New-found respect for packers!!!

[crazymel 0]

Ok, so I decided to give the packing thing a try - FINALLY! Phoned our "closed" dz (yeah - you guessed it, STILL no plane, but that's another story) and convinced the packer to teach me to pack today. The way he taught me to pack is pretty "easy", but to get that bad boy in the bag is a totally different story!! I laid on top of that thing, hugging and squeezing it till it begged for mercy, but just couldn't get the damn thing in the bag. You know, I would think having this sweaty, hot chick laying ontop of you, you would pretty much do whatever she wants, BUT NOT THIS ONE!! Oh no!! Anyway - the moral of this story is, I've always appreciated (and tipped) my packers, but from now on, I LOVE THEM!!! They make it look so easy that I never realized just how much hard work it really is!!!

Life is for the LIVING!!!!!

[AggieDave 6]

As a staff packer for my DZ, thank you..

Next, try packing a tandem!

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Viking 0]

shit after reading that i wanna do anything for you!!!!

I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver
My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin

[Deleted 0]

Though my thoughts are following right there with Vikings..... I must ask....Do you have alot of jumps? A liscense? If yes, how did you get it? Packing is "supposed" to be a requirement of the "A" liscense.

[jtval 0]

Yes Jim I believe it is but when I first got my "A" Lisence I didnt know much about packing..(barely do now) I know enough that if my mian feels funny when i pack it(line over) I repack it.
but my first 5-10 self packed jumps were supervised.
I didnt start packing til about jump #20. According to Mel's profile she has 22, she should be right about on target with learning to pack.
I still have to "convince" my main to fit in the bag.
My freebag is one size too small.

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[indyz 1]

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My freebag is one size too small.

Er, I think you should be packing the other canopy...

[jtval 0]

well, you kn ow what I meant.lol

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[FallRate 0]

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You know, I would think having this sweaty, hot chick laying ontop of you, you would pretty much do whatever she wants

Well, there goes any chance of a sound sleep tonight.

FallRate

[Deleted 0]

Yea, I saw that. 22 a couple of weeks ago. Forgot about the "no plane" part. Still, I know every DZ teaches differently, and I have no problem with those that prefer to pay a packer each and every time. More for the packers that way. I was just curious, as in my training, and in the S/L program I took (though it is in the ISP also), packing training is started earlier than you two had it. Also, to get signed off, it was (for me) a "You pack it, YOU jump it. You chop it and you didn't pass."

Like I said, not trolling, nor looking for trouble, nor looking to bash DZ's and their particular training methods. Just looking out for the jumpers, and hoping they are getting the training they deserve.

[StevieBoy 0]

"I laid on top of that thing, hugging and squeezing it till it begged for mercy, but just couldn't get the damn thing in the bag. You know, I would think having this sweaty, hot chick laying ontop of you, you would pretty much do whatever she wants, BUT NOT THIS ONE!! "

OH MY GOD, I'VE WANTED TO BE A LOT OF THINGS IN MY LIFE, BUT FOR THE FIRST TIME I WANT TO BE YOUR CANOPY, PLEASE.

it deosn't mttaer waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.

[jtval 0]

hey Jim,
You are right, even at my first dz they wanted to teach me to pack as early as I would allow.(they wanted to teach me from the minute I got there) but I opted to wait for a few reasons.
1-everytime i went thee I had at least 2 new tandems who only wanted to jump and then go home(that gets old) but i lived 3 hours away from the dz.
2-they were busy on the weekends lots of tandems and aff's the more I used thier rig the less they were
3- I wanted to wait til I got my own rig, so I can pack the SAME rig.(although my 1st two pack were on student gear!)

I agree with you that the training should start early I am just sayin this is the I did it. whew, were those first few(self packed) jumps scary! but it is all worth it!

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[gale 0]

Yes, we have to be packing endorsed by our A (in Canada) but you don't have to learn to pack until then if you don't want. And you need 25 freefall jumps before you can write your A so you have a while if you're not jumping all the time. I started learing after I sprained my ankle (nothing else to do) and it took a while to pack enough supervised to get signed off. I find most people put off learing how to pack as students unless they have to.

Oh, and by the way, I jumped my first unsupervised pack job yestderday and it was beautiful! Nice snivel and everything. (Yeah, I know, BEER)

Gale

I'm drowning...so come inside
Welcome to my...dirty mind

[tigra 0]

At my dz, we had to be signed off on packing before we could send away or our A license, and before we were "officially" signed off student status. But getting the packing lessons was always hard, nearly impossible on the weekends because it was just too busy. I was probably done with AFP for a month before I had my packing lessons. I had to take a day off work during the week to do it, too. So I spent a day learning to pack and I did jump my own pack jb at the end of the day. But, after that, I jumped rental gear for another few months before I had my own rig, and only staff packers (under the supervision of a rigger.....) can pack that. When my own rig finally arrived, I jumped it, and had no clue how to pack it!

I used a packer for a couple of months after that, and took some heat from my friends for it too. But, hey, that brand new zero p fabric is slippery as hell, and I really wanted to focus on my skydiving at the time- spending 45 minutes getting sweaty and frustrated packing just wasn't part of the plan!

Now, I'm back to mostly using a packer, more for convenience than anything else. But at least I know I can pack if I need to.

[BMFin 0]

Sounds so funny when you guys have jumped many jumps but still dont know how to pack !!

In our DZ even the first-timers pack their own chute after using them.

Usually after 5 jumps every student can pack without instructions. All student packings are inspected in 2 sections. First when the canopy is in ones shoulder, (pro pack ) and again when one has done a nice dish of spaghetti on top of the body.

[PhillyKev 0]

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In our DZ even the first-timers pack their own chute after using them.

Personally I feel better knowing that during my student jumps my rig was packed by an experienced packer and not a the first jump student who used it before me. If you're gonna use that method, why not have students pack their own before they jump it instead of for the next victim...errrr, student.

[hobbes4star 0]

i would do anything for you if you laid on top of me!

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?