labrys

For those who are criticizing the guy, try reading here before you jump to conclusions: http://www.litefm.com/pages/news-story.html?feed=421220&article=9744152 For example: "Attention Media Outlets: While we appreciate the interest you're all putting forth to get in touch with us regarding the video, we're not going to go on your talk show, not going to call in to your radio show, and not going to be in your TV mini-series. Some of you think I made an acceptable parenting decision and others think I didn't. However, I can't think of any way myself or my daughter can ...respond to a media outlet that won't be twisted out of context. The Dallas news TV news already showed that in their brief 5 minute interview with the psychologist. Additionally, there's absolutely NO way I'm going to send my child the message that it's OK to gain from something like this. It would send her a message that it's OK to profit at the expense of someone else's embarrassment or misfortune and that's now how I was raised, nor how she has been raised." And FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Media Response to Anita Li, from the Toronto Star Since you took the time to email us with your requests like we asked, I’ll take the time to give you an honest follow-up response. You’ll have to forgive me for doing so publicly though; again I want to be sure my words are portrayed the way I actually say them, not cut together to make entirely different points. Your questions were: Q: Why did y...ou decide to reprimand your daughter over a public medium like YouTube? A: Well, I actually just had to load the video file itself on YouTube because it’s a better upload process than Facebook, but the intended audience was her Facebook friends and the parents of those friends who saw her post and would naturally assume we let our children get away with something like that. So, to answer “Why did you reprimand her over a public medium like Facebook” my answer is this: Because that’s how I was raised. If I did something embarrassing to my parents in public (such as a grocery store) I got my tail tore up right there in front of God and everyone, right there in the store. I put the reprisal in exactly the same medium she did, in the exact same manner. Her post went out to about 452 people. Mine went out to about 550 people… originally. I had no idea it would become what it did. Q: How effective do you think your punishment was (i.e. shooting her laptop and reading her letter online)? A: I think it was very effective on one front. She apparently didn’t remember being talked to about previous incidents, nor did she seem to remember the effects of having it taken away, nor did the eventual long-term grounding seem to get through to her. I think she thought “Well, I’ll just wait it out and I’ll get it back eventually.” Her behavior corrected for a short time, and then it went back to what it was before and worse. This time, she won’t ever forget and it’ll be a long time before she has an opportunity to post on Facebook again. I feel pretty certain that every day from then to now, whenever one of her friends mentions Facebook, she’ll remember it and wish she hadn’t done what she did. Owned by Remi #?

I propose that we only allow veterans of federal service to vote on the subject of gay marriage. Owned by Remi #?

Twardo, the information you have shared here is absolutely priceless. I recently put myself into a 3 link chain of mistakes and ended up going from waving off high to releasing my reserve brakes at 400 feet. It's scary, scary fast how quickly the mistakes can add up and I feel that I did a pretty competent job handling the ones I could fix. I don't have much experience, but those with less may not have made it out of the fire I started for myself. Owned by Remi #?

Blue skies and green fields to her. Owned by Remi #?

No need for programming skills to put malfunction photos on an ipad. Owned by Remi #?

There's one here, but it's rarely used http://www.dropzone.com/chat/ Owned by Remi #?

I neglected to include that my WL on the 150 was about 1.3 at 500 jumps. I'm conservative in general but that canopy never felt like I could put it down in a tight spot unless I put lots and lots of jumps on it. I wasn't comfortable putting lots and lots of jumps on it because I couldn't put it down in a tight spot. I got rid of it and went back to my 170. Owned by Remi #?

My experience downsizing from a Sabre2 170 to a Sabre2 150 (and previously from a Hornet 210 to a Hornet 190) was that there was a HUGE difference between the 170 and the 150. I noticed small changes going from 210 to 190 and 190 to 170. The switch from 170 to 150 was entirely different. The 150 did not behave the same at all. It was very sensitive to input compared to the 170. PD lists the max exit weight for the Sabre2 150 as 240 pounds and the max exit weight for an expert canopy pilot as 195. I think it's a terrible idea for someone with 230ish jumps regardless of skill level. Owned by Remi #?

My primary intention in posting this was to illustrate how quickly a relatively high wave off can turn into a really low deployment. It is a, in my opinion, excellent example of just how bad an idea mid-air rigging attempts are. There are a number of things that I did wrong on the jump. An extra third attempt at my hacky, dropping my reserve handle, deciding to jump when I was fully aware that I was in poor physical condition, etc. The worst of those mistakes was the unplanned attempt to shift my rig. That's my opinion anyway. Let's leave out the 3 seconds or so the third attempt to get my main open cost, the 3 seconds attempting to shift my rig cost me and the 3 seconds or so that retrieving my reserve handle cost. 9 seconds. 1500 feet. Minus those 3 things, I'd have been in the saddle at about 2000 feet. The third attempt at my hacky was a conscious decision that I made as a moderately experienced skydiver. I'm perfectly comfortable with that choice because I knew I was relatively high compared to my normal wave off alti, which is about 3500 feet. I fully understand anyone who disagrees with me on that choice and I do not recommend anyone else do the same. I can't explain what possessed me to try to shift my rig. I have never considered it an option when planning for different types of malfunctions. I just "did it". Had I not dropped my reserve handle I'd still have been open 500 feet higher that I was, though. Still a much safer margin of error than I had. Dropping the reserve handle... is, well... "one of those things" that happens. I have, of course, thought about the procedure and grip I had on it and what I did wrong and what I can do better next time. I've had 3 cutaways, 2 with a Skyhook and 1 with a standard RSL, and I've never beaten the RSL to my reserve. That means I was not entirely in freefall as I pulled my reserve handle. It's a different feel. It remains that these 3 things almost killed me. 1 planned, 1 unplanned, and 1 gotchya that really could happen to anyone. Any time in the future that you hear someone talking about reaching around to pull on their bridal if they have a pilot chute in tow or something else that sounds like an attempt to repair a problem with their deployment or their rig in freefall, please feel free to point them at the video and make it clear that if I'd taken 2 more seconds to fix the issues (and I'd not had an AAD or the AAD had not worked, as everyone should assume would be the case), I'd have made a big splash into that swamp. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD8DjpMYOJA&context=C30ca081ADOEgsToPDskJUjBcwMye2l6Nj_pu-He9x Owned by Remi #?

Was it equally disgusting the 4 times it happened under Bush's administration? Owned by Remi #?

This is one of the most astute things I've taken away from this experience, Andy. I feel that I'm a reasonably capable and competent person. Certainly not a young, fit athlete, but capable enough. I've taught hundreds of students to try twice and go to silver. I'll give myself a pass for trying 3 times because I started out pretty high... But the attempt to shift my rig was completely unplanned. I'd never considered doing such a thing and I'd have told anyone who suggested trying it that low that they were a fool. And yet there I was, CYPRES aside, about 4 seconds from cratering in with nothing out for no reason at all. No reason. Owned by Remi #?

Hahaha! Thanks. Those are expensive. Owned by Remi #?

I'm just trying to drag one little scrap of dignity out of all the other incredibly stupid things I did. Owned by Remi #?

Under a very narrow set of circumstances, yes. On my rig, the cutter is located directly under the reserve flap very close to the reserve pin. If the reserve pin is pulled and the loop is pulled through the cutter and there's still enough airspeed to cause the AAD to activate then the CYPRES will have fired without cutting the loop. That's completely normal... just pretty hard timing. Some containers have the cutter mounted at the base of the closing loop. In that case, it's hard (impossible?) to tell if the reserve pin was pulled before or after the CYPRES fire. Make sense? Owned by Remi #?

Nope. My closing loop was not cut. Owned by Remi #?

I wish there was a "middle finger" emoticon Watch this one if you want to see it. It's much higher quality that the original one i posted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD8DjpMYOJA Owned by Remi #?

I have a couple of jumps from the NRGB. 800 feet on Bridge Day is definitely not the same visual as 800 feet at terminal. I'm not from the area, but it's hard to imaging that much swampy ground doesn't have some gators and snakes living in it. Owned by Remi #?

Hey, Phoenix. I appreciate that you're being critical and turning over ideas and pointing out errors. Hopefully, novice jumpers will read what you have to say and weigh it against their experience. I will ask that you knock off the idea that I didn't pull, though. I saved myself. It was a close call, but I got it done. Don't try to rewrite that part of my fail. Owned by Remi #?

Hey, yes. A couple of people have pointed out that flat spot off to my right that's upwind and probably a much better choice for landing. I did know the winds when I got on the plane, too. It's hard to explain and it's another part of being a dumbass just like trying to shift my harness under 2k. When my reserve opened I scope locked on that trail and didn't think about wind. Many mistakes. Owned by Remi #?

Your point is good, but I'd like to say that my alti was out in front while I was trying to get to my hackey. Not saying I didn't take too long to pull, just noting that I wasn't stopping to check specifically. For the record in general, as well. I'm not a guy. Owned by Remi #?

Wednesday about 11am or such. Owned by Remi #?

I have hundreds of jumps with my camera. It wasn't a factor. Poor judgement in general, yes, but that wasn't an issue. Owned by Remi #?

That would have been a good place to see it. I just uploaded the HD version with sound. It's easier to see the terrain and my altimeter in this one. It's amazing how fast things go all to hell when I decide to try to shift my rig instead of just open my reserve. That last 1000 feet couldn't be spared. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD8DjpMYOJA Owned by Remi #?

Jumpsuit. Took it off to wade back to the DZ. Owned by Remi #?

Another great piece of advice. Thanks, Billy. Owned by Remi #?