rgoper

customer satisfaction is important to manufacturer's, so i'd keep it until the first reserve re-pack, then ship it to them and have them simply change out the reserve flap, mirage will probably be more than happy to pick up shipping fees, and change out the flap at no charge to you. so if it wasn't what i wanted or ordered, i'd have them fix it at my convience, not theirs. mirage is good, as is javelin about turn around on stuff like that. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

CrazyThomas: why, what an ugly thing to abbreviate! YPISOB. c ya in the funnies. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

lord, forgive him, for he knoweth not whom he fucketh with. CrazyThomas: careful what you wish for. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

Click Here for DaKine's website. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

12 1/2" of manhood, 3 1/4" in diameter. (oh, i voted "other") --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

it's all of that hawaian blue man, no stems no seeds that you don't need, pure sense! J/K! i buy all of my skywear from there, yeah he's slow, but it's a sideline job. but his fashion is in vogue! and it does look kewel! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

this has been one of the most productive topics in this particular forum in a long time. i think we've recieved enough opinions and ideas to at least come up with an idea for an outline to a "Guide For Incident & Accident Reporting" to be utilized for future incidents of the same nature from repeating themselves. we need to form, and build a consensus for this topic to keep the inevitable from occuring if we don't. we can either police ourselves, or be subjected to some other "safety nazi" coming along at some other agency's behalf because we have been deemed incapable of participating in a sport which is already dangerous without killing and maiming each other. it would go a long way for DZO's & S&TA's to implement such reporting protocol for different types of incidents. in my profession it was imposed upon us, because our objective was more important than being safe. now many drilling contractors implement their own safety programs to protect their employees, because if we cannot work safely, we cannot work. my goal in my sky diving is safety first, fun second, and "Live To Dive Another Day" i have pulled some really ignorant stunts during my time, i'll admit it, but i've learned from each incident, and it was of great importance to have had the luxery of having a couple of great mentors along the way, thanks guys/gals! i hope to get some feedback out of this, as i would be more than willing to be associated with the authorization of just such a self preservation plan. if we don't report our incidents, and accidents in a timely and orderly manner it only intices suspecion and speculation culmanating by making us look idiotic, (mostly at the "whuffo media's" hands) but contrary to popular belief, skydiver's are "smarter than the average bear" and we can prove it. there is no sky dive so important, that we cannot take the time to do it safely. take care, be safe. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

this sky diver does not now, and will never exists. "Murphy's Law Is Ever Present" this mindset will cause complacency in a heartbeat. every sky dive, i expect the unexpected. then why does every goverment agency employ statistics to gather information to create programs for accident prevention? i learn from watching people screw up all the time, i'm not perfect, and i am safe, but i am human. this is hardly an attitude condusive to accident prevention, we must advise each other, and suggest corrective, positive criticizm in a manner in which not to offend, but teach and correct. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

Tom: with all due respect, and please recieve this in the spirit it is offered, i have yet to see an accident that was unavoidable. there's always that "first link" in the chain, sometimes so subliminal we can't even see it, but it's always there. you have a point in which our ever litigious society hinders the reporting procedure for other's fears of being sued, but in my opinion life preservation is more important than who's getting sued. in all industries nationwide, 99% of big companies have a 100% accident disclosure program to utilize the raw data to prevent future incidents from the same cause. i would hate to see us "shut down" the reporting system, as i think it's one of the most important tools we can utilize in accident prevention. i think each and every sky diver should be required to attend at least one safety day bi annually and have it documented. if we do not regulate ourselves, it won't be long before regulation will be imposed on us by another entity. all too often, on the ride to altitude, i see sky divers sitting out of order on the jump ship, i make it a point to make sure i know each sky diver's opening altitude, dive flow, etc...you'd be surprised how many sky divers board the jumpship without even knowing each other's plans, mostly between the rw groups, and solo belly, free fliers, etc. the students and tandems are obvious. so, yeah, we have a right to know, after the proper accident investigation is concluded. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

Paul: i hate to dissagree with you here, but if we stop reporting "near misses" minor incidents it can lead to complacency in the reporting procedures. as i was saying in another post the program we institute at work S.T.O.P. requires all incidents, no matter how big or how small to be reported to stop a non reporting habit. so i guess it could be called either way. but one things sure, a sprained ankle could lead to a broken femur. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

your welcome. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i'm not going to quote anything you said in either of your posts, because it would serve no purpose. at the onset of this post topic Kevin stated he was going to post this incident so it wouldn't happen to anyone else, who would've thought he'd be scorched for it? (go figure) but now to my point in responding to your post(s) it's mentality like this that will keep sky divers from posting, or relating their "close calls" for others to learn from. Kevin had to know before he posted, there might be some heat, but this is B.S. i'm glad he lived through it, and learned, (regardless of jump numbers, or type of jump, quick identification of mal, and proper emergency procedures saved Kevin's life) and shared his experience with others. don't think the same stunt cannot happen to you, i've seen some strange stuff. i lost two friends last year alone, and it can happen to anyone of us, at anytime. when you think it can't, that's when it will, learn, don't be a statistic. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i feel we have a right to the information, because it's information we can utilize in prevention of incidents of the same type, from the same cause. in my profession, we review accidents, near misses, we even implement a S.T.O.P. program which is become to be heavily relied upon if anyone (regardless of rank, even "worms" can spot unsafe acts) observes someone doing, or fixing to do something unsafe, the work S.T.O.P.S. right then and there, the action reviewed with the whole drill crew present and training disscussed and implemented. throughout the years we have managed to drop dramitically our incident rates, and cut in half our casualty rate which speaks volumes for incident reporting and review. utilized properly, and in a positive manner, it's a good thing. in my 28 years in my profession, i have never had a serious incident on my watch, my motto is "Safety Is "No Accident" it has served me well. "it's all about living" HooknSwoop --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i think Kevin is to be commended as well. it took some rocks to post that. the thought of even a remote posibility of my bridle being miss-routed like that never even crossed my mind until now. thanks Kevin, good save! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

sweeeeet! congrats, and have fun...be safe. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

this was my understanding as well, and i had no problem with it. how in the f**k did we get on the "kill Iraq" thing? i'm tiring of this administration's mindset he can "take on the world" folks, we're in financial trouble right here in the US of A right now, how much of this B.S. can we stand? i'd rather invest in our economic growth. the govenor of texas ordered the state educational director of texas to cut his budget by over 41 million dollars just last thursday, (this money was being utilized to install a lot of computer labs in our schools) i thought the lottery was created to fund the educational system, and rebuild roads, where is this "surplus" really going? *scratching head* --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

ie: mainly Saudi-Arabia. the Saudis have a lot of influence on our actions in that region, if it is of no benefit to them, they will not support it, and we cannot control that particular region of the world. (Saudi-Arabia) --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

it's no bluff, and you can't scare people who are not afraid of dying, who in fact can't wait to die, remember they will go straight to ALLAH if they die for their country or their beliefs, so this is no threat to them. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

this is my point exactly, we've been firing over there for months. (i've seen it for myself on numerous occasions) what part about our military, and our president are withholding information from the public don't you understand? i'm all for maintaining world peace, and i'm a "true blue" american. i just don't want to see another "twin tower" incident. anyone who thinks these idiots won't do it, needs to rethink the situation, they have no other recourse. they can't whoop our ass, so they'll just hit us "here and there" in small increments, and remember most of the people who will carry out these missions already reside here. do not under estimate these people. "sabre rattling" like we need to do that, Iraq knows we can inialate them at our whim, but we can't destroy their beliefs and idealogy. the Iraqi's already have C-4 strapped onto hundreds of oil and gas wells in this region, a simple "flick of the switch" will cause an immediate catastrophic situation. it is my belief that if everyone maintains a "cool head" we can let diplomacy take care of this situation without any "knee jerk" reaction from anyone. i guess i've just lived long enough to realize my mortality and a strong desire for "world peace" --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

webster's: in-fi-del \'in-fed-l 1: one who is not a christian, or opposes christianity 2: an unbeliever in a religion esp. in respect to a particular religion. we've covered the "religous" topic(s) in these forums before, do you really mean this? --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

this is what i'm saying, i'm not saying that if we leave them alone they won't do anything. and, as i've asked for other's to ponder on before, i'll ask again "who's policing the police?" everyone has a hard on for the middle eastern regions of the world, yet most of these people only know what they're being told, and are not even considering traveling there themselves. right now, (i have a 23 year old son over there right now) Iraq isn't doing anything to anybody, thus the old adage comes to mind "never kick a sleeping dog" he'll only wake up and bite you in anger for waking him up. at some point and time common sense must prevail in this most serious situation. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

it was Jesus's orders to his deciples to "go, and be fishers of men, converting the lost, and unsaved" please tell me this is a cruel and hideous joke. in our church we have plenty of room for the lost, and unsaved, not to mention we are all sinners. if we didn't allow sinners in our santuary, it would be empty every sunday, even our preachers couldn't show up. a church with security? WOW....... --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

Roy: if this is your opinion and your view, kewel. but if it is, you'd have to get rid of wyubya,powell,rumsfeld et. al. if you think for a moment they're telling you 1/4 of everything they know i'll jump out of a plane without a visible parachute. by the way, have you been to Iraq, Saudi-Arabia, Quatar, Kuwait, Bahrain? if you haven't your not qualified to offer an opinion on where they can hide anything. i keep saying, do your research, you obviously haven't. and if you think wyubya isn't "trigger happy" time will prove this statement one way or another. this situation is very serious, the Iraqi's are assuring the USA that if it comes under attack, "New York will seem like a picnic" rest assured that is the truth. would it not be for the fact that thousands of innocent americans would be slaughtered right here on our own soil, i'd have to be of an opinion to blow them up myself, but it is for this reason, and this reason only my opinion is to proceed with extreme caution. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

while i am in agreement with this statement, it's still a matter of protocol. i've said before in these forums, "if" they have any womd (and i' certain they do) the UN will never find them, hell, we can't find them. the desert is a vast barren wasteland, just too much of nothing to search. since Iraq cannot afford a gigantic military, how do you think they will retaliate? i can tell you, by killing more innocent americans utilizing different teqniques right here in on our own soil. this is what i DON'T want to see. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

it's not my job to come up with a solution. but if i had to offer an opinion, i would say...again, let the UN staff complete their mission before "building up a massive military strike force" and your right, i am part of the problem, i voted for the imbicile. i do have a clue what's going on over there right now, and in the past few months, i have seen it for myself, there have been bombs dropped the US citizens don't even know about, but i'm not going to bother to explain it to you. as i've said in other posts on this issue, if your NOT willing to travel over to any region of the world personally, then you obviously percieve some problem in the area. i don't make comments without some knowlege to back it up. my main concern is the loss of innocent human lives, not anything else. listen to me know, and hear me in two weeks, if we attack Iraq without the proper procedures ie: consent from NATO, etc...trust me when i tell you everyone in the united states will be at risk...randomly. i still don't think everyone knows the magnitude of this situation. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"