scholarkyle

Thanks all--Yeah, I misspoke. I was referring to Unaccompanied Baggage, which is supposed to be 30 days behind me. Will have reserve repacked before I leave. My biggest concern really was the explosive--if it's negligible and I don't need to worry about any official declarations or anything I should be more or less all set. I've identified a handful of dropzones that may be possibilities. They don't look real busy and I'll admit I don't expect to be jumping a lot--but what kind of skydiver would I be if I spent some significant time in Africa and didn't huck myself out of a plane at least a couple times?!

Looking to get some insight from any other military who've done an overseas PCS with skydiving gear-- Leaving in two months to do some work in Africa. Basically all my HHG will ship in three segments--some will go with me on the plane (and my rig and other jump equipment just isn't as essential as some other stuff I need to take with me), a consumables shipment about 30 days behind me, and then a final shipment of my regular household goods. I'm leaning toward tossing my rig with my consumables so it's there relatively soon but am a little concerned about regulations regarding the minor explosive in my CYPRES. It's something I can look into, but wondering if anyone's been down this road before and can comment whether there's anything special I may need to do. Thanks for your attention!

Okay folks, searched the forums and got a little bit but it seemed a tad dated... I'm going to spend most of next year working overseas in Africa. I'll be based in Mozambique but expect to travel through much of the southern continent and possibly to the North and West as well. Wondering if anyone has experience at any of Africa's DZs and would be willing to comment on their experiences. I know there are a few but not sure what to expect compared to jumping here in the states. Also wonder if there are other governing bodies for skydiving overseas and what considerations I may take into account trying to jump in, say South Africa, with a USPA membership--don't know how far that will take me outside the U.S. I realize it's not Europe and may therefore be more lenient, but in short, I don't know what I don't know. All thoughts appreciated...

Thanks all! We'll see if this happens. It's not a skydiving venue, rather a balloon one. Hopefully something can be finagled. Thanks again.

Have an opportunity to make a balloon jump soon. Never had one before--any special considerations?

Haha. True enough. Maybe I should call her and apologize. Funny thing is I carefully proofread my post before finalizing because I knew it'd be doubly embarrassing to make a grammar error when correcting someone's grammar haha. Kinda like when I totally forgot the lines to a speech on human memory I gave in a high school communications class.

Anyone catch the misspelling by Mirage of the word "t-h-a-n" in this month's Parachutist? About 15 pages in it reads "Nothing makes them drop faster then a man in a Mirage". Would be a much better ad without the spelling mistake. My mom's an English teacher so I picked up on the grammar faux pas immediately . Now I'm not saying I never make mistakes and I know they make a fantastic rig but I got quite the chuckle that a company that makes lifesaving equipment just made a 3rd grade spelling error in what is about the most public forum possible among skydivers hahahaha. I'd fire someone in my marketing department!

I'm a smart guy haha; able to multi task pretty well--but also easily side-tracked. No matter what I'm doing I always seem to have other stuff on my mind--except when jumping. It's the only thing I've ever done that requires my complete and total attention. In a skydive I'm not thinking about my job, my family, my dog, or what's for dinner. It's complete and total escape. The existential singularity of the moment is why I jump.

#1 yes, ill fitting student gear can cause soreness. #2 is bullshit. It is not the size of the canopy that dictates opening, but rather the condition of the canopy. Also your lack of experience plays a part. If you are not used to opening shock, it can be painful. On any size canopy. Incorrect? Maybe. "Bullshit"? No. That would imply I'm feeding the OP a bunch of garbage on purpose. I made pretty clear I was guessing and called it a "hypothesis". Maybe I'm hypersensitive but I'd suggest that next time you offer clarification you try not to sound like a condescending asshole. That said, I'd definitely be interested in how one qualifies this answer. A bigger canopy would catch more air, creating more drag, and bodies in motion will decelerate faster the more drag they have, right? And if so, might that transmit to the jumper *noticing* it a bit more? On the other hand, I've definitely NOT seen the GREAT skydivers at my DZ jumping 80 sq/ft canopies take 3,000 ft to open, either. Can anyone explain? Thanks and thanks.

The first 30 to 40 jumps I'd have muscle aches after jumping too. Either don't notice anymore, have gotten tougher, or the problem has indeed gone away. My best hypothesis: (1) I'm not jumping student gear anymore which is almost always a forced fit and is bound to grab you in some of the wrong places. (2) Smaller canopies seem not to open quite so fast as my old Navigator 260 so maybe a little less shock to the body. (And not a suggestion to downsize faster than need-be here before all the skygods get at me. Definitely not worth being more comfortable if your increasing the odds of hooking it in.) I'm just shooting in the dark here, but makes sense to me based on my very limited, sub-100 jump, experience.

I can't decide if this guy is a genius or a complete sleaze! Maybe both.

Welcome to skydiving bro! You'll never be the same. My prior hobby was golf. Started skydiving July 3rd last year--and in that time have only visited the course once. Still have my clubs (a custom set the 'rents bought me for college graduation)--problem is that good golf weather is also good skydiving weather hahaha. Hope you'll find the right balance.

Took one a few months ago w/ Jeff Provenzano--learned quite a bit. Probably not gonna buy after reading these posts. Perhaps another canopy course is in order.

Anyone ever see "Canopy Control: Core Essentials" DVD hosted by Chris Gay? Saw it on chutingstar this morning and looks like a decent aid to canopy piloting progression but cost is a whopping 80 bucks! Anybody see it before and think it's worth it?

"Don't worry if something goes wrong. You have the rest of your life to fix any problems."