BigM

Agreed. Thanks for moving it over here. I want to state again how much I enjoy and appreciate this site as a whole, it is many people's salvation. But I am obviously like minded that the General Discussions forum should be a little more relaxed. Thanks for chiming in on this! "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

I guess I am not alone in my line of thinking then. The General Discussions forum is my favorite and by far, most visited. I have been very happy with it's content, but I (like others) am confused now. I like the topics posted here and there are very few I would move. It is a fairly peaceful and enjoyable forum. Just a thought. Blue 111 all, see you in Dublin in about 10 days! Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

???? It DOES deal with the physical act of skydiving. The 'who lives and who dies thread' is right were it belongs. You are misunderstanding a lot of what I said. First of all, I agree with you completely that the thread does belong in this forum. I said that according to the unwritten "physical act of skydiving law" would move it somewhere else, because the thread DOES NOT deal with anything physical. I quote: "Is there a way to determine 'Who Lives and Who Dies?' In an absolute sense, no there is no way to absolutely, positively know 'Who Lives and Who Dies?' On another more intrinsic, emotional or sixth sense level, there are certain factors that tell us 'Who Lives and Who Dies?'" Intrinsic, emotional, or sixth sense- that's the set up for the thread. Nothing to do with the PAS law. Don't go the wrong way with this- I love the thread, and most certainly am not picking on it. All I am really asking is that general skydiving discussions be allowed in the General Discussions forum. Blue 111 all- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

Another thought about how we moderate this forum: The hottest thread in this forum right now is the one posted recently by Jan entitled "Who Lives and Who Dies". It CERTAINLY does not deal with the physical act of skydiving and has been left alone. Why, because a respected member posted it? Maybe. But probably because it belongs in a General Discussion forum. It would be sad for a thread of that depth to be lost and buried in Talk Back. Yet it doesn't have anything to do with "the physical act of skydiving". By that standard, it should be moved somewhere else. "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

One last impassioned plea to create some clarity. Chuck (and other moderators) please read this carefully and make an honest effort to see what I (and others) are trying to convey. First of all, I really do appreciate the legitimacy of this site, and the time & efforts of the moderators. I sincerely mean that. That being said we HAVE forums for the "physical acts of skydiving". They are: Relative Work / Freeflying / Canopy Relative Work / Wing Suit Flying / Swooping, etc. Those deal with the specific physical acts of skydiving. I did not coin the phrase (description) of this forum as a sort of "Talk Back 2" and I am not sure that I like it (because of the negative connotations associated with it) but the fact remains that it is and probably should be something of that nature. Skydivingmovies.com...kids and skydiving...regaining fitness for skydiving... those certainly seem like acceptable subjects for a forum such as General Skydiving Discussions. It is where I would go to look for those type answers and those type of questions. Want to talk about how to launch a meeker, don't necessarily post it in General skydiving discussions, we HAVE a forum for that- post it in Relative Work (see how that works?). Want to ask a loose question about DZ's, do you tip your packer... or the like, then THIS is the place. It is a GENERAL discussion forum. One last comment on that nasty, ugly Talk Back forum- it does serve a valuable purpose in that it gives us skydivers a place to post, vent, etc. to other skydivers without cluttering the skydiving specific forums. I am not just trying to stir the pot here. I actually enjoy, use, and respect this site. The length of this post is testament to that (especially if you knew how attrocious my typing skills are). I just ask that those empowered give my thoughts (and many others that agree) serious consideration. Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

reply] Why hello Ms Bytch, long time no talk to! I still maintain that these (and others) maybe should not be moved. As stated earlier, Talk Back says "not skydiving related", and General says "Skydiving related", not "related to the act of skydiving". There are plenty of posts in General such as the one about "who is this girl...I met her at so-and-so and can't remember her name" that don't get moved. It seems that this forum may be leaning to more regulation than skydiving itself has. Just a thought is all. "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

I understand and agree with the need to monitor and maintain different forum's guidelines, but I am at a loss recently about some of the posts that are getting moved out of this forum (usually into Talk Back). The listed description of the General Skydiving Discussions forum is: "Have a skydiving related question? Get a skydiving related answer here. If your post is related to another topical forum, please post there. If it's not related to skydiving, please post in Talk Back" Some recently moved threads include ones about: ***Bad Drop Zone experiences versus Drop Zones that you favour. ***Gear Store experiences ***Skydiving Movies.com ***Kids and skydiving ***Directions to Skyventure wind tunnel ***Directions to Z Hills ***Regaining fitness for skydiving All these posts seem to safely fall in the realm of "general" skydiving discussions. They do not seem to fall into the description of Talk Balk which is: "Anything non-skydiving related should be discussed here! Politics, relationships, soap box, etc..." So enlighten me, what is up? I enjoy and appreciate the relative serious and professional nature of these forums (as opposed to rec.skydiving- which I also peruse) but I am at a loss to figure out why all of these posts are being moved. It is a GENERAL discussion forum. Thoughts anyone? Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

Once again people, this is gross speculation at best, not anything resembling fact. Yet it is being presented as fact. I maintain that you can never know why someone did something in such situations, even if they had been in the same situation before. Each mal has it's own unique set of circumstances and presents itself to the jumper with it's own unique face. Let's not try to presume we know the inner workings of a deceased person's mind during the final moments as they fought for their lives. Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

The post was a definite brain-exerciser. And while Jan is one of the most qualified in our sport to comment on most any aspect of it, I don't understand how she can presume to know it was someone's "pride" that was the contributing factor to someone's bad decision. They are dead and they are the only one able to explain their actions or lack thereof. This is wild, broad speculation at best. While trying to figure out ways to make the sport safer for all of us, let's try to focus only on the things we know, not guesses or presumptions. Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

Quotewow.....shooting tandems with only 262 jumps...they must do things a little different up there in Canada...reply] What's really scary is that 262 jumps Canadian is only about 140 here in the states! (Sorry, but that was just begging to be done!) Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

Are ballons comfirmed for Dublin??? "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

I realize that this is definitely a "you'd have to be there" type situation, and that there are several factors to be considered. I would hate to have it happen, but as Ganja said, it would be hard to not try and help. "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

You are filming an AFF student's (let's say level 4 or higher) jump. The student starts into a hard uncontrollable spin. The AFFI is having a hard time getting control of the student. (Maybe the AFFI is injured, you can't tell.) You are an AFFI yourself but are filming the jump this time. Things are looking really bad... they are burning up a lot of altitude. Do you fly in to help? What if you are not an AFFI, do you fly in to help? "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

I don't think too many of the people that fall into this group would have internet access in their tents. Probably not the best forum to find them in. Just a thought. Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

200 jumps on a S2. Never a slam, but the "off-heading" openings that people refer to on this canopy is probably not an actual off heading opening. It seems to open on-heading but sometimes it then immediately "seeks" it's own heading. My rigger explained it to me as a situation with the trim settings. Love the canopy- soft openings with plenty of pep to play around with. Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

I want to be the first to name the formation the "Magnum" formation... or the group can be called the "Magnum" group- as in the 357 Magnum! You guys ROCK! Congrats to not just the 357 in the air but to all of the support staff as well. "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

Can I be the first to name this record the "Magnum" formation? As in 357 Magnum! Congrats to all! "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

Where did you pull this info from. I fully believe you, but I am curious about the rest of the information in the whole text. I couldn't pull up the forms from the FAA's web-site. Thanks in advance Derek. Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

Will be there! "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

Just a sense of curiosity. Strong & Vector seem to make up the bulk of the tandem rigs I have personally seen. "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

I don't know who they are talking about nor the circumstances, but I do know of one jumper in this forum (who is also a moderator) that lists themselves as a rigger, and they are not. At one time they were but let their rating lapse years ago. Would you consider that wrong. I know others that list other ratings (tandem, etc.) that have lapsed and are no longer valid. I don't see a problem with that- they worked for and obtained. They rightly should be proud of those accomplishments, even if they choose not to maintain them. Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

"A" for me too, please. Unless EVERYONE on the load is HIGHLY skilled, and/or is familiar with jumping with all others on the group, a second run thru always helps. Also, if there is an issue and someone decides to stand down for that jump, or the planned jump evolves into something a little different that what was originally planned, then you still have time to recruit another jumper. Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

I suggest you go and update your profile. You are no longer a double digit-midget! "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

To those of you that are knowledgeable of such information, app. what would you say is the breakdown (percentage-wise) of the number of DZs nationwide that use Strong tandem rigs vs. those that use Vector tandem rigs? Blue 111- Jeff "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."

My skydiving tat. (of 9 total) "When I die, I want to go like my grandmother, who died peacefully in her sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in her car."