smoothflyin

Physically is it possible? Probably....Good idea? Probably not.

Yeah that's not something you want for yourself on a skydive. BASE openings can be no fun. No reason to subject yourself to them for no reason.

without getting too much into the should you/should you not go to Lodi thing - give the DZ a call, they will give you the number to a guy that will pick you up and drop you off at the airport...

So by that logic a BB Gun and a Thermonuclear warhead would be equally safe, no? Again I am not saying that it is a good idea, I was saying that if the decision was already made to fly the suit (not arguing the merits of that) - what would be the best way to go about utilizing the suit with skydiving gear....

Thanks for the response Douglas....I think based on your tests we can safely assume that regardless of the angle, unless the suit is unzipped, the reserve handle is not able to be pulled using anything close to normal pull forces. In fact, it appeared that in order for the handle to actually travel far enough to pull the pin, that it would have actually had to come through the fabric of the wingsuit. I don't know about you, but im not sure that I could get anywhere near 50+ lbs of pull force in any direction on those loops.....Seems to me like either you are sitting there trying to yank the reserve handle through the fabric, or you unzip the suit and pull them. Not meaning to be an ass, that is just the way that it appeared to me in your tests. Feel free to point me in the right direction if I am missing something.

Yes....I agree... But......... Let's assume (just for the sake of discussion) for a moment that people are going to fly these suits with skydiving gear, would this not be safer than having the modded handles? (edited to sound less "snarky")

Oh I agree, but if they ARE going to fly the suit anyway, would this not be the safest option?

And? This is the original factory mod to the suit, and how the handles worked in that mod. Perhaps doing away with access altogether is the thought in the instance shown in the OP's question. Or perhaps the designer should re-think the mod entirely. Fixing a bad design with a bad idea is...well...bad. With the tests done by DSE out in Socal, it seems that the safest option on this suit may be to not have the factory mod installed if using it for skydiving. The pull forces that were measured in those tests would more than likely require the mod handles to be abandoned and the suit to be unzipped anyway so that the normal handles could be pulled. If you are going to have to unzip it anyway, may as well get rid of the extra material and rapide links that would be in the way. Not saying it is a good idea to jump the suit with skydiving gear (at least until an acceptable solution is in place) but if you are going to jump it, this would almost seem like the safer option...What do you think DSE?

Other than that it's a requirement if you've never held a USPA instructional rating in the past... very true...good point

If you are an AFF-I you are able to do anything a coach can do and more; no reason to get a coach rating if you are going to do an AFF-I immediately after. If you were wanting to practice working with students for a while as a coach before going for the AFF-I, that would be an option, but in your case it seems like straight to AFF-I would be what you are looking for since you meet all of the requirements. This would be great material to start reading up on before you go to the course, all of it is found in the SIM and the IRM.

hey guys, I've had a factory diver since I started into the sport, and most of that time have jumped it without the plastic lens/face shield attached. I am getting ready for the AFF instructor course and was planning to put it back on to ward off the spinning legs / feet / arms that generally go along with the AFFI course, but the lens has some pretty nasty scratches on it. Any way to get those scratches out? or better to just buy a whole new one from skysystems? Thanks!

great stuff guys! Keep it coming, thanks a lot for all of the insight!

Hey guys, just wanted to learn a little from things that you have been through or heard about happening in regards to the coach eval jumps. I am scheduled to take the course (Finally!) and just want to get some insight on things to look out for. that being said, what are some things that you have heard people getting busted for on the evals? Thanks I appreciate it! -Aaron

prayers going out to shannon and everyone at PD...Please pass along the good vibes... -Aaron (one of those guys who was amazed at the team while learning how to jump at deland)

yeah just call them, they have a skydiver discount..