mattjw916

The only way you will know what canopy is good for you, is to demo. In the end, it's the pilot not the canopy that does the flying. I'm not terribly picky about my canopies personally. I'd just stay away from the original Sabre. While I know people who jump them and are happy with them, there are more modern designs out there IMHO that aren't as packing-sensitive. Whatever you buy, take the time to learn how to fly it. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Easier to pack, that's for sure. Resale isn't as good on a Silhouette but it is a great canopy and a little more forgiving than a Sabre2 when similarly sized. If you plan on taking your canopy skills to the next level, start studying: http://www.bigairsportz.com/publishing.php#parachute http://www.performancedesigns.com/pmd_faq.asp NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

It would have been more entertaining if Jim Harris had done the commentary for the news report. At least he managed to keep Dave in frame though... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

mspaint pwnz j00 and your l33t h4x0r sk1llzzzzz... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

1. In Korea, standing on the back of a PATRIOT missile launcher, supervising the loading of live missiles for training purposes the canister slipped off the pins while the forklift was holding it, the skids missed my face (a canister weighs 3750lbs so thats a hell of a blow) by inches and almost knocked me backwards onto the metal plates the launchers sit on. 2. Car pulled out in front of me on my motorcycle, I squeezed between it and the curb but locked up the rear wheel due to inexperience at the time and caused a high-side after contacting the curb with the rear wheel vaulting me into the air and into the middle of very heavy traffic. I was damn lucky a car didn't hit me. 3. Racing ahead of my friends so I could pull off and take pictures as they passed I noticed a car slowing down for apparently no reason on a 2 lane country road. I hit the gas (already doing 3x posted limit) and passed the car on the left as it turned left into my lane. I was doing approx 130mph and cleared it by about a foot. As I looked behind me I saw death laugh heartily with the realization that the car did indeed signal to turn, but its rear blinker was burned out. Not cool at all. 4. Break off from an 8-way, tracked extra long for separation, realized I was getting a little low, weak toss caused PC hesitation, as I look over my shoulder to see what's up, PC clears burble, opens into spinning line twists, going low now... kicking out, check alti, still kicking out... cleared them by 900. Probably should have just chopped that. Made one more jump, then sat out the rest of the day to think about it. Jump 70-something I think. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

not if you climb up your lines before you throw it in... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

1. Plug that grey cable from the bottom of your computer into on of the free ports on the router. 2. Unplug the power cable from the cable modem. 3. Unplug the power cable from the router. 4. Gracefully power down the computer from the Start menu. 5. Power on cable modem, wait for the flashy lights to stabilize, should take about 1-2 min max. 6. Power on router, just wait 1-2 min max. 7. Power on computer and login. 8. Click Start --> Run 9. Type "cmd" without the quotes into the box 10. In the black window that appears type "ipconfig" at the c:\> prompt and hit enter. 11. With any luck you should have an address similar to 192.168.1.? 12. Have another beer because I bet your internet connection will be working. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

So if articulating a point, i.e. your poll is worthless and here's why, is nothing to say, I guess I said nothing, or least you chose to hear nothing. I'll believe it, when I see it. It speaks volumes about your ethics, or lack therof. 5 documented ones, could there be more? Quite possibly, there isn't exactly a crack forensics team on-site when someone goes is. The point was not your position, but that you are quick to try and foist your views on others without experience or currency. Participating in a discussion does not make someone a skygod. Launching a fiery sermon from the mound without experience does, and you sir, do a LOT of that. Over a dozen in five states. To get this back on track here are the words of a couple people whose opinions I often do not agree with, but do in this instance. Ron: "...they take away options and complicate emergency procedures" Derek: "My point is RSL's aren't useless, but their benefits don't outweigh their problems." My point: "...it's about not betting your life on a little snap-shackle and a tiny length of nylon to do what your brain should be trained to do in a split-second." If you need clarification on my reasoning behind this, go read the rest of the thread, I'm not going to rehash it. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

In order for all this to work your computer needs a network card (the thingy that you can plug the big phone-style connector into). If you were using USB to talk to your cable modem and don't have a network card you will need to obtain and install one before continuing. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

A coax-cable is the round, thickish, cable that has a single pointy wire sticking out of a round screw-on or slide-on connector and most often attaches to a wall-jack with the same connector as the cable modem. Still drowning? NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

At has nothing to do with ego, it has to do with a chronically uncurrent jumper trying to pass off an unscientific poll as some sort of factual data that represents a cross-section of the populace, which it doesn't. It ranks up there with your (and others) attempt to architect an new wingload BSR to govern those of us who jump all time, when you yourself rarely jump. At least when hooknswoop makes recommendations regarding such things, he has years of experience and thousands of jumps to back them up. You have neither, since doing one tandem 7 years or whatever ago doesn't mean you have 10 total years in sport dude. Even your profile is misrepresentative. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Coax cable to cable modem, cable modem to router (with the cable that looks like a big phone plug), computer to router (same type of cable) into port 1, 2, 3, etc. Power all three off, turn on cable modem, wait for sync/data, turn on router, wait for lights to come on and self-test to finish, turn on computer. You should have green "link lights" above or adjacent to all your cables you used to connect. If all things are connected properly, your computer should lease an address from the router and the router from your ISP (the cable company). NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Safires are semi-elliptical like the Fusion, Lotus, Sabre2, etc, etc. They are socially-acceptable as a first canopy when loaded lightly. At your (and my) experience level, you want something with a shorter recovery arc like a Safire2, et all in case you screw up... which will happen to some extent at some time. Longer recovery arc = longer time to pull out of a dive = more force imparted to your body when impacting the ground when you hose yourself. Buy something you can jump now for now... used canopies are everywhere and easier to pack. I spent $600-something on my Safire, put a bunch or jumps on it, relined it, put more jumps on it and probably won't retire it until next year. I flew a Sabre2 190 straight into the ground once last fall, if I was on a "ground hungry" twitchy canopy I bet I would have injured more than my pride on that one. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

You really have never taken more than a 200-level stat class have you. If the 177 people were chosen at random, from the current USPA membership list, your poll would mean more. You can't even guarantee that people didn't vote more than once. Plenty of people have multiple usernames. The only thing your poll says is that amongst the skydiving community, those with access to a computer, free time to read the poll, who chose to respond, here is the result. I am willing to bet that I have been to 4 or 5 times as many dropzones as you and I can say with quite certainty that this website is not the best representation of those who choose to participate in this sport. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

If you'd have ever taken a statistics class you would realize that your poll results are meaningless beyond saying, "of the people who chose to respond, here is the result". The people who post, click buttons on polls, etc are in no way an accurate representation of the skydiving community as a whole. Your sample size is way too small as well. Your poll is flawed. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I have that problem depending on what type of plane I fly on. "Bare backing" it is fine too. I have done it plenty and 99% of the whuffos out there are none the wiser. A couple extra tips when/if you do so: Cinch down your legs straps to max-tight and secure the excess, tie them up and out of the way with a pull-up cord (which can be used to reclose your rig if you have to open your main container for some reason), s-fold up the chest strap and secure it, make sure your main pin is fully seated and hackey deep with no PC fabric showing. Now, it looks just like a backpack with funny shoulder straps. When you get where you are going do a top to bottom, front to back check on every part of your rig before you jump it. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I fixed it for you... Congrats. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I have flown with my rig as a carry-on almost a dozen times now. I have only been "hassled" once about it (it was more an education thing for a new TSA employee and had nothing to do with me) and have never had to open my main or reserve. I always carry a copy of the section of the TSA SOP pertaining to rigs/AADs and only once did I have to show it to the supervisor who was trying to convince me my Cypres was prohibited (which it obviously isn't). That's my experience, take it or leave it. I am always friendly and up-front about what the strange backpack-looking thing is and take the time to clarify what different components do when queried about them. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

that's awesome... but I know someone would do something stupid on purpose just to get their name on the list NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Yes, I have had every comment I listed made directly to me, or to another person and I overheard it, such as when sitting in on student training, etc. By your logic then, you must also drive a Volvo since a lot of people have been killed in car wrecks, that they could have otherwise survived, were they to have been driving a car with better crash protection. And I am sure you always have a pilot-emergency rig when you fly since they would have saved countless pilots in the past as well. You seem fixated on the concept that I somehow think myself "better" than others since I don't perceive a need for an RSL. Quite the contrary in fact. Things that are more important than RSLs: don't attempt mid-air rigging, don't set breakoff at 3.5 on group jumps, don't consistently pull-low, respect your hard-deck, maintain your gear, don't go on jumps with people who are over their head and will potentially force you to hum it down for separation, etc, etc. Pay more attention to those and an RSL becomes moot, such as Derek has pointed out ad nauseum. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Sure it does, those people assume that you won't deploy the reserve for whatever reason, so here's a wiz-bang gadget that will solve all your problems. The problem is that people use devices like AADs, RSLs, traditional red/silver handles, etc to lull themselves into a false sense of security. I can't count the number of people that have made a stupid comment about my blue/orange pillow handles as I have traveled around the country. Like I'm going to forget which one to pull first. Of course, those are the often the same people that think dumping at 2k every jump is perfectly reasonable and a Sabre 1 is a great canopy. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Plenty of people do, I hear the "Everyone should have an RSL until X number of cutaways or X number of jumps." argument constantly. I do a little CReW now and again, mostly bumping end-cells and such, plus I plan on jumping camera in the not-too-distant-future. There is no way that I am going to have an RSL on for either activity or have to disconnect/reconnect it constantly. Of course, if you are a "hard-core" belly flyer that insists on dumping at just over 2k on every jump, perhaps you should keep it on. You probably will need it. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

LOL, Xmas is a "mandatory holiday closure" for my company. You take vacation, whether you want to or not. If you don't have vacation days, they just don't pay you, and you don't come in to work. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

It's not about being "better" as you put it, it's about not betting your life on a little snap-shackle and a tiny length of nylon to do what your brain should be trained to do in a split-second. How many cutaways happen at 500ft or less? VERY few, I'd wager. In fact, in all my travels, I have only met one person that cutaway at that altitude (lower actually) and deployed his reserve in time, all without an RSL. I have had several spinning malfunctions and had no problem keeping track of altitude whilst arguing with the canopy, the last one was on Sunday in fact, so I seriously doubt I will ever end up that deep in the basement. The same incident reports often gloss over the fact that an RSL likely caused the problem or at least was the fatal ingredient. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

But if more people used RSLs, I'd bet that we'd see a LOT more RSL incidents. The problem is the people who think that if they have the latest safety widget installed on their rig, they are somehow "safer" than the rest of us. They aren't. It is undeniable that RSLs complicate a relatively straight forward process, i.e. chop main, deploy reserve, excluding a couple rare exceptions. I'm quite comfortable without an RSL. Even if Derek's numbers were 70-30 or 60-40, I still don't think the merits of an RSL warrant the additional risks. This sport requires you to have your shit together on every jump, if anyone thinks they need an RSL to be "safe", that sets off a huge red flag IMO. And yes, I know many people that won't jump without an AAD and an RSL on their rig, period. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080