skybytch

Hmmm... so what would your answer be if it was an irrational husband not "letting" the wife jump?

Guess I'll be the exception that proves the rule. I'd love to see less legislation regarding the use of both guns and weed.

Having earned an AFF rating last summer, I gotta disagree that the ratings are being handed out. That course was the most challenging thing I've done in 19 years of skydiving - more challenging than getting a static line j/m or I was, more challenging than getting a tandem rating was, more challenging than getting and staying on an RW big way was. While the courses of today are not as mentally and emotionally taxing as the courses of old (which, imho, is a change for the better), there are still plenty of opportunities for candidates to mindfuck themselves out of the rating. And it ain't all about showing up and paying the money either. I know several people who've been sent home from recent cert courses because they weren't ready - and they had plenty of money. Not every new rating holder expects that. The majority of my jumps so far have been done with an instructor who has logged more AFF jumps than I have total jumps. That's the way I wanted it, and it's the path that was suggested by the person who rated me. The "I'm ready for anything" attitude comes from the ego of the person with the new ticket or from the dzo who puts a freshly rated instructor on a single instructor Cat D. It does not come from the course director. One change that I would like to see in the process is the addition of a time in sport requirement. We require 3 years in sport of our amusement park ride operators; the same standard should apply to those who are actually teaching people to skydive.

It's quite possible that I will be standing next to you getting ready for a jump on Friday. I could even be your instructor for your recurrency jump. What would I tell you? Well, after going over emergency procedures and the dive flow I'd tell you the following - Relax. Breathe. Smile. And let's go have some fun.

I haven't had medical insurance since the summer of 2003. Which helps to explain why I've only made 200 jumps since then. Risk vs reward. Just like most swoopers know they can screw themselves up physically for the rest of their lives if shit happens to them, I know I could completely screw myself financially for the rest of my life if I get hurt skydiving. I've accepted that risk in return for the rewards of making a few skydives. I reduce the risk by jumping a conservative canopy, flying that canopy conservatively (ie traditional pattern) and I don't jump if the conditions aren't good to excellent. So far so good. Until the time comes when having medical insurance costs less per month than I spend to feed me, I'll keep hoping I don't roll a 7...

Email Action Air - sales at actionair dot com. They have access to all of the Reflex records. With the serial number they can find out what measurements the rig was built for.

18:0:3 18 ground evals for a coach course 0 jumps. Would have done several eval jumps yesterday if it weren't for the number 3 - Friday morning was the 3rd time I've sprained my ankle going down the 3 steps out of my house.

Fixed it for ya. Fixed yours too.

If you insist, I'll take a cash tip, but really, the best tip you can give me is to come back next weekend. And the weekend after that. Etc. Beer for the dz fridge is nice too, but not required. You're gonna be spending a lot of money learning to skydive. I don't see a need to make it more expensive than it already is by tipping me - I'm already getting paid to jump with you. But it's your money; if it makes you feel good to tip, then by all means do so. I'm sure I can figure out some way to spend it!

Happy b-day!

I absolutely agree. As long as the discussion doesn't include not teaching PLF's. I've used forward PLF's and walked away from quite a few could have been nasty landings. I'm not saying that a slide technique wouldn't have worked as well or better, just that PLF's do work, even with some forward speed. It's a valuable survival skill, and I'm glad my FJC instructor made me roll around in the pea gravel, forward, to the left, and to the right, until I was doing it correctly.

Okay, but when do you propose to teach this to them? During the FJC? imho, not a good idea to add yet another thing to remember to the already overwhelming amount of information that we throw at them ("crap, I flared too high/too low, am I supposed to PLF or slide? I don't remember!" Crash...). Most first jump students are going to land at a fairly slow speed; the PLF is far more likely to keep them from breaking if the flare is less than perfect. I can see teaching a slide technique prior to clearing them for self-supervision though, since that's when they're going to start flying smaller, faster canopies.

What he said. You don't know if you're going to enjoy skydiving yet. If you must spend money on skydiving RIGHT NOW, spend it on goggles, gloves, and maybe an altimeter and a helmet - these are items you'll probably be able to use on your student jumps. Save buying a rig until you're done with AFF and have gotten the advice of instructors who have actually seen you fly and land a parachute. There will still be good deals out there then too.

I've had good luck with Coleman for car camping tents. They don't leak and if well staked out will stand up to winds up to about 25-30 mph. Our last one supposedly sleeps 6 people (it's cavernous for two people and a dog) and we only paid around $50 on sale at one of the big box stores.

I know. Gonna have to find a personal shopper to take with me to the thrift stores, I have no idea what to buy.

I found an opportunity to do an internship over the summer, working in the office of a state assemblyman. I'm way excited about applying for it; it pays nothing but is only 20-ish hours a week and will give me some insight into what a legislator does, not to mention hopefully making a lot of contacts for the future. I'm trying to decide what to highlight in my resume and in the cover letter. The announcement specified customer service experience, of which I have plenty; that will be well covered. Should I also play up my age (or should I play that down?), non-traditional student status, classes I've taken and/or goal of a public service career? What can I say to make my cover letter inspire them to contact me first?

It's 78 degrees and you want it to be colder? 78 degrees is perfect, why in the world would you want to change it?

Skydive Lost Prairie.

You'll get over that. It won't take long. Trust me.

I get to help make some new coaches this weekend.

A girl can dream... I'm making no predictions. I hope the Wings choke in the first round, but I think a Sharks/Wings matchup in the third round would be an amazing - and brutal - series. I want to see the Sharks skating with the Cup. I love hockey.

Not to mention the fact that those types of people aren't likely to try the downwind landing on a hop and pop. They're going to throw it down on their next jump. Doesn't matter how many other people are in the air or that doing so endangers those other people...

Yup. The fact that shit didn't happen to kallend on his 44th jump completely proves that it's totally safe for any jumper to fly any canopy of any size or shape, regardless of their current ability.