toolbox

My first rig was a vector 2 with a raven 218 reserve and a 265 falcon main. I was 260lb naked (I was a competetive body builder back then) and 5'11''. My exit weight was 290lb and I had 15 skydives when I got my rig.

I teach students to put feet out front, toes pointed up,knees bent and lean back against the instructor. The instructors heels should hit first then the students and then lean back as the feet slide out front and plan on sitting down. If the instructor says stand up and they wish to stand up,then stand up,but never reach for the ground with the legs. Always keep the feet and knees close together,knees bent slightly and toes pointed up.

Sorry dude,but at least it's not airlocked.

I must know you from SNE. I see you are from NH. I hope you have a nice long dry season this year. Blue skies!

C208

Sorry dude,but from a legal standpoint it is very dumb to let a minor skydive,especialy in the land of the lawyers(also known as the USA). Now if for instance,you have a son or daughter who wants to skydive and you happen to own yourself a DZ, then that would be less of a legal issue in my opinion since you could probably talk your kids out of suing your ass if they get hurt,and if they snuff themselves out, its not likely you will sue yourself,unless you were feeling really guilty and then I'm sure you could find some lawyer to take the case against yourself. Then you could for sure find another lawyer to defend yourself. But there is also the mother to worry about. I hope someday we can all skydive together. Blue skies!

In the US, the age that a person can sign a legal binding contract is 18 years of age. In my opinion,any DZO who would knowingly allow a minor to skydive is in extreme need of any business he can get and too stupid to know better. From an instructors point of view,I would never knowingly participate in a under age skydive in the US. Outside US jurisdiction might be another story depending on the laws of the land, but I personaly would not knowingly take children(especially someone elses) skydiving,unless they had a terminal illness and had not long to live. Most kids do not believe anything bad can happen to them and are more likely to take great risk without really thinking about the possible conscequences for their actions. This is probably the big reason the laws are the way they are in the US.

This seems to have become some wierd twisted northwest cyber reunion and it's freakin me out. Just kiddin guys, it's nice to hear ya ranting. By the way, I get paid by check and it's between 30 and 60$ per hop depending on if its a handy cam or not. I know the boss would like to pay me more because everyone knows I'm worth it, but he can not afford anymore at this time. Remember it's all fun and games till the drouge bridle is around your neck.

The really good question is,"What happens if both chutes fail?" And I answer,"Then I aim for your house bitch". Skydiving feels just like life as usual for me nowdays. If I go more than a few days without hucking myself at the ground, then I feel kinda wierd and lost. A non skydiver could never understand why we do this, and I'm not sure I understand completely myself what drives folks to hurl themselves out the door. My pappy say's we aint wired right. I think he's right. There is a good reason we skydivers are so rare. Most of are ancestors ran away from scary shit and hence they lived to pass genes on to the next generations. Those who sought out scary shit were alot less likely to pass on anything before they ate dirt. I really believe skydivers are born and not made.

Linestretch is a great guy and a very competent skydiver all around. I think he can do a better job than most I've seen out there.

Those are the words I'm sure we all heard as students. I try to live by those words.

Congrats!

I hope you can make nothing but fun skydives from here on out. I have thought about getting a real job many times,but I still really like tandems and aff,and I do not think I could handle a mainstream job anymore. I have been doing the skydive for hire for too long now and I'm sure my weak mind would have far to many issues with identity crisis. If I never have another chop or need to use the reserve it would be fantabulous and I hope no one else has another either (unless they want to) and if they do,I hope they have a safe ride with the mal landing in the peas undamaged. Remember, he is always looking over our shoulders(the reaper). Blue skies!

)ne out of ninety is pretty high for sure. My average is one out of 159 and all my mals were packed by someone else. I have 7 on sport rigs and 56 on tandems. I personally know one guy who used to crank out alot of crew who has 7 more than I have. I hope I never need to chop again,but I'm sure I could not be soo lucky. At least I'm current on my EP's and I do not get very spun out by these situations anymore. I have not needed to take much of a delay on most of the reserve deployments. Only three times when I had weird, whipping, stalling, spinning crap, did I take a couple of seconds to stop spinning on my back or on my side before I hit the reserve. I have never had an RSL on my personal rigs and I'm not saying they are bad,but I trust myself to pull the silver handle myself. For awhile strong recomended unhooking the RSL on the tandem rigs because of RSL side risers breaking on deployment,so I have about 16 tandem chops without them. I like to get the reserve over my head and under control as fast as safely possible when I need to. At the rate you have been going, sounds like you may pass me someday. Blue skies!

I made my first skydive 16 years ago and have been a licensed skydiver for over 14 years now. In the 11 years prior to coming out to las vegas,I had 29 reserve rides out of between 5000 and 6000 skydives. Still pretty high,but in 3 years in vegas I have had 33 chops (24on skydive las vegas tandem rigs) the rest here and there on tandems out of 3000+. The gear here gets trashed real fast from the conditions, and the local skydivers and packers aint too swift either. I should be scared out of vegas by now but I guess I is to stupid.

It depends on how high you are, and wether you are stable or not,and what kind of mal is taking place. If you feel both sides release and you are dropping away with decent stability do not waste time or build excessive speed by waiting to pop the reserve. Remember that the reserve may have problems of it's own that will take altitude to fix,and also it is easier to find a safe place to land when you have more time. If you have a violent mal, and you are on your side or back when you chop, then you may want to wait to achieve stability, altitude permitting. If you are sick and low, then you do not have alot of time to get stable after chopping. Altitude awareness is critical at all times and when you are under a violent spinner time runs short in a hurry. Most people use RSL's, and it is hard to beat one after the chop, if it is rigged correctly. If you get a good clean chop the RSL will pull the reserve before you can blink. I have 62 reserve rides with 61 chops and 1 /2 of those are without the use of an RSL. I have never needed more than 2 seconds to get stable and dump the reserve even from some scary violent tandem mals. The situation is always different and you have to stay calm and use your training and judgement to make the right decisions for each scenario.

The way they crunched in,she was probably better off risking a busted leg than a compressed spine or broken back. The desent rate was still pretty fast when they hit and the TI had his feet out front at the time of impact,also seems he could have flared a bit more and a bit higher. But hey thats just my opinion.

Oh yeah! Can't believe I walked away from it. Hell,I did not even get a limp out of it. Pure luck and a heavily muscled frame probably saved my ass. They were already calling 911 when I stood up. My excuse for bustin off a 180 about 100ft too low is, inexperience and stupidity at that point in my skydiving career. Remember,you are never too low to hook it, but you may be too low to limp away.

Sounds like a nice rig.

Talk about how you feel when you skydive. Tell them the difference between what you expected your first dive to be like and how it really was. Most people expect a dropping sensation or the rollercoaster feeling that we as skydivers know is not the case at all. Focus on how great it feels to be flying through the air for 60 seconds with the spectacular, unobstructed views of the sky and landscape all around you. Give the stats on the risk and do not candy coat them. The types of folks who are drawn to activities like skydiving are looking for the exotic experiences and adventures that are far off the beaten path. You should expect the average joe to think you are nuts and nothing you say or do will change that.

Skydive San Diego

Sorry,my computer social skills are worse than my personal ones. Remember,it's all fun and games until the pilot chute hits ya in the eye,and it's not yours. Thats why I fly a Mirage.

It's good to hear you are tearing up the sky nowdays. How is your dad and your uncle Dave these days.

I'm not writing on this thread to punish anyone. I'm simply responding to a friends post in agreement. I must say however that seeing what he has done made my jaw drop in disbelief. After all the tandem stuff over the last year,he gets taped flying outside the industries parameters for what is still considered a student skydive.

It's been a long time and you probably do not remember me.Do you still run around catching spiders and snakes? Ask your dad and Gauger who toolbox is. Blue skies!