Levin

if you really want to go fast you should only wear the least amount of clothing possible that you feel comfortable jumping in. even a tight jumpsuit will slow you down.

get the optik from bonehead. it's the best helmet (besides my personal 1/2 rak) on the market right now. looks good, very comfortable and it has a flat side and top and internal dytter pockets. and best of all it's a bonehead!!!

where was team extreme?

(016) Raven 4 (001) Raven 2 (040) Sabre 150 (140) Sabre 135 (002) Sabre 120 (030) Spectre 120 (005) Stiletto 120 (002) Alpha 117 (325) Stiletto 107 (005) Stiletto 97 (001) Stiletto 89 (275) Alpha 84 (001) VX 79 (010) Cobalt 75 (015) FX 74 (002) Dash-M 109 one broken ankle to date

this almost what i meant. it doesn't necessarily have to be a bend at the waist. if someone has their arms to far back (a very common mistake made by begginers) then this pushes their chest forward. kinda in front of their face. this slants the person back to earth and cause forward drive. an arch that would backslide a jumper into a track would be initiated from a headdown by pushing the stomach and waist forward and bringing the arms back.

i'm sorry dan. i wasn't trying to be ugly. i was however being sarcastic becasue of the following remarks in your post... "NOT ", "(make sense?)", "(I think rightly)", and in your last sentence you did not say nationally known. you set a standard for which one skills should be judged. i probably just read your post with the wrong tone. i think you did the same with mine. your post sounded to me like you were talking down to me like i have no clue what i'm talking about. my post probably sounded pretty shitty to you. it was not meant that way. i almost want to agree with this statement, but i have to say no. i would go on reputation alone. and for any other kind of advice besides air skills i would say first, time in sport then reputation.

i didn't look at the ad so i don't know what condition the rig is in. but consider this. a dolphin in good shape may only be worth $400. but after 200-300 jumps if it's in good shape you can still get $300-$400 for it. a name brand container could cost around $1200+. after 200-300 it's worth a few hundred less.

maybe i could be wrong on this one since max and goat both think x-man is better for learning and i consider both to be more experienced than me. but i still think daffy is better for a begginer to learn first. my reason being that the first thing a begginer headdowner should learn is to fall straight down. the trade off for a daffy is increased stability and less manueverability. thus unwanted movement in a daffy caused by poor body position will be less than that in a x-man position. once a begginer has learned to fly straight and is ready to experiment with forward and backwards movement then the x-men position comes into play. maybe some begginers that have experimented with both positions would care to chime in on what works best for them.

actually...NO...that does not make sense. when you are headdown everything is opposite. if you stick your chest out it causes a forward drive. if your body is slanted with your chest out this points your chest torwards the sky and your back towards the earth. yah, met him last weekend. great guy. i recommend (i think rightly) that you learn daffy first. it is easier to learn thus saving you time and money getting the basics of the position down. who cares if you favor one leg forward. it's all personal flying style. i predominantly fly daffy with my left leg forward. i also fly x-man depending on the situation. are you saying that you can only fly symmetrically in an x-men position? both positions are symmetrical. what is more involved in a daffy for a begginer to get right? legs spread apart versus legs spread front and back. i propose that there is more for the begginer to get right learning x-man. since you are only grabbing air on two points it is more susceptable to unwanted forward and backwards movement from bad body position. does that mean it's not official if they don't pay for it. i don't charge people for coaching (however paid slots are nice). i guess that doesn't count since it is unofficial. is a 1000 jumps the 'official' measurment for determining ones skills. i don't think so. jump numbers don't mean squat.

did you try the bobbin counter clockwise ;0)

you are probably sticking your chest out. roll your shoulders forward just a little. just enough to straighten your back. arms out to your side with your forearms and hands angled slightly forward in front of you. you should barely be able to see them in your peripheal (sp?) vision. your hands should be even with or slightly lower than your elbows. i prefer slightly lower. if they are higher than your elbows than this will cause you to balance on your arms instead of your legs. if your arms are to far back it will make you stick your chest out. tuck your butt in so that you have a straight line from your neck to your tail bone. when done right you should not feel the air on your body, just your limbs. if your butt is sticking out it may create a built in drive. for starting out i recommend a daffy position for the legs. this is one leg in front and one behind. knees bent between 45 and 90 degrees. the daffy position allows you to catch air on 4 points so it is more stable.

glad to hear it. sounds like the competition is going to be tuff. what's the plan for sunday? i was planning only leaving after the competiton but if there's going to be bigways then i gotta stay.

turning my head sideways...good picture

happy birthday dan!!!

last i checked pier charged $90 for lenses. you can get the same lenses they sell from a camera store for $40

i know you and scott are competing. who's the other team?

ramon, zak and i will be there from spaceland

you were missed but it's okay. sometimes things happen at the last second that are out of our control (kinda like weather). and like everybody else said the weather wasn't exactly cooperating. shut down around 5 on sat and i think there was 1 load on sunday. however you did miss your chance at second place in the freefly scrambles. ;0) cya at dallas in a couple of weeks for the big way camp.

actually in 5 yrs i still haven't jumped a tailgate. :0(

try this for a smooth easy exit. both jumpers outside the door standing. front float has back to prop. rear float is facing front float. let go and front float rolls over backwards. rear float rolls forward over front float. when i say roll i mean transition from standing on the plane, backwards (front float,) to headdown. the key is to just drop off the plane. release your hand and remove your foot and drop straight off. if you leap off the momentum will cause a spin.

i just tried this on my freefly friendly power racer with the elastic distal (away from) to the buckle. they didn't budge. i made sure they were even. it sounds to me like your rig is defective and you should send it back to the manufacturer before you get yourself hurt. i also agree that your rigger is misinformed.

the elite 2000 is secured only by velcro on the shoulders. there is nothing securing the risers on the sides other than the velcro on the shoulders. this is fine for RW since the rig is in dead air. when freeflying the airstream opens the riser covers exposing the risers and toggles. i use a elite 2000 for jumping my tube. not by choice but it's just what i have. from my experience the 2000 elite does fine up to about 160mph. right around this speed the single piece of velcro on the shoulders peals off (happens simply because there is not enough velcro to secure the risers). when this happens i often wind up with a riser around my arm. so i just catch it around my elbow and be sure not to let it slip underneath my arm during deployment. the NOS racer has much more velcro on the shoulders and velcro all the way down the sides. it is a very secure rig and is certainly "freefly friendly"

i have why??? almost all my jumps are on racers. no problems. the previous dz where i use to jump...everybody jumps racers. actully that's just because that's what steve sold before he went to spaceland. racers are a great containers. too bad people give them a bad rap because they are different than most other containers. i've heard people say..."stay away from velcro"..."stay away from pop tops"..."stay away from 2-pin reserves" but why??? is there actaully any good factual reason to stay away from racers? i bet that most of the people that make these claims have never jumped a racer and some of those have probably never seen one in the air. therefore most people that say this probably don't have any factual information to back up their claims. it's nothing more than bad racer rumors. when you see something new or different it's easier to say that's no good than it is to learn something about it. IMO, Racers with GOOD velcro are MORE secure than most or all tuck tab rigs. on racers (with velcro) there is more surface area used to hold the rig together than tuck tabs on a tuck tab rig. if the velcro is in good condition it will not peal apart (unlike some tuck tabs on other rigs). ***all of my comments are in regards to the NOS racer. the elite 2000 has open riser covers and is meant for belly flying. the elite 2000 should not be used for freeflying (even though i do and have no problems except the occasional riser out which i have also seen on other tuck tab rigs).

oh ya. i've also jumped a javelin a couple of times. they are okay. i say...Get a RACER!!!

dude...get a RACER. I've owned 4 so far. have 3 right now. almost all my jumps are on racers. they are most comfortable and now with tuck tabs they are super secure. they are super secure with good velcro, but for some reason alot of people are scared of velcro. i've also jumped vector2, vector micron, G3, and reflex. if i ever get something besides a racer it would be a micron. the micron is a good rig. in fact i'd say it's second best next to the RACER. get a RACER!!!