peregrinerose

So what you are telling me here is that golf is more risky than skydiving, right? Based on what you have said, I can't imagine that your odds of RD are much higher than someone who didn't have the golf related injury. Anything can happen at any time, as you know from your Metamucil induced RD hypothesis

grilled kabobs with your choice of meat or shrimp, or plain vegies. YUM!! Sauerkraut with low fat turkey sausage. Or turkey sausage kabobs with onions and peppers, put on plate with a bit of ketchup. Use mostly vegies, not much meat. Root beer float made with diet root beer and Turkey Hill fat free sugar free vanilla ice cream Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

As one who did not have parental financial support through college, I have to agree with your parents. If you have the money to jump, you should be using that money to alleviate the burden on your parents, not screwing around in the sky (yet!) It is your brain that they are investing in, take that seriously. The sky isn't going anywhere, and to truly get into jumping, you are talking about $2000 for AFF and another $2000 for used equipment. That $4K would go a long way in your educational process. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I don't know of any RD specifically from jumping/hard openings, but see no reason why it could not happen. Any kind of whiplash injury (car accident) can cause a RD, particularly in high myopes or those with pre-existing peripheral thinning (lattice, etc.). My first patient ever as an intern walked in my office and said 'doc, I think I have a retinal detachment'. What a way to start a career. He was right, too. Do you know specifically what eye changes you had? PVD? Angle recession? Commotio retinae? PVD will slightly increase your chances of RD, but if that happens, it is typically within the fist 6 months after the PVD occurs. Angle recession is associated with glaucoma which can occur right away or years down the road, so something to keep an eye on at least yearly IOP readings. Commotio typically heals itself up. Yep, I'm an OD, but most of my patients are far from healthy My specialty is neuro/low vision rehab. Of course, they'd probably question my mental health if they knew I jumped out of 'perfectly good' airplanes, eh? Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

As a resident of PA, Santorum makes me sick. In his new book, a part of his opinion is that all families can afford for the woman to stay at home and home school children, since that is the way it is supposed to be. Now, I'd love to see him take a bigass pay cut to match the average income of a PA family and show us just exactly how that is supposed to work? I'm registered republican and typically tend to vote that way (though definitely not along party lines!), but he's just more than a bit out there. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

That's just BS. I have 3 cats, strictly indoor cats, all are extremely happy. Letting a 'beloved' pet roam around isn't responsible pet ownership. Just because other people think it is cool to let their cat run around unfettered doesn't mean it's a good idea. Yes, I have 3 cats and will continue zapping that one in the ass. Though like I said, after getting hit a few times, he doesn't come back any more. Completely harmless to the cat (we don't pump the gun up enough to have any real velocity) and cheaper than any electric doodad. Plus already had the pellet gun and pellets, so free I'm all for rescuing animals (I have 3 dogs, 3 cats, 2 guinea pigs, and a rabbit... all are rescues) and can't stand animal cruelty. But I also believe that letting a pet wander around without a leash or restraint is just as cruel, not to mention irritating as hell to the neighbors. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

As adrenaline is a neurotransmitter and the person asked for a 'plain english' version of the text, I chose not to go overboard in explaining the mechanism of action nor biochemistry of adrenaline in the body Without knowing baseline pupil diameter, you can't possibly know if your instructor's pupils were dilated or they have physiologically large pupils. Many more things than adrenaline affect pupil size Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I did the optometry school thing, and regret every extra penny that I spent, even those things that were pretty much necessary (food). I have no undergrad debt, borrowed only enough for tuition and worked my ass off to pay living expenses on top of education. I graduated $126K in debt which is actually much less than most of my classmates. Trying to pay it off in 10 years has me paying $26000/ year. This leaves no extra money for jumping, even working 6-7 days a week, so I started packing at the DZ in order to pay for it. I'm not saying don't buy the container, just consider what the interest alone on that extra $1000 will cost you in terms of student loan debt... probably and extra $1000 over 10+ years. Is it really worth it? Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Not a bad idea, but paint in a feline eye would hurt far more than a zap in the ass with a pellet. Plus grooming itself would likely be toxic. I've never maimed a cat, never put the pellet gun on full blast, you can see the pellet bounce off the thing's hide, and no blood involved. Now the thing knows the sound of the pellet gun getting cocked and runs away just from that, so I don't even need to shoot it most of the time. I doubt there's anything illegal about it since no harm comes to the cat. Personally I think that any 'pet' left wandering around unattended, in a campground or anywhere else, is just an issue with irresponsable ownership. No one should have a pet that roams freely, it risks the pet's safett and is rude to other people. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Honestly, I cat snipe with the pellet gun in my yard too. I don't know who's bigass orange tomcat it is, but he lurks in my yard, eating the fish in my fishpond, and killing critters and leaving the bodies around. I won't hurt it, but I will peg the fucker with a pellet gun hard enough to scare it. He doesn't come in my yard much now. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Smaller glasses Or get fitted for contacts to wear just while jumping. Or get a pair of goggles that will accommodate your glasses. Please don't jump without glasses. At our DZ, an AFF student actually cut away a perfectly good canopy because she claimed she couldn't see it without her glasses on and she didn't want to wear her glasses for her jump. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

That psychological stress (scared shitless) makes you change what brain chemical dosages are released. That psych stress affects brain chemistry in ways that are different from physical stress. Interesting that it was done with firs time tandem jumpers. You'd think that it would be even more significant for a first jump AFF or Static line jumper. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

This does make sense, and was sort of what I had in mind to do anyway. Hopefully the instructor at the DZ will be willing to trade rigs for a few jumps to let me try his, if not, I'll just get a demo from PD for a couple weekends. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

There's an instructor at our DZ with a Sabre2 170 who would probably let me demo his, I'll ask him next week. No one that I know of jumps a Sabre1 150, but was entertaining the idea of trying both. If handling is that much different, would getting a Sabre1 150 which would be the handling that I'm used to and the same wing loading that I started with on a 170 would make more sense? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I currently jump a Sabre 170. I started jumping it at a 1:1 and was very happy with it. In the last 8 months, have put nearly 80 jumps on it. However, I've since dropped quite a bit of weight and now have absolutely no penetration at all if there's even a light breeze, which sucks if I don't end up almost directly over the DZ when open, not a snowball's chance of making it back, even hanging on rear risers. My current wing loading is about .9:1 In addition, my husband's canopy is absolutely beat. He's on a Falcon 175, so my Sabre 170 would be perfect for him. We've discussed me updating and let him have my Sabre. So, a 150 would put me at a hair under a 1.1 wing loading. I'm current, land where I want to and stand up all my landings. Since I pack at the DZ, I'm there every weekend and get at least a couple of jumps in. I've talked with one person at the DZ who encouraged a Sabre2 150 for me, but this person also encouraged me to get a 150 straight off of student status and weighing 20+ lbs more than I do now, which I obviously didn't do. (He is an instructor and familiar with my jumping/landing) I talked to another instructor who jumps a 150 Sabre 2 (she has never jumped with me or seen me land), and felt that it was too aggressive a canopy for a newer jumper, even maintaining the same wing loading as I started with on the Sabre due to the different design. So, my question is, how much different in handling is a Sabre compared to Sabre 2? I'm perfectly happy with my Sabre and have no problem staying with it, just going with a more appropriate wing loading for my weight. My goal is to stay as safe as possible, so if there is a difference between the two, I'd prefer to err on the conservative side. I do not take DZ.com word as gospel, just looking for some information from a lot more people than are on my DZ, the more I know, the safer a decision I can make.

I agree completely

Am I reading this right, an HP canopy as a student jumping, not even a license yet?? I hope that you heal quickly, and if you do get back in the air, make wiser choices in the future. It sounds as though you were very lucky. As a B licensee with only 80 jumps, there is no way on earth you could get me out of a plane with a canopy I wasn't ready for and one that I needed 'help' to land safely. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I do jump all winter, and definitely with gloves. Too freaking cold in PA to go without! Depending on temp at altitude, I wear them on high hop/pops as well. Don't need numb fingers at 13500 feet I also wear them if I can't get my wedding/engagement rings off, which happens after a weekend of busting my ass packing rigs. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm fairly sure he was spoken to, haven't seen him back in at least 6 months, not long after the canopy thing. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm an eye doc, fit most of my jumper patients with dailies. I wear dailies most of the time too. Who cares if you lose one, you have 90 more in a box. I keep spares in my gear bag. Have never lost one, just use those cheap goggles and don't even bother taping up the holes. I wonder if your contacts are too loose a fit, or they are not very good with handling dryness plus maybe a bit of dry eye even without contacts. There may be better options for you, talk with your eye doc. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

We don't do it full time, but from Friday night to Sunday night we live at the DZ in a trailer and pack to make enough to jump and keep our gear up to date. It's the best of all worlds... real life to pay the real life bills (packing will not make my $26,000/year student loan payback), but at least gets us around jumping for several days a week. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I can't stand wearing gloves unless absolutely necessary, never have liked gloves, even in a non-jumping setting. I'd rather deal with a bloody hand on rare occasion than gloves Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I do high clear/pulls every few weeks on a sunset load. Partly because it is pretty, but primarily to play with my canopy. I will definitely add that to my 'to do' list. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm 5'3" not sure of riser length. Due to dropping another 15 lbs since I started on a 170, I'm probably going to end up downsizing to a 150 in the near future (same wing loading), so will be sure to add that to my list of questions regarding the new canopy. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Hooking my fingers in suspension lines wouldn't work, I have a hell of a time just reaching toggles and can't even stall my canopy without wrapping line around my hands. Once I get my growth spurt, that shouldn't be an issue. I really have no desire to modify my rig in any way, just wondered if it was something ever done or not. On that jump, I did keep toggles stowed and swore a lot as the blood dripped Thanks for the input. I don't know shit about rigging, so always have a zillion questions in my head about it. Jen Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda