Tonto

I said it was rare for me. Minutes a week was I think the reference I used. It matters little how many millions of people choose to do it. The moments I share in that environment remain rare - for me. t It's the year of the Pig.

It's very simple, really. The things we find most valuable are rare. There are no exceptions to the rule. A quiet moment, noticing the wind through the trees, a shared smile in freefall, a moment of clarity, a sunset, a Da Vinci painting, gold, diamonds, even if their rarity is controlled. All are finite. Limited. Rare. Even my 5000+ skydives are a rare event, experienced for only a few short minutes each week. I doubt I will manage 10 000 dives in my lifetime. Each one I do is special in some way, each one I miss is irreplacable. Love and sex between only two people is difficult and rare. Only a few people manage to make it work for any length of time. Sex is only a small part of the reason I am with someone. It's a part of myself I choose to share with only one person. I'm glad I'm not baffeled by this. I'm in a relationship with only one person, and that relationship is the most complete and satisfying relationship I have ever had. t It's the year of the Pig.

Agreed completely. CB's are built almost ONLY to swoop. Their controls are designed to be as constant and predictable as possible to enable the user to do the same thing again, and again, and again. The other canopies you mentioned are great canopies too. They may come up a few yards short on a swoop, but they have many other benefits to offer in return. t It's the year of the Pig.

Might be an idea to fill out your profile. Someone who has a username like yours who's 1st post is like yours is difficult to take seriously. t It's the year of the Pig.

Yup, and it was a good one too! Hope you're ready for L2 to L8 this weekend! See you in the sky, t It's the year of the Pig.

I'm a cheap bastard. I'm only at 1 wife and $147 428 excluding the more training, more licenses, more rigs, more wingsuits, tunnel time, boogie registration fees, course costs, travel costs to go to boogies, nationals, record attempts (often international since I'm in Africa), reserve repacks, gear repairs and maintenance and a $30 000 medical bill. Two big ones are depreciation on your car (135000 miles in 5 years) and the loading on your life insurance cos you're a skydiver. (About $19000 for me so far - and I havn't even died yet.) An optional is being bypassed for promotion due to your flat refusal to work weekends, or being lower on the income ladder due to cutting away for a season or so 4 or 5 times in the past 22 years. I paid off the pimp fees to HH by working on this site. t It's the year of the Pig.

Start with this. Whenever you ride a bike with only one hand on the handlebars, you are coutersteering. The speed it works best at is kinda lane splitting traffic speed, as it allows the bike to simply drop to the degree of bank you require, and then steers "normally" from there. It's best practiced Right, then left here, but we ride on the other side of the road. Point is, you want to use it to miss something FAST but not end up on the other side of the road, and so require a return to line. t It's the year of the Pig.

Pop music. It's the year of the Pig.

I'm always confused by Africa in these matters. Many people think that we will have an Aids induced population decline, (25 million infected in sub saharan Africa with aids related mortality at around 3.5 million a year, and infections growing) and others fear a population explosion. Both can't be right. China had their population under control several years ago and had slipped below a billion last I heard. India is growing and had exceeded a billion. (again, last I heard) The US is growing too. You guys are over 300 million now, up from 260 odd some 15 years ago. t It's the year of the Pig.

This says it quite well. Lift is exponential. If you double your airspeed, you quadruple your lift. Recently, at our canopy piloting nationals, the only people who were taken away in an ambulance were those who hurt themselves coming down AGAIN, (Sometimes from as high as 30+ feet) not those who plowed in the 1st time. t It's the year of the Pig.

Looking at where you're jumping your plan is well thought out. Do enough jumps to be current again and shake off the winter chill, and then start your downsize, preferably before the middle of summer when density altitude is very high. Where I jump we're 5000 ft AMSL and it's really hot in the summer, but we jump year round as things are only in the 60's mid winter. I try and downsize just before midwinter, as that way as things get warmer the steps are incrimental, and the change is not as dramatic. Of course, this isn't always possible. It's refreshing to see someone actually thinking about several issues, like temp, currency, etc before downsizing. t It's the year of the Pig.

Your sig line says all you need to know about flying your slot on AFF. These threads may also help. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1192346;search_string=AFF%20Course;#1192346 http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=294102;search_string=AFF%20Course;#294102 http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=644249;search_string=AFF%20Course;#644249 t It's the year of the Pig.

I get it. You like your gear. t It's the year of the Pig.

So Wayne arrives at the DZ on Saturday morning - with a case of beer. That's the way to arrive at the DZ!

None of us want to get killed doing it, but it can happen to any of us on any skydive. You've spent a couple of years seeing the "blue Skies!" side of the sport. It's good. Now you've seen the "Black Death!" side of the sport. It sucks. If you keep jumping, you'll see it again, and again. Or you'll be it. I think this sport is worth it. Everyone dies sooner or later. t It's the year of the Pig.

Hi Andre, Beppe and Silvio were friends till the end. The photo album I saw had pics of both of them in their early 30's together. t It's the year of the Pig.

No, you are incorrect. I'm not a moderator in this forum. The top of this forum indicates, Forums: Skydiving: Gear and Rigging (126660 posts in 10023 threads) Moderators: slotperfect so slotperfect is the moderator for this forum. I moderate only the Incidents and Swooping and Canopy Control forums and am allowed to participate in any other discussions on this website as long as I stay within the rules, same as any other poster. t It's the year of the Pig.

That's the risk of advertising. I read it as "It's ugly, but it works." Really? Wasn't there a recall for the red teflon cut away cables that were cracking creating hard/impossible cutaway forces in the late 90's? Have a look at the attachment too. True, it's not a recall, it's a "Safety Notice." If I had a rig built in 1997, and it was good to 2017, I'd be pretty pissed off if it were relegated to "rounds only" in 2005, but you seem pretty sure about that racer reliability. As for "what functions the best" I think the Racer double sided RSL design has serious flaws in some operation modes - and I could see that as a sub 1000 jump wonder when I saw Don Yahrling's racer in 1992. I don't think that functions the best at all. After a team member got a line caught behind the reserve PC in a bad CRW wrap, I decieded that exposed PC's, whether they be on a Racer, Javlin, Vortex etc, simply create a variable I'd rather not deal with. I'm sure that "when properly packed" that will not ever be an issue, but I also see proponents of the racer saying riggers find it easy to pack, and there is conflict there, because if they are easy to pack, why would that happen? There's a lot of energy in some wraps, and lines will go where they can sometimes. In a world of high hop and pop drill dives with others, and 300 HMA, I think having the PC inside is a really, really good idea. I agree that the pic of the Tandem rig you posted is good looking, for a Tandem. The issues I mentioned WRT exposed Reserve PC should never apply to a Tandem, even in a canopy collision environment. t It's the year of the Pig.

Like it needs more energy to drive it down than a regular slider? t It's the year of the Pig.

Only when used by someone outside. When ugly says they're ugly, it's fact. *** Its a lamp. Why? I see the lamp. That looks like a doggy. I don't mean to offend, it's just that I look for details. Others see the Racer, I see the lamp. It's the year of the Pig.

Our DZ offers them for a reduced price. t It's the year of the Pig.

The fittings are not one piece. I can't recall offhand now (since I don't have them on my rig) but some have a grommet surrounded by some high conductivity metal such as copper. Yes, the plastic does wear, but it's the oxidation and wear of these rather soft metals that are my primary concern, as even a small nick could be enough to snag the white nylon loop and either damage it - requiring replacement of the risers, or difficulty/failure to release in the event of a breakaway. Regardless of these issues, there is simply no standard to which these fittings can be compared. Are they purchaced by rig manufacturers from the local hardware store? Or are they purchased in bulk from a manufacturer? Which manufacturer? What happens if that manufacturer has non available? What is the procedure? As someone who runs an ISO 9001:2000 system I'm reminded of the section on control of suppliers. I'd be interested to see all manufacturers reply to this, since to the best of my knowledge, Mirage are the only manufacturer who use a purpose built part in this roll. Edit to add: ISO 9001:2000 7.4.1 The organization shall evaluate and select suppliers based on their ability to supply product in accordance with the organization's requirements. Criteria for selection, evaluation and re-evaluation shall be established. Records of the results of evaluations and any necessary actions arising from the evaluation shall be maintained. Now I know most manufacturers are not certified, but don't you think the above point is simply good business practice? Do you think that a battery terminating lug was designed to last 20 years in a critical life saving roll? I don't. That single feature indicates to me the difference between a company that builds a rig to a purpose - and one that finds parts to build a rig. I'm not saying a Mirage is better than any other rig, but I'm a purist, and elements of their design appeal strongly to me. I recall the early days of the curved pin, before the stamped and rolled one we all use as jewelry today. Back then some manufacturers made their own, by bending bits of chromed wire and braising the hole shut. I recall the chrome pitting off the pin, and snagging on the closure loop. I recall soft pins, and ones where the braising had lifted the chrome which hooked when the pin was pushed in all the way. These days we use a purpose built part. Why do we have to learn these lessons again? OK. Rant over. You can all go back to looking at your pretty rigs now. Just don't look too closely. t It's the year of the Pig.

The one on the Vector would work better as a battery connecting lug than the one on the Mirage.. Seriously, on a rig that's expected to last 20 years, those "made for battery" lugs don't last very well at all, especially on gear owned by schools that do very high volumes of dives. I find it worrying that something so absolutely critical to a clean escape, is actually designed for something else entirely - that has NOTHING to do with skydiving. t It's the year of the Pig.

Dude. Two things. 1. Ugly. Even Racers know they're ugly. Their own ads once said.. "At 600ft, the last thing you need is pretty gear." 2. Are those little sit up and beg doggy dolls on top of the bookshelf in the upper left hand corner of the pic? t It's the year of the Pig.

Not here. I took my daughter at 8 on a rig with a 420 main and a 360 reserve. Chris took his son at under 4 with the same rig. No change to the gear whatsoever. t It's the year of the Pig.