JohnMitchell

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Everything posted by JohnMitchell

  1. This is what sucks, that the regulators turn a blind eye, again, to the wolves of Wall Street and to the banks. And all of us sheep get fleeced (or eaten) again.
  2. *** Another point is replacing the elastic keepers. We probably replaced 1 for every 10 tandems done. Less of a safety issue but if a $0.75 keeper is in bad shape it's a magnet for passenger's eyes. "I had a great jump but man the equipment was sketchy" is not the feedback you want. I've heard that using stow bands in lieu of the proper elastic keepers is what causes the fuzzy webbing you see on too many harnesses. A smart DZO would have a handy box of good keepers available to all TIs and brief them not to use stow bands. A local rigger could mass produce a bunch of them quickly.
  3. I have Vskydiver make mine. Supplex legs, cordura butt, zip-up cargo pocket on each thigh.
  4. Interesting. I recently heard a newly minted U.S. AFFI tell me that USPA is now teaching "both sides ride through". I never got the memo, so I've kept tracking off after a good pilot chute throw..
  5. My same thoughts. I would prefer to do a 1-on-1 course so I could quiz and evaluate more than teach. 2 person level 3 would be more than adequate. I might even consider a level 4. I and a friend took a guy on his AFF 1 not too long ago, after taking the group course. Did really well. Turned out it was a 1000+ jump former TI who had been out of the sport for almost 20 years. I wondered why he was so curious about the Sigma rigs. He said he just wanted to make sure he was complete and up to date on everything.
  6. I don't think those fixed pitch, direct drive, drone type vehicles have the ability to autorotate. Do any experts out there know for sure?
  7. It's in the Redbox now too. Probably be my next rental.
  8. Same here. We have one specific card that has no international exchange fees. Got it from BOA, no annual fee. No brainer there. :) If you're ever in Granada, Nicaragua, the money changer guys on the street corner are legit, honest, and have the best rates. Look for the crowd of them all doing business.
  9. Hopefully the employees will prevail and get better wages and working conditions. I'm hoping the middle class will someday flourish again.
  10. I can't imagine the heartache your family is going through right now.
  11. So true. I hope I have that good of a run.
  12. 'Cause it's harder to get spare parts when you get older? I know that for a fact.
  13. I like to joke that I made a "wrong turn" as a kid at the airport and ended up being a skydiver.
  14. Looks super bad ass to me. Esp. the tunnel jumps.
  15. Quick response? Your exit weight is about 170. I'd go with no smaller than a 170.
  16. Haha, joke's on you, eh? A quote from the post: "and jumped from about 32,000 feet. Turned out winds aloft were "150 mph" (Jetstream?) . They landed TEN MILES from their DZ. Ground winds were normal, no injuries. Ya owe me a six pack of Molson's, hoser.
  17. Good choices all. You guys need to make it out to North Shore with us. Coastal scenery WITH mountain ranges, whales, turtles, surfer chicks.
  18. Do a few tandems and AFF Yes, a good PLF will lessen what could have been a severe injury I don't feel that way, but I'm not a professional orthopedic surgeon. However, my orthopedic surgeon has me do physical therapy to strengthen the knees, but has not recommended braces. She also said I'm a candidate for a partial knee replacement someday. No, unfortunately it all happened to me.
  19. Slammed the heck out of both knees PLFing after a canopy collapse. Didn't tear anything but messed with the meniscus a bit. Some stiffness now, loss of ROM, a bit of early arthritis, but I'm getting by.