EvilLurker

I had a JM catch that on my rig once. I would have caught it prior to jumping, since I always touch my handles in the aircraft, but it got my attention. I'd rather have a metal D-ring on each side, but then I wouldn't be "cool".

I use both hands. I'm worried that if I don't, I won't get my cutaway or reserve handles out of the velcro (they're pretty tight, but maybe the adreniline rush would give me awesome strength). Also, that's the way I was trained and have practiced (pull to full arm extension and clear cable while watching the reserve handle). I'm inclined to continue this, because in an emergency, you tend to revert back to what you were initially taught, and I don't want any delay fumbling around with a brain fart. I have an RSL, and most likely it's going to have a reserve out before I pull, but I'm going for silver without trying to verify that. Clearing the cables with a 2-handed pull gives me the best chance to have both risers released, in my opinion. I agree that under the best conditions (nothing is too tight/hangs up/goes wrong), the one-hand-on-each will be faster, but I pull at 3k or higher, just for that reason. I "trust" my RSL as much as my AAD, I don't want to have to count on either one of them to save my life. But they might. Another thought is, if you have a broken/dislocated arm, you're already used to finding each handle with either hand. Food for thought.

Yeah, don't rob any liquor stores between now and then. Use that CYPRES, little bro, noone is immune from Murphy. "It won't happen to me" have been a lot of people's last words (closely following "OH sh**!")

Once you get to the DZ, tell them your history. There's a chance they'll let you take a FJC at a reduced price (let you take the training and skip the SL jumps). I had a layoff part way through my A license (hey, it rains here a LOT), and I retook the FJC for $25. They let me do a 10-second delay and proceed with my progression after that. Most DZs would probably be willing to "wheel and deal" a little to get another regular jumper. Be careful until you're back into the swing of things, and good luck.

Man, that's gotta be a huge gear bag. What's the item number, I want one!

It is fun to hear first jump stories. You begin to see how some of the accidents happen. "What the hell's that flapping noise? Something must have ripped! Oh crap!"

The DZO and 2 JMs. They had been in the sport a long time. In years, not so much older. I took up the sport late. Me too.

Yeah, especially when it was 2200 in 15 years vs. 2860 in 24 years. I thought that was slicing it a little thin.

*** You're all insane..." Hey, they never PROVED that!

Go take a tunnel session, you'll cure that and the rest will be gravy. I had the exact problem you're describing, it's hard to find the solution in one minute increments. I had to fly from Oregon to Las Vegas to find a tunnel, you're in Florida. Take advantage of that, once you start RW you'll be a better flyer.

I always had my rigger assemble/pack my gear when it came back from modification and/or was just purchased. It's not so much I "don't trust the manufacturer" as it was "I don't trust UPS/Fed-Ex/any random person who might have had their hands on it." Too many unknowns for me.

How about if they follow bad advice and do get hurt? Never seen that in this sport? Or if you ignore bad advice and don't get hurt? Is that being "disrespectful"? I bought a Triathlon 160 after being given advice to get a 135 (at jump #125, 180 lbs. out the door). Did I save myself from being hurt by ignoring the "good advice of my elders"? I always thought so.

I paid a lot of hard-earned cash for my CYPRES, so I take the time to make sure I turn it on and see that it's on before every jump. If you're ever in the situation where it's possible it will fire, that's good information to have. The punishment part is up to your dad, I'm not getting into his business. Telling someone something about gear that you're not 100% sure of is not cool in this sport, though, as I'm sure you know from packing. Keep yourself alive, little bro, you have a long life ahead of you if you do it right.

Yes, there go all your students, and eventually your DZ. It might be better added as a "step" to getting a B license, then another for a C, etc. It would make sense, you're being allowed to fly higher performance canopies with higher approach speeds and more potential to cripple you during a botched landing. The current PLF training is sufficient for the majority of people landing a lightly loaded square canopy (in most cases), then that's it, you get no more instruction/practice unless you personally find someone and request it (and I've never seen that happen, though I admit it probably does, to a small degree). That leaves a person in a bad situation trying a 60 year old technique at a bad time (and possibly for the first time), and getting busted up. We should be a bit more progressive than that, without going so far overboard we drive away the first-time jumpers. Just an idea.

That's well and good, until one of these type people is assigned a position of responsibility at a DZ, and you're a new jumper there. It does take some long-term exposure to these types to make that determination, though. I think Trae's point was we need to keep them out of positions of responsibility. How that can be done, I have no opinion. I've seen the effect, though. Thankfully, noone was injured in that case. I don't think that's something you would find in the fatality database, in many cases. I'd say a lot of them could be attributed to "incorrect/incomplete" instruction, if one wanted to go there. Low pull/no pull, for example. The fatality database is packed with low-time jumpers.. What else would explain that?

Some much worse than others, though. I started looking at people just before final and spotted a few with purple fingertips and lips. This was on 12,000 foot jumps, I'm thinking at 15,000, it's hitting us all pretty hard. It's something to be aware of, but if you have hypoxia, the first thing to go is your sense of judgement, so you're going to jump anyway.

Yeah, you tell me that now. I wondered why they put me last in line. I think I figured it out. Pretty good practical joke, actually.

Still got a scar on my leg from trying that with 5 people out of an Otter. My buddy on that jump never found his shoe, either.

Congratulations, ladies, and nice picture pages. And for a good cause, to boot. It does look like a great time.

Then they (most likely) have remnants that they throw away. Ask Jerry to raid their Dumpster, if they won't sell you a leftover piece.

Amen to that. Add "Wash Helmut Cloth's car for a month" and I'm with you 100%.

Andy: Don't get too concerned about that exit. If you're jumping a side-door aircraft, you're exiting into a different airspeed pretty much every time, and we used to have jump pilots that dropped the flaps 10 degrees and others that didn't. All those things can have a big effect on you as you exit.It takes a lot of experience to nail every exit without some instability, as long as you can recover quickly, you're doing great. Hang in there, sounds to me like you're progressing nicely. You'll develop a "feel" for the exit with some more jumps and won't even consciously notice them. It took me a lot more than 7 jumps to figure that one out.

I'm thinking not many people would argue with any of those. This IS dropzone.com, though, so stand by.

Thanks, that confirmed a lot of my thoughts. I know I've gotten slight "grey-outs" from spiraling hard under canopy, I think it's a possibly significant factor in this.

Yeah, my eyes ain't so good on a night jump. Like most things, there's got to be some common sense involved. Having an altimeter is good, having a fairly decent idea of what "low" looks like is better, just in case the altimeter malfunctions. I trust my eyes more for that, but they're not as accurate as a functioning altimeter regarding breakoff and hard deck.