antonija

You stick a wing on your back and hope it doesnt interfere with canopy opening... other than that just find a tall cliff (I don't suppose you'll get this on a plane) and jump. And hope for the best :p Or!! You could try wingsuit... I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

Thank you!!!!!!

At least give us something... product pictures, maybe even pdf of owners manual. Something!!! :p I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

Most new info should be posted here:http://forum.altimaster.com/forumdisplay.php?f=191 I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

Are you implying that this actually would make a difference? I am not promoting the disregard of FAA regs and never have myself. But I would put exactly the same amount of confidence in a reserve that was a few days overdue than one that was not. Not this specific case, but I wrote that to illustrate all "not so urgent and postponable" things your gear needs done. And ofcourse efforts to make skydiving safer will improve our chances of survival, but as it stands we only got one statistics to deal with, so predicting how this trend will change is not that easy... I just hope it points into the safer direction right now :p I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

I still see lots of people trying to use statistics to predict outcome of a single event (coin flip, skydiving accident, etc.). It doesn't work that way. When I said "statistics will catch up with everyone" I meant just that: everyone. This does not mean you (or me or that guy I saw last weekend), but every single one of us. Obviously we won't all die in our career, but thats not what statistics says... It says that every 100k jump one of us will die. And that goes for all of us, everyone of us. We all (or most of us) do our best to increase our chances of surviving next jump, but there is always some one who packed in a hurry because he was late for load, some one who didn't get reserve repacked because "it should still work few days overdue", some one who will jump canopy too small for his skills, some one who will attempt swoop in crowded area, etc. It will probably one of these that will end up as "significant individual" in this sad statistics, but this does not change the fact that we are all included in it (and thus it catches up with us as a group). I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

I read somewhere on this forum that people did tests and found out that certain types of containers can cause hard openings... had something to do with how raisers are stored in container (magnetic vs. tuck vs. velcro). Sadly I can't remember what the findings of those test were, but container do count. I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

Was about 3.4%. That would be statistical result for his jumping career. If he had 100 skydiving buddies who jumped as much as he did 3.4 of those 100 should be dead by now. This would be the same as flipping the coin 100 times and than calculate the chance of getting the result you got from those flips. I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

It just that people don't quite understand how DNA works... everyone has D4DR gene. DNA is like a blueprint for different molecules our body can produce, like different proteins. Gene is a part of DNA with an instructions (or blueprint) for one specific protein (or group of them). The difference between us is how this gene is expressed, that is whether our body will manufacture the protein said gene encodes or not. If D4DR is expressed more (compared to non-thrill seeking individual) that results in increased production of Dopamine receptor D4. Now dopamine is a funny little beast, this is what wiki has to say about it: "Dopamine has many functions in the brain, including important roles in behavior and cognition, motor activity, motivation and reward, inhibition of prolactin production (involved in lactation), sleep, mood, attention, and learning." To put it simple: More dopamine receptors you have, more you will enjoy feeling you get from dopamine bursts, which are most intense during most challenging activities. We enjoy the fact that we jump out of a plane with a nylon cloth to save our ass from gravity. This (according to wiki) gives us a great sense of achievement, or to put more scientifically to "reward prediction error". To put this one simple (

Now just take true value for probability of you not dying during one jump and multiply it with the number of jumps you think you'll make in your lifetime. What you now get is another specific event (or one series of events, that is all your jumps in your lifetime) so you still don't have your answer. There are many skydivers who will make "n" jumps in their lifetime and the risk you get from your calculation will still be distributed between all of us. But then again this is the whole point of the statistics: It is used to discover and monitor trends in populations (of skydivers, animals, molecules and atoms, money, etc.), not individuals. So while none of us can't say anything specific about his/her skydiving career, we all get the shared probability of being killed on your next jump. Kinda makes it clearer why relationships between skydivers are a bit different than between other social groups. I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

So you're saying you have DNA sequence in you that did not come from either of your parents? You see where this is going, don't you? :p I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

No they don't. Statistics don't hunt people, and they won't tell you what's going to happen to any particular person. They do actually... it's just that statistics never tells you what is going to happen to specific individual (or any specific event), but rather what is going to happen with entire population. So while statistics do catch up "with you" (and every other skydiver) you still can't predict the outcome of your next jump (or your next 1000 jumps for that matter) purely by statistics. My point was that despite statistics you could die on your next jump, or maybe when you cross the street to get some coffee during your coffee break. No one and nothing can predict that (even though some claim they can). It's what makes our lives so beautiful and fun. I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

I remember one porn flick with chick landing near a fence or something with couple of guys ready to go... but AFAIR the title was different. Mind you this was in my early p2p copyright infringement days, so I'd have to find all my old CDs and look each porn scene on them. On the other hand this sounds like a good plan for a weekend when my GF is out of town

If you operate with statistics for entire population of jumpers (including conservative and more liberal jumpers) you can not make (well, almost) any assumption to the statistics of sub-groups. You could say that conservative jumpers die less, but then again that would just be your gut feeling. Statistics should catch up with everyone eventually. For my personal peace of mind I decided that if there are people doing swoops, low openings, etc. and still live, then my chances of survival each skydive should be greater than theirs. Unfortunately this does not rule out me dying on the next jump. The truth is you could die on your next jump or you could be on your death bed suffering from remembering all those 300ft pulls that you landed on your feet without a scratch. I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

I guess the point was that both Z1 and Mamba would "do fine" against kicks and bumps, and both would fail against harder impact (like some one diving through your canopy hitting you on the head or something like that). But from theoretical point of view you would be right: carbon fiber sandwich will take more abuse that plastics, only in this case it really doesn't matter. I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

25kg of water will also disperse, probably even more than 200g at TV. Also when water balloon hits an object at 50m/s, the time of impact will extremely short (fraction of a second) and in that time the object will "absorb" most of the energy water balloon has. Point here is that dropping anything while skydiving, even things with relatively low mass, can be deadly once it reaches the ground. We could look at it from another angle: Falling water balloon (small one used in calculation) has about the same energy as .38 Short Colt bullet with a mass of 8.7g (muzzle velocity 237 m/s, muzzle energy 245J; wiki). It's true that bullet will penetrate soft tissue and stuff, but the hit from water balloon should be about the same as .38 hitting bullet proof jacket (and not penetrating it). I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

To add some more physics into this: Water falling at TV: One water balloon will hold about 200mL of liquid (a bit smallish balloon but will do fine for this example). If that liquid is water it's mass would be 200g (grams) + some extra g for the balloon material which we won't use for calculations. So we have 200g travelling at (at least) skydiving TV which is about 50m/s. Equation for energy would be E=0.5*m*v^2 and result would be 250J of energy. You get the same energy by dropping 25kg weight from 1m (for all non-metric people that is 55lbs weight from hight of 3.28feet). It should break your foot if it landed on it. Keep in mind I used small balloon (only 200g) and rounded down TV (to 50m/s). P.S.: While the energy is linear in the mass, it is quadratic in the velocity. I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

I fly skymaster 280. Student rig. Even if I wanted to fly that thing "like an idiot" it would be pretty pointless considering moves like a tree. A really big tree. Point of the post was to let the breaks up and descent as fast as this parachute allows me to. "Flying like an idiot" seems to be reserved for people with really small chutes, as they just love to spiral from few hundred meters and then swoop over entire landing area. I talked with my instructor before even posting here and he said that rig-wise he can't do much (as far as hardware mods go). I posted here because I figured that even my instructor can't be all-knowing super-god and I got some really good suggestions here. And some really annoying trolls. But you can rest sure that I will ask my instructor about each and every idea I get on how to improve my skydiving experience. I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

If I jump from planes where I can sit on a bench I'm ussualy fine, but when I jump from smaller planes where skydivers are "packed" on the floor of the plane with knees in front of their faces, then those legstraps move around a lot. So even if I (or my instructor) sets my gear on the ground, it will still have to go through about 15min in position I would never be in the air (maybe when I'm doing back flips, but that's one second, not 15min). I also tried crossing my legs under canopy... It hurts like hell. The "best" position was to remain still after opening (not shifting harness position), bite the bullet and get down as fast as possible. I have a nasty feeling that until I switch to my own gear I'll just have to endure this... I still land every jump with a smile, so I hope I'll be able to do this for couple of months :p I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

Given the fact that I'm still jumping hired student rig and also that I have no clue what "proper fit" feels like (I saw how it looks like but haven't met anyone similar size to test his rig), any hardware modifications are out of question until I get my own equipment. However those seatbelt pads sound like a good idea. I guess most of my pain comes from wrong size rig, followed by my not-so-low weight and the quite big circumference of my things (lots of squats with weights in youth can leave you a whole lot of body mass for the future :\). So I guess the best way to deal with this issue would be to: -Make sure my leg straps are tight and "up in my crotch" before exiting airplane -Get custom fit (or at least second hand with very good fit) rig -Get extra padding on leg straps (and dump seatbelt and woll mittens idea) -Loosing few pounds never hurt anyone I guess... Thx for replies!! Now back to healing my wounds... P.S.: Suggesting search option on the forum coupled with few good keywords is always a good advice I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne

The problem I have is that after every jump my inner thighs are really really sore... It could be because I'm still using student gear (which never really fits well), but I know others that use same gear and don't have this problems. What I'm talking about is being so sore, that it's painful taking off or putting on my pants, let alone continue jumping the next day. I was also told that "the uncomfortable feeling" will go away as I do more jumps, but it hasn't. Openings are always a , and flying under canopy with leg straps that feel like they are an inch deep in my flesh is not fun at all. As a solution for this I was thinking about pants that would be like those bicycle riders use (with padded crotch), except the padding would extend to also cover upper inner thighs (or only thighs as crotch doesn't really get any "action"). Is there anything commercially available that would solve mentioned problem, or should I find me someone who can manufacture this kind of things? Are there any safety concerns as far as piloting my canopy goes (with mentioned padded pants)? P.S.: If this is the wrong section please move this thread to appropriate section. I understand the need for conformity. Without a concise set of rules to follow we would probably all have to resort to common sense. -David Thorne