FLsurfer

Walk in like you own the place. Being chased by the man sucks. It's only happened once to me and I hope it's the last. A friend opened a new site a while back and during one visit we noticed some vandalism to allow for easier access. Can't prove who did it but we did think about ways to repair the damage so it would not bring on any heat. Needless to say, on our very next visit the man was laying in wait. Sneeky bastard! It took about 2 hours to reach a safe haven. The whole time all I thought about was the possibility of losing 2 grand in gear, trespassing and elluding charges. Not to mention if caught, then I would have been blamed for the burning of site. So please people, think before you do anything to alter a site. It may not get noticed right away but eventually it can and will bring heat onto the site. Man, I can't wait until Snowbird season is over and I can go from 65 hr work weeks back to 40. I'm achin' to crank out some jumps. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

Most tv coverage usually only shows jumping when somthing goes wrong, same as skydiving. I believe in not naming sites publicly but I find it very strange that some people post pics of some of their non legal jumps. I've come across a few pics on the net where a newbie like me (58 jumps) has recognized at least half a dozen sites. If I were to ever post a pic of me jumping, I think I'll blur out any noticeable landmarks. Too few objects in my area and even if there were a lot, I wouldn't want to burn one. Just my measly .02 Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

Jammin' to Comin' Under Fire - Def Leppard. That song and Die Hard The Hunter bring back some good memories of jr high! Hey, smart me finally figured out the sig line deal. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

I was actually thinkin' of posting something like this the other day. 1st thing I do every morning after getting off work is turning on the digital cable to the Power Rock channel and then checkin' out Blinc and here. All my CDs are from '90 on so the digi cable is easier than haulin' all the old tapes out of the closet. I miss my long hair and jammin' to Tesla, Quennsryche, TNT, etc... edited cuz I can't seem to get sig line away from post. I hit enter a few times, so someone tell me, what gives? Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

The people at PR are way cool. The DZM is a good friend and mentor. I won't be able to make this years due to our VP at work not allowing us to take any vacation time this month. Here's hoping I win tonight's $35 million lottery so I can tell work to kiss off while I go on one BIG surfing, skydiving and BASE jumping trip. Hook up with the Air Adventures of Clewiston crowd for Bird-Man jumps. I know of at least five that are bringing their suits. I did my first at last year's boogie on a GTI and have been hooked ever since. You have to check out the rain forest "El Yunque" while you're there. And watch out for the Chupacabra, PR's version of Bigfoot. As for the red and blue pills, wasn't Matrix an awesome flik? I hope the new ones in May and Nov are half as good. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

I agree 100 %. When I inquire about sites when traveling, I don't even mention the exact cities I'll be visiting. No local wants to see "Hi, I'm going to 'your home town' between these dates and was wondering if we could hit that B downtown?" all over the net. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

I played football from jr high thru high school, db & wr, have been surfing since 10, waist high waves to double overhead + in size, raced motoX a few years and loved jumping off bridges or into rock quarries that had been filled with water. I think that these have helped in my skydiving, but mentally more so than physically. My hobbies have kept me in pretty good shape, a plus when participating in any high risk sport but they also taught me how to "focus and relax" in high pressure situations. Whether it's making a diving catch, staying calm after a vicious wipeout while monster waves are keeping you pinned down or trying to figure out how you are going to pass the racer in front of you when you get to the next corner. No matter what your hobby is, nothing is better than the buzz you get from being in the zone. That feeling you get when time seems to slow to a crawl and each of your 5 senses are acutely aware is such a rush. One of my favorite things about skydiving is that, in the air we are all subject to the same factors. It doesn't matter how big, tall, or strong you are. Awesome fliers come in all sizes. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

I grew up in Mission Beach but I remember goin' to that rink while in Jr High in the early 80's. We used to think we were so cool when they'd let us stay after closing on Fri nights to have races and play hockey. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

Feb 12 - 16. It's posted here if you click on "Calendar" above. I also talked to the DZ manager which is a good friend. As tempting as it is, I might skip this years to do a 3 week BASE trip in Europe next summer. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

I'd stick around and suffer the consequences as well, whether it be a long time jumping buddy or a new one. The only point I was trying to make is that our crew has decided where our line is when it comes time to call rescue. If it seems to be only a break, then get ready for the bumpy ride back to the hospital. If it's something more serious then we all now our plan. One of us stays with the injured breathren until help arrives while the others whisk themselves and gear away. We all accept this knowing that in some places we could ultimately be facing some sort of manslaughter charge. Now this is what I really fear, locked up and goin thru a nasty trial like that. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

Spain all the way. I was an Air Force Brat and spent 12 years in San Diego, with a year and a half in between at Torrejon AFB, just outside Madrid, then a few years in VA. Been enjoying the sunny (but freezin now!) weather in FL the past 11 years. I visited Ramstein, Germany once during Oktoberfest while living in Spain which was kinda cool. I still go back to Spain every couple years and I've never been back to Germany. I hear Empuriabrava rocks but I've never made it up there. Last time I was there I jumped at an old DZ outside of Valencia.

Just my .02, but be sure you have plenty of height. While I'm no trained diver I never had fear of flips, gainers, etc... into water. I started thinking about my first aerial in BASE in the mid 30 jump range. I thought about doing a gainer first since I always seem to stay on axis slightly better than when I front flip. Finally at jump 42 I decided conditions were perfect. Only a very slight wind so no worrying about tracking away from wire and I managed to keep myself calm. It seems like anytime I try something new in BASE, I have to work at keeping from getting over amped. So here I am at top of A with partner and I tell him that I'm going for it but that I'm going to do a front flip. It was good to have someone there that had BASE aerial experience. After about 5 min of total silence and mentally picturing the flip, I launched. I did a nice little half tuck and rotated for what felt like an eternity. When I stabled out I thought I was a lot lower so I went for PC. As soon as I started to pull, I realized I had about 400' more but since I knew PC was already partially out I threw and had a little extra canopy time. I feel that the extra height of this object was a big help. It was nice being able to focus on rotational axis and not the speed of rotation. I used up about 350' during flip but that visual will be burned in my mind forever. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

The closest I've come to jumping alone is waiting at the top of an object and then jumping when my partner shows up. The reason I choose to not jump alone is cuz of BUST factor. Let's say you break an ankle on landing or even a compound fracture, I better knock on wood, only injury in 50 jumps is slight twist of ankle. Now when it comes time to call your emergency contact, what do you do? If you have a simple fracture then yeah, all you do is wait for your contact to show up. But if you're in really bad shape and the real emergency personel have to show up then not only have you hurt yourself but now you've brought heat onto an object that maybe other jumpers might not appreciate. I can understand the rush to jumping alone, I've paddled out alone in some pretty heavy surf, which while dangerous, at least I'm not worrying about if I drown our get hurt that I'm gonna cause the beach to be shut down to other surfers. Of course if you're jumping a legal site then I agree with Mick. Unless you trust your contact in an emergency situation, it's better to at least have ground crew that knows the quickest way to nearest hospital and at least basic CPR. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

Maybe I'm missing something obvious. I only own one rig and mostly do jumps that come pretty close to terminal but I also switch it over for 2 sec delays (slider tied down with velcro) about 20% of the time. Once I start packing my rig I don't stop until I'm finished. I find by doing this that I am not second guessing myself later on about whether I performed a certain step of the pack job. But no matter how much time has passed since the pack job, I can still tell which way my rig is set up with one look at the PC that is on rig. Big fat PC w/ no handle = short delay, small PC w/ little PVC handle = yahoooooooo, tracking time! On only 2 or 3 occasions have I been unsure about a pack job so even though I'm a slow packer by some peoples standards (30-40 min) I just whip the canopy out and redo EVERYTHING. Just my .02. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

I agree with all of the above advice. My favorite object rarely has ground winds (Lucky ME!), but I've seen the wind do all sorts of direction changes between 200' all the way up to the top. If you haven't heard the ole skydiver saying then here goes, "It's better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here." So I'd have to say hang out with some good friends and talk BASE that night instead. Or better yet, go exploring for other sites, there is never enough objects to flick! Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

I've also posted this on Blinc, but wanted to post a short one here. When you want to visit a site and you're not considered a local to that site, do everything possible to contact locals. They are the ones that know all the ins and outs and bust factors if any. I don't claim this site as my own but it seems that certain people don't care about burning this particular site. I'd be more than happy to take experienced jumpers out to the site and share a few jumps and point out what needs to be known about the site. Remember, every site is unique and has different factors. And don't do anything to change sites. For example, cut grass, locks, barb wire, fences, dig, break windows, install launching platforms or leave any trash behind. I found a few of these at one of our local sites and needless to say my partner and I were big time PO'd. Don't mean to sound like a D..k but we don't want to lose our playground. Happy Holidays and stay safe! Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

194 skydives when I did my first. I was lucky that one of my AFF instructors was also a BASEer, so he was able to watch my skydiving progression and then we both decided when I was ready to make my first leap. I did ground crew every chance I got and read everything I could get my hands on. My first 5 jumps were with a Mojo 260 in a Perigee Classic container. After that I was hooked and purchased a Mojo 240 and a Warlock 2-pin container. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

I saw a plumber's truck in the DC area once that said "Your shit is our bread and butter" Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

lmao with Pepsi coming out of my nose. That stings! Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

I agree with all of the great advice already mentioned but would like to add my .02 The mind has a lot to do with returning from any injury to any sport. I once twisted my ankle by dragging it underneath me on landing. Afterward I could walk fine but jogging caused a major twinge. After thinking about it, I called it a day. When I got home later there was a message from the DZ asking about the ankle. They also informed me that a girl had broken her toe on a landing later on that day. She decided to keep jumping and ended up breaking her other foot on the very next jump. My opinion is that she was favoring her broken toe. This just reinforced my belief that no matter what you are doing, you need to focus on the task at hand and nothing else. When I'm dropping into a gnarly wave, skydiving, or BASE jumping I don't want to be thinking about anything else. That can be hard to do if you have thoughts of an injury lingering in your head. And definitely have all plates, screws, pins, etc... removed. Anyone I've met that has had these types of operations has told me one thing. ALL of their Dr.s advised them to have all hardware removed if they chose to continue high risk activities. If injured in the same place again it can cause major damage. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

Spy, You pretty much got the one right in the Air Adventures bathroom. I remember seeing another one there for the first time before they repainted: This TP is like John Wayne, Tough as shit and don't take crap off anyone Now I see that one everywhere Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

Thanks everybody! Now for one more question. I already posted this on a BASE board but does anyone know of any locals in the area that BASE jump. I'd like to follow BASE protocol and contact them first before I start looking for objects on my own when I'm up there and if anyone comes down to my area I'd be happy to repay the favor. Problems just be opportunities in der workin' clothes.

Hey everybody, I'm new to the forum but I've been skydiving 4 years with just under 300 jumps. I'll be in western Tennessee from 9/21 - 9/30 and was wondering which DZ you guys would recommend. I do have the DZ directory but I'd like to hear anyone's input. Thanks in advance, FLsurfer