated more like a BASE jump where you are just fucked if the main doesn't work or do you jump faster opening canopy's or what?

This probably varies person to person but I remember being wiped out after my first jump. It didn't hit me until I got home but I was super tired and out of it after that adrenalin dump. The first jump was the worst in that respect, I felt great after #'s 2,3,4 and 5. I would only do 1 jump the first day, after that you are pry good for 2 or 3 a day if you feel up to it and you don't end up sitting around waiting for an instructor all day

I'll take it! You will have to wait a while so I can get more jumps and stuff but i read a lot of DZ.com so i figure it will work out fine. There's not a drug test right? What kind of gun do I get?

I have read that there were no AFF fatalities in the first 20 years of the programs existence. Is this true and about how many jumps was that? Would seem like most AFF jumps are skydiving as close to as safe as possible. Forgiving canopy's, multiple gear checks by experienced instructors, higher pulls, more separation, good weather conditions...etc. The only danger factor being the inexperience of the student which is mitigated quite well according to the record. How many annual fatalites would there be if all jumps were like that? (minus the inexperience of the student of course) If that is true it would seem as if most of the danger is self imposed (HP canopys, questionable conditions, big ways, etc... long list lol) and skydiving could be done with a much much better record than it has now. If all jumps were as careful and thought out as an AFF jump we might not be having this conversation. That will never happen and I'm not saying it should but you can skydive and be safer by magnitudes if you want it to be....Right? I'm asking not implying cuz I have 5 jumps. Thanks

Read either of these and you will understand better. Hope you get a chance to check them out! Lots of people try to make it an easy answer but it doesn't really make sense until you experienced it a few times. I have only stalled airplanes so i won't get into it here. http://www.amazon.com/Parachute-Its-Pilot-Ultimate-Ram-Air/dp/0977627721/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241975425&sr=8-1 Kind of the same book but more about airplane flight... http://www.amazon.com/Stick-Rudder-Explanation-Art-Flying/dp/0070362408/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241976450&sr=1-1 Both are GREAT books, they were required reading for me and I'm glad! Good Luck!

What are the best tips to ensure a rental rig is airworthy? Obviously, check that it has handles and 3 rings, pc pocket is tight. Any other things I can check for? I feel kinda dumb when they just hand me a rig and say "here ya go". and I proceed to jump it not knowing what the hell is in the bag or who packed it. Would it be impolite to ask to if I can watch it get packed? What are good things to look for and check? And yes I will ask my instructor but they are quite busy most of the time and here I will get info from many more people. I thought about putting off training until I could afford my own gear and be able to maintain it to my standards but it doesn't really make sense $$ wise b/c I would only jump it 30 or so times and I have been told my DZ has good student gear, but how can I make sure without putting up the money for my own? Is it just kinda a leap of faith until you are around long enough to know what to look for? Just looking for some tools to make sure I know the condition of what's on my back. Thanks in advance for your responses.

Not really a skydiver in DZ.com terms but skydiving does occupy the majority of my free waking thoughts (waiting for money and warm weather) ITS NOT WHAT YOU SAY BUT HOW YOU SAY IT. You have to sell it right like anything else. Take a reading on the interviewer, if he has pictures of adventurous activites on his desk you might want to try and subtly work it into the conversation. Many wuffos are curious about it even if they have never done it and will respond positively and it will make you memorable. Some might not like it but I wouldn't want to work there anyways if it's that big a deal. Dont ware a boogie t shirt and announce it right off the bat but if asked about hobbies I wouldn't hesitate to throw it in there. Confidence under pressure, risk management and passion are all positives in most jobs. Totally depends on the job though (Im a radio DJ so we are all a little weird) Never brought it up in an interview but if asked about hobbies I think it would be a major plus if you sell it right.