AndyMan

Adjusting your Cypres for any reason other then a different elevation at landing area seems like an extremely bad idea. Remember that Cypres's can fire upwards of 1000 feet based on the orientation of the jumper... If they're in mid-snivel, for example. I would not like to see this raised to 1,200 feet, given that I've pulled at 2000 feet after big-way RW and have 800 foot openings. Increasing the odds of 2-out malfunctions just because someone is uncomfortable with jumping WITH a Cypres seems odd to me. Cypres's are good, dependable devices which have proven themselves over several years. Don't screw with it. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've been the David, but I stood up for myself, told her how I felt, and moved on. I think other "David's" should stand up for themselves, too. People can only be doormats if they lie down and let people walk all over them. It's a choice, make your decision. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

What do I love about my wife? I love the way she curls up to me at night. I love it when she nearly bowls me over hugging me. I love it when we walk to the bus each morning, then she gives me a goodbye kiss before we part ways. I love it when she gets off the bus on the way home from work downtown, so that we can walk home togeather. When she's being a pain in the ass, I love the fact that she's doing it because she cares so much for me. She is stunningly gorgeous. I love how she supports me in my passions. Wether its spending every weekend at the DZ, or spending my weeknights editing video, she's there alongside me every time. I love that she can hold her own arguing against an arrogant twit like myself. Thats it for now. I'll add more later. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I drilled 3 holes in my cameara. One right by the camera, then two on top where I put the switch. I had to splice the cam-eye cable inbetween the plug and the switch to get it through the small holes. I reassembled the cable by twisting the ends togeather and wrapping with electrical tape. I haven't yet had any problems with the connections coming loose. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Nope, I never wondered. I know full well that mine posted hers on the internet.... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I wear a pair of neoprene gloves I bought at a hiking store. They're very thin, very warm, and have leather on the palm and fingers, so I get a good grip on everything. I recomend them to everyone. I got mine at EMS - Eastern Mountain Sports. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I believe the issue is contractual, not patents. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It's odd how we play these games with ourselves. For me, a while ago I was in Eloy for easter, and had one particularly bad landing that ended with me literally cartwheeling accross the landing area during a botched cross-wind. When I got back to the packing area, I saw 3 impact points on my helmet, and my vibrantly colored jumpsuit was completely desert brown. The next day I bought the camera, thinking a good way to avoid botching landings was to strap a few thousand dollars worth of gear to my helmet, that way - well, it'd be real expensive if i did it again. So far, it's worked... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I jump in Chicago, there aren't that many DZ's that're colder then it is here. I would never even contemplate pulling lower because of the cold. It seems like an incredibly stupid reason to pull lower. If it's too cold to jump, don't jump. If you're going to jump, jump safely. If anything, we should be pulling higher if we're wearing gloves we normally don't. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

She doesn't have USB on her computer? The easiest way to get images off the memory stick is plugging the PC120 into a USB slot. The camera gets audetected under XP, but needs drivers installed for 2000. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Has anybody seen these in the field yet? I'm considering one, and am curious how people have used the drilled allluminum plate for attachments. Hav you drilled your own holes, or have the holes conveniently lined up with the frames... Also, side-mount, or top mount? Anybody seen pics of one setup properly? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I don't believe people like Windsor were ever legally able to mentor someone who didn't yet have an 'a' license. I don't think anything has changed here. People like Windsor are still able to legally mentor people who DO have an 'a' license. Nothing has changed here, either. The only change, is that people with the new rating are being allowed to take part in the last few jumps of the AFP progression. If people like windsor really want to teach AFP progressions, they should get the rating. The only thing that keeps someone like Windsor from doing coach jumps is the exact same thing that keeps someone like Windsor from doing first jump courses - lack of a rating. If he really wants to do them, he should get the rating. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

To me, the opening characteristcis of a canopy with twisted lines are a much greater concern then an decrease in strength. Twisted lines in effect become shorter, and if one side is twisted more then the other (which is usually the case), twisted brake lines will contribute to wildly off heading openings, and can induce a spinning malfunction. Personally, I consider a spinning malfunction to be a greater risk then broken steering lines... I can land with broken lines, I can't land with a spinning mal. Also, broken steering lines will most likely result in a slow speed malfunction, giving you ample time to execute emergency procedures if you choose. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think back to when I was 16, and wow - if I had free reign over my life the way your daughter does now, well - I don't think I would've made it through high school, never mind college. Freedom and responsibility are things that teenagers earn gradually over time... It seems like you've just swung the gate open on day one without doing incremental steps. Your daughter needs to demonstrate small bits of responsability before you give her big ones. Her own car is a HUGE one. I didn't have my own car until I was 19, and I bought it myself. My parents were pretty affluent, too. They could've easily bought me a car when I was 16, but they knew I wouldn't be able to handle it. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Oh, so it's YOUR fault. I see. Craichead came down with the flu today. I'll tell her it came from you. Bad Jessicakes. No Donut. _Am (p.s. - get well soon) __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

If you go through skydiving avoiding everybody who has an interesting past, you'll find yourself hanging out with a pretty small crowd, I think. He was aquitted. I don't see any point in holding a grudge against someone who got let off. It's that whole thing about being presumed innocent until proven guilty... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The only one who'll pay for your injuries is you. I don't jump without insurance, I recomend the same. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Dress warmly. When jumping in cold weather, I'll dress like this: top: tight t-shirt turtleneck shirt thick cotton sweater windproof jacket. bottom: thermal underwear regular pants. Once at the DZ, I put my jumpsuit on over everything. I wear good warm gloves that I bought at a hiking store. No crappy baseball gloves for me. Some people wear latex gloves underneath cheap baseball-style gloves, but I've found good warm thin gloves to be much better. I found the latex just traps in moisture resulting in wet hands, which then get cold. The coldest jump I ever had, I was wearing latext lined gloves. BAD IDEA... Also, try to keep your neck and parts of your face covered if it's real cold. I wear a neck and face guard that goes up to my nose. The nutshell, is that skydiving really isn't that much worse then extreme skiing. Dress like a skiier and you'll be fine. There's nothing more fun then landing in three feet of snow, I promise! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I disagree. If a jumper screws up badly, but gets out of it because she's lucky, telling that jumper she did the right thing only encourages her to do that wrong action again, at which point she might not be so lucky. Likewise, if a jumper screws up only mildly, there is still no benefit to positive reinforcement of poor choices. I'm reminded of one individual who cuttaway his "slider down" malfunction. He saw what he thought was a problem, and dealt with it. In reality though, he did not do the right thing, because in reality there was no problem to start with. Strangely, even after cutting away a perfectly good canopy, people told him "you did the right thing", which seems patently false to me. I can't imagine what went through his head when his reserve opened, and on that one too the slider came down too. That said, people who offer advice should be sure that they have standing to offer that advice, and they should do it at an appropriate time and place. These forums are an ideal time and place, I think. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I can't answer your question about PD, nor am I a rigger. That said, to me - it really depends on how I'll be using the reserve. For example, a few monthes ago I did a round jump. The main was 30 years old, and I think the reserve was close to 50 years old. I trusted the rigger that packed it, so I jumped it. I knew the reserve had been appropirately tested. On my own rig though, I'm loading a PD reserve at close to 1.7. When I jump this reserve I need it to be in the best shape possible. I want this reserve to be brand new, because I know at this wingloading I'm going to need every bit of lift this canopy can give me. I'm planning on swapping out this reserve every few years because I only want new fabric. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The downside to airlocks is that your canopy doesn't "want" to deflate, and on a windy day it can be a royal pain in the ass to get the damn thing to collapse. The Canopy will just hold its inflated shape... When I last jumped the Samurai, I ended up getting dragged about 50 feet. Because of this I think airlocks kinda limit the winds you can jump in... But wisdom says you shouldn't be jumping in those winds anyways. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The point is moot though, because we know it has happened. There's two dead skydivers to show this. I know it's a risk for me because I had a risers strike me accross the nose about a year back, it took some skin off. If a riser can hit my nose, it can hit a ring sight. I am not concerned about an entaglement happenening during or after the cuttaway. I AM concerned about an entaglement that happens BEFORE cuttaway, that a canopy cuttaway won't clear. I'm concerned a wayward risers snags my side-mount (I don't have a ring sight) during deployement, and a simple canopy cuttaway won't clear the malfunction. I don't have an RSL because I want to have time to fully cuttaway my main/helmet entanglement before I deploy a reserve. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

My renters insurance with Allstate will cover my gear, they've assured me. I have not had it specifically wriiten into the policy. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

My first reaction was to say "Hell no! We're all here for life!". The reality is that I've been here 4 years, and in that time I've seen a lot of people move on, people who once said "Hell No" themselves. I'm a long way from moving on, but I imagine it'll happen some day. Both my mother and my mother in-law hope it'll happen sooner rather then later. I doubt that. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

We're hearing about them more because people are dieing from them more often. Canopy colisions used to be no big thing, especially under round parachutes. Two rounds bumping sides... who cares? CRW used to be responsible for most of the canopy colisions, and those colisions were frequently intentional, but moreso they were almost entirely done way up high with lots of time to deal with then ensuing collapse. Canopy colisions close to the ground, in the pattern, and on final are relatively new, for the reasons Bill outline. High performance canopies becoming common, swooping becoming common, large airplanes, and freeflying all contribute to canopy colisions over the landing area, which is a new problem. My belief is that this new problem requires a new solution, that tips like "kicking your legs" and "watch your separation" just isn't enough. Canopies flying at radically different speeds should have radically different landing area. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.