mr2mk1g

By some people's testimony he pulled a gun and shot at fleeing children. That at least needs investigating... even if they were punk kids bitching about him trying to stop their drug dealing. Now if he felt his life was threatened even though there was actually no threat, as far as I'm concerned they're fair game... it's just the shooting at them after they've turned to run that could, and should IMO, get this guy into hot water.

What in the hell constitutes "USE"? Although it's a general principal to charge up and then reduce later if necessary... why the leap of faith that she "used" the weapon?

Sod's law.

Washing machine exits are cool.

Yeah, don't get me wrong I wasn't suggesting in the slightest that law enforcement got involved in any way - just highlighting the fact that were anything to happen and questions were asked, there could be very serious and very real consequenses for people selling in such irresponsible ways. (in instances where they are aware of the buyers low exp. which may well not be the case here).

My advice, were this to occur in the UK. Consider if a prosecutor were able to show that the seller knew the buyer’s exp. and wing loading but went ahead and sold him the gear anyway. The buyer then dies jumping this canopy. Now I would not be at all surprised if criminal manslaughter charges followed. They’d just have to show the seller was so grossly negligent that they warranted a spell inside. I don’t suppose that would be hard to convince a jury of. Now that's just based on UK law... but concepts like that tend to travel quite well. Think about that for a moment. You sell a canopy. You do so with really bad advice but what do you care. The next thing you know you have the police knocking on your door, taking you in for 8 years.

Actually yeah, what he said

Looks like a Pterodactyl... or at least something similar. A triangular canopy from the days when rounds were moving on to squares and a number of people had ideas about what might make the best shape.

damn and I thought tequilla only makes you happy.

A friend posted a link to this. Thought it was a nice way of having a whine: http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/medic/fitness/tracks/London%20Underground.mp3 edit: oh yeah - this maybe ought to have an FCC warning lest some prick get offended. (audio file only)

Looks like a good add. Hard hitting adds have been proven to work well in the past for things like drink driving. I think the same will be true here - you're not going to get people to act without shocking them into doing something. Apathy is just far too prevalent. I don't buy the "soccer kids might see it and get scared" crap. The add's aimed at voters - ie parents, it can be on late at night and any kid who gets scared by it serves themselves right for being up that late. SC in 3...2....1....

Cheers all - just grabbed myself a fantastic deal on a 300D for less than any other camera I could find. ££ made my mind up for me at the end of the day rather than one being clearly better than the other. ps. I found the openings on pilots wonderful. Might just be one of those YMMV things but I'm sure I'll be happy with it - especially after my brace-for-impact days on the exe.

I often experience PC in tow on low speed deployments with my Wings. I've concluded it's got a lot to do with how tightly it closes up - something I see as a bonus for the sort of flying I generally do. I'm not overly concerned with the issue. A PC in tow I can handle with a quick whack to the bridle... a premature opening could be somewhat more of an issue. Is deployment being held up by the pin, the excess bridal stowed under the right flap or the d-bag itself during extraction from the container? Can you tell in the air? Pack and then simulate opening on the ground noting where you get the highest pull forces. Depending on where your problem is, look to the rigging in that area. i.e. if it's the pin, consider the length of your closing loop. If it's the bridle under the right flap, consider how you stow the excess bridle. If it's the d-bag, consider if you might wish to forgo rotating the d-bag before closing the container (Wings manual allows this).

You mean like stories about how someone can deploy weapons of mass destruction against you with only 45 minutes notice?

ooooph... and I know that water's not potable.

I think the estimate commonly given is "more than 3 million" jumps per year. So you're looking at roughly 130,000 jumps per fatal accident in the US. There is some data on non-fatal accidents but I would suggest it is so inaccurate that it's pretty pointless trying to work with it. There are some very basic problems with trying to go down the route I can see you're going down. There are so many variables to your risk level that looking at overall deaths/jumps data is next to meaningless. For example, many deaths are due to people deliberately carrying out high performance maneuvers. If you don't do this, you are not at risk from dieing in that way. Thus your risk level goes down by comparison to the "national average". Equally, you may be very uncurrent or lack the experience of other jumpers. This may cause your individual risk level to increase above the "national average". It's very difficult to tell where you lie in relation to the average figure, certainly any analysis of where you lie is a very involved consideration... thus what that national figure itself is doesn't really mean a lot to you.

Yes. What repulses one is a marvel to another. If you don't like it, don't go.

Please spend some money on proper gloves. They do exist and are there to be found if you are willing to a) spend time looking for them and b) spend real money on them. If you feel you are unable to find anything on the market, why not have someone make you custom gloves? I see proper gloves as being as much an indispensable safety device as your canopy. If you can't operate your canopy because you have inappropriate hand wear, what is the point in having one? Everything you describe can be linked back to your cold hands. Don’t put yourself in that position.

yup, all up for downsizing soon - by 2 square foot! The exe slams me and I hate it. A pilot's already on it's way to me. In a way, both of you are right.

BASE is not skydiving, skydiving is not BASE. What is good for one is not nessaserily the best choice for the other. Think about this - reserves parachutes are our last chance... they're all F-111. Our first chance may be made of ZP, but our last chance is made of F-111. A BASE jumper has only one parachute - that one parachute is his last chance. What would you make it out of?

one of the best games in years

Given it's gonna have to cross the atlantic in any event I don't suppose that's gonna matter much. cheers

Come on the Wales.

I'm renewing my USPA membership. What's the difference between "Dues (includes standard magazine delivery)" and "Optional upgraded magazine delivery"? There's helpfully no explanation of the difference anywhere in the paperwork I've been sent. Cheers.

Couple of options. 1. Find a UK instructor out there. There's usually one or two kicking arround somewhere - instructors take holidays too you know. They'll be able to sign your jumps off just as if you were in the UK. 2. Simply get coaching at RW - who cares if you have the relevant signitures. Get good at RW and come back to the UK - first jump, put out a 4 point 4 way and badabing you have your cat10. Make sure your log book includes a write up of each of the core skills in the WARP program too though as the CCI may well want to see that you've learned these.