ChuckMartin

If you only have 7 jumps and on a Nav 260 you may even downsize before you get off AFF. Like you said a Nav 230 will still keep you below 1.0:1 there really is no reason to call it a problem just because of that. The real question is what size is the container? Is there room to downsize the canopy once you want to or is it maxed out with a 230? Something to think about for the future is that will be a hard canopy to sell. I was 180-185 when I was learning. I got off AFF jumping a 210-230 did a few more jumps on a 190 and then got a 188 Pilot. I think this is a pretty normal progression and see a lot of people doing something like this. If I was you I would wait a little bit longer before you buy anything. What if you get down to a 210 on your AFF jumps and really like that size? It would suck to upsize after you get of your licence jumps. Try to jump a few other canopies, you might find something you like more.

I have a buddy that got one of these suits. He got a custom one from them, they made it pretty tight and the zipper broke really quickly. I forgot how soon but it was within a few weeks. They said it would cost to much to send it back and get fix it so they refunded him $25 and told him to get it fixed on his own. On the positive side after he got the zipper fixed it has been a good shit. Still tighter then he wanted it. In person the suit looks to be made well (beside the zipper lol). It does not look like a cheap suit and it would be hard to beat it for the money. I don't think I would ever buy one but they seem like a good option for a first suit but spending another $100 and getting something that is known to be trusted might be a better idea.

A lot of it comes down to if it is a USPA DZ or not. You show up at a non USPA one with a logbook and filled out A licence paper work and gear some (most? all?) will let you jump. Even at USPA ones its all about what you want to do. If you never want to be an instructor, do demos or night jumps, or a few other things, there is not really a need to get a higher licence.

I did a recurrency jump with a guy the other day that had about 650-700 jumps and never got a licence. He said he just never got around to it and nobody ever made him. Iv seen a few guys just bring around the paper work for their "A" and never send it in. Wish I knew you could skip a licence. I sent in the paper work for my C about a week after I got my B licence, could have made another jump with that money :/

I live in Texas and don't know of any place around here that does them on a regular basis. Eloy is the closest that I know of that does them a lot.

If thy do that- they will deferentially help with bringing M2 in US market :) Maybe not with this happening. http://www.dropzone.com/news/Gear/MarS_A.S_Product_Service_Bulletin_958.html I was thinking about getting one the next time I need to buy an AAD but not until they fix the problems they are having.

True this post did get way off topic. Sorry for that we kind of hijacked his post.

I love going up with people on their first H+P. They are all either nervous or can't wait to get out of the plane. I did on on Monday and the girl jumped out before faster then anybody I have seen. Perfect exit too. Like a lot of people have said you have plenty of time. I just looked back into my log book and found a few jumps from 5,000-5,500 with 20-25 seconds of free fall time. Sit there and think what 20 seconds is, its a long time. I'm sure your instructors and coaches would not let you go until they think you are ready. Not sure if you have seen it yet but people doing a two way H+P is not unheard of. I few months ago the clouds were at 7000 and we put out a 8 way into that. We didn't have a long time but enough to be safe. Relax and watch the plane. You are opening up higher then you are use to if you think about it. If you do get a little unstable and open up into some line twists you will have plenty of time to fix it.

Again I do not want to work as a TI and I am not saying the standards should not be applied to me. I think Iv said that on every one of my posts, haha. You wanted to use me as an example so I went with it. Sorry for calling you old but I think you know what I was getting at. Everybody always thinks they are right for different reasons. My point this whole time is that there are plenty of cases where people with less time knows more. If I stop jumping now, stop reading about it, stop going to the DZ and come back to the sport in 30 years does that mean I know more then the guys that starts 20 years after I stopped and has been jumping for ten years before I come back?

And I agree that it should be harder to get ratings but not buy slapping a time requirement on it and saying its fixed. Make the course it self harder. I don't know of anybody that has ever failed a Coach course. That doe's not mean that everybody with 100 is good enough it means the course should be harder. I waited until I had 300+ jumps to get my rating because I did not feel ready to teach others yet but now I look around at the guys with 101 jumps getting theirs and thinking that this is madness and knowing that they have no business around a student. Keep the three years thing but also put a free fall requirement on it too and even then the person should be looked at more then their numbers. I talked about this guy before, a year in the sport, 50 jumps, about 1-1.5 hours in the tunnel. Sweet looks like an okay new jumper, nope he is a meat missile that most AFFIs and coaches wont even jump with and cant pass half his A licence card. You have to look at more then raw numbers.

I think we are all starting to get along now, lol. We are talking about a TI rating here, that is what this post was all about in the first place. So why doe's talking about a NOVA or a size of a canopy matter? Those to me seem more like things a AFFI should know, which doe's not have a time requirement. Is the NOVA question on any tandem test or asked in any course? Like the other guy said doe's a NOVA fit in a tandem rig? How about a Safire 1? If we are just talking about a TI rating those questions don't matter. If it is somebodies goal to be a TI they will learn more in one year going for it then three years just being a round the sport. There is no way I will not know more in 2 years then I do now and I will know more in 5 then I do in 2. But that doe's NOT mean there wont be people out there with less time in that know more then I do. Now I am really going to poke the bear. I am just playing devils advocate now not trying to make anybody butthurt here. Would you rather have a doctor that has been around for ten years or one fresh out of med school preform surgery on you? Seems like a simple question with a simple answer but look up malpractice insurance rates. Look up who makes more mistakes. The doctors that have years in and think they know everything and cut corners or the ones that know they don't and have all the newest training. Who do you think gets into more accidents 16-26 year olds or 66-76 year olds? New drivers that just learned how to drive or old people that have been doing it there way for years and think they know everything and have not learned anything new in years. I did not know what a NOVA was, true ill give you that. A few days ago I was talking to a group of people and most the "old time" jumpers had no idea what a M2 was or way you might not want to buy one (hint, look at the front page of this site). What do you think more students will be asking about? The new cool ADD on the market or a canopy from 20 years ago? Take a look at who is dying and getting hurt in our sport. Is it the new guys or the guys with years and years in and 1,000's of jumps. With all that experience they should know better right? Not only is it way more of the more experienced people getting hurt but think of the ratio. I am willing to bet that at any given time there are more people jumping with less then 500 jump then there is of people with 5,000+. I have no idea what the real numbers are but I am sure that the percentage of new people getting hurt is much lower then the percentage for the people that have been around for a while. I have know a few people that have got hurt pretty bad in the last year. One was right off student jumps and the rest had 1,000's of jumps. One was even a DZM. I can't tell you how many times I heard an old timer telling a new skydiver some CRAZY shit. The truth is that new guys will always listen to older ones but that doe's not mean they are always right and sometimes the older ones really need to listen to the new guys. We both have things to teach each other. Time does not mean you know everything or that you cant make mistakes. My first rig I got I had a master rigger look at. Paid for an inspection got it back jumped it a few times and it felt weird. One day a guy with a B licence looks at it and sees that the main is hooked up wrong. Doe's that mean that guy now gets to strip the rigger of his title and take it over "keep what you kill" style? A lot of us on this post are former military. Think about it this way. Why doe's the O-1 with less then a year in get to tell the E-3 with four years in what to do? Because he has trained his ass off to do it. It has been his life. The E-3 might know that we need to call it mortars but the O-1 is the one that knows how to do it. He is the one reading TIC reports when the E-3 is drinking in his room. Again time by itself means nothing. If you have been skydiving for 20 years doe's that mean everybody that has been doing it 21 knows more then you?

If I had to guess I would say the Safire is smaller from what I know about the Safire II and how PD measures their canopies. I know Safire II's go something like 149, 159 and so I am guessing that the Safire I goes by the same stranded. Now my question to you? Do you really think everybody with three years in knows this? I may be missing your point but I think you are missing mine as well. What I am saying is that time in by itself means nothing. What about my question about guy A, B, and C. Who is better, who knows more? The guy that has been around forever or the guy that has way more jumps and has every rating. I have said a few times now that I DON'T want to be a TI and have never said I am ready but you keep using my knowledge as an example, so thats go with that. You said if you ran the world you would want people to have 500 jumps, 3 years in, and 6 hours of free fall. Well I will have all that in about 50 jumps. So I guess I really am ready after all. The more questions you ask me that I don't know the more you make my point. Please keep asking me more. My point this whole time has been time in the sport (any sport, or anything in life really) does not always mean anything. Technically I have three years in and will have 500 jumps within a month or two so I guess all these questions really don't matter saying I meet all the requirements anyway. You have 6000 jumps and 20 years in, I am sure you know WAY more then me. You also know WAY more then people with three years. I agree more time on average will mean you will know more, but not all the time, and to put a time frame on how much you should know is a dumb idea. Whats makes it so that you are not ready wit 2 years and 364 days in but you are ready with 3 years. What about somebody with 1000 military static line jumps in 5 years do they know more then a AFFI with 600 jumps in 3 years? I ask this because a few months ago I was helping a guy learn free fall skills because he had a TON of military jumps (oh and had jump tandems in the military too) that knew almost nothing of the sport outside of his world. I am agreeing with you. Their I said it. MOST the time people with more time in know more. Now I would like you to admit that time in by itself means nothing. 500 jumps and 3 years could mean a million different things. It all comes down to the person. Also all the questions you asked me there is no guarantee that somebody with three years in will know the answer either (and again "technically" I do have three years so that point in moot). I am sure we wont change each others minds on this. I am young and dumb and you're old and stubborn but it is nice to talk about it and listen to what others have to say.

No idea who would know more. 500 in 5 years shows time in. 500 in 2 shows dedication. 500 in 2 years shows me that he is around the DZ a lot but 100 a year for the other guy could mean he is not at the DZ much. Could only do H+P's, maybe he leaves right after he jumps, maybe he is a CRW dog that does not ever do any free fall time, maybe he is just dumb and knows nothing at all. Time in the sports does not always directly correlate to time spent at the DZ learning. I think this helps my point. All these numbers are starting points. 500 jumps, 6 hours, 3 hours, 10,000 jump, 100 hours in a tunnel.... In the end it comes down to the person and always will. Who is better? who knows more? who would you want a family member to go out with? Guy A, 25 years in, 900 jumps, no ratings, only does RW Guy B, 3 years in, 2500 jumps, every rating there is, proficient on all axes, CRW and swooping. Guy C, 1 year in, 400 jumps, wing suit coach, 3,000 hours in a tunnel as an instructor. "Which is smaller: A Safire 1 150, or a Stiletto 150?" Are you talking about pack volume, PIA measurements, the companies measurements? You can ask me questions all night that I may or may not know but that does not prove somebody with 3 years in WILL know them. I could take your question and ask which one snivels longer. If you had a Arus what do you have to pull by to avoid a two out with a Safire 1 150, what about if it is a M2, what if it was that Arus again but with the Stiletto this time? What the heck is a capewell? What does TSO mean? Whats the reserve repack cycle in Germany? How long are the D lines on a Pilot 188? Whats aspect ratio? Should somebody with 100 jumps jump something with a 2.70:1 AR? What do you do on your 3rd jump in the static line progression? Whats the meaning of life? How much of this even matters? I'm sure I can find people with 10 years in that don't know some things an AFF student knows.

I don't want to come off as "that guy" and I do respect what you are saying and agree with 99% of it. I just feel that putting a time on it is not the best way to show experience especially when there is not free fall time requirement. I get it that there has to be some kind of benchmark and if three years is it okay. Still doesn't take away the fact that they don't even really say what three years is. There is a student at the DZ I work at that started skydiving a week or so before me. He has almost a year in the sport now and still does not have his A license and flies like he is on AFF L2. Cant pass a check dive, cant pass the test, cant pack but, on the plus side, he has a year in the sport 50 jumps and half way to his coach rating and will only need a canopy course and another test and he can get his B licence. I am not saying I am gifted and if i ever get my TI rating it will be just to say I have it. So I am not saying I am better, I am saying that just because somebody has three years in does not automatically mean anything. I know plenty of people with a B license and 100 jumps that should not even think about being a coach even though they have everything the need for it. You may be very well right that ill look back in a few years and think how dumb I was for thinking this. I will freely admit before I had 200 jumps I use to jump with a camera all the time, even did a tandem video or two, or way more. I use to think how dumb it was that one DZ would not let me jump a GoPro and another one would let me go out with a full camera helmet and camera suit with tandems. I had a nice little talking to at Perris because I just assumed it was alright because I did it at another DZ. Looking back on that I thought it was okay but I can't believe I ever went out with a tandem with the jump numbers I had at the time. Your also right that I have no idea what a NOVA is, but I also know someone that have been around for years and didn't know how a skyhook worked, even though his student was jumping one. Again just shows that time does not always equal knowledge. This is how I feel about everything in life not just skydiving. That time doing something does not always make you better at it. There will always be people to get it faster and people that spend their whole life trying to achieve average. Thank you for not being rude with me even though you have way more experience then me and we think so differently about this.

Because you don't know what you don't know. It really is a simple as that. I wish the AFF rating had a time in sport requirement. ***I use to teach people how to shoot and I have seen newer guys that knew way more and could out shoot other guys that have been shooting for decades Maybe, but on average the guy that has been around 10 years knows more than the guy that has been around a year. It is not about what you think, it is about what the majority thinks. All i'm saying is time does not always equal experience. My great grandmother has been driving for over 70-80 years, that does not mean she is a better driver then Mario Andretti or ready for the NASCAR circuit. The time is sport thing is just a cop out. They just needed some kind of baseline and by 500 jumps and 3 years in they think most people should be ready. Besides what does "Has a minimum of 3 years of experience in parachuting" mean? From your first jump? Your A license? First tandem? First BASE jump? ("parachuting" not skydiving) Iv seen guys use there first tandem as when they started in the sport. How does doing a tandem 5 years ago count for anything? I did a tandem about three years ago, guess I am ready for the TI course after all. If somebody is ready for something they are ready for it, if not then they are not. I agree that most people that have been in the sport for longer SHOULD know more then people in it for less time but that is not always the case. I know a guy that has been in the sports a few years (3-4 something like that), is a coach and took 3 tries to pass his C licence test. That is basic stuff that he should have known. Just goes to show time in is not the end all be all of experience. And with the shooting thing, like everything in life, time has almost nothing to do with how good you are or how much you know. Its about how much you practice, the quality of instruction you get, and just some raw natural talent.

I heard something about them building two out there but that could be wrong. I know at least one. I live in Austin and this is where their corporate office is and I jump with a lot of the guys that work there. There are a ton of tunnels going up in the next year.

Besides skydiving I am a professional photographer, went to school for it and everything lol. Truth is if you post your work in a public place and (yeah he was right) there is nothing saying not to take photos there is not much you can do as long as they are not trying to make money off them. Even if you tell them not to and they do it anyway there is not much you can do. Turn off the monitor, take down the photos... Never try to take the camera away from them or physically force them to delete them. Do that and you will be taking a ton of photos to pay them after they sue you. © is KEY! Copyright is implied in all media but tagging it that way helps too. Take solace in that fact all he will have is a crappy photo of a photo he cant do much with. Sounds like the best thing you can do here is put a big heavy watermark on them and put up a sign, that's the only weapon we have in this fight. Or put something in the waiver saying if they take photos of the photos they are choosing to buy them this is a more drastic step but I have been to art shows that do something like this.

I don't see why time in the sport matters. What if you have been in the sport 10 years with 1000 hop and pops. Doe's that make them more ready then somebody with 2 years in and 500 RW, FF, AFF....jumps? I think free fall time should mean way more then years in the sport. I use to teach people how to shoot and I have seen newer guys that knew way more and could out shoot other guys that have been shooting for decades. I understand the point they are trying to make "more time in the sport the more you will see/ know..." but there are people that are at DZ's all day everyday soaking up knowledge and there are guys that come every few weeks doe's a jump or two and leaves. What about somebody that gets an A licence then doesn't jump for a while comes back years later does 500 jumps and their good. There are just too many loopholes in the time in sport thing. If they really don't want people to be TI's with less then three years in make the course harder so you have to be better to pass. I have worked at a DZ from the time I got off AFF, I am there everyday they are open. I have flown camera, wingsuits, working on my rigger ticket, pro rating, and AAFI and have over 400 jumps in 9 months. I'm not saying I know everything but I have met plenty of guys with "3 years in the sport" that I would trust myself over them any day. I have no desire to be a TI but I still think the prerequisites for it are way off base.

Like somebody else said it depends on the DZ. Also on how steady the wind is and what kind of turbulence we are getting. One of the worst mistakes I ever did was jump in wind gusts that were up to 36mph when I had about 50 jumps. I didn't get hurt but I landed off going backwards and got to take home a whole lot of Eloy dust as a souvenir. Most the people on the plane didn't make it and one of the guys I was jumping with had over 14,000 skydives at the time. I think everybody stopped jumping after that. Where I jump now I would do 25+ without thinking about it to much. When it gets much more then that most people stop jumping and they call it for everybody anyway. Know your limits and don't try to push yourself. If everybody that has about the same number of jumps as you is not jumping you should really think about it. If the guys that always jump and would jump into a hurricane start taking themselves off loads it might be a good idea to follow them.

No matter what you do there are minimal things you have to do for a "A" license. They set it up so that if the weather is right and you are not having to do a lot of redos you will get all the minimums you need in a week. I think students learn a lot from just being at the DZ, asking questions and spending time around the sport. The A license in a week will work but I feel you will learn more taking it a little slower. Spaceland is a great upstanding dropzone and I am sure that they wont pass anybody that should not have passed but that does not mean that you will get as much from the program as you could have.

Two or three rigs, nice weather and a lot of money. One of the best things you could do is start doing video for tandems. It will give you a lot of experience jumping with tandems and give you a fair amount of jumps in a short time. I have 400 jumps in 9 1/2 months, be prepared to make skydiving a big part of your life if you want to do that many jumps in a short amount of time. Lodi will be your cheapest way out but the weather can be a little iffy this time a year in that part of Cali. Like somebody else said Eloy might be your best bet right now.

Skydive Suffolk too. Most the time they don't open on Fridays until noon or 3. Military contracts keep them busy all week, have to wait until they are done on Friday to jump. Pretty good amount of jumpers even in the winter.

A few weeks ago I let one of my buddies used my rig to try out the canopy and I used his. He has a 190 Pulse in it and it opened like a dream and on heading every time. I also have jumped a Spectra and did not like that much, I do have to admit it was a 230 when I was back on AFF that that might have something to do with it. I have owned a Pilot and loved it. If you really care about the opening I would say a Pulse but the Pilot was a little more fun after its open.

http://www.peregrinemfginc.com/PEREGRINE_MANUFACTURING_INC/THE_GLIDE.html Their website has been offline for a while but saw that Chutingstar posted something about them today and their site is back up. Its cool that there are more options out now. No more Dolphins I guess but the "Glide" looks cool. Can't wait for these to start showing up.

Rubber gloves under the ones you have now will help a lot. Could also look into cold weather gloves made for skydiving, or even the motorcycle ones work. Remember sometimes the warmer ones are bigger and thicker which will take away some dexterity.