Vectracide

carpool? There might be others as well. I have a trailer with 3 slots if peeps want to help me cover fuel costs. Then again, I might just take the 83 Chevy Cavalier stationwagon and sleep in the back. Stu, what plans, if any, do you have for housing? ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

First of all, I have had both reserves, but only saw the color of one of them. I have no allegiance to either, but I have to say something here. The Smart is not new. Compared to the PD reserve, it is newER, but hardly new. Now under that train of thought, perhaps we should still be flying the mains of 10+ years ago and not all the new canopies that show up on a regular basis. Reserves undergo the most aggressive testing of any one canopy made by a specific company. To put one on the market means it has been in existence for several years and has 1000's of jumps in R&D. The Smart probably had more thourough testing than the PD reserve did, only because of advancements in the sport and technology. That brings me to another point. You say that the Smart is new technology. I don't quite understand your comment here, as the Smarts design is more like a conventional ram air canopy than the PD is. Hang both up next to a common place square, like a Sabre, and you will see striking similarities in design between the Smart and the Sabre. Then look at the cell shape and design of the PD compared to the Sabre. They are nothing alike. I'm serious about this. Get a demo from Smart and hang it up next to the PDR and look at the different characteristics with your rigger. Let him tell you what he thinks. Then go fly both of them. There is nothing like experience to satisfy the mind. Now in reference to deployments outside the stated max weight, and speed, there is a buffer there. All canopies are tested and TSO'd over their max limits. Tested until they destroy themselves. Then the manufacturers set a limit based their findings. Both the PD and Smart will survive max+ deployments.....but that doesn't mean one should. Its a built in safety factor for the manufacturer. If i was to make one statement about technology, it would be that Smart is doing very well, if anything is over built, and that the PD needs to refine their design some. But then again, why fix it if it ain't broke? PDR's have saved more lives than the Smart has had the opportunity to. Both work very well and will save your ass if you pull it out in time. I say call PD and chat with them about it. Then call Smart and chat with them as well. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Im not sure we are referring to the same thing. When it is not in swoop mode, it will give you audibles based on what you have it set at (freefall). When swooping it will go off at whatever alti you have it set at if you are on the wall in a dive. Now, if you have it in swoop mode and it goes to a freefall audible, yes there is a problem with that. Send it back if that is what it is doing. But if its just making noise because you are in a swoop dive and not in swoop mode....deal with it....its doing what its is supposed to do. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Happens every time on my dytter. No big whoop. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Yeah, the liquid is thick, but the real reason it hurt so goddamn bad is that it was in the thumb. And to all those that think I'm being a wuss, take a safety pin and shove it into the end and sides of your thumb. 3 times. Let me know how that goes.... ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

At this point, "unfortunately" is not a word I am thinking of. The cats that meet this condition are in the same category of a rat to me now. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Hey Bazza, I just finished making my first weight belt with 8 2lb individual weight pouches that have pull tabs on them to make them easier to get out. You interested in someone making you a belt, or the pouches themselves? Give me a PM if you want. As far as alternatives, you can get Bizmuth shot from a reloading store. Its almost as dense as lead, but much more expensive. Read about it herehttp://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/Elements/083/index.s7.html ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Well, you owe me an apology as well. According to you I am naive individual that allows himself to be screwed. Then you took the opportunity to turn my PD post of praise into your personal PD bashing opportunity. Now you say you didn't mean to, but, in fact, that is exactly what you did. Thats too bad. With that said, I don't believe you will find a company that will just hand over a new canopy just because I bought a used canopy that is damaged. Which brings me to my other point. I never said the canopy was manufactured wrong, or defective was your unfounded SPECULATION. You have no knowledge whatsoever about the this issue. The previous owner could have overloaded it on a regular basis thus creating damage to the fabric panels themselves. Who knows. PD is going to find out. I'm happy with what I was offered, because in the end, I'm still ahead of the game with cash output when it comes to owning a new Katana and I dealt with people at PD that were really cool and helpful. What really really gets me is that everytime someone trys to be positive on this site, this happens. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

So I did some reading on the whole rabies thing....and pretty much scared myself into getting the prophilactic post exposure treatment. I got it today at noon, and boy.....that was a hoot. Ya see, I got bit in the thumb, right on the side edge of the nail. As part of the shots you get on your first visit, on particular one is called the gammaglobulin shot. It has to be injected in and around the bite site. Holy friggin JESUS does needles being slowly inserted into the end of your thumb hurt. One of the shots came in from the side and seemed to be injected just under the nail. All this with no numbing. Fuck that hurt. The other three shots, one in the arm and the other 2 in each buttcheek were no big deal. Only 6 more shots to go spread over the next month. Wheeeeeeee......... ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

So I live in the unicorporated county area. There are a couple small farms around and I have 2.5 acres myself. I am no stranger to the country life, as I was raised with livestock and continue that tradition with my own family as well. So here is my delimma. I have been dealing with ferrel cats for some time, and have effectively gotten rid of alot of them with a live trap and the pound. There is one little bastard that no matter what I do, keeps finding its way back to my property. Now its not just a matter of a cat on my grass.....who cares about that. Its the damage the little fucker does to my place. He rips into my trash every chance he gets, shits under my deck and trys to dig under the areas blocked off to under the house, he used to beat the shit out of my other cat when I had him (now dead due to car) and sprays his stench inside my barn making it smell quite badly. I have captured him 3 times now using a live trap. First time I took him to the pound. Amazingly enough, it was back days later. Somehow, some the little bastard was acutally looked for and returned. Second and third time, I took him down to the river (about 1 mile down the road) and booted him out of the trap. The last time, was about 30 minutes ago. Now this time, I'm really pissed cause the sonofabitch bit me thru my gloves and drew blood. Not a big deal to have him tested for rabies.....if he hadnt gotten away from me. I was really wishing I had my shotgun with me, cause to be honest, for the sake of finding out if he had rabies, I would have smoked the fucker. So the big question here is, if I catch him again, what sentence shall the nasty flea bitten, mangy bitch get. You decide this cats fate. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Well, that was the plan when I bought it in January. Since then, I have only been able to jump it 15 times, and I might have to throw out those jumps in my head and start from scratch again. I'm not sure that the canopy was performing like it was designed to do, so I dont want to pick up where I left off. To make a long story short....I'm not sure I will have enough time to get my shit dialed in for comps. Need some sun. ps. Hey, when was Ian thinking of coming out? ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Well, alot of individuals living outside our beloved America see what they want to see, and have no problem critizing it accordingly.....with no due regard to the facts that are right out in the open. I see your little smilely face there, but it's another smiley face in a long line of smileys that are preceeded with an anti-american sentiment. Forgive me for saying, but its getting real old. Especially when its from our "family". ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

I have heard in passing, and read on here that the PD customer service people will go the extra mile for their customers. Since I had never run into any other company except for one (Wings), that treated its customers extremely well, I was skeptical. Well, PD took my view of them into the stratosphere today. I bought a Katana 107 with 280 jumps on it for a very reasonable price. I was very happy as it is hard to find that size for sale, and when you do, it’s for a price that is unreasonable. I put about 15 jumps on it when I decided that I needed to send it into PD to have it looked at. I first got a hold of Ian Drennan as he had shared some previous info regarding the Katana with me, and discussed with him my opening problems. He told me about the Spectra line sets prematurely wearing, so I just decided to get it relined by PD. I called PD and set it up. Dealing with them was a breeze, and the replacement to HMA 500 was very reasonably priced. They even offered to test jump it after to compare my notes to the test pilots observations. So without going into too much detail, there were some other problems with my used canopy even after the reline and it was deemed not airworthy. What PD did next blew me away. I was given the opportunity to purchase a new canopy at a VERY reasonable price, as they wanted to keep my used canopy and do extensive testing on it to improve their R&D and safety of its future canopy pilots. This has got to be the best customer service I have ever received in the skydiving community. PD's canopies are some of the best in the world, and the customer service is definitely the best I have ever had. This is why PD leads the way. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

There was a link to a site for these, and I cannot remember what the name of it was. there was video of the wings being used to snoboard over the top of the skilifts and crazy shit like that. Anyone know the site name? ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

I hope you are kidding, so no offense....but both are pretty lame. I would really reconsider. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Several things work: Wait for a skydiver turnaround, hopefully the next group will be more involved. Wait for a new DZO to run things and hope he will be more involved. Wait for hell to freeze over. Travel to a DZ that gives a shit about the locals, or at least allows them to bring more jumpers/money to thier DZ. Ya know, if you really want this to happen, I gotta tell you, its nearly impossible when your in a situation like yours. But if you want to give it the best shot it can have, make it so it doesn't cost the DZ a penny thru registration cost, pitch the plan with it all organized, bring in another plane so things don't get backed up, and pitch it will alot of safety related bullshit in there. But shit, you've been in the sport a long time, your probably just being rethorical. ;) ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Do you wear a cape and a toolbelt while doing it? Are you applauding him for sharing the public info, or merely being sarcastic? I just cant tell. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Damn girl....we gotta jump together more often. Now all you have to do is stop all that silly tandem packing stuff and jump with me! ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

What you are describing, is a used pair of freefly pants. Its the cheapest route your gonna find. Or build them yourself. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Oh dear........what to plan....... *must get outside video* You are in for it now. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Hey, lets do a 2 way this weekend. I'll let you jump with me.....just because its your b-day. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

I would say, try it with your laptop and see how it goes. If it turns into a pile, get the card for your computer. But I think were only talking about 30 bucks here for the firewire card. Your camera should have come with a 6-4 pin cable. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

No need for drivers if you have XP or a Mac. Also, a firewire card is quite cheap, so if you plan on doing this more than a couple times, I would really reccomend getting one. To boot, a laptop likely has less of an ability to process video unless it was built to do this, so you could see some really really slow processes. And yes, it will capture at full quality...but only if you set your preferences to do so. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

Nope, he stated exactly what you typed. He's a damn good player and sport. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....

No Hasselback isn't a sore loser, you are right. But one thing people don't know is that if any NFL player talks shit, or even negatively comment on the officiation of the game, the NFL fines the SHIT outta them. I don't believe that the above had anything to do with Hasselbacks comments, but it is the reason that you will not see the players of the teams making the same comments as ever_single_retired_player that is now a sportscaster. ------------------------------ Controlled and Deliberate.....