MrHixxx

I quit when I was 23 (12 years ago Sep 23rd). At that time, I had lost 10 percent of both lungs, had chronic bronchitis, and was facing emphezema by 25. I probably never would have become a skydiver if I continued to smoke (I started jumping at 29). -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

At the rigging course I attended we had one girl pack a shot bag in a rig (it was only the second rig she ever packed). She is forever known as "shotsee". count your tools, Jon

The other hand??? -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

Not very likely... Jon death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

One I would like to add that I have seen on three Javelins this year: The plate is bent up in the bottom of the reserve tray from a rigger over torquing the closing loop with a positive leverage tool. Only one of these was one of my customers ( a new one) and I sent it off the master rigger for surgery... -Jon

Congratulation! What a special time, do cherish it!!! -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

I have a Xaos loaded at 2.15 that is easy to straight shoot with... -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

I just thought I would add this info PD gave me for an earlier post. The actual materials they speak of are Soarcoat (ZP) and Exactachute (F-111). I do not recommend ZP reserves for this reason... Packing should really not be that big an issue if you are using weights and clamps... -Jon Why don't we use ZP fabric in our reserves? First, the tear strengths listed in the specs are very misleading, for two reasons. The tear strength is measured at a specific tearing speed, measured as a certain distance per unit of time. When you tear things relatively slowly, the tear strengths are quite high. However, when you increase the speed of the tearing motion, the actual forces required to keep the tearing motion progressing actually go down. The tear spec is measured at a standard 12 inches per minute, a rate at which the ZP fabric looks superior to the standard fabric. However, this tear speed is not very realistic compared to the way a canopy would really tear. Because of this, we have created our own testing machinery that can measure tear strengths at up to 150" per SECOND. When you measure the tear strength at a high tearing speed more like what would happen in reality, the tear strengths go way down, to the 3 to 7 pound range. The standard fabric actually has a higher tear strength at these speeds than the ZP fabric torn at the same speed. So to cut it short, the tear strength of the ZP fabric is lower than that for the F-111 style fabric when the tear speeds are up where things would be in an actual failure mode. When a ZP canopy fails, it is typically pretty catastrophic, with tears going every which way in unusual patterns. On F-111 type canopies, the damage is typically more localized. Other reasons to not use the fabric? The benefit of ZP fabric is partially the fact that is stays low porosity. If that is an issue on your reserve, you are using it way too much. Another benefit is the presumed aerodynamic advantage. In reality, the aerodynamic performance is due to other aerodynamic issues such as better airfoils, aspect ratios, trim, etc. These items aren't suitable for reserve designs, due to opening issues. When you use good reserve aerodynamics, but throw the ZP fabric in there, you don't really get an improvement in landing performance. An example of this can be seen by comparing the ZP lightning crew canopy to a ZP Spectre. The two canopies are designed to do separate things. The Lightning lands well for a CRW canopy, but is relatively tricky to land compared to the Spectre, even though both canopies have ZP fabric.

3/4 Scots Irish 1/4 Swedish Taking applications for women that would like to have more Irish in them... -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

I have a Wings pullout that I pack with the pc under the top flap. Where you put the pc isn't as much an issue (I've seen under the bottom and right side flaps also) as where the pin bridle passes through the grommet on the main bridle. When I first had my pullout, I packed the bridle grommet junction point under the top and side flaps creating a hell-ashish hard pull (may have been a total for some), because of the added pressure of two flaps. Make sure the grommet that the pin bridle passes through is only under the side flap w/o much pressure on it. I've seen some guys actually leave it exposed on Infinity rigs, so there is zero pressure on it, but it is a slightly different design from my Wings. Also, be prepared for a floating handle scenario. If you make a short pull dislodging the handle without extracting the pin, you get a floating handle. I've had a couple that I cleared with one sweep of the thumb. You should rehearse doing a thumb sweep up the bottom side of the rh side flap to catch the bridle an extract the pin. I keep a two sweeps and your out rule for myself (I deploy at 3000'). So why do I like a pullout? I do many low jumps after throwing static line students. I like a more positive deployment method. I used to get a lot of pilot chute hesitations when I had a throw out. I also like the bridle protection more on a throw out. I think it is better to have everything in the container for higher speeds in freefall. -Jon

If you have a kill line pilot chute with a Spectra kill line, you may want to check it for shrinkage... Make sure you can still cock it so the center line is tight in the pilot chute... I use Ralph's skybands on anything from HMA to Dacron w/o any problems. They don't last as long as the Aerodyne product (I replace a couple every 20-30 jumps), but they are a hell of a lot cheaper. -Jon

Well said, my sister, father and grandfather are vets. -Hixxx

1. Father 2. Brother 3. empathic 4. creative, neurotic 5. true I am an open book. -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

Actually, I was trying to make a point. Tom Osbourne field is in "Memorial" Stadium. Let's take some time to count how many "Memorial" stadiums there are... Do any of these stadiums include certain heros and excluce others? Is any one of these stadiums any more sacred than the other? The short answer "No". That is, unless the death of these Aggies in foreign wars were somehow more significant than the deaths of 100s of thousands of other Americans. Is anyone dignified in hiting another person who is excited after a victory from a sporting match? Hell no... It's okay if you beat us in College Station, but if you celebrate were gonna shake ya down, cuz yer not frum here rya boy. I think there were a few poor sports on the field that day and shame on them. Oh, by they way. I am an Aggie fan too... I guess were all not equal in college station huh? Perhaps the Aggies will have to play with themselves until the rest of the world earns the "right" to be there. This is a narrow and poor precedent to set, especially in college sports. -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

I detect a hint of insecurity here... Why the hell would you play a football game on a war memorial? If I were a dead soldier, I would consider it an unforgivable mistake to play a game on my memorial. There are plenty of dead Aggies under Tom Osbourne field from the last time they visited. It's okay though, you can still walk on our field...

I think you mean Oklahoma, not Ok State... Hats off to RC after gettin' bitch slapped by Nebraska two weeks ago! Go Huskers!!! -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

I have carried my rig on several times since September 11th without a bag... No one knows what it is (I have a Wings patch rig). I get the comment "Cool backpack". The few people who do, I remind them it is a life saving device, not life taking device... Most of all, I don't make any jokes about jumping or really talk about the sport at all, because it can easily be construed as a terroristic threat. I like to carry it on, because I don't trust the yahoos handling luggage on the planes. I don't throw my rig around in or out of a gear bag, I'm not about to let anyone else do it, if I can avoid it. No airline is going to insure your 5000.00 rig either. -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

That's not a base jumper. It's a Texas skydiver after a couple light beers -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

Here is the answer I received from PD Marketing Rep... -Jon

You also might like "Save your breath, you are going to need it to blow up you date tonight" -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

Sounds like you ran into someone with "Small Penis Overcompensating with Big Ego" complex. SPOBE is a frightening and dehabiliiting disease that effects thousands of males involved in athletics, politics, military duty and law enforcement every year. You just gotta give a concerned look at his mid section and say "Sorry about your penis... Get help..." and walk off... -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

I heard back from PD on the material issue. The short aswer, F-111 material is stronger as the speed of the tear increases... The manufacturer tests at 12" a minute where PD tested fabrics at 150" a second (more like a catastrophic failure). This is why PD considers F-111 a superior fabric for reserves. I'll post the entire e-mail when I get to a PC that I can cut and paste with (shitty coffee shop PC). -Jon

It's damn shame. Folks waistin' a perfectly good jump plane like dat... -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

She is a babe. Her beauty is obvious and she looks healthy not that freaky heroin sheek thing so prevalent now days. What I really liked about her is what I read in a bio. She is all about family and has a very grounded attitude about her career. -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when

1. Favorite Actor/Actress: Kevin Spacey/Julianne Moore 2. Favorite Food: Steak and Shrimp cooked on a Hibachi grill. 3. Favorite Leisure Activity (other than jumping): Playing with my son Drake. 4. Favorite thing to wear: Nothing at all... 5. Favorite Victoria's Secret model: Latitia Costa (insert Homer Simpson donut growl here). -Hixxx death,as men call him, ends what they call men -but beauty is more now than dying’s when