Back to School

My annual leave is renewed on December the first. This is to stop impulsive, reckless types using it all up before Christmas. It's a nice idea but it means work slows to a crawl in November because selfish idiots are using up unspent holiday. This year, as with most years, I was one of those idiots.

It was for this reason that I found myself on the way to the drop zone today. The weather sucked, but I was hoping it would clear up later. Unfortunately as I arrived I was greeted by a very empty car park. My fears were confirmed by speaking to the instructors - there were no tandems there and without them the chance of any lifts going up were negligible. Fortunately I had planned for just such an eventuality. I grabbed my rig and headed for the packing shed. An instructor was coerced into giving me a packing lesson.

First off was a spectacular vindication. Clem, the instructor, was staggered by the idea of flat-packing my canopy. The material and configuration is different to the student rigs I'd been using so far, and it wasn't feasible. A lot of my frustrations from the last post were fully justified. I was taught pro-packing, which is done with the canopy hanging over my shoulders instead if lying on the ground. Things went much better than before, up until I had to get the canopy in the bag.

If I ever need it, I've probably messed up

At this point you can basically read the 7th paragraph of my last entry. Things did go better this time, I might actually jump this one, if I absolutely had to. It still took a half dozen attempts to get it there, but with Clem watching over my progress and suggesting ways to make it easier I triumphed. Half way through he admitted he wouldn't recommend a low number Zero-P canopy (which mine is) to a new jumper, because of the difficulty of packing them, and I responded "At least after this I'll be able to pack anything." with an optimism I wasn't really feeling.

Eventually I got it all packed and was able to chat to Clem about the need for an AAD service and reserve repack. He immediately got the AAD out my rig (which meant I got to pull my reserve handle - very exciting) and got me set up to send it off the the manufacturer.

With the weather poor and no other jumpers on site I thanked Clem and headed home. I'm continuing to waste holiday next week, so I've got my fingers crossed for just one day with good weather and a busy drop zone.

Packtice makes Perfect

I'm sitting on my sofa, shattered. I've just run my first half-marathon in 3 years. Monika is curled up next to me. She's just run her first half-marathon ever. I'm dead proud of her. It's been a good weekend, even if I haven't got any jumps in.

Yesterday I packed my parachute completely for the first time. Packing is basically the art of getting a parachute into a bag that any normal person can tell is obviously too small for it.

Glorious, but terrifying

The first thing I learnt, after unpacking my parachute, admiring it in all its glory and setting it up as if I'd just got back to the manifest (daisy-chaining the lines, stowing the breaks), is that my flat is nowhere near big enough to pack in. A quick rearranging of the furniture helped, but I still had to run the lines down to the container in the hallway.

The second thing I learnt is that I find the idea of packing pretty scary. They say all parachutes want to be open, but the doesn't help when you've got hundreds of square feet of nylon piled up in front of you. My little brother got me a packing guide video for my birthday, so I manned up and started.

It started really well. I've had a couple of packing lessons at the drop zone, and the first steps were pretty easy. I had the lines sorted quickly.

However, after this I had to start counting and sorting the cells and this was difficult. Eventually I had it basically right, so I tried to fold it to get the four sets of lines on top of each other. This did not go well. After a couple of false starts I had everything in basically the right place, but instead of neat groups my lines were in a mess of spaghetti.

This clearly WILL NOT GO

Next I had to fold the canopy to get it to a size that would go into the deployment-bag. This will go down as one of the most frustrating events of my entire life. The false starts we numerous and infuriating. What little order existed in the way the cells had been laid out disappeared completely. The video said not to stuff the canopy into the d-bag but I couldn't see any other way. Eventually, on about the eighth attempt, I got the damn thing in, though it was overflowing through all the gaps and looked pretty dangerous, and I was drenched with sweat and in a generally bad mood.

To finish off I brought in the lines and stowed the d-bag in the container, closing it with a proper pull-up cord instead of a shoelace. I've done this before a couple of times so found it easier.

The whole process took me over an hour and a half. A professional packer can be done in less than 6 minutes. At the moment the £5 for a pack-job seems like the most economical choice I can ever make, but I need to get good at this and it was my first unsupervised attempt. I'll take it to the drop zone and get some advice on the best techniques (every parachute is different).

Am I pleased I've done it?

Yes

Would I jump that pack job?

Not a damn chance.

Victory

A plunge taken

I'm a naturally cautious person. And I don't plan on rushing the process of buying a rig. So, obviously, I now own one. The first one I went to see. I regret nothing, but then I haven't jumped it yet. This week I went to the bank, got out the most money I've ever held in my hands then did another 200 mile round trip to exchange it for a peach of a rig. 4 years old and only 140 jumps is way better than I was hoping for.

The urge to get naked and roll around in it was almost overwhelming

It's not perfect. Reserve parachutes, the ones that are deployed when your main malfunctions, are repacked every six months by a fully qualified rigger, and this one is way overdue. I won't be allowed anywhere near a plane with it until this is done. The Automatic Activation Device, which deploys the aforementioned reserve if it detects I'm still in freefall under 1000', is due it's 4 year service. Which means the entire rig has to be sent to Germany. Also, it's filthy. It spent most of its active life at Empuriabrava, a jumper's paradise that covers everything that goes near it with a solid layer of impregnable dust.

My little piece of nylon-based freedom

The main problem with it is that it's too small. Canopies are measured in square feet, the smaller ones are faster and more manoeuvrable which makes them more fun but also more dangerous. I'm currently jumping a 220. I was looking for a 190, but this is only a 168. It just means I'll have to rent club rigs for a few more jumps, which isn't an issue if I can display some patience I've so far been completely devoid of. Oh, and the colour scheme doesn't match my jumpsuit.

But the advantages make the problems inconsequential. It's in great condition, almost new. I'll get it clean, get it sorted and then be able to jump it for years. I don't believe in the idea of seeing something and immediately knowing it's what you want. That said, when I first went to see it, after I tried it on I instinctively kept it over my shoulder instead of handing it back to the seller. It's a great fit, but maybe it just felt right.

Taking risks

I'm a naturally cautious person. Really. There are all sorts of different types of risk in this world, and the rewards for each have to be analysed before they will be taken or abandoned. We all do this process instinctively, hundreds of times a day. And we all see the rewards, and the probabilities, differently. I, for example, have looked at skydiving, seen the facts, spent time at the dropzone and decided I'll probably be fine and the thrill of each jump is worth it.

When it comes to large scale purchases, however, I'm a wuss. It takes me 3 months to buy a car. I have to find the best possible one, and then this has to be checked relentlessly. I'm too worried about getting scammed. This leaves me slightly uncomfortable with the situation in which I find myself.

Yesterday I went to the South Cerney dropzone near Swindon. My purpose was not to jump, but to meet someone coming from Cardiff who had a rig to sell. It seemed good. But, being my usual cautious self, I wanted it to be looked over by a rigger, someone who's job it is to check and maintain parachutes, to make sure there were no hidden issues. He spent approximately 30 seconds looking at it and asking questions before without even checking the canopies within he declared if I didn't want it he would buy it then and there. This was about as good a recommendation as I could hope for, but a part of me would have liked him to take it all apart and inspect every inch of it. In an unusual show of retail bravery, I said I would buy it.

The seller would only take cash, which I didn't have, so we are meeting up again to make the exchange. Before we could even leave the dropzone the rigger let the seller know that he had two other jumpers who had said they wanted it. I know I'm getting it for a steal, so I'm praying the seller doesn't decide he can get more money for it and call the deal off. I wouldn't really blame him if he did. If I do get it, I'll hand over thousands of pounds for a parachute I've never even seen. I'll probably be getting something fantastic. That's the risk.

One careful owner

Parachutes are like cars.

There are different brands, and these are perceived to have certain characteristics - sporty, safe, old fashioned, budget. Everybody in the group has one, and there's a large amount of arguing the pros and cons  of various types.

The biggest similarity is the way you own them. You usually learn with one that isn't yours. Your first will be something slow, safe and well used. From there you progress to something that goes faster and costs more. If you have even a mild interest you spend a lot of time looking online and in magazines at the latest, best models you can't possible afford. And no matter how good yours is, someone always has a better one.

I'm currently looking for my first rig. The reason I only do a couple of jumps a month is that I've been saving money for it. Renting gear from the club doubles the cost of each jump, and in an already expensive sport this is a outlay I don't need. I have a budget, I'm looking for something used but in decent condition, not quite at the bottom of the pile. A rig's condition is also measured in jumps, and I want something in the hundreds, not thousands.

The trouble is the size of the market. Skydiving has a small community, so used rigs don't come up very often. I spend an unhealthy amount of time scouring UK Skydiver but it's a difficult process. If you discount everything too old, too expensive, too big or too small (both harness and canopy size) then there are only a couple of rigs on sale that would suit me. Still, I'll be buying something that will be the physical representation of the sport I love, something that will save my life every time I leave the aircraft. It's not a process I plan on rushing.