is there anything i should look for/do when jumping a new container and main?

[Newbie 0]

I've noticed the container is WAY smaller than what i'm used to, even though its a 190 main in there, and i've jumped 209's, but for the last few months 220s. Anyway the handle is a little higher and requires a more acute angle at the elbow to grab it, but other than that it feels wonderful.
When i jump it for the first time though, what do you guys suggest i do? This will be my first time on a 190, as the lowest i have jumped was a 209 which was fine. Im aware there is about 20 sq ft diff there though, so i thought i would open high and play (obviously telling the LO and manifest that i plan to do that). Especially as i've been jumping 220s for the last month or so. Anyhoo, i know it's probably just "first time jitters" but whats the best ways to assess flight characteristics of a new main on that first jump? I was going to just do some flat turns, practice loads of flaring and getting the bite points on the flare, and just be very cautious. Anything else i should think about when i jump it the first time?
Thanks all

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[dterrick 0]

Do a "Dive Recovery Drill" with toggles and risers ...
For eg:
From full flight at an "observed" altitude, CRANK a 180 toggle turn, release, FLARE IMMEDIATELY. Now note your altimeter reading. You now know what will happen if you decide to get out of a downwinder at an altitude less than the altitude you lost doing a fast 180 toggle.

Credits to Rob Hutchinson (DZO) and CSPA (he helped write "the book").

I've use flat turns "a lot more" on final after seeing a friend hook in three months ago and jump only a handful of times since due to injurues. With a 250 foot dive on my Raven (big, slow, tired) I now know how close to I thump I would have come in the past getting home from a long spot and decided to crosswind instead

the Dave


OH YA, ALMOST FORGOT.... BRING THE BEER!!

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[bobsoutar 0]

Do some practice pulls lying face down on the ground and a couple more in freefall before pulling nice and high (I always open a new canopy above 5,000 first time).
Under canopy try steering with risers before you take the brakes off. Then release the brakes, find the stall point a couple of times and then practice a few flares. Check your alti and do some 180 & 360 toggle turns -- check your alti after each one as well so you know how much height you lose. Now try some flat turns - go into half brakes and ease up one toggle and pull it back down to stop the turn - now check to see how much height you lost this time.
Should be enough for your first one. Now find a nice big area to land in, turn in for final approach at 500', quarter brakes or full drive and a smooth flare -- aim to step down the last foot as you are used to landing a slightly larger canopy up to now.
Have fun & good luck.

[PhillyKev 0]

Be aware that you may not have as much glide. So you may not be able to make it back from as long of a spot that you're used to. Of course depending on what canopies you're coming from and going to, you may have more glide.

[Ducky 0]

Having rented gear for 60 plus jumps now I have a bit of experience on different canopies while not being an expert.
I can relate what works for me most of which has been mentioned here. One thing I would add though:

"the magic spot" or "accuracy trick" Perhaps you have heard this term before? Its a trick to figure out just how far you will get at your current manner of flight. I first read about after AFF level 3 and have used every jump since. It's explained in the following article by John Leblanc....

The accuracy trick defined: Find the point on the ground that doesn't move.
1. Choose a point on the ground in front of you. If it seems to move towards you (the angle gets steeper in your field of vision), then you will fly past that point. If the point seems to move up or away (the angle to the point gets flatter in your field of vision), then you won't make it that far, unless something changes. If you keep looking between these two points, you will find one point on the ground that does not appear to move in your field of vision at all. (The visual angle doesn't change.) I call that point the "special point" that doesn't move. The visual angle to all other points on the ground seem to move outward from this point as you travel towards it.

2. If the winds never changed, and you never moved your toggles, you would end up crashing into the ground right on that special point! If the winds do change, you can tell right away because the special point that wasn't moving will start to move as soon as the winds change. That means there is a new point that doesn't move. A new special point replaces the old one. That special point will also start to move if you change your toggle position.

Kwak

Sometimes your the bug, sometimes your the windshield. Sometimes your the hammer sometimes your the nail. Question is Hun, Do you wanna get hammered or do you wanna get nailed?????

[skybytch 273]

Do a bunch of practice pulls on the cutaway and reserve handle too.

[scottbre 0]

Quote

Do a bunch of practice pulls on the cutaway and reserve handle too.

Hmmmm. I do that in the plane before every jump.

"Your mother's full of stupidjuice!"
My Art Project

[skybytch 273]

Quote

Hmmmm. I do that in the plane before every jump.

Yeah. Me too. Just restating the obvious.

[billvon 3,070]

>>Do a bunch of practice pulls on the cutaway and reserve handle too.

>Hmmmm. I do that in the plane before every jump.

Do it in freefall some day as well. Handles are often not on the same place in freefall. I was suprised to find that my rig shifts around quite a bit in freefall - it goes left/right 3 or 4 inches.