RopeaDope

I have a 210 main and a 33in PC. The math on mine puts 3% at 32.96, so it works out on my rig. *not that I'm trying to argue the point. Just that for anyone planing to take the test, 3% is the answer. I reference the Poynter manuals, new rigger handbook, FARs, and ACs, and then the manufacturer has final say for anything in question

Yes, and that data would have been compiled using F 111, whereas now ZP is becoming more common. I haven't looked at all the manufacturers, but since I have a Javelin, I looking at Sun Paths canopy sizing chart. It also shows the PC size for each container size and hey don't stray very far from the 3% ratio *I would suppose that by now, 3% is a starting point that each manufacturer tweaks as they test their containers and various canopy styles to come up with the best all-arounder for the results they desire.

Let's see... My main is 260 sq. ft. (yeah, I'm a big boy) So 260 * .03 = 7.8 sq. ft. pilot chute. Find the diameter of a 7.8 sq. ft. round: Area = pi * r² A / pi = r² 7.8 / 3.14 = 2.5 r² = 2.5 ft r = 1.6 ft radius diameter = 2r d = 3.2 feet A pilot chute that is 3 feet in diameter! Holy crap. Mine is probably half that. But it works just fine... Have I done my math wrong, or is there something wrong with this ratio? Measure your PC. 3.2 feet is 37-ish inches. I'd be willing to bet you have a 38 in PC *my math comes out to 37.8 inches for a 3% ratio on a 260

Where did you get that information? Poynter manual vol 2, pg 245. And yes, it's currently in the question bank for the written test.

There is no sense in minimizing your experiences. Any stressor is going to be measured against one's own "normal" state of being. It isn't measured against another persons experience. I had a higher than average level exposure to combat, but I was also in a unit that had a higher than average level of physical and mental conditioning for it. You can always spot the people who are full of shit because they see it as a dick measuring contest. No matter what capacity you experience a war zone in, the fact remains that you are isolated from your friends and family for an extended period of time and have no control over anything in your life. You can't be there to keep a girl honest, you can help with the broken water heater, and your life is frozen in time while everyone else's goes on without you. As a contractor, you are in an environment where rockets and mortars fall from the sky, bullets come in from sniper rifles and heavy machine guns. RPGs, organized assaults on the FOB, and the insider threat posed by any ANA who is having a bad day keep you constantly on guard and remind you that death is walking among you waiting to take you. To make matters worse, when you travel from FOB to FOB to employ your speciality, you present a soft target to the TBs and you don't have the assets dedicated to your mission that the Soldiers would have. If you stumble into trouble, you are reliant on a QRF to come to your aid and bring their assets to bear against the enemy. You may have been paid more than us to be there, but I wouldn't have traded jobs with you for anything. You certainly gain a new perspective on life and the world you live in. With a significant other, it is a process where you have to meet in the middle. Your "concerns" are hers and hers are yours. Just communicate with her and find out exactly what her concerns are (beyond "it just seems dangerous"). Also convey to her what skydiving is to you. Address the stigma and any misunderstanding she has about the sport and let her know how you are taking her concerns into consideration and mitigating the risks. Somewhere in between you disregarding her and jumping anyway, and never making a jump again, hopefully you can establish a mutual understanding. Consider all he "little" things. Emergency contact info, medical insurance, having all affairs in order in case of severe injury of death, identifying some of the more common skydiving incidents and how we identify and mitigate those. And so on...

Some additional things to consider: 1. Slider placement. You are careful to set it against the slider stops and quarter it nice and symmetrical. However, it is important to place your finger on the center of the slider and push it as far down into the canopy fabric as it will go as the last step. This gives the fabric more to hold onto and ensures your slider stays put throughout your pack job. It seems simple, but I have noticed some jumpers quartering their sliders so much, that the center of the slider is pulled up out of the fabric. Upon opening, air is able to get up over the top of the slider and gets a head start on pushing it down which lessens its effectiveness at doing it job. 2. Line trim. As Dragon2 said, be I out of trim can affect your openings. Another aspect to this is the brake setting. Check your steering lines and if they are straight, or if they have been twisted over time to the point that the line may have lost some length. If they are set too deep (or shallow) they will have a very noticeable impact on your openings. 3. Pilot chute size and condition. The PC should be approximately 3% of the size of your canopy. For a 139, your PC should be 4.17 square feet which, if my math is accurate, would put you in the range of a 27 in diameter PC. (edit 27 in would be ideal with ZP, however, 28 in is commonplace on anything below 150-ish square feet). Also the overall condition of your PC and the length of the bridle should be checked. Beyond what you are already doing, and the items I mentioned, some basic things to consider would be closing loop length. If you psycho pack, you are getting a nice tight pack job, so make sure your closing loop isn't too loose, and body position. Take a couple seconds to slow yourself down as much as you possible can before you deploy. I know that is basic, but sometimes we develop habits.

You can use plain white distilled vinegar in place of the rubbing alcohol. Some old Army tricks I picked up over the years. They like to have us crawling around in the mud one day, then looking shiny and pretty in a formation the next. BDUs weren't so bad, but when we switched to ACUs, it was a beyatch

I was paratrooper in the Army. The 48 jumps on my profile is my military jump number only. I'm proud of that number because hose 48 jumps were harder earned than any number of "fun jumps". I come at everything with a sense of humor, but also try to be outside the box, rather than regurgitating the same thing everyone else says, in order to simply offer additional possible perspectives. Many look at the number next to my name, which can be whatever number I decide to put there, and write me off. That's fine. The people who jump with me know what I'm all about. As for skydiving, I got busted up pretty bad during a really bad couple of days in Afghanistan. I had to spend almost 18 months learning how to walk and do some other basic crap that people never give a second thought about. I was really sad having had my military career cut short and got into skydiving for the therapeutic value of it. I always thought it looked awesome, but hadn't ever got around to trying it. When I started I got a lot of pushback from my wife and family. They nearly lost me once and didn't want to go through it again. They thought I was mindlessly engaging in high risk behavior because of issues stemming from PTSD. At first my day at the DZ was a taboo topic, but I couldn't not talk about it. They started to see how passionate I was about it and how much happier I was in the days following a jump. Now they see the good in it and for birthdays and Christmas, everyone puts money in my jump fund (a box my wife made that is all decorated up for skydiving). Before skydiving, I "coped" with excessive alcohol use, and driving like an asshole on my Harley. Skydiving put me in check with myself. I don't drink at all now. Traded the bike for a parachute, and when a certain sight, smell, or sound pulls me back into the worst days of my life, all I have to do is think about any aspect of a jump and it brings me right back. When I look at the sky, I no longer slip into a quiet stare and replay the sight of a Medevac slowly dropping in to pick me up along with two of my dear friends who did not survive that dreadful flight. Now I look to the sky for solace. If your family sees what it means to you, and how you approach it with a safe and respectful attitude, and they come to understand it isn't an adrenaline junky suicide activity, then they will come around.

judging by the last few pages of our incident threads: and wingsuiters... and bigway guys... and students... and people with gopros... and tandems ... and skydivers sitting in a plane... Yeah but you don't mention that part. An omission isn't really a lie

Rather than AFF 1, you could try taking her to a safety day. Maybe my wife goes along with it because I'm one of those "got an answer for everything" guys. "At least I'm not on a motorcycle" "At least I'm not jumping with 120 pounds of combat gear anymore" "At least I'm not going to Iraq or Afghanistan again" "But honey, it's mostly the BASE jumpers and swoopers that get hurt" "I can die from a freak accident, car wreck, heart attack, stray bullet while hunting, or any number of ways and it WILL happen eventually, so don't you want me to enjoy life while I can"

I used motorcycle data. My wife was apprehensive at first, but after talking about fatality statistics, she was just as excited as me when I sold my bike to buy a rig. The way I see it, on a motorcycle or parachute, you have a chance of equipment malfunctions or operator error getting you hurt, (mitigate by maintaining your equipment and being aware of your situation, ability, ect) but on a motorcycle, everything on or near the road is potentially trying to take you out. Other vehicles, animals, gravel.....fresh grass clippings almost got me one day coming around a corner.

http://www.uspa.org/facts-faqs/safety If she is smart, then educate her. Present her with pure statistical data and compare to other "normal" activities. Show her how you have a significantly higher probability of injury or death while driving to and from the DZ *Also Google benefits of having a hobby and take your pick of all the positive reasons why you should follow your dreams

Look, Locate, Peel, Punch, Pull, Arch Avoid bad packing, bad equipment, bad position

Article from someone more credentialed than I: http://parachutistonline.com/safety_training/ask_a_rigger/soft-links-regular-links

Wet the stain down with isopropyl rubbing alcohol, let it air dry for a few minutes, rinse with cold water. Then put some liquid detergent into the stained area and work in in with a toothbrush or a slight stiffer brush and rinse with cold water. Let it air dry and you should be good.

RW (relative work) and FS (formation skydiving) are the same thing ...... Yeah, meant Free Flying, but was thinking about freestyle when I typed that.

- I was talking about reserves - I consider them an upgrade because they are stronger than Raptides, they reduce bulk over the Rapide and bumpers, and eliminate a couple of possibilities for fatal malfunctions. - Rapide links are commonly found installed incorrectly, i.e. Barrels out, barrels not closed, barrels not tightened, barrels over tightened, cheap hardware store links used, links inverted, bumpers missing, bumpers not tacked. Granted riggers should be well trained and vetted to ensure they are competent, but simply switching to slinks removes the human error for at least a couple of scenarios.

Good question. I've only had two come to me with Rapide links so far. I recommend an upgrade and both customers agreed so I upgraded them. I personally think Rapides should be phased out.

That rig looks pretty big on you. What is the height/weight difference between you and the previous owner? Your pictures are harder to analyze because they are so close, but you definitely need to have your rigger take a good look at you with it all tightened up. If the harness is too big, you can und up sitting so low in the leg straps that the chest strap chokes you out, if it doesn't rip your face off on opening *do you have the yoke up on your shoulders like up to the back of your neck?

We are talking about Tandemjumps? (seeing your Instagram Pics, you did two tandemjumps at Skydive Surf City Santa Cruz?) so if you want to know how you should hold your knees during a tandem landing, follow your instructors advice. If you have weak knees, maybe a standup-landing is not so suitable for you. Tell him about that and he might go for a sit-landing where that should not be a problem. But as there are also hiking and travelling pics, I guess the knees should be no major issue ;-) Cyber-stalk much?

Is it a light or dark colored suit?

What's the opposite of Christopher Reeve? (Christopher Walkin)

*forgot, read this first http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1040487;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread Www.chutingstar.com Www.paragear.com Www.square1.com Www.greenlightison.com Www.jumpshack.com Www.skydivestore.com Www.rockskymart Those are a few places to start, but talk to your instructor and rigger. Lot of different options out there to make skinny people fall faster and fat people to fall slower. Also you'll need to figure out if you are going to end up being more into RW or FS. Different strokes for different folks. As a beginner you should look for something used, or get a nice comfy lighter weight set of mechanics coveralls and have your rigger add an extra layer of material to the butt, knees, and elbows. (Maybe even put some thin foam pad in those areas until you are standing up your landings consistently. You'll be upset if you jump your $400 suit for the first time and skid it in on the tarmac, or baseball slide for about 20 yards on nice fresh green grass.

If only there were some type of padded device that you could wear around your knees to protect them.