Clownburner

That's one way to keep your rigger honest, I guess... 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

Um, while it's fashionable to hate the french right now (and I'm not sure why, since the rest of the world thinks us equally nuts), we might want to bear in mind that without the french, we'd still be a british colony. Read your revolutionary war history - without the french, the Brits would have cleaned our clocks. 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

Hang on a minute? Did you say he was recently signed off to be able to JM himself? Isn't that supposed to happen at AFF8 and not at 100+ jumps? Has he been going with instructors the whole time or what? 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

If you don't know a good 'third party' or can't agree on one, There are also commercial escrow services that will do this for you for a small fee. If you're really worried about it, this is a good way to go. Try www.escrow.com or do a search on 'escrow services' on Yahoo or similar. 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

I'm with you - the only fate is whatever fate we create for ourselves. 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

I'm still a student and I'm jumping a Nav280 loaded about .77. It's a very kind, gentle canopy. They snivel a bit on opening, which helps to make the opening softer, but pull plenty high (I had one of the older navigators at the school that took 1200 feet to open!). At that low wing loading though, they have a LOT of forward glide, I'm usually the last to land even if I'm not the last out of the plane - I believe the term is 'floaty.' Good student rig or for anyone who wants to take it really easy; used ones might be hard to get since they're mostly used by schools and I think most schools jump 'em until they're car covers. 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

Hey, in England you have to pay for Ketchup at McDonalds. Do yourself and the world a favor - refuse to eat Clown Food! 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

Isn't the Icarus Omni a 7-cell tapered as well? 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

In the fridge? 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

OK, I agree with the principal here; I'm staunchly libertarian and I don't believe in government regulation... However, here's a real situation to make you think: A motorcylist not wearing a helmet is weaving in and out of traffic on a busy street. A car, not seeing him coming behind from a different lane, changes lanes in front of him. The motorcyclist strikes the car, and is thrown over it onto the road. He lands head first and is killed almost instantly by massive head trauma. So far, it's just a personal tragedy. The motorcylists' family sues the driver of the car for wrongful death. The jury sides with them, and the driver of the car is financially ruined by a million-dollar judgement against him, despite the fact that if the motorcylist had been wearing a helmet, he may well have survived the accident. Do you think the driver of that car, now bankrupt, is in favor of helmet laws? If the motorcyclist had survived, but required massive medical support and had no insurance, the taxpayers would have to pay his 10's or 100's of thousands in medical expenses. Did the motorcyclist 'not affect anyone but himself' by choosing to not wear a helmet that day? Now, how many dropzones have been forced to close because of lawsuits filed by the families of Skydivers killed in accidents? Admittedly, this seems to be getting better with the latest generation of waivers, but it does give one pause. My take is that they should not be required, but your family and estate also shouldn't be able to file a lawsuit because the dropzone didn't 'make' you wear one. Eliminating regulation requires some tort reform in our current system to be truly effective. Otherwise, I predict the number of DZ's requiring AADs (and helmets, and RSLs, etc) will increase... 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

Perhaps I wasn't clear; I said that it was probable that _some_ O2 goes through your skin. It does it on the ground, too, along with nitrogen and other trace gases. Skin is, after all, highly permeable. Nitrogen 'poisoning' is actually a form of narcosis caused by excessive nitrogen in the bloodstream – which further validates the point that any absorption through the skin is trivial and probably never gets into the blood supply in any meaningful amount. O2 and CO2 exchange happens pretty rapidly even if you don't have many working capillaries (e.g, chronic smokers with COPD). But in order to get enough into the bloodstream, you're right, you need quite a few - much more than can get through the skin. My point was that while his professors might be technically correct, like most PhDs, they lose the forest for the trees. 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

According to the FAA web site, (http://gps.faa.gov/gpsbasics/SA.htm) "After the attacks of September 11th, the industry buzzed over the possibility of a return to SA. However, on Sept. 17, 2001, the Interagency GPS Executive Board (IGEB), which governs the GPS system, announced the United States has no intent to ever use Selective Availability again." According to the US Navy's GPS Status page (ftp://tycho.usno.navy.mil/pub/gps/gpstd.txt): "1. Selective Availablility (SA) levels set to zero. On May 2, 2000 at 0400 UT, SA levels were set to zero. For more details, check the Interagency GPS Executive Board (IGEB) web site at http://www.igeb.gov. " Of course, your propaganda will vary, but it seems like they'd have to be really careful about using it in the US because of the problems it'd cause with instrument landings on Commercial and GA aircraft... I don't doubt they're nerfing the civilian channels in the middle east, though... 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

Thinking about this (I'm a nationally-certified Emergency Medical Technician), here's my (somewhat educated) opinion: I'd have to say that it's possible (in fact, probable) that you do absorb some oxygen through your skin in freefall. But it's nowhere near enough to get oxygen into your bloodstream in sufficient quantities to be useful biologically; and since your breathing is regulated primarily by the CO2 level in your blood (the oxygen level in your blood is a distant second in healthy people when it comes to regulating breathing) , and you can't EXHALE through your skin (I can't, anyway), it's not useful. I'd say it's not a medically useful effect. Stick to breathing with the lungs, whenever possible.

I do find that if I leave my mouth open in freefall, I can get quite a nice ram-air breathing effect, which saves me having to use my lungs to breathe in and out. The bugs taste horrible, though. 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

..And you can bake it to fit better - it's easier to get it a little tighter than a little looser, IMHO. 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

Like everyone said, some DZ's require it, others don't. USPA doesn't require it, but I think it's a good idea if you've never skydived before to do at least one tandem. Like others have said, the first skydive can be massive sensory overload, and that's easier to cope with in a tandem than in an AFF-level-1 type dive. Not everyone _has_ to have the tandem first, but here's why I think it's helpful: I just graduated AFF and I was glad that I had done a tandem beforehand; I felt it help to get more out of my first few AFF jumps because I already knew some of what to expect. My instructors complemented me on my awareness, and I think it made a difference in not having to repeat any levels, as I was already (mostly) past the 'overload-brain-lock' stage. Disclaimer: I'm just a lowly 'gray zone' student slowly squirming between the end of AFF and the A-License, so I have no idea what I'm talking about. Your mileage will, of course, vary. Tandem or no, your life is about to change forever; enjoy! 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

You can always get individual insurance. Blue Cross/Blue Shield are good about skydiving-caused injury coverage, and an individual plan for someone in their 20's is usually less than $100/month for a basic HMO. That way, you can keep your parents happy, cover your a$$, and get back in the air! Good luck! 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

I've also had really good luck dealing with these folks: http://www.onecall.com 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

Or, and I think this is aerodyne's point, it makes it easier to make the risers because you can screw up a little and they'd still work. I'm not sure I really like that idea too much though, I'd really rather have the risers made right in the first place. 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

I'm a newbie and so totally ignorant here, but I'll second that recommendation; the FlexZ's are the best goggles I've used for any sport! 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

Related question: It looks like Perris used to be an affiliate campus but no longer is. Is that true? Are all the Skydive U locations now Texas or the East Coast? 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

They do, it's called a 'jelly roll' 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

When I did AFF6, I locked on at 6k and I was completely, totally, rock-solid stable. I then thought "Wow, I'm really stable, I should keep it like this" and almost instantly got slightly wobbly. ;-) Sometimes the best thing to do to keep stable is to not worry about getting stable. Thinking about it too much seems to 'jinx' it and the tensing of your muscles causes you to get wobbly. Keep at it, and as long as you follow the golden rule (pull!) you'll improve! good luck! 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

More info from the manufacturer... (clicky) http://www.alti-2.com/neptune.htm 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

Well, I've gone and done it - Yesterday I passed AFF8 and am now cleared for solo! I'm pretty excited about it. I didn't think my AFF8 jump went too well, but the instructor apparently thought it was better than I did, because she passed me! Now the real fun (and learning) can begin! Whoo-hoo! Sorry for the post, I just felt like I had to shout and jump up and down a little. 7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez "I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth