skybytch

Hey, I'm here for ya. If you want to really see the US, stay off the interstates as much as possible and drive the state highways instead. If you don't stress the snow thing you will get to see better scenery, different from your last trip. Chains aren't expensive and light snow isn't hard to drive in (and I'm a California baby, I don't do snow). At least check out I40 instead of I10...

Interstate 10? That's only the MOST boring way to see the USA.

How do you know the guy is on commission?

Not everyone has the available money and time to do 500 a year. Especially over 20+ years.

They aren't why she's worried.

No it doesn't. It looks like an Icon that has too much bulk in the ears, which can cause the riser covers to not want to stay closed.

About as much as the original question. My 20+ years in sport ain't shit compared to some other folks I know - to them, I'm a tourist.

Yeah, they get it. Took about 10 years for Mom to really be okay with it though. They just shook their heads when I took up ice hockey a couple years ago (since I wasn't staying super current skydiving for various reasons, I needed something to do). And they didn't give me too much crap when I broke my leg on the ice. Recently picked up a new to me dual sport motorcycle (Yamaha XT225) and Mom's comment was that she wished I'd go jump instead.

Yup. Until you've been around for 10 or more years, you are a tourist - a short term skydiver.

Really? Where did you get that information?

How many jumps are on the line set? Have you had the line trim checked? Many times a canopy that starts opening hard or "bad" when it hasn't been known for that is out of trim. If you're going to keep jumping with a messed up neck, do yourself a favor and jump a different canopy. Preferably one with Dacron lines. Smartest thing you could do would be to go see a doctor and find out for sure what is going on in there. Before your next jump.

This. To the OP - From your description, there was all kinds of learning going on in your last skydive. You got unstable and you regained stability without your instructors assistance. That is all good. Your Cat E jump(s), with backloops and such, will be easier and better because you have already gotten yourself stable. In the easier said than done advice category, don't be so hard on yourself. Why are you skydiving? Probably because at some point, you are having a blast while doing it. Skydiving is about having FUN! Beating yourself up for not being perfect really detracts from the FUN. What are the most important things to do on any skydive? Pull, flare, walk back from the landing area and have fun are my list. Did you do those things? If you did, then it was a great skydive. People with thousands of jumps still occasionally aren't perfect in the air. Remember that!

Good luck! The process is frustrating as hell, but well worth it in the end. Agent recommendation - we kept our business in the skydiving community. Ended up falling in love with a house that our agent was flipping, so we didn't have to deal with cash buyers beating us out like they did on the first place we put an offer on. We would not have found this place if we had used anybody else. Ask around at the dz - someone out there just may be ready to sell the place you are looking for.

source: http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/legal_guides/u-3.shtml How is it a sweepstakes if someone has to pay to participate?

Even if it were legal in all 50 states for a group that is not registered as a charity to run a raffle, isn't there some requirement that participation cannot be limited to certain groups of people? In this one, if you don't have a credit card or a paypal account, it doesn't seem that there was any way you could have purchased a ticket. This is going to be interesting to watch...

Umm... no. You have no right to confidential information about incidents, and incident reports contain confidential information. Ask about injuries and fatalities at the dz if you'd like, but don't expect details about those incidents. You don't know enough to process those details at this point. You can find out if there have been aircraft incidents at the dz with a simple google search. Same with fatalities. Dunno. We aren't divers.

Best advice you'll get here: stop reading about and watching skydiving on the internet. Go to a dropzone. Talk to skydivers (ignore the tandumb passengers and their screeching hangers on). Talk to AFF instructors. If there is more than one dz in your area, visit all of them. Book an appointment for your AFF first jump at the one you like best. Forget everything you've read on the interwebs about skydiving and listen only to your instructor(s) until you have completed your student jumps. While it's great to have a goal, remember that skydiving, like life, is a journey. The destination is nice, but the people you will meet, the things you will see and the places you will go as you chase that goal are what will make it worthwhile.

Not sure what kind of advice you are looking for. Where to jump? What to jump? What kind of jumps to do? Where to jump? Someplace where you feel comfortable, where the people are nice, the experienced folks keep an eye on the newbies and the planes are well maintained. What to jump? Your own gear. Unless you are renting by the day, it's the only cost effective way to rack up jumps, What kind of jumps? For the best chance of becoming an old skydiver who doesn't limp (much), put at least equal time/jumps into working on your canopy control skills as you do working on freefall skills. Take a canopy control course ASAP if there is one offered near you. If not, check out the B license canopy card and find the person on your dz who can work with you to get the stuff signed off. If you don't have your own gear yet, do the same drills when you get your main. Do them over and over and over until the skills are second nature. Progress into group freefall slowly, but don't "waste" too many jumps on freefall solos if skydiving with others is one of your goals. There is plenty of time to do 10 ways in the future. You'll learn more right now on a 2 or 3 way. A good coach (rw or freefly) is worth every penny you'll pay them if you want to progress faster and can afford it. Most importantly - racking up jumps is great, but there are times when it's way better to be sitting on the ground watching. When students go on windhold, put yourself on windhold. If it's windy and you see only tandems and cameraflyers on a load, go grab a sandwich instead of making a skydive. When you see that all the old timers who aren't working are sitting around, join them. Far better to be grounded by weather for a day than to be grounded by injury for months.

I've been mostly grounded for the past year (neck issues scaring me). Was offered a tandem ride by a friend, just to get up in the air. I refused. Not that I don't trust him - it's a control thing. I gotta have it or I'm not comfortable.

Please! It's hydrate or die in this kind of heat. 100 degree plus days are an excellent time to help a packer pay their rent.

So glad we are on flat rate for water. $50 a month for all we can waste. Guaranteed I'll be at every CSD meeting where they consider changing that to metered!

Air density is down, surf is up. Which could be a pro or a con depending on you. Shirtless guys. Which could be a pro or a con depending on you. And whether said guys have a six pack or a shed.

My first tandem ride was at about 200 jumps. Did a few more for the guys that I got rated with. Hated every one of them!

The only way to figure out which one is right for you is to jump them both. What Jumper Joe over there likes at his wingloading and what Bouncin' Bob over there likes at his wingloading are very likely different (even though both of them will tell you at length why the canopy they jump is "the best"). Canopies from different manufacturers have different flares (example: Icarus canopies tend to have a deeper sweet spot than PD canopies). One of them will probably work better for you than the others, but none of us can tell you which one that will be.

Tell him that you won't jump with him if he does. Tell him that you'll tell everyone else not to jump with him. Tell him that it's okay if he wants to die, but it's not okay to take someone out with him. Tell him if he isn't good enough to land it other than straight in, he isn't good enough to be flying it with other people. Tell him that he has the right to auger himself in, he doesn't have the right to kill or injure others. If none of that works, tell him you are going to tell his mother what he's doing.