jmfreefly

No, packer tools/pack boys are not positive leverage device. (as they don't provide 'leverage'). They are just a more efficient pull tool. The force you pull is the force the loop sees. That being said, it does allow better grip, and therefore increases the force your hands can exert. A positive leverage device uses mechanical advantage to reduce the force needed to be applied/ increase the force applied to the loop. The worry about devices like this is that they can be hard to judge what the force you are applying to the loop is. j

A 4 inch section of 'swim noodle' is even better. j

Well, a few story tidbits. When preparing for the jump, our S&TA suggested landing away from the parents, where one can get 'cleaned up' if need be. He related a story with an arm mounted bag and the jumper getting ashes all over them. Quite a snafu. That is one of the reasons we opted for this design to help minimize that. Granted one of the guys got a face full of flour on a test jump, but that was just him not letting it empty fully. Another reason we test jumped the bag. Another jumper, in reaction to the S&TAs story, said that when they did an ash jump, and got ashes on their glove, they put the glove in a ziplock bag after jumping each day until the ashes were gone. Nice sentiment I guess. On Bob's jump, the only thing that got ashes on it was the bag. You can see how much it discolored the trim tape. Ashes/remains are a mess, no two ways about it. Loading the bag takes 2 or 3 people to do it without spilling, and I had hoped to do it without Bob's father there. However, he insisted, and he helped us. I just wanted to warn him that we ended up getting some of the flour on the outside when we were test jumping it. He said "well, he's my son, I am sure he won't mind". With 3 sets of hands, we managed to keep everything in the bag. The bag still has some particulate on it, and it is hanging in our rigger's loft. The parents didn't want the bag, so the rigger who did the sewing kept it. My thoughts on the spiritual side is that his spirit/essence/whatever left when he passed away. Doing the ash jump was in honor of him and his parents - and in some way to let him fly forever. But in the end, it's just ash and bone and dust. What is 'left' of him is really in our hearts and our minds. Hadn't thought that much about Bob in a while. Fly free, Bob. j

Video directly to the VCR That mixer would work, but a bit overkill. Alternatively, if you recorded the footage in 12-bit, you (I believe) can dub a second set of audio on the tape, and 'mix' the levels on the camera at play time. Never done it, since I do everything in 16-bit audio. And I might be wrong about the mechanics. That being said, I'd just do it with an external mixer. j

Here is the pic of the deployment up close. Miss ya bob. EDITED To add: One more pic. Here is a photo taken from the ground. The circle is the actual deployment. I am pretty sure that this was just a cloud forming on the ash particles. Either way, kinda cool. j

Sorry to hear. For an ash drop for a good friend, Bob Kresge, two years ago, my rigger and I collaborated on this bag. First picture is a drawing mockup, with descriptive text. The next few are pictures of the bag, post deployment, in the rigging loft. The deployment of this bag is pretty simple: Two jumpers, one on each handle, hold the bag. One of the two reaches across, and peels the velcro back. The wind hitting the bottom, streams the ashes out over about 1000 feet. The bag really doesn't leak at all. Unless you stick your face over top of the bag while it is still emptying, you won't get any on you. (One of the jumpers did do that and got a face full of flour during one of our test jumps of the bag.). A 5 lb bag of flour was a pretty good test medium in terms of consistency and size/volume. We did some test jumps a few weeks before to make sure things went ok. I'll try to dig up a picture I took of the bag during deployment (close up). I'll tell you, though, that being responsible for the ash jump planning, etc. was a huge burden emotionally for me. Good luck to you. blue skies j

I think the point is to show 'what similar flyers are getting' in terms of speeds/distances/etc. Basically a big repository or scorecard.

Well, there is also a difference of "doesnt work at all", which does occur on some DVD players that can't take burned media, and plays, but has artifacting/dropouts. The first: get a different DVD player The second: maybe trying different media would work. There are also 'DVDs for Authoring' which have a super high success rate for the second case. j

Um.. how about type of suit?

That is absolutely true. Some early models, and even some modern-day models won't play ANYTHING but pressed media, or it has problems with DVD-R vs. DVD+Rs, or with specific brands of media. There is a link or two posted on here somewhere about which media has the best/better compatability with the majority of players. That being said, for our year end video last year, there were a small handful of people that had problems with the DVD. Most of them were using el-cheapo DVD players, old DVD players, or playstations as DVD players. j

Well put. Your mention of a dive plan sparked a point (in this whole RW before FF 'debate') that irks me about newer FF jumpers (and older ones too) -- so many times I don't see FF groups talking about dive plans. I asked several times about why not, and I get "Hey, man, that is just too restrictive...". I just have to shake my head. To not discuss who is base, break off alti, break off plans, what should happen if you are long, what should happen if you lose sight of the other jumpers in 'industrial haze', etc. is just asking for trouble. Discussing these things doesn't mean that a dive plan can't be dynamic. I think the 'acceptance' and 'mentoring' factors have really shown their lacking in some of the comments that people have given. Our dz is very close knit, but I can see that some dzs may struggle with people getting excluded and 'yelled at' if they don't live up to expectations on a jump. At our DZ we do 3-4 events a year that are meant to specifically include newer jumpers: 1) Mentoring weekends 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 2) 'A-license and above' RW Scrambles. I think that events like that are great ways to help eliminate this 'fear of screwing up and having someone grumble at me'. j

I'd agree with your points. My only comment is that just because it is possible [to freefly early in your skydiving career] doesn't mean that everyone is wise to follow that progression. As you point out, it takes a lot more awareness, a lot more thought, and a good dose of caution. [sterotype to follow] Unfortunately, a sizable number of those that are anxious to get to freeflying early are those that don't follow much advice offered to them. Granted that is a total sterotype, but when it does apply, we hear about it -- 'Holy crap, did you see that near miss?! What was that guy doing??'. My stance is that, in general, RW before Freefly is safer, and in many ways better in the long term for the overall skill for a jumper. But with care and caution, one can safely move straight from A licesnse to FF with very few 'RW' jumps. Like I said in another thread "there are many paths to the same end, but no one perfect path". Thanks for the post! j

My rigger charges $45 for repack and $2 for cypress loops. A lot of other local riggers still charge $40, and probably throw stuff in. I usually cajole him into running a few stitches for projects I am doing for nothing, so it all comes out in the wash I guess. Sometimes I grumble at the 'extra charges', but if I were in his place, I would most likely do the same (or just bump up the repack prices). j

Thanks for everyone's input. I like to hear about other folks' experiences. I think the responses I have heard basically hit every point I made. (Plus one or two more). Keep them coming! My goal in trying to understand the reasons behind the motivation is to better talk with newer jumpers to help them stay safe and healthy. The biggest fear that I have is that newer jumpers sometimes don't have a full understanding about what they are getting into. I have seen numerous skydivers that got into freeflying early, and after 200 jumps still can't track properly and sometimes still can't pull very stable. That doesn't mean that individuals can't take a variety of paths to get to a destination, as long as they learn the right things at the right times. Learning them on ones belly is often the safesty way, but not the only way. When I went to the Equinox boogie two years ago, there were some great freefliers down in Australia. The coolest thing was, all of the jumpers 'battled' to get on the sunset bigways which were always RW. j

I have seen lots of posts, and talked to numerous newer jumpers at our DZ on this subject, and it got me thinking about the reasons behind this. I have been trying to track down why it seems, all of a sudden, every new jumper off AFF wants to try to freefly right away. I have come up with a few things (at least at our dropzone) that seems to exacerbate this. Maybe others can provide input on their experiences, both new and old.. ----------- 1) A shift in our DZ from RW to Freefly in general. When I came through the AFF program, there was only 2 or 3 jumpers with any freefly experience. In general, when folks got off AFF, the RWers would take each under their wing, and start integrating them into their dives. Now, the most experienced jumpers (the ones who used to do RW exclusively) are exploring freeflying. This leaves a big hole for people to organize dives with newer jumpers. 2) Belly solos become boring. When the organizers for RW are off trying freeflying, the newer jumpers end up doing many solos on their belly. I think in general, newer jumpers think this is stagnation and that they aren't learning anything. ( i.e. its boring. ) So, when the newer jumper can't find people to do RW with, and don't want to do a belly solo, they often think 'Hey, what about a sitfly solo. I have seen some video, overheard some conversation, let me go ahead and try that! I see all the people who are first learning freeflying doing solos..' I have often found myself at the plane, trying to get people on board in the right order and ask a newer jumper "Solo.. belly?" and I get a reply "No, solo sitfly". A second concern in these cases is that newer jumpers often have 'second hand' gear that is sometimes showing its age. I have stopped some of the newer jumpers that have 'less than freefly friendly gear' from getting on the plane to do a freefly solo. 3) The lure of video. Because it seems that the majority of freefliers also jump camera, there is much more talk and discussion at our dropzone / video debrief of freeflying jumps. When the newer jumpers wander around, they can almost always find people looking at freefly video. Because most of the camera fliers are either doing tandem video, or freeflying, there is very little RW video shot anymore. Usually the only RW video that is shot is when a new camera jumper is first learning on small RW jumps. Usually the video is mediocre at best. So, all the video the new jumper sees is freefly video, or tandem/AFF video. 4) The DZ's 'usual suspects' are freefliers When I say 'usual suspects', I am talking about the jumpers that it turns out most newer jumpers respect/look up to/ask for advice. The newer jumper sees these people freeflying, and often they see that as the path they want their jump 'career' to follow. 5) A perceived lack of 'Walk the Walk' When I talk to newer jumpers, I often get a sense of 'If RW is so important, how come I don't see you in an RW suit much?'. A lot of that is perception or mis-interpretation. My recommendations for RW early on mostly stem around safety and effective/efficient learning. Once you get a bunch of jumps under your belt, you can progress on (if you choose) to learning freeflying. In the vein of continual learning, many experienced jumpers move on to learn new things (such as freeflying, or wingsuit flying, or camera, or whatever). That doesn't mean that it is exclusive, but when people are trying to master a new skill, they 'practice, practice, practice'. Often the newer jumper only sees this practice of freeflying, and not the 'love for RW'. 6) Poor integration of newer jumpers in to the DZ 'family'. Our DZ is a very close knit community, where everyone really does know everyone. There are very few people that don't know everyone else. In that, newer jumpers can often be intimidated getting off student status and talking to the people that they look up to. I had the same 'fears' when I graduated. When newer jumpers keep to themselves, I usually try to actively engage them. If a newer jumper doesn't feel like they can approach the experienced jumpers, they often don't ask things like 'When is a good time to start freeflying' or 'Is this gear safe for freeflying' or 'I think I am ready to freefly with other jumpers, can you give me some coaching or advice'. Usually it is finding a newer jumper at the plane doing a freefly jump that prompts me to say 'Hey, when you get back down, tell me how it went' that starts the dialogue. Usually I can take that opportunity to give advice (when asked for /warranted). Any thoughts? Experiences? I see similar drives sometimes with newer jumpers wanting to fly a wingsuit early. At least the generally accepted course of instruction recommends at least 200 jumps in the last year. This usually is an easy litmus test that newer jumpers fail. Freeflying really doesn't have a general course of instruction that people can point to. j

Dang, did I log on as you and post this? Exactly what I say when newer jumpers ask me this. Well put. j

Or the band could have been so large that it did not hold the bight in place, allowing it to loosen and wrap around another bight. j

I wish I had a better definition for you, but here is my best attempt. Each canopy with a positive recovery arc (the canopy will recover to level flight with no input) has a path on a circle or arc. Certain canopies, this is a small circle (like an old sabre), other canopies are a larger circle (like a vengence). With all canopies, you can change this arc drastically by applying input. Take, for example, 'that guy' who is always 'digging himself out of the corner'. He is changing that arc to be very small by stabbing the brakes. He is going from near vertical to horizontal quickly, in a very small arc. My point is, go for the smoothest recovery arc by applying the least input possible. With a shallow angle of approach (to the ground), you have much more time to react, and you don't need to trade speed to 'digging out'. j

There are certainly skydiving canopies that deploy without a dbag. j

I would believe so. I have a wings with that mod, and the way the corners are for new mirages are very similar. The left and right flaps fully cover the bottom flap at the corners, so it should not be an issue. Contact mirage or your rigger for better information. Jonathan

Yeah, I went 2 years ago (geesh.. has it been that long??). A very fun trip, even though I missed my sweetheart back here in the states. Two of our friends (one a native Autralian) moved back, and we went to visit them and jump for a few days at the boogie. The boogie was fun, but here are some tips that we got before we went and some that we added: 1) It gets hot, bring plenty of fluids, and some good sunblock. The sun is much more potent down there. 2) Because it gets really hot, they often have some strong hot winds later in the day. Be prepared just to sit on the ground for a while. Depending on the direction, there are often some bad rotors. Pick your landing area wisely. 3) Bring something to swim in, they have a pool! :) 4) The flys down there suck, they are constantly buzzing around, landing on your head. Bring bug spray, but be prepared to do the 'Aussie Wave' (waving your hand around constantly to shoo the flys away). 5) They have a large selection of beer for sale there, which is nice. People that owe cases of beer bring them to the counter, and they ring a big bell. Usually everyone bum-rushes the counter to get one of the free beers. Keep your ears open. 6) Last year (at least), they had a 'daily video review', where people dumped their footage to a computer and 'Jonesy' compiled it. Pretty cool. I ended up buying an NTSC version of the video stuff. It was fun for sure. Nice bunch of people. j

Anybody have WayCool's .25 (Black Eye) yet? j

Well, xoas and vengence has slightly different recovery arcs, so what works under a xaos may not be exactly the same for a vengence. X-braced canopies tend to be slightly negative recovery/neutral recovery arcs, and do require some input generally to plane the canopy out. Primary factor is conserving speed, and not bleeding it off prematurely/inadvertantly (either by overly deforming the canopy with riser inputs, or by using toggle inputs) and inducing drag. A shallower angle of approach (all other factors being the same) should yeild a longer swoop. If you thought you were a little low, but 'fast', I would bet that your swoop wasn't as good as it could have been with a shallower angle of approach. It probably just 'feels' faster. Simple way to test is to set up gates and measure it. j

Throw my .02 cents in as before: I demoed a few cobalts, in a few sizes. The canopy was a nice canopy, but there were others out there that I enjoyed flying more, so I never bought one. However, the phrase 'flies bigger' annoys me. To an experienced canopy pilot, the phrase may have some reasonable connotation. But inexperienced jumpers don't really know what that could mean. If I were to re-phrase that idea of 'flies bigger', my impressions were that the canopy had a strong flare, throughout the stroke, and a fairly quick recovery arc (compared to other canopies of the same size). However, the word of caution that I give folks (who ask me about that phrase) is that a 135 will act exactly like a 135 in a dive -- not a 150. What that means is that last minute toggle/riser input that you give it (to maybe avoid that jumper you didn't see, or to maneuver in a tight landing area) will show its true size. If you aren't ready for all the 'safe your butt' maneuvers on the smaller size canopy, you probably shouldn't be jumping any canopy of that size. j

A side note, but in this same vein: When I have helped people 'feel' good leg position and what it will feel like to resist the air, I usually put them in a doorway (a double doorway is even better because it is really wide), with the outside of each foot against the door jam. Then I tell them to push out as hard as they can to 'widen' the doorway. That is the only way I have figured out how to convey that feeling easily. (Granted in the air it is more than just your feet doing the work) j