DougH

http://www.npr.org/2012/12/20/167739908/commentary-i-just-wish-guns-were-harder-to-come-by We should have a war on guns. The war on drugs is going so damn well. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

As an employee of one of his sponsors I wish he would just keep silent. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

CX760 would be the US model of the CX730. I bought one but I haven't jumped it yet. It has a 53mm? lens thread, but I think it is going to be wide enough without wide angle lenses. I do need to get a filter for it though. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Sounds heavy. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I know you've done a lot of tandems. You know how much fun it is when they all ride up together and then re-meet in the landing area, stoked as hell. Haha, I have done all of my tandems out of a little 182. My big groups of passengers bring stuff to BBQ and grill. They hang out and play games. All of this because, well, they have to. Each two members of the group get a huge audience to watch them land. They tell the rest of the group how awesome it was, and get people more pumped up. Plus, I get a hamburger or two out of the arrangement usually. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I think that most places will be happy to accommodate if you explain that to them. I would book over the phone instead of a website and make sure that the person booking your jump runs it by the operation folks. I would also get to where ever you are jumping early and remind the manifestors at check in. Have fun!

CPI, Connecticut Parachutists is right in your backyard, they have a turbine. That being said, what is the big deal about all of you being on the same load? To fit five pairs you are talking turbine, so it should be a short flight to altitude? Your crammed in a turbine, just because they are bigger doesn't mean you upgraded to first class. You aren't going to freefall "together" even though you jumped out on the same pass. Depending on how many rigs a dropzone has, the staff for the day, fun jumpers for the day, tandems on the day they might prefer to break a group of six into two loads, or maybe not. In my opinion you will get just as good of an experience if this was to happen, and the people on the ground can watch the landings and take pictures, and then visa versa. The only exception is when only one person of a group has to go by themselves, I dislike when it works out that way, but you are still skydiving. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Neither does CT or a whole lot of other states. CT starts with AGI from line 37. which is before schedule A (itemized deductions) "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Chris, Check out the website and get on the mailing list. http://www.skydivect.com/ They will be open every day weather permitting. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Here is my guidelines that I personally use: Do they have wear, show heat damage from hot slider grommets, have pulled threads. If yes, replace. If no, use them. The chances are super slim that a good looking slink is going to randomly break because of some unseen damage by a prior owner. We aren't anal about the lines on a reserve after thorough inspection, this is in the same ballpark. You inspect and then assemble. You don't get every single canopy relined because it is new to you. But you would make the riggers happy if you did. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Hop and pops and full altitude clear and pulls are great for canopy skills if you approach them in a planned manner. Have objectives and drills planned out, debrief the jump afterwards. If you just go up with no diveflow of canopy drills then they are pretty much a regular jump that gets you an exit, some toggle time, and a landing. That isn't bad, but you could be getting more out of it. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Did you check out there website for a contact number? http://www.baddogservices.com/shop/ I am sure they will make good on it. There website sort of looks like a gear vendor that is working through the last of their inventory, some of it looked pretty dated and I see a lack of new stuff, but I am open to correction if these guys actually still do brisk business. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Never heard from them, are they a local gear dealer, or an internet operation. Hopefully it is just a delay in communication. That being said I really have to ask, how did consider a post from 2003 positive evidence to order from these guys. That is 10 years ago!!! 10 years is a long time, even for a publicly traded fortune 500 company! For a skydiving company it is a lifetime! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Never in a million years would I put one of those on my car. They are worlds different from the manufacturer installed "black boxes" that record only a minimal amount of input before and after an accident. For me the upside can't outweigh the possible downside. If your drive well with the device you can get a savings, but how big could it be. Even if you were the safer driver in the world a big part of your insurance cost is associated with uninsured drivers and other idiots around you. I doubt it offers a significant savings. What is the benchmark, do you need to speed never, do you need to avoid all high risk areas? On the other hand if you have no accidents, no tickets, but you aren't always a by the books driver, you could totally out yourself. What type of behavior, and what amount, raises a red flag on to the insurance company? One time speeding? Screw that... way to many unknowns! Edit: I guess one exception could be Twardo's story, but an average Jo still driving an average amount, 30 days is a large window time for an average person to screw up! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

In 20+ flights with my rig as a carry on I have never once been asked about AAD.I lost my card years ago. I tell the xray guy I have a sport parachute in my small suitcase. The most scrutiny is a swab of the rig, and even that has been 1 in ever five flights. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Please don't take this personally but I opened this thread expecting to find a story about a critically ill youngster that had a dream to skydive, kind of make a wish foundation ala USPA. Instead you appear to be about a parent in search of some hobby that would give their unmotivated child something to be passionate about. Your child is 13, plenty of children that are his age are unmotivated human sloths. It sounds like your son is pretty average. You can't give some one a passion for something, and honestly even if you could preemptively signing your underage son up for a skydive well ahead of the normal age to skydive in the US seems to be the wrong approach. This teaches your son way more about instant gratification, than it does about passion for an activity. Take up outdoor activities with your son. Family hiking and backpacking trips. Take him to a climbing gym, take him on a rock climbing course. Hell even the flying lesson seems like a great idea. These are all activities that you need to work for, and build up your effort and knowledge. Just showing up for a tandem doesn't teach have that element of earning the experience. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

If he is having actual shoulder problems then a few more tunnel sessions should pretty much finish his shoulder off. And then he can be doing tandems after he has his shoulder surgery and he gets the AOK for the orthopedic. Man we give such great advice here. In general the tunnel is going to be much more stress on the shoulders, and for a longer period of time. Getting in an out of the tunnel also has a knack for tweaking shoulders as well. Seen it happen as people put their arms on the door, and then fly their lower half through... blamo hyper extended shoulder. I won't say a tandem will be no problem, I am no doctor, and even if we were none of us know how jacked up your shoulder is already. But the stress on your shoulder can be managed and brought down to a lower level than a tunnel session. The few students who didn't want to take their hands off their harness after exit and drogue deployment comes to mind. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Don't be jealous of Lodi. You too can skip maintenance on your planes and pass on the savings. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I am going to grab grass. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Looks like a fucking nightmare to me, and it makes me like the Strong drogue setup much better! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Neither... Johnny Utah will swoop in and save the day. I am going to sit back and watch! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Pencil packing a paying customers rig? That sounds like theft to me, and reckless behavior to boot. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

You must smell lovely on the way to altitude!! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

The Germans I jumped with last weekend stayed there. They said there were no roaches at least, the roaches didn't want to to stay there. I was more impressed by the four different colored sets of shingles that I counted as I drove by! If you get a tent from walmart, check to see if it was already used. Mine must have been returned, and it had about a pound of sand in it! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Not to mention much better looking! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P