NWFlyer

Finding a used ProTrack is probably your best bet for your budget and desired features. You can easily clear out the existing data so it becomes your log, will get L&B's excellent service, and not have to pay new prices.

Pinhead. 24" here and I tried on the biggest SkySystems helmets a couple years ago at Skyfest and ... no dice. I'm sure they're lovely helmets, they just don't work for my head. I can wear the Mamba XXL but wasn't a fan of how it hit the face, and I've heard that the Cookie Gas also works but haven't tried it yet. I have the FreeZR2 (only had to get the XL, not the XXL) and couldn't be happier with it. Of course, I think full faces are even more challenging than open for the members of the Freakishly Large Head Club® because getting the right fit is not just about the size of the head, it's about the shape. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Perris has a MASSIVE amount of "out landing" space, some of which is reserved for students. That out landing space is just as flat and wide open as the main landing area ... it's just dirt, not grass, and farther from the packing area. But with the great "retrieval crew" at Perris, often the "out" landers are back to the packing area sooner than those who made it to the grass. It's extremely possible (and I know because I've done it many times at Perris, usually when there's a heavy crosswind in the main area and I'd rather land into the wind) to land whatever direction you want if you don't like the direction the FMD chose ... you just need to do it outside of the main landing area. Students can feel free to ignore the FMD in the main landing area as they are landing in a completely separate area. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

At the risk of sending the Bonfire-only denizens into a topical forum, the irony is that this guy likely thinks that he is being chivalrous by protecting the poor menopausal women from themselves. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Can you accept one of the offers with a later start date? That to me would seem like the best of both worlds. A couple of months isn't a big deal in an employment history, but if you're getting these offers now, there's no saying they'll be there later, especially if they're coming as part of your program's recruiting office - don't underestimate the value of that infrastructure at helping to put you in front of employers in a positive light; having to do that same legwork on your own a few months from now could be more challenging. If you're talking 2-3 months, I would think that would be a reasonable negotiating point with employers who have made you offers now. "I'm very interested in taking the offer, but I wonder if we can negotiate a September start date." If you don't ask, you don't get ... worst they can say is "no" then you have to decide if you want to reject the offer or take it on their terms. It could hurt, too, if you only work for a few months. Now you have the "Tell me why you only worked at Acme Corp for 8 months" question to deal with. Anything less than 2 years and you risk looking like a job-hopper, which can turn off a lot of employers. Others won't care, but if you don't have a more compelling reason for only being there a short time than "I wanted to bump my salary range up" ... well ... "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

If you're practicing tracking on your own, please also maintain awareness of where you are relative to jump run. Practice tracking perpendicular to jump run so that you don't risk tracking up or down jump run into another skydiver or group. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Nice! http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Skydive+Lost+Prairie,+3175+Lower+Lost+Prairie+Road,+Marion,+MT+59925-9807&sll=37.810947,-122.252287&sspn=0.00868,0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq=Skydive+Lost+Prairie,&hnear=3175+Lower+Lost+Prairie+Rd,+Marion,+Flathead,+Montana+59925&ll=48.094756,-114.851578&spn=0.003669,0.013733&t=h&z=17 "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

What everyone else has said about eye contact... plus another thing to think about with sunglasses is that even if you decide they're right for you, be sure that you have another option (clear goggles or a full-face with a clear face shield) for lower-light conditions. I wore tinted goggles on a sunset load ... once. Seeing other canopies (particularly darker colors) can be tough at sunset - don't make it worse with tinted lenses. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Brandy posted on FB this week that it's postponed to 8/26. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I would hope that people would feel differently about the "door's open and the shit's hitting the fan" situations like you just described and the "I'm sitting behind you on the ride to altitude and notice something well before jump run" situations. If your PC is at risk of going out an open door, it's time for action not a polite "Uh, hey, Dom, you might want to check your reserve pin." "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

What do you do that's so unusual (and why do you choose to do it that way)? Why is it so easy to pop the pin just by lifting the flap? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

1. Someone in email who shall go nameless

Current forecast is for double-digits, which will be a nice switch after the last few years where this boogie has been over 100 degrees. Hell, it didn't even break 80 yesterday. http://www.accuweather.com/us/ca/davis/95616/forecast-weekends.asp "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Anyone who has a valid visa but not a green card is, legally, a non-resident no matter how long they are here. Although some visas have time limits, some do not, or have exceptions which in practice allow some people to stay legally almost indefinitely without getting a green card. However no one, legal or not, green card or not, is supposed to be voting until they become a citizen. There are, I believe, a few rare exceptions where green card holders can vote in local elections--but never in federal congressional, senatorial, or presidential elections. US citizens living abroad are supposed to be able to vote. Fair enough; I've learned something new today about that particular legal distinction. And yes, I know that US Citizens living abroad can vote, I was just trying to figure out if turtle was implying they shouldn't. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

How can they be non-residents if they're here for a long long time? Does this rule also mean US citizens living outside our country's borders can't vote? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

no Lost Prairie bar ambiance no northern lights no "I'm not Pete Hill" loads no Texas Stars that fail when Texas Tom participates no gorgeous Montana sunsets No almost sober loads No sunset cross country across the valley "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Seen it more than once. Here's an interesting debate; If a rated instructor sells a canopy that by general concensus is not appropriate for a student and said student harms him/herself under that canopy...Should a 1-6b investigation of the selling instructor take place? 1-6b quoted below for those who don't have the entire governance manual memorized like Spot So under which sub-part would you propose said instructor be investigated? Are we changing the situation from selling to a 100-jump (presumably licensed) individual to selling to a non-licensed student? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

But the OP shouldn't be surprised if "warmer than most other places" is not actually warm in January, especially in the mornings. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Steve Buscemi as .... NickDG "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

You want freefly type pants with booties or you want an RW suit that's just the bottom half? Anyway, take a look at the Multi Suit. http://www.tonysuits.com/jumpsuits/multi.php4 "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Agreed those are the only legit reasons (well, you might also be conscious but physically incapacitated in such a way that you can't get to any handle). I was thinking of varying causes of unconsciousness/incapacitation. Both shoulders dislocate on exit ... maybe no grounding (at least not for safety, though you might end up being grounded defacto anyway). Jump up and hit the tail on exit and get knocked out .... grounded. Knocked out because an exit funnels and shit happens ... no grounding. Knocked out because you decided to "see how fast you could go" and you take out the formation ... grounding. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I'm curious about this one - I've heard Perris enforces that as well. Does your DZ say that *any* AAD fire means you're grounded or only one that was due to a loss of altitude awareness? A legit save, to me, might or might not be a legitimate reason for grounding, depending on how/why the jumper became incapacitated. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

This post in a recent incident thread got me to thinking about groundings for safety violations. I've only been in the sport for just under 6 years, but I can't recall seeing or hearing of too many groundings for safety violations at any of the DZs I've frequented. Often there's hand-wringing about the new "DGIT," and eye rolls about people who do stupid shit. At a lot of DZs, there's a proactive safety culture where if people do something stupid (particularly if it puts others at risk), the regular jumpers, the S&TA, and/or the DZO will have a serious chat with the offending person, but action always seems to stop short of restricting the person's ability to make a skydive. When it comes to actually sitting someone down and saying "sorry, you can't jump here for a month" or "you're not welcome here with that canopy," I just don't see many DZs where the management is willing to take that kind of a stand. It seems like there's an attitude of "I've done all I can and if I ground him he's just going to go to [nearby DZ]." So what HAVE you seen people grounded for (especially recently)? More importantly, did it actually change behavior, or did the person have to learn the lesson the hard way by breaking themselves (or others)? What about big events? There's a lot of talk about how poor tracking or breaking the landing rules will get you grounded, but how often are those rules enforced? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Oh, I won't argue with you there. It's why I ship with FedEx (if I need delivery confirmations) or USPS (if I don't, or if I have longer for a package to get to its destination). I only deal with UPS when I'm the recipient and it's the shipper's only option. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

From what I understand they have the "21 and over" option for shippers of alcohol, to allow them to comply with those laws; but I think there's also a direct signature required option that requires that it be signed for by someone at the house, which is what would have served your needs and Mirage's needs. Mirage has confidence it hasn't ended up in the hands of a shifty neighbor, and you can leave someone under 21 at home to sign for it. But as much as I think UPS is a poorly-run organization, your beef is with Mirage in this case for choosing the wrong option (and/or for not communicating the implications to you of their choosing that option). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke