NWFlyer

I'd never heard that story before. WOW!!!!! "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

Seriously, $50 for a parking ticket ain't bad at ALL. My last one (for parking in a yellow zone) was $65 or $75 I think. "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

A friend just posted this on Facebook: "I just had about 7 kids show up without costumes. Next year I need a LOT more Necco wafers!" Necco wafers. Yes, that is definitely candy-based punishment! "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

Now that you're ready to get started, it's worth a sit-down conversation with instructors at your local DZs that have student programs - I wouldn't eliminate San Diego based on a casual conversation a few years ago. Skydive San Diego, Skydive Perris, and Skydive Elsinore are all with reasonable distance and have well-regarded student programs. This is probably the kind of conversation to have in person, where you can talk about your situation and see if the school would be willing to work with you to find a workable solution. Eye contact is important, but it may not be a deal-breaker, and it's worth a conversation for sure. "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

It's like you never heard of Facebook. Yeah, really. We were out of town and missed the DZ party, but I did make it to my office party today (and even won "most creative" in the contest). "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

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/halloween.asp Yeah . . I guess I didn't insert my tongue into my cheek far enough for you to see it. We really do need a sarcasm font. "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

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/halloween.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

What's the likelihood you'll end up under your reserve? What's the likelihood that it'll under less-than ideal conditions (low, dazed, not over a good landing spot, etc.) What's the likelihood you'll end up with at two out? IMHO, plan for the more likely scenario. Assuming a 170 main still works in the same container, I wouldn't see any compelling reason to downsize the reserve. I know some folks (John Mitchell springs to mind) who've consciously chosen a much larger reserve (I think he's got a 150/218 combo) and had their containers built for that.

Of course, and once you have an A license, there are essentially no restrictions on what you can do, who you can jump with, or how many people you can jump with - at least not at the BSR level. Dropzones may have specific restrictions (camera, wind limits if using rental gear or wind limits for certain license levels, different landing areas, etc.), and there is the wingsuit BSR out there. But since this is a big boy sport with few restrictions on licensed jumpers (at least in the U.S.), the best we as more experienced folk can do is counsel and advise newer jumpers who are putting together their own jumps, or if we're organizing jumps, keep them at an appropriate level for the experience on the jump. Pulling this back from the brink of being a complete tangent, and back to the original question - I would also say that it was difficult for me to learn how much was "too much." I had some great mentors and got some great advice, and I also had some not-so-great influences giving me more questionable advice. But the vast majority of it was somewhere in the middle. The funny thing is that some of it can only be learned through experience, and hopefully not the hard way. There are a lot of jumps now that I am far less likely to get on now, knowing what I know now and having seen what I've seen, that I would have happily hopped on with a couple hundred jumps. "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

Yes, there is the D license holder situation as well (at the dropzone's discretion). But the point was not to parse USPA rules, but to point out that most dropzones do their best to control the environment for newer jumpers so that they can gradually build their awareness. "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

Sauerkraut, kimchi, cheese, pickles... why not have them ferment something they can actually consume (legally)? Seems like a teacher who wanted to create a stir... "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

Yikes. Thinking of my last7 jumps I think I can say I'm actually surprised with how little I noticed. I watched some videos and I see my instructors communicating with me and although I respond I dont really REMEMBER it. Its strange but almost like my brain pushed through the sensory overload (I'm still new, this is still overwhelming) and did "what it needed to" but never generated the memory to go along with it which makes me question: am i truly aware? It's one of the big reasons that we introduce new variables to your skydives slowly. Right now, you're in the air with instructors - who have the skills and experience to be where they need to be, regardless of how aware you are of where/how you're moving. That's because experience tells us that most students and new skydivers have that myopia, and it's why you can only jump with folks with an instructor or coach rating until you have your A license. But even after you have your A license, it's one of the reasons you'll be advised to stick to smaller groups for quite a while - having to only keep track of one or two other people at a time lets you build that awareness in a more controlled environment. It's also why many people will advise sticking to belly flying for a while instead of jumping straight to freefly - you get to build your awareness at the relatively slower speeds of a belly jump. "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

Same here. I haven't counted, but I'd guess that more people (no matter the discipline) have full faces than open faces these days, especially those that are regular tunnel flyers. "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 is one of those things I only really know looking back in retrospect, but I'd say awareness - the ability to do my thing and still be aware of what is going on around me. In freefall, under canopy, you name it. When I think back on how myopic I was, I consider myself fortunate that the "big sky theory" worked in my favor. "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 is not a pro or con statement on the videos, as I've never looked at them, but I really am curious where you can find a canopy control class for $89. Most are 5 jumps + some cost for classroom instruction/video/debriefing. 5 jumps alone (even hop & pops) runs more than $89 at most dropzones. That said, I think you're likely to get more bang for your buck from an in-person class and in the meantime, buy and read Brian's book. "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

Hmm... Netherlands, New Zealand, Belize, Canada. "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

Merry Christmas from the Family Robert Earl Keen's Original Jill Sobule's great cover version I Believe in Father Christmas Greg Lake Father Christmas The Kinks "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

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4441986 "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

Byron's not open during the week, occasionally on Fridays. Skydance is closed Monday/Tuesday, though usually open if Monday is a holiday. Lodi's 7 days a week. Don't know about the other two, and can't really comment on the weekday scenes since I'm typically weekends only. I will take a moment to pimp out the NCSL - we're having 4-way skills camps and other events regularly, rotating around the DZs ... check us out on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaSkydivingLeague "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 per jump cost is an issue, you might want to think about paying more for travel (in $$ and time) and coming to the U.S. for one of the holiday boogies. Skydive Sebastian and Skydive City (Z-Hills) in Florida and Skydive Arizona have some of the bigger boogies. Tickets at SDAZ are typically in the US$20-22 /jump range. "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

All 7s... Texas All 1s... Texas All 4s... Texas Hmm... "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 it's a list of questions for an oral exam/discussion with the A license candidate, it's not horrible, as the instructor administering the exam can clarify or ask follow up questions. As a stand-alone written exam, it might be more problematic, as mentioned by other posters. Guess it would depend on how the exam is administered - in the U.S., it's a sit-down discussion between the instructor and candidate. "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

Arch. It's hard to tell from the video if the flat-spinning jumper has something else going on, but that much of a flat spin without a complicating factor like a wingsuit just seems unusual without some other factor like being incapacitated in some way. I'm sure some AFFIs will chime in talking about some of their "spinners" but one would think that a jumper who's cleared to do a 4-way freefly jump has proven himself/herself able to fly stable, so I really wonder if there's something else up here, like the jumper got clocked in the head when the thing funneled. "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 can I say. I have a problem with the nylon-American agenda. "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

Go read the lists of AAD saves... you'll be surprised at how many are in some way related to loss of altitude awareness/failure to take action despite being physically able to do so. Surprisingly few are because of being knocked out or otherwise physically incapacitated. http://www.cypres-usa.com/CYPRES%20save%20list%20for%20download%2006.11.11[1].pdf http://www.vigil.aero/life-saving-list "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