Auryn

and? you don't HAVE to have women to have fun.

as my 10 years involved in skydiving approaches, I have to ask myself.. what has happened to this sport? looking back on a bit of history, I found this pic that exemplifies the happy, go lucky family vibe that I found when I first started jumping-It makes things GREAT! http://www.cofc.edu/~wraggj/images/Idaho-XX.jpg however, now a days I find that things are not this way.. there are too many egos to feed. And I'm only 28, now saying "now a days... yada." this is BAD! WTF???? this is an official call to get back to those fun-loving days!!! get out, jump, and just have a good f-ing time! Bryan and oh will someone make the pic clicky? thanks to darkwing for the photo

Everyone here has posted some really good things.. I just wanted to add that no matter what you're doing with your life, skydiving or bowling, you're going to know and see people die. It's just a fact of life. It sucks big time. I personally have known and seen more people die off the dropzone than on the dropzone.. way more. personally I've had trouble with what I've seen on the DZ b/c it is sooo abrupt and violent-but in the end the result is the same as someone going peacefully in bed. Everyone dies alone- even if family is surrounding the bed when you're 80, you're still the only one dying. thank you for having the courage to bring up the last taboo we have in our society. Just know that you're not alone. Bryan

PC in tow is a unusual mal in a sense b/c you can think you have one when you don't. case in point: I did a hop and pop from a cessna piloted by someone well known to fly a cessna f-ing SLOW!! jumped, pitched. Nothing. and as a previous poster mentioned, my first response was to look over my shoulder (I was still almost vertical at this time) and saw my PC at bridle stretch just chillin out. FOR ME, when this happened both my hands went to my emeregency handles AUTOMATICALLY. But, I waited a bit b/c I knew I had the alti. When I looked again the main pin popped. the point being: When I think Im going to die I don't give a damn about my body position; that is for RW. PULL THE HANDLES! Bryan Klindworth

wait a little while.. keep skydiving on all the weekends and you'll see her opinion change. Bryan

Here's how the whole thing goes in my experience. I wanted to puke before my first 30 jumps or so.. then I was FINE. however, later, I learned that I have to SHIT out the fear. life is good after that. Blue Skies Bryan

I was wondering the other day if this was possible.. I guess so. what caused your pin to come OFF your bridle ? wear or random bad luck ? later

I don't really see the need for it. I stand by my original statement... I have no interest in jumping again. It's all done with as far as I'm concerned. Blue Skies

There are some things that others wanted emphasis put on that I didn't put out there in my original post. the time from exit to wire strike, I've been told, was about 4 seconds. My sense of time during the jump was distorted so I take their word for it. The other things were: I originally said I was going to ground crew about 2 hours before we left, but then said I was considering jumping shortly after that. By the time we left we talked about it a bit and I decided to jump. We practiced body position, canopy control and landing techniques multiple times before the jump. I was also asked about night landing skills and I told the others I was fine, I had actually done my third night jump the weekend before. I think when everyone recollects what happens there is a bit of an emphasis on different things. I didn't want to post a novel about it, just the events of the jump itself and some background. The consequences were: 8-9 hour rescue. legally: $1100 restitution bill, and provided I pay it on time the trespassing charge is dropped. Blue Skies

I am the person who got caught up in the guy wire that night. The legal situation has been settled, so… I am posting this SOLELY for educational reasons. I am NOT going to mention any other names, nor do I wish any other names to be mentioned, unless they choose to name themselves. Background info: I have 422 skydives over 6 years. I ground crewed for multiple BASE jumps to become familiar w/ the sport. I practiced BASE swimming pool exits for a couple hours. I watched hours and hours of video. And I decided not to try BASE. What happened that night: It was a really bad day for our dropzone. Someone hooked in and I, as staff, helped medivac them. After the day was done, there was a crew going out to jump and I joined them. I wanted to try BASE to bring a positive finish to the day, and satisfy my curiosity, even though I didn't think it was for me. The Ride: *I* decide I wanted to S/L. I had encouragement from everyone on an equal basis. They all knew me well and felt I had the experience and skill to complete the jump. NO ONE was my mentor. This jump was MY decision to make. The Jump: After climbing to about 330 ft we stopped. After checking the wind we saw it was coming perpendicular to the guy wires. I didn't think it was too bad to jump and I asked about it. The others confirmed my analysis. After a bit of thought, I said, "no, I'm not going." The reply: "Okay. Let's go down." I stopped and looked around for a bit. As people were starting to climb down I said, "Wait. I'm going to exit." After the "Are you sure?" I asked to be tied off, and I was. I asked to have my gear checked over again. After the check, I had a light on the horizon pointed out to me as my exit target. I also had the guy wires pointed out to me twice, by two different people. I got into an exit position and asked if it was okay. My position was corrected twice. I then asked, "Now am I okay?" I was told, "Yes." I then counted down and left the object. I went head down on the exit, then got canopy. I did a canopy check and grabbed my toggles. I saw the guy wire coming close so I tried to correct but didn't give the canopy enough input. The next thing I saw was my canopy wrapping the guy wire, putting me into 8 or so line twists which after a bit came out. I was then stuck. The rest was on the news. What happened on the jump (the lesson.)? Because I was head down, I lost my bearing and didn't realize that I had exited at a significant angle. I thought I had left the object straight forward but was wrong. I then wrapped the guy wire. What else went wrong: My failure to jump a BASE canopy previously. I gave incorrect input during my attempt to rectify the situation I was presented with. (I reacted as if I was on my stiletto 120.) The bottom line: Be aware of your exit, keep awareness, and know thy canopy. Blue Skies!

Harness trauma is at best made up. I was in a harness for NINE HOURS straight without rest. I did experience some nausea and diziness after about 7 hours, but that most likely came from vertigo induced by the rather precarious situation I was in, not the harness. At any rate, everything was aleviated as soon as I got on my feet. If a lawyer defending against a case like this needs a witness, let me know. Light headedness and diziness pale in comparison to the trauma offered by not wearing the harness

That's exactly what the cypres is there for. If the extremely rare scenario of an instructor blacking out right after a partial main mal that slows you down below cypres speed, then it just really is not your day. As far as I know this has never happened. Tandem cypres' are also built specifically for tandems and have separate specifications. Blue Ones

My cousin is posted at the AFB near there, and he really wants to jump.. what is the closest DZ to him that the English German barrier won't be much of a problem ? thanks guys ! Bryan Klindworth D27808 Coach, TSP Nude Jumper #1

Not only that, but it generates several popups, and offers to change your home page setting. Unreal. Blue Ones ! Bryan

One of the more experienced skydivers at our DZ is a rep for Flight Concepts. We have probably half a dozen of the floating around at a time from sizes 110 to 170.. they are a very common canopy at our DZ, and pretty much anyone that has demoed one has bought it. Steep Angle of attack extremely slow openings provided it is packed correctly.. there is only 1 mistake I have seen in packing that resulted in hard openings fully tapered I personally have jumped the 120 and it was very similar to my stiletto, although I don't think it turned quite as fast, and the glide was noticably steeper, overall speed seemed a bit faster. Blue Skies ! Bryan

I think that's the point.. the author of this brilliant resume would just put in the first convenient numbers.. 1s and 2s Blue Skies !

You said you checked it right before you exited.. is there any chance you sat down between the time you checked it and the time you exited, IE waiting for a group before you to exit, waiting for the floaters of your group to get out... if so, that handle can get pushed inside the BOC.. I have seen it before. Blue Skies ! Bryan D27808

If a person is going to downsize, and does it anyway despite our best advice, then we are left with one thing... EDUCATION. I think we have already done alot of what is necessary to reach this safety end.. Education about the device that you fly, from day one. "If you initiate a turn your parachute will dive, and if it is low to the ground you will hit the ground in that configuration and die.." I teach it, and I have seen countless other people teach this over the last two years and I think it is beginning to work.. We have only 3 fatalities total in the US this year and we are allready halfway through the year.. granted, we are just beginning the peak season, but I think this bodes well since in years past I have seen 10 plus fatals at this point in the year. EDUCATION is the key, not limitation of choice. We, as coaches and instructors, have to continue to tell people about the risks of the canopy choices they make, and we can now back them up with fact.... IE "So and So I knew didnt pay attention and is dead now." We need to keep up the education, not the limitation. I personally jump at 1.6:1 and riser carve every chance I get, and love it, never hooking. I hope I have been a part of this education, initiating a gradual carve that is safe and still provides a great surf.. I hope my students see this and say "When I have hundreds of jumps I can do this reasonable high po landing and do that" I think we are starting to see the results of our education efforts, teaching FLAT turns for obstacle avoidance, and teaching what hard low turns do. Blue Skies ! Bryan D27808

This sport is the last place I have found where free will truly reigns.. if someone's idea of that is a choice of action that will kill themselves, then so be it. It falls into the column of true free will. I know of a person who is going to probably kill himself, but he doesn't hook, doesn't really endanger anyone else... just himself. And he has the freedom to do that, because the ground is the great equalizer. in the words of the person that took back a demo canopy from him "Where did this blood come from ?" if you want the ground to smite you, it will. Blue Skies Black Death ! Bryan Klindworth D27808

This is hilarious. I am soo going to use it next time I get asked this question. Blue Ones ! Bryan

Glad you're okay.. Good heads up! What is it with you and canopy collisions anyway ? Out of curiousity, what were deployment altitudes and group separations ? Blue Ones ! Bryan

My first couple of years were 50 jumps a year b/c I was getting gear and couldn't afford any more. I average about 150 a year now, which of course I would love to do more. In my original post I said that I had learned to manage and control it within my first 30 to 50 jumps.. to quote a saying that's good about it "the butterflies never go away, but we teach them to fly in formation" I am always very relaxed and confident with my students, and I always make it a point to try to relax them as much as possible as well, whether it be breathing tips for the really scared ones, or always doing something goofy at the beginning of the skydive to let them know it is about fun. I am however, still scared, as are most of the people around me.. it certainly doesn't come across to anyone unless I talk about it.. I would think if I said, at 391 jumps, "Im not scared at all" it would be cause for concern.. b/c I don't know everything about this sport, and certainly don't know as much as you do.. I can say, the more knowledge I get, the more relaxed I get. rereading my post, I realize I may have over expressed how I feel. I wanted the original poster to know it does get better, but to also know that it may not go away, and so they need to learn to deal with it the same way we all have.. and I guess for some of us with a lot of experience, it does eventually go away. like I said, I overstated my anxiety.. I think if you ask anyone who jumps with me, students and experienced jumpers, they will say that I don't increase anxiety levels at all, and am one of those having the most fun when I jump.. since I am a packer at my dropzone, I enjoy every jump I get up on, b/c I may only have time to do 4 a weekend. Blue Skies ! Bryan Klindworth D27808

About Fear.. hmm. I am a coach, the person you were geeked about being able to jump with. I am still REALLY scared every time I jump. It never goes away... seriously. BUT after about jump 40 or 50 I learned how to get control over the fear, put it in the right place so that I am comfortable with it. About what you mentioned earlier regarding all the malfunctions you have watched on the net... Most of those are on highly loaded canopies flown by very experienced jumpers.. eg, the line twists from hell, spinners from hell, yada yada yada. keep up on your training, you will respond automatically the way you should when the poopoo hits the fan... but it doesn't happen as often for you as it does for those of us that choose to wingload heavily. 1 more tip.. try square breathing.. 4 seconds in... hold for 4 seconds... breathe out for 4 seconds... hold no breathe for 4 seconds.... breathe in again for 4 seconds.. repeat. Blue Skies ! Bryan Klindworth D27808

I like the peeling exit idea for AFF, I haven't thought of that.. that way I can still get a good shot of the exit, and be above them a bit so I can adjust fall rate w/ a little bit of forgiveness.. thanks ! Bryan

thank you much guys for your tips.. I will hopefully get a chance this weekend to practice some more. Blue Skies ! D27808