steve1

I pulled into Skydive Oregon the other day with plans of burning off some of my rustyness before heading to Lost Prairie. There's lot's of nice folks there and I soon found myself on a load with some really good jumpers. We introduced ourselves, and noone seemed very impressed when I said I had a whopping 550 jumps. First I met Huey who had about 2,000 jumps. Then there was Luey who had about 3,000. And then there was Duey who had about 4,000 and jumped with the Air Speed folks in Arizona. And Sparky who just returned from a big way camp at Perris. And then there was Grumpy who had more jumps than any of them. And then there was also a girl who was a whole lot more experienced than I was. At any rate we had time for a very quick dirt dive with a whole shit load of points, and then we had to throw our gear on and run to catch the otter. Of course I wanted to make a good showing. After all these really experienced jumpers allowed me to jump with them. My head was swimming as I was turning on cypresses and dytters and started throwing gear together while trying to remember the dirt dive. I don't think anyone was too impressed when the noticed several new tear holes in my jump suit. I had a little accident with a barb-wire fence a few weeks earlier..... Saying that I was over-amped may have been an understatement. We planned to pull a six-way out of the door. To my surprise we pulled it off. I had ahold of a couple grips, and we were still on the hill, when this girl starts shaking my arm to let go, so we transitioned to the next point. We ended up in a bi-pole. So far so good. About then someone starts shaking my leg, so naturally I think it's time for the next point. Immediately I turn a 360 (as planned) that would make even Dan Brodski take notice. I mean I turned this 360 so fast that it would give most folks a nose bleed. The only trouble was that no one else was going on to the next point. And not only that but I quickly found myself over Huey's back (because I didn't turn flat enough or watch where I was going). At any rate I banged off his side and somehow got back into the bi-pole again so we could go on to the next points. All in all it recovered okay but I'm sure these jumpers were wondering where this new Dip-Stick Montanian was from. When we got down on the ground I could tell by everyone's body language that they weren't too impressed with the new guy on their load. You ever feel like crawling in a hole?....At any rate Sparky allowed my to jump with him on the next load. It only had a few points and we dirt dived the hell out of it with creepers and all, so the new guy wouldn't forget again. I made a point of appolligizing to each of these folks for my mess up. Everyone was real understanding until I got to Grumpy. With a real sad look on my face I said, "Gee whiz Grumpy, I'm sorry. I really had my head up my arss on that jump." With an evil look in his eye he said, "You got that one right!" So I'm still licking my wounds on that one. I'm heading to Lost Prairie this morning and hope to leave within the hour. I'll keep you posted. Does anyone know why they call Mad John...Mad John? I'm just wondering if I should jump with him again this year. Right now my ego is about the size of a pea.......Steve1

Hunting has been a very big part of my life since I was a youngster. Living in Montana all those years it was something most everyone did. I know there are a lot of slob hunters out there who have little or no ethics. This ruins things for those who are ethical hunters. My own personal ethics are to keep an animals suffering to a minimum. I want to kill an animal quickly and cleanly and use all the meat. This is really a pet peave with me. I hate people who take risky shots or waste meat. Lot's of people are down on trophy hunters. I can see there point. There are many trophy hunters with wads of money, who can afford the most expensive hunt imaginable, yet they could care less about the meat and are only interested in impressing others with what they shoot. I've killed lot's of trophy class animals, including some record class, but I still took home all the meat for my family to eat. Most trophy hunters hunt for a big animal because they are the toughest to find, usually the smartest, and are more of a challenge to take (not to just impress people). I know of some bowhunters who refuse to enter any record animal they take in any sort of record book. I still bowhunt, because it is much harder and more of a challenge than rifle hunting. I hate myself if I don't make a good shot. I try hard not to let an arrow fly unless I'm sure I can put it in the right place. To tell you the truth I'm having a hard time killing any critter lately. Maybe it's part of old age or something. I truly love getting out there, but the past few years I've been letting my wife and kids shoot the meat, while I packed it out for them. I still love to hunt birds with my dog, but I could care less if I ever kill another big game animal. I have about twenty-five heads mounted from the old days. It's nice being able to do your own taxidermy.......Steve1

I E-mailed Bill a few years ago, shortly after I returned to jumping, with numerous questions concerning awards from the old days. He seems like a super nice guy, who is very willing to help. He said that he really enjoys visiting with old jumpers and talking about the old days......Steve1

In the early 70's everyone had spring loaded pilot chutes. They were much smaller than the ones students use now days. I think they were the small ma-1 pilot chutes, (that SkyMonkeyOne mentioned). At any rate pilot chute hesitations were common. I got in the habit of sitting up on almost every jump to help get the pilot chute out of the burble on my back. I would also elbow my pack tray if things weren't stringing out off my back. This seemed to help on hesitations, but maybe isn't the right thing to do. Pilot chute hesitations can be dangerous. It's easy for a student to loose track of altitude. It's good you were so aware of what was happening.......Steve1

I've got an old altimaster that I paid around $50. for new, back in the early 70's. Still works perfect. I wouldn't use it though if I did have a problem with it.....Steve1

I almost didn't buy my Javelin J-2 because a 170 wasn't supposed to fit in it. Actually my Hornet 170 fits into it nicely. It's easy to pack up. A hornet might pack up slightly smaller than other 170's but, I'd say buy it.....Steve1

Congratulations Rhino. I fine looking Boy! Best of luck....Steve1

I've got a ratty, pull type, camper and a purple and silver pickup. Hope to see you there. There's nothing wrong with ratty campers. They beat the hell out of a tent.....Steve1

I was just wondering if anyone is going to Lost Prairie this year. I'll keep an eye out for you....Steve1

But then again Clay is eminently more qualified than I for that position. Maybe I could be his underling in charge of all wooly livestock in the galaxy. At any rate I'd like to wield a lot of power and use my command voice on a regular basis.....Steve1

I always wanted to be a Supreme Being! Maybe I could be Lord of the sheep since I'm from Montana.....Steve1

I know of another experienced jumper who routes his bridal similiar to the new method you have drawn. When I noticed this I asked him what in the hell he was doing and I was sure I had spotted a no no. But that is how he packs, and it works fine for him. I'm no expert, but bridal routing is important. I had an old Talon container that might have malfunctioned if I tucked the bridal an inch or two too far inside. The bridal would catch behind the stiff corner of a closing flap. I mean you could yank and yank on the bridal and it wouldn't come free and I'm sure this could cause problems at opening time. I doubt that this was in the manual, but common sense told me to be careful here. Neither my Javelin or Vector containers have this problem. I know when you are starting out you may not be aware of what can happen, so I would ask as many experienced people as possible and then go with their general consensus as to what is safest. At one time I was a big fan of gear checks before boarding or even in flight gear checks. Slot Perfect mentioned that he didn't like the idea of anyone messing with his bridal during a gear check. I now understand his point. Some folks have a habit of shoving the bridal further up there when they do a pin check. This might be fine for their container, but not yours.....Steve1

It might work OK, but it would probably be smart to send it back in to the factory. I dropped mine on the concrete a while back and everything came loose. There's a place where the guts of the altimeter are epoxied in place and this broke. I epoxied it back together and it now works fine. I always use two altimeters so I checked it closely on the first few jumps. No problems so far, but I know this is "NOT" the recommended thing to do.....Steve1

Messing with another's rig is a good way to make enemies in a hurry, but I know it does happen. We rented a DC-3 (back in the 70's), and were all geared up and on our way to Spokane for a jump meet. We planned to jump into the meet. Someone asked the president of our club if he had checked his rig. He took off his rig and it did look a little smaller than usual. He openned it on board and found that someone had packed up some kind of cargo chute inside that was about 14 ft. in diameter. The guilty parties then stepped forward with his proper Para-Commander canopy, and helped him put his rig back together while in flight. This was supposed to be a joke, and lot's of people did laugh heartilly, but I still don't see much humor in it. I'd hate to have anyone messing with my rig. I think I'd get real pissed in a hurry.....Steve1

I loved my visit to Eloy, but I also truly enjoyed my one and only jump at Coolage. I definitely want to return there to make more jumps. I discovered the place at the end of my vacation this winter. I like the atmosphere and the jumpers there are super friendly......Steve1

I think B.J. is planning another big way, record attempt in Thailand (this winter). I jump with a guy who get's invited to all these, so he keeps me posted. I remember jumping with B.J. (in the old days) when a ten-way was considered big......Steve1

You might try Palmer or Eagle River. They are close to Anchorage and may have some cheaper rooms available. You might want to do some jumping up there also. There's a DZ near Palmer. If you have the time try to take in Denali Park. It's truly a neat place to visit. Taking lot's of bug spray is good advice. Traveling down on the Kenai Peninsula is also a cool place. Hope you have a good trip!.....Steve1

I haven't heard that one in a while. It's been a long time since my SF days. I do miss doing dangerous shit in the dark. Maybe that's why I like night jumps so much.....Steve1

Unless you're rich I'd go with used gear. You can save thousands....Steve1

Jimmytavino, I've never done RW with more than four people at night. In the old days we wanted to get our night SCR. So we rented a twin beach from the smokejumpers in Missoula. The only problem was that there was almost no moon or stars out due to the clouds that night. I mean it was blacker than black out. We were all geared up and were ready to go, when finally one of the more experienced jumpers had sense enough to call the whole thing off. I'd still like to have that night SCR patch though. Nobody wears patchs much anymore, but I'd still like to have it. My daughter said she'd loan me some of her girl scout patches to go next to the one I have on my jumpsuit, that says Skydive Arizona.....I lost my SCR and SCS patch about 30 years ago. But come to think of it eight-ways don't count for much now days anyhow.....Oh and congratulations on turning 50. I've got three years on you......Steve1

Started in 1970. Quit in 1975. Started again in 2000. Now have 544 sport jumps and close to 50 army jumps.....Steve1

I made my first night jump in about 30 years the other night. Yes, I was out of the sport for way too long. We used to make them fairly often in the old days under round canopies, but I totally forgot how cool they are to make. We waited till almost midnight for the moon to come out, but it was still quite dark with the cloud cover. The climb to altitude was different. The valley was filled with lights, houses, highways, power lines, water, (you know the usual hazards that are invisible at night). The moonlight luminated the mountains in the distance. The pilot used a flashlight (with a red lense) to check his guages on the 206. All of us had glow sticks to light up our altimiters. Everyone was a little nervous and hoped for a good spot. The first two left and we circled for another pass. About then I realized that although the adrenaline was pumping, I really enjoy this shit. It kind of reminded me of my army jumps. In freefall we turned several points and then turned to face the moon. I opened at four and the other guy went down to three. Fortunately we had a good spot and I did a nice standup in front of the clubhouse. A gal rushed out and gave me a beer, there were lot's of high fives, and Yahoos. Everyone lived and I can't wait to do it again! I know some folks don't like night jumps, but hey, what a great change of pace! There's nothing like doing RW in the moonlight!......Steve1

If it was a Newbie jumper who was being mislead by someone else into thinking his gear was safe, I think I'd say something......but if the jumper is experienced and wants to risk getting hurt big time, I don't think you would be liable in any way to do the services he asks. If you didn't pack his reserve, he could always get another rigger to pack it. I think it's the jumpers responsibility after that. The DZ owner or safety officer should probably intervene with this jumper though.......Steve1

I've been sitting up at pull time to help with the occaisional slammer opening. I do this right after hitting a hard arch and throwing the pilot chute. My neck can't take many more hard openings......Steve1

Schools ending today No more work for this old boy I'm heading to jump five hours of driving will try out my camera first camera jump Can't wait to be there Jumping with old friends is great It's been way too long! Steve1.....(the poetic old boy from Montana)