pertierr

Well, there's been several things pointed out here and I think it's a combination between the cuticle issue mentioned by someone and cuts from the risers, etc. I never reach for the risers until I have checked the canopy, i have plenty of time because i'm mostly doing high-pulls. I've gotten both cuts on my fingers from (?) and the cuticles, but on both hands, not only my PC hand. I'm iffy about gloves too because I have low # jumps, plus pillow handles on my new rig. Unless it's really a bad issue, i would rather be cold and be able to feel my handles quickly. Sometimes the rig loosens up a little on opening and my handles move all over the place. Thanks for all the input!

ok, ok i guess i had that coming.

Sorry if this has been discussed before, I couldn't find it on a search. On every skydive so far i've noticed that i have cuts on my hands/fingers when i go to collapse the slider. I have no clue how i get them, anyone experienced this before, and/or know the cause? It's pretty clear I get them between exiting the plane and end of deployment.... Weird.

Thanks for the replies...i guess i must've underestimated the weather conditions or something...the DZ is 2 hours away from where I live so i have to rely on the weather forecasts to decide if it is going to be worth the drive. Either way, i'm going to make my way down to DeLand during November. Sounds like an awesome DZ. I'm also from Puerto Rico, so I will be there for a few weeks during Christmas. Anyone jumped there before(Xtreme Divers)? My main concern is my low level of experience and jumping at a DZ where the landing area is relatively large....being used to Indiana and all. I guess another factor would be travelling with my rig and consequently making my parents beleive it's just a cool backpack.

So the cold weather is here, and I am 4 jumps shy of my A license. It looks like I might not have a chance to do them at my home DZ(Greensburg), so any suggestions on what I could do? I usually drive down to Miami for Thanksgiving so is it possible to finish up those few jumps at another DZ, even if the rest of the card was signed off elsewhere? All my card is checked off, except for the 25 jumps and the packing. Do I lose everything if I don't jump until the next season? Man that would suck. Thanks, Juan

Thanks everyone for the input. Yes, I meant the link of the pilot chute/bridle/bag with the top of the main canopy, but it is all good information to know. I'm getting Slinks right away. I wasn't sure about the locktite just because it would all be in such close contact with the main canopy...the packer said he wasn't sure if it would have corrosive effects, etc. He put a regular link similar to the rapide link, just a bit larger. I was on my way out the door so I didn't take a closer look at it, but next time i'm at the DZ i'll unpack it and have a rigger take a look at it. I'm pretty sure the packer is not a rigger. Juan

I got down from jump #18 today, I own a Javelin container with a Safire 189 main, and the packer found that the link which holds the bridle to the main canopy was open i.e. the locking nut was completely open. Apparently it was like that during deployment, because it deformed enough such that the locking nut could not be screwed into the other end again. He's pretty sure it was not that way when he packed it an hour before. Is this common at all, and is it serious? From my limited knowledge, i would expect a normal deployment but loosing the bag and pilot chute. Also, the packer replaced the link with a larger one. Should I replace this with the exact same size it had on there before, or am I worrying to much about this. Thanks, Juan

I'm writing this from a beginner's perspective, because I'm also just racking up jumps so I can check off that last box on the card. Get a lift ticket, and when you're going on the plane let everyone know that you will be opening high, >check first< if it is allowed in your dropzone. I did this when I first jumped my own canopy. Make sure to let the pilot know that you will be opening high as well, and be the very first into the plane. This will allow you to come out of the plane last, and you will not have to worry about anyone over you. You can practice tracking, or simply just falling stable at first. Make sure you pull when you said you would, and then you also have plenty of time to practice your canopy skills. It varies from person to person, but I enjoy high-altitude pulls a lot. I just love the view, and practicing with my canopy. If anything here is wrong please correct me, i'm just a beginner and posting my own experiences. Just my 2 cents. Have fun!! Juan

Could someone give me a description of a couple of psycho pack steps: Basically I think i understand from the start to the part where you have all the tips of the cells between your knees, but after that i'm not sure i understand the rest of the flaking before you pull the tail over the slider. i.e. images 5,6,7,8 in http://www.icaruscanopies.com/canopies/Safire/packing.htm I basically can't get the canopy to look like it does in 7,8. Thanks a bunch for taking the time. :)

So another quick question(and thanks for all the replies!) I've been practicing packing the safire as Icarus suggests(psycho), but when i get to the point where i have the canopy in the bag, icarus says to follow my container's instructions, and the container says to follow the canopy's instructions. I have no idea how to close the bag. I have one of those bags witht he bright orange rubber bands on them, not sure how they close though. I'm just learning as much as I can before i take my packing class...it kinda makes me wonder why they don't have better instructions online though...it's not like we're building a toy airplane here, i'd expect details and LARGE pictures. :) It would also be nice to get the bag in the container instead of having to walk to the DZ with a trash bag....you know, the weird looks thing. Thanks again, Juan

That did the trick. Ahhh i love being a newbie...the weird looks...the hard openings...embarrasing landings... :D

At the risk of sounding like a total idiot, here goes. I just got my first rig. I'm a beginner, and I haven't taken it to my dropzone yet but i found something that just doesn't make sense to me. I have taken a picture of what the lines look like from the slider down to the container. I am holding up the slider, so the lines coming towards the camera go through the slider fine and up to the canopy clean. Does that look right? Here's the pic: http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~pertierr/rig.jpg Please tell me i'm just dumb.

Ok, so I attempted AFF5(D2) last weekend. I posted here before, my main problem was that I had a past lower back fusion with rods, so arching is a bit hard for me, but not impossible. Even though D1 went almost perfect, except for the fact that I couldn't completely stop the left turn, D2 was pretty bad. First of all, I was in a cloud pretty much from leaving to plane to just before opening. I was doing a lot of 'potato chipping' or bufetting. I decided to drive down to the wind tunnel in Tenesse, and did 15 minutes of tunnel time. I eventually got it, and was able to get as high as I wanted and stay in the center. I didn't have enough time to practice turns. My main question is, how exactly does this correlate to free fall? I noticed the position is a bit different, more spread out. I didn't experience any buffetting, is this really a good approximation of what happens in free fall, or should I make some changes when I go to jump? I am also currently looking for my first rig. It's kinda hard to find large canopies/copntainers for my body size, I am 6' 180lbs. How small could I go? I know it is a matter of skills...the smallest canopy i've flown so far is a 200 and i've had all standup landings so far. If I could safely go for a 170 that would really open up a lot more options, specially since most containers like the javelins seem to top out at that size... Thanks in advance! Juan

Yup, that's greensburg and the PPP(Purple People Pooper). All the people there were awesome.

Well, I did it! I completed my AFF1 yesterday and it was fantastic. My back didn't even twitch. I did a stand-up landing, but that is to be expected given the humongous canopy i was under, i think it was a 250 and i weight about 170lbs. This is probably boring for everyone here, but i have the video online at: http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~pertierr/AFF1.mov Thanks again to everyone for their input...now i have to go get some goggles and an altimeter... :) Juan

Ok, so i went ahead and saw the orthopedic athletics doctor...she took some X-rays, etc. She's not a skydiver so the message I got from her was kind of mixed. She said she wasn't as concerned about the parachute opening as much as the landing, and she wasn't sure if it was considered a 'contact' sport(whatever that means). I guess it all boils down to how hard i hit the ground when i land....also, even though I had a fractured L4 as opposed to other people here who have had multiple vertebrae fractured, she said what made it a bit more serious was the fact that it was a 3-level fracture. Again whatever that means. I've been going to doctors long enough to know that no-one really wants to take responsibility for saying anything, because they get sued all the time. So i'm not expecting a doctor to tell me either way, i'm just trying to inform myself the best i can. Soooo...experienced people...how hard can i expect to hit the ground on my first jump? What is a good measure of the impact, i.e. can i go up stairs/step to a certain height and jump down to simulate it? Is it unusual to do a soft landing when you're starting out? I see all these cool tip-toe landings on video, but that is slowly fading away :) Now i feel like i'm going to be jumping a round canopy for the army or something. Thanks for all your help Juan

I'm a newbie(0 jumps) graduate student at Purdue, and wanted to do my first jump next weekend at greensburg...the people from the club are gone for the summer, so i was wondering if anyone was willing to help a newbie out :) I've learned all I can without taking the AFF course, and these forums have been a great help... Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this! Cheers, Juan

So, i'm a total newbie and i've searched the forums but not found answers to these questions so here goes: 1.)Are there any advantages to the military rigs(MC4,MC5)? I would think that given the circumstances they are designed to work under, they would be more reliable? Do sport jumpers ever use these at all? 2.)I've read through all the accident reports I could find, trying to learn much as I can..however, i rarely see equipment listed unless the person writing the report decides to note it. I would think that this should be a must for each report, in order to spot possible problems with specific gear? Are there even reliability/accident statistics for specific containers/canopies, etc? Or does it depend so much on how you pack/take care of it that it would be useless? I know these might be strange questions, but as an engineer the gear fascinates me, the fact that it needs to be so reliable and there is so little room for error... Cheers, Juan

So, a quick question, just out of curiosity... I would think that the military rigs like the MC-4 and the MC-5 which are designed to carry a heavy load should be very smooth (opening?), large canopies is this correct? How common is it for recreational skydivers to use this kind of rigs? or are there no real advantages? I like the idea of having the same canopy for both main and reserve, but my common sense might be wrong.

Thanks to everyone for their great input! To those who suggested to go see a doctor, i complete understand where you're coming from...i did not expect this to be a replacement for a doctor's assessment, however I do think that talking to experienced skydivers about...er..skydiving might be good information. I've talked to two doctors already, but unfortunately they are both the 'only insane people skydive' type. I'm seeing a third one next week who is a sports orthopedic surgeon. I just wanted to make sure that if i decided to go, it was not common knowledge that this was a big no-no because of some specific type of force encountered in the sport, which i avoided by just by asking :) Thanks again! i really look forward to this, i've been trying to learn every single thing I can reading tutorials, accident reports/lessons and these forums are invaluable..and yes, taken with teaspoons of salt and all that. :) Juan

Thanks for the reply. That is reassuring, and my main concern was not arching but rather any impact or stress on my back when the parachute opens..i've heard some people tell me it's very low impact and other that it really 'smacks' you...i guess either way i'll be fine, but it certainly doesn't hurt to be safe. Thanks! Juan

So, i'm a newbie...never jumped before. I've wanted to do this for so long, but i have one question. I am 25 and back in 1999 I was on a motorcycle and a drunk driver coming in the opposite direction hit me. I had a compressive fracture of the L4 along with a pelvis fracture but the pelvis fracture wasn't serious since it was a large chip on the outside, not affecting the joint. I had a fusion L3-L5 with Ti rods which are still there. Now my doctor says that my back is as strong as before, but he's one of those people who will tell me i'm insane if i think about going skydiving, so i wanted to hear experiences, opinions, etc. Also, i'm just as flexible as before except my back flexibility was reduced by about 3 degrees because L3-L5 are fused now. Thanks in advance! Juan