tbrown

Even if you could sell your rig, which you say is an odd size, how far would the money get you ? A few weeks, a month maybe ? You won't get full value for your rig and the money will be gone in no time. Then you'll be broke, desperate, and without a rig. You're an EMT. You'll find work, even if you don't jump for a while. As long as you don't have children to feed, don't sell your rig. Good luck and God bless. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

You left out a very important reason: "I always wanted to". For those of us who grew up jumping off the garage roof, out of trees, and off of swingsets while visions of "Ripcord" danced in our heads. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Also, those rounds slam you into the ground so hard, I like my legs all not broken. I don't really know howto do a proper PLF like I would need to do on a round. An old 24' surplus reserve can slam you into the dirt, but most SPORT round reserves won't. This is a presistent myth of the younger generation who have only known square flight. I was usually able to manage a comfortable standup, in sneakers, with a 26' low porosity conical reserve. It was also steerable and had some forwrd speed, maybe 3-5 mph. But I remember one reserve ride getting me from over the parking lot at Perris all the way over to the landing zone, before I stood up the landing. Rounds do supposedly have a higher malfunction rate though. I hear that from every rigger and everyone else in the industry. But the only round reserve mals I ever saw were due to failure to cutaway the main, and those were all fatal. Rounds don't come in freebags either, though I don't see why they couldn't. Nowadays, and some 60 lbs heavier, I'll take my PD to a round any day. But round reserves were not primitive or unreliable. They saved a lot of lives, mine included on more than one occasion. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

14.something or other %. Geekish tendencies, almost but not quite a geek. (Whew, whatta relief...) My definition of a geek is somebody who needs to download data from their audible altimeter so they know every little thing about the simple act of freefall. I'm surprised these people don't also wire themselves for EKGs/EEGs during sex.... Me, I jump to get AWAY from data. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

you would appreciate the balloon knot being some color other than poop. Maybe the color of poop is nature's warning not to go sticking your tongue inside ??? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

This is what happens anytime you give an ounce authority to any limp dicked loser who can't get any without paying for it. Barney Fyffe is alive and well. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

What the fuck, What the fuck, Way to go Chuck ! Little Chucky Darwin, Born the exact same day as Lincoln, Stirring up the kettle of our pre-conceived ideas Made a monkey of the churches, and their Garden of Eden, but only in America do we still resist his logic And now that he's two hundred, Just look at how we've blundered, Our textbooks Joe-the Plumbered By "Intelligent Design" Not all of his ideas Worked out in the details Some things he could not foresee, But his concept was right on So hey Chuckie D, Thanks for setting our minds free, From enslavement to mythology, You've made sense of biology, And for that we owe you BEER ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Oh sure, by all means. Just 4 months ago I went to two celebrations for a friend who went in. One was with his pilot friends, the other was at the dropzone, with an ash dive. He was a hell of a guy and to be sure we celebrated. But he's still gone. Another guy at the next dropzone over the hill left a wife and two young kids behind. I won't criticize people for saying things like, "Fly free forever" or that sort of thing. But I don't believe it. They're gone, friends of ours who died like bugs on a windshield. Friends who leave behind spouses, children, parents, and all kinds of friends. It's nice to think of them flitting around in some cosmic 1000 Way bigway formation that never has to break off or open, but it's as much of a myth as heaven or hell. And it still leaves us with the knowledge in our gut that it could have been us, that our number could come up anytime we jump and WHY exactly do we feel the need to be doing this at all ? Those are the really tough questions. Most of us get over it and are able to rationalize our fears. Then once we get a few more jumps under the belt, we're okay. But every time I've ever seen somebody go in, I've also known somebody else who decided enough was enough and hung it up. If believing we all "fly free forever" helps us to get over it, then by all means go on believing it. I won't criticize it. I'm just saying it's not enough to answer the bigger questions. They're hard questions and the answers are deeply personal for every one of us. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Not nowadays. Thirty years ago things were different. I never felt like it was a problem back then. I even knew a few people who jumped on shrooms or blotter acid. But I did witness one fatality were a lot of people knew the guy had just got stoned out in the parking lot less than an hour before. He was also jumping borrowed gear and one of his arms was in a cast. To make a long story short, he flailed in and pulled his reserve below a hundred ft. Bummer, man... I don't smoke the weed anymore. I have too many problems with it and don't like it. I think it should be legal and that people who have problems with it should get treatment for their problems. But I also think people who drive stoned should be pulled over and locked up on a DUI, just like people who drive drunk. I don't think the sky is the place to be stoned. The people who are jumping with you have the right to expect you to be safe and clear headed. It's that simple. It's selfish and irresponsible to inflict one's own impaired condition on other people and then expect them to be okay with it. You wanna get lit, fine. Wait for the "green light" after sunset load. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm disgusted with the way Michael Phelps has been treated. So he smokes pot, big fucking deal. Only in America would an athlete who just earned 8 Gold Medals be treated like this - for smoking pot. This is how they ruined Gene Krupa's career too. If I were Phelps, I'd seriously consider moving to Europe and naturalizing as a citizen of a more MATURE country - perhaps The Netherlands. America clearly does NOT deserve Michael Phelps. We sure as fuck don't appreciate him. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

However, Black Death is real. People really do die or get seriously injured doing this thing; sometimes even when they do everything right. I've know people who have quit skydiving after seeing or knowing someone who went in. You don't have to skydive. Skydiving isn't for everyone. When we lose a friend to the sport it causes us the worst kind of pain, and it's a pain that only gets worse every time. It's like opening an old wound with a piece of jagged glass. Last year we had an incredibly bad year in So Cal, where we lost four friends in the space of six months. Three of them had 2500 - 5500 jumps apiece and one had somewhere between 500 - 1000 jumps, so none of them were protected by their experience. What you're feeling is something everyone else in the plane is thinking as well, though some are not as open about it. Most of us feel a lot better after a few jumps and we choose to accept it as the price of a cruel but beautiful sport. To be completely honest, what you're feeling finally got to me back in 1980 after too many fatalities and near misses among my friends. I hung it up for the next 22 years. After coming back six years ago, I was fortunate nothing happened for a while, but in the last few years it has happened again. And again. And again. But so far I love it too much and still feel that it's safe enough not to quit. It comes down to your personal decision, the only choice that matters is your own. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Integrity Uh well.... I was thinking a little more about her toughness and command of the facts. Everyone in the Senate, even her Republican rivals, respect her as a hard worker. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Apologize ? Fuck no. Never. Whatever Ahmedinejad says has to have the approval of the ruling council of mullahs anyway, as they and not he are the real power running the show. So either Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approves of this new insult, or else this sleazy little guy is starting to annoy the Ayatollah with his unwise pronouncements. The Iranians are about to have their own elections soon. It won't be the miracle of democracy (ahem...) that we just witnessed in Iraq, so no need to pass the bottle of blue ink. The winner will be whoever the council of mullahs decide should be the winner. So it will be interesting to see whether they back Ahmedinejad for another term or not. If he's re-elected, then they support him. But if they're sick and tired of his antics, he could end up shovelling goat shit on some remote farm, if not being used for target practice in some prison yard. As for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his reputation is for being one shrewd dude (I like that, it rhymes), who knows where to draw the bottom line. Guess it depends on where the Ayatollah decides to draw the line. So stay tuned and watch for the election results, they will be exactly what "Ali the K" wants them to be. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Been reading that North Korea has announced it is scrapping its non-agression pact with South Korea, as well as all other peace agreements, and ceasing all other peace seeking initiatives, because of "South Korea's aggressive warlike actions". True, South Korea has recently elected a conservative government that is taking a tougher stance towards the North. But somehow not giving the North whatever they want, whenever they want it seems to fall a bit short of "preparing for a war of aggression". My guess is the guy with the bad hair needs another excuse to distract attention from his miserable failing state and its starving people. An actual war on the Korean peninsula is just scary enough. It would be like San Francisco going to war with Oakland - Seoul is actually within artillery range of the North. This should get everyone's attention and (the North would hope...) get rich nations like China and the U.S. to proffer another wish list of free giveaways. Analysts have been saying for some time that Kim Jong Il is playing to even harder line generals, who might take over if his bad hair finally kills him. Or if they decide not to wait and just kill him first. Okay, so we've got American troops over there, as little more than a "trip wire". they're seriously toast in the first 12 hours of a serious war with the North. Any thoughts on this ? President Obama and Sec'y of State Clinton have another hot potato on the menu. I'm hoping that China finally gets fed up with their bullshit and gets them to just knock it off. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Okay, touche'....(wise guy). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Tonight I got the second PM in two weeks from a newbie OP, thanking me for calling some dot.commie to task for brushing off their question with a BULLSHIT "do a search" reply. I've even seen one particularly obnoxious reply that stated "how tired" the exalted person was of seeing questions like this. Did it ever occur to this SKYGOD that nobody was holding a gun to his head forcing him to reply at all ? That he could have just cruised on and found an amusing thread about oral sex ("been discussed to death, do a fucking search about that too"). I'm not sorry folks, I am pissed off. Too many of these people are newbies - less than a hundred jumps and often registered at this high and holy website for less than six months. Sometimes for only a few weeks. They're NEW. They're just beginning to discover that jumping out of an airplane adds an incredible dimension of joy to their life. But that it's dangerous too, that they can be killed in a heartbeat if things go wrong enough. These people have LEGITIMATE questions ! And if all you can tell them is "do a search", then you are a SKYGOD who would show more integrity if you simply told them to fuck off - in so many words. If some newbie's honest question bothers your hyperinflated ego, then simply pass it by. But if you tell them to "do a search", you're just saying "Fuck you, I'm a SKYGOD and you bother me". I hate fucking Skygods. And NO, I'm not drunk either, just pissed off. No PMs either. I'm making this post in a public forum and I expect ALL replies to be posted in public. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm going to get rather merciless about this. "Search" is a euphemism for "go away kid, you bother me". If this OP's question bothers you, simply refrain from adding your worthless opinion. Nobody is holding a gun to your head forcing you to answer. As far as Sabre vs Safire goes, both are second generation canopies by now, Sabre2 and Safire2. I don't jump either one. What my friends who do jump them tell me is that the Safire2 has a very soft but slow opening that may or not be acceptable to you. The Sabre2 has a quicker opening, but one that tends to be off heading more often and occasionally packs a spanking. But ANY canopy can slam you on opening, including the Pilot canopies I jump. I'm told the Safire2 has an incredible flare. And a lot of people say that the Sabre2 is a good canopy to begin to learn to swoop with. Guess the real answer is to DEMO the crap out of them both and see which one you like better. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

A pin that has started to bend can always bend some more - usually at the worst possible time. This "slight" bend might also be an indicator that yet another manufacturing lot of pins has slipped through quality control. There may be other pins from the same lot that are in worse condition on other people's rigs. This ripcord should not only be replaced, but the manufacturer notified with as much data as possible about where the ripcord came from, lot numbers, manufacture dates, etc, if known. There are already a lot of newbies around who don't remember the last pin scare in 2003 when just about everyone's rig had to be tested and signed off on the packing data card, as well as having a stamp taped to the handle, before the rig could be jumped again. This is serious shit folks, bent pins are totally unacceptable. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I can see wearing two visual altis if you're using one for freefall and one for setting up a swooping approach. Beyond that, I think a person can pay too much attention to those altis when they should be paying attention to eyeball perception of the landscape below and whatever's going on with the skydive. Personally, I wear an anolog on the back of one hand and a Pro-Dytter inside my helmet. I favor the simple clock face of an anolog. But I'm a non-swooping belly flier. I use my audible especially for bigger forty way type dives, where there are assigned breakoff and pull altitudes. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

yes but that isn't how the law was stated. If you want to take that tack, you can find something wrong with EVERYONE. Everyone in government. Everyone out of government. With you. With me. I'm not happy at all with the Wall St. shitbag who got appointed for Treasury Sec'y. He wasn't paying his taxes and blaming Turbo-Tax was bullshit, exactly what I'd expect from some young Wall St. shitbag. But you know what ? His appointment was approved and he's in. For some reason, this new President believes he needs him. We certainly do need a sharp Treasury Sec'y these days. So I'll let it ride. During the primaries, I HATED Hillary, you might recall I referred to her as "Heil Hillary". Her alleged husband is a pig. But I also happen to believe she has a lot to offer her country as Sec'y of State and think she was the right choice. It all comes down to whether you want OUR country to be able to conduct its business with competent people. Or you can pick them apart forever and get nothing done. Welcome to the real world. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Come on Dave, does the fact that this topic has been heavily debated invalidate a question from someone with 27 jumps and a new A license who wants to buy his first rig ? You're one of the longtime posters here - and so is Jerry - and I hold you both ih the highest regard. But seriously, you wouldn't answer a student like this would you ? "Do a search". I just don't think it's an appropriate response. This is a live forum and we continue to get a barrage of the same questions from newbies. and let's hope we always do, because if the newbs dry up the sport and these forums will both die. Unless we just want to put the Gear & Rigging and Safety & Training threads on locked down auto pilot "do a search" mode. Those of us who feel irritated with these questions have the freedom to simply pass them by. Nobody is making us answer any of these posts. Also, relevant to the OPs question, Jerry B was recently kind enough to lend me a demo model of his RAX system, which I had the chance to fool around with for a couple weeks. It's a really simple and slick design - elegant is the word I'd like to use. It answered a lot of my questions about how these things work. Back in the seventies the really HUGE gear revolution began. We moved from round canopies and gut mounted reserves to piggybacks with squares and even square reserves. From ripcord deployed mains to hand deploy. From shot and a half Capewells to 3 Rings. From boots to sneakers. The advances were tremendous. But along the way there were too many weird systems that all seemed like a good idea at the time, and some of them actually killed a few people or came damn close. So if there's a lesson from the Great Leap Forward of the seventies, it's to innovate boldly - but carefully. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I don't know where they're going to find the money with the way things are going. No amount of cash can ever make good on losing a loved one either. At least they've made peace in No. Ireland. When you look at places like Afghanistan, Congo, or the Middle East, isn't peace enough ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Then let Hamas help them. Hamas claims to be a charitable organization, though they only seem to give away free rockets to their Israeli neighbors. Maybe if Hamas spent a little more time, money and energy on building a state they wouldn't need to pull this "boo-hoo" bullshit about the destruction they bring on their own people. Hurrah for the BBC showing some backbone ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

You can use a very simple method with just a calculator - or even a pencil and paper, with some simple addition and subtraction. We'll use today's date for an example, Jan 23. Plus 180 days is 203. Then you subtract out 31 for Jan (172), 28 for Feb (144), 31 for March (113), 30 for April (83), 31 for May (52), 30 for June (22). 22 won't go another month, so a reserve packed today will be due AFTER July 22nd. If this sounds tricky, it isn't. You can do it anytime and anywhere, without some fancy program. And it works for any time of the year. the only thing that ever changes is adding an extra day for Feb. in the leap years. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Try Perris. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !