Bandanarama

This was a fantastic video for both the content and quality! The images were so clear. Thanks for sharing as it was a great learning experience too. It's almost too perfect with the videographer's comments at the end but that just added some humor to a scary ordeal! Two big thumbs up and I'm glad to see nobody was hurt!!! I'm sure that was a first for him. Did he buy you guys some beer? ___________________________________________________ One's destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things. ~ Henry Miller

You've got some great advice above! With regards to picking your reference points such as roads, etc., just make sure they are perpendicular to the flight line. Look out the plane on the way up to altitude and pick your reference points. That way, you ensure you are not tracking into someone else's air space. Anyway, your best bet is to breakaway from your dive routines higher than normal and start your tracking motions slowly. In other words, move your arms out 45 degrees and extend your legs fully keeping them 6-12 inches apart. Cup your shoulders a tad bit and de-arch a tad too. You will start to feel an increase in your horizontal speed. You will also feel any stability issues when you transition slower and then pick up your momentum. Then you can try to bring in your arms and legs some finding your comfort zone. As mentioned previously, if you become unstable, pause and gain stability and give it another go. Of course, everyone has fun with their first few tracks. It's a never ending process to improve no matter how many jumps you have. You'll find in the near future, you'll enjoy just doing dedicated tracking dives. One last tip: Search the Dropzone.com Forums for tips on whatever activity you are trying to improve. There's tons of great tips and learning resources here! :o) ___________________________________________________ One's destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things. ~ Henry Miller

Hi all, I don't know if it has been brought up before but I think it would be a good idea to have listings of all of the E-tailers and Retailers in the Gear Link area where one can look up product information and reviews. I know e-tailer and retailer recommendations have been discussed before in the forums but it would be nice to look up such info without having to search the forums which can be a little more time consuming. For the people that host the dropzone.com web site, I would suggest creating 2 links under the gear category: E-Tailers and Retailers. I'm not sure what takes place regarding the product manufacturers and their postings but you might even approach the E-tailers and Retailers to see if they would be willing to chip in some sort of advertisement fee to be listed there. I'm sure you guys could use a little extra $$$ for hosting this fantastic site. I can't speak for everyone else, but I come here for a lot of my research when it comes to selecting skydiving gear and choosing which companies to buy from... I can't think of anyone at my local DZ (Skydive Snohomish http://www.skydivesnohomish.com/)that doesn't take advantage of dropzone.com for a variety of reasons. Anyway, just in case my recommendation doesn't come to fruition, I will share my experience with regards to my recent purchases from Rigs and Things Paraservice out of Florida http://www.para-service.com/. I had narrowed down my main canopy selection based on DZ peer influence, dropzone.com reviews, and the best online bargains I could find at the time. I selected the Icarus Safire 2. I decided to communicate with Roy Torgeirson http://marketplace.amazia.com/para-service/aboutus.asp from R& T Paraservice based on some positive feedback I had seen regarding his company and customer service. I was planning on purchasing gear from multiple sources but liked Roy's price on the Safire 2. Anyway, he took the initiative to ask me about the rest of my gear. To make a longer story shorter, he said he would match any other web sites deals if I decided to purchase everything from him. At first I was a little concerned about buying stuff from some of the online skydiving e-tailers because the sites looked so archaic. Roy's site is no exception but the majority of them are far from fancy too. I can say that it was a safe and pleasant experience and I am very happy with my customer service and the products I received. Roy was very helpful with my selections and he has great deals. I suggest giving him an opportunity to earn your business. At the very least, you will have gotten his price on potential purchases. I only hope this type of experience can be shared as some sort of ratings or rankings for gear retailers under the gear section of dropzone.com instead of the forums. I'll conclude by saying that I love my VSE Infinity Container (Elsinore Vengeance Team and DZ instructors strong influences when it came to my final decision too). I also love my Safire 2 and hope not to use my Aerodyne Research Smart Reserve anytime soon. However, I've heard great things about the Smart Reserve and trust it may come in handy at some point in the future. I did order a Kurupee Freefly jumpsuit that I will share my experience when I receive it soon. I'll also post pictures too so people can view colors and quality.

Yep, just got my Safire 2 and jumped it over the weekend. They are definitely slick but the reverse s pack is the way to go as Gazoo pointed out. I make sure when I get my d-bag standing vertical to really grip and squeeze it with my legs. That way, you keep that air out and size of the canopy workable. New canopies like to slide and expand easily. You may have a trash pack or two at first but the Safire 2 opens fine with them as long as you make sure your flake and lines are good. Anyway, see http://www.packingparachutes.com/techniques_tips/greed.htm for tips on the reverse s fold. ___________________________________________________ One's destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things. ~ Henry Miller

Hi Tom, Good to see you still flippin' me some sheeot! I deserve a little every now and then BTW, you got my Seattle Skydiver's Club Hardcore vote! I'm glad you were the first to smack me around a bit. I'm sure I'll catch a little more from some other folks as the post ages some. Kbone, Thanks for your input and I welcome your experienced comments. I am very aware of the Vigil forum threads regarding everything you mentioned including the Sweden and Austrian bans. I agree Airtec (Cypres) appears to have a favorable reputation amongst all of you seasoned veterans and I respect that. However, I'm sure you can recollect a few issues with Cypres over the years. Prior to your recommendation, I had done queries for both Cypres and Vigil incidents here on dropzone.com. Cypres has a few threads too. As we all take calculated risks in this sport, I'm willing to risk using Cypres or Vigil (sorry to the other AAD companies I didn't include in this communication). An apples-to-oranges analogy for your mention of reputation would be the automotive industry. There are plenty of very reputable automotive companies that introduce new models based on past designs that carry flaws. Know of any recalls with new or existing automotive parts? When it comes to electronic devices, it's impossible to be entirely free of them. Hell, I work in the computer industry and can't think of any software that is 100% bug free. However, that shouldn't keep people from trying new products that others are successfully using. If a company like AAD (Vigil) makes an effort to replace every single device to strengthen its safety design, then I have to respect that. I don't necessarily agree with their maintenance-free philosophy. However I'm sure if anyone is concerned about their Vigil AAD, they can simply send it to the factory at any time. I would be willing to bet it might even cost less to have them perform any inspection or maintenance than Airtec. Just because something is advertised as maintenance-free doesn't mean you can't send it in every 4 years too. One thing I failed to mention in my original post is how much I believe in competition and free enterprise. Without pioneers in all industries willing to take risks, we as people and consumers would not have advanced a fraction of where we are today. I'm sure when people first started recreational skydiving, there were quite a few concerns. There should always be concern in this sport but let's hope there is more than one company that succeeds in the manufacturing of safe and reasonably priced AADs. I think there is room for a few other AAD companies.

First off I'll comment about the fact that I'm a newbie and my 2 cents are probably worth just that. So, feel free to ignore my comments but my goal is just to open your minds and get some feedback regarding some of the beliefs and questions I have. I thought I would play devil's advocate and share them with you. To be honest with you, I feel like there is a lot of heavily biased information regarding this topic. Electronic device (AAD) malfunctions (or "functions" at undesired times due to pressure changes that potentially cause the devices to fire associated with certain body positions while in freefall, decent rate, etc.) have similar odds of a person dying in the sport of skydiving in my opinion. They are relatively small but they definitely happen. Here's food for thought... How many 2-out canopy landings have been made without an AAD device firing? How many people have died while wearing a Cypres or Vigil AAD as a result of their malfunction? How many people have been injured as a result of a Cypres or Vigil AAD malfunction? The aforementioned questions are more directed at one vs. the other - in other words, Cypres vs. Vigil. Now ask yourself a few more questions... Since the Cypres 2 is a brand new model with a complete different power supply, does it truly have a long track record or does the Cypres 1 have that record? Have you ever heard of problems with electronic device power supplies? Do I think the pros outweigh the cons of having an AAD? Yes but I think both the Cypres and Vigil are both flight worthy and I am willing to take the risk of skydiving with either one. I'm still making up my mind on which one to add to my new rig which should have its canopies arrive within a week. I can't wait!!! NOTE: I'm still measuring the safety, historical, and financial benefits of "both" selections. I may still select either a Cypres or a Vigil.

Thanks!!! It's working now