IJskonijn

Members
  • Content

    357
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1
  • Feedback

    0%
  • Country

    Netherlands

Everything posted by IJskonijn

  1. I've got a feeling that people in general, not just tunnel rats, spend way too little time and effort mastering basic canopy skills. Even in my short time in the sport, that development is visible. Unfortunately, I have no real idea what to do about it...
  2. I'm not an instructor, but I do have a (former) student opinion on this. For me, seeing inside camera footage of my AFF jumps supported me in remembering the details of the jump, regardless of optical distortion and what-not. For me as a student, AFF was a big lesson in sensory overload (along with a huge bag of other essential skills). I did what I had to do only because it was rehearsed extensively by my instructors on the ground, and my memory of the details of the jump were often less than clear. Video helped me with filling in the gaps during debrief and getting everything in the correct order. This in turn helped me with getting the maximum educational value out of each jump. With that in mind, I think it's a good thing when AFF instructors use inside video during a jump, provided it is mounted in a snag-free (or highly snag-resistant) manner. Optical distortion is a distant second issue, but only very distant.
  3. I fear the snagging is going to be the major issue, especially with the style of bike helmets I'm thinking about, no visor (separate goggles) and sunshield on the top. They look to me to be rather snag-happy. As for canopy, there is nothing wrong with jumping a big canopy for a long while. I can recommend the Navigator. It's a student canopy available in student sizes, but it still handles like a sports canopy (but with plenty of margin for error). Also, talk with your instructors about this, they know your proficiency and flying better than a bunch of random people on the internet. In my personal opinion, downsizing is overrated. There are two main goals a canopy should meet. It should bring you to the ground safely, and it should be fun (not scary) to fly. How much emphasis you put on each of those goals is a personal preference, but neither requires you to downsize like a maniac. There's often much more fun and learning to be gained from big canopies than you initially think.
  4. Check the line-trim. Depending on the type of lines (I'm not familiar with the Pilot), they could well have gone out of trim enough to cause wonky behaviour. Microline is especially susceptible to this problem, even after only 300-400 jumps. That is assuming nothing else (body position, packing technique, typical deployment velocity etc.) has changed significantly.
  5. Are you assuming terminal velocity or exit-at-3000ft velocity? If he's dropping static liners it could very well be the latter, after hauling in the bags and thanking the pilot. At my home DZ we train a lot of static line students (not me personally, I'm not an instructor), but they are taught that 10 seconds takes you the first 1000ft, and after that it's 1000ft per 5 seconds.
  6. I saw a t-shirt (I think at Skydive Sebastian) that said it made no sense to jump into a perfectly good airplane. Makes sense. The only other questions I find annoying are the too-many-times repeated ones. Even my own dad can't seem to figure out you can breathe perfectly fine in freefall.
  7. A pair of strong pull-up cords tied securely between front and back hardlinks should do the job. That's what I had on my old L160 (rental), but I haven't gotten around to fixing it on my new (for me) canopy. Just be sure not to make them TOO short, ideally they should be nearly tight when flying the canopy.
  8. I never did a tandem before starting skydiving, so you're definitely not alone in this. In my opinion, there are three main possibilities: 1: You are already sure you'll like skydiving as a sport. In that case, do AFF or static-line and start jumping. One tandem is a waste of the money that could be put towards four jumps as a student. 2: You are not yet sure if you'll like it enough to do as a sport. Get a tandem to find out. 3: You'll just want to tick it off your bucket list. Get a tandem. I was squarely in the first group when I started out, and never even considered doing a tandem jump.
  9. This, tunnel time is pretty useless if you're going to be a full-time CReW-dog. That said, a good canopy course is always money well spent, no matter your discipline.
  10. We had this last weekend with a full load on the Otter, and we sat right there on the tarmac until all the jokers had sorted their shit out. It's not rocket science... Lucky bastard. One of the DZ's I frequent has seatbelts in their planes, and requires you to use them (at least, there's a sign at the manifest that says you must use them). But few people give a fuck, and even less are willing to wait boarding until you've managed to properly secure the seatbelt. The problem with it is that it only works if at least those in power care enough to get nasty. At that DZ, they don't and people routinely don't have seatbelts, don't secure helmets and all that shit. Plus, they board the plane while you still need the room, preventing you from securing the seatbelt. Nobody gives a fuck, and that's the fastest way to stop giving a fuck yourself. Especially new jumpers, who still view the old-timers as all-knowing. all-perfect, all-capable skydivers, get a very wrong impression by this. Please tell me, where can I order a pilot (C208-qualified) that actually cares about this?
  11. Is the non-skydiving status of the third party necessary? I know here in the Netherlands our standard third-party liability includes any third party. A friend of mine did his first CRW-coaching jump a while ago. The instructor slapped a radio on the side of his helmet, and his Lightning came with a complimentary riser strike on opening, ripping off the radio (property of the instructor). Insurance covered it completely.
  12. One of the best, most experienced jumpers I know, many cutaways, movie experience, very good swooper, etc. said that all wingsuiters should use RSLs. A very expert opinion, IMHO. I don't know about wingsuiters, but I know of a lot of dead skydivers that probably would have been saved by an RSL. Here in the Netherlands, use of an RSL/Skyhook is mandatory for the first 50 wingsuit jumps.
  13. That's nearly half an hour worth of CRW-time! A bit less probably due to the density of the air up there. On a more serious note, Skydive Abel Tasman in New Zealand does 16.5kft (at least when I was there). Special training required though, so I could only jump from 13kft.
  14. Please, do think about how you can cross that bridge well before it happens. Knowing what your options are (and what isn't an option) is very valuable, because you do not have the time to thoroughly think through every possible case when it actually happens. As for me, I've made basically the same decision. My rig has a Raven II reserve (218sqft), and I alternate between a Silhouette 190 and Lightning 176 (thinking of switching to a Lightning 160). In a two-out situation, I'll ride it down if I think it's stable enough. Only when it feels wrong and unstable, I'll try to go into a down-plane and cut away the main, provided the risers appear not entangled and altitude is plentiful.
  15. Since about a year, I use earplugs on all my non-CRW jumps. I put them in in the hangar, and take them out after landing. I love it for the mental calm they afford me, and for not ripping my ears to shreds by freefall sound and engine sounds. However, for CRW I also want to use earplugs to block out the engine sound. But I also want to be able to hear my buddies under canopy. I've tried those earplugs with a cord, so I could pull them out after opening, but no luck (it works, but the earplugs didn't survive). Has any of you more experienced CReW-dogs done CRW in some combination with earplugs, and have some advice or wisdom to share?
  16. Who the hell needs a hook knife anyway? Knives are supposed to be straight! Stupid discipline... ^_^
  17. I find the 70 jump break-even point a bit high. Maybe costs etc are different in North America than they are here in Europe, but I'm at ~50 jumps/year break-even point for my stuff. The detailed calculations (I am rounding everything to the nearest €10): I bought my gear second-hand for €1920 (including inspection, repack, gearbag etc.). It's fairly old gear (rig&reserve are '91, main is '96), but with 7 years left on the AAD. So let's assume that it has 4 years of useful life left, excluding the AAD. Let's also assume that I cannot resell it for more than a case of beer at the end. Yearly costs: - €100 write-off on the AAD - €310 write-off on the rest ( (€1920-€700)/4 = €310) - twice €180 for the reserve repack and maintenance (based on my last few bills, which actually include non-maintenance improvements like front-riser diveloops etc.) This means my gear costs me €770 every year. At my home DZ, rental price is €15/jump, so my break-even point is 51 jumps. The 4 years useful life is probably low-balled, since I am careful with it and maintain it well. For the same reason, the resale-value is probably more than zero at the end. All of this will only further decrease the jumps/year break-even point. And this doesn't even take into account the non-monetary benefits of having your own gear, already mentioned earlier in this thread. So basically, unless you don't even jump enough to stay current, getting your own gear is beneficial as soon as you find a canopy that you want to stick with for more than 50 jumps.
  18. Depends, mainly on your gear and skills. I'd do a H&P from 1500ft if I have a Lighting or similarly quick-opening canopy (ignoring the fact that such an exit altitude is actually forbidden here in the Netherlands), but not with a Spectre, or anything that takes more than ~250ft to open. Also, in case of any kind of malfunction, I'd go straight to silver. No time to mess around at those altitudes.
  19. Hmm, the photo to go with it seems to have been eaten by the network gremlins...
  20. It's possible! And it's a whole lot of fun! #1 and #3 are Lightning 176's. #2 is a Storm 135 (light-weight girl)
  21. I think maintenance history and careful previous owners are much more important than age. I would much rather jump my well-maintained and well-cared for '91 Vector 2 (which already has velcro-less risercovers) than a newer rig that's beaten to bits by someone who doesn't care. So yeah, get a rigger to check the rig over, and listen to his/her advice.
  22. For a cutaway that I've experienced (I was on the ground at the time), the main landed right on top of us, and the freebag was stuck in some trees upwind.
  23. I've used very much the same reasoning for my choice of reserve (Raven II at 218sqft while using Silhouette 190 or Lightning 176 mains). By the time I need the reserve, I'm already halfway up shit-creek, so I'd like something that isn't going to play homesick bowling ball on me. So yeah, I'd say get a reserve size that you're comfortable with when you're (a) stressed out, (b) bloody low and (c) somewhere way off the normal DZ. If you still have a few doubts with the PDR176, go to the 193.