wolfriverjoe

I can't decide if you actually believe the garbage you are posting or if you are a troll (FWIW, trolling is the posting of materiel deliberately intended to provoke a response). You want statistics? There aren't any. Except for fatalities, there simply aren't any statistics available. Injuries? AAD fires? Reserve rides? Two outs? No stats available. Even basic stuff like total jumps or even total active jumpers? (you'd need those to generate percentages). Not available anywhere. In your troll poll (hey, Billvon called it that), 'Twardo had a pretty good response. (paraphrased) Go do what you want, but don't be surprised if something bad happens. When it does, don't expect much sympathy. We've seen you too many times before. If you are foolish enough to think that mistakes due to distraction, even simple ones like forgetting goggles, are "non-events", then I suggest you rethink your participation in this sport. If you don't understand risk assessment and mitigation enough to realize that this stuff is "caused by the camera", I suggest you rethink your participation in this sport. The consequences of a minor mistake may be negligible. But they can easily stack up with other minor mistakes and end up a catastrophe. It's called the "chain of events." And if you don't realize that the presence of the camera was a rather large link in the chain of all of those anecdotes, then you really need to get a clue. Like 'Twardo (among others) said, we've seen you before. And all the other "youse" just like you. It's funny that the only people arguing against experience for cameras or small canopies or wingsuits are the ones who lack it. What's not funny is how many of them realize how wrong they were. Some have a close call that wakes them up. Others have to get hurt. Some have to get really hurt. A few only realize their mistake a second or two before it kills them. Ask Sangi. He was jumping a small canopy, but had all the arguments you are using. He had the courage to come back and admit that he was wrong. Unfortunately, his mistake cost him the use of his legs. Others weren't so lucky. Ask Ted Nelson about self appraisal of canopy skills (something you suggested). Ask Dan Kulpa about wingsuiting too soon. Ted had all the same arguments you do. Dan didn't come on here and argue about wingsuiting ahead of schedule, but he got turned down by one instructor, then went "shopping" until he found one who would teach him at around 100 jumps. "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

If I'm the pilot, and there's an emergency situation, and I yell: "EVERYONE SIT STILL", there's a reason for it. If someone was to decide on their own to open the door and go, that would be the last time they ever rode on a plane I was flying. If the plane is on the edge of control, opening the door or shifting around of passengers could be catastrophic. "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

Yup. The sky is blue and water's wet too. Anything else, Captain Obvious? Make sure your wearing underwear if you're going to wear a flowy skirt on a windy day?? Not necessarily. It makes windy days much more interesting.

Ah... So standing up to a bully (which is all the rage today) and stopping an armed assault (pull a knife on someone, see what charges are filed) get you "in trouble." (heavy sigh) "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

Which parts? How are you planning on coating them? By this, I mean do you plan on removing them, coating them and replacing or coating while in place? Personally, I can't see it being done without voiding the TSO. Kind of like recoloring or painting a container, if someone brought me a rig with this sort of modification, if they didn't have some sort of approval, I'd refuse to pack it. But that's just me. "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

Short answer: Yes, mostly. USPA licenses are recognized by the FAI and are good all over (pretty much). Foreign licenses recognized by the FAI are valid in the US. Converting a foreign license to a USPA license is not hard, and some DZs in other countries train to USPA standards and use USPA licenses. ` "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, considering that there are people calling for "drone strikes" on the NRA leadership in newspaper columns, anti-abortion groups that are calling for the killing of doctors that perform abortions (not stopped until they started publishing names and addresses - which made it an explicit threat), and other things of a similar nature, I'd say a picture such as you describe would be protected (but I'm neither a lawyer nor a constitutional scholar, so I could be wrong). "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

SOMEBODY dug up a bunch of threads that I started, most are a couple years old. Notice that there's an extra post missing. I think he's "punishing" me for calling him on his immature, petulant, vindictive, stupid trolling/sockpuppets. "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

Yup. The sky is blue and water's wet too. Anything else, Captain Obvious? "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've been going to the wrong hardware stores. Note to self: Check McGuckin's in Boulder to see if they have a BDSM section. Double facepalm... Meh... No need for the hardware store... Most anything can be an improvised BDSM instrument/toy... All you need is a little imagination/creativity Pfft. That takes all the fun out of it. It is so much fun to walk up and down the aisles picking stuff off the shelves and asking "Do you think this would work?" More fun when an employee asks if they can help find somehting, and most of all when there is a little old lady nearby. "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

If he had only leaked things like the video of the heli shooting (which wasn't as improper as a lot of people would like to think), then the "whistleblower" defense might be a bit more appropriate. But he didn't restrict the info he leaked to that sort of thing. It was everything he could get his hands on, including the names of local people working for the US Army, which put their lives and the lives of their families in very real and very grave danger. And I don't see at all how this would have a chilling effect on the press. The people who published it aren't being prosecuted. The person being prosecuted is the one who leaked it, who had signed security agreements that specified punishments for these kind of leaks. I don't see him as a traitor, but he should spend a good long time in Leavenworth or somewhere similar. "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 does kind of have a point there, at least. If they're talking about hate speech, it's valid (correct me if I'm wrong, but hate speech is not protected under the 1st, yes?). If he's just trying to make people stop saying bad things about Islam, it's not. Just to pile on a little more, hate speech is most definitely protected. The Westboro Baptists can scream "God Hates Fags!" at funerals, the Illinois Nazi Party can have a parade in a mostly Jewish suburb of Chicago (I hate Illinois Nazis), the KKK can stand on the steps of the State Capitol in Madison WI and denounce the mixing of black and white people. All of these have been to court. The free speech won. "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

So you're still proposing a standard that is needed by 1% of the market (or do you want to argue it's 2%) and is not met by virtually every vehicle for sale. All those SUVs in LA that never even see dirt, never mind offroad, aren't able to pull 5 tons either. I mean, it's a great way to fuck up a discussion with this canard, but other wise it's a pretty stupid argument. The diesel delivery trucks and semis aren't going to disappear anytime soon. What happens with hybrids and EVs is basically irrelevant to their future in the next ten to twenty years. (I believe hybrids are already starting to enter the truck world because of their high torque at stop). Actually, diesel is very quickly being supplemented (not replaced) with Compressed Natural Gas. CNG filling stations are popping up all over the place, and CNG semi trucks are becoming more and more common. IIRC, Port of Los Angeles is requiring the trucks pulling containers in and out of there to be CNG (Maybe not all of them, but a lot of them). It does a lot to reduce pollution. "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 seems to be bringing up a bunch of his own threads. Here and in the topical forums. Of course, it's not him. "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's it. They're "special." They are such a gift to the world that there's no way that fate would take them. They might say something like "better to die young than to grow old" or "a life so much sweeter for it's brevity" or similar bullshit, but they don't really believe it. They simply can't conceive of their own death. It's not gonna happen. They're immortal, at least for now. Sangi freely admitted this after his accident. "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! And I don't share my antique car, since she can't drive a stick shift. Of course, it LOOKS like she's driving 'cos its right hand drive. You need a dog who likes to ride in the car. "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

Thanks for that. "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

F'in New Guy. F'in Old Guy. Walking onto a strange DZ and asking to get in on the packing concession makes you the first one. If you've had your ticket for over 30 years, you are the second one too. "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. A lot of people have "trouble breathing" early on. What is actually happening is that you aren't exhaling. You pull air in, then pull more air in, then try to pull even more air in. But your lungs are already full, so there's no more room. And you think that you can't breathe. The easiest way to fix this problem is to scream as you exit. Not only does it make you exhale, it amuses the others on the plane. I know TIs that tell the students "If you start to feel like you can't breathe, then scream as loud as you can." If you don't want to "scream like a little girl", then shouting the count "Ready!! SET!!! GO!!!!!!!!!!" will do it. It will be a non issue very quickly. "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

Depends. I drive for a living. Regs say 11 hours behind the wheel, 10 hour break. If I was doing a "car trip" I'd probably be able to push 12-14 hours, presuming a decent 8 hour sleep each night. Heavy traffic in big cities would take it's toll, but I don't think you are going to face that issue. This time of year you have a lot of daylight, so that helps. But the biggie is safety. Finding a reasonably safe spot to stop each night is going to be a challenge. Realistically, you will need at least 2 stops. Probably 3. Use a bit of common sense. Stop somewhere where if you blow your horn, someone will hear it, take a look and call for help if you need it. There aren't a lot of hotels on that route, but what about truckstops? Their parking lots are usually pretty safe. Lock your doors and cover your windows. You should be ok as long as it's a place that is open and has a bunch of trucks in the lot. Although there are weirdos out there, most drivers are decent folks who would be willing to at least call for help if you needed it. "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

How about the segment that the airlines occupy? Both government and civilian population. . The airlines were intimidated/coerced by the Fort Hood gunman? Tell us more. The quote in your post (that I left out to keep it a bit neater) had this: . It wasn't really clear that it was referring to the Ft Hood shooter. My mistake. But clearly, the anti-Islam idiots were clearly intimidated by it. Their overwhelming fear and hatred of Muslims and their places of worship show it. "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

Belly flying. As in "Flat on your stomach." "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

You are right in one aspect. It's a really bad idea. You also said: Webbing? No. It's rated at 2500lbs (type 17) But the hardware is only rated at 500lbs (1" quick fit adapter) So do I expect a part rated at 500lbs to fail before something rated at 900lbs? You tell me. Better yet, do a static test. Tie a piece of 900lb Dacron to a properly routed chest strap. Secure the harness to something solid. Pull on the Dacron until something fails. personally, I'd use 2 cars with trailer hitches and an old student rig that's going in the garbage anyway. If you choose to do this in the air, good luck. Have fun. Make sure you get video. And make sure the executors of your will know that you wanted the video of this jump to be made public. "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

How about the segment that the airlines occupy? Both government and civilian population. When they stopped allowing toenail clippers, tie tacks with a silhouette of a gun, or any lighters past security perhaps? When they started making everyone, even little old ladies remove their shoes to check for bombs? Like any woman would ever blow up a pair of shoes! When anyone going onto an airliner had to endure hours of wait for a search that was pathetically inadequate, I think the terrorists achieved their objectives. Look at the aftermath of the Boston bombing. Civilians intimidated by a teenager into allowing warrantless searches of their homes because it was an "emergency." US Senators calling for the suspension of the suspect's constitutional rights. I'd say that in both cases, the terrorists did a pretty good job of scaring the living daylights out of the sheep and making them submit to indignities that did very little to make them safer. (note that even after the "Shoe Bomber" failed, the "Underwear Bomber" could have been very successful if he had constructed the bomb properly). "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 was taught that the person doing the count looks to make sure everyone is in position. Then: Shake, shake, shake. Ready (swing out) Set (swing in) Go (go) For smaller groups (2 or 3) the shake is left out. From a 182 where everyone is hanging off the strut, step, ect., a leg or arm swing is often used instead of a whole body swing. But as was said, the most important part is that everyone knows what it is. "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