hookitt

I disagree that the range of motion wearing Dainese is very limiting. Arching isn't restricted by much at all and a hard arch is certainly attainable if you choose to. The full safety jacket or the spine protector alone allows plenty of mobility. Spine Protector Just buy one. There's no reason not to have one. I've used the original safety jacket which has this exact spine protector. The fall would have killed, or, at minimum, paralyzed me. The spine protector alone is easily concealed under clothing, and it's small enough to either carry it or wear it while climbing. Good luck. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Spring_2005_MS.wmv 58 Megs of really cool stuff. Be sure to watch the credits! PS: This isn't a skydiving video but it does involve parachutes. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

James Schlernitzauer, DZO, was doing tandems in Lodi when I saw him last year. He may still be there. I missed out on jumping there when it was open. I hear it was a nice place. Small, but nice. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Transition to what? You're on one of the fastest turning canopies already. That 150 Stiletto isn't going to be a faster canopy ... so skip it. Leave the Monarch alone because you'll be disappointed given the fact you'r jumping a radical canopy already. Since your dad is letting you jump the Diablo, don't hurt yourself, and keep jumping it. By the time you get another couple hundred jumps in, chances are you'll weigh more, so in a sense, you'll be downsizing without changing canopies. By then, you'll have a better idea what to switch to. Hope that helps. Edit: I think I misunderstood the question. If you're asking what is a more reasonable canopy for now, try the sabre. There are so many things you can do on it and you will probably learn a lot more with less risk. Hope that helps... again My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

SOOoooo.... ya want to give it a shot? My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

If you say so ... one does not know until the situation presents itself. In general... I would turn right. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

I have a modern canopy. I've been presented with that exact scenario. We both turned the obvious left and nearly touched bodies. A right hand turn would have caused a collision. At the speeds modern canopies fly, you have fractions of a second to decide which way to go. Sometimes that direction is not to the right. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

It's not that confusing... For example purposes only. The numbers I’m about to use are made up. Let’s say, that two fifteen foot wide objects are on parallel paths heading towards each other. The center of the paths is only 5 feet apart. That would leave 5 feet of the right side of each object on a collision course. Turning left would be the shortest path of avoidance. mdrejhon had it figured out, I was simply agreeing. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

If 2 planes are flying left of center enroute to an imminent headon on, turning right would be dumb. Common sense and reflexes must prevail. --- PS: My preferred method is one hand on each handle. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

You mean JJ? He has the number to a bunch of locals. I suspect he'll be able to steer you in the right direction. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

You forgot where you were as in, "wow.. it's windy ... where's my jacket?" or .. just didn't know what to do for a few seconds? In skydivease, forgetting what to do next is called Brain Lock. Since it was a level 3, it's probably a bit of sensory overload. Sensory overload goes away after awhile. It's just your brain taking a few seconds to absorb the fact that you really are outside of an airplane falling towards the earth. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Original Monarch opened like a train wreck. The next version with the droopdown nose was pretty good. It's nothing special. Jump it by all means but it won't compare to the Nitron. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

That's common to flip it through when gathering up the canopy after landing when the risers are hanging down in front of you. It seems nearly impossible to have it occur unless it was put on your back that way. I realize you performed a gear check, but it seems to be the only way. I've been proven wrong before so it happening afterwards isn't ruled out. Does there happen to be video of the jump? Try and push that ring through while it's unloaded. Then squeeze the middle and the small ring together and it will pass through. I'm not sure how it could pass through under any sort of load, but ya never know. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Downsizing a size or 2 would get your attention but downsizing to some tiny elliptical with out being prepared....and sometimes even when you think you are..... You'd open the canopy at a high altitude, say 11,000 feet and think to yourself, "Wow... this is really fast" Then you'd take the toggles in your hands and clear the brakes. and think... "Wow... this is much faster" Then you would pull the toggle down past your shoulder to see how it turns, and say to yourself, "You've got to be kidding me" which is likely coupled with a feeling of terror. The desire to cutaway and go to a much more sensible canopy will cross your mind. If you're used to pulling the toggle down to your waist to make a turn, and you do it on this one, you'll find out very quickly as you're attemting to kick out of the most radical and sudden lines twists you've ever encountered that that much input wan't necessarry. There may be a point where "Just let me live... I won't do this again" will come to the forefront of your mind. 4000 feet will come around and the thought of cutting away is still there. You may have determined that you can land it if you're very careful, or you fly over the DZ and hope the reserve is a better choice. That's the condensed version.

Fast turning canopy. How'd you like it? My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

How would I know? Funny you guys take it so serious Then again, it's only the internet. On that note... Have fun practicing your mad sleuthing skills.Girls like guys who have skills, you know like num chuk skills, dance skills, computer hacking skills My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

I missed this one. It's great because the main flap stays shut until the pilot chute pulls the pin. It opens just fine after that. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

My stance: I think it's a bad idea. Extrapoolate upon that as much as you wish. Jimmy is known for a bit of theatrics. Keep that in mind. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

That video is GREAT!!! Those who haven't seen from wings came flight won't quite get it. Good stuff Walt. Thanks for sharing. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Jimmy If posting about this had nothing to do with publicity, then I retract my statement. It was purely a speculation and often speculation goes no where. The statement did however, spark a pretty good response from you. You and I don't agree on some things and to that we've already agreed to disagree. As far as the non-skydiving participant in the BASE realm, I'll leave that alone and add this. Since the CPS has been mentioned, and one thing that hasn't been mentioned, what about contributing to the delinquency of a minor? BASE in and of itself is not an illegal activity. Trespassing is. If you both are caught on that object, who's to say you won't be charged with contributing? I'm curious because I don't know. People contribute all the time in other ways but I'm curious about this in particular. Thoughts? My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Especially that pimpin one! - - Hey Chris, what's the exact weight you prefer to use? PM me if you wish. I'm one that just packs it full and starts with a specific length tail. My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

That's Deafanese for "Clay" My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

I'm going to turn that around and ask, what brand and model rig were you witness to either of those scenario's occuring, and when? My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

Funny you should say that becuase... Some of the most experienced people I know won't jump with a pop-top.

Nice report Deuce. I've video taped a lot of tandem skydives. What happened to you happens to plenty of other talented tandem instructors. It's easy to criticize when the person is someone else. There are a lot of tandem skydives made every year that do not get documented on tape and this one did. Good on you for posting a picture knowing you'd be under scrutiny from the masses. You're not supposed to use the drogue to gain stability... unless_it_becomes_necessary. That’s simply a matter of fact. What other choice do you have besides pulling the reserve? That's even less ideal but it is an option that has been used. It's a helpless sensation watching a tandem pair out of control at terminal. "Pull something ... just pull something" ... and then out comes the drogue. Problem solved. Preventing something like that is always the best option, however, that option doesn't always present itself JP, you get an "A" for unf***ing yourself. That bad ass picture is actually upside down isn’t it? How close is he really? Is the picture cropped? My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto