labrys

$2800 isn't bad if the goggles, log book, and altimeter are high quality, but it isn't an "amazing deal" by any stretch. $1500 for 7 AFF jumps seems pricey. You'll have to do a number of coached jumps after that to get your license, and those will probably run between $75-$100 apiece with gear rental at most non-club DZs. Owned by Remi #?

Way to go. Maybe you should look up the word 'incontinence' Nor do I. Owned by Remi #?

Your post is good, Curtis. I'd just like to add a little clarification for the OP. The suggestions that the device Millertime posted is a bad idea are not because it's a digital altimeter, They're because it doesn't have a visual altitude display... as in you can't look at it and see your altitude. It's an audible alarm that's designed to be integrated with an MP3 player. At best, it's worthless for a novice who doesn't already have a visual altimeter. Owned by Remi #?

Awesome. Jeez, Nick. You have a gift. Owned by Remi #?

Incontinence? Rain on parade? I can't stop laughing. Anyway..... It sounds like the folks organizing this are trying very hard to do it the right way. I'm looking forward to joining. Owned by Remi #?

I don't need an explanation. I'm fully aware of the information you linked. I asked for an opinion. Owned by Remi #?

How do you feel about administrative and general (under honorable conditions) discharges? I expressed a wish that they would consider veterans who did not have honorable discharges in another thread, but the above was what I thought was reasonable. Owned by Remi #?

If you don't care or you're annoyed, either say so to the poster or STFU rather than give a new person bad advice. That's just fucked up. Owned by Remi #?

I'm with Pops. This is a horrible suggestion. It's not even a visual in addition to the other distractions it creates. Owned by Remi #?

Okay, lets try this approach: If you get knocked out with no AAD and don't recover before impact, it's very, very likely you're going to die. That's a given. Now, try to imagine it this way. The odds that you will be knocked out are (this number is for comparison purposes only) say.. 1/10,000 jumps. Your AAD now has some statistical chance of improving your odds of survival IF AND ONLY IF wearing the AAD does not influence or modify your behavior such that you take risks you would not otherwise take without it. If you make the choice to add additional risk because of the AAD, you are negating the benefit of having it when you get knocked out if those additional risks increase the odds that you'll kill yourself to (another number just for comparison) say... 1/1000 depending on the actual choices you make because of the AAD. People who exhibit this kind of risk behavior are actually (in this example) INCREASING the potential risk by a full order of magnitude because they have an AAD. 10x is probably an extreme, but it's also probably not that far out there for some people and it's been shown that it's human nature to act this way. That's all that most people are saying here. Obsessing about not dying if you get knocked on the skull is pointless if you don't mitigate every other risk as much as possible, up to and including deciding that jumping might be more risk than you are willing to accept if you are unwilling to jump without an AAD. Understanding, analyzing, and accepting risk prepares you to handle risk. Depending on an AAD makes people lazy about considering actual risk. I know I'm repeating what many others have said. I'm just taking a shot that a different approach might help. Owned by Remi #?

The only must-have option I see is the iPod pocket. Owned by Remi #?

Yeah... I wanted my money back when I found out, but they told me to get stuffed, so now I'm stuck jumping anyway. Owned by Remi #?

Pulling high and cross country are 2 different things these days. On a day with high uppers, most of the same principles of spotting and being prepared to land way out on a round or a square still apply, But on a day with mild uppers, it's much easier to take a ram-air out at 14,000 feet, close the the DZ, and make the corrections necessary to land at home. Owned by Remi #?

And the temperature, and the wind, the other air traffic in the vicinity, and the knowledge / approval of the pilot, etc. Ask the pilot and an instructor / S&TA before you go. Get a good briefing on your best exit point and understand how to find it from the door. Maybe find an experienced high puller to jump with...If everything is good, go for it. High pulls are awesome. Owned by Remi #?

At your experience level, it's inadvisable to do anything other than pay attention to yourself and others in the air with you, your canopy, where you are, where your landing area is, what the wind is doing, etc. Here are some of the potential problems: 1. That second it takes to pull out a camera can easily become several minutes in which you are trying to unzip a jumpsuit under your chest strap or dicking around trying to get something out of a pocket next to your leg straps. The wind at high alt could easily blow you far enough away from home to confuse or disorient you. 2. After you've finally gotten your camera out, be careful not to drop it on some poor innocent whuffo's head down below, okay? 3. No problem, you won't drop the camera because you'll put it on a lanyard around your neck or wrist, right? That's just asking for something wrapped around a wrist or neck to become a nasty horeshoe mal for you or impede an EP. A couple of snaphots aren't worth it yet, okay? Owned by Remi #?

No, there is another option. It's accepting that you might be killed skydiving. Owned by Remi #?

Of course not. Just like you can't guarantee that you won't have a fatal double mal, or that some toggle-whippin' idiot won't kill you under canopy, or that you won't screw up and do something idiotic yourself. Unless you don't jump, I guess... There are risks involved and they might kill you. Some people understand and accept that. What's the problem with that? Owned by Remi #?

Really? Owned by Remi #?

http://sunpath.com/web_en/index.php?menu_level1=3&menu_level2=4 Owned by Remi #?

Bad idea in this case. That's an old technique that used to work occasionally on HDDs with sticky spindles or motor problems. It's really bad idea on a modern drive, but has nothing to do with being SATA vs IDE so much as the fact that newer drives are much more delicate than older ones. Owned by Remi #?

Once again, so what? The information that is posted here from a number of people who have worked with this dealer and are happy is relevant. The fact that you have a personal financial issue with this guy that is unrelated to skydiving in not relevant. You might even have a legitimate issue with this guy, but bringing it here isn't going to help you. If I was this "Serg" dude, I'd start looking at charging you with libel. If he has a decent reputation here and you attempt to destroy it, you're just hindering his ability to do business that may be the only income he has to handle his debts? That's just conjecture, BTW, but have you considered anything beyond what appears to be your own pure vendetta? Owned by Remi #?

Possibly. I've restored a few hard drives that wouldn't power up by finding another drive with the same external power circuits and swapping them. Does it look to you like the power board is removable? ETA: I shouldn't have limited my answer to the power circuits. Sometimes those are included in the external logic board on the drive, which can be easily replaced with an identical one without harming the drive. Just make sure it's the same firmware as the dead drive. It's always worth trying if you have valuable stuff on the drive. It's also always a good reminder to back up your drives :-) Owned by Remi #?

Dan... what I'm reading is that it says active USPA members who have served. maybe I'm not seeing something that you do.... I do wish they would reconsider the honorable discharge requirement though. Maybe not allowing dishonorable would work, but I know a few very honorable vets who accepted administrative discharges. I know a couple of dishonorably discharged vets who served with honor too...but I understand that there's always a fringe and a line has to be drawn. Most of them do too.. Owned by Remi #?

I don't see where the special says anything about coached tunnel time. Doesn't it just say "3 coach jumps: 10 min. tunnel time"? Owned by Remi #?

Maybe that's because they thought the entire section (6.1) they devoted to the topic was enough information. "Sky" isn't in the glossary either. Owned by Remi #?