tbrown

5 and 1/2 weeks in a cast and non-weight bearing the whole time ? No walking boot ? Sounds like you have a way to go before any jumping. I twisted my foot about 180 degrees and just demolished the ankle ligaments last spring. Then the energy of the twist went up my fib and cracked it in two places, also a small chip fracture to one of the bones in the ankle. The fractures healed up quickly all by themselves. I wore a splint that I could take off and put back on, basically made of fiberglass shaped to my leg & foot, plus 3 ace bandages. I also had surgery to install a pin in my ankle, or the doctor said I'd have healed with a floppy foot for the rest of my life. After 5 or 6 weeks I got the boot and quickly went from two crutches to one, and soon no crutches. I stumped around in the Frankenboot for another 8 weeks, until the doc was ready to operate again and remove the pin. After that things improved rapidly and I started PT. PT never hurt, but I hated it anyway because I'm basically lazy about physical excercise. But they knew I wanted to jump again, so they gave me a lot of jumping around kind of excercises, plus one of those big 4 ft x 3 in. rubber bands to use for flexing exercises. I went another 6 weeks before I felt good enough to get back in the air. I upsized from a 190 Spectre to a 210 Pilot, mostly at my wife's insistence (she's really very supportive of my jumping). Besides, I weigh close to 250 out the door anyway, so I'm still loading at or near 1.2, so I don't consider my Pilot to be big, nor a "boat". It just made sense. Finally, I spent about $9 at the local pharmacy on an ankle brace thingy that looks like it's made out of ace bandage material. It slips on over a sock and sort of grips the foot and ankle and I found it helpful, though lately I don't feel like I need it anymore. You're going to be having swelling issues for a long time, possibly a year or more. At first, take some time for a midday break to put your foot UP and ice it. Eventually the selling will improve until finally it's either gone or about as good as it will ever get. And don't be shy about PLF's and butt slides. Feet and knees together will save you every time, but you already know that by now. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Grateful Dead, live concert recordings with high energy jams. Also Allman Brothers, also live, Santana, also live. I like the live stuff best. Sometimes some of the "classic rock" stations too because they still play the same tunes I'd listen to driving to the dropzone 25 years ago. Stuff like Boston, Blue Oyster Cult ("Don't Fear the Reaper" is like OUR song, plus it's got that killer cowbell!), Steve Miller Band, Kansas. On the way home I like to find Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" and have somethijng to chuckle about all the way home. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I think being "in love" is an irrational biochemical reaction a person can feel about another person. It's probably linked to the urge & necessity to reproduce, every nerve and fiber says you want to make a baby with this one. It makes people go nuts, feel sick to their stomachs, fell like their skin is on fire. Not much else seems important anymore and it's easy to behave like a fool in front of a lot of shocked friends or family. That's not so far fetched if you consider how little any of us know about a new partner. The fun part is when it's reciprocated, the two get to know more about each other, and the biochem fireworks are still going off like the 4th of July. Some people learn how to keep it going for many years. By then you hopefully know each other well enough to find some deeper roots with each other as well. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm not so concerned about any one particular issue as that there are so many of them all at once. Your friend could find she's "bit off more than she can chew". The opinions expressed here that the canopy's okay, the dropzone is bigger or easier to land on, and sitflying is something she can learn are all valid enough. And we all need to push our envelopes to keep learning. But shouldn't we push the envelope one crner at a time ? She can still get a bad spot or have to cutaway and land off the DZ, does she know where the safe outs are ? Is it really a good idea to try learning a new canopy AND sitflying on the same jump, especially for a novice who's just had a month off ? How much new information can anyone, let alone a newbie, be expected to retain on one jump ? She'll be falling faster if she's sitting, have less freefall time before she needs to open, have to be more careful about a stable body position when she opens, and then there's the flight and landing characteristics of a different type of canopy design. At a different DZ with different landmarks, outs & hazards. Doesn't seem like she couldn't get this over the course of a couple weekends, or even over one full weekend with plenty of jumps. But she needs to do this in bite size pieces. And you're a real friend to be concerned about her. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

What she says, did that just the other day after only one jump in decent winds. The winds picked up 'til the big 20mph windsock was inflated and I decided I was done. Getting hurt once helps with those kind of decisions, it's something you don't want to repeat. I think using an AAD is a smart thing, but it's also smart to forget you're wearing one after you've turned it on. And keeping an open mind and THANKING people who point something out to you or who question you about something you have or haven't done. You might have reason to disagree, but often enough they're right and they care enough about you to call it to your attention (and even if you're right, it's good for you to explain your reasons and contribute to a positive dialog). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It shouldn't be too hard to make a set on a beam or wheel that can be rotated, or maybe even cranked with a gear ? It's also good for us non-students to get into a suspended harness now and then for a little practice, especially after some time off. And it's simply AMAZING what kind of fun you can have with the things after hours... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

When I first started jumping I worried “if my main has a malfunction why should I expect my reserve to be any more reliable…it can malfunction too.” I had “reserve reliability fear” until I had a nasty spinning mal and had to chop. The speed and stability of the reserve deployment gave me confidence in the equipment. I no longer have “reserve reliability fear” I used to think so too. Psychologically, if your main's already messed up, why would you think the reserve should do any better ? And then what ? I think cutaway/reserve fear accounts for a lot of low or no cutaways. Especially when the mal appears to be of a marginal nature, like a hung up slider. Sort of like being on the Titanic out in the middle of the ocean - do you feel safer onboard the big ship, or getting away in one of the lifeboats ? The ship is going to feel better until the deck starts to tip and you realize all the boats have already gone. I once saw somebody thunder in under a 5 cell with a hung up slider. He survived with a compression fracture of his lower vertebrae and told us he didn't think he was falling that fast until he got way too low to do anything about it. It helps for sure if you have a violent spinner, baglock, or even a total because you KNOW you're in serious trouble and had better start pulling handles. Most of us feel better about it once we've got a cutaway under our belts though. Which could be another good reason to make an intentional cutaway on the demo rigs that are designed for it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

That's a good thing to be training them for. As with my remark about "3 sec/300 ft" for the TSO opening requirements, I was rather broadly paraphrasing and generalizing. I only mentioned students cutting away a popped toggle because a number of them have written to these Forums and said they had done exactly that and wanted to know "if they did the right thing". Which would appear to make it a real issue, at least at some dropzones. The usual concensus in these Forums has been that if the student is alive and in one piece they did the right thing, but in the future should try pulling down their toggles once or twice. Anyway, Merry Christmas John AND Sparky, you guys are the best ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Modern square reserves are extremely reliable. In order to pass their TSO tests they're packed with 3 intentional line twists up against the canopy. They still have to be completely open in 3 seconds or less. No they're not perfect, nothing is. AAD's are remarkably reliable when they're properly maintained. But I was up on a load today and looking out a window at 750 ft. It never fails to send a chill up my spine to think of deploying anything that low. The AAD deploys your PILOT CHUTE at that altitude. TSO standard sez your reserve must be open within 3 sec/300 ft. Rotsa ruck. It probably will, you hope. Which is why they're called AAD's for automatic ACTIVATION devices. In the old days the earlier models used to be called AOD's for auto opening devices, until the legal boys sat the manufacturers down and explained the liability of making such an implied warranty. AAD's save lives, I use one. But I'll be damned if I'm ever gonna let myself fall that low. I'll have to be out cold, or sound asleep or something, because that kind of ground rush would make me pull every handle I've got & probably a couple o' times. Finally, students are taught to lose the canopy if they don't like it. Sure, sometimes they chop a spinner that might've easily been fixed by pulling down once on the toggles. But they don't have the experience to make that kind of a judgement, or to act on it quickly. Better for them to take the much smaller risk of a reserve mal than the greater risk of spinning to their death. It's really that simple. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Well, what else do you expect from a dumb fuck school official. No apologies to school officials anywhere, not even if they skydive. They're just evil. And stupid. Evil and stupid is their job, if they weren't they'd be fired. Any questions ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It's more likely that Jesus was born in the springtime, probably March. This is when the shepherds are out in the fields with their sheep, they're not out there at this time of the year. Christmas was moved to December in the Roman Empire so that Christians could celebrate during the Roman Saturnalia festival and not draw undue attention to themselves. But the American tradition of Christmas has only marginal connections to Christ's birth. Christmas had a "problem" with its image by the early/mid 19th century. It was held in disrepute as a holiday for drunkards and beggars to make a public nuiscance of themselves. Caroling started as rowdy drunks banging on people's doors and demanding to be ADMITTED into the home for food and drink. Done that for the homeless lately ? When they're wasted ? Well that was the problem. So the notion of a Santa Claus, who brought presents to YOUR home IF you were good took hold. The idea of a Christmas with people STAYING HOME with their families was promoted. I don't personally care for this PC "happy holidays" shit. I wish people a Merry Christmas. But the idea of boycotting stores because they don't conform to a religious ideal of the season is un-American bullshit. Boycotting is for serious shit, like when people are being mistreated. Like for racially segregated buses and that sort of thing. This minister who's organizing the boycott in Virginia of businesses that wish people "happy holidays" is an asshole, and he needs to be told. And oh yeah, Merry Christmas (NOT Xmas) to all, and to all a good night. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Kermit grabs the hypodermic with crack on the seat and stabs the crack whore in the eye I'd rather see a Muppet version of "Pulp Fiction", with Kermit in the John Travolta role. I was thinking of the Uma Thurman heroin overdose, with Kermy jamming the hypo into Piggie's chest, which would wake her up and send her running around the room screaming. Except of course she'd flatten poor Kermit, who would be out like a light when Piggie finally says "something". Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Actually you can. You'll be thrown away from the canopy, feet into the relative wind. A perfect orientation for deploying a reserve canopy.It's kinda like cutting the string you're swinging a rock around on.....you know? A good analogy. So just when you're starting to lose that initial stability, wouldn't it be great to get line stretch instead of going ass over teakettle and getting ground rush ? It's worth pointing out that the single fatality at the 2003 WFFC was a jumper who cutaway from a spinning elliptical canopy below a grand. There was no RSL and witnesses think the victim was trying to get stable. Also worth mentioning that there was a Cypres on the rig, but the victim (I hate that word, but the guy's dead, so what else am I going to call him ?) was falling too slow for a quick activation. By the time he was falling fast enough to fire the Cypres - and it did fire - he was too low for the reserve to open. The USPA report in Parachutist concluded that an RSL might have saved the man's life. Without an RSL and that low, it would seem wise to grip both handles for a one-two punch. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I generally advise people NOT to rely on any battery powered device to save their life. "Pull when you hear the beep" has gotten people low (and killed them) before. Had a private discussion with the previous owner of my rig about a Cypres fire that was recorded on the packing data card. According to them, there was head down freeflying, combined with tracking on their backs, plus a dead battery in audible altimeter that never beeped. This resulted in the person rolling over, "crapping their pants (figuratively, I hope) and throwing their main p/c". The Cypres fire created a double out condition, which was safely landed. Seems to me like we have a pretty stong ingrained stimulus to throw Mr. Hackeysack when the going gets tough, regardless of altitude or what we think we'll do about it. It DOES create a condition where we actually have to think, "no, this is too low, other handle, now FIND the other handle and punch it". I'm not honestly sure if we can all train for that, we'd like to think we can. If I'm ever that low I INTEND to pull my reserve handle. If I'm that low, my Cypres is probably going to fire regardless of which handle I do pull, so obviously it would be safer to pull the reserve for a couple of reasons, like the faster opening and only one canopy out. But it is like slamming on the brakes and if we've tossed a pilot chute hundreds or thousands of times versus pulling silver maybe zero to half a dozen times, I don't think any of us can really be sure, unless we've actually done it before. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

You mean the little shithead didn't yell, "I'm the king of the world!" ???? I'm just disappointed he didn't go splat, all 360 degrees of the compass. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I have to completely agree. What I can't believe is that it's Paul McCartney...one of the greatest songwriters of all time...WTF? Uh yeah, Roger that WTF, it has to be THE WORST McCartney song ever written and I even generally like McCartney a lot. Maybe his late wife Linda wrote it ? BUT, be that as it may....the dogs barking "Jingle Bells" is the alltime suckeroo. I'd rather play the McCartney song from my rooftop nonstop than hear those damn dogs ever bark that damn song ever again in my life. That song has been a curse on all of us for 33 years now, enough already! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Then there's the issue of why the Feds feel they should get into regulating the practice of medicine, which has always been regulated by the states. Because the Feds are not only seeking to arrest wheelchair bound sick people, but to strip their doctors of their licenses to prescribe ANY drugs. There are going to be some interesting cases testing "conservative" issues this term. Aside from medical maryjane, there will also be a court test of whether states have the right to block or regulate direct sale of wine by mail from state to state. And then there's Oregon's physician assisted suicide law, which the voters had to pass TWICE to enact, thus forcing them to think and debate even more on this delicate issue. So we'll see what kind of "conservatives" are calling the shots these days. Are they the real conservatives who stand up for personal liberty and curtailment of Federal power ? Or just lockstep right wing authoritarians / Guess we'll find out. Oh and for the record, marijuana helped my brother a lot through his long illness and death from cancer. The thought that someone would try to steal that kind of relief from him or anyone else whose life is being stolen away by illness is disgusting. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm a really huge fan of ginger ale (the "nice vice"). But the most sublimely decadent debauchery know to man (or woman) has to be ginger ale with a box of Animal Crackers! Try it, you'll be hooked for life. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm intrigued with the emphatic negative feedback for this film. Why was it so awful? (I haven't seen it, yet.) The pacing is rather slow and it's pretty deep. It dwells on a lot of emotional pain and the difficulty of relationships. I really like it (own a copy), but I don't watch it very often. Trying to think of a few that haven't been mentioned. "Lost In Translation" is wonderful. I really like Salma Hayek's "Frida" a lot. LA confidential for the darker side (ever notice how many films Keven Spacey gets shot to death in - he must hold some kind of record). And finally, a guilty pleasure - "Elf"! I'm not kiddin', I thought it would be dorky until my wife bought a copy, sat me down and made me watch it. It's hilarious. Has a fabulous cast too. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

As this is a politically loaded question, I had to vote in favor of evolution, because I'd rather have scientists teaching my kids than ayatollahs. It would be well worth everyone's time to check out last month's issue of National Geographic for its outstanding defense of evolution theory. It's extremely well written and reasoned. As for the "just a theory" line, the article points out that gravity, electricity, and relativity are also "just theories", but that those theories are so reliable we are able to use them and rely on them. And that evolution is more even more proven. I'm not going to say that God didn't create the world. God's existence can't be proved either - and if it could, what would be the point of faith anyway ? There is no reasonable argument as to why a theory of evolution cannot scientifically explain the processes by which a God creates the world. Many churches reconciled evolution and creation A CENTURY AGO. Those who continue to insist against all reason that our world was literally created in six days approximately 8000 years ago are no better than the Taliban for trying to enforce their hopelessly backward and ill informed views . Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Mike, thanks for the directions, I'm finally able to make one of these things. However, I'm not happy with this one and now I can't change it to another picture. The FAQ's offer no guidance at all. Lots of you guys change your avatars all the time - so how do you do THAT ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

My point Bill is that doctors are people too and they can be just as intelligent or just as biased or even ignorant as the rest of us. The guy right below your post is a good case in point, he goes to the doctor with a sore nut and his doc tells him to stop jumping "before he loses the other one". Another old friend of mine was given the scare of her life when she was told her cancer was terminal, only to find from another doctor that it was in fact highly treatable and curable. How does the saying go, "50% of all doctors graduate in the lower half of their class" ? It's true what you say that doctors are just as often ignored and that many have stopped giving advice or taking new patients. If you've got a good doctor and you trust her (or him), then it really isn't cool to go against a reasoned argument about the damage you can do - some people shouldn't jump again, it's sad but true. It just comes down to whether you feel you can trust your doctor's judgement as well as whether you have the wisdom and humility to accept something you might not like to hear. Maybe this guy should see a sports doctor who understands athletic issues, if not our sport in particular ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Assuming his doc is openminded. Some are and some are just superstitious whuffos who don't think anybody should ever jump under any circumstances. But assuming he's open to the idea, he can give an honest evalutaion of your husband's condition. In general though, fractures tend to heal up well and stronger than before. It's sprains and ligament damage that can cause longterm problems. My own ankle/leg fractures are rock hard healed. But the damage I did to my ligaments is such that my ankle will never really be the same, so I have to take extra precautions when I jump. There are no easy answers, we get the best advice we can, weigh it against what's important to us and try to synthesize the best appropriate response to the facts. He should be okay mostly... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Yeah really, forget "peace of mind", peace and quiet at home are big pluses too. My wife and two kids feel better that dad's got some gizmo to pop his reserve if everything goes to shit, or something like that. Fact is, low pull/no pull disease was once the leading cause of death in our sport and the post mortem reports in Parachutist would usually end with "an automatic opening device (they were called AODs in the old days), may have prevented this fatality". Since the Cypres came along and earned near universal acceptance, deaths from low or no pulls have been significantly reduced. Instead, we've invented new ways to kill ourselves under perfectly opened canopies and cranking one into the dirt has become the most popular method of offing oneself. But once you turn your Cypres on in the morning, FORGET that it's there and jump like it isn't. On your way up in the plane, look out the window at 700-800 ft and imagine being in freefall that low. Scares the shit out of me every time. And if you're pulling so low that your Cypres gives you a two out, you deserve an ass-over-teakettle landing and a grounding to meditate on cleaning up your act. Anyone who pops their Cypres during an opening is waaaaay too fuckin' low in the first place. Pulling below two grand is a grounding offense. Always has been been and always should be. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

By now I think we're mostly settled on ZP material because it lasts so much longer and maintains a zero, or close to zero porosity for life. I have encountered some really fierce loyalty to PD as well. Maybe it's because PD is an "American" company, even though a lot of the sewing and assembly work is done in Honduras (check your data panel, it does not lie). I have nothing but the highest respect for PD. My reserve is a PD193R and for a while I owned a 190 Spectre, which was a great canopy. I jump a Pilot now, for a bunch of reasons, which included curiosity about the canopy and then finding I really love it. It's made in So. Africa, but Aerodyne is an American/Euro/So. African company. At present, Aerodyne still doesn't offer a cross braced canopy to compete with the Velocity, Xaos, or VX. Probably they will before long. But they're definitely contenders in the sport market now and that's good for all of us as jumpers. For starters their prices are considerably lower than the competitions. Artificially low to grab market share ? Perhaps, but welcome to hardball competition. With canopy prices nearing two grand, is anyone REALLY complaining about a canopy that can be had for thirteen sixty ? I think that the competition for both price and designs is GOOD for all of us. It keeps all of the manufacturers in this market on their toes. None of them can afford to sit back on their duffs because they're "the best". And it keeps pushing the new designs forward, who knows what we'll see next ? Thirty years ago one company ruled this sport worldwide. But their designs and quality couldn't keep up and by the nineties a little upstart outfit called PD knocked their socks off and toppled them. PD knows how they came to be number one and they know they can be toppled if they won't stay on top of the game. They can take care of themselves. And just by being out there, Aerodyne and the rest will see to it that they do. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !