KolinskyDC

Hey, maybe we should start marketing skydiving as the new weight loss program. "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

34 jumps in 2003, started in July, would have been more if it was not for New England weather Hopefully I will make that many this weekend alone as I travel down to Lake Whales "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Thanks

Thanks, I know this has been alot of threads about this, I have read most but just wanted to know if there was a formal letter or something to give to the baggage person. From what I have read it does not sound like anyone has really been having any problems. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

On a couple of occasions I have read about this letter from theTSA regarding traveling with your rig. I looked on their website and did find a page that gave recommendations to skydivers when bringing their rig on an airplane, but I was wondering if there was a letter or something that we can present to a baggage person in case the need arises, and if anyone could let me know where to find it. I also wrote down the Directive # on the letter, plan on bringing my license, and cypress card. Does anyone else have anything that I am not thinking of? I plan on carrying it on with me, so any advice would be appreciated. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Wow....I have such a headache after reading this post...LOL!! If I was being forced, obviously I (as well as everyone else) would choose to pull once, but with skydiving I would choose jumping 25,000 times instead of just once. This does not mean that the odds are changed at all, it just means, skydiving gives pleasure and putting a gun to your head does not, but with every jump or every pull of the trigger the odds remain the same. The two scenarios really are not equal if you think about it though. A better scenario would be to ask, if there were 25,000 rigs placed in front of you and inside one of those rigs was a double mal and you had to choose a random rig and jump it, then have the rig re-packed and mixed back in with the other 24,999 rigs then had to pick randomly again and jump, would you jump once or 25,000 times? Let's get this clear, the reason is not because the chances increase, it is because no-one wants to risk getting shot in the head for nothing whether it be 1 time or 1,000 times. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Thanks for all the replies, definitely some stuff to think about. I am going to go up Sunday and meet with the guy, if I get a really good feeling about it i will probably do it. My thinking is that I will probably start with a 210, then 190 and eventually end up around a 170, this way I can take as much time as I need with each canopy until I am ready to commit to something for a couple of years. Going without an AAD is absolutely not an option for me, and I am liking the idea of buying a new one instead of used, especially on that. I may be new to this sport, but I can't see how anyone would jump without a AAD. I was commenting to someone at my DZ about how expensive a new one was and her reply was simple, it is alot less expensive then a low end funeral...point taken Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

I am looking for used gear, just got my A license and only have 35 jumps. I called a DZ gear shop near where I live and he told me about a gear program they offer. Here is the deal. You give them $2500 for a new Cypress and new reserve, then they will let you take one of their containers and main canopies and jump it, then continue to let you trade in the main for smaller canopies until you have reached a level you feel you will stay at for a while and then buy container and main. He said the range of time people have taken is from 6-10 months and can jump as many times as they want until they make a decision. Not sure if you are required to buy the rest from them when you are done or not, but I do not think so since he said my commitment to them was buying those 2 items for $2,500 and nothing about buying the container and main from them. So what do you think, does this sound like a reasonable offer? I am about to go down to Lake Whales and was planning on renting gear for my jumps down there, which I am sure will end up being between $300-400 alone for rentals, so I figured it would be better to put it towards this instead, cuz I definitely will not be able to find a complete used rig for myself before then, I have been looking for a few weeks now with no luck. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

***Has anyone out there PERSONALLY had a good headbashing while wearing a Bonehead ? So I'm not interested if "a friend of a friend" has experience with a head blow wearing a Bonehead, but if it's happened to you, please post and tell us your story.*** Thanks for all the replies. I would like to second this request. I would really like to hear about personal experiences with your helmets and how good of a job it did saving your head. I definitely am in to attractive gear, but bottom line...Is it gonna protect me? Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Thanks arlo, and thanks for the e-mail. I spoke with Billy this morning and he has plenty in stock, so I will definitely be waiting til I get down there to try some on. Going to do a few demo jumps to, good time to try some different canopies, as I will be looking to get my own rig soon. I will, thanks. I can't wait to get down there, so excited and a little nervous, being so new and at a different DZ. It is nice that some people from my DZ are going, a few of who were my instructors going through AFF and A license stuff, so that will help alot. We plan on going to Sebastian for a sunset jump, not sure about the others, due to limited time. Will be back in Florida in May, so will have to stop by Z Hills then, heard lots of good things about it. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Well I am just getting started in this sport, but hopefully the people at my home DZ won't have any back problems in the future. I am a chiropractor, and I have adjusted a few people at my DZ. The best way to keep your back in shape is to get regular adjustments (to keep everything freely movable as well as keep pressure off the nervous system) stretch before you jump (including those who are young and pain free) and try to stay in shape, keep your back and abdominal muscles strong. These things will go a long way in keeping you in the air for a long time to come. As for the original poster, the most common fracture of the spine is a compression fracture, if this is what you had and it was a while ago, then it is probably pretty stable by now, so you shouldn't have much to worry about. The above recommendations should help. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Sounds like you got lucky on both counts. Thanks for the suggestion, I will definitely look into the Aviator. Hopefully they will have one in Lake Whales. I should try some on before I buy, I tend to not be as lucky when it comes to stuff like that. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Thanks, that's awesome. I am definitely gonna hold off on buying one now and do some shopping around down there. I will just bring a protec from my home DZ, in case I don't find one I like down there. The owners at my DZ are letting two of my friends and I bring their rigs down to Lake Whales and pay them a much smaller rental fee per jump. We just got our A's and are a little nervous to try new rigs at a new DZ, so they are taking care of us. Cool, I am glad I now know about the gear store at Lake Whales...probably should have checked that myself. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Hey Blahr, Nice pictures, really awesome what you did with your Pro Tec. Definitely post the pictures when you are done with your new one. What kind of paints did you use? Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Thanks for all the advice. In know I should try some on before buying but there aren't that many people around the DZ this time of year to ask if I can try their helmets. I am heading off to Lake Whales on Jan 21st and wanted to get my own helmet to bring down. Still not sure what I am gonna do. It is between the Z1 and the Mindwarp. I have been wearing a pro tec from my DZ since I began, and it is fine, but I figure I eventually want to do video so having a helmet that will be able to have a camera mounted is preferable. Wish they had skydiving gear stores the way the have other sports stores. Thanks again for the advice. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

While I am at it, any advice on goggles would be appreciated also..

Any advice on which open faced helmet to buy?? Have read some good things about the Mindwarp and Pro Tec on some of the other posts. I also was looking at the Z1 open faced online. Any preferences and what you like about it would be appreciated. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

On my very last AFF jump, went out with altimeter, but it fell off after a backloop, was scared shit, thank god my JM saw it and got on the ground to tell them to radio me in, had previously left instructions to not give me canopy advice unless i was really screwing up. I am sure some day, I will be ok if something like that happens again, but at that point in time, was definitely rattled by it. So yeah, have jumped without one, but not by choice. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Thanks, next on my "to do" list is start working on my pilots license. Maybe my first stop will be Texas. See you then Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Yeah, the weather was awesome and it looks like next weekend is gonna be the same. For a few weeks the weather was nasty, so we gave in and booked the trip to Florida, of course as soon as we did that the temps went up to the 40's and 50's, go figure! I know it is a hike for you, but Jumptown is open all year, if we have the weather and people willing to jump, there will be jumping going on, so if the withdrawals get bad, jump in the car and head on up. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Thanks for the Congrats. If someone told me a year ago that I would be a licensed skydiver in a year, would have never believed them. Was talked into a tandem over the summer and was instantly hooked...Go figure

Thanks for the congrats. You heading up to the "Great White North Boogie"? If so, hope to see you there. Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Been waiting for a month to get full altitude to finish up my A license stuff. Winter weather in New England is so unpredictable, who would have thought Dec 28, high temp about 52 degrees, Got my A license, woohoo!!!! So excited!!! Anyone wanna jump??? My girls and I are heading down to Lake Whales in a few weeks, as are a few people from my home DZ. Anyone from here going?? Would love to meet some new faces and maybe jump with some of you, that is if you are willing to jump with someone who only has 34 jumps. Florida here we come.... Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

I remember when I first started jumping and would watch other people do hop n pops out of the Cessna at 3,500, I would say, "I will never jump out that low and I will never jump out of a plane that small" Many people said, just wait til it's 25 degrees out or the ceiling is 3,800 feet, and I just kept saying it would never happen. Well needless to say, they were right. I did jump #25 last weekend, first jump out of a Cessna, not to mention at 3,800 ft It had been two weeks since my last jump and it was all that was going up that day, so hell ya, I went and loved it. The next jump of the day we got enough people for a Otter load and planned on going up to 3,800 and was ecstatic to go almost to 5,000, when a few weeks prior, I wimped out on my first hop n pop at 5,000, what a change in perspective. I must say that was my most favorite jump so far, there was 12 of us and only about 5 seconds between exits, when I opened and took a look around, it was such an awesome feeling to be surrounded by 11 of my friends under canopy, usually only 1 or 2 and usually pretty far away. It was definitely my favorite jump to date, cannot wait to get my A license and be able to jump in groups...2 jumps to go!!! Melissa "May the best of your past be the worst of your future"

Thanks for all the replies, I will take it all into my decision making process. I guess I probably knew that I needed to test out a bunch of different ones, but was just excited about the prospect of getting my own rig and not having to pay gear rentals anymore but I should be patient and wait. Since I won't be jumping as often through the winter I will use that time to do lots of research and will probably wait til the beginning of the summer season to get my own. Can't wait for the spring and summer, but oh boy am I gonna be broke So worth it though