NWFlyer

So you're looking to be working on your license sometime in the September-November timeframe? That'll help narrow down the list of recommendations for the U.S. as some dropzones in the more northern climates are finishing up their good weather season at that time of year while others in the southern climates are just hitting their good weather. (The folks from Florida and Arizona will tell you they jump year round, but the ones that jump there in July and August are kind of nuts. ) As a beginning skydiver you wouldn't have the experience to be doing video work yourself. For editing, there may be some potential work. I think most dropzones have the videographers edit their own work, but some just have a group of folks that do nothing but editing. My personal recommendation would be California since provides the opportunity to do all of your desired activities and there are good dropzones in both northern and southern California. "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

Well, you'll be right near Olympic National Park, which is pretty spectacular and could keep you busy for days. Early June hiking may still be a little mushy and possibly snowy depending on the elevation, but it's pretty great. You could go to Port Angeles and take a ferry to Victoria, BC, or visit Port Townsend, which has ferries over to Whidbey Island (and from there you can drive or ferry back to the mainland). Or you could go to Forks with all the Twilight groupies. So yeah, just staying on the Olympic Peninsula could be a good trip. Farther down the peninsula is Skydive Kapowsin (in Shelton). Weather in June can range from sketchy to amazing depending on what kind of mood Mother Nature is in, so you can't necessarily count on jumpable days. "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

Where exactly? It's a pretty big state. There's quite a few dizzy.commers on both the wet and dry sides of the state. (Contrary to my screen name I no longer live there, but I'm sure some of the locals will pipe up). "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 is the oft-cited example of a dropzone that absolutely, positive, no exceptions requires paper logbooks. I've been there multiple times, and as far as I can remember, the logbook was only ever required on my first visit. Since then, I've been able to just show up and jump. But there's been many posts on here where people showed up with years of experience and lots of jumps that were verifiable in other ways, and were still required to produce a signed paper logbook. So that might be one example where an electronic logbook of any kind might not be accepted. I can only recall a handful of other dropzones (of the 25 or so that I've visited in the U.S.) that even check logbooks (typically to verify currency), and some of those (Skydive Oregon is one example) stop checking logbooks altogether once you have a D license. "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

Yeah that feels about right for today. "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

yep. Assuming he was involved in all these jumps (and isn't just posting other peoples' vids), then he's shown quite a bit of interesting judgement in his

As a member of the Freakishly Large Head club I've found that Z1s are laughable for me.... they just don't work on my head. Full face helmet fit can really depend as much on the shape of your head as the size. I've liked the Cookie G2 and FreeZr2 best for my head size/shape. Mamba was okay, but I preferred the other two. Most other brands don't work at all for me. So, if you can try on other brands, you may find another works better for your noggin. "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

Fully expecting normiss to chime in on this thread sometime later today. "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. But most of the people I know who have had AAD-induced two outs have them not because they intended to pull at or around AAD spooking altitude, but because they've partially or totally lost altitude awareness and wind up tossing their main somewhere below 2 grand but still above a grand (e.g., somewhere in the AAD-spooking territory). If people raise their AAD firing altitude, it only makes those situations more likely where you've tossed your main at a somewhat reasonable (if a little low) altitude, but your AAD does what it should do and cuts the reserve loop ... and now there's two canopies. However, for the "true save" due to a jumper's being incapacitated (or never recovering altitude awareness), I think there's a lot of positives to raising the firing altitude. "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 predict more two outs. "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. Well, I went from a 230 7-cell to a 210 9-cell, but haven't budged since (and have no plans to). Reserves have always been 218s, and I just put together a 2nd rig with exactly the same 210/218 configuration. I'm happy where I am and have no plans to change. "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

Are you in the U.S. (or training at a USPA-affiliated dropzone outside the U.S.)? Then the USPA SIM will be a valuable thing for you to read. You can order a copy online, read it online, or download a PDF version for free. http://www.uspa.org/SIM.aspx Most of what is in here will probably go over your head right now, but there are some good graphics of the basic construction of a parachute. http://performancedesigns.com/docs/MainUsersManual.pdf This book goes into great detail on parachutes and how to fly them. http://bigairsportz.com/publishing.php#parachute Be careful trying to read or learn too much before you go into your training, though, especially trying to "learn to skydive online." It'll only drive your instructors nuts, and potentially overload you with information. Your student program is well-designed to introduce information on an "as needed" basis to help you gradually build your knowledge. "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've fortunately not had anything stolen yet. My theory on the stolen gear lists (either this one or the USPA one, etc.) is that there's absolutely no downside to putting your info there and there may be an upside. And once you've confirmed something as stolen, yes, a police report is definitely in order, as it'll likely be required if you ever want to file an insurance claim, and sometimes stuff does turn up through police work. The stolen gear lists are most helpful when there's gear for sale and something seems fishy about it. If I were a buyer in that circumstance, first thing I'd do is check those databases. As for your case, I'd make a few more proactive attempts to contact him - see if you can track him down through mutual contacts. If he's working as a TI, maybe reach out to his DZO to see if the DZO can help you get in contact with him. If you've done all that and still are getting no response, I'd make it clear that you'll be reporting it stolen and then do it. "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

Oops, my bad. Thought BASE was all they did. I only knew of the contact b/c I'd heard the local gossip that Pete recently took over the US distributorship. "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

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Parachutes-Plus/212579988843688 (Of course, wouldn't it be cool if we had a forum like this for BASE jumping? Oh wait ... ) "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've bought four main canopies in my skydiving career. Only one of them was purchased brand new, and that was the third one I bought after having two used ones. And I only bought that one new because I fell in love with something new to the market, so there wasn't anything used at the time. Loved it so much I bought a second one (used) two years later when I was putting together my second rig. The two other used canopies I bought (Spectre & Pilot) both held their value pretty well - the depreciation in the time between buying and selling worked out to be between $.25 and $.35 a jump. I don't expect that from the one I bought new, should I ever sell it. "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

Thanks for the reminder. I just updated the counter. She just needs to change her link (and refresh the page). "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

Just to make sure you understand something - being "done" with AFF may still make it a challenge to jump at "loads of locations" as you go. Here's the thing. "Graduating" AFF gets you one thing: the ability to self-supervise as a student. You are still an unlicensed skydiver. While it is definitely possible to move from dropzone to dropzone before you get a license, it can be more challenging when you're not yet licensed, particularly when you are moving across countries and licensing organizations where the steps and process to get licensed can vary. You may find yourself spending money and time on jumps and refresher training with an instructor to evaluate your skills when all you really want to do is walk in and do a solo skydive. (This is not a bad thing for your safety, but I suspect you'll find that "AFF graduate" won't always open the doors that you think it will without additional verification by the dropzone that you're visiting). If you can pull it off, and since your goal seems to be not to spend any more than you have to, your best bet may be to earn an A license and then start your international skydive adventure. It will likely wind up costing you less in the short- and long-run and will likely be less frustrating. "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

Well that didn't take. "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

The two best solutions to fogging 1) Other than for takeoff/initial climb, don't put on your helmet until you're getting ready close to jump run. 2) Don't close the visor till the last practical moment before exit. I've had a G2 for about a year now and have found that following these two rules keeps fogging either nonexistent or to a bare minimum. That bare minimum will be a tiny bit that creeps in somewhere around breakoff to pull time, and usually only down around my mouth, not really impacting my vision at all. Since I strongly prefer to pop my visor as part of my post-opening housekeeping activities anyway, it's not been an issue at all for me. I should add that I started popping the visor on my previous full-face (a FreeZR2), so my decision to do so is not G2-specific, but more of a personal thing of liking the open field of vision and air under canopy. "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

That does change the equation, but as others have noted, check out Australia or the west coast of the U.S. Good options in both places. "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

Where do you live? You can go to the "best" school in the world (and that's going to be subjective at best, particularly considering that people will judge "best" on a wide variety of criteria). But going through your initial skydive training is only a tiny fraction of what you need to grow to be a really good, safe skydiver. The overwhelming majority of what you'll learn to be that comes from 1) your own desire to learn and ask questions and seek knowledge (and willingness to absorb it) and 2) from the people that you'll be spending time with on the dropzone day in and day out and jumping with and learning from AFTER you get your license. All that is a long-winded way to take you back to my first question. Where do you live? Find a quality dropzone within a reasonable drive from where you live. That place is most likely to become your home dropzone (or you may have multiple nearby options depending on where you live). Would you rather be the person they've seen from jump #1, getting to know everyone and making friends who are excited for you to get your license so they can jump with you? Or would you rather be the person no one on the dropzone knows who shows up with a brand-new A license from the "best" school in the world? With few exceptions you should be able to find a good dropzone near you. "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 hate to disappoint you, but I did see this article recently. Granted, it probably won't change the attire of too many players. (Yesterday was a somewhat cool, partly cloudy day, so I wasn't surprised to see the players wearing a bit more than just bikinis). "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 was down in Southern California yesterday to spend the day working with my new boss. When I get there she says "I want to propose a slight deviation to our day, hope you don't mind. Have you ever heard of Misty May Treanor?" I sure have. Boss tells me she and her teammate Kerri Walsh will be practicing on the beach not too far away and proposes that we take our meeting down there for a couple hours. Background - my boss's daughter is a serious volleyball player, so boss has turned into total volleyball mom and knows way more than I'll ever know about it. Still, I do at least casually follow the Olympics, so I definitely recognized those names. So we head down to Huntington Beach, park right in front of the beach, and wander down to the beach volleyball area. There's a camera crew there, so it's obvious who the pros are, but other than that, it could just be any other day on the beach if you didn't recognize the American, Chinese, and German Olympians scrimmaging. There's no crazy crowds, no hype, just some amazing talents getting their game on. We sat right on the sand, close enough that balls that were rolling out ended up at our feet. Follow that with a working lunch at a beachside restaurant and I have to say that "not all meetings suck." "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

He's Greg Gasson. Kind of like nerdy Zoolander version of Chuck Norris. "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