NoShitThereIWas

Huh? Are you guys serious or is this a pimp daddy joke? I haven't talked online or on the phone to WendyBird in a while ... it looks like I have some catching up to do??? If this news is real, Congrats to the both of you ... but my brain just did a complete 180 degrees Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

I am the epitomy of Scorpio. But then again, for my 10th birthday on November 10th, my Mom got my entire professional astral chart done. Scary to think my Sun, Rising and Mercury are all in Scorpio. I think Scorpios rule but it's not always easy being us. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Hi WendyBird, Dakota and I are sending you our love. {{{{{{{{{Big hugs and kisses}}}}}}}}}}}}}} to you and the girls. I'm sorry to hear about your sister Elizabeth. She will be okay now and will watch over you and the girls. My heart goes out to you Wendy and if you need anything don't hesitate to ask. Hugs to you sky-sister. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Happy B-Day to the Amazon!!! Raising a toast to ya! Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Yay Vinnie!!! Congrats! Ron and Rob were two of my scariest skydiving cohorts. Those two used to take me skydiving and scare the you know what out of me when I was a Newbie skydiver. You are so lucky to be down there skydiving with them in Florida, what a blast Vinnie! Did they do anything to you for your 500th? I was way happy to get to Quantum Leap after my 500th. They have a pretty wicked tradition here for those making their 500th. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Well you do have a good point there, one I forgot to consider and that is body position. I guess I am just used to coming more from a packer's standpoint. I felt responsible for the openings I gave my customers and friends and their feedback made me a better packer. Me personally, if I pack someone a more than likely packing error mal, I would give them a free repack or pay for their repack. I don't know that I would necessarily "expect" anyone to pay for my repack although if I am a new jumper at a DZ and rent gear from the DZ and the 1st jump I put on it is a mal, if I was a business owner, from a business standpoint, I would opt to be like sorry, better luck next time. Good job saving your life and can we offer you another rig? If I remember correctly where I used to pack mains we used to pay for the repack if we packed a mal. Occassionally someone made a mistake although it was extremely rare and the lineover on a tandem was the most frequent malfunction. Edited to add: And I think much of it has to do with customer service. If you are a gear rental agency, you are serving the DZ community. You want to instill confidence in your customers and for them to trust your services. People have died in this sport where the initial cause of the problem was due to a main packing error. This is not to say a gear shop should be stuck with a damaged/loss of gear bill etc. but an occassional repack due to a packing error on DZ rented gear shouldn't be a huge deal. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

I am an instructor but have never had an experience with a 2 canopy out situation. I too have heard many opinions on this topic and have tried to find out the answer to this question for as long as I have been skydiving. After talking to many people I respect in the sport with many different opinions, this is what I would do: With a biplane, unless I was flying directly into an obstacle, I don't think I would touch much of anything to try and steer the canopy unless I did so with the rear risers of the dominant canopy or one which is in front. If I did happen to unstow the toggles of that canopy whether on purpose or just out of habit, I would unstow the toggles on the trailing canopy so they are flying in synchronicity and hopefully won't fight each other on the way to the ground. My main and reserve are the exact same square footage so I would essentially have 270 square feet of canopy over my head. If I am not running into power lines or something else scary, I probably would leave it alone. I have heard a few different opinions on a side by side. In our AFF I course, we learned to train to cutaway the main on a side by side because eventhough they may fly stable from 3K down to 1K, Murphy's Law will dictate that on final approach something can happen and if the canopies at that point downplane, there's not much you can do. I've been told your chances of surviving a downplane where both canopies are flying you directly into the ground are slim to none, however, I do know people who have said they know others who have survived downplanes. Some people will say not to cut away a side by side because you run the risk of a main reserve entanglement if the risers of both canopies are not completely separated. It is a tough call and I think sort of futile to come up with a blanket answer as to what is the best thing to do since it depends on many circumstances related to that specific jump, i.e. obstacle avoidance, wind direction, how the canopies are actually flying, etc. Personally though I can tell you, if I am ever in a downplane, I am cutting away no matter what the altitude. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

My immediate opinion without reading the other responses to this post are: #1) If you packed yourself a mal and jumped it, you should pay for the repack regardless of whether it is rental gear, your own gear or someone else's gear. #2) If a packer packs you a mal on rental gear and that packer is hired by the DZ to pack mains, I do not feel the renter should have to pay for the repack, the packer should. Anyone I give my rig to to pack I am trusting that they will take the time to pack my main with some TLC and not pack me a mal. Granted, mistakes can and do happen. I can forgive a mistake but to have to pay $40 on top of it? What a bummer. When I was a packer, I never packed a single malfunction on any canopy. If I had, I would have apoligized to the person I packed it for and offer to pay for the repack. It is called taking responsibility for your actions. It can be argued that by letting someone else pack your chute you are choosing to place that responsibility in the hands of someone else which is still your choice and you could just pack for yourself to eliminate the risk of someone else packing you a mal. But if it is rental gear, the person doesn't know how to pack themselves and they are paying for a decent opening with their $5 pack job and for the gear itself, I think it would suck to make them pay to repack someone else's screw up. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Chop Chop, you are officially a tandem master??? OMG That is the funniest thing I have heard all day! No offense Chop Chop, I know you would make a GREAT tandem master. Hell even I'd go on a tandem with you ... I just never thought I'd see you skydiving for money/haulin meat around. Are you going to take Plaything on a tandem? Well a Big Fat Congratulations is in order to ya Roy, you got your first rating!!! And BTW, nice picture in Parachutist! Have fun, make lots of $$$ and BE SAFE. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Whoooo HOOOOO! Congratulations Cindi!!!! It just gets better from here Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Most "memorable" instructor??? Without a doubt, and I had 4 or 5 of them, my most memorable instructor was Sammy Thistle. How could anybody forget having Sammy as an Instructor? He was my sky-idol and made every one of my skydives with him memorable in some way. He was someone who majorly influenced me to want to become an AFF-I. Sammy was a great guy, always fun and definitely insane in the membrane. I was always hoping to have the opportunity to do AFF with him but he is in Eternal Blue Skies now. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

"Little Boy Blew, he needed the Money." Geez Chop Chop, you know me, I was a gravity Ho. I did it all. Packing mains, sport rigs, student rigs, tandems, coaching, manifesting, AFF, Video, now rigging but I draw the line at tandems. I know my limits and I will not do tandems. As for now, I feel like I've paid some dues to get where I am at in the sport with time and $$$ investment. I like now being able to choose what I spend my time doing instead of back when I had 7 jumps and was only worthy to pack. To be honest, I don't mind spending a day packing sport rigs for friends, although being a full time packer is out for me now. I prefer AFF, Coaching and now rigging is my newest endeavor. I don't mind shooting video but I prefer to do just video and not stills (just my preference). But I would do any and all of it if I had to. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Very interesting views and good arguments gentlemen ... Not meaning to interrupt or break in or anything, just thought I'd pop my head in and say whoo hoo. Hi J.E.!!! Big Hug to ya! Ok that's all, carry on, carry on. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

LOL, Good Times! Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Dummest thing I ever did was around 30 jumps or so. Yep, it sucked. The winds were too high and I was under a 190 or something huge for me, could have been a 175 ... Anyhoo, probably most likely due to my inexperience, I wasn't even thinking disconnect the RSL and chop it after landing the beast; instead, all I could think of was seeing the DZO watch me in his gear getting dragged along the tarmak and the $$$ signs flashing in my head. I fought that bastardly canopy and eventually I won, but it wasn't pretty, nope not at all. I managed to not hurt any of the gear; but my poor elbows, knees, and you name it got the brunt of it instead. Lessons learned: 1. Don't jump in winds too high and if you do make the mistake of doing so, don't get dragged. Disconnect your RSL before landing the parachute if you have one hooked up and cut away your main after your feet touch the ground if you are about to get dragged. 2. Remember, you are much better off on the ground wishing you had gone skydiving than on a skydive wishing you were safely on the ground. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

September 13, 2002: Standing on the podium with my 10 Way team TFX next to Arizona Airspeed and SDCSTL at the 2002 Nationals after taking the Bronze and July 9, 2002: Getting my AFF rating after my graduation Level 4 Eval jump with Glenn Bangs Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

A big softy heart. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Them, Them, F**k Them!!! Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

When you say "rig for Kelly", do you mean rig for him as in work for him or pack his reserve? Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

LOL, I can identify with your pain. Been there, done that. Packing brand new zero-p especially if you are a new packer is never fun. The only advice I can give you there is: That is Your canopy, Your material, Your fabric that You bought. It will do what you tell it to if you show it who is boss. Take your time with it and be methodical. The rest is just practice and it will get easier. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Squeak, a Rigger's seal is that little round lead thing threaded around your closed reserve pin with red thread. If you look closely at it, it will have 3 letters and/or numbers. The purpose of it is to identify the rigger who did the last inspection and repack of your reserve canopy and if your seal is intact, that will also show that your reserve has not been opened or tampered with. Generally when you pass your Oral and Practical Exams, your Examiner will give you some letter/number choices for your "seal". So if I packed your reserve last, the seal on your reserve will say UBJ. Hope that helps Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

That is a mighty studly picture of Iwan Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Hey, of all the lists I've read, I like yours the best!!! Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Hey I just got that by reading your post a second time!!! I never thought of it that way before Yeah, my rigger seal symbols are UBJ. Now there are two cool things about my seal. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."

Chop Chop! Look at Geno. How many jumps does he have now??? You take good care of him and keep him on the "Bright" side for a while before you turn that poor lad directly over to the dark side! Geno, you look good dude, I am proud of you. Roy Bacon: "Elvises, light your fires." Sting: "Be yourself no matter what they say."