NickDG

A battery can leak without shorting out. A battery can leak and still power the device to which its connected. The acid could damage the reserve canopy without you knowing it. The longer you carry around the reserve the longer you are exposed to the risk of using it. NickD

Makes sense - Jim's always been one of the good guys, and his dedication to excellent student instruction is a benchmark others should aspire to achieve . . . I remember walking in from a jump once and seeing Rick Horn and Jim Wallace walking out with a level one. I couldn’t resist and said, "Come on fellows, isn't that student a bit overstaffed." NickD

In a "just when it couldn't get any worse" sort of moment, I just flashed on the scary thought Rove could/might run for President. After all, he can almost say outright he's been the President for the last 8-years . . . NickD BASE 194

A further lesson, and just something for new jumpers to consider, is that some people just get "selected" in this sport. Most of the time it can't be said they were totally, or even partially at fault. There was the first person to be paralyzed when his Nova folded up (a former student of mine.) There was the first person that died finding out line twists on Stilettos weren't something you could just kick out (Bruce Geiky.) There was the first person who died finding out ultra skinny suspension line called for more attention to container snag points (James Martin.) There was the first person who died finding out an AAD can fire during a swoop landing (Adrian Nicolas.) And there was the first person who died finding out you can't be a very large person (Sorry, I'm drawing a blank on his name) and jump with un-reinforced Type-17 risers. And the list could go on and on and on . . . NickD BASE 194

>>namby pamby liberals < Sheesh, (to use your word) was that slam necessary? You sound like a "hollywood" Marine . . . Try that god forsaken island where no one will hear you scream . . . NickD

>>The PRO rating, to me, isn't meant to help demo organizers choose jumpers.

>>as to put a velcro tab in the top of my free bag like in the top of a direct bag

Yes, I don't know how many hangars I've been in and found pilot rigs hanging, by one riser, off a nail in the wall. Or, all the pilot rigs that sit in an airplane all year long baking in the sun. I guess the saving grace is they don't get used all that often . . . But, I do remember a pilot years ago who bought a used sailplane and a parachute came with it. Well, he wound up using it, and not only were the lines daisy chained, they were daisy chained in the wrong direction so there was no chance they'd come out. NickD

No, the acid mesh problem began in about 1987, when Rigger Mike Smith found the first bad reserve in Texas, the repack cycle went from 60 to 120 days in 1978. Your question isn't easy to answer. First of all, I'm not sure anyone actually died from the acid mesh problem (I might be wrong) but even if that's correct, the potential was certainly there. (An old rigger has to remember a lot more than a new rigger ). But there are other things you'll see over time that aren't so easily measured. Like all the stories of rigger's table popping a reserve and finding a big problem in assembly or packing. Then you hear the jumper who owns it say, "Holy shit, I've made a few hundred jumps on that rig that way." I personally found a reserve with an open connector link and that rig was jumped for a year in that condition. I found another with the steering lines not through the slider. Most experienced riggers have a story like that. Another issue is it's not just canopies and containers that can have hidden problems; there have also been recalls on pilot chutes with weak or poorly designed springs, etc. Also, and maybe to a lesser extent, the longer a reserve sits in a tight free bag the more "brick" like it becomes. If a new jumper knows it's already 180 days he'll maybe stretch that out longer, without being aware a "low and slow" cutaway might fail just because they lost a precious few seconds. Something to think about - is when will the repack cycle get so long we are going to have seriously consider re-attaching the reserve pilot chute? The change from the 60 to 120 day cycle made sense for lot of reasons, but those reasons (in my mind) don't extrapolate as well to making it too much longer. As an aside someone PM'd to politely say it sounded arrogant for me to say some riggers go a year between repacks when the rest have to follow the rules. Granted, but one difference is riggers have their ear to the ground so to speak. There is a good grapevine in the rigging community and potential problems, or just new advice like watch out for this or that, becomes known a lot faster than in the general skydiving populace. It's why I discourage people from becoming riggers just to pack their own reserves. If you don't actually work in a loft, or spend time around other riggers, it's too easy to be out of the loop when something important comes up. And by the time USPA reports on something in PARACHUTIST it can be way too late. NickD

Sadly, and we'll both get ripped for this, I agree, because I feel the same frustration with the sport nowadays that you do. But you probably won't get much support for those ideas here on this board. The major demographic here is just too un-technical. Which is pretty funny for what's supposed to be a tech-savvy generation. Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . . We can only keep trying to educate, and even though we are pissing in the wind most of the time, someone out there in the either is hopefully getting it. I knew the end times were here when I started meeting people who jumped off buildings in the middle of the night who couldn't assemble a three-ring. Where would all these people be if they had to contend with the very complicated gear of yesteryear? Oh, yeah, nowhere . . . And that makes your point. NickD

>>Why even have a pack cycle?

When I went through Marine boot camp in 1971 getting thumbed-on was pretty routine. Not to mention the verbal abuse. Over the years they've had some incidents so over time they've changed some things. On bad incident was the DI that marched his platoon into a Parris Island swamp in the middle of the night and a few of the recruits drowned. (You have to understand you'd walk into a fire if a DI ordered it). Some of the punishments meted out were pretty creative, like having to smoke a cigarette with a metal bucket over your head (even if you didn't smoke) or like one time I was made to spend a freezing cold night in a metal dumpster full of garbage with the lid closed. The infraction, that got me that punishment was while standing at attention I was caught "eyeballing" the area. My fellow Marines will know what that is. I saw some of the weakest among us abused terribly both mentally and physically but we thought nothing of it. Our mindset at the time was if you wanted to be called a Marine you either "hacked it or packed it." And it was the only way to join the long line of brothers who preceded us. I know nowadays a DI cannot even curse at you, let alone knock you on your ass. When I joined the Marine Corps their recruiting slogan was, "We didn’t promise you a Rose Garden!" And the Corps is still the only service that doesn't pretend it's all about YOU! And I hope to hell that never changes . . . NickD

A few times . . . The worst was playing Little League baseball when I was twelve. I was in center field and heckling the batter to screw up when a bee flew right into my mouth. I couldn't get him in the right position to spit out so I tried to kill it by biting into him. I got him, but not before he stung me good in the gum. The next few days were very bad. I kept my mouth shut in the outfield from then on . . . NickD

Gee, that fellow looks a lot like Jo's Duane Webber (AKA DB Cooper.) NickD

Nope, just a typo from last night . . . NickD

N/A

I wake up to the same mess everyday and I just sweep it up. They are after the sap inside the acorns. (Don't kill them. Besides, you'll probably shoot your eye out, kid). We have two squirrels, Henry and Henrietta, and they've lived on our property longer than we have and they constantly amaze us with their gymnastic abilities. And I guess I can't help but see them in their little goggles and frap hats like Rocky in that old cartoon . . . NickD

The lame part is Skyride markets to first jump students a thousand times better then USPA does. It's just too bad they are such liars and thieves. The real shame is Skyride could have easlily went about their biz honestly and made a good profit and we'd all love and support them . . . NickD

>>oh edit copy 3 is just for you Nick.....

Now We're Cooking . . . NickD

More here: http://sense4fun.com/unbelievable-illusions-1.php NickD

Lame . . . NickD BASE 194

Saw these new tires on another site. No air, no flats, and they are see-thru . . . Manufactured by Michelin they are supposed to be available soon. They look strange but the engineering is very cool. NickD

Hi Jo, Please keep going. You've single-handedly created a new and "current" awareness of this case inside the jumping community. And more people than not are interested in this case, if not outright pulling for you and that's the audience you are writing for. So do what I mostly do – say your piece and move on to the next thing - without going tit for tat with those who can't, or won't, agreeably disagree. And I think, like most cold cases, you could be just one good tip away from the answer. There's a very decent chance someone in this world knows something and doesn't realize it relates to this case. The FBI has nothing on you, Jo. The more they actively peruse this case, the more it points to their failure to solve it. So I'm sure they'd rather it just go away. But most of us here don’t want you, or it, to go away at all . . . NickD

I've been collecting old film cameras for about twenty years mostly finding them in thrift shops. While you don't see many good ones anymore, I'm still in the habit of looking so today when passing a Salvation Army store in Pasadena, California I stopped in. I didn't see any cameras but back in the corner something else caught my eye. It was a sewing machine. Now, I've seen sewing machines in thrift shops before and they're usually small home models, antiques, or junk. But, oh boy, not this time. It was a Singer 281-3 and it looked really nice. Okay, I'm thinking, there must be something wrong with it so I looked it over very carefully. The presser foot, the upper thread tension device, and the bobbin case were missing but when I turned the machine through by hand it felt nice and smooth. I looked underneath and the motor was pristine. Then I noticed it was plugged into the wall outlet so I turned it on and it hummmed and sounded great! Even the table was in good shape so I bought it. I dumped the oil out (yes, environmentally) and two of the workers were nice enough to help me get it in my truck. When I got it home I put oil back in it and found the parts I needed lying around and installed them. Then I thought it would probably need to be timed and whatnot or something inside would be bad. But no, and I still can't believe it – the thing sews like a dream! Total cost, $75.00 . . . NickD