mr2mk1g

Anyone care to suggest how I can poke fun at her/cause general annoyance from affar? (live near an airport myself and love to hear the merlin engines on the spit which goes up to practice aerobatics right over my house).

How do you peel the cutaway pad from the velcro before pulling? Looks like you're setting the user up to have to pull the pad from the velcro in sheer which may end up in an unacceptably hard pull.

So, I'm guessing "EP" are cyrillic initials of "United Russia" in Russian?

There was a small red kite towed by the canopy in front - about the size of a keyboard and shaped like a wwi bi-plane. It wasn't the cause of the accident though (save as for maybe the trailing guy wanting to get close to film it).

1) They may pass a bomb to a proxy terror group or make use of state agents masquerading as the same. 2) They may loose control of them to terrorist activity (by accident or design) 3) Command and control systems are unlikely to be sufficient protection against a rogue general or government branch or group. 4) There is a serious risk of internal insurrection/civil war/revolution in Iran in the coming years. During which time, there is a serious risk of the loss of control over them to terror groups/other factions. (For this reason I also have serious concerns re Pakistan having nukes). 5) The current regime may not be quite nutty enough to use them (not that far off though) but the next regime may well be. Imagine if the extreme right wing religious types took over by force or hell, its even possible they could be voted in. They’re not exactly far from central power as it is. Imagine an Iranian Taliban with nukes. 6) They are highly likely to at least threaten their use in attempts to extort their neighbours leading to significant instability in the region. 7) They do have delivery devices capable of hitting US/UK etc. Just stick the thing on a boat and sail it up the Thames / Hudson. Simples. Potentially even deniable or at least deniable enough in the short term to frustrate an immediate response or cast doubt on any response sufficient to have peace activists claiming a nuke response is genocide etc. Hell they could even UPS it.

I know I already replied but other's mention pockets - dear god I miss normal pockets on jumpsuits. They're always a complete pain in the arse, in odd places, and have a faf of a closure mechanism. If you could design a reliable way of putting normal pockets on to a jumpsuit which dont get in the way, aren't even a slim potential saftey issue and can be reliably closed with a system which doesn't eat your hands/gear and can't accidentally be left open you would have a winner. I'm not sure it's possible though.

1) What type of skydiving do you mostly do? Freefly Some camera I used to do FS 2) What brand is your current suit and are you happy with it? Deepseed - yes o2xs - yes symbiosis - yes 3) How do you think jumpsuits could be improved Huge question - there are so many options available to buyers that frankly you can get exactly what you want somewhere. As they're custom made, if you want something novel, virtually all manufacturers will be able to accomodate your requirements... for a price. As above really, price is the issue - but you're getting a custom, made to measure suit so you get what you pay for and if you want to cut the price, buy second hand and put up with something that's kinda right if not exactly right (or get lucky with what you find on the market / pay to modify it). Perhaps some extra cold weather features for those of us who jump in cold climates could be good but there are limits to what can be achieved and in any event, most cold weather jumpers augment their jumpsuit with extra layers. 4) What is required of your jumpsuit in terms of comfort, functionality and aesthetics? I used to jump all in one jumpsuits for freefly - I currently have a 2 piece. Both had advantages but I got fed up with having to either sweat through packing with a big ass jumpsuit tied round my waist, getting in the way/spend time taking it all the way off then putting it all the way back on again from scratch for my next jump (pain in the arse). 2 piece means I can take just the jacket off and pack then put it back on again for the next jump. Also means I can ditch the jacket on really hot days and just jump in pants. It also means I can remove the jacket and use the pants with my camera jacket giving me flexability to create 2 full suites from 1 set of pants and two different jackets. Camera jacket has a couple of limitations in terms of functionalilty over a full suit but I adopt my flying style to accomodate and I have the above ref. flexability by having a 2 jacket/1 pant set as a pay off. FS suit I never really use but it's perfect for my neads were I to do more FS. Its top of the range jumpsuit stopping just short of being a full competition spec suit. I wouldn't really use the extra features of a comp spec suit as I'm no good at flat anyway. Colours - so much choice on the market means you can get exactly what you want. Ditto functionality if there was something specific you wanted doing differently. 5) For the female skydiver, how important is it for you to have clothing designed specifically for women? Sorry, I'm a bloke so struggle to give you meaningful input. I do like how lycra back sections make things snug though... Custom fit pants are er... nice too.

I think you need to find out where you're going to be jumping and contact the national body (if it exists) of that country. National regulatory requirements vary widely round the world. Some countries effectively have nil governance in practice by comparison to BPA or USPA regulations and your essentially left to your own arrangements. Others have even more strict requirements with things like daily medicals or otherwise regulate the sport out of (legal) existance. If there is such a thing as a local regulatory body, they may simply piggy back onto BPA, USPA or FAI (or maybe even APF in SE Asia) regulations or they may have their own local licences. Converting to USPA membership may well have no benefit whatsoever over the FAI licence you already hold (which, after all, is the only international licence out there). Only the relevant local bodies will be able to tell you.

http://www.transcendingfear.com/skydiving.html

I think from a simplistic gramatical point of view it should be two words, as we dive out of the sky and the term describes what we do. I write it as one word however and feel that on balance, that's how it should be written. Skydiving is now a sport in and of its self. It is more than merely diving out of the sky. It is "skydiving". Take ownership of the term and use it as a verb/noun in its own right, as more than simply the sum of its constituant parts (literally and figuratively). You don't just dive out of the sky - you skydive.

Article from the Daily Fail. There's no real change - it's political window dressing. There are already the same rights and there is currently no duty to retreat as averred in the article.

Much of this argument is based on a fundamental misunderstanding about the concept of agnosticism. It has nothing to do with a belief in the existence or non-existence of god. It is simply the conceptual position that absolute knowledge about the existence of non-existence of a god is impossible (unless you get to chat with him one on one). You can be an agnostic atheist - someone who does not believe god exists but isn't so arrogant as to believe that they actually know or can prove that as empirical fact. You can also be agnostic theist - someone who does believe a god exists but equally, does not believe that to be empirically provable. I wouldn't even suggest such views preclude someone from formal religious positions - it's just a logical precept that something such as this is impossible to prove one way or another (cue Russell's teapot argument). Agnosticism does not define on which side of the fence you sit. It is ONLY a commentary on the potential degree of proof possible, (in the absence of a supreme being actually revealing themselves to you). That being so, there is no need to sit on the fence at all. I am an agnostic atheist. I do not believe god exists. I'm happy to debate his existence and say that I believe theists are wrong but I do not put it any higher than that – it is simply my personal belief on the point, (perhaps assisted by logic and undermining some of the illogical precepts espoused by some of the more ardent theistic community). I am not however, so stupid as to think I can ever actually prove my position to someone. Hence agnostic atheist. In fact, I think a lot of people who consider themselves to be Christian [or, insert religion here] would actually, when it's explained to them, identify as an agnostic theist, in that they believe god exists but, when pressed on the point, accept that they could never actually prove that their beliefs are correct. That's fine by me – believe what you want. And I'll believe what I want. We can even try to convince one another occasionally in polite conversation. As we both accept that neither can win by force of arms, only by logical argument, it actually kinda leads to a sort of utopic world in which one religion can no longer bully another around. I think acceptance of agnostic principals is actually kinda groovy, irrespective of on which side of the fence you sit. I means we can all still be friends, even though there's a fence for us to lean on. An 'I'm right and your wrong' attitude just leads to acrimony whereas a joint acceptance of the limits of knowable truths leads to harmony. Agnosticism rocks. Absolutism sucks.

Flew a stiletto at the weekend for the first time. In deep brakes, the D lines were slack and bowed backwards. Straightened out obviously once I released the brakes. There was also some spanwise creasing in the canopy, again only in deep brakes. Brake lines didn't appear to be too short. Normal? Never noticed this with other canopies I've jumped before. Am I just noticing it because I'm paying a lot of attention to a canopy I'm demoing or is something funny going on?

And thats why there are no monasteries in the US.

Buy used and jump. When you're ready to downsize again you'll have better gear knowledge and will know exactly what you want from new when you're spending a ton of cash, will have the new rig for longer and will be less likely to muck up your lovely new gear getting dragged through the mud.

Er... depends how hot it is. Freaking hot day - pants* and jumpsuit. Freaking cold day - long thermal underwear top and bottom, thermal socks, long t-shirt, jumper, thermal jacket, lined skiing trousers, sailing gloves, motorbike neck and face warmer. Usually somewhere in between. *edited for american readers: 'pants' to the op and me mean underwear.

See here: http://www.garlyn.co.nz/wings/Wingsizingchart2.html Seems a 230 into a W31 may be a little loose - only real sure fire way is to try it in the presence of an exp. jumper or rigger who will be able to assist you with whether or not it is so loose as to cause a safety issue.

I jumped for ages without having one and no one seemed to care. Then, years ago, someone had a moan about no one having a packing cert so I went to the CCI and asked for one. He knew I could pack so he signed me off there and then with no test. You have to be signed off on each system and on each type of main canopy individually. I just stood and listed for him all the canopies and systems I had packed and he signed them off one by one. Don't think that would work these days - certainly not with new jumpers and I've personally put new jumpers through a full packing test before signing them off on the system they were packing. If you rocked up with hundreds of jumps though the CCI is probably likely to just sign you off no questions asked. Not sure in the point of specifying each main seperately - they're all basically the same and any differences in packing by and large only affect opening characteristics rather than overall safety - and hell, you should be packing a big nav just as carefully to avoid a spinning mal as you do a highly loaded cross-braced IMO anyway. I can see the point in knowing about different container systems as there are subtle differences which can potentially cause serious issues like a bag lock but if you're an exp jumper you ought to be able to work it out or at least know where your knowledge stops... in theory. I don't pay that much attention at kit and docs checks but I think they check your packing cert - I always did, at least that they had one, whenever I used to do kit and docs checks - but no one really pays much attention to it and there's absolutely no regulation in packing - ie, if my mate comes to me and wants a pack job, there's no mechanism for checking that I'm authorised to pack that main into that container. You just get on and do it and no one's there to object. That may be different for DZ packers mind... though I don't get the impression anyone cares so wouldn't be surprised if they're just left to get on and pack any old thing irrespective of what's on their certificate. I wouldn't like to think what would happen if someone went in with a potetially packing induced mal and they (or more problematically, the packer) weren't signed off on that kit. A lawyer could make that point go a long way, (and it would in all liklihood come out at the inquest - indeed the coroner may well stick his oar in and write to the BPA if that occured, reminding them of the need to ensure people are properly trained/certificated (in fact, that was probably what caused the crack down 6-7 years ago, though I have no direct knowledge of that)).

Definately tune in - it's for all and the presenters are usually quite careful not to start giving advice which ought to come from your instructor. They also have regular safety segments from big names in the sport such as Brian Germain (regular safety first slot each episode as ref above) as well as feature interviews with all sorts of people, sometimes competitors, sometimes old timers, often manufacturers or riggers etc who also give great safety advice as well as others who come on to talk about current issues or safety points. They also like to hear from people, esp if you're a new jumper. Go ahead and listen to some recent episodes, then e-mail them or drop them a voice mail (they have a system which will call you back for free) and tell them about your AFF progression. You never know, you may end up on air. Once you've got some recent stuff under your belt, go back and check out some of their old shows - a fav is often the interview with Bill Booth (who had a hand in inventing a lot of the gear you use), talking about some of the scare stories behind their creation and his jumping onto the North Pole. There's some great stuff in their catalogue.

I was paying £3.50 a jump in Russia with an extra 50p per pack job. Call it a shade over $6 all in. And that out of a Helicopter. That was a couple of years ago mind - no idea what it is now with exchange rate changes. Re the jumping more when on overseas trips than at home - I think any stats like that are always going to be fatally skewed by the fact that when you go away on a jumping holiday you're there to do just that - you jump more than you ordinarily would back home because that's the point of the trip. Plus, there's the tendency to view it as trying to make back the cost of your air fare there by jumping as much at the reduced overseas rate. We've all told ourselves the old lie "if I’m saving £5 per jump and the flight's £400, I only have to do 80 jumps to make it a free holiday... right... right?" .

Thank fuck for that.

I've been weathered out in every country I've ever jumped in. Get used to it. In Arizona it gets too hot to jump. In Peris in Southern California I've sat through rain for days or sat on the ground in otherwise perfect jumping weather because of dust devils (mini tornadoes). In Floriday they get hurricaines which shut down the DZ (and totally wrecks them in the process) for weeks. In Spain it doesn't just rain on the plains. In Holland it was the wind. In Switzerland you can get some fantastic views of the mountains... if the cloud clears long enough for you to see them. Best weather I've ever had was in Russia. Go figure. That was, at least, until a huge thunder storm came and we gave up and de-camped to Moscow. You've got to get used to the weather. And I've even had a whip round with the guys who were on the DZ to fill the last slot the DZ required to make the plane go so we could keep jumping even when the place was deserted - that was at one of the busiest DZ's on the planet by the way. Shit happens. PS I made 5 loads in the UK this past Saturday and again on Sunday. Next weekend I might be weathered out while you have perfect sun. It's called weather.

Congrats!

I didn't spend 1p getting any of my post A-licence qualifications. I had friends. They jumped with me until I was good enough to pass the test to get my FS1. When I took the test they came and jumped with me and filmed it for the instructor to see and sign off on. Free. I then jumped with friends who I learnt to freefly with. Free. Once I'd got it, a friend filmed my drill drive for the instructor to sign off on. Free. Make friends - they're what the sport's all about anyway. 100 jumps a year in the UK's a good benchmark. That number without living at the DZ every weekend or an overseas trip is actually fairly hard anyway. Thats "only" going to cost you £2k. Many people spend something like that keeping a car on the road, never mind fueling it. It's not that expensive. And if it is - pack. Pack jobs are £5 a go (you don't have to pay this yourself - you just pack for yourself). But there are plenty of jumpers who do pay others for one reason or another. Maybe they're jumping 2 rigs back to back, or they're team training and don't have time or they're staff and have to be on the next load with another student etc. They will pay you. Be a packer. 4 pack jobs = 1 jump (or 3 tandem pack jobs = 1 jump).

I had the same problem with the several years back. First set through were all wrong so we e-mailed and complained. Replacement set didn't show when they said they would so I e-mailed and complained several times. I can only guess that their stock control is so bad that they produced the order again (a third time) and sent it while the 2nd order was in the post as they arived with me within a day of one another. These were jumpsuits for myself and about 3 or 4 mates. We had 3 sets delivered in all, all from the same set of measurements. All three sets of jumpsuits differed drastically in fit from one another. All from the same set of measurements. Of mine, one was far to small in the body but ok, in the legs, another was far to small in the legs but ok in the body - these two I had a local tailor cut up and sew together into a working suit for me at my own cost. The one that fit okish was in the wrong colour scheme and, more importantly, from totally different material than I'd ordered so it didn't produce the kind of drag I was after. This was years ago though and I had thought maybe they'd got their act together. Apparently not.