sagan

Give up the booze (unpopular and not recommended) but you'll save a ton of money (if you currently drink that is). In all seriousness the more I've ever worried about money the less I had (or seemed to have). Another way to go about it is to make a list of all the activities and things that are important to you and then go back and list out what you currently are spending on that doesn't support these activities/things. That also might help to come to some other peripheral realizations -- for me it was "i want to travel" and one of the things I realized was "get job that requires travel so travel is cheaper". -Patrick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_bleaching Wikipedia knows all... -Patrick

Maybe not best for hiking but I have one of those "pop-up" tents (stop reading between the lines). I forget the company that made it but a family member got it for me as a bday present after seeing the commercials last summer on TV. Basically it works the same way as those pop-up hampers (if your in collge you know what i mean) they sell at bed bath & beyond. Literally tent in 5 seconds. All you need to do is stake it down. The particular one i have folds up into a big 3 foot circle (less than .5" thick). I bet with some effort it could be twisted somemore to fit into the side of a backpack. Oh and it sleeps 2 comfortably. Again I'm not sure it's useful for hardcore hiking as it won't have any of the fancy advanced features (not srue what they are but it seems basic to me) -Patrick

In my case that's a pretty lengthy conversation. ;) To the original poster, I think I had a very similar packing learning curve. I'm down now to about 25 minutes. I'm definitely noting a decrease in packing time with home practice. If you don't have room inside you can pack on the lawn. It's actually a pretty good weigh to tan (oh wait your in the UK there's no sun in England ) And for the record I'll still use packers on some loads if there's a tight call or I'm being coached or something. -Patrick

Sorry for the reality check but -- YOUR UNDERWATER -- you have a JOB TO DO just as if you were skydiving. Before you know it you'll be paying attention to how your skydiving position is underwater and how it is going to simulate this that and the other thing and you find yourself sinking too fast at 100FT on your way to blowing out your sinuses and/or doing other damage to yourself. I understand the spirit of your post but I figured I'd point it out -- I ski, scuba, and skydive and every time I do any of this xing stuff I've been lucky enough to have someone near me telling me something akin to what I stated above. (That said I am planning on skiing, skydiving, and going scuba on the same day ;) (yes in that order)) That said I have been known to try to put a invisible regulator into my mouth before getting into the door... -Patrick

Apparently I'm driving 20 mins further to Perris tomorrow instead of Elsinore congrats on your aff/A -Patrick

I'm not sure if it is the height or the fear of harming myself falling off that height but I too have a certain fear of intermediate heights especially. That said if I'm under canopy (one that's good :) ) I don't have an issue. On ski lifts I'll feel uncomfortable without the bar down so i think it's all a "feeling safe" vs scared of heights in some cases. Same thing in planes -- commercial flights that are bouncy can freak me out a bit... put a rig on my back and the bouncier the better (as long as we're at 5K+ and the reason it's bouncy isn't b/c we can't jump) -- again safety fear. -Patrick

Is that total # of licenses? If so that would mean everyone that has a D may be counted up to 4 times, a, b, c, d (sing it now!) right? I was going to ask about the 31K figure too, but it sounds like those are individual memberships so assume some of those people don't jump anymore or actively and others that might be interested in the sport (pilots and riggers in some cases come to mind) and halving it as suggested may be a good conservative guess. Then add up the dz's in the world and compare that to the US number. Make an assumption that there's probably more "bigger" dz's in the us then elsewhere and then make an adjustment to the 15.5K figure that you have from the US. Sorry I love making estimations and wild conjectures (they're usually way off ) -Patrick

Hey just think! -- This is the best time to end a relationship: 1) You don't have to spend any unnecessary money -- what's with that anyway? Women don't want you to spend money on them b/c love is more grand than that, but look at what happens at the poor lad that actually believes that. 2) Now you can go out and "meet" all those single chicks that are dying for a date on v-day -- your almost guaranteed a sympathy lay! Ok so I'm only half joking, emphasis on half. On a serious note, that's so true, comfort is good but unless things keep moving with random little things it gets boring so quickly. Good Luck! *Experiences may vary* -Patrick

My favorite clear goggles/glasses because I didn't like the flexz ones. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MOTORCYCLE-SUNGLASSES-GOGGLES-CLEAR-NIGHT-LENS-VENTED_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ50424QQihZ010QQitemZ200077423795QQrdZ1 I wear contacts and these worked well. The version that I have the side pieces remove so you just have the strap and its snaps right on to the frame. They also have a quick release strap so you can click it on to a helmet or chest strap on the ride to alti. -Patrick

I'm a Low # jumper and until someone said nose lines broken I didn't see it. I thought to myself the whole front looks awfully wobbly and I hope if I was sitting under that thing the mushy and deformed look would tell me it's time to cut. But, until you said what it was I was still looking at the pic thinking somethings not right but I'm not sure what it is. Wonder how long I would have done that under canopy in a real situation -- hopefully just 5-10 seconds before making a decision (to cut). So stupid follow-up question, did this jumper ever feel that the canopy wasn't really flying like it was supposed to or is this kind of mal really subtle and you wouldn't even feel the difference in control, etc? -Patrick

Wow, is the cutaway handle really that close to other stuff? "Hey ma' look i'm on the radio.. no wait that was the cutaway handle -- doh!" Looks intense. -Patrick

Cool! Thanks guys. My ex let my subscription to Skydiving Magazine run out -- idk wtf is wrong with her either?!? I just ordered a few issues of that one :) I'm still amazed that my home DZ called me on this before even Perris -- what ya all out of beer again? Bastards -Patrick

All signs point to yes, I took the little picture and magnified it in photoshop... purple grippers white jump suit. DOH! I might be busted. I think I hear the beer train. -Patrick

Thanks! I think we totally missed the boat on our original thought, or er, where the rsl is connected to to begin with -Patrick

Some serious follow up questions: I sent this to my skydiving friends immediately and I think our dialog ended up in a question. If you had an RSL in this situation, given the height would you want to disconnect it (provided you remembered)? The theory goes: does that bag the way it is, provide enough drag to pull the pin on the reserve (we assumed yes given the fact it stood the guy up out of belly). If the RSL didn't extract the pin would you potentially fire the reserve into the bag lock mal? If so would this cause a significant hazard or even if that all did happen would the reserve most likely be ok? Curious to hear some thoughts. -Patrick

wow... and everyone called me paranoid my first jump at Perris when I declared to the entire plane that I was doing a solo belly and would be pulling at 4.5K then proceeded to ask everyone on the load what they were doing and where they wanted me in the load order being a low time jumper and new to the place. i wonder if anyone on here remembers that? See Paranoia Warranted! :) Someone point this guy out to me at Perris next time? Now for the decison: A) Jump in front of the guy B) Jump behind the guy C) Get off the load if he's on the plane D) Blow the full altitude jump ticket price and ask for a hop n pop -Patrick

To take off on the complacency and safety messages -- Make sure you ARE distinguishing between being nervous (normal as others have said) and feeling rushed/unprepared. I know that wasn't part of your original question and I'll let others weigh in... to me, feeling rushed (trying to make a load, having people expect you to jump at green without looking and taking your time) is something you CAN control and is something you should not get used to. Any others have thoughts? -Patrick

I've had the gFX do some crazy things on me. Here's some nuances. (I've had about 80 jumps with mine now) 1) It doesn't have an on/off switch. It's supposed to do everything automatically including ground adjust itself. However there's no reassuring way to see that it's currently reading 0 feet. If it's off it'll show a reading on the ground and then you can go to do a ground reset. 2) I've had erroneous readings on the way to altitude. On my first cessna jump with it it jumped to say it was at -270 Feet when we were at 9000 feet. (ground temp that day was 30) 3) It always seems like it reads 100 or 150 feet lower than any other alti on the plane including my analog and other digitals. 4) It gets really confused on hop 'n pops. Don't bring it for those jumps. 5) No backlight -- ALL THE ADS SHOW THIS - BUT IT IS NOT A FEATURE 6) I've emailed skytronic several times about nuances and other questions and have never received a response. Good Stuff 1) Canopy alerts. 3 alerts you can set on top of your 3 freefall alrerts 2) Easy to navigate menu 3) Time & Temp so it doubles as a watch (a compass would have made it super cool) 4) Small 5) Good wrist mount (although it costs too much.. it's a piece of plastic with elastic on it, it should come with that. 6) Easy to read 7) Lots of options Overall I have a bit of gear fear of it and wouldn't recommend it. I feel like I got a handle of some of the nuances so I use it to confirm what my eyes are seeing -- nothing more. The person that I bought it from bought several and has had nothing but good things to say (but that dz is also in warmer weather) Hope that helps patrick (should probably turn this into a review) -Patrick

The skytronic GFX that I have has 3 different settings as well in case anyone was interested in that audible (i wouldn't buy it again though). Alternatively you could add more foam padding to your helmet where the audible is to drown out some of the noise if the alarm is too loud for you. That or lightly wrap the audible in foam (just make sure it still reads correctly when you do this). As for wearing ear plugs I would think there's two downsides: 1) inner ear balance problems since you can now only equalize through nose/mouth 2) under canopy I think I would want to be able to hear very clearly in case someone is yelling at me under canopy or what not -- that's actually the reason why it took so long for me to wear a ski helmet when skiing -- i felt that hearing was more valuable than not hearing and having some more safety (along the same lines of logic as the rifle range post). -patrick -Patrick

I just think the first jumper shouldn't intentionally downwind it (in the main landing area) since they are setting landing direction for everybody at that point, not themselves. Interesting you mention that as I just observed that very behavior for the first time at a boogie this past week. The response from the first person down was "well I was the first one down". The response for the second person was, "yea but you also hooked a 270 to do it." I hung in brakes and watched the melee. I think 8 landed north and 6 landed south. The only thing good about it was that it seems like everyone recognized this on their base before turning final and spread out appropriately. For the record I landed north, but a hundred yards out of the way from either group. -- I rather walk a little bit after every jump instead of being close and not being able to walk anymore. (This one couldn't have been solved as easily by telling everyone on the load to land north btw as there were two loads that were landing and the group of north and south was mixed between both.) -Patrick

I wonder if the 50mph ground winds at Perris today have anything to do with it? Just a guess (I'm bummed too) -Patrick

That was my exact question at Perris and Elsinore both when I first got there a few weeks back. They were both accommodating just like any other dz I've been to. In fact last time at Perris at the Square One store there was a guy in there that said he never deployed below 5.5K and he didn't mention any issues about it. Can't wait for the xmas boogie as bad weather has limited jumping (grrrr) -Patrick

Just an opinion -- but having only come off student status last year here's some observations about why some newer jumpers may perceive the cost as steep. My current jump #'s are B license 98 jumps (i know, close to beer) 1) When your in student status your still very overwhelmed. Your concentrating on new skills, a new hobby, friends, etc. Your thinking about how to get through the expensive lessons. However it seems like most students haven't thought about it beyond the lessons. It's not get your A and your done with lessons, rentals, gear, etc, and it's $20/jump. I think that's an illusion I had. 2) A jumper at my home dz said it well -- other "extreme sports" that skydiving gets compared with have a very different entry cost. Think skateboarding. Kid sees x games, kid goes to walmart with $20 and same day later he's ripping up his knees on pavement. Not the same thing in this sport. Again I think some people have illusions that it becomes "cheap" eventually. 3) The sport is very multi-disciplined now. Some of which requires specific gear. 4) Emphasis on safety makes some think new gear and more gizmos will reduce the risk. (Debate away) 5) After student status I feel I kinda got dumped out into the real world without an understanding on what I really needed in the next 200 jumps. (funny thing is all i had to do was go to someone and say "i don't have a clue can you talk to me about gear" and everything was better right away) 6) I don't think it's as obvious how much time in the sport one can spend (limitless) and therefore that will require a hefty chunk of change. Does that maybe contribute to some oversight about what the sport will cost per year on going? i.e. get A, get gear = x amount, on going per year making y number of jumps a year is going to cost z factoring in maintenance, beer, jump tickets, coaching/tunnel, etc. 7) Lack of factoring in the long term (similar to 6) but this time from the perspective of current height, weight, wingloading, etc. In my case I could very well justify buying certain items new as I couldn't possibly outgrow them any time soon. I think lighter jumpers tend to outgrow their gear faster? (opinions?) For the record at around 45 jumps i got new container (off brand, less bells), new reserve(due to good deal), aad (vigil for cost, but would have grabbed old cyp1 otherise), and used main. The total rang in under $4K. Given my height, weight, and how i asked the container to be sized it will fit me for 2 downsizings which won't be fully realized until at least 750 jumps given my off student wing loading was already 1.1. Wow that became a long rant. Sorry, thanks for reading it down to here! -Patrick

ditto...but i wanted to see if my reaction was misguided I do get it, it's hard to fly over the ocean where the ground reference isn't as good, and it is impressive to swoop and land in a 5ft x 5 ft box (vs. using an accuracy 7 cell canopy and touching in) Interesting stunt nonetheless -- i would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when they thought of it. So first, we're gonna get you to swoop on the beach... no wait, over the ocean... yeah over the ocean, and onto a small target... yeah that's it, maybe a cage -- wait, that's perfect.. and then after that let's attract a bunch of hungry sharks around the cage -- yea that's an awesome idea! Having my advanced open water and being lucky enough to actually dive with sharks on occassion, i don't mean to belittle the stunt, people involved, etc. Maybe it's just an interesting reflection on our society today that a stunt like that just really isn't that interesting to anyone -- including scuba and skydiving folks. -Patrick