mdowling

An update on my Kurupee experience. I heard from Eddie from Kurupee this morning and he made another very sincere apology for the second suit arriving wrong. He also made a more than generous offer to make things right (so generous, that I couldn't accept it and told him it was too much). This is obviously a company that cares about making things right with their customers. In a few weeks, I expect to have the suit I originally ordered. Happy ending courtesy of Kurupee.

My experience with Kurupee has been rather mixed. I ordered a Flash Hunter suit (a $209 model) and three weeks later I got suit in the right colors, nice fit, but not the right model. They sent me one of the simpler styles that cost $139. I emailed Kurupee and they were very apologetic. They offered to make me the suit I ordered and I could keep the one they made in error. Good customer service, right? Six weeks later, I get a second shipment from Kurupee. They sent me the same exact suit. Now I have two identical suits - neither of which were the ones I wanted. Again I emailed Kurupee to explain their error. It's been a full week with no reply from the company and two of my messages have been returned as undeliverable. I'll update this post if they actually get back to me. To be fair, the suits they sent me look nice, but the first one I received started to have stitching come apart in several places after just 10 jumps.

You should know there is one currently under construction in Trenton, NJ. They are looking to cater to the Northeast and Midatlantic.

One of the tandem video guys at my dz just switched to the 15mm lense for his Canon Rebel. The pics have been nothing short of amazing. He gets low on the tandem, angles his body up and gets the inflated drogue in the picture with room to spare. But you've definitely got to be close.

I'll be one of the 90 people Jason mentioned that will be making my first BASE jump at Bridge Day 2003. To answer the question that started this post, there are several reasons I decided to participate, but the most important is this: With this many BASE jumpers in one place, how could I possibly not learn from the experience? I'm going to make the absolute most of every bit of information I can get my hands on in the moments leading up to my jump. My mind will be wide open and ready to soak it all in during the Friday seminars. I've been reading as much as I can from various resources, but nothing can replace face-to-face discussions with people in the know. And when it's all over, hopefully I'll have met some people that can continue to teach and guide me in the safe and proper way to conduct BASE jumps when I return to New Jersey. Oh, and I hear the party is pretty fun too. That'll be a nice distraction on Saturday night. Counting the days until Oct. 18......

It's Kurupee, actually and I was one of the people wearing one at the WFFC. They delivered me a real nice jumpsuit in about 3 weeks (as they promise on their website). Great prices too. http://www.kurupee.com/

The Jersey tunnel is supposed to be open by December, according to the guy (a skydiver) who is building it. The recirculating air - minus flatulence - will be in the 80 degree range to make it nice and comfy. And, oh yeah, Stacy, it'll be 5 minutes from my house.

Fine folks of BASE jumping, I'm about to foray into your world by jumping at Bridge Day 2003. I can't wait. I've read many threads in this discussion group in preparation for my first BASE jump. I'd love to hear any words of wisdom from those who've been there, done that. I remember an advice thread being very helpful prior to my first WFFC. Impart your wisdom. I'm listening. See you in West Virginia. Best, Matt

A quick update on the cutaway story: My Sabre2 is back from repairs at Performance Designs and flies awesome. They did a fantastic job and charged me a ridiculously low price. After giving me a new lineset free of charge, PD made several patches, replaced a bottom skin of a cell and even test jumped the canopy. Including shipping, that came to the astonishing price of $68. Donna in PD's customer service kept me very informed as the canopy was working its way through the repairs process. In short, PD rocks and they just got a lifetime customer in me to be sure.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the advice from those in the know. I'm definitely going with the 28. B&H even has a couple used ones for a pretty reasonable price.

I've got the camera body, but I'm trying to decide on the lense. I've read all the specs, but I'm looking for some real life experience to help me decide if the 24mm is worth the extra dough. (It's about a $140 difference on B&H). Thanks for your help.

I rifled through at least $1,800 in jumps alone last year. Nine days at the convention, 70 jumps including C-130, balloon, helicopter, biplane, and high-altitude. Then there was the cost of the 900 mile drive, plus food for 9 days... Worth every penny. I can't wait to return for another year.

Different tree saved me. I think I killed his brother though. Way I see it, I made a little clearing for the next Crosskeys tree landing.

The other jumper very humbly apologized when I saw him after his hospital visit. I agree with Jimbo's assessment. I don't think anyone has to worry about him spiraling above the landing pattern again. Good people make mistakes. That's why they're called accidents. The most important thing is health first, learning lessons second. I've spoken to the other jumper twice by phone since Saturday only to see how he's doing - which I'm happy to report is much better. No surgery needed on his leg problem and there's a chance he could be jumping soon.

Fine by me. Maybe one of the folks who moderates this thing can make a cross post happen. Seems like AD's near miss deserves to be there too, then. Technically, I skidded the reserve landing in on my rear a bit. But I was glad to be standing shortly thereafter. Seriously, though. Thanks and good meeting you. PM'd you as well.

Considering how new this piece of equipment is, that is not at all an ignorant question. I've been doing a little reading up on the skyhook myself over the last few days. Check out: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=375437;search_string=skyhook;#375437 That post includes a link to the Relative workshop site as well.

I had an extensive conversation with the tree first to see if it would relinquish my freebag and pilot chute without the need for woodshed, but it just couldn't be reasoned with. I even held the chainsaw in a threatening stance for a while and it still wouldn't let go. I'm a non-violent man by nature, but I had grown up reading a lot of Peanuts comics and still had the vivid memories of that kite eating tree that kept haunting Charlie Brown. Before digging the spinning chain into the tree and drawing first bark, I cried out, "This one is for you Charlie Brown." Charles Schultz would have been proud.

Paul, Thanks again for all your help on Saturday. I can't stress enough how cool everyone at Crosskeys was the rest of the day. I spoke with the other jumper again last night by phone and he does still sound shaken up. Hopefully, he'll recover and we'll be able to jump together again sometime soon. Matt

I got involved in an exciting situation during a jump at Crosskeys on Saturday morning that is worth sharing for whatever educational purposes can be gleaned from it. SETTING THE SCENE: I arrived bright and early an hour before things even started moving at Crosskeys and just hung out to enjoy the beautiful sunshine of a blue sky day. When things finally got rolling, I was the first one manifested on the first load of the day. A guy who I had jumped with a few weeks ago and I decided on a two-way sitfly to get the day started. On the way to the boarding area, we meet up with another friendly guy and invited him along. He was already planning a jump with person so we suddenly had a 4-way sit. THE JUMP: I was jumping my brand new Vector3-Micron (9 jumps) with a PD 126 reserve and my new-to-me Sabre2 135 (8 jumps by me, 58 total). The skydive was rather uneventful. We were the second group out following a 4-way RW with video. A tandem student and jumpmaster were last out. The other three jumpers exited in a train while I was on the camera step facing them (wearing a camera). We really didn’t stay very close together and the freefall was uneventful. We broke at 4,500 and I pulled at 3 grand. Winds that day put us out over the wooded area towards the golf course and to the right of the runway. Under canopy, I played briefly my new Sabre2 before making my way towards the area over the cluster of trees near the swoop pond to start my downwind leg for a left-hand landing pattern. THE INCIDENT: Less than a second after checking my altimeter and seeing I was at 900 feet, I felt a sharp collision as one of the jumpers from our 4-way struck the top right side of my canopy at high speed. I never saw him coming. He later explained that he had made two 360 degree toggle turns just prior to slamming into my canopy. He said he didn’t see me below him while spiraling. The collision induced an immediate spin as my canopy completely wrapped around his body and collapsed. We were spinning under his main (a Sabre2 170). My canopy covered his face and also twisted up on his risers. I estimate that we made one full helicopter-like revolution before I cut away my canopy. I was facing back to earth at the time. I used a two-handed cutaway (one on each handle) and do not have an RSL. People on the ground estimate that I chopped at 600 feet and based on the speed of our decent after colliding at 900 feet, that sounds about right. I had an inflated reserve above my head at roughly 100 feet. I looked down and immediately realized that the force of the collision and subsequent spin tossed me across the runway over the wooded area on the far side in my second freefall of the jump. With the 50 feet of altitude I had until striking the 50-foot trees, I made an immediate right turn with my rear riser in an attempt to clear the trees. I landed in the trees about 40 or 50 feet from the edge of the tree-line. I had no time to unstow my brakes and used my arms and hands to cover my face as I broke through the branches without striking a trunk. The reserve caught a lot of branches along the way and that alone may have saved me from serious injury on landing without any semblance of a flare. I landed in a pretty soft spot feet first, but quickly slid them out in front of me almost like a tandem student and hit on my butt. I stood up and started checking bones while looking around completely in amazement of what had just occurred. The ground crews at Crosskeys including the owner John Eddows arrive within 10 seconds and I reported an immediate "I’m good. I’m okay." You should have seen the look of shock on their faces when they found me standing there working my way out of my harness. THE AFTERMATH: Short of a small scratch on my knee from a tree branch, I escaped this near-disaster unscathed. I wish I could say the same for the other jumper. He landed under his main with mine twisted around his body. The wrap caused line twists that resulted in him landing in reverse. He appears to have torn some ligaments in his ankle. He also had some pretty bad line burns around his neck and may have suffered internal injuries (they found blood in his urine). All in all, however, it could have been far worse - for both of us. Please keep the other jumper in your thoughts. I spent the rest of the day assessing the damage to my main and scavenging in the woods for my gear. I was able to locate my cutaway handle and one of the instructors spotted my reserve freebag and pilot chute. Unfortunately, the freebag/pilot chute was caught in the top of a 50-foot tree. After fruitlessly attempting to knock it loose with an extension pole, I had to cut the tree down with a chainsaw. Naturally, as the tree fell in the woods (yes, it does make a sound) the damn thing got caught about half-way up on another nearby tree. I brought a ladder into the woods and was able to yank on the pilot chute until the whole thing came tumbling down (on my head, of course). A quick damage assessment of my main by the master rigger on site showed roughly $240 in necessary repairs. A few broken lines and a busted seam along one cell top the list. I’m going to send it to PD for a full inspection and repair. While disappointed, I’m much happier dealing with a broken main than a broken skydiver. LIVING AND LEARNING: I’m one very luck sonofabitch to be sure. In trying to draw learning experiences from this brush with mortality, I’m somewhat at a loss. While the result of my cutaway was a success, it’s not a method of recovery recommended for every canopy wrap below 1,000 feet. So don’t add this to your list of things to do when the fit hits the shan. If I had waited 1 second more to chop and pop, I would likely have struck the trees or ground prior to full inflation. Chalk this one up to self-preservation taking over. I didn’t have time to think about altitude vs. inflation. I just acted and I’m lucky it worked. Several people have told me I saved the other jumper’s life in the process, but it still won’t change the recommended procedures for that situation - which is to deploy the reserve without cutting away to increase the drag on our collective mess. The greatest thing that can be drawn from this, I think, is that all that practicing of emergency procedures sure comes in handy when you need it. And I needed it to be instinctive. There was no time for fumbling or feeling around. The fact that we were very close to our discussions at Safety Day is not lost on this incident. Plus, just 6 days before this cutaway, I was practicing my emergency procedures in a training harness recently suspended from the ceiling in the Skydive Jersey Shore hanger. Time and execution on the cutaway/reserve pull saved my life for sure since I jump without an RSL. I also normally practice my emergency procedures on every single jump at least once. Other possible lessons include remaining altitude aware throughout the entire jump from exit until the altimeter reads zero. I was fortunate to have just looked at my altimeter a split second before the collision so I knew the incident started at exactly 900 feet. In addition, training for a tree landing came in very handy. I actually remember having a brief flashback of the lesson about grabbing on to a tree trunk with my arms if that opportunity presented itself. Obviously, that didn’t occur, but I did remember to keep my feet out in front of me to deflect branches and used my arms to protect my face. On the other side of the collision, the obvious lesson is to avoid spiraling down while above the expected landing pattern. Keep your head on a swivel and check your surrounding airspace before executing hard turns. EPILOGUE: I owe many thanks to many people. The folks at Crosskeys were great the rest of the day. From the manifest guy who hooked me up with a chainsaw for my logging excursion to the four or five people (including Jimbo) who spent probably an hour untangling my canopy from the other guy’s, I am grateful. I got a lot of handshakes, a few hugs and a ton of well-wishes throughout the day and even more when I showed up at Jersey Shore the next day. Huge thanks (and a trip to the nudie bar on me) go out to my rigger Jonathan Martins. I’m very thankful that my reserve opened as quickly as it did and without problems. And I’d be remiss not to thank every instructor I’ve had to date including Joe D., who first drilled the emergency procedures into my head during AFF. I woke up Sunday morning (after a few too many beers) a little sore, but no more than I would be after a particularly rigorous trip to the gym after a brief layoff. I was able to put in two jumps before heading to work Sunday night. Anothe jumper was kind enough to lend me his rig for both jumps, which was way cool of him. I’ll be looking to assemble a temporary rig shortly this week so I can take to the skies next weekend while PD fixes my main. FINAL THOUGHTS: I’ve had a few moments of very serious reflection in the past 48 hours about how close this came to being a story told by someone other than me, but I think I’ve categorized it as chance and preparation once again falling in my favor. I’ve been focusing on the result and not the myriad of possible outcomes. And I’ve tried to take light in the ironies that life provides. For example, as I was awaiting the arrival of the loaner chainsaw, I decided to take a short break in my pilot chute recovery effort for lunch. As I walked into the Long Delay Cafe at the dz and surveyed the menu, the choice was obvious. I ordered the Crosskeys Wrap.

Thanks Quade. I had planned to do that as well. I just thought it would be good to tap the collective knowledge here for other advice in advance. It's always good to read as much as possible before seeking instruction. I find it eases the learning curve substantially. AggieDave, thanks for sharing your experience.

I'm looking for some helpful information on how to conduct flag jump demos. If anyone has a resource you can point me towards, that would be great. Otherwise, I'm looking for some general advice and recommendations on flag size, use of weights, canopy selection, drag concerns, flag material choice and anything else you can think of. Thanks for the assistance.

And then?

Shame u missed the premiere of the WFFC video courtesy of Nuclear George last night, Jimbo. He did a helluva job. We had most of the Lawn Darts crew in attendance.

What a beautiful day to be a Philly fan. Spent the early afternoon at a Flyers win versus Detroit. Then I got to watch the Eagles move on to the NFC title match. Hope you had a good time at the game PhillyKev.

Sorry to hear about that Nancy Ann. Hope your sprain feels better.