peregrinerose

Come to Chambersburg, PA! From 9am July 13 to sunset the 15th, a CASA will be flying! Help us set a new pelt head record! Men, plan now to enter the second annual Cabana Boy Contest! Women, sharpen your pencils, you get to vote for the winner while being served drinks by all the contestants. Partake in Nigel III, the pig roast Slushee machines filled with alcoholic slushees will be kept going every night! Plenty of food, drink, camping space, and fun will be available. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Would it be possible to have a DZ.com based fund raiser for both Bob and Danny's charities? I know quite a bit was raised for GFD last year, it would be nice to have one contact person/paypal account to donate to and just see everything split between the two organizations from DZ.commers pulling together. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The weirdest I heard was that the student 'had astigmatism so couldn't see the canopy' over her head, so chopped. Idiot. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I agree about the language thing. I also think that it's tacky to see names tattooed on someone's body. But if the tatt owner is happy, who the hell cares what I think about it? I have my first of three 3 hour tattoo sessions scheduled for next Tues. I'm getting an upper arm sleve, from just above my elbow to my shoulder. I'm sure a lot of people won't like a chick with that much ink. Frankly, I don't give a damn. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

The problem isn't swooping, exactly, but egos. Unfortunately, you can't have a separate landing area for jumpers who let cockiness, complacency, laziness and/or invincibility dictate their decisions under canopy as that isn't something that can be objectively measured. Until every last one of us can admit that we are all individually part of the problem, nothing is going to change. Most of us are to some degree confident, type A individuals who like ego boosts. Because of that, it's hard to say 'no' to skydives that are beyond our abilities or high performance maneuvers that may not be appropriate for the situation. That gets us in trouble. We are also in awe of those with more jumps than us. A lot of posts on here indicated that Danny had a history of weaving through traffic for his landings, starting his swoop low, and being overly confident in his abilities. How many people took him aside and talked to him about it, tried to address it? Maybe even grounded him for unsafe practices? Given his stature in the skydiving community, probably few to none. That silence contributed to his and Bob's death. Separate swooping areas is probably a good thing. Talking about this in so many forums and threads is good. Bandying ideas is good. Figuring out a way to keep the strong personalities and egos and invincibility complexes from killing each other would be even better though. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I've done close to 60 rigs in a day, 20ish of them were tandems, I could probably do more if I had to, but there are 3 of us packers and we try to keep things pretty evenly divided among us, at least from a number of tandems packed standpoint. But I do my best to make sure that every rig gets the time and attention it deserves. I can pack fast, but I won't rush a pack job... I like the compliments I get as a packer and do my best to be consistent about it. I'm crushed when I get a complaint about an open. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I actually make a lot more when I work packing mains than when I'm doing rigger work. For sport rigs, I get $5 (plus tips) Student rigs pay $6 Tandemsp pay $12 It takes 10 mins or less to pack a sport/student rig most of the time. I can do a tandem in 15 minutes if I'm busting my ass, but usually take a little longer. Rigging work, packing a reserve, I take 3 hours or so on average to inspect/pack. So when looking at an hourly rate, It pays very little compared to packing mains. Remember that packers are paid based on pack jobs. If it's rainy, cold, no jumping going on, we make no money at all, so even though I have made as much as a few hundred bucks in a day, there are other days I watch the wind blow and make nothing. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Kyle, I think you talked more than you packed over the last two years But I agree completely with his words of wisdom. Personally, I don't do the second S fold first and put it in the bag like he described, but only because I'm so used to dealing with slippy new canopies after 2+ years as a packer that I'm just used to controlling the fabric well that way. Like others have said, you'll find a system that works for you. Talk with your local riggers and packers, we all have little tricks that we are happy to show you, you might pick up some ideas that way. Don't let it get to you. My husband has also been a packer for the last 2+ years... yesterday a newer Sabre 2 kicked his ass twice... he just couldn't get it in the bag to save his life... and this is a very good packer with thousands of pack jobs behind him. It's ok to be frustrated with it, give it time, it gets easier. Practice a LOT!!!! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I haven't been really great about the belly off thing... just one thing after another around here, I've been in a serious funk. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm so glad you posted that... you wrote exactly what I have been thinking, but so much more eloquantly. We are killing ourselves, and sometimes each other, due to egos and complacency. It has to stop. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Nope. But decreases the calorie content Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

He'd probably say that I catered to him and took good care of him. All I remember is the glee of cracking those walnuts in homage to his battered balls. It was fun helping him give samples too The best part was when we walked in with the second sample post op, he had a broken hand, in a cast. The doc took stared at his hand, then at the jar and said 'you didn't do that getting your sample did you!?!?!" Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Wanna bet? My husband had his done just over a year ago. I sat next to him on the couch and cracked walnuts, just because it made me snicker to do so He was sore for a couple of weeks, but nothing debilitating. He did it in December, so it didn't affect jumping at all, I like not being on the pill any more, I'm getting old now and didn't like the increased risk of stroke. We have no kids, neither of us had any desire to have kids of our own. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Did anyone have to try to convince you to make your first jump? Talk you into it to the point that they wanted to pull their hair out? How would you feel if someone that you talked into making that first jump went in on their first jump? You can approach it two ways... 1. 'I skydive' and let them ask questions if they are actually interested 2. 'I skydive and you should to' followed by beating into their heads why they should jump. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

There is a difference between letting people know you jump and that you can learn to do it and trying to talk them into doing it. I didn't realize you could go learn how to fall from a plane either, until meeting my husband. He also never tried to talk me into jumping though... he never even asked me to go to the DZ with him. I decided 2 years into our marriage that I would give it a whirl. Skydiving isn't like a lot of other activities... you will die unless you do something to prevent it every time you leave the plane. Occasionally, a jumper dies even after doing everything to prevent it. I will never try to talk someone into jumping. I'll answer every question they have, but that is all. If they chose to take the leap, that is their choice, not mine. It's not for everyone. Like a couple of others have said, I would prefer to channel my energy into getting those first time jumpers to become second, third, etc., time jumpers... keep them in the sport once they make the decision for themselves. I disagree with you about why jumpers are leaving the sport. I've seen more people leave due to injuries, seeing other people get hurt, and losing too many friends to the sport than those who have gotten too old to jump. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

My cats eat ants... want a cat? Please? Please Please? Jen PS Don't tell Chad I'm trying to give his cats away again. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I agree. The jumpers that I was with who do swoop were doing box patterns on Sunday... very few were swooping, those that were were away from everyone else. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm curious as to how this is possible. Keep in mind I have no swooping experience, so just trying to understand where you're coming from. With a 270, the turn is started higher than with a 90, due to losing more altitude. This means that any other traffic would be comparitively lower at the start of the turn, and perhaps less likely to be seen? I would also guess that the speed of a 270, would be much greater than the speed of a 90, correct? Wouldn't a slower speed impact be more survivable than a high speed one? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

World Record PeltWay jump, Dublin, GA. March 17, 2007 Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

We've opened our home to jumpers we don't know before and it's always been a lot of fun to do so. It's getting to be a tradition now that we host a student for Dave's rigging course in January. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Ryan, you keep right on being lazy... like Chad says, it keeps us in the sky Besides, aren't Chad, Kyle, and I the most conscientous packers you've ever met? We like to make sure you have a good canopy over your head for your next CRW attempts. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

From the little I've read on medical forums, it isn't that the memory is erased... it is that that memory is dulled somewhat... so the person isn't reliving the experience every time the memory pops into their head. My concern would be how this type of treatment would affect a legal proceeding... as in the scenario of rape. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Kyle, that is one of the best posts I've read on dz.com in a long time. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Nobody mentioned yet the best part of Dublin.... THERE IS A NEW PELT WAY WORLD RECORD!!!!!

Stories like this just piss me off... it makes those of us who do take packing seriously and do it well look bad when there are a few less than conscientous packers out there. I don't pay a packer, and probably never will, I like packing. If I did, however, there's no way in hell I'd go to that packer again. If that packer is working under the supervision of a rigger, I would mention the situation to the supervising rigger... they may not be aware of it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda