steve1

I love my 10/22 but hate the factory trigger it has on it. I'd love to put a custom trigger on it. Go with 22 Long Rifle ammo for general plinking. 22 magnums are a lot more expensive to shoot. My personal choice for home defense is a pump shotgun with a short barrel. If I shot pistols more I might have a different opinion. It would just be easier for me to make an accurate shot , under a high stress situation in the dark. A shotgun, with buckshot, shouldn't penetrate more than say a 38 special or 9mm, (probably less) unless you are using slugs. Slugs would be good at longer ranges, but would also easily penetrate several sheet rock walls. Something to consider if you live in a congested area...Steve1

There is a similiar photo in circulation of another aircraft with jumpers hanging all over it and one guy is holding up a beer. (Taken in the 70's.) I thought this might be it since one guy has his hand up in a similiar fashion. The guy holding the beer is Hod (Gary) Sanders. There may be some other Mirror Image jumpers on that load. I'd love to see that photo (if anyone has it). I've never seen it myself, but I've heard stories about it....Steve1

I'm still wondering if I had given my canopy more toggle last Spring, if it would have saved me a trip to the emergency room. I'm still dealing with a serious limp. I really appreciate the info. here on how to recover from a low turn. I still have plenty to learn on flying a canopy. About half my jumps are on para-commanders. I posted the details earlier, but maybe I'll post them again, in case anyone out there doesn't know what a dumb ass I am. I had run with the wind too long and waited till the last minute to initiate a turn. Not jumping all winter didn't help any. At any rate I had a nice flat turn going. But I didn't realize how slow it would be to get turned back around. I was over a fence and highway. So, I gave it way too much toggle and let it back up. Next thing you know the ground was racing up to get me.....I went to half brakes in hopes that might help. Then I slammed into the ground like a ton of bricks. God, that hurt! I lived on pain pills for a couple weeks after. Nothing was broke on the x-rays, but I may have a permanent limp out of the deal. At any rate, I'm still wondering if more toggle would have brought me out of this arc into the ground. Possibly, it would have made it worse. I plan to do a lot of experimenting with this up high. I don't want there to be a next time....Steve1

Good post Mr. Booth. It makes perfect sense why sky diving gear has evolved to the point of being dangerous. Looking cool isn't worth getting killed over, but yet most of us still jump what is fashionable at the time.....Steve1

I've been thinking exactly the same thing these past few days reading these threads. Remember the military surplus rigs we jumped as students in the 70's - all rigged up that way. Then sport rigs started using "split saddles", which were all the fashion rage back then, and are now the universal standard. Maybe the next generation of harnesses needs to look a bit more like the previous one... Clearly, these "holes" need to be designed out. Maybe..(and I'm no rigger..) full saddles...belly bands and rear horizontals...maybe a vertical running from the middle of the full saddle up to the rear horizontal....something like that...just some off-the-top ideas...... ...Riggers please chime in.... Edit: BTW, while I’m on a roll here, I’ve never much liked the design of the current generation of chest straps, either. Used to be, you’d snap the two links closed, and it was done. You could still loosen it if you wanted, but you didn't have to undo it to come out of it. Now, the links are gone, and there’s this omnipresent “misrouted chest strap” issue. I wish that could be designed-out into something more user-friendly, too. ...OK, rant over. Your post does bring back memories...There was nothing like a big old belly reserve in front, complete with belly band, and a solid saddle on your good ole B-12 harness and container all snugged down tight to let you know there was no falling out of that rig no matter what. (hows that for a run on sentence?) I remember when split saddles came out and kind of scared some of us. I had a split solid saddle on my Super Pro harness. It was like a split saddle, but had a small strap connecting the two. There was no falling out of that rig either. If I remember right, even the first pig rigs had a belly band or two across the front to hold you in. I never jumped one, but had lot's of pals who swore by them. And I know how you feel about the new chest straps. When I first started back I forgot to fasten it up right twice. Luckily I caught it both times in the plane just before jumping. I do miss just snapping my chest strap and then forgetting about it. Now I'm kind of paranoid about it and check it often. My present rig is a little too big for me. I have to really cinch the chest strap down to keep me in. I worry about my scrawny shoulders slipping out. I agree, I think it's time for someone to build a safer harness....Steve1

I would bet good money that you wouldn't beat Flyangel2 (or Larry Henderson or Raider Ramstead). I've not watched Bill track, so I'll let him speak for himself. I know a guy who followed Bill tracking out of the maze of jumpers on the last World Record attempt (day after day) in Thailand. He swears there's no way he could keep up with him in a track. He's a former World Champion who goes on all of B.J.'s big ways, so I know he knows a good tracker when he sees one. So, my money is on Bill.....Steve1

I was wondering the same thing. Some new type of cargo chute, I figure....Steve1

One afternoon after going low back in the 70's.... I was in the saddle at about 500 ft. The grounding was supposed to be for a longer period of time, but the president of our club took pity on us and allowed us to jump again, the next day. No...it didn't help. Just coming that close, to going in, scared the bejesus out of me. That in itself was enough.....Steve1

In the army, 30 years ago, they told us that if you were being towed behind the plane to put one or both hands on your helmet to let them know you were still conscious. Then they would cut you away, and hopefully you could open your reserve. If you were unconscious the plan was to foam down the runway and land with you dragging behind. The saltier jumpmasters took delight in explaining this part to everyone. I can still picture their grim faces with a sparkle in their eye, as the head jump master said, "and then we're going to land with your ass dragging behind the plane!"....and then seeing all the sick faces on those who were about to jump. I think they enjoyed playing with our minds. This is the first story I've heard of it ever actually happening....Steve1

Hey Paul, I was just going to ask you if you knew Paul Juel, and then I realized it was you....Steve1

Good point! I've been worried about how I'm going to afford jump tickets when I get to be an even older fogie than I already am....Steve1

Oh hell yes, this scares me! When I see a dangerous problem I think we should try to fix it rather than pretend it isn't there. To tell you the truth, I'm really not scared for myself. I've lived a good life, and I can check out at any time with no regrets. But, I am afraid for my kids and the kids they will have. What kind of a future will they have if things stay on their present course? I make a good living. I could afford to have several more kids than the two I have, but having too many just makes the problem worse for everyone. Every day I counsel throw away kids at the school I work at. Most of these kids have been farmed out to anyone who will take them, and they have never developed a close bond to anyone. Often times their parents are strung out on drugs and alcohol or they just don't have any parenting skills. Or in other words they just don't give a rip about the welfare of their children. Lot's of folks say they really like kids. Too bad more people don't do more to help kids living without a decent family. To me it makes more sense than just having a multitude of my own offspring.....Steve1

Some interesting stats... Our population has doubled since 1960. It had grown 3.5 times since 1900. World Population was 6 billion in June of 1999. It is expected to reach 9 billion in 2048. Many believe the world population will peak before it reaches 10 billion. Plant and animal species are disappearing 1,000 times faster than natural extinction due to activities by man. Each day 137 species of plants and animals become extinct. When one species dies it often spells the extinction for other species. In a years time over 50,000 species go extinct. Then there is affects due to global warming becoming more and more of a problem. The erosion of our Ozone layer is another problem. The loss of clean air and water. The list goes on and on....Don't you think at least part of these problems are due to too many people being born each year. These are not scare tactics, they are facts. Maybe you can pretend that there isn't a problem, but anyone with any sense can put two and two together and realize we are running out of space and natural resources. You say we have tons of open space for zillions of new people. What are you going to feed them all with when diesel fuel hits $50. a gallon. What are they going to use for building materials. Have you priced them lately. I suspect lumber may become too expensive to buy if you look at it realistically. This may be a renewable resource, but at the rate we are using it up few may be able to buy it. I suppose we could put everybody in caves or tents and then feed them sea weed. Come on Sinker, take off your Rose colored glasses....Steve1

I couldn't disagree with you more! I guess it all boils down to what a person considers quality of life. I value nature and the outdoors. I love to hunt and fish with my family. I wonder how long a person will even be able to enjoy these pursuits. Houses, roads, and concrete, are rapidly laying waste to wildlife habitat. I wonder how long it will be until we destroy ourselves. I also like the freedom that comes with living in an area that is underpopulated. With fewer people a whole lot fewer laws are needed to keep everyone happy. I don't recall how many billion people the world population expands each year, but to me it is terrible. ? Oh sure we can probably go right on with run away population growth saying it's the Lord's will, until it all comes tumbling down. And then we can say, I guess it's the Lord's will for that to happen also. I wish some people would put away their blinders and get their heads out of the sand, and quit trusting in god to solve all this. I guess it also boils down to what a person considers quality of life. Some people seem content to live in a place where it's like living with rats in a barrel. I watched a video recently of people in a train station in India. What a mess! People were scurrying everywhere. They had to have several large men pushing, just to cram all these starving people on board the train. I don't want to live like that, and it doesn't have to be if more people would wake up and deal with the problem. As far as their being room for plenty more people, I truly have my doubts. Sure we can come up with some sort of masterplan that sounds great on paper, but in the long run it's going to fail. Right now planet earth is in delicate balance yet people choose to ignore all the danger signs, and look at things through rose-colored glasses. It's kind of like inhabiting the moon. Sure we can do it for a while, until one day maybe the oxygen system fails. Then it's going to be dog eat dog for a lot of people.....Steve1

I have a hard time thinking that anyone who has 16 kids, in this day and age, is more than a little nuts. I know some churches really encourage this sort of thing, saying it's God's will and all. In my mind it is the height of irresponsibility. One must be almost blind not to realize that we are running out of natural resources at a rapid rate. Hundreds of people starve to death on a daily basis in Africa. How long till it's that way here. There's never been as many people on planet Earth as there are right now. Yet people continue to ignore all this and have 16 kids, and then say it's the Lord's will. Pardon me for being so judgmental, but I just don't get it. I feel that I like kids as well as anyone. I'd also like to see future generations of people have a quality of life. How will that be possible if we over populate the Earth. That's one big reason I only had two kids. If you have studied animal populations, there is self regulation to overpopulation. Namely starvation and disease. When the numbers get too high, it's dog eat dog until the population goes way down. I'd like to think that people are smarter than all that, and that we don't have to let it happen. Trusting in some magical being, to solve all this, is ridiculous. Then I suppose the next argument is how exactly we are going to solve the worlds overpopulation problem. I'm not a big fan of government regulation. I believe in individual rights, but I'd be willing to bet the government does start taking a role in controlling this problem in the future....Steve1

I had two rides under 24 ft. rip stop reserves. The last one was a four line release that oscillated like crazy. Sprained both ankles in a rock pile that day. I always heard good things about 26 ft. connies. Wish I'd had one back in the day....Steve1

I'd kill something, anything, for a good reason, like good meat, hunger, self-protection, removal of pests, etc. Just not for fun anymore. reply] I agree with you here. There was a time when I really thrived on pulling the trigger on another living critter. Maybe I'm getting old and soft, but I just don't enjoy it much anymore. My freezer is getting low on venison, so my family and I will be filling some tags soon. We try to do this ethically without a whole lot of suffering involved. In other words with one shot in the right spot, in a humane way. Although I don't find killing much fun any more I still find getting out in nature and bringing home meat with my family very rewarding. We'll probably take my jet boat down the Yellowstone or Missouri Rivers and find some public land that isn't loaded with other hunters. Sometimes I like to pretend I'm not a carnivore, but that's just not true. I don't mean to start another big argument over hunting....This is just how I see things through my old-wore-out eyes....Steve1

My brother Ted had a mal on a paracommander and came down with a bloody lip. He said the capewell got him, but I always thought it was the instrument cluster (much like the one in the picture). My chest pack reserve rode a little high (back in the 70's). I remember more than once banging my face into my altimeter on openning. My altimeter was small. I'd hate to think what could have happened if it was the big version that someone robbed out of an airplane dash....Steve1

What magazine? I'm pretty familiar with SRB's. I was waiting in my chiropractor's office the other day and can't recall which magazine it was. USA Today possibly. I know 150 grand doesn't sound right....Steve1

QuoteQuotea Navy Seal will get like $150,000. extra just to re-up reply] Dexter, I think that was the right amount, (that I read about in a recent magazine article.) It sounds like other special operation teams are getting the best missions in Iraq. I lot of Seals are unhappy they aren't seeing more action and want out when their tour is up....Steve1

The first guy who jumped a camera, in our club, hung a piece of bailing wire on the front of his motorcycle helmet (for a ring sight). He had to bend it just so, before each jump. Some of those movies had a lot of blurry blue sky and little else....Steve1

I thought I was the only one who carried a big ole butcher knife next to his dash board of instruments (back in the good old days). I think hook knives were available back then, but they were harder to come by....Steve1

I can't believe all the benefits and money that go along with being in the military these days. I was reading where a Navy Seal will get like $150,000. extra just to re-up. Back about a hundred years ago, when I was on active duty, in the army, I was making $96.00 a month and had little extra to go along with it. Hell, if I was young and smart I'd be joining up....Steve1

This is a good topic. I haven't heard much discussion on this before. I always figured you could spiral all you wanted without too much to worry about as long as you were up high enough and didn't make yourself sick. Last year there was a motorized parachute that collapsed, killing both the pilot and passenger. This was close to where I live and I just got the full scoop yesterday.... I guess he was making a radical turn using one riser and collapsed half his chute. There was no reserve to fall back on. I suppose skydivers could do the same thing if we try hard enough....Steve1

I remember seeing some of those, "way back when". It's funny, in the early 70's jumpers were really into patches. Maybe I was in the boy scouts too long, but I remember wearing my SCR and SCS with pride back then. Anyone who wore a 16 way patch was considered a sky god in 1972. Now almost nobody wears patches. I guess they aren't stylish anymore, unless it is a 300 way patch. I have seen some of those lately. ...Steve1