Ron

DSE has created a thread in the video forum.... Start there. Nonsense. Making a person wait another 100 jumps does not "hinder the growth of the sport". And that individual could spend those 100 jumps working on skills like sit flying that could HELP the video later. And you seem to think 100 is enough. But what if someone else thought 5 was enough? What would YOU consider a min standard? And yes, you do set rules for the lowest common denominator..... And there is a reason for that. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Worse, the reserve is not a guaranty. Back in 93(?) in Keystone, FL a guy passed his AFF eval and to celebrate cutaway a perfectly good main to get a baglock on his reserve. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And you left out important steps in each one. the one i was taught was; look, locate GRAB RIGHT, look, locate GRAB LEFT,ARCH! PEAL RIGHT, punch right, PEAL LEFT, punch left ARCH! and the other one is grab red, LOOK RESERVE peel, punch, toss find GRAB silver pull arch. way to many steps in my opinion but it seems to work You don't cutaway and *then* start looking for the reserve. You either have it in your hand, or are looking at it before you cutaway. You might want to spend some time in a harness, or at least talk to an instructor. I do the one hand each handle (have to for tandems) and I like that method best. It has worked for 9 or 10 malfunctions. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And if Billy chooses to change the rates, then TK is free to find another supplier. Billy wanted to change the "deal" so TK was free to change his part as well. Yes, that he tried to change the rules and was surprised when it didn't work. Yes, and when person 'A' tries to get more than person 'B' thinks the deal is worth.... then 'B' is free to shop somewhere else. That is what Capitalism is. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

To be fair.... Neither does my factory diver, or A3. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And The 2nd bit does not support the 1st. You can't blame the 99.9% of the country on a few morons. That would be like totally banning base in the US since some people cut locks and trespass to do it. And banning skydiving since some people get hurt. How about we just punish the morons that do stupid things and leave the responsible alone? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Not really, IMO. Pulling a gun over an argument is idiocy at its best. I am very PRO 2nd, and story's like this are just chocked full of stupid. *IF* true. The guy should go to jail. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I'd say not maintaining the aircraft is a safety violation.... Who got kicked off for that one? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

OK.... Not doing required maintenance on aircraft = lower jump prices. Done. You started a thread to stir the pot. The fact the USPA "gave" the award to Bill just after he was fined for not doing MX is just silly. It should be noted that the USPA has no control over who gets this award. The S&TA makes the nomination and the USPA has nothing in the rules that allows them to deny the award. Several at the USPA didn't want to actually send the award, but the governance rules did not allow them to deny it, or to revoke it now. If you guys don't like it.... Call the USPA. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

If the AFFI could not get to the student....Seems that AFFI was not qualified either. Good on the vidiot for stepping up in that case. But it is a bit different situation. There is little the video guy could do in the tandem situation BUT make it worse. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I never have. Taking someone that I don't know has been told to do the right things is not worth the 30-40 bucks. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Why do I feel like I am watching a serial movie and I am about to be told to tune in next week? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Matt pretty much answered. That being said. If I were the video guy, it would be VERY hard for me not to try. I *know* the chances of me being able to do anything is practically nil, but that is human nature. Would I try? Yeah, I'd want to try to help. SHOULD I try? No. There are just too many issues with helping. *With 300+ pounds already being applied to the bridle, there is almost no chance I would be able to do anything. *Me mucking around would just delay the reserve pull. *The TI might just dump the reserve while I was mucking around and kill all of us. This could be a very good lesson in how trying to do the right thing could very well kill everyone. The camera guy could be messing around when the AAD fires. I strongly doubt it, and not with a hook knife that most jumpers carry. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Because it happens. I know a DZ in that area that had a guy 'find' his gear was sabotaged just like the guys that went in at Archway. Like it or not, people make up shit at times. The 'victim' could have been asked to leave and escorted out of the hanger. When asked why he didn't tell them to sod off he could have blurted out, "they had a gun!" To get back at the person who put them on the shit list. Understand... I don't know ANY of the people in this story. But being around people and DZ's for a while.... I find BOTH story's to be plausible. 1. DZO gets mad and pulls a gun. 2. Guy gets mad and makes up a story to get even. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Not really... Just because *that* suit does not fit does not mean you *never* buy one off the shelf if it fits. VB made a blanket declarative statement to *never* do something ("well, you DONT buy a jumpsuit off the shelf to begin with.." ) so I asked him a simple question on why he said "DONT" do it even if the suit fits. I have seen several people walk into Tony Suits and walk out with a suit off the rack that worked and fit great. This includes RW suits that are much more finicky than FF suits. Heck he gave me a camera suit off the rack one day... I had it for 8years and now someone else is actively jumping it. So why not buy a suit off the rack if it fits? If you buy one off the rack and it does not fit... Send it back and get another one. None of that is a difficult concept, yet some folks want to make comments that are not correct. And when you ask why or ask for clarification, they get upset and instead of answering the question and admitting they misspoke, they start the bitching. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Many have found the US version to be not a s good as the original. I have tried to watch it, but find it to be nothing but a bad copy of the UK version. If Scott had been on it, some people would have watched it just to see him. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yep... I flew with a rig about 10 times last year and had no problem. I did make sure to remove my CYPRES screwdriver I used to carry from my helmet bag. Helmet, Alti, Neptune..... etc. All fine. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I put it in a small backpack and clip my helmet bag to it and carry it on. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The SIM says 200 jumps is a recommendation. It is a damn good recommendation. Some DZO's and S&TA's follow it as a flat rule, others do not. In the end it is up to the individual jumper to not die. The individual has to make choices that prevent them from becoming a set of grid coordinates on a DZ. Everyone likes to think they are above average and will not screw up. But a quick read of the "incidents" section clearly shows that is not the case. Not a single one of the people that have died thought they were not going to be able to handle the situation.... Yet they all still died. I'll gladly tell you that my first camera jump almost ended up with me getting myself killed. Of course, I thought I was skilled enough that it would not happen, yet it almost killed me anyway. I hope the USPA makes the 200 jumps before a camera as a BSR that is not waiver-able. DSE has done a good job in the video forum about listing incidents where a small camera caused problems. Well worth a read. While reading it, try to understand that each and every individual on that list thought they had the skills to pull it off. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Lots of interesting things here. 1. No if it is a stable biplane, it is recommended to leave them alone. If it is a stable side by side it is recommended to leave them alone OR disconnect the RSL and cut it away (Jumpers choice). If it is unstable get rid of the main. (SIM section 5.) It also goes into detail on what canopy to unstow the brakes on.... Personally, I am not going to touch anything as long as it remains stable. If it is stable, I am not touching a thing unless I am going to land somewhere very bad. To *me* it looks like he grabbed his right rear riser. to split the canopy's. 2. Good question. The reason is because the "Instructor" in this case got so wrapped up trying to get the student to pull that he ALSO lost track of altitude. And that can be very easy to do in this situation. a) I hope the "instructor" here was not AFF rated. An AFF rated instructor should stop trying to signal the student and physically deploy the student at an altitude that the Instructor can have a normal opening. For me, I start giving pull signals AT the assigned pull altitude and I own your pilot chute -1k from that altitude. If I can't get to you (not happened yet), I am going to turn and track at an altitude that will let me get away and deploy cleanly, around 2500 feet. After 2500 feet, I am going to track for a few seconds and deploy.... It is you and me till it is you OR me. b) If it was a coach... the coach should have started tracking at the assigned altitude. In both cases when the "I" turns and tracks, the student should get the point and deploy. It is the last signal you can give the student. 3. Yes, but having been that low I can tell you that you will almost instinctively go for a main. I had ~300 jumps and found myself VERY low. I had thrown a main 300 times and only pulled the reserve in training. While my mind said "RESERVE!!!" my right hand had already thrown the main and it was deploying before I could tell my left hand to reach for the silver handle. No AAD, or it would have been a double out. 4. Anyone can give, and should give, a pull signal if they see a problem. I gave it to people before I had an AFF rating. 5. I am sure most people know it.... the question is will they know it when given it in freefall? If you walked up to them on the ground when everything is calm and relaxed and asked them what that signal was... I bet they would answer correctly. The issue is when they are in freefall what will they do? Two story's: 1. My buddy on a three way had his main tray open and the main bag was dancing around behind him. #2 started waiving at him and mocking a pull... I looked him dead in the eyes and gave him a pull signal. I could see he got very mad and he instead pointed back at the both of us. I kept pointing and #2 kept mock pulling till the main bag hit him on the back of his head. Only then did the look on his face change from being upset to understanding what we wanted. He deployed at 7k and had a wild ride for a while, but managed to land the main. 2. I was doing AFF with a very quick learning student. We were on his L6 and he had done everything required twice. Well, he was so happy with himself that he blew through his 4.5 wave off altitude. So I gave him a COA signal for a second and then a pull signal. Instead of pulling he looked dead at me, pointed back and said, "No, YOU the man!!!!" A second later, he found himself under an opening main. On the ground, he told me he had no idea that I wanted him to pull..... Even though we had covered it less than a min before. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Your statement said: "well, you DONT buy a jumpsuit off the shelf to begin with.." I asked if it fits why not. You made a statement that you don't do something. Again, not my fault you gave bad or incomplete information. But you are quick to blame everyone but yourself for not being clear, or for you being wrong. To the OP... If you find a used/on the shelf suit that fits.. buy it. Hell, I just gave away a full comp bootie suit since it fit the guy and he was broke. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Your statement said: "well, you DONT buy a jumpsuit off the shelf to begin with.." You made no mention that it didn't fit. You made a blanket comment that you DONT do it. I asked why not if it fits. NOW you add additional information. Please do not blame me for your primary comment being incomplete and therefore incorrect. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

If it fits, why not? To the OP we need more info... Freefly, or RW? I personally jump Michigan suits simply because they last a LONG time. I have one that I use now for tandems and for slowfall that I have been jumping and tunneling with for 10 years, another suit that I use for comps I have had for 5 years. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Not that I am aware of.... SIM section 2-1, K (equipment) states: d. a functional automatic activation device that meets the manufacturer'srecommended service schedule [FB] The [FB] requires the full board to waive. SIM 5-3, G makes no mention. I know a few DZ's that only use the expert CYPRES. Makes sense to me... The student CYPRES is a good thing, but once they are no longer being supervised I think the PRO model is a good choice. Of course, that is just my opinion. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

IMO, yes. Once there is no longer an Instructor on the dive, I would want the AAD on PRO. A low pull, or some canopy tricks (which a jumper that does not know better might do) might fire the AAD. Legally, it might be best to keep the AAD on "Student" till the jumper has a license. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334