Hooknswoop

What I am asking is if the goal is saving lives, why not go after the low hanging fruit? Derek V

Somehow Yoink and Gowlerk were able to understand..... Let’s try this; There are roughly the same number of firearm related fatalities and vehicle related fatalities per year in the US. We could take measures to drastically reduce the traffic fatalities, but we don’t. I don’t see any traffic fatalities threads here, discussing the latest traffic accident and how we have to do something, anything, if it saves just one life. Why is that? An iPhone does not pose as much risk as a firearm, but some using an iPhone while driving a vehicle does. I think you intentionally missed that point. Derek V

I agree with you. But, I am not willing to give up my right to carry a firearm to protect myself. It’s not just someone else with a gun, but any situation where my life, or my family’s lives are in danger that I may need it. I don’t think gun control is going to go anywhere and little gains for large restrictions. The gains are going to made in law enforcement, enforcing the current laws, policing poorer areas, and reducing the size of those areas. Focus on programs that have been proven to work in poorer areas. Bring those areas up and gun crimes will go down. A win-win-win. Derek V

You missed my point. Go back to being holier than thou. Derek V

Agreed. Same as the will is lacking to require by law cell phones makers to disable email, text, etc apps if the phone is moving more than 10-mph, forcing car manufacturers by law to use gps so the vehicle knows the speed limit and limit the vehicle to that speed, and requiring all new cars to have breathalyzers installed, tied to the ignition. These things would have major impacts on the number of fatalities on our roads, but the will is lacking. Same for guns. To have any sort of impact, you are going to have to restrict the rights of legal, law abiding gun owners. People that don’t own guns don’t care how much gun rights get restricted. Doesn’t affect them. They only see an upside to any gun restrictions. Derek V

Ya, I tried to clarify what I meant by flattest. Derek V

The track that will give you the most horizontal distance from other jumpers is the flattest track. By the flattest track, I mean the least amount of altitude lost per horizontal distance moved. I don't mean the angle of the jumper's bodt relative to the ground. I mean the angle the jumper describes as they move through the air relative to the ground. Speed is not relevant, just the angle. Think about getting back from a long spot of a no-wind day. Airspeed doesn't matter, just maxing out the glide ratio of the wing matters. Derek V

Spectra doesn’t change that much jump to jump. Saber1’s can open hard. Slider control during packing and the jumper’s speed are the most likely causes of the very hard opening. Line trim could contribute to harder openings, but that doesn’t happen quickly. Derek V

Sounds like ubereats for Amazon. Derek V

The gray Ford Taurus driver was an Amazon employee? Derek V

Wait, I'm confused. Amazon uses USPS, UPS, Fed Ex and OnTrac as delivery services. Amazon does not do it's own shipping. Is this correct? "The first California Overnight customers were architects and lawyers, and we quickly grew to help other industries reduce their shipping spend without sacrificing next-day delivery. We expanded to all of California, and then added Nevada in 1996, Arizona in 1997, and Oregon and Washington in 2005. We knew that we had outgrown the California Overnight name, and began preparations for a name change. California Overnight, OnTrac & 65 Million Consumers OnTrac logoIn 2008, California Overnight changed its name to OnTrac. It was the name of our shipping software, which had already been in use for over a decade. OnTrac marked the first year of its new name by opening service to Utah. We then added Colorado in 2011, and Idaho in 2013. The 8-state service area gave customers an opportunity to quickly reach over 65 million consumers without paying the extra fees charged by national carriers." Derek V

If you aren’t looking where you are going and ensuring you are not above someone, you are part of the problem. Derek V

Derek V

Break Off and Tracking -Don’t miss break off altitude. If you do, you can either track less and deploy closer to other jumpers (bad), or track to get sufficient separation and pull low (bad). -At beak-off altitude, LEAVE! Do not hesitate, do not delay leaving by wave-offing to indicate to the group that it is break-off altitude. Leave now. Every second is valuable and the best indication you can give the group that it is break-off altitude it to break off and leave. -Track 180-degrees from the center of the formation. Tracking is a survival skill. Learn to flat track. Speed is not important in tracking. The relative angle to the ground is what is important. The more horizontal distance you cover for the least amount of altitude lost is what creates the maximum separation from other jumpers. Always strive to improve your tracking, the better you can track, the safer you are. -Look where you are going. As tracking and flocking jumps demonstrate, tracking is a high-speed maneuver. Hitting someone while tracking could result in serious injury or death. -The lower jumper has the right of way. Therefore, it is incumbent on you to ensure you are not above someone. A glance over your shoulder is OK, but you should be primarily looking where you are going and ensuring there is no one below you. At 100+ mph, spotting someone below you in the ground clutter is difficult. Taking your focus off where you are going to perform a barrel roll takes too much time away from your primary focus (looking where you are going) or is so quick you cannot effectively scan the airspace above. There is the added risk of not maintaining a heading during the tracking barrel roll. -Do not focus on a set pull altitude. If you aren’t tracking because you are clear of all the other jumper in the air, pull. If you are not clear, keep tracking to get clear. Getting clear and then stopping your track to wait for pull altitude is wasting valuable altitude. Of course, there are limits to this, you do not want to pull low or have an AAD fire. -Perform a big wave off on every skydive. Our eyes naturally are attracted to movement. A big wave off while slowing down from the track can make you much easier for another jumper above you to spot. Derek V

Does anyone have one already? If not, what would it be? Derek V

1- The difficulty level of packing a Racer reserve or not does not factor into my decision. 2- I do not have to guess at loop lengths. 3- The reserve PC can be standing up too high if the loop slips or the pack job settles. 4- How many of those 14 reserve deployments with the Speedbag were unstable? 5- Line dump resulting in a hard opening is extremely rare, especially for sport gear. I have asked for video of it and I may have seen 1. Of all the videos of openings and hard openings, only 1 showed bag strip. I can get lots of bag lock videos. 6- The locking stows must be released before line stretch, allowing the bag to come off the canopy and begin inflating before line stretch. If this were a major issue, semi stowless main deployment bags would result in bad strip and hard openings. 7- My one and only bag lock was on a tandem. The deployment bag was held closed by rubber bands. If rubber bands can cause a tandem to bag lock, they surely can cause a reserve bag lock. The Speed bag addresses an issue that doesn't exist and creates another issue. This is not a good trade-off. 8- The reason I will not pack a Racer reserve is because the owner (or anyone) can then tighten the closing loop without breaking the seal. If they over-tighten it, creating a high/impossible pull force. At that point there is nothing to show the loop was tightened after it left my hands. Derek V

I am no fan of trump, but i suspect the shirt was a gift. Derek V

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5070243/Trump-Putin-shake-hands-matching-blue-APEC-shirts.html Since President Bill Clinton started the tradition? Derek V

Define it how you choose. I am concerned that an owner will tighten the reserve closing loop and increase the pull forces above the legal limit in an effort to fix a PC that has a gap. Then i am on the hook for a reserve with too-high pull forces and nothing to show I didn’t pack it that way. If the manual required some method of preventing someone other than the rigger that packed the reserve from tightening the closing loops without breaking the/a seal, that would address the issue. Tacking the excess does not do that. Derek V

Would you use a speed bag on your reserve? Thank you for answering my question. I have one more; How many unstable main deployments have you had in the years of using a speed bag with your main parachute? Derek V

How many unstable deployments in those years? Derek V

I’m not talking tampering. Just normal use and good intentions. I have heard of the owner causing an extremely hard pull after tightening the closing loops to fix a raised PC. Tacking the extra loop does not solve this issue. Derek V

No, for the reason you stated. Derek V

Yep, especially if the owner has flown to an event out of state...... Derek V

No. A gap can form between the reserve pc and the container. Either the loop slips or the reserve compresses, or both. The owner or anyone can then tighten the closing loop without breaking the seal. If they over-tighten it, and the jumper cannot pull the reserve, i’m on the hook. Derek V