tbrown

What is you are not very pleased much to do this small reasonful request him for ? Is wrong with what you ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Thanks, that's good information for 77r to know. Just to be really clear, I'm not prejudiced in the least about Dolphins, I know a few people who own them and are very happy with them. But the age and price were raising some possible red flags, especially as to whether this rig is freefly friendly or not. Too many gear hungry newbies make snap decisions on old gear that doesn't fit them, doesn't fit the canopies they should be jumping, and needs too much work, because "the price sounds right". Case in point, a friend of mine can sell you a really CLEAN Wonderhog Sprint, with a Fury main and a SAC reserve, probably less than 200 jumps on the system. But he won't, because he has a conscience. You newbies out there - PAY a rigger for a full inspection before you buy ANYTHING and LISTEN to what the rigger tells you. If the rigger doesn't think you're getting a sweet deal, then you aren't and you should keep looking. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Well, thanks for your honesty and for sharing this. We all fuck up at one time or another, what matters is that we learn from it and not do it again. Actually, that's quite a shot there. It's just really chilling after what happened in Texas last month. I wonder if they looked like that while they were opening ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Nice.....did you ask for any Gray Poupon ? Depending on just how low you were, or might have been, you guys were lucky not to fire one or both of your AADs. Three or four canopies out would've been thrilling, especially if you followed up with an entanglement. These Forums would never get over talking about you. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Maybe. Show it to a rigger you trust, pay your rigger for a thorough inspection. The harness really has to fit you correctly, snug and comfortable. The containers should be the right size for the canopies you should be jumping. There shouldn't be ANY velcro holding things together, this is 2007 and there's plenty of good rigs with no velcro on the used market. And the reserve container has to be built to accept an AAD. You're new at this and you want your own gear so bad you can almost taste it. But now more than ever, it's important to TAKE YOUR TIME making your choice. There are unfortunately a lot of people out there who will sell a bunk rig to a newbie because they know they can't sell it to anyone else. Don't buy anything without a rigger's inspection. Ask the rigger what kind of work, if any, the system will need to bring it up to snuff. Don't get fast talked or pressured, and DON'T be afraid to say "no" and walk away. If you're patient and careful, you WILL find a real deal on a beauty of a rig. You just don't want to find it a week after you spent all your $$ on a pile of crap. P.S. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with this rig and I have no opinion about the Dolphin brand at all. Your profile says you jump at Eloy, so talk to the Square2 gear shop and jump their demo rigs. See how you like the different brands. All this can help you choose a safe rig that you will love because it makes you happy. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Dick Cavett once said, "Love is staying up all night with a sick child - or a very healthy adult". Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Howard, would you happen to have any of the late seventies "Sport Beth" ads for Altimaster IIs ? I think she was married to Al King. She cut a really fine figure sitting in the plane in a bikini top with her Altimaster hanging off her chest strap. Her helmet said "Sport Beth" across the front, which was also cool. One of my fondest memories, you'd be doing us all a great service if you could dig that one up and post it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I've been reading people respond (as above) to recent incidents/fatalities in skydiving that there is an "airbag culture" that makes people more careless with their skydiving because they feel like they have the cushion of improved safety features (AAD, RSL/skyhook, etc). And then continue on to suggest that the sport would be safer without such devices. Thoughts/comments? Having jumped in the good old days (they really were pretty cool) before all these devices came along, I'm strongly in favor of all of them. But I'm also in agreement that too many people in the sport expect an airbag culture to protect them from the consequences of their own actions. Too many jumpers don't even pack their own canopies after passing the A license requirement. they don't even know what condition their gear is in, whether anything's wrong with it, or sometimes even how it works. That's "the packer's job", or "the rigger's job". Well it ain't either. Thirty years ago we had no AADs, the early models were for students only. We didn't have RSLs, though some student gear had an early version (the Stevens System, which clipped onto the ripcord handle of a chest mounted reserve). We didn't have audible altimeters either. Nowadays I jump with all three; a Cypres, a RSL, and a Pro Dytter and I'm glad of all three. Jokingly, I'd add an airbag in the seat of my jumpsuit if I thought it might do some good. All of these devices save people's lives. Notably, just two weeks or so back, an AAD saved the life of Al Kreuger, one of our greatest living skydivers and a piece of our sport's history all by himself. Al is alive because of his AAD after he was injured badly enough that he could not pull any of his handles with either of his arms. A lot more people have been saved by their AADs after simply "fucking up" and not paying attention. People who do that should be - and often are - grounded for their mistake (they are at Perris). But they're ALIVE. Being grounded and humiliated is so much better than being dead. Better for them, better for their families, better for everyone at the dropzone, it even makes life easier for the local coroner's office to not scrape up another skydiver. In the recent canopy collision fatality in Texas, witnesses agree that they were impressed with the way a Skyhook may well have been the deciding factor in saving one of the jumper's life, with an "almost instantaneous" deployment of his reserve at or below 500 ft. That Texas tragedy is also instructive in pointing out that no AADs were fired, probably because the entanglement wasn't falling fast enough set them off ( I am assuming one or both jumpers had AADs, which is not an unreasonable assumption these days). The point being that AADs have their limitations, in particular their apparent inability to respond to low cutaway situations. When I jump with all these marvelous devices, I never even think about them being there, aside from including them in my gear check before gearing up. And then I forget they're there. Because I am responsible for my actions. I need to keep an eye on the size of the landscape, I need to be aware of how long I've been gone from the plane, or how long and far I've been tracking since breakoff. Either or both of my altimeters can fail. If I have to cutaway, I also have to pull silver, even if it's likely to be an "empty pull" with my reserve already inflating over my head. If I ever need my Cypres, I can only hope I will be knocked out, because 750 ft is a horrifying altitude to be getting ground rush at and something I hope I never get to see. But these are all "one more thing between us and the ground". I'd carry a magician's rope to climb up and disappear if somebody ever sells one. They're all TOOLS, and welcome ones. But only the jumper has a brain to use them. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

These legal arguments are a chilling reason why we MUST regulate ourselves as a sport. These are real and valid arguments for a civil tort or criminal prosecution with serious prison time (not jail time, prison time, as in several years). A waiver might hold up if somebody hooks themself into the ground, or blows their EPs and wraps up both their canopies. Or even buys it in a plane crash on takeoff. But when someone's actions cause the death of another person, who is viewed as an "innocent" in the eyes of the authorities, all bets are off and a waiver won't be worth the ashes and smoke left over after it's burned. Hell, for starters the authorities could close a DZ indefinitely until they're satisfied with their investigation, especially if they feel a crime was committed. And you know how our "public servants" love to rant about things they know nothing about in front of TV cameras. New laws to "protect the public" from "dangerous killer skydivers" (and of course not the "resonsible" ones, if there are any...) are just the ticket for some useless, philandering, alcoholic legislators to pick up a few more votes in November. I hadn't even thought about the "barkeep's liability" aspect of a DZO. Even if they could fight that off on the strength of a waiver, the stress and expense of a few legal battles would kill anyone's enthusiam for wanting to stay in the business. The dropzone in Missouri that had the Otter crash last summer had ALL their club owned gear confiscated under a court order pending the litigation one of the families brought. So I'm not making any blanket or knee jerk proposals to "do this" or "ban that". And as I've said in some other threads, the recent loss of Bob and Danny, combined with the string of other collision fatalities in Arizona and Texas have got us all pretty hot under the collar. We need to calm down, we need to get rational about this, and we need to realize that we ALL stand to lose a lot if we don't clearly demonstrate that we're doing something to correct a bad situation in our sport. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Manifest can advise you about the uppers, as well as have you put out over a different spot more appropriate for a.) your getting back to the DZ, and b.) not presenting a hazard to other jumpers. For instance, CRW loads at Perris get out and do their thing to the west of Goetz Rd, which they're not allowed to cross above 2 grand, when it's time for the dash home. For a very high hop & pop, manifest might want to assign you a different exit point. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

When it quackx like fascism... If it steps like a goose.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

All that ass needs is two slices of Wonder Bread.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Perris will impose a wind hold on students and unlicensed jumpers at 15 mph. If it's not too bad, they'll usually still get loads of licensed jumpers up on weekends. But some of those desert winds can really howl and on weekdays there aren't so many jumpers around. If it's windy enough or there aren't enough people willing to fill the plane, they'll shut it down and wait for things to improve. Occasionally it will get so windy they'll just shut down and everybody heads home, or else to the Tunnel or the Bombshelter. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

If it's not an occupation, then I don't know what is. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

You do know that global warming and the exact output of CO2 from your car is responsible for this, don't you? If not, do a search in google for bees and global warming. Actually, the pinkos at NPR are reporting that a number of recent generation pesticides are to blame. And pink or not, NPR is usually right, so there. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I went to a Pilot from a Spectre, so I was already used to having soft snivelly openings. I absolutely love the long flat glide of the Pilot - by far the longest glide of any canopy I've ever jumped. On no wind days I often have to use some front risering not to overshoot the landing zone altogether. It took me a long time to figure out 9 cell landings in low/no winds, but with a basic canopy course and practice I'm getting very nice 2-3 step walk out landings in no wind. I demo'd a Sabre2 a couple times and generally didn't like it much, from the opening to the landing. But to be fair, as this was a demo rental, I can't really say what kind of condition the canopy or line trim were in. If I downsize, I'll be very eager to move down a size on the Pilot, but would also like to try a Safire2, as I've only heard really good things about them. Everyone I know with a Safire2 LOVES them, so why not give one a try before I spend the $$. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

PLEASE!! It's a regeneration chamber, not a "rest pod" PLEASE!! It's an alcove not a "chamber". Who cares, as long it's next door to Seven of Nine's !! Picky, picky.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

This is some serious shit. If those little girls (worker bees are all female, the males just sit on their asses until the Queen Bee kicks them out of the hive) don't get the pollenating done, the food chain could pretty well collapse. These are FARMERS who are worried, their CROPS are in danger (you know, the stuff we eat ?). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Fucking hell, that thing's got balls !! Thanks to those idiot school administrators, we're all going to die now, smothered in our sleep by a mountain of spaghetti. I weep for this country...... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm sure Nicole is on probation for something too. Maybe she can violate her probation and they can serve their sentences together with cameras filming the whole time. That would be a season of "The Simple Life" that might be worth watching! Like "On tonight's episode, Bertha teaches the girls to eat pussy" ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Lindercles ? Chuck E. Cheez ! Ohhhhhhh, Alouetta.... Happy birthday, whoever you are ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

How 'bout Wally and The Beav. The one in the middle is Eddy Haskell, 'cuz he was always just a prick anyway. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Seems as though the LA District Attorney's Office is thinking they might politely ask a judge to revoke Paris Hilton's probation and lock her up for ninety days. After her drunken driving arrest last fall, PH's license was suspended. Then in February she got pulled over again, for speeding after dark with no headlights on, and oh yeah, her license was suspended. Her lawyers are saying "she was not aware her license was suspended". There's a hearing set for mid-April, but guess what ? She won't be required to attend in person. Maybe she can get Nicole Ritchie to serve her time ? I think we all know how this will end - you or I would end up on death row, but what do YOU think should happen ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Dobson, on the other hand, has done something that I think is pretty nefarious. He's created an organization that on the surface is about "families", but scratch the surface and you find out what he means is "Christian" families, which would normally include a fairly significant portion of the population, but what he REALLY means is "Evangelical Christians." He's more than glad to take all three sets of money, but only those "Evangelical Christians" are the ones good enough to be in charge. For a "Christian" his views are anything but. Dobson is clever enough to keep his sctick centered around parenting issues, where he actually has given some good advice over the years - or at least a lot of people think so. But then with the supportive parenting talk and the immense popularity it's won him, he mixes in all his other pet political views. There is NOTHING the guy won't stoop to. Anyone remember his death row interview with Ted Bundy ? Bundy was mere hours from frying in the chair and more than willing to say anything that might just gain him another delay, so he parroted everything Dobson fed him about how pornography had sent him down the road to be a serial killer. It seems like a lot of people on these Forums are into porn to one degree or another, but so far nobody's turned out to be a serial killer. He's just another self aggrandizing shit, unfortunately with a lot of money and influence. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Who died on the cross and made Dobson in charge? Uh....Pat Robertson ? Jerry Falwell ? Oral Roberts ? Those would be my three guesses..... By the way, did you know Oral Roberts has an unsaved half brother named Anal ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !