Baksteen

You lost me at "spirit guide". Sorry dude. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

I'm not a huge fan of people adding *that* much lead. When I started out in CReW I jumped with 'only' fifteen pounds to get my WL up to 1.35. I was on a Lightning 176, back then the smallest canopy I was able to jump under Dutch rules. It was tiring as f*ck to lug around all that extra weight before boarding and after landing. It also completely messed up my landings, because the canopy as well as my body responded quite differently to what I was used to. Yes, your body behaves differently too. For instance, your legs are not used to taking that extra weight after landing, which resulted in my knees buckling and subsequently my face planting. Besides, as Dragon2 told me back then, all that weight might even be a hindrance or quite dangerous if the jump went to hell - it's also a lot of extra weight under my reserve. And my reserve was a 160. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Whichever side I'm sleeping on is the right side. But even though I occasionally get out of the wrong side of the bed, I'm still on the right side of the blanket.

I can imagine that as a TI you just give up on trying to separate the tandem students from the droves of tandem passengers - especially on very busy days. Luckily we have the internet.

I've once told a group of newer jumers that we give those kind of parachutes to our pilots as an extra motivation to do their damndest to land the plane intact instead of bailing out. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

FS has always been fun, though I never was interested in progressing beyond "Tell me what to grab in which order, and I'll try". I've always wanted to get into CReW - even before I actually started jumping. That maybe because the first skydiving vid I ever saw was the then world-record 85-way. When I finally got to try it, I decided to stick with it for pretty much the reasons others have listed above. My other main discipline is static-line instruction, which I find very rewarding. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

I knew this was going to be something incredibly dumb when I saw your link went to Redbull. However, he wasn't "in" the cloud, merely "way to close". It all went well, so the whuffo's will think it's awesome. But if the guy had been struck by lightning the sport would have taken a huge dent in its public image. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

*bump* Skimming through my logbook I was reminded of this old thread: Two weeks ago I was coming in under my L160 on a no wind day. When I realised my ground speed, it briefly startled me. I flared poorly, but instead of making a proper PLF I landed on my butt and caught myself on my right hand. Fortunately the ground was soft because of all the bad weather lately, so all I had to show for it was a bruised ego and, for a couple of days, a painful wrist. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

No, that would be the Spectre. Also a good canopy for WS, bigway FS and/or FF and pretty much any other freefall discipline you can think of. Not a swoopy canopy thingy though..

As complicated as the lawyers want to. As if you can make any rule that some shady lawyer cannot complicate. Might as well have something that's practical for us and work from there. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

So no pressure, huh?

http://www.convertunits.com/dates/daysfromdate/ Just substract a day if you feel so inclined. I'm not a rigger, but I still think it's way easier, not to mention way more practical to simply add six months to the repack date. Packed on feb 26 2016? You get to jump on august 26 2016. You win some, you lose some. By the way; 180 days from feb 26 2016 is actually August 24th. By the logic in this thread the repack would expire on August 23rd. To keep things simple: 180 days from feb 26 2017 is actually August 25th, so a rig repacked on feb 26 2017 would expire on August 24th. Seriously, how complicated do we want to make this? "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

May Fourth is also our national Memorial Day - in which the Dutch reflect upon those who gave or lost their lives in the second World War... and every war before and since. But how many people know that? "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Simple. You don't try to understand the other person's frame of reference or the impact which an actual jump might have on said frame of reference. For the vast majority of people there is nothing, absolutely nothing at all in their life's experience which compares to actually jumping out of an airplane for the first time. Every primal instinct you have screams at you that "fall from high altitude = death". Overcoming those instincts is part of the thrill/reward, especially for tandem students who step into the roller coaster aspect of our sport with little preparation and training. But freefall might well turn out to be your worst nightmare - even though it sounded fun, cool, exciting and thrilling beforehand. After you land, you know you never want to do it again. Especially if the TM 'helped' you out of the plane when you didn't want to go. However, at least now you have experienced skydiving: It's awful, noisy, overwhelming and you have no control over anything at all in this terrifying environment. And then you realise you are dating someone who actually does this multiple times a day for fun. What the hell is wrong with them? EDIT: clarity "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

CO is heavier than air, so writing on the ceiling would probably be safer than seeing the writing on the wall. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Many great replies here. The posts which address honesty, risk management and education appeal to me most. Stay away from 'shady' arguments such as statistics, outright lies and just about anything RopeaDope wrote. Risk management is not only how skydiving can be safer for you. You can also discuss the whether with her. Show her how you look at the clouds, the winds, turbulence and whatever and tell her why you would jump in those conditions, or why you WOULDN't. At the DZ, discuss landings with her. Explain the error someone makes during landing and point out the instructor walking over to debrief said jumper. Point out the hotshot newbie who lives in the margins of the rules and explain why he is an idiot. Show her some video's and debrief them with her. Show her the licence progression cards, the regulating authorities. Show her, in fact, that there is way more to jumping out of an airplane than meeting the eye. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Flight Concepts, I believe. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

What do you expect Squeak to do about it? EDIT: spelling. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

As long as he misses it by 500 ft, it's all good. Time to stop feeding the trolls, people. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

I'm loath to wade through all the previous posts, but I read several around the time of the trial. How about a counter-suit for harassment/slander/what have you? "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Congratulations, you've become a skydiver.

Just go buzz your skydiving buddy instead. Plan accordingly, have him get you on video and you'll get pretty amazing footage into the bargain. I really don't see the problem. Nor, I might add, the added value for the Wingsuiter of buzzing some random tandem. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Sleeping Beauty: Lazy chick gets to marry a prince Showgirls: Wait, what? There was a plot? "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

At a certain point, especially at the OPs jump numbers and history of not being a canopy whore, "I want a *slightly* smaller *slightly more aggressive canopy" is an acceptable response. He doesn't need the "swooping speech." It isn't a crime to desire a marginal increase in speed and or performance. While you are absolutely right, I sometimes wonder why some experienced jumpers feel the need for speed... especially that specialised part of [insert favourite discipline]-oriented jumpers who consider their parachute nothing more than 'a necessity to survive the freefall' and who have no interest in building any canopy skills whatsoever. Yes, this is an extreme example, but to some extent it also applies to the student getting a Stiletto 150 as soon as they obtain their A-licence (not allowed in NL by the way), or the smaller, lighter type of jumper wanting a 120 where a suitable 150 such as the Sabre2 or Storm would do. And yes, it also applies to the CReW dog "needing" a L113 while their ordinary canopy is a 150. I am not against downsizing in general, but very much against downsizing for the wrong reasons. I heard/read the most... interesting, arguments about flying in high winds, "under-loading" a canopy and 'getting more flare power' out of a smaller canopy, or "having more control" - though happily, not as much as I used to when I was just starting. So perhaps we jumpers are learning something after all. Obviously, none of this is directed at the OP, as I don't know them. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom

Grease: Social pressure forces geeky teen to change everything she is, so that this popular guy will finally condescend to being seen in public with her. Grease2: Exactly the same as Grease1, but with the genders reversed in a feeble attempt not to seem sexist. "That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport." ~mom