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.

People can't talk the right talk without the proper knowledge. And in order to get that knowledge out there we need the right people to teach it. We need more canopy schools.

I lost a very close friend of mine just about one week ago, and it's been a very tiresome week for all his family and his friends. I'm writing because the way he went should be reported fully, so that we all may learn from his fatal mistakes. Other wise it makes his death less meaningful, and I don't want my friend to have died needlessly. My friend died for two reasons. The first reason he died is the same way we lose so many of our brethren. He downsized to quickly and without proper training or instruction. WAKE UP PEOPLE. I keep hearing about how we should limit high performance landings and limit downsizing. Swooping is here to stay, and people are going to want to do it sooner in their career than people have done in the past. I'm not saying that it's a good thing, but whether we like it or not people are still going to do it. And it's killing people. The one thing I learned from TV when I was a kid is this: You can build a fence around a pool to keep kids from swimming, but they'll still climb it and go swimming when you're not looking. So, what do you do? You teach them how to swim. You can try to keep teenagers from having sex by preaching and calling it taboo, but they'll still do it. So what do you do? You teach them to do it safely. SO, what we must do is teach people how to swoop and how to downsize. Then after they have all the knowledge they need to do it safely, then they can decide if and when they want to do it. We must have free will in our sport; it's the only way our sport will evolve. How do we do this? The information is out there about how to learn safely and efficiently. Brain Germain, John LeBlanc, and Bryan Burke all have seminars out there. The problem is that it's not getting to everyone who is downsizing. You have to have a lot of determination to go out and seek this information, and people's egos get in the way of doing this. "I've landed safely 300 times in the past, why would I need to learn how to do it more safely under a smaller canopy." This line of thinking is killing people. Please, I urge those of you who have thousands of jumps, those of you who know how to control canopies, and those of you who know how to teach to develop canopies schools like the one in California. Places where people experienced or not can get real canopy training and eventually, incorporate this into student training. All I learned as a student was that you pull right to go right, pull left to go left, and pull both to flare. And this is the saddest part of all, that we don't train students in the art of canopy flight. To the few that do, I applaud you. Unfortunately, Evolution (the canopy school in California) is too far away and a little expensive for many of us to go there, so I have to seek information in paper form or pry it out of the experienced guys. Please, develop schools, those of you who have the resources, to train us to do this the right way instead of using the trial and error way. We are losing too many people under open canopies. Education is the key to stop this nonsense. On any other day I'd be done here, and I'd leave you to ponder that. However, I did say that my friend died for two reasons. My friend had just sold his canopy and he needed a new one soon. He also had a very limited budget, so when he found a great deal for a smaller canopy he convinced himself that he could handle the smaller canopy. Seven jumps later the reaper came for a visit. I think the moral of the story is clear. Don't let money make life-threatening decisions for you. This includes the price of training and the price of proper gear. I don't know how this sport got so expensive, but don't let this be the reason for your demise. Justin Carbondale, Illinois

I lost a very close friend of mine just about one week ago, and it's been a very tiresome week for all his family and his friends. I'm writing because the way he went should be reported fully, so that we all may learn from his fatal mistakes. Other wise it makes his death less meaningful, and I don't want my friend to have died needlessly. My friend died for two reasons. The first reason he died is the same way we lose so many of our brethren. He downsized to quickly and without proper training or instruction. WAKE UP PEOPLE. I keep hearing about how we should limit high performance landings and limit downsizing. Swooping is here to stay, and people are going to want to do it sooner in their career than people have done in the past. I'm not saying that it's a good thing, but whether we like it or not people are still going to do it. And it's killing people. The one thing I learned from TV when I was a kid is this: You can build a fence around a pool to keep kids from swimming, but they'll still climb it and go swimming when you're not looking. So, what do you do? You teach them how to swim. You can try to keep teenagers from having sex by preaching and calling it taboo, but they'll still do it. So what do you do? You teach them to do it safely. SO, what we must do is teach people how to swoop and how to downsize. Then after they have all the knowledge they need to do it safely, then they can decide if and when they want to do it. We must have free will in our sport; it's the only way our sport will evolve. How do we do this? The information is out there about how to learn safely and efficiently. Brain Germain, John LeBlanc, and Bryan Burke all have seminars out there. The problem is that it's not getting to everyone who is downsizing. You have to have a lot of determination to go out and seek this information, and people's egos get in the way of doing this. "I've landed safely 300 times in the past, why would I need to learn how to do it more safely under a smaller canopy." This line of thinking is killing people. Please, I urge those of you who have thousands of jumps, those of you who know how to control canopies, and those of you who know how to teach to develop canopies schools like the one in California. Places where people experienced or not can get real canopy training and eventually, incorporate this into student training. All I learned as a student was that you pull right to go right, pull left to go left, and pull both to flare. And this is the saddest part of all, that we don't train students in the art of canopy flight. To the few that do, I applaud you. Unfortunately, Evolution (the canopy school in California) is too far away and a little expensive for many of us to go there, so I have to seek information in paper form or pry it out of the experienced guys. Please, develop schools, those of you who have the resources, to train us to do this the right way instead of using the trial and error way. We are losing too many people under open canopies. Education is the key to stop this nonsense. On any other day I'd be done here, and I'd leave you to ponder that. However, I did say that my friend died for two reasons. My friend had just sold his canopy and he needed a new one soon. He also had a very limited budget, so when he found a great deal for a smaller canopy he convinced himself that he could handle the smaller canopy. Seven jumps later the reaper came for a visit. I think the moral of the story is clear. Don't let money make life-threatening decisions for you. This includes the price of training and the price of proper gear. I don't know how this sport got so expensive, but don't let this be the reason for your demise. Justin Carbondale, Illinois

I lost a very close friend of mine just about one week ago, and it's been a very tiresome week for all his family and his friends. I'm writing because the way he went should be reported fully, so that we all may learn from his fatal mistakes. Other wise it makes his death less meaningful, and I don't want my friend to have died needlessly. My friend died for two reasons. The first reason he died is the same way we lose so many of our brethren. He downsized to quickly and without proper training or instruction. WAKE UP PEOPLE. I keep hearing about how we should limit high performance landings and limit downsizing. Swooping is here to stay, and people are going to want to do it sooner in their career than people have done in the past. I'm not saying that it's a good thing, but whether we like it or not people are still going to do it. And it's killing people. The one thing I learned from TV when I was a kid is this: You can build a fence around a pool to keep kids from swimming, but they'll still climb it and go swimming when you're not looking. So, what do you do? You teach them how to swim. You can try to keep teenagers from having sex by preaching and calling it taboo, but they'll still do it. So what do you do? You teach them to do it safely. SO, what we must do is teach people how to swoop and how to downsize. Then after they have all the knowledge they need to do it safely, then they can decide if and when they want to do it. We must have free will in our sport; it's the only way our sport will evolve. How do we do this? The information is out there about how to learn safely and efficiently. Brain Germain, John LeBlanc, and Bryan Burke all have seminars out there. The problem is that it's not getting to everyone who is downsizing. You have to have a lot of determination to go out and seek this information, and people's egos get in the way of doing this. "I've landed safely 300 times in the past, why would I need to learn how to do it more safely under a smaller canopy." This line of thinking is killing people. Please, I urge those of you who have thousands of jumps, those of you who know how to control canopies, and those of you who know how to teach to develop canopies schools like the one in California. Places where people experienced or not can get real canopy training and eventually, incorporate this into student training. All I learned as a student was that you pull right to go right, pull left to go left, and pull both to flare. And this is the saddest part of all, that we don't train students in the art of canopy flight. To the few that do, I applaud you. Unfortunately, Evolution (the canopy school in California) is too far away and a little expensive for many of us to go there, so I have to seek information in paper form or pry it out of the experienced guys. Please, develop schools, those of you who have the resources, to train us to do this the right way instead of using the trial and error way. We are losing too many people under open canopies. Education is the key to stop this nonsense. On any other day I'd be done here, and I'd leave you to ponder that. However, I did say that my friend died for two reasons. My friend had just sold his canopy and he needed a new one soon. He also had a very limited budget, so when he found a great deal for a smaller canopy he convinced himself that he could handle the smaller canopy. Seven jumps later the reaper came for a visit. I think the moral of the story is clear. Don't let money make life-threatening decisions for you. This includes the price of training and the price of proper gear. I don't know how this sport got so expensive, but don't let this be the reason for your demise. Justin Carbondale, Illinois

Do any of you know anything about Deland's Canopy School? Is it as good as Evolution's school? I'm also going on vacation (in Florida) and I'd like to know whether or not to take their school.

I'd like to see that video. Having been the originator of this post I took your comments and put them to the test today. I did a hop and pop and opened sub terminal, and sure enough I succeeded in inducing line twists (bad body position and, waa la, about 2 turns)! And just like all of you said it would, it few strait and true. No cut away required like the other twist I had that I fought to the hard deck! Sweetness!! I feel twice as confident now. Oh, and steering the opening with weight shift does make all the difference. Knowing is half the battle - G.I. Joe

By the way Dan, I love my new Cobalt! I hit dead center on the peas on my second jump, and opening in a track feels awesome! It's just weird opening in a track when I've conditioned myself not too because of some back breakers that I've had while opening in a track on accident. And I know Everyone has done this at least once, don't deny it. But from one engineer to another, one of the greatest feelings is to see something you worked out on paper work so well in practice. Well done on this one!

Thanks Dan. I was waiting for your reply. Very helpfull.

I would try the WFFC forum at their web site, and judging from past years I'd say it's to early to tell. Would definitely be cool if they did though : )

You rock! I wish I would have thought of doing that. As he stared into the Reaper’s empty shroud and as hundreds of thoughts raced through his head a second he raised his arm and extended his middle finger and said, “Not today.”