AndyMan

Personally, in my not-so-humble opinion, that would be the Racer. Feel free to disagree. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Who wrote this?!!?!?!? The crux of the argument fails. Canada could not be a WTO plaintiff. Marijuana is NOT legal in Canada, any more than it is in the United States. In Canada, the process is working towards decriminalizing - which when finished, will mean that Marijuana is still banned, still illegal, just that someone who gets caught with a small amount will not go to jail, they'll get a small fine. Canada does have a program for "Medical Marijuana". But here's the thing, so does the US. The US Federal government does have "Medical Marijuana", but on a very limited basis. Read more here: http://www.trvnet.net/~mmcmahon/. The only country that could possibly mount a WTO campaign would have to a: have completely legal marjuana, and b: be a member of the WTO. No such country exists. No, not even The Netherlands, since there weed is only decriminalized - like Canada. Even if you could find a country that satisfied both criteria, the WTO clearly allows governments to regulate drugs, and even regulate them into illegality. That country that did challenge US drug laws under the WTO would not get very far. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Why limit yourself to those two options? In my ever-so-humble opinion, the Javelin has the second most outdated design of all the rigs on the market, specifically the main closing flap. Strangely, it's one of the more expensive rigs on the market. The Wings has a better design and it's also one of the least expensive rigs, but it doesn't have the option for chest rings. The Aerodyne Icon, RWS Vector III, and the Mirage are all in the same price-range of the Javelin, and have superior main closing flaps, and a hidden reserve poptop. Why rule out those three options? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'm sure Solly Williams has more than enough training, and knew full well how to arm, set, and inspect his Vigil. He's a member of one of the hottest 4-way teams around, after all. Still, he managed to miss it. If he can manage to do it, so can I, and so can you - no matter how much training we've had. Complacency is the core issue here, not training. It's clear that he should have caught the error, but he didn't. Every one of us is capable of making the same mistake. Because human nature is what it is, gear should be resilliant to human error whenever possible. There is no advantage to having the Tandem switch available to the jumper. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Ok, then if they can't do it, then put the student/expert switch inside, too. It's perfectly reasonable, and a whole lot more desirable than accidentally switching it to Tandem mode and not realising it. If Solly Williams can accidentally put it into Tandem mode without realising it, so can I, and so can someone just off student status who doesn't know their gear as well as they should. Humans are not infallible. Devices should be designed to minimize the opportunity for human error. That said, I suspect the engineers can come up with a way to limit it from Tandem mode without opening it up. Engineers are smart. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Either that, or it's completely irrelevant. Lessons are learned only when they're applicable to the incident. The fact is, we have no idea why the jumper didn't attempt to pull either main or reserve. We would be far wiser to focus on that than to beat to death a tenuous argument. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Craichead and I watch it religiously. Neither one of us can stand Mikayal, because we both hate Barbara Streisand, and it seems like that's all she's capable of doing. We love Bo, Constantine, Scott, and Nadia. I thought Nadia's show last night was weak, and destroyed a great song. Simon hit the nail on the head when he said it was like a comic-revue on a cruise-line. It almost seemed to be satire. Carrie and Jessica both hit homeruns last night, but I don't think they'll be in the finals. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I don't think you have any reason to presume that to be the case. For example, she could have turned it on at home knowing full well it wouldn't fire, but would pass a gear check, then she intentionally jumped without pulling. Likely? Probably not. Possible? Definately. Either way, we shouldn't make assumptions without evidence. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I do not recomend the MACK waranty that a lot of websites sell. A simple repair to my PC120 took over 6 weeks. I would have gladly paid the standard Sony fee and gotten it back in two. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Have their been any discussions over modifying the unit such that it can only be switched to Tandem mode when the rig is open - IE, by a rigger? I can see some value in being able to easily switch between Expert and Student mode, but being able to switch to Tandem mode on a whim seems incredibly odd. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

My rigger has insisted that the outer reserve flap is not part of the TSO'd system, and can be modified at will. Thoughts? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Why's it flawed? There's only 10 votes because it's been posted for 10 minutes. I hope more will vote. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I thought skydiving was so risky, "even if you do everything right, you can still die" ? That sounds awfully risky to me. Just as street racing, NASCAR, or F-11 isn't safe, neither is skydiving. Gear that helps people live through their eventual screw-ups is good. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

There are some interesting parallels. I'm curious if others see them. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You'd like me to slow down while street racing? That seems to miss the point or "racing". Gear dependence is nothing new, and rarely is it considered a bad thing. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Teri Schiavo's case is the second recent discussion around the institution called 'mariage'. I'm curious if there's many people who opposed gay marriage, but also want the courts to intervene in the Schiavo case. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Hmm. I often drive faster and riskier because i have faith in my seatbelt, airbags, and brakes. When I was street racing, I only did so after I installed a 5-point harness. It would be terribly unwise to do so on the basis of trust that I can hit the brakes fast enough to "save my own life". Now that I'm old and fat, I won't drive on the highway without a seat belt. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Please do not ever give any student, any advice on skydiving. Not because you're wrong, because obviously you're not, but because you're not that students instructor. Students don't need instruction coming from multiple people. It doesn't help, it just makes the instructors job harder. On the other hand, the instructors have probably forgotten what it's like to be a student. That's something you can relate to, and communicate far better than the instructor. Relish it, before you forget it. Tell them stories, tell them how skydiving has affected you, and and the things that make it special for you, but please leave the instruction to the instructors. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

They couldn't pay me enough to jump that setup. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think the most pessimistic of the respected opinions estimate Hibberts Peak as being hit in the next 10 to 20 years. Discussions about it happening earlier are interesting. Statements saying it's happening right now are alarmist. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think he wants armed schoolchildren. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've known both for years. Not only are they great instructors, they're also great people. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You haven't, but Ron has. In one of the more ludicrous posts I've seen, he insisted that "Guns are not dangerous." http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=1177889;page=1;mh=-1;;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC#1178874. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

A one or two dollar difference in jump prices is the last thing I consider when choosing DZ's. That said, an Otter burns about 30 US gallons per load to 13,500 ft. The going rate on Jet-A is $1.50 per US gallon. If you increase that to $1.70, that $0.20 increase means an extra cost $6.00 / load, or $0.27/jumper on a full load. It's disingenuous to claim high fuel costs require an extra buck, never mind two. This example is contrived because the price is not expected to rise another $0.20. The cost of gas for your car is only loosely related to the cost of JET-A. Dropzones in competitive environments are not raising ticket prices. DZ's are adapting by keeping their planes full, and minimizing startups and idle-times. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Apologies, here's the original that doesn't require registration: http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2005/printable_overview_contentanalysis.asp _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.