mr2mk1g

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Everything posted by mr2mk1g

  1. LOL - you mean stand over them with a cat-o-nine tails? You just want your pound o'flesh.
  2. Would be pretty expensive as we'd have to patch em up afterwards on the NHS. What about forced labour? We could have them patching roads, tilling fields by hand, mowing verges with hand powered mowers. Hell we could make em help run a decent public transport system. Any more nonsense and it's off to a prison ship with them.
  3. Fear of crime is something we measure in this country. 16% of people in this country fear being involved in a violent crime. 2.2% of people in this country are actually injured in a violent crime. (British Crime Survey 2003/2004) Seems like people's fears are actually way way above what the reality of the situation is. And you're hearing first hand testimony here that people don't feel particularly threatened. (edited to add source... incase you hadn't guessed it).
  4. READ what I said. I was not comparing owning guns but carrying guns in public and shooting someone simply because they want my wallet. Admittedly not in the same league as molestation but certainly in the same class - something which should not be legal.
  5. I agree. The Conservatives came out with that stance a week ago but I don't think anyone really belives Michael Howard actually has a clue. He certainly didn't sound very convincing to me. Pitty. I see no excuse for "life" not meaning "life". If you don't mean "life" why call it "life" - just give it another name and stop panzying arround.
  6. Why? Both are rights I do not want nor do I want other people in my country to have. Why should I lament the lack of one yet applaud the lack of the other?
  7. They're from our respective countries official statistical offices. I see no reason to dispute them - they are as reputable as they come. Fine - gun deaths in this country are DOWN by 15% (British Crime Survey 2003/2004) That's my point.
  8. Do you desire the right to molest children? Why not - it would be another right to add to your collection... I don't want the right to carry guns in the street and to shoot people simply because they want to take my wallet. I'm sorry if that offends you. The simple fact is that I couldn't care less if I have that right or not; just like I couldn't care less if I've got the right to molest children. Rights aren't worth a great deal if no one wants them or wants to use them. They are not the be all and end all.
  9. Jeffrey, you chose to pass comment on a lot of posts in this thread. I wonder why you chose to ignore this one: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1310641#1310641
  10. Nope. You're in America. We're not telling you to do anything. This is about British laws. No one's taking away anyone's right to protect themselves. We still have the right to protect ourselves in the UK although we've never had the right to protect ourselves with the use of a firearm. See, we've never had the right to own a firearm, only a privilage. Therefore we've never had the right to use that gun for self defense - only a privilage. No one has lost any rights. None of us are telling you that you must; the laws of your country have nothing to do with us. Why do you suppose you have something to do with ours?
  11. Yup - it arrives unsecured on the right hand side. The 2 ring circus is attached by way of a length of webbing. One end is secured to the helmet, the other is looped through the big ring and back up the side of the helmet where it remains loose at the time of purchase. You adjust the chincup to the appropriate tightness then burn a hole through the webbing with a soldering iron or some other hot tool. The bolt then goes through the hole securing the webbing and ensuring the chincup remains where you put it. The only velcro in the system a) holds the cutaway loop to the chincup and b) secures to the side of the helmet a soft housing for the excess cutaway cable after it passes through the 2 ring circus.
  12. Ok, well lets put things further into perspective then shall we. We had the whopping total of 68 homicides by firearms this year. 68 in a population of 60 million. (2003/4 British Crime Survey) The US population is just about 300 million - that’s 5 times the population of the UK. 68 x 5 = 340. This year there were 11,660 firearms murders in the US. (National Bureau of Justice Statistics 2003/4 National Crime Victimization Survey).
  13. I've currently got the system although it only uses 2 rings. I think it's great. From some very basic tests involving the near suspension of people by their heads whilst on weather hold it was the only one that worked reliably under a load. There are many other ways of creating a cutaway system for the helmet though. Some are better than others. One of the better designs for the FF2 involves a zip tie and Slink hat (or similar). I used this for a while before getting the manufacturers cutwaway system and know several people who continue to do so. It works rather well actually but again could produce intermittent results when loaded if you didn't do it -just- right. The manufacturers system is simple, easy to use, comfortable and works like a charm but like I said; there are other ways to approach the problem. As posted above, there is loads of info in the video forum from people with far more experience than I.
  14. As I've posted before; we continue to enjoy that right. But as you may expect, that right is tempered by the restriction that we may only exercise it in the most sever of circumstances. We may only take a life where our own or that of another is imminently threatened by genuine credible threat. Where justified in taking such action, we may use whatever means is available to us. That includes the use of a shotgun, which are still legally held in this country (as of right no less – not even as a privilege). I have shotguns. Were my life threatened I would be legally justified in killing with one. I am happy with these restrictions. The use of lethal force is ultimate – it is far from a trivial matter and should only be available under the absolute extremes of circumstances. The law reflects this. You just voted for the laws we currently have in this country.
  15. mr2mk1g

    Gloves

    No one's saying they do. They are only the same when it comes to preventing wind chill. Wind chill is one of the biggest factors in getting cold skydiving because we are exposed to comparatively massive ammounts of wind. Latex gloves are not great on their own but can be good way of adding insulation to other gloves - the don't insulate against ambient temperature but do insulate against wind chill. Removing that 1 factor lessens the cold but does nothing to effect the other factors. They can't be the whole answer but can be part of it.
  16. mr2mk1g

    Gloves

    No it wouldn’t. That wouldn’t test the different effects of wind chill on hands in a sealed system and hands exposed to the air. Remember – neoprene is effectively a thick air-filled rubber layer… barring seams its essentially the same as a rubber glove + insulation when it comes to wind chill. The best experiment would be to put 1 hand with latex and 1 hand without into 120mph wind for 1 minute followed by 15 – 50 mph wind for 5 – 10 minutes with a gradually increasing air temperature, starting off below freezing. If you did that you’d see the effect of wind chill on hands within and without of a sealed environment. No one is saying that neoprene is no good – the only comment about it was that it was it’s wind stopping quality was at least equally important if not [I]more[/I] important than its ability to insulation against the ambient temperature. I’m not really sure what you’re arguing with about who’s post.
  17. Arse. As for compromise agreements I can't give much detailed help as I've only ever had to do one - don't like employment law much. It's basically a document where you sign away your statutory right to sue your previous employer for unfair dismissal etc. in return for compensation. In this respect it really isn't any different to any other form of compensation payout agreement. There are a number of requirements that the document must fulfil in order for it to be legally effective but you need not worry about those - that's your solicitor's job. That in itself is the most important condition - that you have obtained independent legal advice which it looks like you're doing and that's good. Your solicitor is obliged to advise you as to the legal ramifications of entering into this agreement (ie that you won't be able to bring a subsequent claim etc) but try to make sure they also give you advice on the merits of the offer that is on the table. They should be well placed to tell you if it's a good deal or not and what your prospects are of obtaining any better by fighting it. You can therefore base your decision on accepting the offer based on that advice. If you're advised it's a poor offer your other options include reaching a settlement with the assistance of ACAS or if that fails an employment tribunal… but remember there are no guarantees. It’s also worth noting that it’s possible to have your legal fees included in the agreement so the solicitor you've engaged doesn't end up costing you anything.
  18. Actually that’s going to be happening in the next Parliament. It's also heavily linked to many of our violent crime problems as I'm sure Skyrad can testify - it's all the drunken louts who are kicked out of the clubs that end up beating each other up... drinking habits change when there's no closing time.
  19. Let’s put it in perspective. We should compare this 5% rise to the 35% rise in 2001 – 2002. Doesn’t seem at all bad now does it? We should take that in perspective with the reported drop in gun crime in the years previous to that. You should note that “gun crime” includes the 1,815 instances of the use of imitation weapons in crime (a jump of 46% year on year). How about the fact that 70% of armed police call outs are to deal with imitation guns, as touched on in the article… perhaps robbers can’t find real guns to use?? The biggest thing of note is that the industry itself, together with the government does not rely solely on these figures. They are not fully reliable as they only include reported crime while there is a large amount of crime that goes unreported. There are also changes year on year in what crimes count as “reported” crimes and how they are recorded. This can induce a MAJOR skew in the Home Office figures where present. The British Crime Survey is the method by which these discrepancies are taken into account. The figures for that are also going to be published later today and show a fall of 7% in crimes involving the use of a handgun. So which do we believe? The Home Office figures, or the British Crime Survey? Well those who work in the Criminal Justice System use both and temper one against the other… but overall the British Crime Survey, whilst involving the extrapolation of data from a survey, does not contain any major skews as the Home Office figures do. It’s nice to see recent steps like a mandatory 5-year sentence for people convicted of a crime involving a firearm. I wonder why this can’t be life though… there really can be no excuse for carrying a firearm where it is illegal to do so. I wonder what next years figures will bring in the light of this change and others. One thing that all the pundits and papers are clear on however, is that our current problems with guns draw far more links to gangster cultures and how “cool” it is to be seen carrying a pistol than any other single influence. It’s clear that pistols have become the “must have” fashion accessory of today’s youth. That’s something of a change to trends we have seen in other countries or in the past as there is no real reason that these people are carrying weapons other than the fact that they think it makes them look cool. That’s sad. edited to add this link of another news report currently out: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,1332552,00.html
  20. mr2mk1g

    Gloves

    Both are important. But water on your skin is irrelavent (to temperateure at least) if you have an impermiable barrier between it and the wind. I had some wonderful windstopper winter gloves with rubberised grip till some hobo broke into my car and stole them. Can you believe that was the only thing they nicked!! I'm shopping again right not, but latex or plastic undergloves are better than nothing. Even if they're not the best solution, they certainly add to the protection you have as opposed to worsen the situation as some appear to be suggesting.
  21. mr2mk1g

    Gloves

    Someone should invite Kallend here to give a brief lecture on why wind chill is far more important to us than the presence of moisture. Latex present’s wind-chill (mostly). Breathable gloves which promote wicking do not. Think how a wet suit works - you stay warm so long as the water in contact with you stays where it is.
  22. You could always spend a couple of bucks on getting the soft reserve pad switched for a d-ring. The choice between pad and ring is a balancing of different risks. Each choice has it's own set of risk factors which we tailor to suit our own needs. Different jumps or disciplines involve different risks - some of which may be associated with a d-ring. I would bet that you are not doing the kinds of jumps which cause a d-ring to become a risk. If a d-ring is not introducing risks there is no reason not to have one. Pillows introduce risks themselves so what you have is essentially a rig which could be made safer for you for want of a couple of bucks. Switching out the pillow for a d-ring shouldn't cost a great deal at all. You may even be able to part ex the pillow with the rigger to cut down the cost to nearly nothing or alternatively keep it for some time down the road when a pillow might be more appropriate for you. It's good to see that you're paying attention to what you put on your hands though. I think far too few people even think about that and it's a recipe for disaster. Personally I'm quite anal about it and put a lot of thaught into the feel and grip I have in a pair of gloves.
  23. well... it was a republic...
  24. Had the same thought when mine arrived and contacted wings. Wings hip rings sit slightly higher than other rig designs. They're supposed to be like that. It has to do with the way the leg straps have been designed and the geometry of the articulation point. When comparing the system to my mates jav (for example) the whole thing makes a lot of sense.