SkymonkeyONE

My reserves ( PD 106-R's) are larger than both of my mains (Velo 79, Sabre2 97)

I skiied right up to the point that snowboards really became truly operator-friendly, when I was in high school right around 1980. I used to luuuurve bombing hills on my Fisher C4 comps (210's, more than a foot longer than I was tall at the time), but I can honestly say that I have not strapped on "planks" since I started snowboarding. Nothing against skiiers at all, but they are simply not my bag anymore. Still, I would love to try a pair of the now-vogue super-sidecut skis that everyone is using. I lived in Colorado during the halcion age of snowboarding. The stuff that people were trying was pretty nuts. Sims made a thing that was basically a skateboard with individual skis attached to the trucks and velcro bindings. Likewise, the original Winterstick (which, amazingly, can still be bought and is marketed for powder use) and Burton boards had velcro bindings. The bindings didn't work for shit, but it was cool to be riding something on the snow which was remarkably like my skateboard. At the time there were three skateboard parks in Colorado Springs, so there was no shortage of grommets begging mom and dad to buy those those things for us. Wow, that was a lifetime ago (I am 41 now). Chuck

Why aren't you bringing your RV, Dave?

Are they "wides" or "regulars"? I wear an 8.5 wide, but a 9 regular fits just as well.

You misunderstand. Greg has absolutely no problem flying his ST to a complete stop safely and without rear-riser-stalling. It's pure finesse. If you want to see examples of people doing that most every single jump under a very small crossbrace, just watch Dusty Smith at Eloy. chuck

I just got my copy of the wingsuit edition in the mail today and watched it. What a fantastic video! Very nicely edited if I do say so. Thanks, Jarno! Chuck

What yo name is?

You haven't skydived since last January? Remember to pull your string, monkey!

It is flocking. Atmonauti is absolutely about flocking.

Technically, by the way I read the SIM since October 2001, yes. That said, I would not consider logging any jump in which I exited in anything other than a "skydiving" body form. I have over 150 military SL jumps, but would not consider logging any of them into my skydiving logbook. I have a military log for that. Hell, in a backwards sense I felt bad for counting my HALO jumps towards my master wings. Since you cannnot count military SL jumps toward the 50-minimum HALO jumps you need to attend MFFJM, then you probably ought not be able to count MFF jumps toward your "regular" master wings. Does that make sense to anyone else? Chuck MFFJM, master parachutist, and various and sundry other glory badges that meant something before I retired.

Never had any flap come undone on either of my two Wings containers

That's very good advice. I can't count how many times I have switched sides on real AFF dives.

I think Uncle Don has a good idea there. That system would be particularly useful for those travelling gypsy skydivers. Chuck

So you're telling us you have not logged since your 92nd jump? If you ever have any desire to become an instructor of any sort you had better get with the program. While it's true that some people could give a rats ass about teaching, more often than not they are going to regret not having logged at least 500 (and at least six hours of freefall).

Yes, SL and IAD students log all of their "assisted" jumps in their logbook and they count toward their A. Likewise, tandem jumps a person completed prior to moving on to more advanced training count toward your A.

Agreed. I have spent up to four hours in one day in the cone training students and what gets you conditioned for it is simply more of the same. What usually goes first on me is my lower back. I always carry a bunch of weight in when I know I am going to be spending a lot of time in the cone and just add more and more as the day goes on.

You do not "need" a different suit to fly in any decent tunnel. An option you might want to consider when you buy a freefly suit though is a "tunnel flap". Ouragan has that option and I have it on my suit. It's a full-length flap secured with velcro which covers your front zipper in it's entirety. There is absolutely no possibility of your zipper coming undone and corking you out with this option. Chuck

Greg lands his ST to a complete stop on his rears on every single jump, as do several others around here. That said, he is one swooping motherfucker and he ain't a feared of doing some tricks. Chuck

Such is the nature of travelling with demo gear. Never bring anything but black; it hides the grass stains better.

Huh? I find them incredibly easy to ride and was riding very, very steep terrain thirty minutes after I first strapped one on. Anyone who can ride a skateboard, surf, or wakeboard (especially similar) can snowboard almost immediately with confidence.

That's pretty funny. There are "real" packers at my dropzone who cannot flat pack a canopy. Most packers are not the people that need to be teaching anything anyway.

I logged all of my military freefall jumps in my skydiving logbook. No amount of sport skydiving on the weekends, though, count for military currency. No, SL army jumps do not get logged in sport logs, or at least they would not have before 1 October 2001. It was on that day that USPA said all jumps (SL, tandem, IAD, whatever) counted toward your 25 (the new amount) needed for your A-license. That's technically against the spirit of the rule, but I guess if a person had otherwise completed all the tasks on their A-license proficiency card they could "legally" (by the SIM anyways) make up the remainder of the 25 with their military jumps. I don't know anyone cheesy enough to try that, but you never know. chuck

See you in six days.

There are pics of the wingtip grippers I have on my GTi somewhere. Scott put them on when he had that suit. It's basically just just cutaway cable wrapped in binding tape and sewn to from the wrist down about a foot on the trailing edge. Very easy to grip.

Main flap on a 2k3 racer coming open in freefall? You mean just like on any Javelin J1 and larger? I know several people with 2k3's and have never seen one flapping in the air. Do not confuse people's stories of obsolete rigs with what is currently being manufactured.