darkwing

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Everything posted by darkwing

  1. darkwing
    We did Mr. Potato Head at my DZ also. We had a bigger group, I'm guessing about a 10-way, and we didn't launch a piece. It was fun. There was video, but I don't know what became of it. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  2. darkwing
    There are world record holders who did worse than you when they were students. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  3. darkwing
    getting pied was a well established tradition when I started jumping in 1973, although it was reserved for more special occasions than now. Until I got back into skydiving about 4 years ago, I only saw it at 1,000 jump intervals. So sometime between about 1985 and 2000 getting pied required less excuse than in the old days. I hear of it for 100, 500, AFF graduations... any damn thing. Kind of like any reason to charge someone a case of beer, except harder to explain. I understand that most people like to drink someone else's beer. I don't understand why the pie proliferation. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  4. darkwing
    I have a Havok, which I bought to replace a Z1. I wear glasses, and that is why I changed over to the Havok. I hated the hassle of dealing with glasses every jump with the Z1. Now, the Havok lets me forget that I am wearing glasses. I have tried many other helmets, and have found nothing even close to the ease of the Havok. If I didn't wear glasses, I'd probably have a FreeZR. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  5. darkwing
    Generally speaking, the inboard steering line gets a lot more load that the other steering lines. I am surprised about the gradual unstitching of both attachments. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  6. darkwing
    There is no one, magic solution, for any canopy. Consult the factory for their suggestions. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  7. darkwing
    yes, I can see problems with chest straps, esp. if they are stressed in a direction that is not their designed load direction. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  8. darkwing
    Try this site -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  9. darkwing
    None of these rules help anyone when neither party sees things happening in advance. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  10. darkwing
    It would be a mistake to assume that just because something contains no "chemicals" that it won't cause damage. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  11. darkwing
    I'm a chunky, older skydiver, and I pay for my jumps by having the skydiving babes pay me to have sex with them. If that doesn't cover my jumping dollar needs, I have a real job too. Youthful jumpers might consider becoming packers. My dz is often short of packers. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  12. darkwing
    Sounds like an experiment that needs doing. If I had some deet I'd apply it to a bunch of scrap and see what happens. Edit to add: Of course, until really good info came out (not just the results of my lame experiments) I'd assume deet is bad for skydiving gear. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  13. darkwing
    I'd call it "harness fear." I had occasions of major fear about being insecure in the harness, and falling out, or it breaking, or something. Almost always it was when under canopy. I think it was never an issue in freefall, or when opening, just when I was flying my canopy around did I worry about it. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  14. darkwing
    Visiting them is the only effective way. Asking about number of fatalaties is essentially meaningless. A very busy dz, that is also very safe can have more fatalaties over the years than a small, unsafe DZ. As said above, fatalaties have far, far more to do with the individual, than the DZ. Just go jump. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  15. darkwing
    I recommended Michigan to several friends, but it was not a series of pleasant experiences. Now we all recommend Bev. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  16. darkwing
    I know a guy who femured himself in about 1970 on a ramair canopy. I'd say it started about the time ramairs came out. A few femurs kept the rest of us gunshy for a couple of decades. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  17. darkwing
    Jumpsuit good. Model ugly. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  18. darkwing
    Impossible question to answer the way you want to. Just go and jump. Make yourself the safest you can. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  19. darkwing
    I had a similar dry spell, at about 1500 jumps. It was easy to get back into things. Do whatever makes you and the safety people at your chosen DZ comfortable. If that means sitting through a first jump course, that is fine. If it means having a personalized refresher with an instructor, that is fine too. I had a brief refresher, did some harness time, and was invited on a 20-way. I declined the big way and did a solo from 4,500 feet. It was a very comfortable jump for me, and then I went right into some fun RW jumps. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  20. darkwing
    Now is a good time to bring up the So, you want to be a rigger thread -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  21. darkwing
    I heard the same speech from a multi-thousand jump guy in 1976. I didn't try to talk him out of it. If someone doesn't want to jump, then they shouldn't jump. It may be that he will think differently in a few years. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  22. darkwing
    There is no statute of limitations on pies. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  23. darkwing
    I heard of a failure in a more extreme case than yours, so I add that to my "walk around and check other peoples rigs" checklist, when they are packing. I haven't found any problem ones yet though. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  24. darkwing
    Just out of curiousity, what does the manufacturer say to do? -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  25. darkwing
    Glad you didn't die. Given your experience level, and some LIKELY (but not definite) interpretations and assumptions, I'd suggest the problem was probably you. Either you were pulling on something other than the handle (perhaps in addition to the handle), such as a piece of your jumpsuit, or the main lift web, or you were pulling the handle in shear mode rather than peel mode. You state that the "handle wouldn't come loose" which says to me that you never pulled on the cables, just the handle. Don't get me wrong, I believe it is possible that there was something else wrong, but with the evidence at hand I just think the other scenarios are less likely. Dirty cables and housings can make pulls very hard also. -- Jeff My Skydiving History