chrismgtis

I guess I was a "skydiver" when I got my A-license, but once I got 100 jumps, that's when I realized I could be taken seriously as a life time jumper. I've been having to take breaks for a while now, but I won't ever quit entirely. Unless "the one" (some really kick ass chick) comes along. I don't think that will ever happen though.

Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Some sites are jerks and don't support Firefox. It's not that they can't the way the site is designed most times, it's just that they want to be dick wads which they are. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

You can do basic CRW. Just don't get too close. Someone at your DZ probably wouldn't mind doing it. I admit it is kind of a pita to find someone for that though. Also might want to try a canopy course. Unfortunately Scott Miller isn't doing the course anymore right now, but Brian Germain is. Talk to your DZM or Brian and try to get him to come down. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I use mine for that when I wear it, or the one on my rig. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

You guys have lives just like everyone else. I doubt you guys get any money for what you do. Do what you need to do. These guys can wait. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

That's the damn truth. I didn't pay a $780 bill one time and later on it went up to about $3500 due to collections, which I will never ever pay and it's already off my credit after 7 years. That happened to me with a few other bills too. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I know it's been said a 1000 times, but wind tunnels really help loads. I couldn't believe what I learned in 40 minutes. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Well. I know this all to well. I graduated high school early (for the purpose of going in the Marines). I went in the Marines on March 9th 2000. That just wasn't for me, so I got out. Then I left for college 650 miles away in Tampa Bay and was there for about 1 year. By leaving I made a lot of finance mistakes. I broke a lease and did a lot of other things I shouldn't have. So therefore, by leaving because I didn't have a lot of money I caused even more finance problems for myself. For 7 years I had terrible credit. For years I couldn't even get a check card to use from my bank. Eventually I did. Now I only have two bad marks on my credit and two good marks. All the bad stuff will be off by March of 2009 which I'm happy about. For the past 7+ years I searched for a job and tried to get into the information technology profession. Which I eventually did and worked three different jobs. Eventually I got a great job at Emerson for 2 years then I lost that due to the overseas crap. So for years after college I struggled violently to get on my feet. While I had the job at Emerson I had moved out and was pretty happy with how my life was going. It was improving. Now I'm back with my parents, I'm 26 and don't have a job. My unemployment will end soon and I'll have no income. I tried to give this area a chance for 8 years and if I continue doing that I know it will be trouble for me. There just are no jobs here and I have to make a decision quick. I'm changing careers and going back to college in Orlando this time for a bachelors in Film. Something I've been interested in since I was old enough to watch TV. While I had that excellent two year job with Emerson I eventually got into skydiving and was hard core into it. I was there every weekend for probably at least a year. I still love it and I'll never permanently quit, but I've got to take care of myself and put it on the back burner. Life can be harsh. I've had it pretty bad, but the fact is there are plenty of people out there that don't get to eat for days at a time. I've made my mistakes in life and I'm hoping that God gives me one more. The sky will always be there for sure, but I'm a little afraid of what time will do to the skydiving world. Especially with the gas problems. When I was in High School 8 years ago, gas was 0.89 cents in South Carolina. Now it's $4.00. Jump tickets will eventually go up. That's a fact. And I'm not sure what else may hurt us in the future. Hopefully the opportunity will still be there when I'm back on my feet. It really is an extreme passion of mine, but I have other passion and aspirations that I've got to think about. I'm just glad that I am licensed and experience now and if I move to Florida (and wherever I get a job after that) I'll have the ability to jump at any of the many drop zones near Orlando. I just hope I have the chance and maybe if I'm lucky I'll get to keep my gear so I don't have to spend $60 just to jump. One of the best things to ever happen to me is to have had the chance to be a part of this sport. Not a lot of good chances like that have come along in my life. I'll be a skydiver until I'm in my death bed whether I'm actively jumping till then or not. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Javelin 2 container, a 175 triathlon main (dark purple and gray, but it's still a little bit of a pita to pack since it's still got that newness to it) with about 100 jumps on it and a Smart reserve (I think?) with maybe 1 jump on it. An Optik open face camera helmet (no mount holes or anything - it has about 3 jumps on it), a Z1 closed face, a PD altimeter (new as of last Christmas), a brand new audible altimeter (had it for a less than a year but barely been used), etc. I did about $800 of work on the container when I got it (put new leg strap pads on and such). It's all pretty much in perfect condition. The Jav2s just aren't the newest thing in existence, but I guess a crap load of people use those actually. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

On the other hand I'm considering selling my gear just so I CAN get back in college. For two years skydiving was the most important. Though I had a career job and lost that due to the overseas deal we all know about. Now I'm jobless and trying to get back in college and I need about $2000-3000 dollars to pay the first two months of rent in Orlando. That's if my credit doesn't suck bad enough right now that I can get the $70,000 in loans. Luckily, everything that's negative on my credit will be gone by February or March of 2009. Only took me seven years to move a lot of ugly things off my credit report after I got out of college in 2001 and wasn't able to find a job in my home town for many years. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I looked for my free bag/PC for 4 or 5 hours with no luck. Then the guy that jumped with me took me right to it, within 30 feet of the road that I had walked up and down 20 times (it wasn't that easy - I had walked through briars and high grass for hours before that). Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Well I'm broke to be honest. I know I'll have to come up with about $4000 to get there for the first 2 or 3 months and couple that with what I'm guessing will be around a $60,000 loan. Yea, that part does really suck. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Awesome. Good info. Thanks.

I had a feeling something was odd with that site. Well damn it all to hell. You need a C-license to jump Titusville? That sucks. Oh well, having Deland alone nearby satisfies me. I've always wanted to go to Sebastian so that's great. I'm happy with my options. Now I just hope I don't have to sale my stuff to pay the first 2 months of rent until my loans kick in. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I'm not sure I only looked at the page for about 20 seconds. The page does seem kind of like a thrown up quickly template, but I can't say for sure if it's a legit page. Their page just could really suck. It also said something about videos on VHS tape and that doesn't make sense and theirs no actual non-stock like pictures. You might be right. http://orlandoskydive.com/index.html Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Good. I was hoping their was something in Orlando. That DZ I found on Google said it had a CASA and Super Otter which is nice. It's nice to have all these other choices though. I've always driven 1 hour to the DZ so having Deland and other drop zones within an hour drive is really cool. Thanks for the info. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I am applying to Full Sail in Orlando for a bachelors in film so I will be living in Orlando if I get everything I need. Looking at the drop zone list the closest drop zones appear to be Deland and Titusville but I saw an apparent Orlando DZ through Google? How far is Deland and Titusville, other drop zones within 2 hours drive? I'm sure the closest DZ will be my best bet, but I'm also curious if any others are within an hours drive and how they are for jumpers with just over 100 jumps, what kind of disciplines are there? I would like to get into CRW (the basics) at some point. The unfortunate thing is that I may need to sell my equipment just to pay the first 2 or 3 months of rent in Orlando which I am not happy about so any other suggestions are welcome, like if anyone lives in Orlando and would let me crash on the couch for 2 or 3 months. With Google maps I see that Deland and Titusville are both about 55 minutes from Winter Park (north of Orlando where the school is). Awesome. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Exactly. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I've noticed some of that myself. A few people seem to just snarl at you if you even attempt to socialize with them. A lot of people do keep in their usual groups. You notice it a lot at boogies where the locals are with the same people most of the time. A lot of the people that I started jumping with aren't around as regularly and it's hard to get into the other groups sometimes, especially when you're shy as hell like me. For the most part it's not like that though I guess. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

What you all fail to realize is people feel the same way when their friend dies in a car wreck. It's all relative. I've been in car wrecks before and was paranoid afterwards and the reality that it could really happen to me hit me. Sure I could die one die when I do everything right and someone else may kill me too, but the fact is if you are smart you have very little chance of that happening. I trust every skydiver, whether 20 jumps or 5000 more than I do any guy outside of this community. I know they will watch my back. I sure can't trust anyone on the road. The driving thing is just an example, it has nothing to do with "proven" statistics. Again, statistics are crap, so I don't believe in that stuff a whole lot though I will actually use them from time to time in a conversation. And you can talk about statistics all you want, statistics are just butter BS and useless for more than conversation about "what ifs" and "maybes" - a lot of guys that go to school and really get deep into it will tell you that, but if you really look at it... the sport has come to the point that you can really control whether you live or die as far as as opposed to say, in the 1970s or earlier. It's to the point that it's not much different than anything else. As with anything in life. You can do everything right and life will come around and punch you right in the face. I know it all too well. And I don't get on an airplane expecting to live. It's always on my mind that something may go wrong, but the truth of it is I know that if it does, it is most likely, 99.9% true that it will be my fault. And anyone here can say differently, but that's just the truth of the matter. Oddly one of my worst fears of going in on the DZ is that I'll be the first and set the precedent. Not doing it because of the "dangers" or "realities" of the sport is obviously understandable, for damn sure... but you realize sooner or later that everything you do in life, is just like everything else. If we were in the 1940s that might be a little different. The act of jumping out of an airplane seemed like definite suicide then, thought a lot of that had to do with a million rounds flying by you in the air. My point is only that anything can happen. No matter what you're doing. Don't let what people say stop you from doing something you'll never forget. If you do it and don't feel it's for you, no one will do anything but congratulate you on having a great experience. I can tell you every "whuffo" out there will talk a lot of shit about this sport, but they don't understand and I'm sure their out doing a lot of dangerous things themselves. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Unless you guys are skinny as hell or really small, that sounds like a bit too much downsizing in about 200 or less jumps that you guys have. I currently jump a 175 and have jumped a 160. I've been told that I wouldn't notice much difference with a 150, but keep in mind... I believe it's 150s or anything smaller than a 150 is considering a high performance canopy? In which case it would just be a no no... Am I right? Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I had problems with my ears not popping in the past. On my tandem one of my ears didn't pop most of the way down. I saw a doctor and I forget what she called it, but my ear drum as pushed in and recommended that I didn't jump for two weeks. I waited one week and went back. Then some time later one of my ears didn't equalize at all on one jump and it hurt like hell when it finally popped on the ground. I've not had any problems in probably 80 jumps or so. I guess your ears get used to it. Oh and I know that it sounds sick, but earwax can build up in your ears causing problems. One of my doctors stuck a tiny little thing with an O on the end down my ear and pulled a huge piece out. Have them check yours and remove any "chunks" in there. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I don't think I'd go grabbing anyone's reserve handle. The reputation loss alone would suck. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

My assumption would be to stay as level with the formation as you can even if you can't get back to them and pull at the altitude that you planned. It might also be smart to track as close to the formation as you can until pull time. At least don't track away. That sounds like a bad idea to me as you might end up in someone else's air space and that's deadly. According to the guy I was jumping with the other week, if I hadn't have tracked away I would have fallen right through the parachute of another jumper that slid into our airspace. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan