Treejumps

Yo Ray, I can't stop sewing either. Just got my Class 7 and am now making rigs too. I'll send you pics of my new 2 pin, the Huck-It. Maybe we can work together on an East Coast West Coast domination of the massive BASE gear market. Cya.

*** This country still has a lot of evolving to do. That seems to be part of the argument; "if you were just evolved enough (smart as me) you would think like me, and then you would see that the way I think is right". I'm sorry, but I would consider a society that allows anyone to do anything they want to, with anyone or anything they want to, devolution, not evolution. By your definition, the animal world is more evolved than humans. I disagree and beleive that there does need to be limits and rules for a society to function. Just because this particualr behavior has been flaunted to the world in recent years does not change what it is.

I think that it is particularly interesting that "civil union" was specifically eliminated, and along with it the health and other benefits that went with them. I believe that civil unions were gone after as a pre-emptive strike to tell these activists that they had gone way too far. Yes I understand how badly they want everyone's stamp of approval on their lifestyle. However, the overwhelming results of these elections show that while pressed in a public forum many people will "say" that they support gay marriage, when it comes to actually deciding what is acceptable saocial behavior and what is not, the results have spoken loudly for themselves. Frankly, I don't have a problem with civil unions, but since the gay marriage activists pushed so hard I find it fitting that they lost benefits that they enjoyed in the pursuit of things that they have no right to.

It seems that the majority of Americans have had their say, and there is still no such thing as gay marriage. This is a case where an extremely vocal, very small minority pushed so hard that eventually the masses pushed back, and the masses won. So sorry.

Check it out. http://cgi.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id=463376 May of may not be worth getting.

Hi Mac, I am not claiming I know you and all my opinions are based on what you've writen on this board. Your response was all about the "dissing" you seem to have percieved from my post. I was not putting you down in any way, but simply writing down why I thought you had these ideas. Dick DG by far does the best job responding to the "what are we going to do about all these newbies" threads. I probably made one myself a few years ago. What you did not respond to was what I said about BD, and how doubtful it is that it could have any impact on BASE in the USA, much less the rest of the world. Your opinion about BD is likely a very minority one. My apolagies, but I thought you were a UK jumper, hence the "big pond" statement. I'm just not sure where you are going with all of this. As stated, the sport will continue to grow at a more and more accelerated pace. It is not possible to regulate it, bottle it, sell it, or whatever. BASE is prety much what you jump and who you jump it with. How can you do anything to affect that? Teach the new guys best you can. Pass along the good word. Share your knowledge and experiences. If you help one person avoid death or injury you will have done your part. If you can talk one person out of even trying it... more power to you. That would really save someone a lot of headaches. It is all good, until it isn't. Tree

*** "release toggle with a cloth stub would have to be two-step" Actually, this is not true. I am working on a design that will be one handed and will work with either toggle set up. There is also somethng else that this system will incorporate that I will not discuss now becasue, well, I want to build it first. I think that it will add additional safety to slider up jumping. I should have a prototype to jump soon and I have a willing test jumper. Cya.

Hey Mac, I think that based on your time in sport, and that you are on the wrong side of the big pond. and you haven't actually been to bridge day, that you may just have a skewed P.O.V. For starters, BD would not be much aof an event without BASE. It would be a nice little deep fried food festival with a bunch of touron junk for sale, but it would not be WV's biggest one day event that generates $20M in economic impact without BASE. The 10 year permit granted by NPS pretty much tells that tale of BASE's importance to BD. Second, BD is not exactly BASE jumping, but more like something that BASE jumping evolved from. BD is ALL ABOUT 1st timers, and that includes those who have more balls than skills, but most of them do just fine. Thats why the boats are there. The nearly injury free event of the last several years stands testament to the improvement of the overall level of knowledge that things like the Base Board and this forum have spread. It is also a testament to the level of professionalism of those who run the event and work the event. If something happens at BD, it is not likely to affect BASE here in the states, and has virtually zero possibility to affecting worldwide base. At this stage of the game BASE is a known quantity at BD, and any injury or for that matter, a fatality, would be been for what it is; a possible outcome of a dangerous sport. I have only recently come to realize, thanks to very insightful posts by Nick DG, Gardner, and some others, that were all just borrowing time from base. We can't own it, sell it, or protect it byond our own actions. Tom A is showing you how to help try to steer it in the right direction, but that is about all you can do. Take it old school and help out others all you can. Teach it the right way. Spread the good stories of doing it right.. Its going to keep growing faster, there are going to be less technical and less skilled people getting into it. Rather than discuss this fact and how you feel about, talke about what can be done to help these folks from putting themselves into the shoes (plaster) you walked. Cya.

I can't say for certain what kind of canopy turn that was, but I sure can spot a bad exit and 90 degrees of freefall turn to the left, causing that nice 180. You would think that he could at least do a simple flat and stable correctly, wouldn't you? Another fine piece of work by Felix the kitty cat. Bad kitty.

WOW! Thats some craazy stuff. Nice job and way to go.

*** "The few people reading these posts who have brain cells firing know what I mean." That is what you said. It is pretty much the equavelent of saying "If you don't agree with me, you are stupid, unintelligent, or a moron". Of course you chose to focus on the "mis-quate", rather than the substance of the argument. You spend great amounts of time pointing out the "techniques" used by those against your point of view, you ceraainly use enough of them yourself. Your factual matter is exactly that, "your" factual matter as interpreted by you. As hard as it is for you to believe, the rest of the country may disagree with what you consider fact. In fact, the rest of the country, or at least a significant majority seems to disagree with much of your discontent. And don't forget, Your candidate would trade your concerns for a vote, just as quickly.

I'm 275 out the door, and have 2 sets of mini risers with at least 1000 jumps on each. They are in decent condition and I don't fear them breaking inthe least. I gusee they could, but not likely. Each riser starts at 1500#, totaling 6000# of support, so I feel good about them.

*** "The few people reading these posts who have brain cells firing know what I mean." How typical of your arguments. "If you don't agree with me, you are stupid, unintelligent, or a moron". As a clearly marginalized person, you should be keenly aware that marginalizing others does not make their opinions worth any less than yours. I don't think is was a particularly evil that Kerry mentioned the Cheney girl, but he obviously mentioned it for reasons other than she happend to be gay. Kerry hoped to gain political advantage from it, so any politcal backlash that can be garnered by his opponents is equallly fair game. The same would be true if Bush mentioned that Kerry and his wife manage to pay a tax rate below that of someone who earned $15K a year, despite their $6 million income. If Bush mentioned it, and Kerry could figure a way to spin it to his advantage (like use it to demonstrate why the rich should pay more taxes), that is how the game is played.

Just got it, so very limited info. There seems to be adequate workspace. The 10" width seems more like a foot, and the working height under the arm is fairly high. I can't see how you wouldn't be able to work on whatever you wanted, but its fair to say that 15" of workspace would be better than 10. YMMV Cya.

I just got my Consew Sk-6f and it works well. 5 layers of type 8 and it didn't even blink. Easy to adjust stitch length and tension. This model is still made so future parts needs are a breeze. Seems like a good alternative to the 7-33. Cya

WHere do you live? None of your info is filled out, so its hard to know how to help. If you are in the Mid Atlantic, I can do a tail pocket mod in 30 minutes. I've done several for my friends, and everyone has had good experience with them. Cya.

A clapped out 135 ZP (hybrid) triathalon, with a sail slider, and mini risers? And it didn't open quickly on heading? Go figure. Was there no requirement to jump bASE specific gear at this event? Perhaps because it was invitation only, and only highly experinced jumpers attended, this was an oversight. In any event, that sounds like a Bridge Day skydiver setup competing for the DFH award. This is a perfect example of what not to do at BD, or on any base jump for that matter. Heal quickly.

I was recently frowned upon by a respected friend for using a sterotype abouut gay men. I suggested tt you are far more likely to find them in DC cruising for partners in parks, alleys, or bars than you are to find them with theri longtime partners doing "couples stuff" and generally living the average suburban lifestyle. Sure, this is a sterotype, but like all sterotypes, it is at accurate more often than not, otherwise that would not be the "stereotype". I have plenty of experience with stereotypes, and at 6'9" I can barely remember a day when I was not asked if I play basketball. Why? Becasue many tall people play basketball. There are many stereotypes, and yes, there are always exceptions to them (like me not playing basketball) but by in large they hold true. I suggest to you that sterotypes remain true until the subjects being sterotyped no longer exhibit the behavior being sterotyped, and no sooner. While some may consider sterotyping vulgur, ugly, mean, or otherwise socially unacceptable, it only exists for a reason. Besides, you are all a bunch of luantic skydivers. You are all crazy and have a death wish. Probably a bunch of drug addicts or drunks too. Oops, there I go again with sterotypes.

I just did a bunch of research on harness stichers. That one looks great. I doubt that anyone is pnying up $5K for it, but I am sure it will do what you want. If you don't mind spending 2K, there are lots of choices. Consew has several machines that will stich 1" material with 415 thread (5 cord is 346), and they are only $3k brand new. Look around. Depending on what you want to spend and how quickly you need it, you can pick up used ones for $700 to $1500.

Male penguins have sex and pair-bond for years, as do many monkeys and dolphins. Rats often become homosexual when they are overcrowded; this reduces the population to a sustainable level. So are you saying that becasue animals are not smart enough to know the difference, humans should use that as an example? Are you comparing the gay population with rats and suggesting that they are doing their part to reduce population to a sustainable level?

So basically, you are saying that your agenda is to change the meaning of marriage, and you are only willing to be in a civil union to that end. "as I pointed out before, the U.S. Supreme Court has already decided separate but equal isn't equal." I fail to see how separte but equal can be applied. Nobody is separating anythng. What is being pointed out is that marriage IS defined by, and at its essence, formed by 1 man and 1 women. A civil union is not separate from this, it is DIFFERENT. Different in that 2 men (or women) in any relationship are not married. They can be partners, boyfriends, in a civil union, or just two good friends getting one over on the system, but they are not married. Your greatest hope seems to be that this goes to the Supreme Court, and that it is your foregone conclusion that your ideas will prevail. I seriously doubt it, if Separate But Equal is your argument. More than likely it will be handled by each state, and only OR has much chance of a ban not being implemented.

What dates will you be out there?

I also agree with this. You can have equal rights without trying to disrupt society.

*** ?? Is it really your contention that a young boy's desire for his mother helps him develop his sexuality? Now THAT'S bizarre. Most children have absolutely no desire for their siblings or parents; that's programmed into us. Where did you get that idea from Bill? I never mentioned anything about a child's desire for a parent, or anything of the sort. Its a poor argument that because blacks/women/or any other group who has suffered discrimination, that gay marriage should somehow automatically be supported. Everything must stand on its own merits. Just because people were wrong to oppose inter-racial marriage, does not mean that gay "marriage" is automatically OK. In fact, how do you even compare the them, other than as a convenient argument to support your personal views? I see no similarities. Nature does not support gay unions. If it did, they could reproduce. While accepted as an abnormal lifestlye, it is still abnormal. Society should not have to change it's most basic conventions to fit the personal desires of a tiny minority. While the gay lobby would have you believe that they are "just like you" and all want "families", its just not true. It is far more likley to find gay men in parks, alleys, and movie theaters "cruising" for their partner du juor than going out on traditional dates like the typical man/women courtship. They have every right to live the way they do, but just becasue a tiny fraction has decided that they want to be "families", does not mean that society has to jump to their whims.

If you can get a grip on your slider bumpers you may want to consider longer risers. Have someone who is dialed in check out your risers while you swoop. If they are long enough you really should have no problem pulling down without extra loops or blocks.