Motab

So what's the last point that someone should be comfortable re-cocking the pilot chute? I mean, I've had the same problem. The grey on my kill line is always like 1/4" out of the window, so people keep on asking me questions during my pin checks. Which is fine, I triple check the thing, but still, it'd be nice to have a quick visual. Back to my original question though, I've tried it after I've got the pin in the closing loop, but then the bridle above the pin gets all compressed and weird looking. (i.e., not smooth). I feel pretty comfortable doing it after I've done all the stows and I'm about to put the bag in the container, but after that just seems... i dunno, weird for a reason I can't put my finger on. Any thoughts? I'm not not licking toads....

Who0t! And now my icon works. Awesome. I'm not not licking toads....

Elsinore in the HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZY! Sunny weekend coming up baby... This week will NEVER end... Elsinore is good fun. I'll be the guy in the neon orange and yellow jumpsuit trying desperately to keep from flailing all over the sky. :) I'm not not licking toads....

Yeah you're probably right... It was a toy on the list a while ago, this rekindled it. Now to get that C license by April 15th.... :) I'm not not licking toads....

Yeah, I read that, and I'm still reading a lot. So far my reading has led me to understand that I'm not ready to be jumping anything nearly professional yet. I was just thinking this little thing might be something I could stick near a pocket, or somewhere else non-interfering on myself. If anyone has any video samples from it, I'd be curious to see them too. So yeah, I know I'm not ready to be doing anything yet. I'm still in the budgetary planning phase of this project, which means realization won't come for several months. I appreciate this forum as a resource, and hope to learn a few things from it. Thanks! -Andy I'm not not licking toads....

Hey guys and gals - I'm starting to look into putting a camera on my helmet. Not looking to do anything professional, just get some video for amusement, and to show friends. Has anyone jumped one of these, or otherwise used one in non-jumping situations? I know I'll likely get a PC109 and the appropriate headwear at some point, but I was just curious if this was any fun to play around with. http://www.doyourthing.philips.com/digital_camera.cfm Thanks! Andy I'm not not licking toads....

Good times out there today! I highly recommend to anyone that can, take advantage of the future Excel camps... It's really instilled quite a bit of faith in my skydiving abilities, and helped me correct some critical flaws in my flying. Can't wait to take advantage of the tunnel training too! Thanks Mel! I'm not not licking toads....

I know it's dumb, but it's just one of those little nagging pseudo-fears I have... and I've never asked before, so I figure I should... Are the rings that make an articulating harness any more prone to breaking than a normal harness? It just seems like there would be an awful lot of stress placed on that steel... Just curious to hear what people have to say about that. I'm not not licking toads....

Yeah, the DZ that I learned at used FXC's on the mains... and I just finished AFF a couple months ago. They were of course on ripcord spring-loaded mains. They said that part of the reason was because we're trained to pull that first ripcord first, so in order to simplify the muscle memory, I guess if we get low, they think that this would minimize the chance of having 2 out. That's what I recall anyway... I could have misinterpreted. I'm not not licking toads....

Hahahah.... yeah, I almost made this post myself. Good call. I'm not not licking toads....

*That* particular phrase is always simple enough. I'm a big fan of not breaking body parts. Great explanation though. Also, I liked the comment on not just letting the opening control you... I've really never done anything except for pulling the ripcord and waiting for "...is it gonna ope..?{oof!}... oh good." I've at least had stable openings on my last few jumps out of AFF, which is more than I can say for a good number of my AFF jumps... So I had my line twist experiences plenty. But then there were never more than just a couple, so it was no big deal. But this is definitely good info. Thanks! -Andy I'm not not licking toads....

Time for another low-timer question... What do you mean by 'Flyting the canopy through the opening' exactly? Is this something to do with on-heading openings? As I'm still flying big ass Volvo-sized canopies, I haven't worried about on-heading openings that much, or really much at all doing with the openings... But I am curious as to what you mean, and what basically it entails. Thanx! -Andy I'm not not licking toads....

Yeah, I don't think it will be that big of a deal. I'm used to initiating deployment with my right hand (only ripcord jumps so far), and my muscle memory of where I should go, and in what order is already in place. But yeah, I can definitely see a horseshoe mal being very possible... I mean, I can see that most altimeters are pretty smooth on the sides, but I don't want to be trying to shake a PC off my wrist. I'll just stick with wearing an alti on my left hand. I'm not not licking toads....

Oh yeah, good call... I hadn't thought about that. Mounting it there might create a potential pilot chute snag point? Oh well, I learned how to throw myself out of a perfectly good airplane... i'm sure I can manage to look at my other arm. But it's still just another way they're keeping lefty down... :( I'm not not licking toads....

Alright, stupid "i'm a newbie and i haven't spent enough time looking at equipment close-up" question: Being left-handed, i tend to wear my watch on my right hand. Can you change the mount for these things to wear the altimeter on the right hand too? I'd think it's possible, but every altimeter i ever see is on someone's left hand... I'm not not licking toads....

Does anyone know how the Wings container is for freeflying? I guess that entails bridle exposure and whatnot? -Andy I'm not not licking toads....

Excellent description... especially as dust devil season starts to crop up here... One story that our FJC instructor told us was of someone who had landed, and there was a dust devil making a move towards him. People were screaming at him through both radios and vocally, to get the hell on top of his canopy. Apparently, he heard them, but as our Instructor related it to us, "... didn't want to look stupid..." getting his body over the top of the canopy to keep it from getting picked up. Sure enough, Senor dust devil picked him up off the ground by his canopy, and broke some part of him after he fell back down. Ow. I'm just glad there's plenty of dirt around our DZ to be able to hopefully spot something like that in time. -Andy I'm not not licking toads....

Yeah... I'd really like to get under something a little bit smaller than 300... I mean, I like doing the 360s and 720's under it and everything, but I'm gonna start downsizing. They have a little progression thing where they slowly get you down in size while demo-ing equipment at the same time, so I'll probably start doing that and jumping more come June, after I graduate and start making actual real money. I just ordered the Skydive U Basic Body Flight and Basic Canopy control vids, and I hope to get a chance to check at least some of them out before we go out this weekend. Yeah Scoby, sucks for Beth, but at least now we can all go up on the same loads. :) Thanks for the thoughts everyone! If anyone has any more, it will definitely be appreciated! I'm not not licking toads....

Hey everyone! First, allow myself to briefly introduce myself. I'm Motab (aka Andy), and I live in Southern California (east Los Angeles county). I've been jumping as often as I can afford to since I did AFF 1 last October... which for the most part has meant 1-2 times a month. BUT! Last Sunday I completed the AFF program, (1 re-do, level 5), so now I get to leave the airplane all by myself! Hooray! I did my first solo after completeing AFF 7, and it was awesome. I did some turns, did a couple of flips, some tracking, and I'm having a blast doing all of this stuff. But it's a little strange not having a dive flow ready for me every jump. Not that it's a bad thing at all, but now this whole new world has opened up to me, and I'm a little curious about where to go first. Ultimately, I'd like to end up doing freeflying I think. It looks like an absolute blast. That, and flying a birdman suit. That also looks like its pretty damned hardcore. So I guess my question is to people who are low-timers (or even people who remember what they did post-student status,) as to what you have been doing since your student jumps. What kind of maneuvers have you been doing up there? If you're going into a specific discipline, what kinds of things have you been doing to prepare yourself for it? If you've gotten gear, how did you decide what to get? Any general thoughts? My general plan for now is to get a little bit of RW coaching, try to get my body flying the ways I want it to when I'm belly to earth, playing with both arm and leg position. But that's just general... I don't really have a syllabus in my head. As far as gear goes, I'm planning on picking up a jumpsuit (should I look for a freeflying suit or some other kind of suit first?), helmet (full faced probably), altimeter (probably a pro-track and a wrist-mount), so I'll have the basics covered. I think I'm going to get into the demo program at my DZ, so I can at least try to get down from the PD 280 I've been jumping. ;) I read the Skydiver's Handbook, and I've gone through the past year of posts in this forum, so I've gotten to see a lot of people's thought on all the various RSL, AAD, and other kinds of debates, and that's been immensely helpful. I can't wait to get down to Perris or Elsinore and meet some of you guys down in SoCal. Anyway, I'm just curious as to what people are doing. Lemme know if you get a chance! Any advice is appreciated! Thanks in advance, Motab