LawnDart21

That's terrible. Here I am posting seperately all excitedly about my 1st pond swoops yesterday and another brother dies from it. My timing sucks. I apologize, but I didn't know about it before I posted my post. My apologies. Is there any information on what happened? My prayers are with his family/and SDC. -Tom

One more 1st for me in the is sport, I found myself at Skydive New England for the first time this season, and got a chance to see the new pond they put in.....heh heh heh........ I walked out to the pond in between loads, figured out my entrance point, marked a big arrow in the sand for a reference point and then watched a few loads come in over the water. I talked to the staff at the DZ to ask about landing procedures they had for the pond to make sure I didn't upset anyone with a right turn aproach, and then I was off to manifest. First couple of jumps, I just swooped along the edge of the pond over land to get my timing down. Third and fourth jumps, good set ups and approaches, I came in over the pond, planed out just above the water, dragged a foot through the H20, and got about 30-40 yards of good surf, damn what a feeling!!, that was my first and second foot drags through water, both times coming up and landing on dry land. GOD I LOVE THIS SPORT! Okay so the next load the winds are picking up, so I decide not to push my luck, and land away from the pond. Then sunset...the winds are gone, everyone on the load it seems is gearing up for a Sunday sunset pond swoop, so I throw myself in the group, with visions of a third kick ass swoop, we took off for sunset load. I was the predetermined first one down, and I came in over the water and hooked it, as soon as I made the turn, I knew I was a bit lower than I wanted to be, but figured I was over water, and rather than pull out of it early and miss the pond, I wanted to see if I could dig it out and correct things over the water. Had a I had another 1-2 ft of clearance, this post would be ending with me saying I had the sickest surf of my life, instead, that 1-2 ft was just enough to get me ankle deep in the pond on touch down, and the rest is soggy history. Once I came out of the turn, and felt my feet in the water, I knew it was downhill from there and decided to just have fun with it......what a chow........water everywhere. Soaked from head to toe. Everyone on the DZ was awesome after I got out of the pond. We popped my reserve (surprisingly %100 dry) and got all my stuff to dry places. They had three different point of view video angles of the chow, all fire wired to my camera, so I have my 1st chow on video to relive whenever I am bored. As a post script, I was asked for my full name after coming out of pond, as I was now "Pond Brother #19", the 19th jumper to be baptized in SDN's new swoop pond. I drove home from the dropzone with a damp main canopy, a wet container, and a bag full of wet clothes, and while I probably should have been bummed out I just popped a 30 day old reserve pack job, I couldn't stop smiling, I haven't smiled like that since my AFF level 1 jump. What a day! Is there anything better in the world than being a skydiver? (Disclaimer: The above is hopefully a flame resistant post......lol......every and all possible safety precation was taken before going for the pond & my decision to proceed with my turn on final when I thought I might be a wee bit too low, instead of pulling out earlier, was that I wanted to take the opportunity to see what "too low" looked like (if I was indeed too low, which I was by a couple of feet) while I had the water under me, instead of finding out the hard way over hard land.) -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Thanks for all the help! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

My company is sending me out on another road trip in a few weeks, and I thought I'd bring my gear with me if I can find any DZs near the three cities I am visiting? -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Re: JohnnyD I was the preselected 1st one down, and was given the go ahead to land however I wanted by the organizer. The others on the jump, all experienced demo jumpers, 2 with 4000+ jumps each and 30 years of demo experience, one is a former Golden Knight demo jumper, they all congratulated me on the landing and said it was fine. I would take their word over your 600+ jump experience every day and twice on Sunday. So you don't agree with my landing or with my thought process, fine, but don't go flaming me like a holier than though jumper. This sport is about self expression, swoop or no swoop, I put no one at risk, but myself, no different than any other landing. My "sink it in" thought was a personal decision, that I changed as I came in, no big deal. Go preach elsewhere. Take a lesson from BillVon, if you have practical criticism, give in a constructive manner, if it;s just bitching to sound like your the man, then by all means, eat me. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Wet Blanket! Just kidding Bill. Signal recieved, zero distortion. I get the message. To be honest though, it's hard to explain without a picture of the site, but had a toggle broke, etc, yes I would have put a big ole dent in teh ground, but where I came down there was fence, but no people in that one area under me, so had I crashed or got cought in the corner, I wouldn't have hit anyone. Again, I hear what your saying. I ain't arguing with your logic. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I hear ya, the thought was there from the beginning. Originally I was gonna put my old Sabre 150 back in my container and jump that, but I reasoned I had like 50+ jumps in a row on the Cobalt 135 I have in there now, and I was dialed in on the Cobalt. Atleast I could predict how it would react better than the Sabre, which I hadn't jumped in 200+ jumps. The landing area was two outfields from two opposing baseball diamonds, so I had plenty of room to surf it out. I have spent the last 40 consecutive jumps on the Cobalt, applying harness turns to my hooks, both positive and negative turns, to feel out the canopy, so if nothing else, atleast when I was coming out of the dive I was confident that I was going to be able to place the canopy where I wanted it. GOD I LOVE THIS SPORT! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

At 523 jumps, I made my first demo jump on Saturday July 6th into the Pepperell 4th of July Town Day celebration. There was only a crowd of about 200 people, but from 1000ft, they looked like a huge crowd....lol.....I flew in right over the top of the crowd, then at about 400 ft, grabbed my left riser, cranked a 180, planed out just as I passed over the plastic retaining fence for the crowd and landed the sickest surf I have made to date, carving it along the fence line. I stood there when I finished and thought to myself "so much for sinking it in....lol" as I had planned to while at 3000ft, but I got caught up in the power of the moment. What a jump, I'll never forget that one. At one point, while I was swung out and about 200ft above the fence line, I thought "Uh oh, I may have to dig this one out.....", but then I said to myself, "nope, your on, trust the canopy, don't panic, just fly the canopy" and I did, and it was as close to perfection as I have ever come with my swooping. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Mr. Phreezone covered all the essentials here, putting a ratchet style chin cup (Bonehead or Skysystem), will keep the helmet secure in flight for accurate video, and it's easier to remove the chin cup under stress, ie a line snag, than it is to unclip the neck strap. This month's Skydiving Mag has a great article on creating a cut away system for a chin cup. As for pull time, because the camera is on the side of yourhead (like my set up), I typically turn my head to the right and tilt it forward, my rational is that the best way to avoid a riser strike of the camera, is to get teh camera out of the way of the risers, turning my head all the way to the right, gets it out of the way. Of course, tilting my head down also is a means of getting my melon and the camera out the way on openings. My head tilt/turn also allows me to see the bag come off my back and see when my risers are out so that I can grab them to fly/steer the deployment. Hope that helps. Blue Skies, -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I'm a victim of advertising, just like Camel Joe and the Marlboro Man got me to want to smoke, all the "infect-truth.org" commercials about smoking, like how it contains ammonia and junk like that, well, I inadvertently saw a commercial on New Year's Eve, and I thought to myself "F*ck that, I'm done with this sh*t", snuffed out my smoke at about 10pm New Years's eve 12/31/01, and haven't had one since. Withdrawl wasn't bad, a couple of bad days in the begging, but other than that, no symptoms, and I just quit cold turkey, no patch or gum. If your thinking about quitting do it. I never thought I'd be able to quit, especially around other smokers at the DZ, but it's not as hard as you think. If you really want to quit, you can do it. Good luck! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Okay, so this Sunday is going to be my 6 month anniversay quitting smoking. I smoked a pack a day for 10 years, and then quit cold turkey......I estimate I have saved ($4.25 per pack times 180 days, I've saved $765, divide that by $19 a jump, I've just paid for my next 40 jumps!!!! YAHOO!!! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Re: "Well...thats up for debate but..... " Okay, okay, so it took me a few months to figure how to use spell check, how many times are you gonna point that out? -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

C'mon Lisa, except when I'm either drunk or making sh*t up, my posts are almost always, well half the time anyways, morally acceptable and well written........... -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Re: "Would you like to explain this?" 1) It was a JOKE Slappie. Hence, the ".....lol" after the comment. 2) You ASKED to be flamed in your first post. 3) This isn't a bar, it's a DISCUSSION FORUM, so that we may DISCUSS THINGS. Unless you have been promoted to HH, then your opinion of there being "enough" threads on political/religous threads has no weight in here. Especially since it is the HOTTEST topic from Boston to San Diego at the moment. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Okay, let me get in the first flame......lol A dumb ass judge just made a ruling that the pledge of allegiance is unconstitutional because of the "under God" verbiage, and you question the necessicity of Freebird's post? It's the topic "du jour" and this is the Talk Back forum, it's not like she posted it in Gear and Rigging or Swooping forums. If you have a problem with the thread, here are my suggestions to you: 1) Don't view the thread 2) Don't view the thread and if those things don't work, try this: 3) Don't view the thread. If it's a conversation YOU don't want to have, then don't participate in it, believe me, I've read your past philosphies in posting, and we ain't missing much if you choose not to post on this thread.......LOL In all seriousness though, just be cool about it, it's a legit topic. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I believe in God, I just pray he believes in me too. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Re: "Someone please buy my Cobalt 120! 175 jumps, neon yellow, black and silver, great condition!" You left out "and ugly as HELL!!!!" LOLOLOLOLOLOL -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

If you are a freeflyer, or a belly flyer that wants to do an ocassional freefly in between RW, then you want a MIRAGE. There is nothing worse than seeing a Jav pin cover flapping in the wind when someone is sit flying. They don't call them "Unravellin' Javelin" for nothing.....I've bought 3 Mirage containers in the last 2 years, I'm not sponsored by them, I just love the fit, and more importantly the customer service that Bill Hallett and the rest of the staff at Mirage offers. I have never dealt with javelin, os I don't know there customer support, but Bill at Mirage overnighted my rig at their expense so I wouldn't miss Quincy 2001 when I had to send it back for an alteration. As a footnote to the quality of their work, I saw TJ's Mirage last week, (it's the Orange/Yellow tye die one on the Mirage website), it had 800+ jumps on it and it looked brand new, the riser covers were all firm and the container looked to be in great shape. Okay, I only have 505 jump, 484 of which are on my Mirages. 20 jumps on student gear, and the rest, except for one borrowed jav jump a few back, have all been on Mirages, no complaints. They are the most comfortable, ergonomic container out there today. Not saying Javs aren't a good container too, just that in my opinion, Mirage is the best. Plus Mirage has the fastest opening reserve on the market. The reserve pilot chute fires off the back at 23 mph, the fastest of all reserves I believe. Hope this helps! Blue Skies -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Straight from the home office of the 2002 World Freefall Convention "Bail Bond Fund", here are the top ten reasons why skydiving is better than sex. 10) No matter how loud you yell during a skydive, your neighbors won't hear you. 9) Unlike what's between your legs, everyone knows how long your swoop is. 8) For some, skydiving lasts longer. 7) No one will laugh at you for a premature deployment. 6) The A-License exam is less stressful than an STD test. 5) If you suck at skydiving, people will still jump with you, if you suck in bed, you won't get laid again. 4) You can't debrief sex. 3) Sex leads to marraige and children (not always in that order). Skydiving leads to more skydives. 2) Unlike sex, the more skydives you make, the more people will respect you. And the #1 reason that Skydiving is better than Sex, 1) You can pull out your pud in public and not one will call you a pervert. -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Who would turn down free altitude? Not me, that's for sure! I was walking into the hangar yesterday to the sounds of a spinning Cessna prop.....room for one more....slot covered by DZ, get in the PLANE! I'm wearing flip flops, they come off, I have no altimeter, no problem, I'll pull high, extra goggles in the plane....cyrpess is on, pin check before getting in, I'm good to go, 3 minutes after walking in, I'm taxing for take off. I'm in shorts and t-shirt, but the important thing here is that I am bare foot......uneventful freefall, track deploy, pull, get set up for a nice surf on a no wind day. Set for a 270, crank the riser, start to plane out (oh, there is my girlfriend by the wind blade, time to show off and get a nice toe drag), only problem I am screaming in, and barefoot. I do a real nice surf, carve the end of it towards the windblade, and stop. Girlfriend gets the "Cool guy wave" from me, and I start to rope in my shit, when I start feeling this tingle on my toes, so I look down, and I'm like "Oh, shit, there used my be skin on top of all those puppies.....where'd it all go.......somewhere back in the grass I guess. So here I am today at work, in a suit and tie, wearing sneakers, becuase my toes are all scabbing over.....YUCK. "If your gonna be stupid, you'd better be TOUGH"......I'm such a dumb ass!!!!!! -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

No Problem Bryan, I figured that was case after I re-read your post. I actually had that conversation with a rigger last night and he thinks I am offering a good/fair price. Thans for all tne input! Tom -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Re: "People that are trying to push this formula are idiots that want something for nothing. " The reason I asked the question is that I am selling a practically brand new canopy, and have heard different opinions on how much to charge. I'm not trying to get something for nothing, rather I'm trying to offer a canopy to others at a FAIR price. - Tom -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

How do you depreciate a used canopy? I have always been told/accepted the (assuming a canopy in good condition) "Take $100 off for every year old it is, If the canopy was built in current year, only take off $50. Then subtract $1 for every jump you put on it." Does that sound reasonable as a general rule? Of course factoring in relining cost if it is in need of one might be necessary too, but over all, is this a decent way to estimate a canopy value? What do you guys think? -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

I've only jumped 15 DZs total, but of them all, Dillingham Field at Skydive Hawaii has the best view in the world under canopy. "I live to EFS" Tom -- My other ride is a RESERVE.

Just wanted to share my weekend with you guys on my new Cobalt that I am jumping. I had been jumping it for a few weeks, always seeing good results in flaring and getting nice surfs with it. The only problem I was seeing was that hooking on risers was closing off the tail on the same side because of the initial length of the brake lines. I had my rigger add 2 inches, and that improved the situation, but I still saw some closure on the tail in my hooks, so I add another 2 inches.....yup, added four full inches in total to my brake lines. I was nervous the thing wouldn't flare very well with four inches, but let me let you,I WAS WRONG. This canopy has to be the SWEETEST canopy I have ever flown. It flies PERFECTLY now, builds a ton of speed on dives, planes out real nice and still has a TON of flare left, even with 4 more inches in the brake lines. The 4 jumps I made this weekend with the longer brake lines were the best swoops I have ever had. LOVE THE CANOPY! THANKS DAN!!!! "I live to EFS" TOM -- My other ride is a RESERVE.