Kris

Thanks, Chuck. I appreciate that. Don't worry, I'll still have plenty of time left over for Rantoul. It'll be epic and worth the wait.

Sorry guys, I have to cancel my appearance. I'm taking the week after next off to go to Keystone with eeneR instead. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Skydive Hinton in Oklahoma. Mile-marker 101 in Oklahoma. Exit and go south 1.5 miles to the DZ. Open weekends. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

I've taken my iPod up on several jumps, but only on long hop & pop's or cross country jumps. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Great idea, Trent!!! I've added my name.

And everyone else who hooked themselves in jumping a canopy they weren't ready for has said the exact same thing. Whoever is letting you jump your canopy at Lodi really needs to reexamine their damn conscience. Face it, you're a DGIT (Dead Guy In Training) and you don't even know it. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Eggsactly! I, too, thought it was out of line to call Missy on it like she did, and it smacked of authoritarianism. Missy, you've got my support! Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

How about using common sense for fuck's sake? I will not get onto an airplane if I'm impaired and I certainly won't get onto an airplane with someone else that I know to be impaired. Period. It's just that simple. I guess it's true, you really can over-analyze anything these days. Stick to the simple common sense answer and always try to err on the side of safety. You'll go further. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Happy birthday, Sunny!!!!!!!!!!! So, this is birthday number 22? Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

I'll be in TX this weekend. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Send it to me....I've been slacking and have a couple of other numbers to update, too. I'll have a new revision up tonight after I get home from work.

sorry, I don't buy that. If I look out and the spot is wrong or there's traffic below then the pilot can bite me while we do a go around. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

I'll unstow the slider and cock the PC but that's it, otherwise, why am I using a packer? And I know packers who clear almost $1K a weekend, when my packer makes more than I do, I don't consider them underpaid. But I do appreciate the damn hard work you do. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Thanks for all of the information everyone. I just placed an order for the eTrex Vista.

Don't make me go to Mar and have her throw a ruling on this.....wait, I can't win there either, can I? sigh. It's a damn conspiracy I tell ya'! Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

You won't borrow my BirdMan suit but you'll borrow my....nevermind. sheesh. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

I hope you know me....I left a bottle of good Cabo Wabo tequila at your place weekend before last. Make sure I collect it unharmed in a couple of weeks and nobody gets in trouble. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

You're kinda cute when you're frightened. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Yeah, I've been killing a lot more kittens ever since Bo went off the market. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Okay, the gadget freak in me just came out to visit again. I'd really like to mount a GPS on my GTi to get more accurate data on my flights. The model I'm looking at right now is the Garmin eTrex Vista. This one seems to do it all...altimeter data (built-in barometric), computes glide, has the interface cable, even has a jumpmaster accessory. Also, the warm lock-on acquisition time of 15 seconds isn't too shabby either. Is there anything else I should be looking at in the $250-$350 range? Besides BirdMan I'll be using it for hiking and Geocaching. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

And so it continues.... Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

fooey...the only stupid questions are those that you don't ask, Rosa. Bytch wrote this about the differences a while back: Advantages: Will maintain its trim qualities over the life of the line-set. Disadvantages: Will wear faster than Spectra and will require replacement at around 500-700 jumps on the suspension lines and 250-400 jumps on the lower control lines. SPECTRA Advantages: High wear resistance. Lines will last 1000 jumps+. Disadvantages: Will loose its trim qualities RADICALLY. As an indication, a Spectra line set with 500 jumps will have control line shrinkage of between 5" & 8", the outboard A lines will have shrunk 3" to 5" and the trim across the span is likely to be out by 2" to 4". The canopies performance will start to become effected in only 100 jumps. As a result, Spectra is not recommended on high performance canopies. The line set will need replacing at least as frequently, or more frequently than Vectran due to shrinkage. Note: This is not an issue on low performance canopies. Now...as for Dacron, Billvon had this to say: Spectra - wears well, thin, shrinks quickly. Dacron - does not shrink, wears well, shock absorber, thicker. Vectran - wears quickly, thin, does not shrink. --------------- Dacron lines will stretch upon opening shock and then shrink back allowing for more cushioning. The big disadvantage is that Dacron is bulky and takes up a lot of pack volume. Also, because of its bulk, you wouldn't want it on tiny high-performance canopies because of the parasitic drag. Dacron also has an extremely long life and will go many hundreds of jumps before replacement is needed. ----- and from another rigger: Dacron- It has resistance to wear but does stretch. It usually goes out of trim (gets longer in dimensions)at the center cell and brake lines first. It does not shrink at all. Comes standard in 525lb, 600lb, and 900lb. Spectra - This shrinks and will not stretch(relative to the loaded dimensions). Usually shrinks most at the outer most lines and also the brake lines. It wears well, thus giving the user a "false" sense of being in good shape, when actually the lines are out of trim.The 500lb goes out of trim really fast compared to the other sizes. It comes in 500lb, 725lb, and 1000lb. There is no such animal as 825lb. This is a number used by PD to differentiate between their unsized (uncoated)725lb that they use on their reserves.CSR, the line manufactuer, sells them the line labeled as 725lb. Vectran-Does not stretch,is dimensionally stable, but wears the fastest of the line types. This line usually last 400-600 jumps on the average canopy. Vectran comes in 580lb, 725lb, 1050lb, and 1600lb. HMA-Has vectran-like characteristics except that it has a better wear componet. But here is the scary part- the polymer can stress crack in areas that are sewn. In other words, you never know if and when the line may break. This is one of the reasons that they do not cascade the lines. It also is hard to fingertrap. Hope that helped.

For freeflying, hook up with Brandon, Rigger Jon...hell any of the freeflyers there at Skydive Dallas. They're all pretty nice people. There's a pretty good RW contigent there as well, with several record holders and good organizing. There's a good chance I'll be out there next Sat. Look for a big guy (stunt double for buddha) in all purple with a purple Mirage with "Kris" embroidered on it. I'd love to go on a jump with ya'.

From one Mirage owning Kris to another....nice rig. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

not enough purple. And Blue is soooooo going to get you. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™