3ringheathen

Some of the tobacco lawsuits have merit. Don't forget that the tobacco industry knew how dangerous cigarettes were way back in the 50's. They made a conscious decision to actively suppress this information, and spent enormous sums of money purposely trying to make their product as addictive as possible because they knew it killed there customer base. Some executives should have been charged with criminal offenses. The MickyDs coffee lawsuit is also far less frivolous than most people seem to think. IIRC, McDonalds corporate made it policy that the coffee be maintained at 190 degrees (?) specifically so that people would scald their tongues and not seek refills. There were scores of serious burns accross the nation, and the woman in question suffered 3rd degree burns to her genitals. Ultimately I think she had 3-4 rounds of reconstructive surgery. Finally, the huge judgement was based upon one days profits from coffee sales. Anything less is hardly any incentive for such a large corporation to be responsible. Remember the Pinto? The bean counters knew it could explode and calculated that it would be cheaper to pay the lawsuits than fix the problem. Sadly, you've got to hit them in the pocketbook or they won't behave. Even with this in mind, the McDonalds settlement was drastically reduced. A sign in my opinion, that the current system isn't as broke as some would have us believe. The above is from memory, so check it out for yourself. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I'm well aware of the nature of a spinning mals, having chopped 4 of them. One tangled toggle and three line twist induced spinners. I didn't wait to get stable on any of them, and had no troubles. My comments were written with exactly those concerns in mind. The risk you are basing your decision on is small, and as stated, reserve deployment systems are designed to be forgiving, even under those circumstances. You do what ever you feel is best, it's your life. I'm simply pointing out that historically, your plan of action does not tend to stack the odds in your favor. Mine does. Far more people have cutaway with plenty of altitude, and then never pulled the reserve. Since they are all dead, we can't ask them what happened. One theory that makes a lot of sense to me is this: You've chopped a spinner, and are arching, and waiting to get stable. However, the fluid in your inner ear takes a bit to settle down. So you wait for the rest of your life for your inner ear to tell you that you're stable. Is this what happens? I don't know for sure, but bunch of very experienced skydivers have chopped and not followed through with a reserve pull. I don't want to be one of them. You mention reacting in the best way you can to "suit the situation". I think this is where people get into trouble. You've made your decision tree more complicated. You're assuming that in a high stress, violent spinning malfunction you're going to be able to stay focused, think clearly, take the time to assess the sitiuation, weigh all of your options, cutaway, and freefall for just a "second or two" longer, and then pull your reserve. All while your body is pumping adrenaline through your veins. Remember, adrenaline is known to distort your sense of time and impair your judgement. Is your approach reasonable if you know your really high? Sure. However, on the vast majority of your jumps, you probably don't open too far above the hard deck, so your standard emergency procedures should be based on the assumption that you're pulling at a typical altitude. You will likely do what you've practiced regardless of how high or how low you are. How did you come up with those odds? I'm sure they're way off, or we'd see these dreaded reserve entanglements in the incident reports. Hell, I would've experienced it twice! Assuming I somehow survived the first one. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

"Stalin and Deng Xiaoping appeared twice. Bush would be in fine company." - Kallend, Message #3 Anyone who suggests that Stalin is a "fine" man, or that Bush is the equivalent of Stalin, has zero credibility. Of course, in his usual fashion, Kallend will just claim that this is not what he meant Of course he'll claim that's not what he meant. It's not even what he wrote. In order to appreciate the distinction, which isn't particularly subtle, you have to first accept that not everyone shares your opinion that Bush is doing a good job. You don't have to agree with them, but you have to recognize the difference in perspective. Speaking for myself, I disagree with the majority of Bush's major policies. I think he's doing more harm than good. His intentions may be good, but he's making a mess of things. In my opinion, of course. In that sense, he's more comparable to Stalin than say, Ghandi. Is he as bad as Stalin? Hardly. But then, I wasn't arguing that, and I doubt Kallend was either. It's certainly not what he wrote. Therefore, his credibility is just fine in my book. You're not doing quite so well. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

OK. I didn't know that, and I'm quite surprised. This isn't a subject I'm too passionate about, so I admit that I haven't done my homework. When and if changes in my local laws become an issue, I'll read up on it before voting. I'm sure someone in this forum will draw attention to it. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

ps - what time is it in Seattle? It's not even late here anymore, now it's early. It's about 1 AM. I've had severe insomnia for about a month now. I'll be up until it's "early", too. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Am I hearing another "blood running in the streets" prediction? No. You're hearing a "blood running in the bars" prediction. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Has she been watching re runs of the original Gilligans Island? -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I agree with Sparky on this. The rational for waiting a few seconds to get stable after cutting away is so that one can avoid inducing a reserve malfunction/entanglement. The actual risk here is fairly low. Due to various aspects of reserve design, ie: Non-eliptical and free bag, they're pretty forgiving of unstable deployments. There are proportionately few examples of unstable reserve deployments causing significant problems. In contrast, there are a disturbing number of fatalities wherein the deceased managed to cut away, but never pulled the reserve or pulled it too late to help. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Speaking of comments that destroy credibility: 1) It's not at all obvious that Bush is in the "good" category. 2) No one said that Bush is equal to Stalin. There are some parallels between the two. The scale of the problems are, of course, debatable. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

While impressive in it's own rite, it's not the same thing. Billy mentioned leaving one plane and climbing into another one. On a side note, I used to have footage of two guys leaving biplanes flying accross and switching. Anyone know who that was? -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

It's possible that in this particular incident, an armed citizen might have done some good. However, in general, allowing firearms into bars, taverns, and similar venues would result in far more carnage than it would prevent. It's just about the worst idea I've heard proposed in this forum, and that's saying something. Alcohol makes otherwise smart people do really stupid stuff. Right now it usually results in black eyes and bloody knuckles. Add guns to the mix, and it's going to get ugly. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I have the 18volt kit. The drill is very good, and does a fair amount of work on one charge but the sawzall and circular saw are mediocre. Both of those chewed through the same batteries so fast it was frustrating. If you're not expecting to use them too much, the price is right. If you're planning some major projects, or work in the trades, spend the extra money on a Dewalt or Milwaukee set. I've used both, and they're top notch. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Reminds me of EMT training. Question on final written test: What is the field treatment for a penile fracture? It was multiple choice, but the correct answer was: Splint in the position of function. So in case you ever wondered why medics have an assortment of tongue depressors, popsicle sticks and toothpicks, now you know. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Eight over 2000+ jumps. Sentinel AAD misfired at 3500', resulting in a canopy transfer to 26' lopo. Good times, crap gear. I chopped pilot chute hesitation on jump 100. I'm really proud of that one. I knew what I'd screwed up before I was done pulling my handles. Line over on borrowed gear. Thanks you know who you are, and I'm sure you'll read this. I landed a biplane after losing altitude awareness and sniveling into Cypres territory. Hypoxia, hangovers, stupidity and boogies are a dangerous mix. Spinner caused when toggle came unstowed while pulling slider over risers. This would have been easily fixable with the luxury of more altitude. Or easily preventable with better toggle stows. At least 3 line twist, spinning high G chops. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

This from a website with Limbaugh and Falwell as contibuting authors. Oh the irony! -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Did you ad a wide angle lens? If not, try a .5 or .42 something along those lines. I've been using the HC30 for a full season of tandem vids and some BASE with nothing but praise from my customers. Since a lot of the people I video come as a group and all get video, some from other guys with much more expensive cameras, if my finished product were inferior I would have heard about it. You can definately get a better camera, but you'll pay for it in cash, size, and weight. -Josh ps: You can buy a wide angle lens with an adapter ring to fit for about $40. pss: Night shot isn't great, but it seems to work well right through sunset. If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I can't imagine a scenario where it'd be a factor worth considering. You are assuming that a smaller canopy does inflate faster, which I'm not convinced is true. I asked DW about it once, he said it was a common misconception. Further, if the jump was low enough for that to be a consideration, you probably should re-think jumping it. Food for thought: a 260 that's say 85% inflated has more surface area to produce drag than does a 220 fully inflated. If the jump is so low that you wont have time to fly and flare, drag is all that's gonna matter, right? -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

It's extremely efficient. Just don't confuse efficient with economical. Electricity isn't cheap. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I first read about this close to a year ago. I bet locals knew several years ago. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

On the canopy you showed us, it probably didn't matter at all. You touched upon my line of thinking when you wrote: It seems to me that your 6 cell canopy ends up with an extra set of 4 lines. That is, since a line from each riser goes to the center rib, you end up with a pair of A,B,C,and D lines, where on an odd # design, you'd only have one set. Near as I can tell, the average bulk and drag from extra lines is increased with an even number of cell design. Like I said, it probably didn't matter too much on that particular design. I bet it'd be a far more noticable disadvantage on a 95ft2 swoop machine. Come to think of it, the convergence of lines at the center could also increase the probability of slider hangups and malfunctions. Just a theory, though. Don't get me wrong, I think it's cool. I'd love to play with canopy design if I had the chance. I'd love to jump your 6 cell, or a triangle reserve. I jump at the chance to try novel canopies. So far It's just been T10s, Paracomanders, Thunderbows, and one reverse engineered Russian rig with a paradactyl as a reserve. Lucky me, the main worked. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Interesting: In the photo of a 6 cell that Darkwing provided it appears that one line from both the right and left riser share a single attachment point on the rib between the two center cells. That would be an increasingly significant disadvantage as wingloading increases. I can't think of any particular advantage of the design. Maybe that's why they aren't made that way anymore? -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Someone's going to have to convey this reality to Bush before his administration will consider conveying it to the people. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I'd reconsider that. I recommend putting the swoop cords on last so that you can easily remove them. Sooner or later, you'll be glad you did (or sorry that you didn't). -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

So is an RSL, or SkyHook. He was asking about the Collin's lanyard. Without getting into the RSL debate, I happen to think that typically, the pros of an RSL outway the cons. Especially for a low time jumper that's not wearing a bunch of camera equipment and probably not doing CRW. While there are very real cons to an RSL, the problem they address is failure to deploy a reserve after cuttting away. Unfortunately, history has shown this to be a very real, and not all that rare problem. In contrast, the Collins lanyard potentially helps if one has riser failure. To my knowledge, this is pretty much a non-existent problem on sport gear and easily avoided with good maintenance. So the potential benefit is very small at best. See the difference? At any rate, it appears to be a moot point because he apparantly can't put the Collins lanyard on his Infinity anyway. I don't think he's missing out on anything. I don't know enough about the skyhook to offer an opinion on it. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Too funny! That's kind of what I thought, but I couldn't figure out how to write it so that everyone else would understand. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.