crash

Recently, we’ve had trouble with over-the-glasses goggles. I’m glad that I found this thread. I like the advice of using a frap hat and a strap on the student’s glasses. We have a few different styles of over-the-glasses goggles, but they are either too high profile or have a “sharp” edge which is very uncomfortable when tight. We use bungee cord for the goggle strap with a barrel cord lock for quick adjustment before exit. Even with two barrel locks to keep the adjustment tight, we’ve lost goggles and glasses. You just can’t get the goggles tight enough, especially in tandem terminal situations. Has anyone found over-the-glasses goggles that have a lower profile then what’s commonly available?

Rob was always so fun to be around. He was so full of energy. I’ve had a lot of great times with Rob. Too many to recall. However, there is one great jump that I’ll never forget. It happened one year at the Lost Prairie Boogie. Rob and I both made our first jumps at Lost Prairie yet, this LP boogie was definitely not our first. Nonetheless, this boogie was special. It was the first time in a long time that there was a DC-3 at Lost Prairie. Not only that, the Golden Knights were there too. Add to all that, Rob and I were drawn for the Lang demo. You guessed it, we jumped into Lang from the DC-3 on a speed-star with the Golden Knights. As we were dirt-diving the whole thing, Rob and I joked about which one of us was going to take-out one of the Golden Knights. Well, to make a long story short. Rob was the last one in, and as gracefully as Rob could be, he came in right over the back of the biggest guy. With fear and embarrassment on his face, he fought the burble for a second and then funneled the whole thing. Everyone landed in safely and the Golden Knights were more than happy to pose for pictures reenacting the jump with Rob laying across the back of his Golden Knight victim. Here’s to Rob!

Like McBeth said, Glacier is closest and you can call the DZ a little ahead of time to see if someone will be "in town" and might be able to offer you a ride (beer fee required in most cases). As for Missoula, there's a few real friendly skydivers from that area that you might bum a ride from (sorry I'm not one of them, I'll be driving 21 plus hours from WI). A lot of people fly into Spokane and rent a car to finish the trip. You might be able to split the costs with someone... Maybe this was more than you needed to know... Hope it helped!

And there you have it. A synopsis of EVERY LP that's meant anything to me. And it will take us the ENTIRE boogie to relive the stories within this story. I'll meet you at the bar, Big Bro. First story's on you ... first drink's on me. And you better make it a GOOD one!

I have no words for how I feel. I'm beyond tears. My thoughts and prayers are at Lost Prairie and with everyone that is touched by this loss. - Patrick

I couldn't agree with you more about putting the bag around the canopy. I tell this to students who are learning to pack at my DZ all the time. Do you mind if I add, "It's all about the ZEN of the pack job" to my mantra?

What really is the question here? Sewn vs. Floating OR Adjustable vs. Non-adjustable? Over tightening any closing loop is an issue onto itself. Sewn vs. Floating: It can be argued that a sewn loop (as opposed to only tacked) on a two-pin reserve could prevent the pilot chute from a proper launch if both pins did not clear the loops (or if both AAD cutters did not properly activate). 1 vote for floating. However, the double loop on a racer does not always slide easily through the pop-top and therefore may hamper the pilot chute launch anyway. 1 draw. Sewing a double loop does prevent it from accidentally being pulled out of place during a reserve pack job. 1 (rigger) vote for sewn. My vote is for tacking it lightly with safety thread, being carefully during packing and trusting that the launch force would pull the loop through if only one pin/loop cleared.

I got the idea from REI.com which has a great Wishlist feature...maybe some gear store could use that format for skydiving stuff! Thanks for the Gift Certificate idea - it's the next best option (I'll keep Bonnie in mind).

Does anyone know of an online gear store that offers a reliable Wishlist feature? I'd like to offer some whuffo family members an easy and secure way to shop for all the skydiving toys that I want for Christmas.