nbblood

I don't want to put words in anybody's mouth, but I don't think they're saying never downsize, what they're saying is learn to get the performance out of the canopy you're on before you downsize. Simply being able to land the canopy consistently is not enough. There's tons of info on downsizing around the forums, including a downsizing checklist. Now is it true that after downsizing you may not have that capability....perhaps, in that case I would consider going back. But if you learn to fly your current canopy to its limits, you probably won't run into the problem when downsizing. Of course that said, I've heard some of the very highly wingloaded smaller canopies are probably not landable on rears. Probably find debates on that too. My hunch is that Nightengale is fully capable of landing rear risers on her current canopy. I would suggest trying "flaring" the canopy up high with the rears and see how it reacts. Definitely talk to your instructors, get their opinions. If they think, try a rear riser landing. I don't have very many jumps either, but I know I can land my canopy on rears, no doubt.....because I've done it a couple times. It's not that hard on light wingloadings, especially if you PLF....and definitely be ready to do that. These could be potentially lifesaving skills. Just my .02 for what its worth. Blues, Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Grabbing the rear risers and spreading them apart helps stop the momentum of the lines twisting and aids in getting them to untwist. Think of two strings twisted together and pull the ends of the strings away from each other, the strings untwist. Also, when in line twists you don't want to use toggles to steer as releasing a toggle in line twists can cause knots and an unrecoverable situation. Hence, use rear risers in line twists. Not just grab, grab and hold apart. As far as why a canopy spins when one brake is released it's as simple as one toggle is pulled down (stowed) and the other releases to full flight. It's like pulling a toggle for a turn. Try releasing only one toggle up high under canopy and you'll see it. Just understand that you will start turning. Be ready to recover it, i.e., have your hand on the other toggle too. Under certain conditions, one brake coming unstowed during deployment can cause line twists causing violent spins, i.e., body position, wind, forward movement, etc. It happens. Blues Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Wouldn't suffer the tremendous losses without the tremendous gains that precede. Sometimes we take for granted the great friends we have because of the sport until they're hurt or gone. Another motto: "Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all" God, that sounds cheezy.....oh well. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Actually, the only thing I really wanted was the color tool. I know I want a J1 C17, so I don't need the pack volume or sizing charts. And I know what options I want, hip/chest rings, handle styles, etc., what I really wanted is some pics of some of the tie-dye rigs they've done to get some ideas. I want some tie-dye but don't want the whole thing, wanted to see if I could find one I liked to sort of "copy". So yeah, if you could send the order form that'd be great, much appreciated. Also if you know of any pics of some cool tie-die rigs that'd be cool too. Trying to decide what I like mainly. To complicate matters, I've already got a Javelin that has some tie-dye in it, which I'm keeping, and I don't want to copy that one....want to have a somewhat contrasting look between rigs. Anybody else have any pics? I don't know what right looks like, but I'll know when I see it. Blues, Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Yeah, that's what I got too. Glad it's not just me. Guess it's down for now. Thanks Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

I'm a newbie here and don't know how all the others feel (other than those that posted), but personally I'd like to see them moved. I check the events thread to keep up on what's happening and I'd find them there. On the other hand, it really doesn't bother me if they stay in TB, but there's already so many posts in TB that stuff gets buried pretty fast. Stuff that could move might help. Anyway, I voted yes, but really it doesn't matter. Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Aaahh. That makes sense. Thanks Bill. Does the solid core seem to cure the problem entirely or is does it still occur on occasion? Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

First, this thread is very interesting and particularly useful to me as I'm about to order a new rig

Oops, my bad....shoulda studied more. True dat!! Blues. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

I'm trying to get on the SunPath website, because I want to order a new Odyssey and wanted to ask them some questions and play around with the color tool they have there. Problem is, I can't load the website, says I'm not authorized to view the pages. I tried Ground-rush.com and couldn't get that site to load either, though I didn't get any error message. Is anybody else having this problem? Are these websites down? Is it something on my end? Please help, dying to get my container ordered cause I know it's gonna take a while. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Insurance companies will cover anything for any purpose......for a price. If you went to insure the camera for skydiving they'd probably charge you $50 a month for insurance or something stupid like that. Fact is, a lot of renter's insurance and homeowners insurance covers property like video cameras. Whether it would cover a camera during a skydiving loss, I don't know.....making up a story to tell the insurance company is insurance fraud, so choose steps carefully. You might want to contact you're insurance and ask them what it costs to cover your camera in case of loss or theft. Sometimes they might surprise you. Are they gonna know whether the camera was swiped off your head by a riser strike or stolen from the DZ? Probably not, but they will probably want a police report to make a claim..... IMHO, insurance is one of the biggest scams in the country....never get what you pay for....pay too much to not get it. Might be easier to insure yourself, i.e., put $XX a month into a savings account. Of course that won't help if you lose the camera again tommorrow. Don't know if this helps or not. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Check out "Good Stuff" by Joe Jennings. Greg Gasson exits without his rig on and holds onto it during deployment at terminal. Not exactly holding onto another person, but holy shit. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Ok, I'll throw my .02 in. I have only 225 or so jumps, but I feel comfortable spotting. As far as some of the comments that DZs aren't teaching spotting, I did AFF at the Ranch in New York. It's been a couple years, but when I was there, students were required to calculate winds aloft and determine the spot before every jump. Also, before graduation I was required to spot at least one jump. However, by no means was I very good at it when I graduated and I knew it. Therefore, I took it upon myself to learn more. When I moved to another DZ, anytime I found myself near the door, I had my eyes out the door, even if someone else was spotting the load. I wanted to see what they saw. And I asked questions to learn what they were looking at, how they were determining the visual reference. I learned a lot like that. On a particular jump, on a somewhat windy day, a so-called "experienced" jumper was spotting the load and my group was first out. I also was spotting as it's my jump, my responsibility. He called cut and told me to get out and I could see it was way too short. I said no and waited approx 30 more sec (with the whole plane yelling at me to get out). When I was finally comfortable we got out. My group barely made the DZ, everybody got out in 1 pass, everybody made the DZ easier than my group. We had words later because he felt I showed him up, but the DZO backed me and I was right. Now all that said, some things I've learned: 1. Calculating the winds and determining the spot is only part of the solution. 2. You've got to determine no earlier and no later than exit points and be able to identify those points on the ground. 3. If you get the chance to watch a load, that information is very valuable. Ask the person that spotted the load exactly where they got out. Watch to see how the load lands. Could you get out earlier? Does it need to go deeper? 4. Have consideration for others in the plane, if you're first out don't wait for the "perfect spot" Get out when you know you can get back, leave some time for the others to get out in time to make it back. 5. Know the organization of the load and the people on the load. If there's only 3 groups you can take it a little deeper than if there's 7 solos in the back of the order. 6. It takes "time in the door" learning to see the right picture. Get in the door, have somebody talk you through spotting. Don't be afraid to ask questions, experienced jumpers love to help for the most part. 7. A skydiver has to be responsible to learn for themselves how to spot. Nobody is going to "make" them learn. What you learned in AFF (if anything) is not enough. 8. Some DZs routinely run downwind jump runs, which brings up a whole slew of spotting and load organization issues. Bottom line you've gotta get out earlier or someone's gonna get screwed. 9. If I'm in the back I'll always check the spot to see if I'm past the no later than exit point. If it's close and I'm still gonna get out I'll give a quick yell to anybody that might still be behind me. I guess those are the major points I've learned. Again, I feel comfortable spotting the load, but by no means am I the "perfect" spotter. I'm always trying to learn. But I think it's the skydiver's responsibility for his/her jump to spot. I definitely think there's a difference between theory and what's actually happening out there. I haven't had trouble with pilots not wanting to do a go around, but I've heard of the problems others have stated. I guess that's more than .02 worth, but I think we ought to put some learning points out there rather than just bitch. I'd be very interested with feedback from more experienced guys/gals too. Bottom line is I think each individual knows if they are or aren't comfortable spotting. If not, what are you waiting for? Blues. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

From another thread: Answer: Why, yes I do!! PM me if you're really interested. Oh, and here are my thoughts from the other thread: Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

I quit, but quitting is easy. I did it thousands of times. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Or Sky Knights in East Troy. http://www.skydiveskyknights.com/ Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

PM sent Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Seems I'm a metal dog. Says my "compatability score" says the horse is 92. Guess I need a horse! Nathan Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

what does 140.5 mean? Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

For one, I disconnected my RSL, not that makes any difference in procedure, but because of additional snag possibilities, that's the choice I made. Procedures before were make decision, look, grab, pul, pull With the camera, it's make decision, look, grab, pull, ensure snags clear, if clear pull, if not clear, clear snag (hook knife) then pull if still not clear cutaway helmet, pull Of course, keeping in mind must maintain altitude awareness and not pass through hard deck without deployment, if all else fails get nylon out. So the main, difference is dealing with potential snags, not that those aren't possible without the camera, but are more likely with the camera. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

You mean ride with a bunch of chicks.....to go to the Ranch.....Oh, what torture.....I wish I was still there. In all seriousness, the Ranch is awesome and very student friendly. That's where I did AFF. Great DZ, great people! Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

ok, thanks....think I'll pack a step-through and try it...no just kidding....thanks for the responses....good to know. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

If in doubt I would make the conservative choice. I had the same decision when I was in your shoes. I weigh about 195 out the door and had a Spectre 190, roughly 1:1 as my first canopy. I still had tremendous fun and learned to get the most performance out of that canopy before moving on. I'm still lightly wingloaded on my 170 and still feel I can learn to get more out of the performance. I'd just make errors on the conservative side, it's not like you're not going to have fun with a larger canopy. You definitely won't have fun if you get injured with a canopy that may be too aggressive. Better to have a little less "fun" and not be dead or broken. Again, we can't evaluate your level, you'll have to find what you're comfortable with based on what you know. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

I'm just wondering, if you were trying to cause a malfunction for an intentional cutaway, couldn't you simply pack a step-through and come up with a decent malfunction? By no means am I an expert, just an honest question. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

Just another thing to think about.....if you plan on doing night jumps, lighter colors are easier to see during night jumps. I have a Sabre that is white in the five middle cells with blue and pink on the ends and everybody says they can see me real good at night. I always use that canopy during night jumps for that reason. Nathan Blues, Nathan If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.