SpecialKaye

Do you have a rigger's ticket? If not, you should go get it. Great job! Way better than the first base rig I built. And yeah, it's quite unnerving making that first jump on something you built all the way through.

Shaun, Good luck on the exam!!! Memorize, memorize, memorize!!! Also, what I did, which helped a great deal, was to practice my patches on ZP, you'll be given F111 to patch and it'll be easy as pie! Good luck! K

I had a customer this past summer that had the measurements done incorrectly the summer before. I contacted them, re-measured him, took pictures, took the components apart, shipped the rig and they did an excellent job. He got a new harness and they shipped it back free of charge in about 3 weeks. Very rigger friendly rig as well.

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Marty is a great guy...Hope to see him at Bridge Day this year!!! Missed you much last year Marty.

I would like to respond to the issue of F111 canopies and the life of them...or the ability to maintain the life of the canopy. A trick that an old DPRE that was passed on to continue the life of an F111 canopy is to hang the canopy and spray it down with either FOOD GRADE silicone or even Scotchguard. Let it hang to dry. We did this with a 7 cell that I bought and it flies like brand new...great flare. The canopy I bought was somewhat tired, however, had no patches, pricks, holes or anything and was well worth the $20 to add life. Blue skies, Kaye

CONGRATS Katee on your "almost 2nd" cutaway. What a wild feeling, eh? Mine was on a night jump...that will get your blood pumping! Glad things went well and you handled it. You go Girl! Kaye

I totally agree here. I make sure I 1/4 my slider and roll the tail to the A lines and haven't had any problems. I would be curious of your wingloading...the lighter the wingload, the less likely of any hard opening issues. I love my Sabre 170, have had it since 1997 and haven't had any problems with the openings. Blue skies, Kaye

Just wanting to touch bases with the locals.

Hey Jim OBrien, can you please PM me...the Easter Pigs are looking for you Kaye

That so sums up Dave Flannell. We miss you Dave.

Many times the ostracizing comes from safety issues. Like was said above, the skygods think that they are above the rules and it is left go and you're made out to be the bad guy. Blues, Kaye

What kind of future can you expect if you have 60-80 jumps and none is willing to jump with you? If you can't get anyone to jump with you at your DZ, maybe you should try somewhere else? I don't care how many jumps someone has and actually prefer to jump with the new kids that get pushed aside, needing help. When I started jumping, I had friends that jumped with me and helped me progress and was told to pass it on, which I have and thoroughly enjoyed. We all started with no jumps and had people offer a helping hand in some way and we should be willing to return that to the sport, FREELY, not with $$$ attached to it. We shouldn't have to beg for safety from the DZO/DZM, or other jumpers, it should be expected. And, if we do complain about a safety issue, we shouldn't have to worry about being ostracized, which is where this conversation began, we should have resolution to the problem even if you're not one of the DZ skygods. You are always capable of speaking with your dollars and you have the freedom to find somewhere that you enjoy and feel safe, as well as learn and progress. Kaye

[In a perfect world he could do this. Unfortunately, in reality, it is often very hard for relative newbies (and especially novices) to speak up about safety issues without risk of getting ostracized. Sucks, doesn't it? Doesn't matter if you're a newbie or not, with some people, when you speak up, you are ostracized. This is the worst sport I have ever seen for the childish handlings of serious issues...I don't care if I piss someone off when it comes to my safety.

did you get situated?

lexis/nexis...westlaw...findlaw.com

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I don't know where or when some "packers" started placing the stabilizers in, but what you are doing is setting up unnecessary damage to your stabilizers. I have repaired several, including my one canopy that I allowed a friend to use who was taught to pack this way and quickly corrected when he damaged my equipment. Think about it, you're placing the canopy skin on top of lines that are zipping out. What's that doing to the canopy every time it comes out? I have a Sabre 170 and a Sabre 120 (both original Sabres). I pro pack my canopies, rolling the nose almost to the A lines (not real tight), 1/4 the slider and roll the tail tight. I've had the 170 for 8 years and only had one hard opening and that was when a prior patch blew out (which was put on backwards) that was 2/3 of the center cell bottom skin. I always pack the same and have no problems. Kaye Bridge, Senior Rigger

Did you try Avery to get a hold of Dennis? See ya soon, gowaylow! Kaye

Jason, everything you have done these past few years has been so appreciated by the jumpers. You have done a great job and should be proud of your accomplishments. Sometimes the bureacrats won't stop until they win, even though so many others lose! Well, Tom you want to start working on the Potato Bridge for next year? I'm sure that the town of Twin Falls would love that kind of revenue. This is all a shame and the only ones that will suffer are the locals, the people that count on this event and all the revenue. I was there in 2001 when only 12,000 people attended their event and pretty much broke the community. I remember going into places where the heat wasn't hardly on because they couldn't afford it that early in the season. Thanks again, Jason. I hope the community gets the NPS under control quickly. Kaye

Go Way Low, You going to be at BD? Missed you last year...Hope to see ya there! SpecialKaye Theee Girl Pig!

cutaway handles are around $40-45, especially if you feel inclined to keep custom colors, plus shipping. you can get them from paragear any color (as long as it's red) for $33-35 plus shipping. reserve handles are a bit more. Kaye

Larry, I would be more than happy to give you the assistance you need. I have a rigging shop available and we could rig without distractions that are part of the DZ life. Send me an e-mail here SpecialKaye@dropzone.com or bridgepig1@yahoo.com. I live in Thonotosassa, just south of Z-Hills. Blue skies, Kaye

I have 2 Dolphin rigs. The first one I've had since 97 (bought brand new) and is still in great shape. The second one is a retro that Mike did all the updates for me before he shipped it (at the time I was in Arizona). Very comfortable rigs. I would recommend the purchase as an owner and as a rigger. Blue skies, Kaye

In the past I had 18's that were custom made for me and I was pounding my landings on a Sabre 170. I now am using 22's again, which are kind of long, however, I can pull my slider down (I have soft links) with no real problems. The manufacturers don't really recommend anything shorter than 20" risers. With the 22" risers, you have 4" of flare that you didn't have with the 18". Hope this helps. Blue skies, Kaye