Andrewwhyte

No, I loosen the side straps but I warn them first.

BEER! A couple of comments. First of all, sitting in the saddle at 3000 with a high speed isn´t bad. Once the drogue is collapsed things happen fast. Second, Steve Janz was hit by his main under tandem reserve a couple of years ago in Abbotsford. The canopy recovered and Smiley got some free adrenaline. Third, When I read your account, the first thing I noticed was you had your hand on your reserve handle before your cutaway. While you had the presence of mind not to pull them in the order you grabbed them, I don´t think this is the best idea. You talk of grabbing them at the same time on your practice touches. I think the muscle memory benefits of grabbing them in the same sequence you plan to pull them is important and you should keep doing it that way (I would even suggest that it has already paid off in your case and may have helped stay your left hand when your right hand broke the sequence). By all means stop separating the touches the way you have been doing, but keep the sequence IMHO. Fourth, Why couldn´t you grab the cutaway handle? Is the harness too long for you? Do the handles ride up your torso? If this is what happened what will happen on a mal where you are pulled upright in the saddle? Check out the position after deployment on your next jump. Don´t just touch them, actually grab them like you are going to pull them. Fifth, Doesn´t the ripcord hurt your teeth? I had a mal the other day. I put the main drogue release between my teeth and got a fat lip for my efforts as we tipped a bit on cutaway and I got a nice riser slap. The quality of the bottle you buy your rigger is an indicator as to the quality of pack job you want them to do for you.

Hi there, I am currently working at Skydive El Sol in Cabo San Lucas. While we are a bit far to help you out, Perhaps I can offer a bit of insight. Since Playa Del Carmen is primarily a tourist market I am certain the instructors speak english.I would be a bit surprised if all the instructors are Mexican nationals (our staff hail from Mexico, USA, Canada, and Zimbabwe. My replacement next month may be coming from Argentina.) When we applied for our work visas we were asked to prove our qualifications to the government as well as to our employers. We offer AFP here with the Canadian student being taught by me, the Americans being taught by an AFF rated, English first language instructor, and all Mexicans that have come through being taught by the USPA AFF rated Spanish first language owner. Learning in Mexico does not mean an inferior product; the junior instructor on this DZ has over 3000 skydives. By the same token, a USPA membership does not guarantee qualified, competent or dedicated staff in the US or elsewhere. I have not been to this DZ nor have I met the staff, so I cannot make a recommendation one way or another. You should meet these people yourself and decide whether you have confidence in them. Have a great time.

I check the position of the cutaway cables through the loops as well as the position of the handles on every jump just after opening. I usually tell the student I am conducting a safety check, and now it is ok to loosen the side straps

In Canada no medical is required for recreational jumpers.

You don't have to ever pay off the debts; you do have to make the interest payments every month, and you do. Public debt is a transfer of wealth from the middle class to the financial sector (banks). One problem with this list is it only includes national governments' debts. In federal countries the same taxpayer is also paying the interest on state/province/department debts. I believe in the US some states allow counties to carry taxpayer supported debt.

Do the tunnel first, then do AFF. Forget RAPS.

Whether these were line over type mals is uncertain.

I hope 100% of that cost is reflected in military sales and none of it is imposed on your civillian prices. I am not all that familliar with ISO, but my feeling is that it will inhibit innovation as well as mistakes.

I live in Canada. We all have health insurance. My employees also get suplemental insurance and workers compensation insurance even though we are not a `big ass drop zone.`

According to the president the US airbourne is planning to jump there soon.

You just don't get it, do you? It was a fourteen game season!

1- Not as good as elk but better than woodlands caribou. Did you know that reindeer and barrenlands caibou are the same animal. Care for a nice porterhouse Rudolph? 2- COMING SOON-Club Med Tuktoyaktuk.

I spent seven years working the oil patch in the Canadian (and occasionally) American Beaufort Sea, just off shore from the refuge. I lived in Yukon during that time and have been watching this fight for over twenty years. A few observations: 1. While it is true the oil in this patch cannot noticeably lower the world price of oil, neither can any other individual patch. What Americans need to remember is that Canadian, Saudi, or Venezuelan oil must be ultimately be purchased in the currency of that country (this despite the world oil market operating in US dollars). America's constant exporting of currency for energy is an ongoing threat to its economic and strategic security. 2. Some people have mentioned property rights and asked what the Alaskans want. The property belongs to the Federal Government of the United States; it is a national wildlife refuge. While the wishes of the locals are always important, it is not necessarily paramount. If the local real estate developers want to drain Everglades National Park or mining types want to 'provide jobs for the people of Wyoming' by open pit mining Yellowstone it does not necessarily follow that it is the right thing to do. 3. Speaking of locals, the Dene (Indian) of Old Crow as well as the Inuit from the area have lobbied against drilling for years. The nearest white man city is Fairbanks which is a long way away. 4. The 1.5 million acres in question is the main calving ground for the Porcupine caribou herd. Higher infant mortality rates from H2S exposure will without a doubt occur. 5. Ecological damage on the tundra tends to be long term (effectively permanent). When a vehicle leaves the road the tracks are visible from the air where the soft ground is squashed. These depressions lead the permafrost to melt, increasing the size of the ruts. The next year the process is repeated with the ruts increasing in size again as 'mini glaciers' fill the ruts. When they melt again in the summer they soften the land more, causing it to sink more, causing deeper permafrost to melt. It is quite stunning to be flying over the arctic and see the tracks that one vehicle made five or ten or twenty years ago. The fact is the land does not recover ecologically the same way in the arctic as it does in more southern climes. 6. Fifteen years ago the environmental safeguards at Barrow were among the most stringent in the world. If the dept. of environment will keep the oil companies' noses to the wheel I think they can mitigate the damage to acceptable levels. That however, is a big if. 7. Major accidents in the Arctic need to be viewed like major nuclear accidents. If there is a major spill the area will not recover in our grandchildren's lifetime. The porcupine herd and/or the local beluga population may become extinct.

This is ridiculous! Of course he didn't do it; that much is obvious. I mean really, he ran for two thousand yards in one season!

Not that often, but since I have thirty of them it does come up. The real problem I have with them is the need for the longer than usual ripcords and shorter than usual cutaway cables.

The term was one used in the other thread. True, the problem with the longer rip cord is moot if the rsl does it's job (or if the opener does its). However systems and procedures need to be designed not to rely on the back-ups. I know of a tandem pair that went in because (among other things) the rsl came undone during the jump. I just think it's overkill. If i thought it was really necessary I would install it on my own gear.

58 degrees Farenheight is optimal according to the wine snobs; the temerature of that one there is right for me.

From AFF student gear thread We bought a DZ last year that has universal risers on the gear so I have just spent a year working with them. The first thing I noticed about them is what a pain in the ass they are to hook up. That and the sudden shortage of double ended loops make them annoying to work with. More importantly is the need for a longer than usual rip cord in order to insure the cut-away cables activate before the reserve. This in turn means you need to insure the student clears the rip cord. A student with short arms could theoretically reach the end of their arm stroke without activating the reserve. This, to me, is a solution in search of a problem; one which creates it's own problem as it goes. When we replace the gear it will not include universal risers. We will depend on training to insure the correct EP sequence.

I will start a new thread on this.

WMD!

I was supposed to drive to the coast today, but I'm one day behind. One stinking day! There is already about an inch of snow outside. I almost went into the ditch coming home from dinner. I hate to think what is waiting for me in the pass. And you say winter is almost upon us! Sheesh.

The rules in Vancouver are simple; leave nothing in your car. The crack heads will break in for an empty pop can. I would hesitate to leave the car unlocked outside, but if you are in an underground lot, absolutely. BTW where are you living?

In my country we draw the line at a different place than you. We think guns are weapons of mass destruction, and we have the crime statistics to prove it.

When Zundel was doing his thing in Toronto there was another Holocaust denier on the east coast named Jim Keegstra. Keegstra was charged with the 'false news' law which made it a crime to utter untruths in contravention to the 'aims of society' or some such, while Zundel was charged with promoting hatred towards an identifiable group. Both laws were challenged as unconstitutional with the 'false news' law falling and the 'promoting hatred' one standing. I agree with Gawain, a free society can deal with these nutcases much more effectively ad hoc than in the courts. Pushing these people underground just gives them the ability to operate in the shadows where their lies can find purchase among the weak minded and emotionally vulnerable. As for the American constitution protecting this guy, it does protect him from prosecution but not from expulsion. The US government expels people who's views they don't like quite regularly