spidrmnky

Any reason to not go with a Pilot 150?

here is a brutal Stiletto 150 opening http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWj7p8YKnlA I think that's exactly what I said!

Thanks for all the info guys! and in response to my skill level before taking a break last year... I had about 250 jumps and I think around 30 BASE. I've jumped a Sabre 2 150 before and it was great (I'm only about 160lbs so I'm petty comfortable at this size). I guess a bigger concern is performance of canopies like the Stilleto 150 which kicked my ass with a hard opening and faster speed back in the day.

I got out of skydiving for about a year and sold my old sabre 150 and need to get back in! I was looking to buy a newer sabre 2 150, but is there something better out there or comparable to it? I'm not looking for anything crazy, just a clean open and nice landing.

Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while.. I've been super busy with school. Here's a message from his dad, Jim, that I recieved today... Matt is continuing to improve. He is still at Craig Hospital in Denver. We had our big meeting with the staff last week. They noted that Matt made good progress last week. He knows everyone and his speech has gotten to where if you didn't know it, you may not know he had the injury. He still has a long way to go. His brain was injured in 3 areas. It takes time for these to heal up. He seems to really be coming around that way. I can tell that although he has made miraculous leaps, especially from where we have come in a month. These guys at Craig are real pro's. They understand the issues and can zone in on how to make real progress. The things that are hard on Matt tend to be things that over stimulate him. If it is too noisy or too many people he can get somewhat agitated. So far however, so good. There has not been any seizures since his original one when he crashed and that is particularly good news. They think he will be there until the beginning of May. He just had a 5+ hour surgery on his right leg yesterday. He severely broke both bones above the ankle. He has been in a fixator (outside apparatus bolted to his leg and heel to keep them straight)since the night of the crash. They took that one off, but replaced it with even a bigger contraption. It is connected, from the outside, to his leg in numerous places. It hurts like hell. He can give himself pain meds at the push of a button. He doesn't want anyone near his bed as you may touch it and that shoots pain up his leg. The heal cast on his left leg has been replaced by a "boot" to allow him to move his ankle. It will be many weeks before he can put significant weight on either leg. hope this helps, -Nic

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted an update in a while... I've been super distracted. But Hecker is doing really good. He's definitely come out of his post traumatic amnesia and is able to remember things a ton better than he was doing. For example, the nurse came in and he was able to tell her where he was and even the date. He almost seems like the old Hecker, whith the exception of him being a little more crude and tempermental. He's going to have surgery for his right leg and ankle on Tuesday at one and will be down for a few days, but after that it will be all recovery. Unfortunately, that recover is going to last probably until early May before they let him out. He's doing all kinds of therpy now and they still are discouraging visitors to prevent a relapse of what they've accomplished... sorry guys. But we're hoping about a week or two after the surgery we can start working people in there. He received the frame with the signatures and picture today and was impressed with everyones encouragement and was super excited. So thanks to everyone who contributed to that. Until then, Nic

Hey guys, I saw Hecker yesterday and will hoepfully go down again today. He was doing alright, not talking a whole lot, but kinda with it. Adam Foster came to visit and he knew him right away and was excited to see him. I'm not sure what the current satus is on the visitor thing, but they didn't seem to have a problem with Adam, they just told him to make it quick. I'll check on the visitor thing, but hey, Adam got in. I left Hecker's phone by him last night by accident and ended up getting 2 phone calls and a text message from him at like 1 in the morning, so sorry if any of you got some random calls, unless you enjoyed hearing from him... I thought it was funny. I was told that the surgery for his other leg is to be on the 6th or 7th, so after that, it's all recovery. Yay!... here's a letter from Jim... Matt is doing pretty good considering he had surgery on his left heal on Wed. The recovery is very painful for him. The anesthesia and the pain have set him back a bit in the brain recovery world. He is agitated and in pain. They are trying to manage the pain for optimal therapeutic recovery. His sentences do not always make much sense. He seems to know everyone that comes in. Sometimes he needs a little help with that but not much. Brain injuries are very interesting. The prognosis is still good. Just a long game. I must admit that sometimes what he says doesn't make any sense at all yet it just makes you start to giggle and laugh uncontrollably. It is more funny if he is laughing too, which has not been the case the past few days. It will get better this week then in 8 days he'll need surgery on his right leg and there will be a normal regression because of that. At least we can expect some of those hills and valleys. He is watching some movies and TV shows on DVD. And he asked me for a notebook yesterday and wanted to know the elevations of the Craig and Denver Gen hospitals. He wrote them down,,, I don't get it but he had to know and wrote it down. We see progress everyday. I like seeing progress. I am very thankful for all you guys, and all the good and hopeful thoughts and prayers you have sent Matt's way. 'til then, Jim

The rambeling is mostly from the trama his brain received. The doc came in and explained it a little better and said the areas affected were the frontal lobe, both temporal lobes, and the right hemisphere occipital lobe. I attached a file that explains where and what each lobe is responsible for, more or less. Until then, -Nic

Hey guys, I'm glad I was able to get that picture up to show you how great he was doing yesterday--before the surgery. Any surgery is a serious thing and seeing Hecker today reminded me of that. He's really hurting and they're doing their best to lower the pain and keep him out of it. When he does come around, you really just want them to put him back under because of how bad it's hurting him... plus we're still having to remind him that his pain is the result of a surgery and why he had it. It's all part of the big picture and is a step toward being fully healed, so Hecker just needs to hang in there and heal fast. Until then, -Nic

Hey, I'm still workin' on finding out about what drugs he's on, they switch 'em when he transfered doctors, but he is on something. Until then, here's a letter from his dad, Jim. Matt is in Craig hospital, and at times seems like his old self. He is communicating although some of the words and sentences do not make a lot of sense. There is some jumbled stuff in there. From where we were a week ago, this is spectacular. He has his sense of humor. He thought he was in Wisconsin yesterday. I guess we had not given him the bigger picture. We told him he was in the hospital but not what state the hospital was in. He had a 3 hr surgery on his left heal and is still in the recovery room as I write this. He will be kind of out of it the rest of the evening. They already have him doing 3 hrs of therapy each day. Physical, ocuupational and speech. Maybe they can teach him how to spell. I can tell you how fortunate I feel. He is in a great place and probably will be here for 6-8 weeks. He needs to get more of a handle on what happened and what is happenning. Julie thinks he knew he was having surgery but not quite why and how come. The docs here have said he cannot have any additional blows to the head for at least 18 months. They could be fatal. I think I mentioned before, they tell us this will be a marathon. He will be wheel chair bound for about 3 months. That probably works because I'm sure it will hurt like mad to stand. Each day is better! I still can't tell you how much I appreciate the prayers and well wishes. You guys are something else. I love you guys. 'till then' Jim P.S. I threw a pic of Hecker on this post. It was taken today before surgery. I think he looks a little sketchy until you zoom in.

Hey guys, I should have done this a while ago and I forget that you guys aren’t seeing him everyday, so here’s a better update in response to questions I’ve received. Hecker is more or less on a normal sleep schedule and is awake most of the day looking around and talking occasionally, this can range from a little to a lot and not all of it makes sense. When he decides that he’s tired, he’s tired. He’ll stop paying attention to people around him and just stare off or roll over and take a little nap. He feeds himself, but doesn’t really have that big of an appetite. As far as when he IS awake and active, he’s a ton of fun to be around and jokes and does funny things that he may not be aware of, but we at least find him humorous. Alex and I think the reason they stopped the phone calls was because it was getting later and he becomes more agitated than the nurses want him to be, but during the day, we’re hoping they won’t have a problem with it. As far as being able to remember the accident, he’s telling people basically what he’s been told and we don’t think he really knows what happened. He’s done this with other things where he’ll give an answer, then say “I don’t know, that’s what they told me.” Even remembering people can be a challenge for him occasionally, or it could be an issue with him processing the memory and being able to say a name. It was around the third day that Hecker sat up and said “Hi Nic” and just yesterday he had some difficulty saying Alex’s and my name. So we’re not really sure what’s going on there. The reported injuries are a tibia, fibula fracture to his right leg in addition to shattering off pieces of his talus bone of his right ankle when the tibia slammed into it. He also fractured his calcaneus bone or heel bone of his left foot. His left foot is expected to have surgery tomorrow where as the right leg and foot need to heal more and repair the soft tissue surrounding the breaks before they do surgery. He’ll definitely be sitting out for a while and will probably be calling on Russel to learn some wheelchair tricks. In Denver Health they had a 24 hours sitter and they continue to monitor him by cameras now at Craig Hospital next door to Swedish. Reasoning behind this is he still isn’t able to fully grasp that he’s in a hospital and tries to get out of bed occasionally or move around, putting his legs in compromising situations when they’re incapable of any load bearing. His left leg is rolled up with a sort of temporary cast on and the right leg, I don’t know if I ever said this, received surgery the first night and has an external fixator consisting of rods, pins and clamps holding his tibia and fibula in place, meaning he has four big rods coming out of his leg that he bumps every once in a while. He still has the catheter in down below and I’m sure you believe me when I say he doesn’t like it one bit, but he doesn’t seem to mess with it as much anymore. I heard something about that being taken out in the next couple days. I hope this helps and I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner, but if you guys have any question please don’t hesitate to e-mail me and I’ll do my best at getting back to you or letting everyone know depending on the question. Until then, -Nic

I forgot to say his move to Craig was a success and he has a nice big room at the moment all to himself. Also, I must say... the nurse watching over him, very cute.

Hecker continues to be goofy Hecker, but he was very intersted in Alex's and my phone so we let him make a few phone calls today. He wasn't making a whole lot of sense, as can be verified by Chris Pope and Adam Foster who were 2 of the few people he called before the nurse made us stop. He should be recieving surgery on his left heel on Wed. and his right leg and ankle still need to heal a little more before surgery is performed. I'm not expecting any significant changes in the near future, but I will let you guys know how his first surgery goes. Until Then, -Nic

Hecker was much more awake today, still doesn't know what's going on, but a lot more talkative. He kept provoking his dad and me into pushing him faster in the wheelchair and was saying some quite entertaining things. He had his sister and I laughing plenty today and a enjoyable visit was quite a relief. I've been recieving some very encouraging messages from friends and I'll continue to pass on the supportive words to Hecker. They keep reminding us that this is going to be a marathon and not a sprint, but we can't help but notice even the subtlest light turning on in that intricate brain of Hecker's. Thanks guys, -Nic

There really isn't a whole lot of news on Hecker. He didn't sleep a whole lot last night so he was kinda out of it today since we were trying to keep him awake to prevent him from becoming too nocternal. We had him in a wheelchair for a while and he wanted to wheel himself all over the hospital (even though he doesn't know that's where he is yet). It gets really frustrating when all you want is for him to understand so we can stop fighting him to cooperate with certain things. Every once in a while he looks really frustrated like he knows something's wrong but he can't figure out what it is. He'll come out of it soon and I just wish every one of his friends could be there to provide the support and reassurance he needs. Also, in case anyone wanted to visit; they've been limiting visitors to only direct family and Alex and myself. So hopefully when he gets to Craig things will be different, but visiting hours are only 5-9 at night. Please contact either Alex or me if you're planning on coming down so we can make sure there will be time to get you in. Thanks again, you guys are awesome. -Nic

Hey guys, Hecker continues to improve and they were able to transfer him out of the SICU and into a room where they have a really great tech watching him 24 hours a day, instead of just checking in on him every once in a while. They have him off IV medication and let him stay awake and kicking all day. He's doing great at recognizing people and responding to certain questions. He did a decent job of feeding himself with assistance and remains the same sarcastic Hecker we all love. The best head trama recovery place around is Craig and we're excited to have him transfered there on Monday. Thanks all, -Nic Me to Hecker "Hecker, stop faking." Hecker, "Shut up, Garcia!"

Hi guys, It's Alex. Hecker had an awsome day of actually sitting in a chair with his hands untied (he had to be in restraints this whole time, to keep him from pulling on the wrong tubes). He has been saying hi to his family and friends and capable of saying the right names. He also mentioned a "paragliding crash" today. All in all he's doing much better mentally, but he still has a long way to go. Thanks everybody for all the support, you all rock. Slider up, Alex

Hey guys, the following is a e-mail update from Hecker's dad, Jim. It is Wednesday morning. I have not talked to the hospital yet today. Matt seemed more "clear" yesterday. He still does not really know who anyone is or where he is. The frontal brain injuries do that. He is restless and squirming around, trying to get his casts off. It must be very confusing to be him right now. His hands are dexterous and he seems to like playing with a plastic ball. He is eating and drinking. That is good. I did see him smile at something either yesterday or the day before. He may be moved today from ICU to a step down unit. Then hopefully to a rehab facility. Craig hospital here in Denver is one of the best. We hope to get him in there. He will not have surgery on his leg and heal for at least another week. They want the soft tissue to heal more then it is easier to fix the bones. His arm and wrist are NOT broken, just a nasty bruise, that is good news. I can't tell you how much the prayers and well wishes have meant. I appreciate it so much. I am going to play with the band on Friday eve for our 10th anniversary gig, at the little bear. I'm going to play my heart out and send some rock n roll good vibes to Matt. More later 'till then Jim

hey guys, no real news to report. Hecker's doin' basically the same, but is able to eat some stuff now. He still isn't really awake or anything, but it's good that we're able to feed him.

UPDATE!!! So Hecker has been doing great today and when he turned and looked at me I said Hey Hecker and he looked me in the eyes and said "Hi Nic"... he did that again later and was also able to tell me that we were watching one of our earlier movies, Vision. He also said a line of one of the songs with the movie. We got him to drink some juice using a straw and we've been feeding him ice chips. They're doing a swallowing test tomorrow and if all goes well, as expected, he'll be eating some real food. Thanks again for the support. -Nic

ATTENTION!!! Hey guys, thanks again for all the support. Hecker is continuing to improve and was kinda able to say what time it was when his mom, Julie, asked as he was grabbing at her arm. Every once in a while he'll really focus on people and I was talking to him and asked if he was doing okay and he just said "Yeah" very distincly. There really isn't a whole lot else to say. They tried to get him some food by putting a tube back in him, but if you guys really know Hecker, you'll know he didn't go for that very long and yanked it out as soon as it was in. He's really out of it for the most part, but we're really hoping for the best. Thanks again. -Nic

UPDATE! So, Hecker is doin' great!!! He is definately responding to peoples questions... kinda. He yanked his food tube, so there aren't any tubes in him... besides the evil one down below. But I was in there with his mom and when she said "Matt! Hey Matt!" he turned his head and said "Whaaat!"... a typical response to his mother meaning what the hell do you want from me?! The physical theripist did a sternum rub on him and got him to tell her his name. And he said a couple titles of the music we had him listening to. So awesome news as far as him progressing, but as stated above... there is some room for the unknown and further damage that's unseen. He can use prayers, support relayed through me, letters we'll read to him, anything. Keep the questions and info coming. -Nic

UPDATE! I'll be sure to pass the above on... Hecker is doin' pretty good. He was gettin' a little aggitated and decided to pull his breathing tube out and he's strong enough now that they're fine with that. He's still very much out of it, but I was in the room when he said his first "words" when I was helping put his broken leg back on the bed. Thanks for the support. -Nic

hey, also if you guys haven't checked out his latest movie you should get on that. Sorry to not post a link... but it's "The FRASCA Story" on skydivingmovies.com Russel, you should like the footage of you and our "practice throw"

UPDATE! So Hecker is doing about the same. He had a temperature in the morning and some swelling of his arm, but they gave him some drugs for that and are working on getting some new x-rays to make sure he didn't fracture his arm. Good stuff... they took out the pressure gadge and they are hoping to take him off the ventilator tomorrow. Still not awake, but we're hoping for the best soon. Again, feel free to contact me or Alex and we'll do our best to keep all his friends informed and worry free.