lowie
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Everything posted by lowie
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I cant remember breathing during my first few jumps so it cant have been a problem.
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You have my sympathy about the packing. I bought a new sabre 2 a while ago and learnt to pack on it. Bad choice of canopy to learn with but nevermind. It's still a bitch to get in the bag but I find that if as I tuck the skirt under I roll it together starting from about waist level to up to the top, squeezing every last molecule of air out then roll the top quite tightly and then (with bag all prepared ready to go) leap up quickly put in the s fold and get the bag over one corner I can usually control it enough afterwards to get it all in the bag. I fold the tail in after I've got the bag over both corners. If it starts to inflate before the first corner is in I'm stuffed. Other experienced divers have a bad time bagging it so I dont feel too bad about it.
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Not to mention... storms that can blow in quickly. I've seen some funky wind conditions 15 minutes before a storm was making itself known. Simply turbulant air can cause the canopy to do some strange things... And remember dust devils start at ground level - you can be 50 to 500ft up when struck.
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Downhill skiing with a rig. (anyone try this?)
lowie replied to Sinkster's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
Get a days paragliding lessons - shouldnt cost too much and get them to teach you a descent launch technique. After that just watch out on the turns as you know how easily you can dive turning a skydiving canopy. -
What is your opinion about insurance
lowie replied to hottamaly's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
The USA government has a pretty tough stance on health care. Many other counties provide free health care hence medical insurance is not such a big issue. -
A towed canopy is unstable - think of it as trying to balance a ball bearing on tennis ball. If the canopy direction veers slightly to one side the pull from the tow line will try to pull you into a dive. If you react fast enough you can recover but once it goes over if the load is not released you dead. In paragliding tows you have a release and the operator winching you up can pay out line to prevent the power dive. You wouldnt want to be trying this with less than 200 yards of line. Infact, you wouldnt want to be trying this at all.
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Having been to SA I'd say that you would be hoping you put near somewhere away from the wild life. Wouldnt fancy having baboons descend upon me to help field pack.
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Negative. Have someone sign the last "jump" when you get a new logbook. It is then "bounceproofed" - since you've already gotten that jump signed you can't go in until after you've made it. Is this really being superstitious - it seems like logical safe practice to me lol.
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Nice meeting you guys. I still feel like shit and I'm looking for the first opportunity to bail on work. Great night though - must do it again. Just not tonight. Mike
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Hey, buy the first round in august and I'm there
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There seems to be alot of different views to what is right and wrong here. Much as I hate intervention by authorites, maybe this is something that relevant controlling body should make a policy on (ie BPA in the UK) and thereby giving a uniform response to packing disputes. At the very least a DZ policy explained to new jumpers could sort this out. Going by the variety of answers in this thread I have no idea how I would approach this situation. I do know getting into a fight wouldnt be an option - it sure as hell hasnt fixed the initial problem - just created more. mike I know
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This problem is easy to fix......stop talking to whuffo's about skydiving. Nod your head and say "yeah right" next time this happens and dont get drawn into a discussion - save it for the people in the sport. ceers
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I can see what your problem is here - you are still trying to talk to whuffo's about skydiving. As soon as you stop talking to whuffo's about diving this problem should go away.
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I like my mindwarp as well.
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I'm in as well. cheers Mike
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The fear of all that stuff is what makes your first jumps so exciting. They were the best for me in terms of the rush. The FJC training will answer all your questions and more. Get stuck in!
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Try some deliberate unstable exits like dive out and go into a tuck and forward loop for a couple of revolutions. That way no-one will spot your bad exit.
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I can sympathise with you because I'm in the same boat. I to have a new 170 ZP main and it's my first go at packing. I find if I try and squeeze every last molecule of air out and roll the top before I start the S fold I have a small chance in hell of getting it into the bag. Anyway here's my advice - get a slight lady diver to show you. Last w/e I had more luck with bagging it as I was shown by small feamle jumper to wrap the skirt around and rolling it together underneath before trying to squeeze more air out - (dont know if I've explained that very well). Previously the guys who had demo'd had packed the thing using extreme violence so it was interesting watching someone who could only rely on skill. Worked for me
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This is great advice. If you get into the DZ life/scene enough they may even cut you a decent discount on the training
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Excuse my inexperience here but is there maybe a cutoff where you wouldnt bother checking. In the case of a Sabre 170 or simillar being sold, if the person has just got their A license then they are either ready to fly it or not too far off so could fly it in the near future. In this case why bother checking up. Their jump no.s will be so low that the DZ will be keeping tabs on them anyway. On the other hand a canopy such as a 120 stilleto could be unsafe in the hands of a jumper with 100+ jumps who would not necessarily be checked by DZ.
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I'm in the same boat but I'm definitely going up next weekend if the weather is good
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For my AFF 1 the JM 1 just said "lets go". Saves them hearing the "no I'm not ready" reply I guess.
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Combination of Skydiving and paragliding?
lowie replied to neily's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
I paraglide and skydive and the problem I see is that the harness/legstraps would be extremely uncomfortable in no time at all. Paragliding started as a sport when skydiving canopies were used to fly off hills. I flew a large student one during my paragliding training and I have heard of people soaring on them. But to get any real gliding performance the aspect ratio needs to be in excess of 4:1 and I doubt it would be possible to guarentee an opening without a cravat or other serious mal. So saying that plenty of "acro" paraglider pilots have launched from helicopters and balloons (even bridges) so sub terminal may be possible. A paraglider is rated for 8G (snatch force) but I personally would not like to put it to the test. -
That's where I check it last.
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UK -- Skydiver sends text message suicide note -- Press Clips
lowie replied to quade's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
I agree - anyone who hasnt thought about killing themself at some stage has lived a very fortunate life - SO FAR. Things can change. It's only by going thru a really rough time and coming out the other side that you know lifes worth living and that you can get thru it. Depression is a killer.