Croc

I have claustraphobia in airplanes that are pressurized. Apparently there is a switch in my head that gets switched on when those airtight doors are locked. That starts a recording that tells me that I can't breathe. Never had this feeling in a jump plane. Do not try to understand a person's irrational fears. (They are, after all, irrational) Better just to sympathize and get out of the way when they are ready to chew through steel to get away from what is making them (or me) crazy. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

Sign me up for the "Old man's canopy"! "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

I'm no expert, but perhaps you are having "line dump". I took my Lightning to terminal many times, so I know what a hard opening is.(This is definitely NOT recommended, by me or PD!) But the hardest opening I ever had was on my Pilot; pulled at 3500, opened after a couple of seconds with an explosion. Didn't wake up until 1700. Expert packers told me to use large rubber bands and double stow them. No problems since. Other things to check are body position (never pitch with your head down), slider all the way up, and loose leg straps. If all those things are OK, I'd be inclined to send it back. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

The Pilot is an excellent canopy. I'm on my second one now. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

Nice! "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

Ever hear of a condensing furnace? Water is a natural by product of the combustion of any petroleum fuel. Watch out, though--the water is acidic! "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

What he said. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

Very sobering. Thanks for posting that. My brother-in-law, who, when I was a kid, would have been "lower middle class" is now part of "the working poor." He recently took his 22 year old daughter aside and told her that she had a choice--work under the table and have cash but no health insurance, or get a low paying job with benifits. People who frequent this website are mostly comfortable, I would imagine, as skydiving is expensive. But as I age (I'm sixty-one) I see myself falling behind. I just paid $5000 cash for my deductable for my knee surgery. Medical expences are killing us. We are not far from having people walking around with cancer because they can't afford a doctor, but are working so they do not have access to Medicaid. We lost the war in Vietnam, which never should have been fought, we lost the war on drugs, which never should have been fought, and one could argue that we have already lost the war on terror; we are impoverished. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

Or that we never landed any men on Mars? "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

If I bounced and lived she'd be the one to feed me. I would quit jumping if it bothered her that much. She does not like it much, but, except for CRW, I'm a pretty conservative jumper, and have upsized recently due to a bum knee, even after surgery. I'm sixty-one, been married for twenty nine years. Her happiness is more important to me than mine. If I felt I would make her unhappy if I continued with something that frightened her, I'd quit it. Just re-read what I wrote.Got to get myself to a low T center right away! "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

I saw the links. Anyone who feels they must have my weapons can come get them. That is not an ambush. I am with those people, for the most part. If that makes me crazy in your eyes, that makes you mush in my eyes. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

I never said that I was going to ambush anyone. Perhaps you ought to explain that one, too. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

You are the one who called people like me "fruitloops." Perhaps you ought to explain yourself. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

"That said there looks like there are some serious fruitloops out there. " Count me in! "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

I jumped with a CRW team that used Spectres. ( I am using the term "team" loosely.) We experimented with mesh sliders. The problem is that Spectres have a small nose are are not designed to open quickly. It was an unpleasant experience. I don't like mesh sliders much on a Lightning, either. I think that CRW dogs are generally getting away from them. They can slam you so hard that if for some reason you do not pull within 3 seconds you'll be looking for silver. Lightnings and Storms are designed to be used with a mesh slider (clear and pull only.) Of the three, the Storm had the best opening, IMHO. More than five seconds of freefall with a Spectre and a mesh slider could cause injury, I would think. Not worth the risk. Burst aeorta anyone? "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

Ever since I've been jumping I will occasionally have this notion that, while I'm flying around, my leg straps will break. I'm used to it now, but when it first started happening it was disconcerting, to say the least. Do a good gear check on every jump. Yep, I think irrational thoughts such as "will the stitching hold?" are fairly common. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

The hell with voting, I'm sending you my Social Security check! "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

No kidding. In fact, it sucked. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

The VW ad where the guy from Minnesota is talking like an Islander. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

Could have been all those Mr. Bills I did! "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

Thank you for your service, Trigirl! If you ever get to Franklin, Indiana your jumps are on me! Dave Crocco "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

What is the ideal wingloading for a first rig is impossible to tell without knowing how good a pilot the guy is. In most cases a Pilot 188 would not be too large for this jumper. At that wing loading he would be more conservative, but no overly so, I don't think. Of course, I am a conservative jumper myself who has recently upsized from a Pilot 150 to a 188. Getting old. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

Yes, they were definitely Aerodyne links; again, I am not skilled at rigging. Nevertheless I worked on them for some time and finally gave up and cut them. Also, these slinks did not look anything like PD's Slinks. The Areodyne soft links had a stainless steel ring on them. I could not get them loose enough to pull the fairly large ring through the eye in the link. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

I got my PD Slinks off, no problem. But, on my other rig, I had to cut Aerodyne's soft links with a pair of sissors. Possibly they are not meant to be reused. Then again, my rigging skills are near zero. "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy

We lost the Vietnam War to an enemy that relied on women in combat roles. If a female sniper can kill the enemy at 1000 meters, what does it matter whether she can haul someone out of a foxhole? Everyone brings strengths and weaknesses to any situation. Many physically strong men shit their pants the first time they see an open door on jump run; many women can handle that situation just fine. Weighing 265 pounds (your previous example) would, I would guess, be a serious weakness in today's combat environment where endurance and speed would be more important than physical strength. If they can do the job, (and apparently they can), let them have the job and be damn grateful that they are willing to serve in harm's way so that you can continue to deride them from the comfort of your couch. Foxhole? What century are you living in? "Here's a good specimen of my own wisdom. Something is so, except when it isn't so." Charles Fort, commenting on the many contradictions of astronomy