winter in germany

[bloody_trauma 2]

anybody have anyexperience jumping during the cold months? do they do that? what has to be done in preparation for the cold and ice and snow etc??

Fly it like you stole it

[azdiver 0]

seems like every one comes to eloy

light travels faster than sound, that's why some people appear to be bright until you hear them speak

[NWFlyer 2]

Do a search for "winter jumping" or "cold weather." You'll find this has been discussed a lot with lots of ideas.

"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

[riggerrob 643]

I jumped all twelve months out of the year while serving in Germany. Even attended the Bundeswehr Luftlande Lufttransport Schule in February.

The key to winter jumping is similar to the key to winter soldiering: multiple layers of clothing.

Start with army-issue long under wear, ideally polypropylene or a fabric that wicks sweat as well.

A couple of long-sleeved t-shirts, at least one of them with a turtle neck. The best turtle-necks have zippers that allow you to keep your cool while walking to the airplane, but allow you to gradually increase insulation as the airplane climbs into colder air.

Follow with a fleece sweater or two and loose-fitting fleece sweat pants.

Then a couple pairs of thin socks on your feet.

Cover all of that with a loose-fitting jump suit, sort of a giant windbreaker. Hint: booties are great at keeping ankles and feet warm.
Basketball shoes or army boots with do fine as long as they fit loose enough to allow blood flow all the way down to your toes.

Gloves are very much a personal choice. I prefer ski gloves made of Thinsulate covered with Goretex.
However, back in the old days, I used to wear wool glove liners with thin leather outer gloves. The key in any choice of gloves in making sure they are long enough to cover your wrists, long enough to keep warm blood flowing to your fingers.

Finally, cover your neck and head to prevent heat from escaping out the top. Fleece neck warmers are worth their weight in gold.Goggles are a must.
Even better is a hard-shell that does not fog up.
Similarly, wear a hard-shell helmet with no ventilation holes or at least tape over the holes.

[freekflyguy 0]

Just out of intereste fella, where are you jumping in Germany?

Buzz

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.

[Merkur 1]

Rigerrobs description sounds more like a preparation for jumpping in Alaska than here in Germany
However he is completely right with his suggestions, the number of layers might be under discussion.

Personally I wear 3, sometimes 4 layers and this includes the jumpsuit.
1st: Ski/Snowboard Underwear. With all these fanca technical fabrices you can get today, they are better than the standard military stuff.
2nd. Long sleeve fleece with a long neck.
3rd (optional): wind breaker vest
4th jumpsuit.

In addition:
Gloves. Even in winter time I wear the newmans, sometimes together with a thin silk glove.

Fullface Helmet

You can also buy so-called thermal-jumpsuit which you wear underneath the normal jumpsuit. It basically looks like the old suit you where wearing for skiing.

Jumping in general:
As a lot of folks are good-weather-jumpers it will be alittle bit tougher to find enough people to get a load going. Also some DZs close during winter time.

M.

vSCR No.94
Don't dream your life - live your dream!

[piisfish 140]

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... Even in winter time I wear the newmans, sometimes together with a thin silk glove.

you're a cold blooded german... Not a "If it's under 20C I'm not jumping" Cali-floridian

for cold jumpers, visit oopv.free.fr

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[phoenixlpr 0]

How about jumping in Finland in winter time?

[freeflysteve 0]

Not directed at you just adding.

Practise reserve drills with gloves on,some gloves may slip on pads,i got scuba gloves with grippy fingers and palms.

Have fun winter skies are beautiful.

Steve

Swooping, huh? I love that stuff ... all the flashing lights and wailing sirens ... it's very exciting!

[piisfish 140]

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How about jumping in Finland in winter time?

I'd love it. Always fun to de-ice before, during and after jumps

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[mandm 0]

We jumped in the Austrian Alps this January at @ minus 10 Deg. C. Wasn't too different to other jumps. I started with a Thermo-Jumpsuit but after 1 jump just switched to ski underwear and a regular RW-Suit (The plane was heated, after all). Silk undergloves and warm winter gloves are usefull, though. And if you are jumping a full-face helmet, make sure it doesn't ice up all the time, ours did...

The landing in over 1m of snow was a lot of fun- it get's quite hard to judge when you are going to land but it doesn't really matter if your flare is a bit off in deep snow...

Have fun, :-)

[phoenixlpr 0]

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And if you are jumping a full-face helmet, make sure it doesn't ice up all the time, ours did...

Anti-fog/ice spray helps a lot. It works just fine.

[bloody_trauma 2]

yeah right now i'll be jumping at saarbrucken-duren cuz i havent found anything closer to baumholder yet, but i like the dz so far, theyre only open on the weekends though. i wasnt so much worried about the clothing i know how to dress, i was just wondering if its common for people to jump when its fuckin balls cold or when its snowing. does the fact that its snowing affect your canopy flight at all, from experience do loads usually get grounded more often due to snow or sleet in germany? things like that... performance issues, commonalities, etc thing you think are interesting about winter jumping, but yeah ill go look up winterjumping here in a bit

Fly it like you stole it

[jakee 1,489]

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does the fact that its snowing affect your canopy flight at all, from experience do loads usually get grounded more often due to snow or sleet in germany?

When its actually snowing? Just a guess here but wouldn't visibility become a major issue there (let alone the thick, low clouds generally associated with that form of meteorological phenomena).

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[bloody_trauma 2]

well i fell through a cloud while it was snowing mildly on my first tandem at terminal speed which was extremely unpleasant to say the least, so yeah thats where this concern comes from i think is it more dangerous to jump when weather is shitty like that, or do you experienced jumpers call it quits when weather gets that way, if its snowing like that will the wind conditions be shitty?

Fly it like you stole it

[Merkur 1]

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yeah right now i'll be jumping at saarbrucken-duren ...

Cool, you jump at my old home-DZ. Say Hi to everyone from Airwolf/Markus when you visit the next time.

Impression from a winter jump in Austria attached.

M.

vSCR No.94
Don't dream your life - live your dream!

[pilatus_p 0]

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Impression from a winter jump in Austria attached.

wow! I see you can also jump over the swiss alps. This looks like FUN!

Ross

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/troll.htm

[bloody_trauma 2]

oh that picture is fuckin sweet, you and I definitely need to get together when i get home.

Fly it like you stole it

[airtwardo 7]

I don't know about winter..but I saw this two days ago!

Beautiful place!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Merkur 1]

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oh that picture is fuckin sweet, you and I definitely need to get together when i get home.

Sure, no problem. Just drop a PM.
Stay safe where you are right now!
M.

vSCR No.94
Don't dream your life - live your dream!

[bloody_trauma 2]

awesome, where abouts the rhineland do you live, bavarias a bit of a drive but i could make the trip

Fly it like you stole it