ZoneRat

Cakes is being modest. She's actually back-flying up to the formation. We turned 9 points with her on her back. She's our player-coach. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Hey, if it's a ball of crap, it's a ball of crap. Cut it. For those that want to question your judgement- feel free to use the other "f" word. As in: " You werent there. I was. F-U. It was a ball of crap. I cut it. Have a nice day." “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

December 2, 2037 at the age of 72 years old. Just like dear old dad. I think I'll celebrate that date rather than my birthday. Because, who cares when you're born... it's the day you DIE that you worry about... I re-took the test saying that I never smoke and it upped my age to 79. I'm definately quitting at 70. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Hell effin YEAH!!!!!! (Mr. Von. You stepped out of the celebrations to PACK and then give us a report? You Are The Man... No way I'd've done that... lol..) Really though. Well done. All of you. Well done. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

>>I do what needs doing, regardless of how I feel about it.

Inaugural 4-way team training monjanna. 5-6 jumps. Same for Sunday. We're meeting at 7:30am. The high for the day is sposed to be 48° F... The high was slated at 34° until a couple days ago... It going to be... brisk... “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

If your a student at UT take a class! All the equipment is there for your use! Also: They have, if I remember correctly, one of the most important collections of b&W photography around in the UT library. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

It may be possible to clear a line over by stalling the canopy. But I'm given to understand thats the easiest way to put a line burn in your Sabre2. Personally, if I had a line over, I'd cut it away... and fast. The longer you wait, the more time that line has to burn the canopy as it tries to inflate/ shape itself and fly. The process of clearing the line over can also put a line burn in as it slips off. Verify with the first instructor you see, be they yours or whomever, but I'd cut it myself. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

You have an amazing talent for writting. I actually got a little teary eyed during parts of that. You should submit it to somewhere. Glad you're doin' ok. Attagirl for facing the fear and following through. and... thank you for that magnificent post! “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Ritual/ routine=safety. Part of my routines that have helped me out. 1. I do a full check on my rig when I arrive at the DZ and set it down. Check the straps, pins, closing loop wear, cypress-on, webbing, etc... the whole shabang. (I caught where I had misrouted the closing loop through the 3-ring release system once this way). 2. Pin check prior to donning the rig. Takes just a sec. 3. Taxi-Take off is my signal to chelk my alti. 4. Handle/ buckle checks on way to altitude. Touch the Rt. leg buckle, left. Cuttaway handle, Silver, Chest strap buckle, hackey, main closing cover. I do this slowly, breathing deeply. I use this check as a physical mnemonic to center myself and relax, and do it at least a couple times to alt. More if I'm nervous. (Several times I've caught where my cuttaway pillow was folded beneath the harness). 5. When the door is opened, that's my signal to: close my visor, Check to see that's it's closed completely. Check my chin strap, check my jumpsuit zipper. (I've had friends that have launched with visors up. Lost helmets because they forgot or didn't tighten their chin-straps, or had their zipper down. etc) 6. On way to the door, I check my hackey and closing cover. Implimenting good safety ritual can help you stay safe even if you're distracted, but is not a substitute for heads up skydiving. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

When you say "they" recommended tunnel time... who is "they"? Your JM's? Talk to them about it. Express your concerns. Make sure they understand the whole picture. It may have been a light recommendation. An idle thought. They may amend it if they have the whole picture. I failed my check-out dive, btw... Hardly ANYONE fails their check out dive... I felt like a pathetic loser too... But I wasn't. And you're not either. _______ Something to try: Do you have a full length mirror at the house of some kind? If so. Practice your arch position in front of it. Do it several times an evening thru the week. When you're watching TV, at a commercial or something, go lay down, arch, correct your self in the mirror. Hold it for several seconds. Relax, repeat. When it seems like you've got it, try assuming the proper position with your eyes closed. Then open them and check your position out. Don't lose faith. You'll get it. Congrats on your stand up landings, btw! Pretty cool, that! “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Quade. I owe you a beer. Thank you. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Thanks for responding, Quade. Nope. I've never seen it.I have no idea how well it might or might not work. Jeesh... what should I look for? Shoot some stuff and play it back I guess. 4.5 years seems like a long life for a mini DV. Does the rest of the stuff make up for the fact that the camera is likely on it's last leg? He'll sell me the helmet alone for 125.00... He's put 500 jumps on it. It's gone in the shop twice. Once because the touch-screen had problems and once because a wire needed repair. It's never fogged up. Thats all I know. He strikes me as the kind of person that takes ~average~ care of his stuff. Stand up landings. Wouldn't leave it out overnight. Probably kept it on the table in his trailer most of it's life... On one hand I hate to put our friendship in a spot to where if there was a problem - it would be a problem. On the other. It sounds like it may be a win/ win.... and I like those. Are the PC-7's known for being especially robust? Or problematic? Just not sure what to do here. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

A buddy of mine's leaving town tuesday. He's got an extra camera set up that he's willing to sell me: ~Sidewinder helmet with the lense removed. ~4.5 yr old PC-7. ~7 batteries. 4 are x-tra life. All approx 2 yrs old. ~Newton ring site. Not the Orange one. Another one. ~He'll even throw in an old Skytronic just so I don't have to switch audibles in and out. 700.00. I mostly want to use the helmet to film (gratis) any coaching jumps I do with the young-uns. (Video is SO precious to new jumpers)! Jumps with friends, etc. In time, I'm not opposed to doing tandem video, but that's something I'd grow into only to help out if the DZ's short *real* camera folk. Still, ya never know. I'm not out to screw this guy. Pretty sure he's not out to screw me. I'm just curious if you folk feel that this represents fair value. I appreciate anything you experienced folk have to offer on this. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

" Drug Problem?!? My only "PROBLEM", mister, is no opposable thumbs! So get off the couch and fire me up, fat boy.... and be quick about it. "Friends" is commin' on..." or: "Dees Sodium Pentathol should make heem talk. Eef not. I have ozer weyz. Weyz wheech are... most unpleasant, but highly effecteeve." “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Might have someone you respect take a good look at the rental gear to make sure it's rated for freefly. Don't know about you, but Horseshoe malfuctions scare the shit outa me... _______ Wear tight leg stuff and blousy armed shirt stuff. Have someone check your blousy shirt stuff to make sure it wont accidently cover ANY of your handles in freefall. If you do have a problem on deployment: Remember. 2 tries only. 2. Two. Dos. Then initiate emergency proceedures. LOOK grab LOOK grab. Pull pull. _______ Get someone to coach you on the sit. A little bit goes a long way. _______ Have fun! and good luck on it. If you get frustrated, don't forget that RW stuff is fun too! [Clicky] “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Taking too many newbies on the same jump. I was involved in an 8-way a couple weekends back. 4, of 8 had less than 100 jumps under their belt...One or two may have had less than 50. It was LO'd by someone much more experienced than myself and, despite some misgivings, I deferred to his judgement without comment. That was a personal failure of character. I shoulda stepped up. Not a big deal. No one got hurt, but we were kinda askin' for it. 2, 4-ways would not only have set-up the newbies for success, creating a nice, controlled learning environment, but would've been safer as well. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Thanks for taking the time to post these updates, Bill. It's exciting reading. We're pullin' for ya! I'm sure you'd rather be out enjoying Thailand. Stay safe and good luck! “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

>>>I still think about it...wonder about it...and have the same nervousness I had before. Will I identify a problem fast enough? Will I cut away?

One of my best friends recently went through surgery fusing a couple blown disks. They put some metal in there. The metal braces things so well, they say she can jump no problem as soon as she feels ready. She hopes to take her first jump since the surgery this weekend. My 16-way team coach from last year got some disks fused a while back and has logged well over 1000 jumps since his surgery. Another coach I know is actually jumping with disks that are currently blown. Don't know that I would recommend that... but she's doing it.... So maybe there's hope, 51. _______ I've often wondered why camera fliers don't wear soft cervical collars. Seems like such a simple way to inhibit range of movement so a neck injury is not as likely to occur. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Nice avatar, Sputnik. Yep, The next frame shows you with my foot in your face. That, my friend, was no dream. I suppose I do in fact need ya for the season... but on that last jump at nationals... you'd be well advised to break off just a litttttle early. lol “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Robin, I heard some rumors that you actually tried this in real life but damn ADD fired before your jumpsuit inflated into a huge air bag Ooooh, you are SO gonna get it! Remember in the tunnel when I kept "accidently" kicking you in the head during centerpoint drills? Yeah. I got pretty good at that, didn't I. (There's more where that came from, bub...) “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

NO landing injury was EVER caused by a bad spot. A landing injury happens when jumpers fail to utilize all the area around them for landing. It really grates my goat whenever I see someone post landing injuries were the result of a bad spot. BS. I know this is a hypothetical you are discussing here. I just thought I'd bring that point up now. No one's ever drowned from a bad spot? Seems I remember someone drowning in the ocean some time back... nit-picking... If someone does suffer injury from a bad spot, forrest, ocean, demo, whatever, it's their own fault. Pilots don't typically shove jumpers from the plane. They just turn the green light on. And that with the absolute best of intentions. Never met a jump pilot yet that couldn't spot better than me. Well... maybe one... but that's a long story... __________ I don't mind speculation in the incidents forum as long as it is labeled such and stays contructive. If you've been slapped for being speculative, I havent yet read about it... more than once have I seen unkind and unnessesary things written in there. Stone casting. That I don't like. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

When the weather's good you say "Woo Hoo I get to go skydiving!". When it's bad you say "Woo Hoo, I didn't spend $200.00 this weekend!" “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Hang on. I totally lied. That was Harvey Littleton we met. (Another giant of the hot glass earth). Not Dale Chihuly. I have no idea if Chihuly's kind or not... Sorry. I'll go home now... “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”