tdog

Ditto... A wonderfully careful packer, during a 4way training day, rolled the nose and tried to make it super soft... It opened soooooo sloooooow that I wondered if it would ever open... Once it was open, it was in twists... I never have had a problem with my somewhat sloppy packjobs - with the slider quartered exactly center with equal fabric sticking out the tail and nose, and the tail rolled on the back side of the cocoon about half way down... As I propack it over my shoulder - I just let the nose out from between my legs at the last moment - make a quick inspection without touching it, then close it up...

I agree about taking a project out to bid - that is what the market is about... I just will choose my final choice by picking the one that had the best price + customer service = value, without asking one guy to match another guy's quote... If I was not willing to buy from guy A - then I should not get a quote from guy A. If guy A is cheaper, then I should honor his risk and pricing structure, not ask guy B to match the price. Just my opinion... We are 95% on the same page here - my argument was solely about matching pricing... Why make one guy do a lot of work and give a good price just to let the other guy match it???

At Home Depot, or the local electronics store, I have no problem being the hard a$$ customer and would gladly play that game because the value there is in inventory stocking and cheap pricing, not a sales rep’s knowledge... But there is so much time/experience that goes into skydiving gear, and sales reps are gonna spend a lot of time helping unless you just plan on adding items to a web page shopping cart… Matching pricing is what is called by some industries as the "race to zero" - zero being either profit or bottom line price, depending on the context. Profit/markup is not BAD, these people are skydivers trying to make a living too. If you have a job, profit/markup is what likely pays you. The two or three other dealers will spend a lot of their time putting together a quote, then never get the business because you used their quotes to beat up the local guy... That is not fair to their time. I WOULD feel comfortable saying to the local guy before the bid, "I am getting pricing from XXXX too." If he wants the business, and understands the market and his competition, he should price it right the first time around. Just my two cents.

Let Dominic at Square One give you a quote if your DZ does not have a good local shop... He was awesome for me and when I visited his DZ (Perris) he really hooked me up with demo stuff to see what I liked... I learned - buying a car - find the cheapest dealer. Buying gear - find a dealer who gives great service (and a good price too)... I will be a customer of Dominic for a long time because he went the extra mile for me... I would tell my best friend this, and since I am not making $$$ of this post, I hope the moderators don't mind me spreading my opinion... The advantage to "mail order" is in sales taxes - out of state you don't pay any.... T.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T WATCH THIS VIDEO - as it will make you want to spend all your money on tunnel time...

Just watched it... Tivo got it for me... Two tandem students who were on the load were interviewed. They did a very good job representing the sport and representing Gus for people with little experience... The final question. Would you jump again? The guy said yes, he plans to. The Girl said, No, but it had nothing to do with the accident, it was just her goal to do it once. I guess that sums up our community as a whole... This website was never mentioned by name, however they did show the www.guswing.com website and that site has this website's logo. They also said the incident was being discussed heavily on internet discussion forums. Tragic incident, but at least the Today show was respectful. Not one "sport death" comment... They did ask about the "risks" - but in a fair way.

#1 - that article above your post was one of the best articles I have read about a skydiving incident. Honest, fair, and respectable. It probably would not have been that way if reporters did not talk with a few great skydivers to get some "education" before writing an article. #2 - as to reporters being "allowed" to quote from here... Legal friends, help me here... If the website had a disclaimer all non-members had to click thru, and all members had to agree too when signing up, that said: “The comments posted to this site are owned by the website owners and the original poster collectively. They may not be reproduced without the express written consent of the owners. This clause applies to the media/press too. Further notice to the press. Freedom of speech is fundamental to our society. It is your obligation to the general public to report the facts of incidents and/or newsworthy events in a fair, accurate and honest way. The skydiving community is very small and everyone seems to know everyone. The comments made on this site, by the users of the site, are sometimes said with great emotion or great sarcasm, and in context of a skydiver talking to skydiver. Sometimes a comment is designed to get an argument or debate going and is not even the view of the poster, but someone playing “Devil’s Advocate”. A comment can be a joke and even other skydivers don’t realize it until further information is posted. Quoting a post from these forums without talking to the original poster will yield inaccurate results, will be out of context, and be a disservice to your customers. It is highly recommended that you contact the poster you wish to quote to receive more information should you desire to attribute their name to the comment. If they don’t get back to you in a timely manner, please do not quote their post verbatim or attribute their name to the comment.

Sorry, but as far as I checked, in the cloud the drops are spherical as they also are or nearly are in freefall. They have pointy ends only when just leaving from something solid like a branch, roof, etc. It's just the 120 mph impact that makes them h. Sorry, guys, that's just an old skydiver joke about pointy raindrops. That's the problem with jokes on the internet. Those little emoticons just aren't as good as tone of voice for relaying humor. I KNEW you were joking, but I also thought there was SOME truth to it, as every raindrop you ever see drawn on the weather forecasts do have pointed ends... Now, can you tell me why raindrops hurt so bad since they really look like hamburger buns... There has to be a joke somewhere in that.

Whats the address??? I am going to be in the park meadows area tomorrow for work, and I want to see it for myself.

Sorry, but as far as I checked, in the cloud the drops are spherical as they also are or nearly are in freefall. They have pointy ends only when just leaving from something solid like a branch, roof, etc. It's just the 120 mph impact that makes them hurt. I was gonna post something like, "You are wrong, rain drops are pointy, how could my third grade teacher have told me something wrong... She also told me that all the planets orbit the sun in perfect circles, as do electrons around the proton in an atom." (Theories that college science courses threw out as quickly as the earth being flat.) So I googled it.... You are right... The shape of a raindrop is the shape of a hamburger bun... http://www.fluidmech.net/tutorials/raindrops/raindrop.htm http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadRain.html http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/raindropshape.html Thanks for bursting my bubble that my third grade teacher knew it all.

Next time I judge, I am bringing sun screen. I am burned like you cannot believe. My face matches my red rig. Best part of the day - it appears my sunburn is the only injury... It was an awesome day, and thanks for the Pizza for the judges..... Congrats to everyone who did so good. Travis

I think some people are home on weeknights killing time on these forums trying to figure out if skydiving is for them... They are not yet experienced enough to get into a cypres or wing loading debate, so they start asking a lot of questions about gear, because that is a tangible object they can understand - or more importantly - want to understand... Heck, when I went to my FJC - I could successfully explain most of the objects you would find on the average rig, because I am very technical minded (and like toys and gadgets) - so between the books you can find for newbies at Amazon.com and reading these forums, I at least had the vocabulary down. Made my FJC much less intimidating and I retained a lot more info... Anyway - if someone starts asking about gear, it clearly shows they are interested in our sport, and I hate to see the usual, "ask your instructors" or "do a jump" reply, because they are trying to suck in so much info, you can tell... Why not respond with general info that won't get them in trouble instead of specific advice, like leading them to the books and websites out there that are of help so they have something to keep them busy for the night... Oh - and how do you "know" you will fall in love with skydiving... I knew... I see some people who don't know, but I knew. I spent too many hours dreaming of flying to not know flying was for me.

http://www.uspa.org/publications/forms.htm#licenses It is called an "application" on that website...

Billvon posted in the exit order thread this post, which must be about this guy....

Us other 99% want to see the video of you trying it. In all seriousness, that was a joke, I would never wish harm on anyone, and the little I know about aerodynamics and airfoils says the line sets will change the shape of the airfoil shape, which could cause the wing to do all sorts of unplanned things without someone mathematically modeling the canopy to understand what the new airfoil would look like… But don’t pay attention to me, because don’t meet your 1% criteria. I wish you luck with your creativity.

I borrowed a friends Bev for nearly 75 jumps and three and a half hours in a tunnel. Very nice of him to loan it, huh. Really good suit... I can't find one thing negative to say about it... You may want to look at Symbiosis suits out of the UK if you want something everyone else does not have... http://www.symbiosis.suits.btinternet.co.uk Call me weird, but I did not want a Bev because everyone else did have a Bev, I try to be a little unique without sacrificing quality. Even with the exchange rate, the pricing is not that bad. I am sure people online are gonna say it is not wise to buy something that might need alterations so far from home... But look at their reviews online here, they get the same comments you will find on the Bev suits from their owners… I asked around when I started looking for the suits, and found you can't go wrong with Bev and Tony.... (But I jumped with a friend who had a Tony with extra thin grippers made out of a slippery material and I could not hold on with my gloves when the exits were a little rough… Cordura or larger grippers help, especially when exits are sometimes not perfect.)

But where are the glass walls to thump against??? And the door to fall out of when doing 4way???

And the one slapping people who take grips too early... Since you asked... Pat and Mike from Dan B.C.'s camp, depending on the jump. Quade (on these forums) shot the video...

The video of the king air exits is, well, waiting to encode. The video of the otter exits, which does not quite have the same hold on for dear life, can be found at http://www.indigox.com/PPP%20Camp%20Short.wmv. I am the one with red grippers, and for the record, you are looking at my 50th thru 60th jump EVER, so don't expect Airspeed... But we got points. (This is not my current team in this video.)

Take Up Golf. Blues, Dave Oh, like TUB speech.... he he he... In our neck of the woods, it is always bowling, so out of context, it made no sense.

For all those with 2,000 4way jumps, perhaps this will bring back fun memories from your first jumps... I only have 50 4way jumps - and I am jumping on a rookie team where I am probably the second most experienced teammate (not to brag, but to show the experience level of the team in general)... So our bloopers video is the only video we seem to have... (note - I am having the time of my life and learning a lot from our coach and teammates, so no complaints.) But I have a sore body part that I never GUESSED would have been sore... My fingers! I have realized that our exits, from the King Air, are more of a wrestling match instead of the ideal exit you might see Airspeed do, or even what I have done with friends out of an Otter... Between us getting better and an Otter coming on line soon, I hope we will have better luck in the door soon… But, until then… The video shows, as a center, if I was the lucky one to actually be presented to the relative wind, I then was doing everything possible on the hill to put two other people where they needed to be... If I was the unlucky one to get cut or blow the exit, then I was holding on for dear life thru a hybrid freefly formation... Either way, my fingers and hands were doing a lot of work. 4 days after 10 training jumps, my fingers still hurt from holding on so tight... They feel just like they do after working with a tool that requires a lever to be squeezed all day long, like a staple gun. Anyway, I just thought it was funny, and some of the more experienced guys would get a "been there - done that - laugh." Have a great day. T.

This coming from the guy who took on Chris after the TUG speech, against my somewhat vigorous discouragement. Blues, Dave What is the TUG speech?

I have stayed away from this debate for a while, but you finally made me bite... Because I agree with you... Would I drive in a car without seatbelts? Yes. Would I buy a car without seatbelts? No. When in a car with seatbelts - how often do I wear them? 100% of the time. Did I ask about airbags on my car when I purchased it? Yes. Did I feel bad when I purchased a company truck when airbags were not an option? Yes. Why not stack the cards in your favor? I have been kicked in the head during freefall while doing some RW. Why risk it??? This is NOT an altitude awareness thing - this is a blacked out and cannot save my own ass thing. To stack all my cards in my favor – I would not own a rig without a cypres. Would I jump a friends rig without a cypres once in a while. Most likely.

The helmet and protrack are awesome... I have a huge (well not that huge, but considering its source I think it is huge) gash in the side from a super hard opening where the riser burned a slot in it... So glad I had it on, because I would not want to know what my ear would have looked like without it. Thanks for the link to the post about the Birdman learning process.

I am very interested in wingsuit flying, but with only 100 jumps I know I am not ready yet… But I want to start learning now, so if nothing else, I will know when I am ready. With that in mind - what would you guys recommend to someone as a learning progression??? What things can I practice now that will make a wingsuit easier to learn once I am actually using one? (Deployment, exits, tracking, etc.) What are the "prerequisites”? Is there a document somewhere that you guys could send me the link to that outlines the skills required and/or the recommended learning progression?