Some thoughts after the Holiday Boogie

[Feeblemind 1]

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...well I'll say this, I upsized my own self. I couldn't be happier. It is a little annoying that I'm mocked for flying a boat though by guys that have thousands of jumps more than me. I need to make it to work monday morning, I have a business to run & I'm 40 years old. I've seen people broken and in the process of dying. I wish I hadn't.

that said, now how do I get my hands on a Mamba?

Dude,

I fly a 210 currently and I have heard all the grief also, (I thought you were a tandem and forgot the passenger, etc. etc)

I choose to be an old sky diver rather than a bold one. I have a wife and two kids to raise and I would prefer to be able to stand while I raise my children, not sit in a wheel chair or worse.

Fire Safety Tip: Don't fry bacon while naked

[Elisha 1]

And you're a swell guy and would like you to continue to be so.

I don't really have much desire to be a big swooper myself, but I do want to up the HP to some degree over time. I am 10 years younger than you two after all.

[champu 1]

I actually kept packing right in front of your tent because I was curious as to what you'd tell the next person that came up asking for a napkin.

[Eule 0]

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As I spent my time at Eloy slinging out demo canopies for Icarus, I found myself listening to some
interesting things.

Did the people who said these things have anything else in common? Like, were they younger, older,
mostly men, mostly women, from a certain part of the country, etc? I know you don't make them tell
you all this stuff before you lend them a demo, but I'm just curious.

I also wonder what would happen if you had some canopies that were mislabeled on purpose - like a
"slow" canopy with the "fast" model name screened on the end cells, or a canopy labeled one size smaller
than it actually is. Somebody asks for a 150, you hand them a 170 and tell them it's a 150 - would they
notice the switch or come back and say, "wow, this is a lot better than the 170 I've been jumping!" I realize
this would be a bad idea for many reasons, one of which would be that they might end up thinking they
could handle a 150 and would demo a (correctly marked) 150 from another vendor and get in trouble with
it.

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[dharma1976 0]

well you will be happy to know that Matt has upsized...

he upsized to a 103 Velo :-P

I myself am having a great time on the 129 still...did some coaching in Zhills and am very happy with the results...

and dont worry I wont crater myself :-P again that is :-P

Cheers
Dave

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[skybytch 273]

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I fly a 210 currently and I have heard all the grief also, (I thought you were a tandem and forgot the passenger, etc. etc)

Do you think you won't hear the shit anymore when your new rig with the 190's arrives?

Don't sell your 210 yet, you may want it for those hot, no wind days when the surf is up.

[johnny1488 1]

All guys. All young.

I know that is a big chuck of the people who skydive, but it's also the people I believe take risks.

The girls I spoke with were mostly conservative. While most guys I spoke with wanted a Crossfire2 at between 200 and 600 jumps, The girls that wanted Crossfires2s had between 800 and 1200.

And most girls didn't want to downsize while the guys wanted to without trying the same size first. I talk with one girl for quite a while before she wanted to trade the 169 demo for a 159. She came back after a few jumps and was able to explain to me how underloading the last demo made it a lot harder to fly. (she was probably about 120lbs with about 75 or so jumps.)

I was able to watch some of the landings of some guys who wanted to go to Crossfire2s and downsize and give them pointers on some things to work on before they considered the move. That also gave them some busy work as they aquired the jump numbers to try one. I kept on repeating the phrase "there is no replacement for expierience and time under canopy."

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[johnny1488 1]

I would never knock anyone (except my good friends ) about jumping a bigger canopy. It's all about risk assessmment.

I take a big risk with my canopy choices right now and they are not for everyone. (VX 104 loaded at 2.3)

No one says the goal of skydiving is getting to a smaller canopy. You need to jump what is best suited for your goals and flying style.

when I get a bit older I am sure I am going to slow down and upsize. I don't want to be an old coot yelling to keep the skydiving nursing home from taking my cross braced canopy away. I would like to jump with dignity with a nice big Crossfire or Safire with some "back in my day" bumber stickers on them.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[freeryde13 0]

i've got about 250 jumps and want to play in the air and then touch down on the ground like a feather . but i am older but understand why people want to do the "cool" swoops landings so everybody can see them ( that might be me trying them a few years back) . maybe someone should make a "scared straight" type of video about downsizing to soon. show some bad landings and interview people who are lucky enough to survive them ...... just to make sure they really understand the risks and get through the it won't happen to me thing.

_________________________________________

people see me as a challenge to their balance

[genoyamamoto 0]

Cool! I've heard so much bad stuff about icarus customer service. Glad to hear that at least you guys out in the trenches are doing your part to give icarus a good name.

Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me
Feel the hate...
Photos here

[Silverchic 0]

Yay Icarus! Thank you so much for creating the Safire2! I love mine so much that I doubt I will ever want to jump anything else! No seriously - my 169 is perfect to fly - and other jumpers that have tried it like it to!

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

[canedraw4 0]

Well, from the other side of the coin, my friend who has 200-250 jumps and flies a pilot 168 was demoing a Pilot 132 at the boogie. After a few jumps he tried an aggressive 270 at 500ft and only survived through luck I didn't see it myself i was in the air but others said it was very close / lucky. He done a couple more jumps on it and ended up ordering one from the sunshine factory. Even on the last day Dom was trying to place the demo rig with him for $1,700 so he could kill himself even quicker. True story.

[NWFlyer 2]

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who has 200-250 jumps

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After a few jumps he tried an aggressive 270 at 500ft and only survived through luck

Your friend's lack of judgment is Dom's fault, how?

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[canedraw4 0]

He is an idiot jumping outside his ability. I did not say this was Dom's fault im just countering what was said earlier in the thread with some first hand knoledge of my own.

[skybytch 273]

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I did not say this was Dom's fault im just countering what was said earlier in the thread with some first hand knoledge of my own.

Jumpers have been known to lie about such things to get what they want. Were you standing there when he told the mfr rep his experience level? If not, then your first hand knowledge isn't quite complete. If so and if the jumper was honest about his jump numbers, what other questions did the mfr rep ask before handing him a rig/canopy?

In addition, if you saw the aggressive 270 did you let the mfr rep know about it?

[canedraw4 0]

wasn't there at the time and it is quite posible he ballshitted the rep.

[skybytch 273]

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wasn't there at the time and it is quite posible he ballshitted the rep.

So you're dissing the rep on a public forum when you don't know the whole story...

Noice.

[canedraw4 0]

My point being that he still tried to sell him the rig after he nearly hurt himself on it.

Which i did see myself.

[NWFlyer 2]

Quote from johnny1488, above:

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I went to a FX loaded at 1.9 because my 132 just wasn't doing enough for my swoops. This jumper had between 200-300 jumps.

quote from canedraw4 in this thread:

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Just found out that a guy that i did my AFF with who has less than 200 jumps and ways 14 stone 196lbs without gear is jumping a pilot 132 at the moment in the states. Hmmmn, more food for thought.

quote from canedraw4 above:

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He is an idiot jumping outside his ability.

Why do I have a feeling we're talking about the same person in all three instances? And why do I doubt that he's being honest with himself and others about his own abilities?

[skybytch 273]

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My point being that he still tried to sell him the rig after he nearly hurt himself on it.

Which i did see myself.

Did the rep see it? If not, did you let him know about it? If so, did he talk to the guy about it?

[canedraw4 0]

2 out of 3 are the same guy the top one not so, everybody new of the incident it was the talk of the Dz.

[Remster 30]

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everybody new of the incident it was the talk of the Dz.

Dont assume that. Its a big DZ with lots of people during the boogie. I have no clue as to what incident you are refering to.

Remster

[canedraw4 0]

Point taken but he wasn't jumping your canopy Remster.

[dgskydive 0]

i never heard or saw anything like someone alomst hooking in on one of my demo's

If your friend is the one I am thinking of........He told me he had many more jumps the what you say he had and 1st asked to demo a Mamba!!! Which I did not let him jump, instead he got the Pilot.

I am pretty sure I know who you are talking about. There was only two people that demoed that size canopy that during the boogie.

Once again he told me he had way more jumps then you are stating, and as he was landing in the alternate landing area all the time I didn't get a chance to see him land except the 1st jump he did on it and he did fine.

If he tried a 270 and almost hooked himself in.......... Be glad i gave him the Pilot and not the Mamba that he 1st asked for in the 1st place.

Dom

[canedraw4 0]

Fair enough