skybytch

I'm with you. We'd wash them with hot water and a rag, immediately dry them completely and they always worked great. They were very well seasoned though; I think they were already 20 years old when Mom got them. I can't imagine not washing (or at least rinsing well) something that I'm gonna cook in/with.

Container - if you plan to freefly with it, no earlier than about 1997-ish (although there were still some non-freefly safe containers available at that time). The main things to look for if you plan to freefly are tuck flaps on the main and reserve flaps and riser covers instead of velcro and BOC (or pullout if you prefer) main deployment. If you plan to only belly fly you could go with something older, but if you can afford it you'll be happier if you go with something that was built within the past 10 years. Reserve - as long as you can find a rigger who'll pack it (some riggers refuse to pack 20+ year old canopies) and you don't load it over 1.0, a square reserve built in the late 80's will do you just fine. That said, if you can afford it you'll probably be happier if you buy something that was built after about 1990. Main - zp mains weren't introduced until the late 80's-early 90's. You want zp. AAD - don't buy any AAD built prior to 1995. Cypres' become paperweights at 12 years and the Cypres was the only reliable AAD being produced during the 1990's.

I'm not very experienced, cool or respected, I jump a lightly loaded canopy that I don't swoop, and I'm not a guy. Although I have had one in the past, currently I don't have an AAD (automatic activation device) on my rig. Not because I think I'm that good, but because I've accepted the additional risk that not having an AAD entails. Don't get me wrong. I think AAD's are a good thing. I'll get another one within the next year or so, certainly before I try for an AFF rating or do any more big RW jumps. But for the kind of skydives I do right now, the risk of losing altitude awareness or getting knocked out is slim enough that I'm okay with it. I think that being okay with the risks is a lot more common with jumpers who've been in the sport awhile, especially those of us who started before the introduction of the Cypres.

Mine has the milk glass bowls too. So cool. That's next on the learn-to-make list. But it has to wait until after Xmas as I have no bread pans. It's funny, mom swore by her cast iron fry pans when I was a kid but I don't like them at all. Maybe that's cuz I always got stuck washing them...

I know at least some of you like to cook/bake. What are your favorite kitchen tools and why? I love my mixer (old school Sunbeam Mixmaster, just like the one mom had when I was a kid). It makes mixing cookie dough and cake mixes soooo much easier. And since it's just like the one mom had it brings back a lot of great memories while I'm using it too. While digging in the drawer for what I needed to make cookies today, I found a really cool plastic spatula/scraper thingie. It's got a bit of a curve to it that fits the side of the bowl perfectly, makes scraping the stuff on the sides really easy. No idea where it came from but what a great idea somebody had. Don't use it often enough but I also love the bread machine. Warm homemade french bread.... yum...

It's easier to safely land a round into a stand of trees than it is to land a square into the same area.

imho, this is NOT a good idea for a new jumper for a number of reasons. - Learning to pack zp isn't much fun; it's even less fun if you're trying to put (for example) 190 sq ft of slippery snot into a bag/container designed to hold 170 sq ft of slippery snot. - Overstuffed rigs look like shit. - The joys of stuffing 190 sq ft of slippery snot into a bag designed to hold 170 sq ft of slippery snot is likely to make you want to downsize long before your canopy control skills are ready for it. - You can safely go two sizes smaller than a container was built for in the majority of container brands. By the time a new jumper is ready to go three sizes smaller than the size they first buy, they'll likely be ready for a smaller reserve and a new container. - A container built for (for example) a 170 sq ft main is probably going to be built for an equivalent sized reserve (ie PD160ish). If you're jumping a 190 main because that's the size you are confident you can land safely every time, do you really want your first reserve ride to be on a canopy that is that much smaller than your main? I disagree. Buy gear that you are confident you can land safely if everything goes wrong on your next skydive. It's way cheaper and a lot more fun to "have to" buy a new rig because your skills have improved than it is to get hurt because you bought something you can "grow into."

It'd give me another good reason to quit smoking.

These are from a hike up a ridge next to Lake Berryessa; great hiking only 30 minutes from the dz.

Did a couple day hikes in Marin county (just north of the Golden Gate Bridge) last weekend. Awesome scenery! And it's pretty amazing that such beautiful places that are so close to a major metro area didn't end up covered with houses and minimarts. The attached pics are frame grabs from video.

Mine is the logo for the Non-Descript Red Cup Brigade. It's always sunset somewhere!

Students read these forums. Your profile identifies you as an AFF instructor. Doesn't matter if they know you or not, what you say here WILL be taken by some to be gospel.

Good to know, thanks. I don't skip steps now; I figure I can't count it if I don't step on it and my goal right now is to get the number up.

Yeah. How dare someone choose to keep a roof over the kid's head and food in the kid's stomach instead of having medical insurance for them.

Know anybody who is headed to the US over the winter? They could pick it up and carry it back for you - save a bit in shipping at the least (and possibly on "other costs" as well). Why only US-made gear? Wouldn't it be cheaper overall to get something built on your side of the pond?

I'm not doing too bad. Still need to motivate myself to get more walking in on the weekdays I don't have to go to main campus, but I'm up to 200 stairs and (estimating) about 3 miles on main campus days. I did discover just how far I still have to go over the weekend; felt fine after 7.5 miles on Saturday (which is an improvement) but I pooped out after hiking only 5 on Sunday and am still a little sore in the legs today even though I only did about a mile on Monday.

Fixed object jumping and skydiving are two different animals. The laws that might be broken on a fixed object jump were not written with the jumper's safety in mind. The FAR's were written with the safety of everyone who uses the airspace in mind. The laws that might be broken on a fixed object jump were not written in blood; most of the FAR's were written in blood. My point is that most all of us have, intentionally or unintentionally, broken an FAR at some point. Had shit happened on the jump when we did it, the ability of other skydivers to keep jumping - even if only at that dz - could have been endangered. The way I see it, that makes breaking an FAR on any skydive unethical by your description - whether the video/stills of the jump are made public or not. And on another point - That's a great example to set for your students.

Damn straight. Except for that one year in Florida. I seem to recall having a boogie while I was there, too.

An FAR is an FAR. Why is busting an FAR so you can have fun more ethical than busting an FAR so you can make money?

Then don't fucking whine. I don't need to ask anybody how much fun organizing a boogie is. Been there, done that, didn't print tshirts...

Ever bust a cloud? Jump with an out of date reserve?

Organize one.

You met Brains at his computer desk? I don't have a mousepad - I had to work instead of play that year. But there are a few dz.com pullup cords in our big-bag-o-pullup-cords and at least one dz.com sticker in the junk drawer...

Whoa. What'd that cost ya?

Start here.