ForeverDive

Great video, I agree. But I digress. I realize this is PD sponsored, but where do I find video of the rest of the competitors. Namely anyone else who doesn't fly a velocity. Regards, JF

Now there is part, if not all of the problem. Tube stows! Use the small rubber bands and the issue should go away. MEL Can you elaberate? What's the difference between tube stows and rubber bands?

You are saying that your locking stows were also very loose, correct? Now they're also appropriately tight, correct? Well, I should emphesize that my lines are brand new, and my method for stowing lines had worked in the past with older lines. So, Yes I say my stowes were too loose for the slick new lines. Don't count on that, others have reported bag logs where the rubber bands did not break. Dully Noted

Yeah, I'm sure it only matters with with the locking stows. I was using large bands and weaving them in and out to make them smaller. That apparently was the wrong idea, because I was feeling no snatch force at opening. I felt nothing and then WHAM. As soon I started double stowing my lines, I felt the lines unstowing and then a controled opening. Wheather it's called line dump or bag strip. I'm sure my canopy was inflating before I had line stretch. It was evident since my risers had slack in them for a fraction of a second. I admit, double stowing miny bands is problably overkill, and my fingers are very sore from the weekend. However, the resulting opening were awesome, and differnece in openings was dramatic. Also, I was ready for bag lock, although I don't think rubber bands could cause bag lock by them selves. They would break first.

Are you double stowing the lines with small rubber bands? New lines need to be stowed more tightely than old ones because of the reduced coeficient of friciton on the new lines.

So this weekend I was getting slammed consistantely every singe jump. I am extremely sore this week with some very nasty buises. After I couldn't take it anymore and vowed to figure this out. I started trouble shooting with another jumper, and after going through eliminating the usual causes such as nose placement, slider stops, body position, and slider quartering. We came to the conclusion that my miny rubber bands where not holding my brand new micro lines. LINE DUMP! Therefore, the fix is to double stow all of the lines with miny bands. My next three openings where smooth as silk. It was so beautifull to be able to solve this problem, and to be able to enjoy openins again.

I believe there are two types of fear The first type, which is the type that you are speaking of is the good type of fear. The type of fear that puts knots and butterflies in your stomach on the way to the DZ and especially on the way to altitude. This is the type of fear that keeps you thinking. It keeps you from doing stupid things and most importantly it keeps you from being complacent. This fear WILL go away with time and currency. And this is the time to watch out for, because when this type of fear goes away you will become complacent. You’ll stop reviewing your EP’s. You’ll start doing things that you normally wouldn’t do. This is widely thought to be the most dangerous time in the sport and most people get there around 200-300 jumps or so. The second type of fear is the type you get when something goes horribly wrong, and you either become paralyzed with fear or you can’t think rationally. This is very, very bad fear. This is when you need to use your EP’s that you’ve drilled into your head over the course of your skydiving career. I think some people don’t get this fear, but you never know until it happens to you. That’s the thrill of you first reserve ride if or when you get one. You never know when it’s coming.

It can be deduced from the incident forum that the tandem master most likely blacked out from the centrifugal force of the spinning mal. Of course we'll probably never know for sure. I think it's time for Bill Booth to invent a device that cuts away automatically under severe centrifugal force. There have been way too many deaths where the skydiver fails to cut away a spinning mal.

I knew Robbie back in 2004 when he only had twice as many jumps as I. He and I were both working torard our masters degree at that point. Robbie was by far nicest guy on the DZ, and he was ONE HELL OF A SKYDIVER. It pains me greately to hear of this news. Justin From Pittsburgh

I'm in the same boat. been laid off from the sport for three years, and I'm thinking of getting back in. I quit and sold gear after I had a bad accident, but I've got the URGE again. I was thinking of doing a hop n pop from 5 k

Bravo, my man. I glad you came to your senses about your cockyness. It's just to bad you had to risk your life to do it.

Thanks guys. I appreciate your comments. I know not everyone agrees with me on this, but for the most part our sport is changing over to HP canopies, and we need education people by means other than seminars and papers. It's much easier for a student to learn if he's spoon fed the information. But for the time being this is another great paper on canopy control. http://skydiveaz.com/resources/book_canopy.htm Justin Freeman

I completely agree with you Bill. If people are going to do HP maneuvers (intentional of not) on HP canopies then they need to learn early in their career while on they're on larger canopies. This is why we need more professional training out there to teach people the correct way to approach HP maneuvers. People need to know how to fly their canopies no matter what level they're at. Don't be scared that people will take this information and kill themselves with it. Instead be scared that people are killing their selves right now, because they don't have this information. Justin Freeman

Yes be safe, and be knowledgeable. Those of you with HP canopies with low jumps, make sure you know what your doing, and put your pride in the back seat. Our sport is lacking some serious canopy training, and a lot of knowledge is missing out there. Until we get canopy schools out there we must seek the information ourself. A task that requires much dedication.