DougH

If you are in the position to get debt financing to buy your own debt, your debt wouldn't be on the market, and visa versa lol. I made an offer years ago to buy out my student loan when the loan holder was in chapter 7 bankruptcy. I figured I would be able to purchase the claim for penny's on the dollar, and that cash in had would be an attractive offer to the bankruptcy court. Nope, no dice. I paid my loans on time, had good credit, so my loans were attractive, and weren't available for me to buy back. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

No your cost basis in the debt will be the amount you paid for it, so when you discharge all of it you only end up with a deduction equal to that amount. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

And the lower wing loading would be fine. Those smaller canopies, even below 1:1, aren't appropriate for a new jumper. They are still more responsive, and turn faster, which can someone in trouble when they get let their brain lag behind the canopy flight. Would you rather a newbie land a 170 in a small back yard while freaked out about their first landing, or a 135? She might be ready for a 150 given the lower loading in 100+ jumps depending on how she performs and takes to canopy flight, but she definitely isn't ready for the 135 now. Any canopy choice is fine until it bites you in the ass, right? "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Already been mentioned, but I just did one on Thursday during a cross over course to get my Sigma rating. It was weird after 1000 strong jumps with students, and a B license worth of front rides with tandem course candidates. The hardest part was not having a captive audience to perform my slap stick comedy routine for. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

You know they aren't issuing them an altimeter, that is the 100 dollar upgrade Gary. For 50 dollars you only get your tandem master waving his hands in front of your face before he beats you to the pull. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I have a box of mini-dv's that I never captured. We hooked the camera to the TV after the jumps, and then in to the shoebox they went. One of these days I am going to snag a working Sony mini-dv cam off ebay and capture one a day while I am off at work and the PC is just sitting there. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

We must have gotten Monday production day 270's then. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Most drop zone waivers stipulate that that the student agrees not to sue the DZ, any DZ related LLC's and legal entities, the employees, and independent contractors. Even if your LLC is listed specifically in the DZ waiver, it doesn't mean they won't sue your LLC, and it doesn't mean they won't sue you directly. If you are doing the jumps yourself, no amount of corporate shells are going to protect you from the liability you are personally exposing yourself to by your own personal conduct. Best thing you can do to limit liability is to do everything by the book, don't give them a single thing they can use to prove gross negligence. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Have you had the bigger ones go boom? My experience is that they are great student canopies, but I have seen some of the bigger ones have "hard" opening problems. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Lets add trim to the conversation. In my experience a smaller A2 feels much more susceptible to getting put in a flight cycle by turbulence than a larger SET. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Harnesses should be replaced long before they are impaired in terms of strength and safety. Cosmetically once they start looking ratty it is bad for business and word and mouth. You could have a brand new harness, a put old ugly elastic keepers on it. That student is going to be telling friends about how sketchy the equipment was, even though it was brand new! If it looks worn, or the keepers look worn, they will zero in on it! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I think it can be addictive, and I think it can be harmful to relationships. Key word is can, so can drinking alcohol, but we let adults make choices about its use. But that is a personal choice made by individuals and couples. I think it is also potentially warping when accessed by adolescents. When I was a kid getting access to that was swiping on dusty old Penthouse mags from a box in the attic. Now with the internet teenagers have much more access to some pretty degrading and rough stuff. But it is already legally restricted to being seen by viewed by 18 yo's and up. So that falls on parents to police their own children. Sounds like nothing the government should be involved in, especially from a moral standing. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

This sounds super cool, but the price of plane tickets from CT is "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

That will do wonders for his repeatedly broken leg that doctors are warning may be a loss if broken again! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I guess downy wrinkle release spray is out of the question? "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Maybe someone should share a link to this thread with them. Potential customers are on notice, it would benefit them to end this thread with feedback of a good resolution. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

These questions have been answered a bunch of times already in this thread, do you intend to keep asking the question until you find someone to go against the overwhelming collective opinion that it is a bad idea? If that is the case just go buy them and stop wasting our time! To answer your questions again: You will experience lots of additional difficulty in landing a square canopy with these large heavy boots, with raised heals, and grippy soles. You won't be able to slide or run as well as you would have with appropriate footwear, and that will negatively impact your ability to reduce jolts and force to your lower legs. The second part of your question is too broad, the answer is different depending on the circumstance of each landing, and what force your were trying to protect against. Straight down in turbulence, sliding, tumbling, running out a landing? And to your list of questions whether they will protect you against jolting landings when your boots stick in the ground when you would have otherwise slid. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I think the forward speed play a big role in this. Straight down with a good PLF you absorb a lot of energy, and the joint is strong in this configuration. I think my injury was a chain reaction, probably starting with sudden jolting stop of the foot when it caught on the ground, and the continued motion of my student and I. The tibia or fibula didn't like the amount of force it received while being at that angle of misalignment, and once one side went it encouraged the other side of blow up too. At least it sounded cool, and I got these killer non slip socks. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Then what about classic chuck tailors? I want something that is going to slide on the landing surface and provide some support from ankles rolling over. You have a different need all together. As was mentioned the best thing you can do is make sure you have soft landings, you are halfway there with the bigger canopy. You can further the goal with canopy coaching, and choosing the jump on favorable wind condition days. If the tandem masters are bitching about thermals, sink, and moderate turbulence I would recommend that you take notice and sit your ass down! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

The community should make them stick to solo's until they can learn to do otherwise. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Damn lol! Brass balls! Sounds a bit like a tall tale, almost Point Breakish in terms of timing and likelihood. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

"The only sure way to survive a free fall collision is not to have one" I guess it can be modified to fit the incident he is asking about too. I don't know about the incident, but if it was a freefall collision there are a few things you can do to improve your odds: - Don't do zoo dives with lots of inexperinced people. If you cant do a 3 way well, then an 8 way with similar skilled jumpers does nothing to improve your skills, and everything to increase your chances of people getting hurt. Jump within your skill level, it keeps you safer, and isn't it more fun to actually pull of a successful skydive?! - plan an appropriate break off and learn to track your ass off - make sure your jumping buddies have well maintained gear so that you lower the risk of premature deployments - make sure you have a dive plan that keeps the group together, and has a clear procedure if one person goes low. Everyone else on the jump should know what the low person is going to do so it isn't a suprise. - avoid the "tracking dives" that everyone regardless of skill level goes on. I know they are fun, but these jumps are way more risky, and have a high chance of someone getting overzealous and zoomy, leading to a collision. Just some food for thought. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

My experience is that doctors won't give useful advice even if they understood the mechanics. I got mine to tell me that the bone is as mechanically sound as before the injury, and that is about it. I think I understand their angle, body mechanics are chaotic. They can judge the strength of a bone but how can they forsee all of the forces that can be imparted on it. If I was in their position I wouldn't want to be weighing in on fitness for skydiving or any high impact sport. I have 10 years of jumps and I understand the mechanics of a landing very well, but never did I think that I could break and ankle on a landing that wasn't a collapse or really that hard. Student was fine, didn't even know that I was injured. I would have never expected to get injured in a situation like that. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I broke my ankle this past July on a tandem with a student. My diagnosis of the incident is that my foot stuck on a hard(er) landing. Definitely had harder landings many times in the past, but this time the foot caught or something else, and instead of sliding it imparted enough force in the ankle joint to start a chain reaction. The end result was a bimalleolar fracture, titanium plate on my fibula to provide mechanical alignment, and two screw at the base of the tibula to hold the part of the ankle joint that broke off. I was wearing cross trainer type shoes with some tread and grip, maybe smooth skate shoes would have slid enough to keep the force on the anke low enough? I am cleared to jump again, but haven't started, I am waiting until I am comfortable running and jumping before I get back on the horse. I am planning on using a soft brace that is use in basketball to keep the ankle joint from rolling. I am not worried about it breaking again any more than my other ankle, but I am worried about it being sprained or rolled. I think I will also be using high-top skate shoes with smooth soles, to try to limit sudden stops on my feet while sliding. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

That is the way the corporate tax law is written. US corporations do not pay tax on foreign earnings reinvested overseas unless it is repatriated into the US. Or if the foreign subsidiary invests in US property. If there was a tax law change, or a tax holiday on foreign dividends, these companies would be happy to bring it back. 100% legal, and it is their duty to shareholders to comply with tax law in the way that best maximizes shareholder value. Shareholders also happen to be 401k's, mutual funds, and pensions. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P