MarkM

My rig is worth about double what my car is worth. Just shows we have the proper priorities

Move to FL, no state income tax.

Was pulling at 5k until this weekend(AFF grad) where a coach brought me down to 3500. I see lots of people pulling at 4k and above on loads though, they just tend to exit last.

I think the issue isn't what they know, but what they don't know and not knowing that they don't know it. I got in a bad off landing yesterday that could've easily led to an incident(landed next to a busy highway and my canopy partially went up onto the road). I got into that situation because of things I didn't know, stuff that wasn't obvious to me at the time but sure as hell is today. I'm sure I have a lot more of those mistakes to make and there will be a lot more things that are obvious to me after I make those mistakes. If I teach people then, I can help to make sure they avoid those potential mistakes or work to minimize the consquences of them. If I try teach them today, I don't know about those mistakes so I could actually end up leading them into those dangers.

Actually on that "don't flare" bit, ask your instructors about that instead of just assuming it. I'm on a 160 canopy now loaded at 1.05 and if I ever didn't flare, I'm guessing I'd be in a world of hurt. Is that 190 canopy yours or a rental? Your profile says you have a 170.

Maybe Yoga. I don't think it's strength so much as you're using muscles in freefall that you don't normally work.

You got laid once, did nine jumps and owe 8 cases of beer? Not a bad weekend at all. Oh well, if that's the way the numbers work I did 0:8: and 2.5 Found out what I thought a case a beer was is really only half a case(hey, I don't normally drink beer) So I still owe 1 case for landing on the tarmac on my AFF grad jump from a month back, half a case for the first jump on my own gear(yesterday) and for landing off in a really bad out today(caused by get-home-itis) not only do I owe a case of beer, I also owe pizza. So this upcomming weekend at SOBE's gravity party the free beer and pizza will partially be on me

Ya you guys need priorities. No partying on a weekend of potential good jumping, you may need to get out to the DZ early for a full day of diving Did 2:6. 2 on Sat because the winds early on in the day were a bit high and only 6 on Sunday because while I showed up at the DZ at 9am, apparently some people were nursing hangovers and sleeping in so we didn't have enough to make a load til a little bit after that. Still, was an awesome day for jumping.

The whole point of the safety and training forum isn't a feel good conversation or even to be "right" in an arguement, but to have discussions that challenge people's ideas and preconceptions. To get people to think about things in a way they wouldn't have before. The important point isn't whether or not you agree with Ron or how Ron discusses things, but whether Ron puts forward a position that makes you think.

Skydive Goshen: Paula and Bo are the coolest people. Skydive Fort Wayne: AJ once put a plane up when I was the only one that showed up on a weekday afternoon(I was a SL student and he had to call in a jumpmaster). Skydive America: The vibe was cool and it was the sort of place you could crash at the entire weekend, leave the world behind. Skydive South Beach: Very cool people, great vibe, they just need to finish getting the old SD America bunkhouse so you can crash at the DZ for the entire weekend and leave the world behind

Suzuki SV650S.

It's mostly biology. What we call "attractive" is really just someone who has good genetic traits. For a guy, an attractive woman would be a great place to land the genes so we're really wired up for looks. For women, it's part looks and also the ability for the guy to provide for them for those first years of child rearing. But biology is smarter than just that. Even though everyone can recognize the perfect genetic mate, very few of us are perfect ourselves. So our definition of what's attractive adapts to what's within our own range of attractiveness. Otherwise we'd never mate and produce offspring. I'm too short and scrawny to land a supermodel girlfriend unless I became a rock star or got really rich and powerful, but that's okay because while I might think a super model is hot, a quirky geeky chick is what really gets my motor running. Saying "I'm looking for personality" I think is a cop out, because that would assume that an attractive person wouldn't have a good personality, which is silly. Many of them do. It's just our brain is wired into people on our own level, so when we see someone that's a genetic hit for us they have that "personality" we want(sparks fly).

That's me, born on March 5th. Pretty exact description(only off on the musically inclined), though I somehow doubt everyone born today has the same personality and is good looking to boot.

Heh, 5'6" and 142lbs here. At least my rig don't mind, that's all that really matters

Yep. The whole reason I started skydiving is to get away from the stress in the rest of my life. Why would I want to add the stress of having to do X and Y on a dive to be "successful"? If FF starts to get too structured, maybe we'll need to invent something new. Call it ZooFlying or something. Then after a few years when the Zoo competitions and Zoo coaches turn it too structured, something else will come up that the fun jumpers can screw around with. I guess ya just gotta keep ahead of the curve

What about gear rental, coaching, video, bunks? What if in the future you end up with a class of yuppie jumpers that only jump a couple weeks a year as a vacation, sort of like ski resorters. They'd rent all their gear(rig, altimeter, goggles, helmet), always need refresher coaching when they showed up, etc. Could the sport support that or would it just be too dangerous because of the lack of currency? Is skydiving just limted to 1 jump tandemers and people who show up at the DZ at least once a month or will it expand into other types of jumpers?

Website links: http://www.skydivehinton.com/ http://www.skydivedallas.com/ http://www.skydivetulsa.com/ You can see a full list of dropzones at: http://www.uspa.org/dz/index.htm

No offense to the old days, but I think the sport is 10x safer today than it was back then. I'm sure there are a lot more people in the sport now, a lot more jumps going on per day than 13 years ago, but the number of fatalities per year seems to have stayed at around 30-ish since 1990. Part of that is most definately gear(the old timers tested what worked and what didn't for us noobs today), part of that might be better training(getting my A today is a lot more involved than when I started in 2000 and I don't believe a coach rating existed then), and part of it could also be a lower tolerance of certain risky behaviors. Part of the "I deserve good gear, safe airplanes and experienced pilots at a reasonable price, I got rights" thing might be an evolution of the above, the sport is getting safer and more mainstream. 13 years ago how many people in the general population ever made even one jump? Now with tandems being common a lot of people have. I wouldn't be suprised if at some point skydiving doesn't become as popularized as snowboarding or skiiing. I personally wouldn't mind that at all, because prices would likely stay low and it'd mean more places to jump and more ways of jumping(heck, we got a heli coming to my home DZ in a week or so, how many times back in the old days did you get to do heli jumps?). But the downside to the sport getting more popular is when the beamers start to show up in the DZ parking lot those people are going to feel entitled to good gear, experienced pilots and safe planes. Of course, the DZs at that point should be making enough money to support all of that.

I own 2 glocks that I think would both be good for a woman. A glock 19C which is a compact compensated 9mm glock. It has the recoil of a water pistol. I have a glock 26 which I used to use for carrying. It's an even smaller 9mm glock, called a baby glock by some, and would fit perfectly in a purse. The recoil is a little snappier than the 19C, but I think they also now have a compensated model for it(compensated means it has gas vents on the top which push the gun down when you fire, lessening the recoil). I think there's a girl on this site that owns a glock 26C. She can probably give you a good perspective on how it works for a woman.

I'm "scary" on a .75 loaded canopy. Guess I should think about upsizing, huh?

Yeah, that's why I got my Cypres. I really doubt I'll ever get knocked out, though that's a risk, but as a low time jumper I am at a decent risk for a "stupid mistake". I've never once missed my pull altitude, by any amount, and I'm determined never to do that, but I think you have to look realistically at your skill level and assess what's likely to kill you.

I’m here to kick ass and chew bubblegum... And I’m all out of bubblegum.

Because animals can't give consent. Can 10 year old humans fight for profit?

I financially support the birth and raising of cows, pigs and chickens across the US. You too can support the life of a young cow, chicken or pig. Please go to your local grocery store and buy a steak, pork chop or chicken breast. Without your continued support, millions of these majestic animals will never be born in the future years to come.

So you're saying that if an AAD misfires the fault is in that you wore a reserve parachute? I guess you could look at it that way. I'm not anti-AAD, I just spent 1350 on one two days ago, because I'm a lowbie jumper and I should be wearing one. But while the disclaimer says: Then I don't think they should be manditory. It's just opinion, no real right or wrong to it, and in 10 years if AAD reliability improves as much as it has in the last 10 then I might even change it. I'm just uncomfortable with the idea of forcing people to use tech that could kill them for what may be, for their situation, small benefits.