skybytch

I must be confused. The length of the lines left unstowed ("rolled up in the container") is totally within your control. Think there's too much? Add a rubber band to the d-bag and make another stow. Doesn't matter what kind of canopy the lines are attached to. The lines attached to ANY canopy "could" get caught on a flap on ANY container.

The same thing that happens when you pull the throw out when the main flap is not open.

How are the lines going to get out of the container if the top main flap opens in freefall? The only scenario I can think of where that might happen is if the pin comes out. If the pin doesn't come out, won't the lines remain in the container?

Huh? Put a pocket slider on the Sabre and it'll open just fine.

Sure. If you'll do my stats homework. x~B, n=12, p=.387...

Hiking, backpacking, slacklining and the San Jose Sharks.

Dunno where you're going but I'm going slowly insane. Oh, I forgot. I'm already insane. Great. Now where the fuck am I gonna go?

Now that I have a fitness goal can I play too? Goal - by June 15, 2008, be able to walk 15-20 miles a day carrying 20-30 pounds on my back. For about 30 days straight (there will probably be four or five "zero" days in there). Over uneven terrain. Why? Cuz I'm hiking the Oregon section of the Pacific Crest Trail next summer. Since my feet are my major form of transportation at the moment, I get about a mile in on M/W and about 3 miles on T/Th, with an occasional 2-3 miles on one weekend day. I'll be buying a pedometer soon so I'll have a better idea of how far I'm really walking. Current plan is to up that to 2-3 miles, 6 days a week, then slowly work the mileages up. Since I'm not tracking my weight, should I just report miles for the week here?

Harness/containers - Racer SST (used) Racer Elite Javelin (Racer Elite and Javelin belonged to my s/o at the time; we alternated. He bought both new) Vector I (very used) Reflex (first new rig) Infinity Mains - Fury 220 PD170 PD190 Safire 149 (first new main) Spectre 170 Spectre 150

So would it be okay with you if the guy following you out of the plane uses the 45 degree rule? After all, it's his prerogative to decide if the 45 degree rule is right or not. Or how about if somebody does a 270 into the same airspace that you are flying through? After all, it's his prerogative to decide how and where he wants to land.

In the hopes that others can learn from my mistakes. Isn't it better to learn from other people's mistakes than it is to learn by making the same mistakes that they did? Especially if those mistakes could be painful or fatal?

And your point is? A few quotes that may (or may not) be relevant - In flying I have learned that carelessness and overconfidence are usually far more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks. — Wilbur Wright in a letter to his father, September 1900. There are no new types of aircrashes — only people with short memories. Every accident has its own forerunners, and every one happens either because somebody did not know where to draw the vital dividing line between the unforeseen and the unforeseeable or because well-meaning people deemed the risk acceptable. If politics is the art of the possible, and flying is the art of the seemingly impossible, then air safety must be the art of the economically viable. At a time of crowded skies and sharpening competition, it is a daunting task not to let the art of the acceptable deteriorate into the dodgers' art of what you can get away with. — Stephen Barlay, 'The Final Call: Why Airline Disasters Continue to Happen,' March 1990. What is the cause of most aviation accidents: Usually it is because someone does too much too soon, followed very quickly by too little too late. — Steve Wilson, NTSB investigator, Oshkosh, WI , August, 1996. You land a million planes safely, then you have one little mid-air and you never hear the end of it ... — Air Traffic Controller, New York TRACON, Westbury Long island. Opening quotation in movie 'Pushing Tin', 1999. Flying is so many parts skill, so many parts planning, so many parts maintenance, and so many parts luck. The trick is to reduce the luck by increasing the others. — David L. Baker The principles are the same in aviation and space safety. You always have to fight complacency—you need formal programs to ensure that safety is always kept in mind. — Jerome Lederer, interview with the New York Times, 1967 The route to the target is more important than the target. We are going to go for the target, but we enjoy the route as well. — Israeli Air Force Col. Ilan Ramon, to reporters on the eve of his Space Shuttle flight, 16 January 2003. STS-107 was lost on re-entry on 1 February 2003. I am a history major. I believe that the past is prologue. The archives bear that out. Most major aircraft accidents are not acts of God. In our recommendations we try to take what we have learned and correct situations so it shouldn't happen again. — James Hall, NTSB, 1996. Complacency or a false sense of security should not be allowed to develop as a result of long periods without an accident or serious incident. An organization with a good safety record is not necessarily a safe organization. — International Civil Aviation Organization, 'Accident Prevention Manual, 1984.

Noice! Congrats! She's a lucky girl.

Because I got away with driving 100+ mph after three or four beers numerous times at age 16 without killing myself or anyone else does not mean that driving 100+ mph after three or four beers at age 16 was a smart thing to do. It means I got lucky. Because I got away with stowing the top of my toggle into the guide ring for 20 jumps doesn't mean that stowing the top of a toggle in the guide ring is safe. It means I got lucky. Getting away with it leads to complacency. Complacency kills.

The general rule that I was taught is more than one suspension line = cutaway. When two center D lines snapped on a brutally hard opening I chose to ignore that general rule and land it. The opening was hard enough that my brain wasn't working real well; I thought that it slowed down "enough" when I did a practice flare but I was wrong. It wasn't a pretty landing. After that experience I decided to stick with the general rule that I was taught in the future. One broken suspension line would be different. As others have said, cutting away or not would depend on which line and the results of a controllability check.

Student rigs are designed for the student environment. They often have adjustable harnesses so they will fit a variety of people and main deployment set ups on both sides so an instructor can get the main out from either side of the student if needed, amongst other things. You aren't a student anymore. You don't need or want a container designed for use by students. Check out the articles on this page for answers to some of your other questions.

Why is it fallacious? Wasn't the Cypres (first mostly reliable AAD) developed because somebody got tired of people dying from no-pulls? Wasn't the dirt alert first developed because someone got tired of people dying because they lost altitude awareness?

Even the best, most experienced jumpers out there that can screw up - and most of them will freely admit that they have in the past and could easily do so again. If making a mistake in the air equals stupidity then we are all idiots. The same things that were broken when audibles, RSL's and AAD's were originally developed. Somebody got tired of hearing about people dying and decided to come up with a way to prevent further deaths from the same causes. Luckily for those who are still alive because they had an audible/RSL/AAD, the people who originally developed them didn't listen to the folks who were saying these items weren't needed and/or would never work.

Was just looking at a used 20D with lenses and other accessories. They were asking $1400. As a photography beginner and broke college student I really can't justify spending that much on a camera. A nice lens is in the plans for next semesters financial aid check.

True. The only thing that will keep you from dying is good judgement. There are a couple of ways to develop good judgement. One is to survive bad judgement (in other words, your bag of luck didn't run out before your bag of skill got full). imho, this method is not preferable as it tends to encourage the development of complacency - if I've survived doing something 10 times, I'm more likely to think I'm going to survive every time in the future. The other is to listen to those who have either survived it without becoming complacent or have watched and learned from others who didn't survive it. This is where listening to what people with craploads of experience/years in the sport have to say about what you are thinking about doing. It can be tough to figure out who to listen to. But when more highly experienced people are saying something is not a good idea than are saying it is, good judgement is shown by choosing to follow the conservative advice.

Why not think about new or different ways of saving lives? If people hadn't done so in the past we wouldn't have the RSL, the skyhook, AAD's, audibles or square reserves. Instead of bashing someone for what may not be a workable idea, how about encouraging them to continue thinking?

>0:0:0 Went to an A's game on Saturday. Lots of fun and great seats - 7th row on the field right behind the visitors bullpen. The A's lost but I got to see Mike Piazza fly out to left field. Sunday was spent on a school field trip to Pt Reyes Nat'l Seashore. Walked the earthquake trail, checked out a replica of a Miwok Indian village and climbed down and then up 300 stairs to and from the lighthouse. It was so pretty it was worth riding in a bus with 39 19 year olds for most of the day. Looking forward to going back someday soon to do some backpacking.

Today's peeve - teachers who don't show up for 7:30 am classes. So glad I managed to catch the bus at 6 fucking a.m. to get here on time.

Homework/studying on Friday, A's game on Saturday, school field trip on Sunday. Or in other words, for no good reason at all.

Naw. More like I'm frustrated that they look way better in that spandex than I ever would.