What I Did for my Summer Vacation part III by Dead Mike

So what else was I gonna do? I mean, I've tested myself and tested myself to see if I could handle skydiving on a limited basis. I did a tandem jump and lived; what's more I didn't hurt afterwards! I did a jump off da Bridge, da Bridge, da Bridge... Still on a natural high from that sweet victory, I needed to catch some air on my own.

I mean, each previous jump was a test of my body under different conditions. The tandem was a test to see if I could handle 120 mph winds all over my body. To my delight I handled it well, no aches, stiffness, cramps, nada. The BASE jump was a good test to see how my legs handled moderate impact.

You see, altho going into the water is soft, I still had a moderate impact with the water since the canopy I was using was a ragged out POS... And, yes, landing in the water is definitely less impact than landing on solid ground (or concrete) and my legs/kness handled it marvelously. Again, no pain, cramps, pulls, twists, zip, zilch.

As you see, the next logical step was to make a solo skydive.

To be truthful, as soon as I completed the BASE jump uninjured (boy that sounds terrible ;^), my mind was working on putting together a solo jump. I would need to get several things in order: dig out my first rig, an oversized Talon; get my reserve repacked in it (never jumped, only packed in that rig once before); get my newly repaired Cypres installed (it received minor damage from the accident); and lastly, find a main to jump.

What to jump? What to jump? My first instinct was to get a Sabre 150 since that's what I cut my teeth on after 150 jumps on the extremely used, million jump Pegasus. I mean, in a nice breeze the Sabre could flare just like an F-111 canopy and I'd get a tippy toe landing. And if I came in a little fast, I could surf it out on my butt.

But just about everyone I spoke to who had previously had an injury said they would take the largest canopy, a Manta or Man-o-war probably. The concept there was to get as much square footage above my head as possible. And to a certain extent, this option may be good for a lot of people, but it just didn't feel right to me.

Honestly, I want to minimize impact on my knees. With an F-111 canopy I will come straight down, maybe very slowly with a big canopy, but I'm still coming straight down. This means I land on my feet and incur impact upon my knees. I really want forward speed so I can slide in, if I F-up the landing, which was always a possibility with me jumping a new canopy. Also, speed=lift, so chances are I'll have a better landing under a Zero-P canopy.

Additionally, I wanted a canopy that could be jumped in a range of winds from 5-15 mph. A large F-111, 220 sq. ft. canopy would pretty much limit me to 0-5 mph winds; anything higher and I'd be flying backwards. This was unappealing. And since I have over 1000 jumps, I feel confident I can handle a reasonable Zero-P canopy.

So, I called PD and got in a demo Spectre 170 on Friday, October 29, 1998, after I got my gear repacked by Master Rigger Bill Lee that tuesday. I connected the main that night and pro packed it. Boy, that felt good to still be able to pack without a problem. Luckily, I had invited Rabbitt and Roo over for dinner, so he put it in the bag and closed it up for me. OK, it's gonna take a while before I can get on my knees, so what's wrong with getting some help? ;^)

So, go ahead, watch the video and come back. I'll talk about the jump and the landing once you click on The Jump to the left..