Weight belt

[vanman2 0]

Hello, I'm a pretty small guy. 5'8", 120 lbs. I'm starting to jump with others and finding it hard to keep up with larger people. Wondering if a weight belt would help. Talk to people at DZ, and pretty much 50/50. Also had an instructor talk about a weight vest. Is there such a thing?

Paul Hardin....RIP.

[GaryRay 0]

there are several things you can do, a weight belt will help but be cautious b/c with low jump numbers and not being all that comfortable under canopy your wingloading does increase. another tihng you can do is buy a tight RW suit. you can have the suit made out of different materials to give you more or less drag and to make you more floaty or more sinky.

JewBag.
www.jewbag.wordpress.com

[tonka 2]

I wear a weight belt on many jumps and think it works great.
Do a lot of camera work and im light so weights are perfect.

Do remember that wearing lead, especially 20+ pounds will increase your wing loading. Be sure you can handle the extra speed and remember that you are wearing weights. Something you did last jump without weights on landing wont be the same with a full belt on.

Deepseed makes great weight belts/vests that are inexpensive compared to competitors and the quality is the best.
deepseed.com

[NickDG 23]

Don't discount the possibility it might just be them falling too slow. So don't make their problem your problem. Also at less than 40 jumps you probably haven't found your full fall rate range yet and it's larger than you think. But start compensating with lead now and you may never find it.

The best thing, if at all possible, during your formative jumps is to jump with people your own size.

And don't fall into the trap so well put by the late Master Rigger Al Frisby, "They're now putting Slinks on their canopies to save weight and then they're strapping on lead . . ."

NickD

[dragon2 2]

Learn to fly first. Is your arch really good? Mine wasn't so I could never keep up... Later on you can add a bit of lead but mostly it's your body position that needs to be worked on now. If you have a tight suit and are arching so much you can't move anymore THEN you need some lead, or the other some more drag

BTW if you do get lead later on, don't get a vest get a belt, think about where you want the weight. Start with 5lbs or so, once you get to say 15lbs it can get real uncomfy to lug that weight around, you have to land with it and you wingloading will increase significantly depending on your size canopy.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[blackout 0]

I am about the same size as you and had your same problem, until i started jumping with properly outfitted people and improving my own flying i actually have a problem with flying too fast now...i out fall 220 pounders of similar height.

[pinkfairy 0]

I've jumped both with and without a weight belt.

A weight belt makes you fall faster, and generally, you won't have to wear a lot of lead to get an effect, I wear 8 pounds, and that enables me to keep up with almost anyone. When you wear a weight belt, you won't have to use all your energy on keeping up with the others, and you can actually achieve something instead of just struggling to get down.

People say you should learn to fly properly first, but with your weight, you'll probably need the weight belt for most of your jumps anyway, so you might as well learn to fly with it.

Make sure your canopy is big enough, I feel the difference even with my 8 pounds.

I think some DZs won't let you jump with extra weights if you have less than 100 jumps. Others don't: I did almost all of my AFF jumps with a weight vest.

Relax, you can die if you mess up, but it will probably not be by bullet.

I'm a BIG, TOUGH BIGWAY FORMATION SKYDIVER! What are you?

[fanya 3]

I think I've got ya beat.

I'm 6'4 and 135lbs

The I have 12 jumps now and have been wearing 12lbs weight since AFF jump 3. On AFF jump 2 where you did the turn my instructors were literally pulling me down as I did my turn.

I had one instructor on jump 6 or something wear his camera man wing suit

Apperently I fall real slow

[kallend 2,026]

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Learn to fly first. Is your arch really good? Mine wasn't so I could never keep up... Later on you can add a bit of lead but mostly it's your body position that needs to be worked on now. If you have a tight suit and are arching so much you can't move anymore THEN you need some lead, or the other some more drag

.

I think you need to add weights BEFORE you reach the limit of your range. The idea is to be suited/weighted so that you are in the middle of your range when falling at the average speed of the group you jump with.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[LloydDobbler 2]

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Learn to fly first. Is your arch really good? Mine wasn't so I could never keep up... Later on you can add a bit of lead but mostly it's your body position that needs to be worked on now. If you have a tight suit and are arching so much you can't move anymore THEN you need some lead, or the other some more drag

.

I think you need to add weights BEFORE you reach the limit of your range. The idea is to be suited/weighted so that you are in the middle of your range when falling at the average speed of the group you jump with.

True...but at 30-some-odd jumps, I know that what I *thought* was the limit of my range was closer to the middle. It took some time tunnel time with a great coach, working on my mantis in the mirror, before I figured that out. Then I started realizing how much less lead I needed, leading to more range, slower landings, etc.

I have nothing against weights, and use my belt quite often, but I do think it pays to spend some time finding your fall rate range & flying with similar-weighted people. Of course, if there ARE no similar-weight people around, well, you might have to change up that plan a little...

KC
5'5", 115lbs.

Signatures are the new black.

[danielcroft 2]

Warning: noob question: How much would a weight belt affect your canopy?

[rehmwa 2]

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Warning: noob question: How much would a weight belt affect your canopy?

I don't think it's a good idea to tie a weight belt to the canopy. Keep it around your waist.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[AllisonH 0]

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Warning: noob question: How much would a weight belt affect your canopy?

Depends on how much you wear and what kind of canopy you have. I generally wear 6 pounds and don't notice any difference on my Pilot 132 (loaded at 1:1 without the weights). However, I'm sure that if I jumped with 15 pounds of weight or jumped a 96 sq ft canopy there would be a quite noticable difference. I'd certainly recommend starting out with a small amount of weight and adding a pound or two at a time until you figure out how much you need and how much it affects your specific canopy.

[rehmwa 2]

That's a nice conservative approach, but....

The OP has 39 jumps and no gear (likely on student rental). The reality is closer to this:

1 - Very low wing loading such that 10 or 15 pounds likely wouldn't affect the canopy performance at all.

2 - He has such little experience anyway, that he wouldn't be able to discern the flight changes even if the flight is affected.

but I like your approach, in general, changes to flying should be approached with reason, and tempered in line with one's level of experience

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[dragon2 2]

For now, probably true. But lightweights tend to buy small canopies soon, so a few lbs when flying a 135 at 50 jumps suddenly becomes very noticeable. I know I come in noticeable faster on my 120 when I wear my 5kg (11 lbs) leadbelt for the faster tandems. If you're a lightweight, think about the lead you may want to add and factor that in your canopy choice.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[danielcroft 2]

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Warning: noob question: How much would a weight belt affect your canopy?

I don't think it's a good idea to tie a weight belt to the canopy. Keep it around your waist.

Now I know what I was doing wrong, thanks!

[vanman2 0]

Just a little addition. Not on student gear. Signed up for demo program, so I'm trying different containers and canopies. Right now jumping on a Sabre2 190.

Paul Hardin....RIP.