SBS

I'm just playin...he knows. They are tree-huggers, though, you know...those Santa Cruz people. And he is kind of a donkey dick. You know I love you Sebazz...I'll never forget that night. :-)

Show your tits for $5 a viewing...oh, wait a second...nevermind. If any chicks want to raise money, show your tits for $5 per viewing...it works. :-) Steve

The distance means that they're only half gay, and the Santa Cruz thing means that they are stoned tree-huggers. :-) Quit your whining donkey dick. Steve

Depends if you post the bikini picture or not. :-) Steve

Who needs a beer when you can get a 20 minute phone call for under a buck? :-)

goddamn people, do I have to start putting quarters in my computer to keep reading??? :-) ok...cough up the picture...you have peaked our (eh em) curiosity. ;-) Steve

I jump with a deaf kid sometimes, and figured it would help me coach him in his headdown, if I could talk to him in freefall...it might work. Signing in freefall, I can do...chasing him, I can do...signing while I'm chasing him...not goin' so good. :-) I would like to make a suggestion. If anyone does see deaf people out at the drop zone, approach them. If they are on the same plane with you doing a solo and you are doing a solo as well, jump with them (or at least offer). A lot of times, people who are starting out are too shy to ask people to jump with them...I wouldn't imagine adding deafness to the equation makes it much easier. Steve

You may miss Fayetteville, but from the sounds of it, I'm missing life...tell us more dammit!!! :-) Steve

I had very good experience with my Stiletto, and know people who have thousands of camera jumps on them. I had a couple of hard openings, but nothing devistating. More importantly, they were very few and far between. On the other hand, though, I have had one brisk opening on my Crossfires in 750 jumps...it wasn't even something that I could consider "hard". I wouldn't recommend against the Stiletto as far as for someone jumping with a camera vs. without. The main consideration is if you are ready for the canopy itsself, and if you have the experience to be jumping a new higher performance canopy anyway, and then add on the complication of wearing a camera. If you know you are ready, have at it. Just my opinion. Steve

I know none of us like him and all, but I'll second what quade said. :-) Something else that I would consider, is to start video before stills. That is a lot of additions to your routine, and probably won't give that much of a pay off right at the beginning anyway. It is more equipment, heavier, more connections, something else to turn on and off, not to mention taking the pictures while trying to learn how to camera fly. I would recommend that you consider starting just with video, because then you can focus on your aim and your flying, and look at the video to find the angles that may look good for a pictures. Any thoughts from other camera guys? Steve

the only reason any one of these people MAY love you is that either: a) they don't know you or, more likely b) you haven't given them shit about overloading their Spectre230 with their 145 body weight. :-p he he he I'm bored...give me something to do! Steve

"BTW, was recently in the market for a new parachute and just because of the uncertainty, the Crossfire was not considered, nor were any of the Icarus canopies. Sorry, I can't afford the possibility of an equipment or company problem down the line. Got to go with the Big Boys who I know will be there down the road. " I can understand the concern, but still find it sad that good canopies can be ruled out by speculation. There are a handful of people that really understand the issue that the Crossfires had, and what caused them...as such, I would say that if people were completely aware, even if they still would not purchase an Icarus canopy, it would be far better to have made an informed decision. I come across people all the time who will make a comment under their breath about the Crossfire or Icarus, and not be able to explain why they think that way...that is how rumors are spread; people making negative speculations (competitor or not) are the ones who start them. Dan, I appreciate the fact that you deleted the negative portion of the statement, but the fact is that it was already said. I hope that you will consider that in the future, rather than helping start biased rumors which may or may not be entirely true. "Atair has as good or if not better service then PD. I had called PD asking for a demo canopy and told I would be placed on the waiting list, but it could be up to 4 months before I might get it, or I might get it in 3 weeks. Atair let me specify with in 2 weeks of when my Ideal time was and tried to get it to me on those dates. Atair even shipped me a new, never jumped canopy just to make sure that I had it in time for a Christams trip. By getting me that Demo, Atair got 2 sales, mine in a few weeks and one of the guys who borrowed it from me. Dan is the only one who posts here, but I've seen John LeBlanc, Brian Germain and Bill Booth all post on Rec. and most the time they are pointing out a flaw in something other then their own product. Simon from Icuras I thought was even on here too." PD is the largest canopy manufacturer in the world, with a demo fleet of hundreds of canopies...they also have hundreds of people calling them to get demos. I have always had good experience with PD when getting demos, both for myself in the past, as well as for customers more recently. From my experience, they will always do their best to get you a canopy when you request it (especially if you give them plenty of notice). They do not like being this backed up in their demo program, but have to draw the line somewhere...they can't just produce brand new canopies to send out to people, it would be far too expensive...they have to start a waiting list. The reason that it may be 4 months, or may be 3 weeks, is that sometimes before people get their demos, they decide to purchase a canopy, which is perfectly understandable. I cannot speculate on Atair and their demo program (especially after what I said above about speculation and rumors). What I can say, though, is that just because someone can deliver a demo quickly, does not mean superior service. It could mean that they just happened not to have demand for that specific canopy at that specific time. Maybe they invested money in their demo program and have a surplus of canopies right now, and if they are ever as large as PD, they will have a 4 month long waiting list as well. I'm not saying that this is the case, just that there are an infinite number of possibilities as to why they took care of you. I also know people who have not been taken care of by Atair, as well as those who are dissatisfied with every other manufacturer in this market. There are always good experiences and bad...let's look at the big picture. Just my 2 cents. Steve

thanks...I needed a new desktop. ;-) Steve

It is tempting, though, isn't it??? :-) Steve

"Is it because they are actually out skydiving and I am just a wannabe?" YES! :-)

Ok, here's my idea, for what it's worth. Look at Firefly Suits, they rock. Get 3 pieces...freefly pants, a freefly top, and a camera top. If you tell them what you are doing with the suit, they will cut it accordingly. Here is some reasoning: You don't want to freefly with wings...there's just no reason to do it, and they just make for a big pain in the ass. If you are freeflying with an RW group, though, that's a different story, and you can go either way. If you are just freeflying with friends, though, whether filming or not, you don't want to wear wings. You do want the wings for video. A lot of people will just do video without wings, which is fine. When you get into serious video, though, there are a lot of times that they will come in handy. They allow you quicker, crisper movements than a regular suit. You can also get closer to groups in freefall and on exit, knowing that you have the power of those wings in the case that you may get a little too close. They are especially important, as far as I am concerned, on exit, but also help with movement in freefall, magnifying your adjustments, allowing you to focus on shooting good video, instead of contorting your body because of the movement or fallrate of what you are filming. On tandem and AFF video, you can use a freefly suit, and I often do. The wings, though, offer a great angle, in that you can hang below the tandem and shoot up at them more than you generally can without the wings. I find that the suit itsself is going to dictate what you use for what fall rate. Generally, I will use the wings for someone who is slow, freefly suit for someone who is moderately fast, and sometimes, I will put the wings back on for someone who is faster, because you can get underneath them and kneefly, using the wings to slow you down enough to stay with the pair. At 6'2" and 190, you should have no problem shooting video with a freefly camera suit. The Firefly suits have incredible range. Getting your suit in 2 pieces is going to be a lot better for you, too, than the detachable wings, because they can be a real pain to take on and off. If you do it one time in a day, that's fine, but say you get there in the morning and put them on, shoot one video, then have a friend want to freefly with you, then you want to shoot another video...it happens, and it's a pain. With the different pieces, you just change jackets. If there is an issue of money, get the camera jacket and the pants, you can always wear a shirt or sweatshirt until you can afford the rest of the suit, if you really want it. I would recommend the medium wings with the RSL clips. Again, just tell them what you want, and you'll get hooked up. And that, my friend, is my 2 cents. :-) Steve

Did I mention what a great thread I think this is? :-) Steve

Hey, this is a really, really good thread... :-) Steve

very nice...gonna be at the next ProBlade event? :-) Sorry, just being a dick....you should see some of my landings....glad nobody had a camera pointed my way last time I screwed the pooch. Oh, wait a second...I had a camera...you know, close up's of dirt are highly overrated. :-) Steve

Peckerhead 5-way Scrambles at Perris Valley When, you ask??? January 19th, 2002 Here are the rules: This 'meat' is a 5-way speed star and team accuracy. 3 Rounds judged via ground to air telemetry. No show-freeflown exits, and EVERYONE must do a front loop on exit. 50 jump minimum to participate...sorry. Each team name MUST contain one or more of the following words: Pecker Head Meat Medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.....Speed Star 1st, and 2nd.....Accuracy Best Bribe.....Male/Female Most Entertaining Landing Most Original Team Name These are scrambles, so don't get a team together expecting to kick ass....everyone is going to suck just as bad as the next team....BUT!!! Bribes are highly encouraged!!! They may effect your score, depending on their quality. $12 registration fee does not include jumps...hmm, go figure...BUT!!! Does include party and beer Saturday night at the Bombshelter. Good fun with good people. Well, it's good fun, anyway. Registration is between 8am and 9am on Saturday, January 19. FFI: skyviewprod@aol.com See you out there. Blue Ones, Steve

That takes like...skill...and stuff.... :-)

hmmm, tempting...what's great, is that it's like you get the exact same person, and can choose how they look. That's a pretty sweet trick. :-) Steve

Yeah, yeah, I'm a workin... None of you should believe that I am the source of her name...she had issues lllllloooooonnnnnggggg before I ever showed up. Hell, I think she had earned that name before I was even born. :-) Steve

preferably a skydiving skank ho...a rich, skydiving skank ho...that freeflies, and is at least kind of sort of cute, oh, and a decent conversation wouldn't hurt. Is that so much to ask??? The internet personals have pretty much taken care of the first part...it's stipulations 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 that seem to be the problem. Steve

***Note that (1) and (2) are each other's integral/derivative. Same goes for (3) and (4). That's not coincidental. You know, I had noticed that, but I didn't want to seem like a fool and ask the question. Thanks for clearing that up. :-) Steve