Jumpah

After my second time being in the saddle under 2000 ft, my S&TA and friend pulled me aside and explained to me why it was a bad idea now that I was flying a HP canopy. He said the exact same thing as you wrote here, and I hadn't quite realized it until then. My deployment range is now 3,000 - 3,500

Silence... So there is nothing. Caaarraapppp!

I've read a lot of posts here and haven't found an explicit answer to this question: Are there any HD video cameras from any manufacturer that uses flash media, can accept a wide angle lens, and can be used in any freefly position (unlike CX7, etc)? Thanks in advance!

I concur...I think we're about due for another Twardo story...

In general you are right...local instructors that have seen you in action are best suited to make recommendations to students. The person posting the inquiry has stated that their ankles are bad and their body is a "piece of crap" and has had problems in the past. So in this case, the recommendation to stay on a larger canopy to help reduce the risk of injury is valid no matter who states it.

I'd like to add that 2nd Gen Mac Pro memory from Apple is horrifying in price. newegg.com sells IRAM brand memory for $159 + shipping in 2x2gb sets. It works perfectly and is far less. Newegg rocks.

Yah, and you'll hear comments like "so when you getting rid of the tandem rig?". =) Bottom line is that you just got started...75 jumps under a slower bigger canopy won't take long and you'll still love your jumps...better to be bored in the air than in a chair... You've got a good attitude, keep on the safer side and think long term. Have fun!

"You know, for Italians, this is skilled labor"

I didn't read any replies yet... If I were you, I'd get the bigger 190 if these are indeed your only choices. If your body can't handle a crash, you need the safest equipment you can. Hell, if I were you I'd even consider a 210. The downside to bigger canopies is that it limits what winds you jump in (or at least you have to be real good at spotting so that you can deal with them correctly). Your question is set up in such a way that it implies that you want someone to reassure you the 170 will be OK. You can get hurt on both. You haven't jumped a 170, much less a 170 saber 2. Can you land the 190 in the peas on every jump? How are you in a 1/2 brake landing? How is your PLF? A friend broke his ankle last year and as a result he now wears rugged boots with tons of ankle support...you should consider something like that too. They aren't sexy, but skydiving isn't about fashion lol So...stay on the big canopies for a bit longer is my advice. The freefall is the same. Don't take this as me riding you...I want you to have fun and be able to jump every weekend you want instead of being laid up with a break for a few months and possibly having to give up the sport permanently.

He looks to be doing a hop and pop...there appears to be a canopy inflating behind his left leg. Perhaps some CReW, in which case I suppose he'd want a loser chest strap and legstraps for comfort.

Part of me wishes that people would stop bringing up Lodi. Everyone knows its stupid cheap there and every time it shows up, it makes people feel even shittier about the prices they have to pay at home. Like the people at Lodi want to stick it to everyone else and show how much "better" they are. Just frustrating. Well...at $13 to 13k, I think they have that right . Damn!

I had read somewhere that the Irish skydiving fun jumper population isn't very large...like 100, which seems terribly small. Is this the case? I'm curious how many of the participants on the jump were Irish nationals and what percentage of the total jumpers that accounted for in the country. If a 51 way was made of 51 Irish jumpers, and you've got 100 jumpers in the country, that's another level of congrats on top of what you already deserve! Congrats!!

I'm not sure if you are joking... Include injuries in your numbers and it goes way up. Skydiving is dangerous, plain and simple. Several people got hurt on this jump...one with a broken jaw....sipping their meals out of a straw for a few months. What can possibly be funny about that? Have a heart.

There will come a ubiquity in online gaming where you can play something from an xbox or a pc and be on the same game with the same people. The inputs are different but the end result is the same Console games have their place but I dislike redundancy...I've already invested a couple grand into a computer...don't want to buy a $500 game console too that is basically a locked-down version of my computer. One thing that PCs have over consoles is that you can usually upgrade a PC for years before needing a whole new platform, but with a console you are slave to the vendor's production plan. If there were software that one could legally purchase that would allow someone to play popular console titles on a PC or Mac it would sell well.... Sort of related: back with the orignal xbox a guy released a book called "Hacking the Xbox" somewhere around 2003 or 2004. It detailed how someone could make an OK computer out of an original xbox since it was 99% a PC anyway. His publisher was threatened by Microsoft, so he self-published it. I believe laws like the DMCA made the actions of converting an xbox into a computer illegal.

I used Sony Vegas 7.0 Platinum Edition for a year or so. It is quite good and if you get the version with the DVD software you can make decent compilation discs with it. I have since moved to a Mac and switched to Final Cut HD and found them to be about the same. Avid used to offer a free version of their editing software but they ceased that. If you can find a copy of that I think you'll find it does the job nicely. Avid's top editing program is used for commercial movies (as is Apple's Final Cut Studio).

Yes its open and the jumpers there are welcoming...intro yourself to manifest, be friendly, ask for a dz briefing, follow the local rules and etiquette and you shouldn't have any trouble finding people to jump with if they are around. There are not a lot of fun jumpers who hang around during the weekdays other than staff, students, and tandems, but you'll get more as work lets out in the day, and on the weekend loads will turn. Fridays are better than Thursdays, and often Wednesday enough belly fliers and freefliers will be there which can keep the otter making regular loads. Call before you make the trek as the otter may be in for its 100 hour or something.

World of Warcraft....

Awesome!

If the sport grows it'll be good for many, many people. -- Most instructors might start living just over the poverty line. -- Life and disability insurance availability would be more common and less expensive. -- Jump tickets might level off -- The USPA would have a bigger stick to wield with the FAA, and DZs may have more pull with the local community as a larger economic force -- Skydiver Ale might just be available across the country (is that its name? The one from Montana I think) -- One might find Skydiving Magazine at the local book store. -- DZs might be able to survive single frivolous lawsuits. I'll admit I'll be bummed the first time I see a canopy by Nike....

Just practice, ask questions, jump, and be smart. Every jump counts towards your license. Nerves happen. I still get them when I've had a few days off or am doing something new. But most important, jump and get over it. Good luck!

How are the participants judged in the contest? Thanks!

is that your nickname!?

I gave my friend a new nickname a couple weeks ago, and its starting to stick. He's the kind of guy who knows one doesn't pick their own nickname, so he's not saying we shouldn't use it, but its not one that he'd prefer (which makes it even better for us). So a few days after the naming I wake up to the sound of a squirrel running on my camper's roof right above my bed at 5:15am. I bang on the ceiling, it runs off and comes right back. Can't sleep so I get coffee and go on with my day. Next few days it happens each morning, right around 5 or so. I finally decide to go and look 'cause now I'm thinking they are nesting in the AC. I'm on the deck, on a chair, looking at the ceiling...there are empty seeds everywhere. I see a squirrel there eating and looking at me. He's got a bunch of plastic baggies with stuff in them. "He's got f***ing BAGS of food...what the f***?". I say to myself...its early. Well, my friend put a half dozen bags full of sunflower seeds on my roof that past weekend and just waited. He figured I'd have all sorts of critters. My friend...that was evil and well played... The seeds have been put on another camper.

Other people are the best influence, financial concerns are also powerful. Very often when one person stands down others will as well. If the DZ doesn't refund when the person rides it down, that could coax someone into jumping who might not otherwise. I don't think the DZ should eat the cost of a jumper who made their own decision to board the plane but decided to ride it down.

Will you be organizing big-way freefly jumps this weekend?? Good thread