wolfriverjoe

You've gotten a few good answers here. This is a fairly common question, so you might find more by searching around a bit. To answer a couple of your questions (and a couple that you didn't ask): The classifieds on here (or on FB or such) aren't a bad place to look, but your own DZ is often the best place. Put out the word that you are looking and see what may be available. The 'local rigger' is often a good place to start, as he/she may have a good handle on who is looking to sell. The classifieds can be a good place, but beware of scammers. They are usually pretty easy to spot based on poor english, unfamiliarity with the terms, various other "red flags." Look through the "Scam" forum and the 'beware of scam' articles that are linked in the classifieds. It's also a fairly small sport. You can usually make a few phone calls and verify that someone is for real. Most sellers understand this and are usually willing to provide contacts to allow this ("I jump at XXX DZ, you can call the DZO and he'll vouch for me, you can call the rigger and he'll tell you about the rig, he's the one who packed it last.) As far as inspections go, it's a standard and well established process. You and seller agree on who does the inspection. Also on who pays for shipping to inspector, inspection, shipping from inspector (either to you or back to seller depending on outcome of inspection) and payment process. Seller ships to inspector; when rig gets ok, you send money to seller; when seller tells inspector that money has arrived, inspector sends rig to you. The process is known as "Rigger as Escrow". Search this for more info. The inspection will cost money, but the process doesn't always. Cutingstar offers the escrow service for free (or at least used to) although they charge standard fees for the inspections. Size of canopy can be a bit... Controversial. I'd suggest reading and following Brian Germain's "sizing chart". It's linked as a sticky in the Canopy Forum. It has generally accepted experience/weight/canopy size guidelines. It also has a good article on skills you should have before downsizing. Billvon's "Downsizing Checklist" in the safety articles is a good read too. Harness size is not that big of a deal. The fit doesn't need to be perfect to be acceptable. As is pointed out in the linked article by Annette O'Neil, you can get measured Instructions are on the H/C manufacture's site - don't try to measure yourself. It doesn't work. A rigger is suggested, but a tailor/seamstress is also a good choice. Actually, anyone who can read a tape measure and follow directions can do it. Send those measurements and the serial number of the rig to the maker and they will let you know if it will fit as is, if a resize is warranted, practical and how much it will cost. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Ok, I guess I'm really old. I learned that the shorthand for "Thousand" was "M". And I'll use "K" for either thousand or 2^10th. They are different enough that confusion is unlikely. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

^This. On the plane for the first jump of the day and it suddenly occurred to me that I couldn't remember turning the AAD on. I had gotten interrupted during my check and didn't know if I had turned it on or not. Thought it over and contemplated riding the plane down. Jumped anyway. But I learned that lesson well. If I get interrupted during my gear check, I go back and do the whole thing over again. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

The McD's Holiday coffee cup has a pair of mittens and the phrase "Warmest Greetings" on it. A nice, non-denominational, non-offensive statement. So, of course, some smart-ass takes a pen to it and makes it a lot less "non-offensive." (pun intended) Absolute genius. Absolutely hilarious (hey - my sense of humor can be very juvenile at times). Edit - may be NSFW "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Oh sure. Do the "smart" and "mature" thing. If you were planning on doing that, why did you ask here? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I wouldn't go. Option one: Arrange a date, don't show up. If he asks where you were, tell him that you saw him sitting there, recognized him and realized that "this is NOT going to work" and left. Option two: Message him and ask if he remembers you. Because you certainly remember him (say that and nothing more). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, "nervous and overcautious" isn't that bad of a thing. Far better than "stupid and overconfident." If you've done ok on a 210, then a 190 won't be that big of a step. The suggestion that you: is, IMO, a good one, although I would suggest actually having a "checklist" of maneuvers to practice that first jump. Obviously turns and practice flares, but flat turns, rear riser work, perhaps even stalls and slow flight too. The items on that list depend on what you have already done under canopy. Consult with those who advise you on what you should do. I wouldn't worry a whole lot about the temp difference. Unless you are jumping in fairly cold (at or near freezing) at home and fairly hot (say 30C or more), then the temp difference won't result in a huge performance difference. And if you try a few jumps on the bigger canopy that you are familiar with, you will be able to see that difference. Good luck. Have fun. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

A briefcase with road flares, wires and a push button, along with a note demanding $200k $1,188,567.84 and 2 parachutes would be funny... To us anyway. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Let's play "Global Thermonuclear War". Try reading the "Joke of the Day" thread. That's usually good for a few laughs. Or go read the "DB Cooper" thread. That will keep you occupied for a really long time. Seriously, if you skip over posts by a few specific people, there is some really fascinating info in the beginning (like the first 6 or 8 thousand posts). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

From a post up page: 2 weeks to the appeal hearing. Then the Appeals Court Judges have to consider the arguments and issue an opinion. The wheels of justice turn, but slowly. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, under the "I hate to guess on these kinds of things" and "If you don't know, ask" categories, I figured it would be simplest to ask someone who would actually know. You know, like maybe USPA. So I sent an e-mail to the general address this morning, asking "If I land on a car in the parking lot at the DZ, does it matter to the insurance company if the owner is a USPA member or not". 2 1/2 hours later (not an unreasonable response time IMO), Clint Vincent answered: So the answer to the insurance question is that DiverMike and I were correct. And I have to say, that although I disagree with some things they do and dislike others, the fact that they responded fairly quickly with a clear answer says something about them. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

But at least they are not elites are they? Pure commoners. Plebs really. These are the people who will truly understand what the average American is going through and struggling with. Indeed, they made their $Billions the old fashioned way - by inheritance. Well, not exactly. The founder of Amway made his money the "American Way" - Founded on PT Barnum's motto: There's a sucker born every minute. Amway is one of the original "big" MLM setups. Borderline scam, more or less a pyramid scheme. The only ones making real money are the ones who got in early and are near the top. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

This doesn't pass the smell test to me. "The" policy holder is you, the Insurance company is the second party. I am the third party. If you land on my car, I would think it would be covered. IMHO, if you land on your own car, it won't. There must be some skydiver who is an insurance professional who can clarify this. That was my understanding. Landing on my own car wouldn't be covered. But landing on another jumper's car (or another jumper landing on mine) would be. Although I'm a policyholder under the same group, I'm not the policyholder. Again, I have heard/read that the ventral fin on a King Air (ventral, not dorsal as I wrote above) is one of the most often claimed items under the insurance. If the plane is owned by a GM DZ, which would mean owned by a USPA member, then the idea that other USPA members couldn't make a claim would mean that the claim wouldn't be paid. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Most people wouldn't continue to do their job without pay. That doesn't make "pay" the only reason they do their job. Job satisfaction, the feeling that they are helping people (which is why a lot of cops and firefighters do what they do), the opportunity to be a hero, all sorts of reasons that have nothing to do with money. And, as I noted above, most cops, firefighters, EMTs and soldiers could make a lot more money doing something else. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Something to remember is that soldiers, firefighters, EMTs and police often make a lot less than many professions. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

As the old saying goes, "I may disagree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." Burning a flag doesn't disrespect soldiers. Maybe in your country the flag is a symbol of the military. In the US the flag is a symbol of the country and the country's values. The right to say and do what you want is a central part of those values. When I see someone burning the flag I'm not offended because I was a US soldier. I find burning the flag distasteful, but I'm strangely proud of my country when someone burns a flag and doesn't get thrown in jail like he would in some other places. In a very perverse way, flag burning is one of the things that makes America great. Nothing "perverse" about it (yes, I looked it up to make sure). One of the things that "Makes America Great" is our ability to question and criticize it. When the government or those in charge of it are doing "bad things", one of the most obvious and blatant ways to criticize that is to burn the most obvious symbol of the country. It is the ultimate freedom of speech. Also, the "$5 fine for assaulting a flag burner" is not true. The bill was passed, but not enacted. The fine would have been $25. And it was pushed through with a lot of support from... David Duke. Go figure. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I believe that is the situation today. My incident occurred in 1965. Jerry Baumchen Hi Jerry, My understanding is that the USPA coverage is only for incidents that happen at "sanctioned DZs", although I'm not sure if "sanctioned" means only USPA GM DZs, or not. From the USPA site: "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Yeah... Don't pay attention to what he says, pay attention to what he does. From the story: Well, ask the people he conned into investing in his projects. Ask the people who attended his "University." Ask the people who sold him stuff or did contract work for him. Ask the people who used to have jobs at companies he took over. Ask all the people he screwed over in his career. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

He's in so far over his head it's amazing. Every time he posts something on Twitter, it shows just how unfit for office he really is. Abso-freaking-lutley amazing. Not surprising, just amazing. As a side note, Jill Stein has raised enough money to pay for a recount in Wisconsin (about $3.5 mil is the number I heard). Trump is now calling that a "scam". The guy who refused to say that he would accept the results of the election is calling a legit recount a scam. Go figure. Link: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/26/donald-trump-blasts-jill-stein-scam-recount-effort-issues-call-to-accept-results.html "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

USPA membership liability insurance is third party insurance. Google "third party insurance". Correct. It covers damage done by a jumper to someone else's stuff ("someone else" being the 'third party') So when someone screws up and, say, bounces off a car in the parking lot, it's covered. Or damages crops on an out landing. Or kicks the dorsal fin on a KA on exit. Or forgets to pull the seatbelt in on a Helicopter jump and the buckle bounces off the outside and chips/scratches the hell out of the paint (happened recently - airplane paint shop located on the airport had the heli painted and ready to go by next morning). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

It's not just a "woman thing". I'm a guy and I get those exact same bruises. It's also not a "student rig" thing. My harness was built to my measurements (bought it new and yes, I was measured correctly). I've always called them "Random Deployment Bruises". They just seem to appear sometimes after a day of jumping. I think they come from the main lift web and the three rings. Think about how your arms are when you pitch. The upper arm has a good chance of being swung down across your body and bouncing off the three rings. On a lighter note: A woman once told me it's really hard to be a girl skydiver in a relationship with a guy who doesn't jump. You disappear all weekend on a regular basis and come home broke, exhausted, with bruises in some rather odd places, talking about a "3 way with an inflatable donkey." And just tell anyone who asks: It happened last weekend while I was playing in the sky with my friends. Those clouds can be tough. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Or . . . he's simply a con-man, knows what's what and is hoping to be able to just make it all work out via EO or something once he's in office. Or he's simply a con-man, and has been for a long time. He poses as a "businessman" and a "real estate magnate", but I doubt he knows all that much about either. He's a "TV star", but I doubt he knows much about TV production. He's a con-man, through and through. He tells people what they want to hear, in order to get something from them. Then he does whatever the hell he wants and they are screwed. Look at "Trump U." Or his casinos. Or all the condo developments that had the Trump name on them, yet when they fell apart (and the investors got screwed) he had no responsibility. Look at his so-called campaign 'promises'. Obamacare? Not going to be repealed. Clinton? Not going to be prosecuted. Climate Change & Paris Accords? It's real and man made and they are going to stay. He gave the haters a "voice" but I have a funny feeling that he's not going to fulfill many (if any) of the promises he made. Not unusual for a politician, but in Trump's case, I have a feeling he's not even going to try to keep them. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Well, the most basic explanation is the one I've been using for the entire rise of Trump as a candidate (and now Pres-elect). The bigots, sexists and xenophobes have been hiding under their rocks for years (decades even) because hating people for the color of their skin or the way they worship the God of their choice had gone out of fashion. They've always been there, they just knew they would garner criticism and scorn if they publicly voiced their beliefs. Having one of "them" in the White House for the last 8 years has driven them nuts. The idea of a woman there is as bad, if not worse. Along comes Trump. Mexicans are rapists, Muslims are terrorists, women should know their place and stay there (unless he wants to look at them naked or grope them). He's validating everything they believe in. He's saying everything they want to hear. They have come out of hiding. Out of their caves and out from under their rocks. So now blacks are getting told to "go to the back of the bus", Muslim women are getting their headscarves pulled off, people who speak up against those doing this sort of thing get swastikas painted on their houses. Welcome to America. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Why does anything you say in there make this thread a troll? Did you mean to say that what the cast did was trolling? I know words are difficult for you, sometimes you say things when you mean the exact opposite. I believe you have blamed liberal educators for that. Nothing I say does that. When the OP stated the cast was gracious (implying they were not involved) it went that way. I rarely respond to you, considering that you usually seem to choose to misinterpret facts and deliberately post in an illiterate manner (you actually aren't stupid or illiterate). I never said that the cast was "gracious" (Quade did) and I clearly stated that the cast (actually a member of it) was the one making the statement. And if you think that the theater is not an appropriate place for political discussion, you really need to study history. So.... Go away sonny. Let the grownups have a rational discussion. Come back when you choose to behave like an adult and choose to discuss things in an intelligent way (not saying you aren't intelligent, you choose to go "Pee Wee Herman") "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

That will be true if he recommends to congress to pass a law to that effect. Until then, it's just an opinion. I'm saying he won't do just that, but it would be nice if they wait until then instead of continuing to throw the strawmen out. Boy that cries wolf and all that..... No, it's true now. I'd just as soon not wait to make clear how wrong his behavior is until he starts passing laws or writing Executive Orders. Or having his minions start calling for the registration and possible internment of groups he fears... Oh, yeah. That already happened. He is clearly in favor of stifling any criticism or ridicule. Yet he criticizes and ridicules his opponents rather scathingly. As was pointed out in the editorial that I linked, ridiculing and booing politicians is an exercise of free speech. Even Mike Pence understood that (again, in the link). Trump doesn't have to pass any laws to exercise power (didn't all the conservatives bitch about Obama doing that?). He has the temperament of a 5 year old. Not something that is a good thing for a President. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo