Isfrael

Hi all, I'm fresh off student status and now I'm looking around for my own gear. I was trained on a 9 cell Navagator 280 by Performance Designs, and as I search for a main I have found a good deal for a 7 cell Fury 220 by Flight Concepts. I know that I can not make a jump from 280 to 220 right away. I have begun to make jumps on a 260 and once I get comfortable with a 260 will move on to a 240 and so on... I only weigh around 185 pounds, so with gear and everything, I will be weight loaded at a little bit under a 1:1 on a 220. I may be jumping the gun a bit and everyone be assured, I will not push myself to get to that 220 before I am ready. What I am really curious about is what would I have to be worried/aware of if I moved from a 9 cell Nav, to a 7 cell Fury? Also, I tried looking up a Fury in the gear section and I couldn't find it there. Can anyone give me some incite on if this is even a good canopy, or if it is right for a beginner?

Although I do not have my own rig, my thoughts on this are as such. You will pay thousands of dollars for a rig, but you bitch about an extra 15-20 dollars for a re-pack that you now have to do one less times a year... Just jump one time less on a Saturday, and there your go. Money saved, and the balance in the universe is restored once again.

This web site is a great resource, so look up the rig and the main/reserve in the gear archive. See what other people have to say about the gear. Also, I only have seven jumps, so I'm not to far ahead of you. I guarantee you though that doing tandem is alot different than going solo; how do you know that you really want to keep on going? I've asked myself that before, I've even rode the plane down once already before continuing. be careful have fun, and don't get anxious, take your time. During training, your instructors will get a feel of your skill level and will guide you in the right direction when the time comes for you to buy gear.

Another one is skaters. There are plenty of kids out their running around with an element hoodie, or etnies shoes. like everything though, just because someone has an element hoodie, it doesn't mean their a skater. Symbols on clothes and what not might be a little too broad for what your looking for though.

Agree with the above post; really, really good sex. The only reason I say so is because it sex can't kill you... most of the time

I'm in the same boat, I live in Chicago, Illinois and right after new years I'm going to skydive Arizona, booked my flight a few weeks ago, airfares pretty cheep! As it was said above, do lots of research, and make plenty of phone calls, good luck!

I was just wondering what wold be considered a good canopy for a beginner, I weigh around 185 (without gear), and I'm 5'9'' with a bigger build. what is a good wing loading ratio for a newbie? I've been searching the threads and archives for an answer to this question, but I'm having some trouble finding anything that really answers it. If anyone can offer their two cents, or point be in the right direction that would be awesome, thanks!

Hi, I live near Chicago, and the winter is coming around. I have relatives in Arizona, (close to Skydive Arizona) and I was thinking about spending a few weeks in Arizona during winter break to complete my A license training. The thing is, my home DZ uses the AFF program, Skydive Arizona uses the ASP. I've completed up to AFF 6 at my DZ, would this transfer to ASP? If so, where would it put me in there program? Also, if I don't jump at all before Winter break, I won't be current, so....?

Elaborate on business. Do you mean opening a drop zone, a gear shop, gear design/manufacturing, etc, etc...?

Thank you all for flaming me! lol. with seriousness though, my instructors have taught me well, it's just the new jumper within me looking for a safety crutch that's being ignorant. I know to never rely on this technology to work. I apologize for my ignorance. the student rigs only have AAD's anyways, and I've been told, firmly, to never rely on it. At the end of the day, I am responsible for my own ass, and nothing else.

alright, it seemed to me like it would work, but I just didn't know if the two systems would get in the way with each other.

Would it be possible to use both a skyhook and AAD? Skyhook is nice due to, you pull one time and your done... hopefully. But say a diver is knocked out and can't pull; is that one of the sacrafices you have to make when using a skyhook?

good point. Also, the Mamba and Z1 coincidentally were my other two options I was thinking about. As for trying them on, I was actually going to go to a shop that's pretty local, (Para Gear), to get a feel for them. And I will definatly place a phone call to the DZ tomorrow to see if they will allow me to get a full face helmet, thanks for the tip!

I'm a student jumper right now, and my DZ stays open all year round. I live in the mid-west around Chicago so it gets pretty cold round here; plus I have a feeling that were going to get hit hard this year by mother nature... anyways, I need to get a full face helmet, and soon! (I'm jumping this weekend, and it snowed today!!!!) I've been looking at the factory diver, it looks to be not the fanciest of helmets, but it appears to be one of the most durable. The design looks good, the shield is screwed into place, so no flip ups in free fall. it also looks quiet and warm :) which is what I need. any thoughts and opinions? Anything and everything is much appreciated!!!

Hi, just curious, are there any wind tunnels located in Illinois around the Chicago land area?

I know for sure though that once I'm done with my A I'm getting my instructors 24 packs, I'm already in the hole from my first dive. By rights, by the end of my certification I just might owe them a keg, lol.

do tell about these little tricks with the numbers on the runway, I don't know if they'd be relevant to the rest of us, but yeah... caught my curiosity, lol

as far as the instructor thats "suit up and go", remember that it's your dive. Feel free to stop him and ask what's going on? what's he doing? and any other questions you have. knowledge is power, and as students we need to soak up every bit that we can get. plus, or at least with me, the more I learn in this sport, (good and bad), the more it settles my stomach. this world is filled with resources for you to tap, your instructors, the SIM, this website, you tube even. I look up moves and techniques that I need to learn on there all the time, especially for the next aff jump I'm about to do. It helps me take some of the guess work out of what I need to do... sorry for the speech, just a little vocal today, lol.

My skydiving experience it's a very love hate relationship, I love the sport, I've only done 5 dives and I can't wait to get done with my A licensing. At the same time, and this is despite my excitement, I can be honest and say that I'm scared of this sport. I'm planning my next jumps in a week or two and I'm scared about them and I don't know why. As I sit here and think about doing the next jumps I get this nervous feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Before a jump I get nervous, and more than a little apprehensive like this, but after the jump I feel like I could do it all day. to all of those experienced divers out there, how did you deal with this when you were newbies? I'm kinda of assuming that at one point or another everyone in this sport has felt this way... do you still?

My DZ has a PAC 750, I've only jumped it once, but it was amazing compared to the Cessna Yankee that they run on the weekdays!!! me being a very new diver, it really helped me cool my nerves. In the PAC it was in and out in less than ten minutes , but with the Cessna Yankee it takes forever, and that's forever to be thinking about everything I shouldn't be thinking about.

All hail the PLF!!!! very much agreed, my sprained finger still hurts three weeks later from not doing one!!!

man, I feel the same things that you feel right now, and from the amount of new guys that have voiced an opinion in this forum I think were not alone. I had a bad first solo landing, I was over 250 yards short of the DZ and landed in a garbage dump. I was hauling ass with the wind and I didn't PLF, I bruised both my ankles and I sprained my finger. I was so shell shocked with from this; it was one of those moments where once I got back to the DZ I didn't want to be there anymore, I felt like shit and I just wanted to go home. I was thinking to myself, what am I doing? This is crazy and now I've wasted all this money... and so on and so fourth. but recently I went for my number three AFF and I went on a weekend and on the weekends they fly a PAC (a much bigger/faster plane than the weekday Cessna) the atmosphere was awesome, there were happy people everywhere, and the ride to altitude was smooth and fast. I hoped out of the plane no problem, and had an awesome ride down. but today when I went for my AFF #4 there was no one at the DZ and I had to jump the Cessna, and the entire time I just had this dread in the bottom of my stomach... god it sucked. In the end I think for us new guys were just so new that we all have our niches that we feel comfortable in, and as it was said above, only time will let us operate comfortably outside of those niches.

Sky Knights in East Troy, Wisconsin does student jumps throughout the winter. There is a minimum temperature for students, but I forget what it is right now. Peace, -Jeff. The limit for students are 20F on the ground and 0F at altitude. with my cash rate I'll be jumping periodically from now till spring... and I HATE the cold, lol.

Yeah, I've started to realize that, but like everything I want to try something on before I drop the cash for it. especially when I'm paying huge money for it... huge money for me any ways.

Hi all, I'm having a really hard time finding a skydive gear shop. I live in Mundelein, IL. So about 45min north of Chicago. If there's anyone around this area can you tell me the shop that you go to, and how far it is? Thanks a bunch.