darkwing

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Everything posted by darkwing

  1. darkwing
    I'd be comfortable using their opt-out feature. It is a small community. I generally wouldn't use an opt-out for the reason you specify, but in this case I think it is OK. As to how they got it, I suspect they bought an email list from someone, USPA, DZ.com, skydiving mag...??? Personally I don't mind getting skydiving related unsolicited stuff. It is such a tiny portion of my email load, and is usually a pleasant diversion. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  2. darkwing
    Most of the pros and cons in this thread are the same for any novel activity undertaken by children. A good example is water babies. There is nothing unique about babies in tunnels. Clearly many of them love it. Just like a swimming pool you often can't really tell until you get them in. I have heard no compelling argument against babies in tunnels. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  3. darkwing
    We need to know how many jumps on the canopies and rig. Where was it jumped (desert, beach, grass...), etc. Has it been in storage? What you really need to do is get it inspected by a trusted rigger. But if you give us more info we will try to help. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  4. darkwing
    Jump where you want to. When you can't jump there anymore, jump the next place you want to. If you run out of places you want to jump, then find something else to do. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  5. darkwing
    Heck, you'll see experienced spotters with 5,000 jumps mess up a spot too. Do your best. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  6. darkwing
    Try a decongestant. The ear bulb will only address blockages in the outer ear. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  7. darkwing
    I assume you left it out in Texas. Since the winds blow very roughly eastward (at least sometimes) I will keep my eyes peeled here in South Carolina. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  8. darkwing
    To separate the wheat from the chaff. I'm not saying that all riggers always give great advice or correct answers, but here on DZ.com there is way too much advice given by people with zero qualifications, and people reading the forum are often not in a position to know who is credible and who is not. I enjoy a good technical debate with technically qualified people, and it doesn't (particularly) bother me to be wrong. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  9. darkwing
    16 is too small for e-thread. I'm not sure why you are breaking needles though. Ordinarily for a novice I'd say you were forcing the fabric feed, rather than guiding or encouraging the feed. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  10. darkwing
    Welcome to America, capitalism, etc. If anything, it was worse when I started in the early 1970s. It was years before I ever knew of a pilot getting paid. They did it for time, and considered themselves lucky. There are many professions that share similar realities. Ii is a microcosm of the greater economy. Young guys willing to fly free or cheap is no different than the factors that drive outsourcing, or the current widespread transfer of jobs to India and China. Is a person who is willing to work for less somehow less of a person? I'd like a world where everyone made a great living, but it ain't going to happen. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  11. darkwing
    Heck, I'd organize it, except I won't be there until Friday night, and that might mean I won't even get on it. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  12. darkwing
    A fabric with more "body" will exhibit a slower fall rate. So light, slick fabrics make for faster jumpsuits, thick, more rigid fabrics will make it slower. Using a double layer of any fabric will slow the fall rate. I wouldn't agonize, or over-analyze it. Trust what the reputable manufacturer tells you. Note also that for any given fabric, the fall rate is dramatically affected by the cut and fit of the jumpsuit. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  13. darkwing
    Interesting. Where is the difference? In the uppers, or the lowers? Is the brake setting the same? I will say that every manufacturer has shipped a faulty product on occasion, the real test is how it is dealt with. I am an Aerodyne fan, although not a Triathlon fan. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  14. darkwing
    I hate people who weigh what I should weigh. So bah! I say to you and your skinny jumpsuit. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  15. darkwing
    I used the PIA forum a few times, but it suffered from having a sub-critical mass of participants. I would very much like a riggers only forum, letting non-riggers read only. I have mixed feelings whether the best place for it is PIA or DZ.com. Of course there is no prohibition to having both. Maybe the thing to do is keep this forum at DZ.com as it is, and have the riggers only at PIA. I like the notion of it attached to a professional rigging association. It would get a lot more readers and posters if it is at DZ.com though. That could change in a few years though. Maybe Sangrio would get tired or disgusted and want to move on or maybe DZ.com would go the way of other once-popular places and just fade out. For the immediate future though, I see a need for a riggers only forum, whether here or at PIA or both... -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  16. darkwing
    I'm going to disagree with the notion that sooner or later you will need a lawyer. I've been around a looooong time, and know very, very few people that needed one. In fact, I cannot think of even a single person. Sure, DZ's need one occasionally, but a plain vanilla skydiver won't. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  17. darkwing
    I've been around for a while, and I am afraid I haven't seen any evidence to support your contentions. I have been close to several DZs and have never seen a hint of behavior to support your paranoid conspiracy asserrtions. Of course maybe you hang out with a group that regularly behaves like you suggest, but I haven't heard of them. Blaming the deceased is the first option because it is overwhelmingly true. Sorry you are so tortured about this. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  18. darkwing
    I'll just say this, although it may have already been said... It isn't that you didn't know the lifetime issue when you bought it, or at least you should have known. I have a cypres and I'm glad. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  19. darkwing
    DANGER!! An important issue that no one has brought up is the problem of traffic snarl and collisions due to everyone now deciding to do continuous turns when it is turbulent!! -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  20. darkwing
    I have one word for you -- "dogburger." Ship him to Korea. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  21. darkwing
    Because they do some things better. Is your reserve an untapered, 7-cell canopy? I bet it is. If a Sabre2 was better IN ALL RESPECTS, it would be a reserve too, but it isn't. I jumped a 7-cell, Spectre 190 for about 600 jumps from jump #1600 to #2200, and I could buy anything I wanted, but I chose the Spectre. There are other jumpers far more experienced than I who also choose a Spectre, or Triathlon, or... You need to get significantly more educated about the performance parameters, and tradeoffs between various canopies. It is too long for me to write that book for you here. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  22. darkwing
    I'm going to disagree here fairly vigorously (although I am willing to be convinced otherwise). I attribute the difference to be due to the 7-cell versus 9-cell issue. I own a Pilot 168, and previously owned a Spectre190. I also used (briefly) a Sabre2 170, which packed up virtually the same size as the Spectre 190. 9-cell canopies have more seams, and ribs, which essentially makes them the same bulk as the next size up 7-cell. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  23. darkwing
    Slow speed doesn't make line tension less. In straight flight your line tensions must add up to your suspended weight. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  24. darkwing
    ANY CANOPY can do what yours did, including a Sabre 2. I hope you don't throw it away when it does. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  25. darkwing
    Jerry Myers... I wonder what Jerry is up to these days. I had a Top Secret rig that was really scary, even back when it was new. Well made, but some real issues with the reserve. -- Jeff My Skydiving History