kimgriffin

Thanks Ray, Loic and everyone on the BM big ways on Sunday!!! I had a great time. That last 24-way was a beautiful way to end the weekend ... nice and tight. The only thing I missed was Jari's ear to ear smile. I hope the BM International office opening was fun. Sure you didn't have as much fun as we did, Jarilintu. Thanks again everyone. Hey, if anyone has pics... please post them or email them to me at kim@vigil.aero (my yahoo account is limited). ~Kim

Thanks, Chris. Yeah, Jay never ceases to amaze me! Huge conrats Jay and the PD team. It was such a gorgeous weekend for a swoop event. Not as many swimming as last year and I wondered if that had anything to do with the 6ft (so they said) alligator in the pond. And the (not so forgiving) end lip of that pond is probably a bit flatter now!

Anyone know where I can find the scores from last weekend's swoop meet at Fantasty of Flight (Lakeland, Florida)?

Happy to hear you're coming to Jacksonville again too, Chuckie! See you there. You going to be bird-manning (terrible pun... sorry) the BM booth? You know I'll be paying you a visit or ten. Although I'm disgustingly uncurrent on my SF, the BM blood still beats in my heart. Katie coming too? slotperfect chutingstar NightJumper Mark Baur jlmiracle bbarnhouse councilman24 fields Rigger53 USSkydiver SkymonkeyONE Kim Griffin

Verrrry interesting, base311... So, you can only Okie Noodle Flathead, channel, and blue catfish 5 months out of the year in GA. Are there so many Okie Noodlers in GA? (Yeah, you all might as well go on and fess up to your secret noodling fetish.) I watched an Okie Noodling documentary (yuup, thanks Arlo!) and don't think overfishing by getting a catfish to bite you on the arm should be of much concern. Now here's a sport that's really man against nature. Funny shit!

You two definitely know how to vacation! I know it wasn't all that exciting of a Monday evening but I'm so happy I got to see you at least for a couple hours of Okie Noodling and little catching up. Katie, I must say, you DO look stunning with Harley hair! Wondering if the aforementioned hairball came from you or Kissa? I dig you both tons and always love any chance to see each other. wooooyaaaa... gettttin married on Sat! I wish it wasn't so f-ing expensive to stay down there or Arlo and I would have been tempted. (No one should stay w/ you on your consummation night for gosh's sakes.) Have a great time guys. Let us know if you'll stay in DeLand on your way back.

Hi Ron, I am sorry I let my emotions get the best of me. My offer for the ladder was totally uncalled for and unprofessional. But, I'm a skydiver and person over my job at Vigil and sometimes I forget to censor myself. My apologies. It's just that your post below saying that AAD has downplayed and ignored problems pissed me off. It pissed me off because you were spouting this as it was a fact without actually having the facts. You had and have no idea how direct AAD has been with its customers (since you are not a customer). You had no idea how long that one Vigil was tested. It's frustrating when AAD has been up front with their findings and problems to have these things said by you. Not to mention that you don't seem to have anything positive to say, even the Vigil has been working when it should (3 real/necessary activations with skydivers gone low) and not activating when it shouldn't. Also, to say that people shouldn't listen to company officials' input is something I don't agree with. Take what mfg reps say with a grain of salt, that's understandable... but don't discredit people who have spent years researching and testing a product. People who work in the skydiving industry do usually give a shit about the jumpers who buy their products. I never want to disrespect someone's opinion because we're all entitled to them. But, I just have a hard time when I feel someone is offering up information as fact like they know exactly what's going on, when they don't. I know you choose to jump a Cypres, Ron. Totally cool. But, I just don't get why you think Vigil has some evil plot they're hiding from the skydivers. It's just so not true. I don't know when you'll let the horse be dead but I hope someday you do. Or, at least be open to the idea that there can be another good AAD on the market. Something I do respect is that you speak your mind, whether it gets my panties in a bunch or not. So many people don't even question how their gear is packed or what they jump. Questioning in life is good. It's hard to post here when you work for a mfg because if you do post, some people don't want to believe you thinking it's a sales pitch. If you don't post, then you're hiding information. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Okay, I have my white flag hoisted and now will go back to a bunch of work I've put off today. ~Kim Griffin Vigil USA DeLand, Florida

Ron, that you think AAD downplayed or ignored the misfire in Deland in Dec 03 is inaccurate. Do you know how many weeks that specific Vigil was put through testing by AAD and by an independent outside the company? AAD was shut down for weeks just to test that one Vigil. The information after testing WAS released to the public. They honest to God could not get that Vigil to misfire again and could not find any problems with it. This was not the answer AAD wanted either, but they refused to lie about it just to please the public. AAD has gone far and beyond what most companies do when there is a problem and they have been more up front than most companies. You would be surprised if you knew what info skydiving mfgs keep from the public (competing AAD's included here), but of course, you can’t know what you don’t know. AAD wants to take the stand of being up front with customers and, so far, they have. The Vigils with the stronger static electrical shielding have been jumped for 7 months now with somewhere over 20,000 jumps on around 1000 units - all different countries, many different climates and types of skydives - no problems. Ron, I noticed that you didn't bother to come question me personally or to check out the Vigil at my booth at the US Nationals. I was hoping you would, tried to smile your way a bunch of times so you would know that I don’t give a shit about the Vigil exchanges we’ve had here this year. I could have even loaned you a ladder to get down off your high horse for a minute. Off the subject… About Sweden... The Swedish Federation is known for taking its time in accepting new skydiving gear (their prerogative... sure they have the jumper's best interest in mind.) I have been told by RWS that it took them a year before the Vector3 would be accepted (and if Bill Booth doesn't have a good reputation for quality, not sure who does.) I agree, jumpers should NOT take the word from a skydiving mfg company is the end all. Hopefully jumpers do what they can to inform themselves about their gear in other ways. But, if John LeBlanc tells you about a PD canopy’s flight characteristics or design, will you listen? I would. Of course, he may promote his product but he also has knowledge about it that I may benefit from knowing. So, I understand and agree that people should look beyond the mfg for gear info, but it’s my opinion that information coming from the people who know the most about the product is indeed useful. ~Kim Griffin Vigil USA DeLand, Fla. -Kimberly Griffin

I'm with you Lew... love my Odyssey!

Just spoke to RWS - they got their server/email back up a couple hours ago. But, keep in mind that they were 7 days with no access to email, so the backlog of messages is probably pretty big. Yeah, we're all very happy that hurricane season is ending soon! Poor Sebastian and Lake Wales! Everyone in DeLand has seen some inconveniences and expenses but those guys got hammered hard! Well, I'm off to Perris tomorrow so yahoo - dry air (but hopefully not too brown!) ~Kim Griffin Vigil USA DeLand Fla

You want people to start using "Jump" again, and "Fly Away" ? *** Ahh.. you beat me to it... was going to say the same. Don't forget "Freefalling" by Tom Petty. Okay, I agree that some techno can get repetitive (but there is some great stuff out there too) but if I had to chose techo over the same ol' old-time-rock-and-roll songs on most skydive videos, I'll take the techo! It's more reflective of the adrenaline pumping through your blood on a jump.

Daaaaaaaaaaammnn, girl... you look gorgeous!!! What was the occasion? (Did I miss that?) Yeah, I'll agree... Chuckie's looking mighty fine too! Yeah, I like people who are willing to get down and dirty, stinky and real but who also can appreciate cleaning up nicely and putting on dancing shoes. You are Chuck are just that sort! Love it! The picture at Sebastian is great too. I'll send a hug to you via your monkey when I see him in Perris next week. Look fwd to seeing you both later in the month!

Tjene Schwede. Actually, the Vigil wasn't released too early at all. It was 4 years in design and testing before it was released. It's an exceptional product, but I know I'm not the one to say here since I'm obviously biased working for the company and all. Unfortunately, the shielding for static electricity wasn't strong enough on the original units. All units were replaced between April 1 and June 20 in N and S America and Canada. I'm not 100% sure on the dates for the rest of the world's exchange since it's not my territory. Since the new Vigils (with greatly increased shielding for static electricy, of course) were released in April, we estimate there have between 10,000-15,000 jumps on the 1000+ Vigil rigs worldwide with no problems. Jumps have been made in all coniditions on all sorts of skydives. There has been 1 Vigil fire on a student rig in California when a student went low and I've heard there were a couple other Vigil "saves" in Russia. So, it's not only being jumped but working as intended. If anyone is giong to be at the US Nationals in Perris, I'll have a table with some Vigil demos that people can play with, ask me questions, take free promo stuff, just say hi, what ever. Updating the website is one of many things the guys in Belgium have the works. But, I agree with you 100%, Schwede, the Vigil site could use a current news column with updated information now. I'm sure they're busy with production and marketing but I'll pass on this suggestion. Ha en brrrrraaaa vinter. I'm still bummed I missed the Herc Boogie! Next time. ~Kim Griffin Vigil USA

No worries... got both phone #s and email. Thanks Stacy and Arlo.

Yeahh... the US FS teams are kicking ass! Go Majik, Airspeed and Synchronicity! You're making us proud for sure! Looks like gold medals will be coming tomorrow! Hey, in case anyone hasn't seen www.skyleague.com, the site is featuring very good comentary (and team pics) from Croatia. Both Kurt Gaebel and Shannon Pilcher (reporting on 4-way) are there for the NSL.

Hi. I'm trying to find Ansa du Toit's phone number or email address. If anyone can help I'd be so grateful. She's a South African girl who lives in Orlando, Fla and was on the DeLand-based 4-way team "Chickara" last year. Her husband's name is Marius, aka Bar One. I think they frequent the tunnel and Skydive Sebastian. There's a good South African 4-way team that just dropped a member and they want her to fill in at the US Nationals in Perris (Oct 1). Thanks. ~Kim -Kimberly Griffin

Hi. I'm trying to find Ansa du Toit's phone number or email address. If anyone can help I'd be so grateful. She's a South African girl who lives in Orlando, Fla and was on the DeLand-based team "Chickara". Her husband's name is Marius, aka Bar One. There's a good South African 4-way team that just dropped a member and they want her to fill in at the US Nationals in Perris (Oct 1). Thanks. ~Kim

Yes, Frances opened my eyes to what a hurricane can do. When I see the amount of people who have died and no longer even have a home I feel bad that I was upset about not having power for a week and not being able to work (I'm hourly). Oh yeah, and there's the hurricane eating habbit that I still haven't broken. But, life will go back to normal in time, things can be fixed and replaced. (Not that it doesn't suck.) -Kimberly Griffin

Now that would be a sweet jump at the next WFFC. I could just make it at 5'3.5" without my Sketchers on. One good thing about being short is that if we have the skill and are agressive enough, we can turn very fast... less surface area. Also, we're not so miserable in Cessnas. -Kimberly Griffin

We can't vote for all? They're 3 beautiful women with different looks. I couldn't vote for one. Hot is also about attitude, don't you think? I know a model-like stunning skydiver girl but she doesn't put out an ounce of sexiness. Same goes with some skydiver men. I love the unasuming beauty of skydiver women. Most of us are not about make up and our looks but still enjoy dolling up sometimes. You know a girl is hot if you find her beautiful after a long day of jumping (in the summer heat no less). Here's a pic of three skydiver women who never wear make up, dress in shorts and tank tops for work but a friend decided one night after a lot of wine to color all of our hair and do our make up. Oh, these girls are going to murder me for posting this. But, they look so hot. Well, I think I look like a 13 yr old trying to be a Britney Spears wanna be (yuck!) I did learn to never let you friend talk you in to dying your hair after you've both been drinking. I hope the payback for posting these pics is not too brutal! But, these are flattering pics, so no harm done, right?

While I'm usually very pro female's can do anything, I will admit that I suck at driving. It's embarasing. The problem is in judging spacial distances. Haven't they proven this scientific studies? I think it's another reason (besides having less testosterone and issues with the ego) that most women are more conservative under canopy than men.

I received word recently that a Vigil AAD was put to use during a student jump at Adventure Skydiving Center in Hollister, Calif. Jumpmaster Mark Kimber writes in his report to Vigil USA, “[The] AFF cat. D skydive was going fine until pull time. The student rolled on his back searching for the pilot chute until the Vigil did its job perfectly.” Kimber reported that the student pulled his main at approx 1,600 ft. Around 1490 ft, the Vigil released the reserve parachute creating a two-canopy out situation. The Vigil was programmed in student mode (1040 ft/45 MPH) but the activation altitude had been adjusted + 450 feet by DZ staff. Fortunately, both canopies found clean air and the student landed his main and reserve canopies uneventfully. Dearest Moderator: Since no one was hurt, I wasn't sure if I should post this under "Incidents". Since I work for Vigil USA, I realize I need to tread carefully here when it comes to AADs! ~Kim Griffin Vigil USA Sales Manager DeLand, Florida

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOOOOUUUUUU, YOU LIVE IN A ZOOOOOO, YOU SMELL LIKE A MONKEY AND YOU LOOK LIKE ONE TOOOOO00! Chuckie, happy anniversary on the day you decided to come in to the world to kick ass, make lots of friends and have a shitload of fun! You're a fantastic guy, Chuckie, and I always love the oportunities we get to hang. Maybe see you and the lovely Katiebear end of Oct? Hope so! Hope you're already having a great birthday! Mucho Smooches, Kim

Oh yeaaah, BirdMan suits - very sexy. BirdWoMan suits, even sexier! Nothing like the inflatable butt on the S3 to accencuate one's figure. I like big butts and I just can't lie.

I heard that Rob Laidlaw's (president, CEO or what ever of SDU) home was hit hard by Frances. His car and another other car in his diveway were both hit by falling trees - the tree won in both cases. Power and telephone is still down in many places in DeLand (getting better though). Cel phone towers must have been damaged too, as many of us have intermitent cel service here. You may want to call Skydive DeLand if you can't reach SDU. 386-738-3539. They're jumping today and have power and telephone.