skybytch

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Everything posted by skybytch

  1. skybytch
    An excellent point! The cons don't seem to outweigh the pros, and none of the cons seem to be deal breakers for you. Go for it. I'll bet your kids will thank you years from now.
  2. skybytch
    Yes. But unlike right now, she'd have to have actually made some jumps before she'd be able to downsize. Right now, anybody, klutz or "natural talent", with any number of jumps can buy anything they want. Which is an overall better outcome? Letting anyone buy anything, so there are more klutzs sharing the sky with you? Or limiting what low jump number klutzs can buy so there are fewer klutzs sharing the sky with you? We can't opt out of the FAA. One mad mother with connections pointing out to the right legislator that the organization tasked with self-policing the sport has chosen not to police what is a major source of injury and death within the sport could easily change who is doing the regulating.
  3. skybytch
    No. Absolute limits based on jump numbers, like those in the Netherlands. Which appear to be having the intended effect - Is it perfect? No. Does it limit some jumpers "freedom"? Yes - until they get some experience under their belt, that is. Will it reduce injuries? Yes. Will it make it easier for a DZO/DZM/S&TA to tell someone they can't jump that canopy? Yes. Will it make it easier for gear dealers and private sellers to tell someone they can't buy that canopy? Yes. Will I have to check the manifest to see if "that guy" is on it before I get on that load? Probably not. Will it happen? No. Even if someone presents it to the BOD. For, as I was told in a PM, it's already been decreed high up in USPA that it will never happen.
  4. skybytch
    It's been seven years since this thread was started. Still no BSR to help keep noobs off canopies they don't have the skill to handle. Lots more injured and dead guys who thought they had mad skillz though - and most of them could have avoided the pain if something had been done seven years ago, since most of them hadn't even seen a parachute back then. Will we ever learn? Nope.
  5. skybytch
    For anything other than a "big way", the PAC is the best. It gets me to altitude faster and more comfortably than any other plane. Plus I have my own window. That whole hard to be last out thing? Consider it good diving practice.
  6. skybytch
    At WFFC one year, a guy lost his credit card out of a jumpsuit pocket while in freefall. It was found and returned to him. A day or so later, the same guy lost the same credit card out of the same pocket while in freefall. It was again found and returned to him.
  7. skybytch
    While it's a good thing to support your local dz/gear dealer, there are many gear dealers out there who will happily order your new container with a 50% or less deposit on order, with the balance due upon completion.
  8. skybytch
    You can get 190 proof Everclear in Kalispell.
  9. skybytch
    Skydiving. Oh, and I moved to Florida once.
  10. skybytch
    Friend of mine has one too. But it lacks a toilet, which for me is the whole point of an RV over a tent.
  11. skybytch
    You may find some of this helpful.
  12. skybytch
    At 125 pounds, you'll probably be happier with the Pit Special over the Swoop Suit. IIRC, the Swoop Suit is designed for average to larger sized jumpers; the Pit Special is a tighter fitting suit designed for smaller, lighter jumpers. Best advice I can give is to call the manufacturer you have decided on and ask them which of their suits and which fabrics will work best for your body size/shape and how you want to skydive. Get the booties on an RW suit. Your color choices are fine, but know that black can get uncomfortably warm in the summer heat.
  13. skybytch
    That's only cuz I introduced you. They figured if I liked you, they better be nice to you. Didn't want to piss off the Bytch, after all...
  14. skybytch
    The landing area is free of obstacles. The spools mark the edge, keep spectators and vehicles out and hold wind indicators.
  15. skybytch
    It was at ~100 jumps when he bought it. And I'm not 100% sure on the jump numbers, he could have quite a few less than 500. Learning how to fly a more conservative canopy well before progressing to more aggressive wings pays dividends in the future. There are lots of skills that can be learned under less aggressive canopies that transfer directly to learning to swoop - like accuracy (both on the ground and when hitting checkpoints in the pattern), the ability to roll out of a turn on the exact path you want and the ability to recognize a potential collision and react properly to avoid it in time. It's entirely possible that if he'd been flying a less aggressive canopy from the start and downsized only after mastering it, he could have pulled this landing off under the canopy he has now.
  16. skybytch
    A couple from yesterday at the American Boogie.
  17. skybytch
    "Just" a femur and some ligament damage and a broken nose. It's gonna hurt but he'll recover well; he's in excellent physical condition.
  18. skybytch
    "At fault"? No. The gear operated exactly as it was designed to and did exactly what the pilot asked it to. The choice of that gear at a low experience level was the first link in the chain of events that led to this helicopter ride.
  19. skybytch
    Okay then. Over 1.5 on an elliptical non-crossbraced canopy.
  20. skybytch
    Yes, but I'm not going to share it. That has nothing to do with this thread.
  21. skybytch
    Sub 500-jump jumper under small higher performance canopy since approx 100 jumps. Impacted an obstacle mid-swoop. No gore or impact photos here, just a few shots of what all his friends got to see and do while he was laying there, waiting for the adrenaline to wear off and the pain to kick in. Don't be that guy. If people are telling you that you may be going too small or aggressive on your canopy or too big on your approaches, they just might know what they are talking about. Don't make your friends be the ones holding C-spine traction and cutting your main lift web and carrying you to the helicopter, wondering if you're going to make it or not, when if you'd listened to them you be walking back to the packing area instead. Yeah, I know this is an exercise in futility, but I really enjoy beating my head against brick walls.
  22. skybytch
    We've already had this discussion. If there is a version 3.0, it will not be awarded by anyone other than the original AND version 2.0. How could it be? It's not your title to give away, folks...
  23. skybytch
    Works great on my canopy at my wingloading. YMMV.
  24. skybytch
    I was thinking toys in the drawer, but whatever floats your boat.
  25. skybytch
    I like a man with a variety of canopies, in a variety of sizes and types.