skybytch

Correction - Don't take offense to it, it is just the dorkzone. They're just jealous cuz they didn't think of it first and/or they don't have the physical attractiveness to pull it off.

And the moral of the story is - don't speed when carrying large amounts of weed.

A couple suggestions for ya then: 1) "maybe reading the post fully and not jumping to conclusions would be a good start." Take your own advice. Grow a thicker skin. Don't assume that the words you read here are meant in the way you take them. In all likelihood, they were not. 2) You're new to the sport. This is the time to be asking questions about skydiving, not answering them. You'll gain much respect from other more experienced jumpers by doing so, and refraining from telling the world what someone else told you just may keep incorrect information from spreading.

Much easier and faster to put the used TP in a ziplock and carry to the next trash can, imho.

?? Most rigs out there that were built for a 190 will hold a 150 just fine. Not every jumper is going to want to downsize rapidly. Some people choose to actually learn to fly a canopy at 1.0-ish before going smaller. This process, when done with an eye toward safety and not with an "I'm that fucking good" attitude, will take at least a couple hundred jumps. If a newbie can't get 500 jumps out of their first rig, they are either downsizing way too fast or they bought a real P.O.S...

Let me rephrase, perhaps. If someone isn't able to do a good two stage flare, starting from full flight and ending with all or nearly all forward speed eliminated in a no wind situation, going smaller is NOT going to solve the problem.

Poor form. Dig a small cathole - 6-8 inches deep, deposit poo, cover hole. Take TP to a trash can - leaving it out there, covered or not, is just icky.

Speaking as one who must squat every time nature calls - logs and rocks make handy backrests. Squat low. Think of it as a yoga pose Speaking as a gram weenie backpacker - you don't need a poop shovel. Sticks work just fine. Use the weight you save for Wet Ones. Seriously. Clean butt and pits = happy backpacker.

You're still pissed off about an offhand remark that was made on an internet forum HOW many years ago? O.M.F.G.

Absolutely. I'm rolling in dough. Aren't all college students? Who's going to pay if I get hurt? I am. Can I pay for it up front? No. Would I pay it at the rate of $20 a month for the rest of my life? Yes. I can get insurance. For $300+ a month considering my age and pre-existing conditions. That's close to 25% of the take home pay of someone working a $10 an hour job. That's a fucking rip off. You may be right though. I just may fuck myself up real bad and the taxpayers just may have to pay for it. In which case you can be comforted by the knowledge that the care I get will be substandard at best, and I'll likely die way sooner than I should have because of it.

Your poll is lacking an option. "No, and if I fuck myself up skydiving I don't expect anyone to pay for it other than myself"

That smile... I don't remember ever seeing Eli at the dz without a smile on his face. Skydiving has lost a pioneer and an ambassador. This is a very sad day. My condolences to Sarah, their children, his family and everyone who called him friend.

My parents and kid are a few miles from the Hemet fire..

Sure it can. If that extra speed doesn't freak the jumper out to the point that they forget to finish the flare (or in some cases, to flare at all). If someone isn't able to do a good two stage flare on what they are currently flying, going smaller is NOT going to solve the problem.

Peace out, Mikal. Thanks for livening up my life as a greenie, way back when.

I missed hearing about this. I too remember her from her posts on rec dot, and here as well. I had to admire her pluck then. I hope she's flying free now.

Matt Stephens. Taken during the 2009 American Boogie at Skydance.

Close. The Sacramento area would be my recommendation. Basically 1-2 hours from Sacramento to SF (music, culture, watersports), Tahoe and Reno (snowboarding, skiing, gambling, hiking, music), miles of gorgeous coastline, tens of thousands of acres of wilderness and national forest to play in, and four turbine dz's. Housing is way cheaper than the Bay area or SoCal, too.

You jump at Skydive San Diego? You have more in-person gear resources available to you than most other jumpers do. Go talk to Bonnie at Gravity Gear, or go up to Perris or Elsinore and talk to the folks at Square One. If they don't have something that will work for you, they can at least answer your questions.

A written logbook is just that - a place for your own notes on the jump and for right now for whatever your instructors have to say. Computers are cool but archaic things like paper and pen still get the message across, and paper logbooks are much easier for an instructor to look at/add to during your ground preps and debriefs than a computer located in the office - or even your laptop on the benches outside the school - would be.

It is.

That's only relevant if the owner also has 20 jumps, like you do. Not the best plan to load your first reserve over about 1.0 sq ft/pound of body weight - in this case, that'd mean you not weighing more than about 175 pounds. Think about how fun it's going to be to land it at sunset, into a backyard, on a street, all after enjoying your first cutaway. Now think about how much fun that would be on your next jump...

Really? I have 1200 jumps and I still try to stay as aware and safety oriented as possible on every jump. Don't you?

I seem to recall that you thought you knew quite a bit at 200 jumps...

That's a question that no one here can answer - we haven't seen you fly a parachute. None of your instructors who have seen you fly and land a parachute can really answer it either. Only you can, and it's not a question that you can answer now. Whether you can (or more importantly, should) jump that combo in a few months depends on a number of factors - if you get that many jumps in, if you lose that weight instead of gaining some, if you have no issues with and spend time working on canopy control or if you point it toward the dz and hope, if you put a jump on a 170 and discover that it's scary... The more conservative, less likely to help create pain path would be to buy something to fit a 190 main and a 170-ish reserve, something that you can get within a month or so. Used is good. Put 75-100 jumps on the 190, learning everything you can, then sell it and buy a 170. Put a couple hundred jumps on that, learning everything you can, then sell it all and buy the rig of your dreams. By then, the rig of your dreams is more likely to remain looking purty too.