CanuckInUSA

I'm not eligible to vote. But there's no way in hell the shit that goes on here would effect my vote if I had one. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yes I understand that there are differences (the initial part of the pack job is similar up until it's time to put the canopy in the freebag versus a BASE free pack). But it's a parachute, it wants to open. But as I said, I'd only do it if it was my pack job. I would not do it to a rigger who packed for me. Of course I'm currently not a rigger, so I guess I won't be doing it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Except that you forget that at this time of year the DZs are only open on weekends. I don't know what Brush has planned, but in past years Mile-Hi has been open Friday through Sunday during the Thanksgiving long weekend (closed on Thursday). But things can change so one needs to call ahead to both DZs. I'm not planning on being at either DZ that weekend though as I've made plans to attend the Turkey Boogie in Moab. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I would never unnecessarily use my reserve if someone else packed it (why drag the rigger into it if something bad was to happen). But if I was the one who packed it, I might have an easier time doing it. Shit not that I'm an experienced BASE jumper or anything like that, but I essentially do this on each fixed object jump which I have done to date and I trust the gear and my knowledge of how to pack it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Check it out here. By the way, I don't care who you vote for. Just get out there and vote. This is likely America's most important election and Americans who don't vote have no right to bitch about what happens in the next four years. If I could vote, I know who I'd vote for. Do you? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Who knows I could be wrong. But I don't believe stories such as this. Bin Laden would likely attack any state regardless of who they voted for if their security was lapse and he could inflict some serious damage. I don't like Kerry, but I dislike GWB even more. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

This comment doesn't really apply to students as they just don't have the experience. But it is more intended to that person with 30 or more skydives (that would be you). Turning low to the ground is NOT to be fear just as long as you know the performance characteristics of your canopy. If you know how much altitude your canopy will eat up in certain types of turns and you've got a certain sight picture built into your mind. You will know if a turn low to the ground can be successfully executed. If you're on short final and something (like another canopy, a dog, or a child, etc, etc, etc) cuts you off, you need to turn. If you've built in a "I CAN'T TURN NO MATTER WHAT" attitude well guess what? You're headed for a collision. The key then is to spend the time learning the performance characteristics of your canopy (up high first before you bring it close to the ground). Too many people in the early days of their skydiving career neglect their canopy control and it's the canopy control which allows you to make that next load. As to whether a carnage video would be good or bad, I think that will depend on the individual student. It should be used for the up and coming swooper who thinks that becoming a bad ass swooper is a sprint rather than a marathon. But I'm not sure if it would help your average student. Learn the slow flight performance characteristics of you canopy and learn how much altitude is lost during different types of turns. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You'd think that after 41 years of life, it would have happened sooner. But Saturday night I got to experience my first riot (as an observer not a participant). I was on the hill near the University of Colorado's campus on my way to a fellow skydivers bar (servicing the students of the hill) when I got to witness 1-2 thousand students clash with the local police. I do not think the students were innocent (shit many of them were very drunk), but the cops are not innocent as well. I guess the student of CU were upset that they lost their #1 party school status this year. Check out this link and click on the "More Photos" link to see some of the action. Oh and in one of the photos you'll see some people trying to tip an SUV on 10th and Euclid and my Jeep was parked on 10th between Euclid and Auroria. I guess I can count myself lucky that my Jeep was still in one piece after I left the bar. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Assuming one of these clowns wins a decisive victory, I'm looking forward to Wednesday morning when this partisan election bullshit stops. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

BSBD for Chris (GroundZero). I never got to meet him, but I'm guessing that he was liked by many. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Steve Armstrong Age: 41 (I look and more importantly act a lot younger) Height and weight: 5’10", 185-190 lbs Birthplace: Toronto Ontario, Canada Marital status: Single Occupation: Software Engineer Hobbies: BASE jumping, skydiving, hockey, skiing, climbing, mountain biking, volleyball and yes women. Harness and container: Vertex from Basic Research (now Apex) Parachute: FLiK 293 from Basic Research (now Apex) Home dropzone: Wishing it was Eloy, but it's not. Pet peeves: People who drive slow in the left hand lane. What is your favorite quote? "Try not to worry about the things you have no control over" What is your philosophy on life? Live for today as you may not be around tomorrow. What is something most people don’t know about you? No comment. Who has inspired you in BASE jumping? A certain bird-girl from the UK (but we haven't talked in months) What is your most memorable BASE jumping moment? My first cliff jumps in Moab. I BASE jump because… I can and because I have long term goals of doing wingsuit BASE jumps off of some big walls. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Developing the "seat of the pants feel" that many pilots refer to while flaring is not something that can be taught to students (and as Chachi already outlined, potentially dangerous for the students). It is something that we as jumpers develop through our instincts over hundreds and hundreds of jumps. Becoming a good canopy pilot is like a marathon. It's not a sprint. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Happy Birthday Tim. And unless I'm mistaken, I'm exactly three weeks older than he is. So we need to start thinking about setting some POPs freefly records right? Only problem is, is that I haven't been concentrating on freeflying so much this summer. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I think we need to send you to the penalty box to ponder your actions for a little while. Swoopers use their front risers to dive their canopies towards the ground in order to increase speed and reduce the pendulum effect (otherwise we'd be a bunch of toggle whippers). So why would we want to increase the pendulum effect with longer lines when it's not what we want to do in the first place? So off you go, 2 minutes in the penalty box for bringing up this thread. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

At your experience level, let's not confuse things. Yes you can think of a flat turn and a braked turn as the same thing. We could analyze this to death, but in the end the purpose of flat/braked turns is to execute a turn with minimal altitude loss. Learn the slow flight characteristics of each and every canopy you fly and practice these skills up high before you bring them low to the ground. And if you are serious about your canopy control skills (once you're off student status), dedicate jumps towards learning your canopy. Too many people concentrate on the free fall aspects and not enough people spend the time to properly learn their canopies. People should NOT be afraid of turns low to the ground if they've done their homework up front and know the characteristics of their canopies. But this homework usually requires hundreds and hundreds of jumps on each canopy before we can truly say that we know all that there is to know about them. Finally, be subtle yet deliberate with you canopy control inputs. It's the abrupt maneuvers low to the ground which kill and maim. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Well I'm jealous (or upset ... or neither) that my name was omited from the list of people to marry GFD. But since GWB and John Kerry insist that marriage is between "a man and a woman", then I feel much less threatened by "Sunshine" as GFD's future SO. So I voted for "Sunshine". Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

People who drive in the left hand lane who are: 1) Going slower than the rest of the traffic flow. 2) Are oblivious to the traffic around them. 3) Travelling less than the speed limit in the left hand lane. 4) Put-putting up a hill in their 4 cylinder cars in the left hand lane. Also, opinionated skydivers who think that they are all that because they are incapable of making mistakes and who chastise others who have made mistakes. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Flyboyz Party Mix has some awesome freeflying in it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Okay I know about the incident you speak of and yes I can see certain viewpoints as to why it might be classified as a miracle. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm not sure what you jumping in high winds this last weekend has to do with kiting a sport canopy and whether or not people can learn something about their canopies while kiting them. But maybe I'm just daft. As far as my DZ shutting us all down in 15-25 knot winds? Well I would have like the option to jump (as long as the winds aren't gusty I know I can handle certain winds). But the DZ has obviously adopted a policy to ground all jumpers no matter what experience level when the winds exceed certain limits. And since it is their DZ, what's a customer like me to do except just accept their rules. If I don't like their rules, I can always take my business elsewhere right. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Depending upon what actually happened, our near death experiences aren't necessarily miracles. Back in '81 I was involved in a car accident where if the car I was a passenger in was a split second faster, I would have either died or been seriously hurt. But I don't view my survival as a miracle. I think I was more lucky than anything else. And when I hear stories that "God likes me so he let me survive". Well what about all those other less than fortunate people who didn't survive all the things that go on in this world? Can you honestly (question not necessarily directed at AggieDave) tell me that God wanted things like the Wars to happen, terrorism victims to die, natural disasters, airplane accidents, car accidents, disease, etc, etc, etc to happen? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yesterday the winds at the DZ were howling in the 15-25 knot range and the DZ decided to suspend jumping operations. So to kill some time I decided to waste a perfectly good pack job and do a little kiting with my Crossfire2 119 canopy (unpacking it, undoing the brakes and launching it into the wind and flying it from the ground). I thought it was kind of neat to play with it and observe how the canopy flies in the winds (it was also a great time to inspect the lines, attachment point and over all conditions of each cell). So with the exception of exposing my canopy to the sunlight for a prolonged period of time (20-30 minutes) I thought it was a great way to spend a little down time with my canopy. I'm not sure how much I may have learned concerning flying the rear risers (as kiting a sport canopy and flying one in the air is different), but I was wondering what other more experienced/knowledgable people feel about the pros (and cons if they exist) concerning kiting a sport canopy. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm with Ron on this one. I know of numerous new skydivers who: 1) Don't jump very often because they need to rent gear. 2) Don't jump at certain DZs because the gear rental is not cheap. 3) Complain about the rental gear because they are always jumping a different rig. 4) Complain that they are competing with other jumpers also needing the rental gear. Coaching (from qualified coaches) is worth the money we spend. But not all coaching is created equal. The person off of AFF (usually renting gear) needing some coaching may not known this, but the coach that they've hired may only have a couple of hundred of jumps themselves (could be a new coach) and who's to say that the coach is really qualified to given the advanced instruction we automatyically equate to coaching. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I do believe in miracles (but not in the religous context you've based this thread on). But it's debatable as to whether or not any signifigant miracle has happened to myself (not saying that some cool stuff hasn't happened to me, I'm just not so sure it can be classified as a miracle). To each their own I guess. If you view what happened to you as a miracle (considering the other issues you've found yourself in), then so be it. No harm done and I'm glad your injuries weren't as bad as they could have been. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Just don't invite Jimmy or Marta to either one of these comp classes and they're likely to cleanup swooping with their Daggers. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over