Gators1240

I’m one of those new jumpers so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but my experience was pretty much like this. We are given the bare minimum (which at the start is good because skydiving in general has a lot of information to absorb) and then we are kind of sent into the wild to figure it out ourselves. A little bit more direction would be pretty helpful, even if it’s just “go look here” instead of teaching students individually. Canopy courses (especially flight 1) are amazing for this and the 101/102 give you all that info, but early on for me no one really said anything about them outside of “you’ll eventually need a canopy course before you can get your b license”. Even the basic info from those courses such as how to really plan a holding area/landing pattern based on winds at different altitudes and not just the wind on the ground was a gigantic help for me personally and made the difference between getting back to the dz or landing off in a few different situations. Before taking that course, I had no idea how beneficial it could be to use brakes in a landing pattern (before final) or how to use harness input instead of brakes turns when low to avoid traffic while landing. students are often by themselves when landing so it’s not a huge deal, but as soon as you aren’t a student and you are dealing with a lot of other people trying to land at the same time having that additional knowledge can make all the difference and I wish we knew it sooner.

I'll try to remember to let you know sometime in january/february once I get everything

I’m putting in an order this weekend for a Sabre 3. I’ve heard nothing but good things so far and the Sabre 2 was awesome when I was jumping before. Definitely keeping WL low at around 1.0. I don’t have much desire to downsize or start swooping or anything like that. It’s going to hurt my wallet a bit, but I’m going new for everything. I get anxiety about things a lot and I think the piece of mind of going new vs used is worth the cost. I would much rather have a better mindset about my gear than to try and save some money. Biggest downside with the decision is the wait to get it all :)

This is what I was referring to. I was for some reason expecting this type of behavior with the navigator because I had gotten used to doing with with the Sabre 2 previously. Thanks for the videos, they definitely help!

The first time I switched from a navigator to a Sabre 2 felt like a gigantic difference, especially in the flare, but I was also at a lower WL (gained about 10 pounds since then) and I imagine the switch now would feel similar, if not a little more aggressive which is the big thing I’m worried about. The first jump on a non-navigator last time made me actually say, “holy shit” when I did my canopy control checks after opening (but in a good way) and the flare on it felt really powerful at 1/2 to 3/4 instead of having to push down as much as I possibly could with the navigator before really feeling it. I only got about 20 jumps on the Sabre 2 before I stepped away, but it feels like that was enough to build up a little muscle memory with the flare timing. The first jump back on a navigator really surprised me and I ended up sliding in because even at a full flare (probably timed it a bit late) it just felt like it didn’t do anywhere near as much as I remembered.

I’m currently renting gear and have been jumping a 240 navigator loaded at 0.91. I want to make the switch off of a navigator to something a little more sporty so I can start getting used to the difference before I pull the trigger on my first rig. I don’t particularly have any interest in downsizing a ton, but where I’m currently jumping (Sebastian) the only options for rental gear that’s not a navigator is a 210 Sabre 2 which would put me at a 1.04 WL. They do have 220 navigators which would put me at a 1.0 WL, but the navigators just feel so slow to respond that it makes me more nervous than the thought of going a little smaller for a different type of wing. I’m thinking of it kind of like riding a motorcycle, I would rather have the speed and responsiveness when I need it and be cautious, than to need it and not have it but I’ve read a ton about incidents of people downsizing too fast and hurting themselves. Is the difference in wing loading at that level a big difference, or am I just overthinking this too much?

I wouldn’t necessary call him a friend, I met him during the fjc, but yeah I was pretty surprised they let him jump myself.

I already have my a license, but took almost a decade off from jumping. I just finished going through a modified AFF (1, 5, 7) and have been cleared to get back in the sky. When I was jumping before, I only racked up about 50 jumps so I’m definitely not the most experienced jumper out there. while I’m technically cleared to get back to it, I want to be a bit cautious and I’m approaching it as if I just finished AFF for the first time and don’t have my a license yet and I’m looking to do a bunch of coach jumps until I’m really comfortable in my skills enough to start jumping with others again. anyone have any recommendations for coaches in DeLand?

It’s weird, both times I’ve been in student status almost everyone I met who was also doing AFF would barely ask any questions to our instructors, but during breaks would ask me a billion questions about things from gear, different dzs, license requirements, etc... instead of asking instructors and I’m just sitting there most of the time like, “dude, I know just about as much as you do, why are you asking me”. maybe it’s an intimidation thing and they don’t want to look stupid for not knowing when asking more experienced people or maybe it’s just the dz they are at. I had a guy last week on a 20 minute call before his AFF 2 who asked me to teach him how to turn because he had no idea...

Yeah, he actually texted me and told me that they told him never to come back

Good to now it’s not normal. Based on what he said I think that guys calling it quits after his aff1. Shame, we have a tunnel like 20 minutes from where he lives too

I Just went through ground school this past weekend again after almost a decade away from the sport and happened to have someone else going through it at the same time (didn’t know him beforehand). For some reason, this guy didn’t seem to really care about learning anything and just thought that he had to go through the AFF jumps (didn’t know it was pass/fail) and then jump anywhere he wanted. He never really asked any questions except asking me a bunch of stuff during our breaks about when he could do things like wing suit jumps, etc... I could tell he really hadn’t done any research at all before signing up for AFF and throughout the class I could see our instructor getting visibly angry and worried. We made it through the class and got on a load for our first jump and even on the way up, other jumpers had to tell him to stop playing with his harness, he still had issues remembering emergency procedures (throughout the class and on the plane, he practiced by pulling his cutaway and reserve handles at the same time). I was out before him and had a fairly ok jump and when we landed he told me that they made him pull almost immediately because he couldn’t get stable. After his debrief (which I overheard, they recommended 20-30 minutes of tunnel time) he told me that they told him not to come back. That’s not exactly what happened, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I had heard them say that. is that typical of some people starting AFF? It blows my mind that someone would be so carefree when entering a sport like this and makes me a little nervous both for them, and everyone else sharing a load with them.

Thanks! Definitely not planning on downsizing quickly at all, just don’t want to make the mistake of downsizing while going from a student rig to a sports rig. I’ll never forget the first time I switched, it was insane just how much more responsive and powerful it was compared to the slower main I had been using.

this has probably been asked a million times but I didn’t see anything recent so I figured I would ask. I recently decided to start skydiving again after an 8 year gap. I didn’t have a ton of experience the last time I was jumping (got my a license and 52 jumps before I stopped) so I hadn’t bought gear yet. I know I should wait to buy a rig until after a bit of jumping, but I don’t want to wait too long because jumping a bunch of different rigs (rental gear) feels a little inconsistent since each one handles a little differently and I would like to improve my canopy skills with a consistent rig. I don’t want to go too small to quick and from what I’ve experience with rental gear (both the first time skydiving and now) there can be a huge difference between the type of mains I could use and how they handle. any advice on where to start?

Hi Everyone! I took a rather extended break from skydiving (8 years I think?) but i'm starting back up tomorrow and wanted to drop in and say hi! Looks like this community is a bit less active than the last time I was here. Did people migrate to something else?