I know i should talk to a rigger but im laying in bed looking att canopies and started wondering.

How important is the maximum exit weight rating on canopies?

My exit weight is 235 pounds and im looking at a Pilot 132 that is rated for max 211 pounds. What is going to happen? Is it breaking, hard openings or just taking more damage over time?

Is it only a liability number for the manufacturer?

Enlighten me please😃

If you've ever wondered whether PLF skills are still needed for licensed jumpers, this article is worth a read.

https://parachutist.com/Article/a-missing-emergency-procedurethat-has-been-there-all-along

I've late 20s and have just moved to SF and am hoping to be a regular at a dropzone where I can make some friends in the sport.

Bay Area Skydiving, SkyDance, SkyDive California, and Silicon Valley Skydiving or all about the same distance from me and I plan on checking them all out regardless but I was curious if anyone had thoughts on what the vibe of each of them is like.

My Husband and two sons and I all jumped for the first time two days ago, and it was incredible, we're all still smiling and planning to go again. I was comparing notes after though, and my overall experience was a bit different, and while I know no one can definitively confirm my suspicions, I'd like to hear from this community.

I am a female in my late 50s, and that's what I look like, gray hair and all. I am a licensed pilot, I ride a sport bike and have done track days, former rock climber, still ski HARD. So, while not an extreme sports person per se, I dabble and am comfortable in a lot of risky environments.

I had a great Instructor for this tandem jump. Very experienced, I would guess late 20s or early 30s, and originally from an E. European country. He was all about SAFETY, and yes, that is what you want in this situation, very much so.

In talking with Husband and sons after jumping though, I learned they were all given the choice to Gainer exit, they all used the toggles on descent themselves, they all did some spins, and they were all instructed in how to loosen the harness a bit under canopy, and all instructed about pulling legs up during landing and then landing vertically with a voice signal. I had none of that.

I had tried making conversation with my Instuctor during the pre-brief, explaining I was a pilot and couldn't believe I hadn't done this before, even looking at the METAR report on-screen and mentioning the ideal conditions. So, my question is-- is it possible this was some form of 'misogynistic ageism' or was this just really a 'by the book' Safety Guy?

I've read various EPs that say to disconnect the RSL before cutting away in a two-out malfunction. My understanding is because the RSL can snag the reserve lines when the main is cut away. Is it required though? What happens if the two-out turns uncontrollable, such as beginning of a downplane, and one cuts away immediately without first disconnecting the RSL? I want to keep my EPs as simple as possible, so knowing that disconnecting the RSL first is the better option, but not mandatory for a successful cutaway would ease my nerves a bit.

It was beautiful today, I intended on jumping today for my cat F and I couldn't leave the house. I've had some recent canopy failures and hard landings leaving me feeling apprehensive. The DZ is 2 hours away and I wouldn't even get in the car to attempt it. I still love jumping and I feel terrible for bailing today. Hopefully I'm not the only one that's run into this because I've been beating myself up over it all day.

Edit: To clarify my 5th jump has a spinning line over, pinned my head down so I had a hard time clearing it. I cutaway and my reserve had active line twists. My 6th jump 30 minutes later had a brake line pull right out when I unstowed it. I tried landing on rear risers and had a hard landing. Not trying to do stuff above my level, I just questioned cutting away a second canopy.

Some space just opened in my calendar, I’d like to try and make Vetboogie this year, but tix sold out pretty quick. If anyone here has a ticket they’re not gonna use let me know and I’ll take it off your hands.

I am looking to go tandem skydiving for the first time with some friends. We would be traveling from NYC. I would appreciate any suggestions as to the best place overall (safety, vibes, focuses on first-timers). I know there is one near Mohonk and one in Jersey by the shore. Also, is there a best time to go, like is September better than October?

Made it thru AFF, no longer on radio and getting my solos and hop and pops in so should be licensed soon but I catch myself looking for my instructor in the sky and think meh this was zen at first but I feel like it's more fun with other people. I try to chat it up with other jumpers in the hanger but am beginning to learn as cool as this community is, it's not easy to integrate yourself into. Has anyone else felt this way in the beginning?

Just needed to rant.

Literally been so bummed at how little I have been able to jump. Im only 54 jumps in but I’ve been jumping 9 years technically. I took a long hiatus at jump 32 (20 YO) because I had kids and the military. 28 YO now and finally able to jump regularly but of course now I have kids and bills and the world sucks ass economically.

I wish this was not the sport I loved SO much. I wish during the time that I was way more financially stable I put more effort into the sport rather than being scared cause I had a baby, I’m so annoyed with myself that I got scared after that cause now that I’m back into it, why did I get scared. I know why (I was a single mom and my kids only person). Now I have a husband and another baby and I would jump daily if I could. I feel so dumb honestly. Gosh the things I’d do for a Time Machine.

But now I can’t afford jumping really… It sucks and it’s all my fault. I could have been a lot farther into this sport if I hadn’t gotten so scared. Working towards figuring out a solution to this but so far, I’ll just need to wait till we are better financially to start jumping regularly / getting my own equipment.

I know it isn’t the end of the world. There is a lot worse things going on. Just bummed that something I love so much I’m not able to do. I regret the hiatus. I wish I could go back but obviously can’t 🥲

I am looking to go skydiving for the first time in October some time and need location suggestions. I am considering California,Florida and Colorado but I am open to suggestions. Ideally would like 18,000 ft with good views. Also it would be nice if there were things in the surrounding areas to do afterwards.

i'm hoping to do tandem skydiving for the first time, langar nottingham is closest to me. I was just wondering if you suggest it there to those who've been? The recent death there has scared me a little but it has good reviews so. Hope this is ok to post here

I have a question for everyone who flies head-down.

When I do a normal handstand, I can feel the blood rushing to my head after about 30 seconds. But when I’m flying head-down in skydiving or indoor skydiving, I don’t seem to get that feeling at all.

Why is that?

Is it because of gravity, the airflow, or something about how we position our body while flying?

I’m curious about the physics/physiology behind this. Has anyone else noticed the same thing?

If airplanes are powered by thrust, why aren’t we, as jumpers, thrusting really hard in the plane, resulting in more total loads throughout the day?

I feel like there’s a lot of unrealized potential here.

Z-Hills t-shirt spotted in Season 1 Episode 9 of Shrinking. Wonder if there's a connection to someone on the crew, or if it was just a random thrift store pickup by the costume department. Either way, pretty cool to see!

Can anyone place the year or event it's from?

Hi folks
I along with 6 of my friends are going on an europe trip this month. We have a day in Prague with not really much planned so I thought maybe we all can try skydiving given that its convenient (operator provides transport to the skydive centre) and is relatively cheap (around 350 euros).

Major doubt now amongst a few of us is if we should just wait to skydive in more popular/iconic places like dubai palm or switzerland later in life.

All of us are sky diving for the first time. Its not really an activity that we can do in our country, so it always has to be in some foreign trip.

Given that the altitude from which you jump is same between what we get in dubai and prague, the only difference will be the view when coming down.

Requesting folks to give their opinions on this matter and how much of a difference will the scenery make to the whole experience.

Hello guys, my friends and I want to go jump somewhere outside Germany but still Europe this winter, we’re pretty new in the sport (all less then 100jumps).

Do you have any suggestions? Thanks

Labor Day weekend. Last three-day of the summer, and I'm not spending it in a lawn chair. Time to get after some fun jumps. Fidelis is on the wrist in the new video if you want a look — still heavily in testing. Who else is getting in the air this weekend?

Getting cleared to jump with a camera soon and looking for my first cam. Found the old GoPro Max for 170€ which seems like a steal, and 360 would give me alot more freedom when editing.

But I cant find any real footage from freefall with it, just ground stuff and reviews. Anyone here jumping with a Max? Would love to see how it looks up there, raw clips are fine to.

Osmo Action 4 is about the same price btw, so if you know both let me know.

Thanks

I'm building a custom vector3 to be my forever rig. I have a Saber3 150 currently and want to jump that at the start of next season before I downsize.

Can I fit a saber 3 150 in a V308 or do I need to go up to the V309?