VincentVL.

Well everything has already been said by people who actually know what they are talking about. My uninformed opinion: - Why would you want to buy new gear if you only do 30 jumps a year??? - If you do decide on those 30 jumps a year, you're probably better off renting. Your own gear (and this is even more applicable to new gear) will cost you more than 500$ a year. Repacks, AAD, dropping value etc.

I second that... Sorry to dig up this topic. But why have you lost respect for him? Why do you care? The only thing he did that I didn't like was drop the can. So tell me. What does this have to do with "respect".

If it's not the pay then what is it?

I'm no expert but you can't learn poker by playing against a computer. You don't have to pay to play online. I play on partypoker and I only do the play money games. Having said that, play money games also don't teach you real poker. Have fun, don't blow out your cash

Ok. If you say so. Something must be wrong with my eyes. Sorry about that. No. There isn't a high percentage of low lifes in the Belgian Police Force. I was probably overreacting (I'm pretty sure some of the people at that exam have become great cops by now). The reason as to why I'm overreacting, is because they are COPS. They are not skydivers, or clowns, or actors. To watch over our safety, they are given authority and the means to defend that authority with deadly force (and rightly so). I suspect this power to be given to decent human beings only (or that the rotten fruits are dealt with accordingly)

Damn skippy. You should invade Venezuela. For great justice! On a serious note: he has all the qualities of a power hungry dictator. He's charming, he has the underdog roll in which exploits the idea of a sword of Damocles (Bush) above the heads of the socialist people of Venezuela, he asks "the people" to change the constitution so he can create a better nation/world etc. Tactics of which we know they've had serious consequences throughout the 20th and 21st century (see: Germany, Isreal, US, etc.)

//Proclaimer// Many of them are decent human beings who genuinely want to do good.//Proclaimer// Now then. I can't speak for the entire world, and I really mean what I said in the disclaimer. But I know for a fact, that a significant amount of the people who become cops, do so because they: 1. Have run out of other options (read: they're utterly useless) 2. Are power hungry I know of at least one guy who is a combination of 1 and 2. As in: drug taking, fight picking, ignorant and arrogant piece of shit who wasn't able to do a goddamn thing with his life until he casually strolled through the selection procedures for becoming a copper. Note: he hasn't changed a thing. Only now he can shoot people and get away with it. I once walked into a gathering of police candidates (they were waiting to take their exam). I can tell you I got chills running down my spine when I saw what a bunch of fucktards were gathered there. So the fact that a cross section of the corps shows you a lot of brown spots, and the fact that some cops (possibly these spots) feel the need to be arrogant ALL the fucking time, tells me that the selection process needs to be a hell of alot harder. Now before I get any death threats, I personally know some decent cops. And I'm a big supporter of law enforcement and all those decent cops who try to make a difference. Which is exactly why I'm disappointed that we, as a society, are not able to weed out the trash.

Well...if I wanted to travel across the galaxy I would But I believe we should reinstate those good old fashioned values in the cesspool that is the internet. I never offended Kevin Keenan or the sport, so I don't see why I should merit such a response. My apologies to the original poster. Back on track it is...

Aaah the magic of internet. There's always someone who's offended for the wrong reasons. I never said CRW didn't interest me. I never said it is boring. Only that it might seem that way to some students. I even put that in bold. So please try not to act like a twelve year old girl next time. Cause if you do, people might not care about your opinion either. Be safe and have fun.

You can swoop at end of a CRW jump, So that argument doesn't make any sense. Bill Mershon has done a Dead Man approach while rear risering under his Lightning a few times. hmmm... that sounds just like swooping. Or have you missed the Incidents section here on Dropzone.com? Well I decided to let other people state the obvious. It's all about perspective though. CreW is playing Tetris in the sky with slow ass canopies. FF and swooping are like the formula one of freefall and canopy piloting respectively. From the perspective of most student jumpers that is Anyway...back on topic.

Start by organising an introductory course for the noobs and then plan a weekly or biweekly training session finished off with a jump or two?

Perhaps because it is not as exciting as swooping or FF? And when it get's really exciting, you're also fighting for your life...

Yeah. Stop thinking about: 1. Doing it "right" 2. Your damn fears Instead, really focus on doing it safe. Your only goal is to land your parachute safely. Pardon me if I'm being a pseudo psychologist, but you sound like you have failure anxiety. Trying to do it perfect will only get them fears pumping. So have fun and be safe. Should be easy enough.

Going into space is dangerous shit. Coming out of space back to earth is batshitinsanely dangerous shit. For all you dorks with a statistics fetish: check how many people have gone into space and how many made it back alive. You have a better chance of surviving when you make a stowed basejump from 160ft with your cheststrap undone. So would I do it? Most def. When I'm a little older perhaps

Alright. Can't argue with that. I'll call the tunnel and see what is possible. Perhaps I'll even consider the 10 minute camp. Thx for the advice

Roosendaal. Why?

Yeah... If I could just spend 180 bux for 15 minutes of tunnel time the choice would be easy. Over here it's 20€ a minute. So a tunnelcamp of 10 minutes costs 200€. On top of that you have to go through an introduction course which costs about 70€. In other words...13 minutes of tunnel time will cost you 270€. Frankly...I'd rather repeat a jump or two instead of spending 270€ on a tunnel course.

Thank you for the kind words. Now to specify my question: I'm pretty positive tunneltime is great and all. However, if I can ONLY spend 5 minutes in a tunnel (2X1.5 and 2X1)... 1. Will it be enough to make a difference? 2. When should I get them?

I'm starting AFF in March/April. My local tunnel is currently offering a discount on the introductory "crash course" so I'm thinking about taking a tunnel course. I would get 2 X 1.5 minutes in the tunnel. If it's necessary I'd be willing to purchase 2 or 3 extra minutes. Total time spent in tunnel somewhere between 3 and 6 minutes. My questions. 1. Will this help me significantly during my AFF? 2. When should I go in the tunnel? Between Level 1 and 2; or between 2 and 3? Thx again!

Are you out of your mind mate? Skydiving is dangerous!!!

First picture looks better so I'm guessing that's also the cheap piece of plastic.

Bedankt, The thing is, I would only use it on the ground initially. And I just want a multipurpose lens so I don't have to switch lenses. That's why i was considering buying a decent lens that can P&S and zoom as well.

tl;dr: read bold I'm thinking of buying the Canon Eos400d DSLR camera for Point&Shoot purposes as well as learning the basics of photography. I've been told (read on the internest blabla) that the standard 18/55mm lens that can be purchased along with the body is crap and that I'm better off buying only the body and a seperate lens. Seeing as I'm buying this camera to learn the basics, I don't really know a thing about lenses. I need a lens that can do everything the standard lens can do (so I want it to be able to P&S objects 1:1) but I also would like it to zoom a little. My questions: - should I just get the standard lens already - if the standard is a waste of money, what lens should I get. And I'm asking after both the specs (28/200 etc) and the make (canon, sigma etc) I can't shell out a lot of money on the lens btw. So no 800$ lenses... (Oh and last but not least, seeing as the dollar is so low, do any of you gorgeous people know a decent online lens store? Or am I being a fool ordering a lens on the net?)

Hmmm...it's definitely a plus that you did a tandem first. Now you won't get sensory overload during your AFF. That's probably what happened? I don't like tandems though so I'm going straight to AFF

I can give CPR and first aid. Fact of the matter is, there's little or nothing you can do about: *spine/neck injury *brain damage *internal bleeding So if a skydiver has a piece of chicken stuck in his throat or when his heart has stopped I can help. Otherwhise I'm no good.