Tonto

Ahem.. Yes. Well... It is important to set attainable goals... t It's the year of the Pig.

Hi Nac, I'm in the rare and very fortunate position of never having been a victim. Sure, I've started out as a potential one in a couple of situations - but I've managed to deal with EVERY situation quite well. This does not make me superman. It makes me lucky. Nothing more. I do struggle to identify with being the store keeper though. I've always been the roaming element, never the turkey tied to the golden post. My philosophy on life makes it easier to do things than not to do things - because in truth, the outcome doesn't matter. We're all just meat that thinks, wandering around and doing our thing. Some of us are Alpha meat - and some of us are Beta meat. If you're Beta meat and you put yourself in confromtation with Alpha meat - you better know your shit, because we're very, very fragile creatures, and we're easy to maim, disable, and dismantle. When I'm in a confrontation situation - I'm maintaining the status quo - while thinking of the quickest, safest, easiest way to kill the person confronting me, because I beleive that they're thinking the same way I am. If they're not - then they're in deep shit. t It's the year of the Pig.

Newest version is 2.3.1a I've had no problems with this version at all. Switching to freefall mode prior to exit is prudent - espesially for wingsuit pilots, as you're going to struggle to push buttons with wings... t It's the year of the Pig.

With you 100% on that... t It's the year of the Pig.

You're quite correct. They're not the same. The posibility does exist, however, that the lover of anything is more dedicated than those who are forced to train. For most police and Military personel - it's simply a job. Does a prostitute make love to the same intensity as a lover? We all know as skydivers that people react differently under extreme pressure, Some people's performance is poor, and some of those die as a result of those poor desisions. Others think very clearly and very fast, and make good, accurate desisions and good judgements with flawless execution of the task at hand. The same is true of people in any highly charged situation. Generally, experience helps to weed out those less suited to the job, and again, generally, some gun lovers may never have been exposed to those experiences and so their performance remains an unknown. I'm not saying that all "gun lovers" are all John Wayne - incapable of missing - but I do beleive that if you find yourself in a situation where you have both the tools and the skills to survive - to choose not to seems foolish. I have no doubt that had I not shot back - I would have found myself in the same position as my attackers 1st victim. In fact, had I not shot back - they would have continued to shoot at him, as he was a monster of a man - and much scarier than I was, and he may well have lost his life rather than a lung, 60% of his liver and one kidney. I understand your anti gun stance, and I respect your point of view. I no longer carry a gun as I'm not trained to the degree I was at that time. To say though, that any tool simply should not be in the toolbox is perhaps idealistic? Reserve parachutes can kill. On every climbout, deployment of a canopy we cannot release is an extreme risk to us as individuals, those around us and the aircraft and it's pilot. When viewed in the overall scheme of things, however, it is prudent to have a reserve, and keep it well packed, and well maintained, as well as the skills and judgement required for it's use if the need arises, although few of us wish this to occur. Thank you for your time. t It's the year of the Pig.

Spot on. Humour too dry for some, I guess... t It's the year of the Pig.

Thanks for the comprehensive response. It all makes perfect sense, and mirrors what Ron said in an earlier post on this thread. Nice to have an unofficial "official" response though. t It's the year of the Pig.

Then don't work as a bouncer... it's truely a mugs game. Well - that's unlikely. I'm "walking the earth like Cain from Kung Fu" like Jules - The bad assed mother fucker from Pulp Fiction. I don't carry anymore. t It's the year of the Pig.

I think the average whuffo KNOWS it happens on landing... But I know what you mean. t It's the year of the Pig.

I posted because he recomended a "Vampire" which he knows has a 50 wingsuit jump minimum to someone who is both uncurrent and who has never jumped a wingsuit. At best, I find that socially irresponsible. At worst, criminally negligent. But maybe that's just me! t It's the year of the Pig.

I'm so glad my British ancestors felt the way you do. Of course, they felt that way 185 years ago... You won't earn 150 000 GBP working on a DZ. Not with your number of jumps. Your 1st hurdle is getting in. Then it's staying. Then it's being allowed to work. Then it's making a living in a sport that no one is really in for the money. In 1992 I quit my job, went to the US, got an AFF rating and a Tandem rating and worked on small DZ's for the year. It was fantastic. t It's the year of the Pig.

Well - Not really. It shows he has 40 Skysurfing jumps already. He has yet to jump a suit, dispite him looking at a SF1 in his opening post. If this were the Swooping and canopy control forum, and someone suggested the highest performance canopy yet produced to someone who has yet to jump - they'd be crucified. While I understand your and Kris's open view to all manufactures suits - I find your push on them irresponsible, particularly since the origional poster mentions that he has yet to get current. t It's the year of the Pig.

What? It's my birthday too! Ha! I KNEW my parents chose a good date! t It's the year of the Pig.

Well, reading his testimony - I'd convict. Why? he wanted to question the man so he drew his gun, yelled that he was a police officer, and told the man not to move. I've been questioned by the police before. Not one drew a gun on me to do it. "After hitting Zongo with the first two shots, Conroy said, the wounded man backed off. The officer said he fired two more shots and Zongo fell. Zongo, who was married and the father of two, was shot in the upper back, t It's the year of the Pig.

Well, both Christ and God have a long history of torture, both on this planet (Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.") and off it, in the supposed "eternal pit of damnation" they'll have you flung into for not beleiving their line of propaganda. What kind of fuck asks you to kill your only son? Edit - I guess the same kind of fuck that would kill his OWN only son.. You'd have to go with Buddha on this one. t It's the year of the Pig.

So we have a cop that was dressed as a mailman, identifying himself, probably in English - to a man - probably thinking in Creole, while a gun was being drawn on him... If I were the West African - I would have run away. If I were the cop - I would never have thought that the man I had identified myself to was probably not a native to the English language. I can't even order a "Coke" or Coca Cola" in the US. They don't understand me. I think if the West African was Legal in the US, I'd blame the cop for this one. He certainly had more control over this situation than the man he shot. (And WTF was he doing dressed as a mailman?) t It's the year of the Pig.

Well, I've been in a comparable situation. I'm in South Africa, and an abbreviation of the rules here would probably be - you can use a firearm to secure an arrest or shoot the criminal if - Lethal force has been used, or you BELEIVE the use of lethal force is imminent. I see none of the people (Edit: apart from Jimbo who was quicker on the draw than I was ) who said "Wait till he runs out the door" thought the criminal may kill the teller prior to doing that. I chose to get involved. I shot 2 men, the 3rd turned and ran. My decision to do something was based on "Use of deadly force" as they had shot the man standing next to me and were shooting at me, having fired a total of 18 rounds to my 2. Maybe our legal system is different from yours, but here, the prosecutor looks at the evidence and decides whether the case will even go to court. Since my incident had about 30 witnesses - that was the last I heard of it. I feel that when someone sticks a gun in someone else's face "the use of lethal force is imminent." If it were not - what is the purpose of the firearm? I think most reasonable men would agree that someone who uses a firearm to rob someone is predisposed to using that firearm if the need arises. t It's the year of the Pig.

Ahh. The blissful innocence of ambiguity... t It's the year of the Pig.

The Vampire V1 owners manual recomends a minimum of 50 wingsuit jumps prior to its use. But I'm sure you know this - which begs the question, why did you post? t It's the year of the Pig.

That's fine - but over 9 months ago Aubrey said, earlier in this thread, in fact, "It shouldn't be long until we bring the canopy to market." Well, I think 9 months is long - and so do the people asking me questions. Even your news from Bushman is over 3 months old. I agree that gear shouldn't be released until it's ready, or that gear already manufactured should be recalled if it's faulty. For those ISO 9001:2000 buffs, that's "Control of non conforming product." Some communication from the company would be nice though, don't you think? t It's the year of the Pig.

Wheee! In Africa, we have similar winter weather. Clear blue skies, not a breath of wind. Temps get down to about 40... in the middle of the night. Mid day it's kinda 75 deg. Last year, in April, May, June, July, August and September, (our winter) I did 237 skydives, weekends only. Of course, in Summer - the weather is good! You can always move, you know. Birds do it every year! t It's the year of the Pig.

Same in SA - but here we pie only for 1000 or multiples thereoff. No 100 jump pies. That's (optional) naked jump. t It's the year of the Pig.

Is there a limit of 1000 e-mails in a mailbox? Although I'm running at about 40% of capacity WRT memory, I get these mails and need to delete stuff to get the warning to back off. Normal? t It's the year of the Pig.

Pretty good for a newbie... t It's the year of the Pig.

"dancing with death" eh? That's very dramatic. I don't know why I'm still going - but I don't think dancing, or being a speck in a big sky, or the serenity are my reasons. It's probably because I've invested a lot of time and effort into doing something well, and now I enjoy being a part of that. I guess what I should do is carry on for another 20 years, and if I still like it - then start to take it seriously. t It's the year of the Pig.