fizzbuzz99

Just wondering how HD is initially taught in your local tunnel. For mine, I have been learning daffy, but that is with the full time tunnel instructors. Friends of mine, who are at the same stage (haven't flown HD in the sky) have come in with external coaches and are being taught from the Shelf position (both legs back). What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? I have seen the shelf cropping up more and more as beginners get onto the net, is this a trend anyone else has noticed?

Just wondering a few things........... What's the going rate for a pack job in Eloy these days? Are there discounts for buying bulk tickets? and finally does anyone have a contact (Email prob. best) for a shuttle pickup from the airport? Thx

A good friend is buying her first custom made container and is wondering about what type of handle to go for. Personally I jump with a hacky handle and always have, FS and FF head up/down. I have never jumped a rig with an FF pud or monkey fist so can't comment on the relative pros/cons... opinions?? Out of all of these, I assume the pud is the 'most' freefly friendly and therefore not as 'easy' to just grab and deploy? I also don't understand the pros of monkey fist handles as opposed to hackeys. Is it purely a personal style thing. Of course there is always the length of tube as on student rigs but she would like something that looks a little cooler

Sooo... Discussion which came up today amongst a bunch of us at the DZ. Which is worse, you find out that your partner is having an affair, OR, that they had a one night stand. I guess factors that could come into it: the state of your relationship, the length of your relationship, whether you know the other person or not?? My kneejerk reaction was "affair, obviously" .. but if my boyfriend ever tried to justify a one night stand by saying "but it was only sex, it didn't mean anything" - I somehow doubt I would be any less angry. Thoughts?

I'm considering buying a new (to me) container. Vector 3. The guy selling it has soft pillows for cutaway and reserve. My personal preference is for D-ring for the reserve handle (I know there are plenty of reasons for and against, but I am more comfortable jumping silver) Would i need to order a new D-ring handle direct from UPT or are there other suppliers? And (possibly ridiculous rigging question - I need to learn more about my gear!) in switching over reserve pillow to D ring are there any other mods that need to be made to the rig, or is it as simple as changing your cutaway pad?? Hope all is clear.

Hey All, No poll, because I figured that would be too limiting. I've recently got my BPA FS coach rating as well as holding USPA coach rating and have done a handful of coach jumps. The people I've jumped with are obviously aiming for their BPA FS1 qualification, the majority are fresh off student status / have low jump numbers and depending on whether the student has had some tunnel/previous coach jumps/etc they usually have very little FS experience. But mostly what I am seeing is students qualifying AFF, putting on a bootie suit and asking me to teach them to fly. Which is cool because I would never advise someone buying an FS suit without booties, that's a rip off. However I was told to tuck my booties in whilst doing FS coach jumps because my coach (who I can guarantee REALLY KNOWS HIS SHIT) was of the opinion that it is best to learn to fly FS properly without booties first, and then add them in once you have the basics down. I see his point, that shoving booties on straightaway will make you fly different (maybe less in control for a while), and maybe it's better that the student can do his stuff without them (esp. learning to track rather than relying on bootie power). On the other hand, you could argue that once you have the bootie suit you might as well start learning to fly it from the get-go. Thoughts?

Gonna assume there are no marked differences and with that in mind I'm going for a girly BM Lotus suit

N/A

Hi All, So after too long wearing other people's crappy fitting tunnel suits, it's time for me to get my own. I'm definitely going with Boogieman, so PLEASE don't post saying "Have you considered Tony/Vertical/Ouragan" etc etc. Yes, I HAVE considered them, but I like Boogieman best and think their designs are awesome. What i would like to know before I pick my suit, is whether the different options have different flight characteristics. So for example, I know the Cristal suit is very powerful and can be tricky to fly til you get used to it. I have been flying an Elite, which is nice,, but I do prefer (stylistically) some of the other designs like the Lotus. However, I don't want to be ordering a suit that I won't enjoy flying, sure I could get USED to the Cristal but I'm not a pro and don't feel like I need the extra power it has. If anyone has flown different types of Boogieman suits please could you give your comments/feedback below, it would be very very much appreciated :-) PS. I know I can speak to the manufacturers, and I will, but I'd like to get opinions from users first before I fall for a marketing pitch.... I'm mostly going to be flying the suit in the tunnel, so it needs to stand up to hours and hours of flying worth.

No. For someone with a USPA A license it shouldnt be so difficult to get the FS1 and go jump with their buddies. The problem is that the BPA A license doesn't include any sort of RW coaching. So once the student has already paid out for their A license they then have to spend a heck of a lot more on coached jumps before they get FS1 and can even think about jumping with their friends, unless they happen to be tight with someone who's already a coach or similar

(First post/poll, been lurking for a while but only just created an account, please be nice!!!) As above. I've not put an option for