wolfriverjoe

You're new here, aren't you? If this bothers you, I very strongly suggest that you not open the "ATTN Ladies: Do you want to see naked guy post whore glory", also known as "The Glory thread" It's very, very popular among the ladies. You might like the "Name That Rack" thread however. "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

Genuine third party, albeit a very small one. They, along with the Greens, Constitional, and even the Commmunist parties usually manage to put a couple candidates on the ballot each election. Libertarian website: http://www.lp.org/ "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 depends. This sport is pretty small (read the "Degrees of Seperation in Skydiving" thread over in the Bonfire to get an idea). The chances of a seller knowing someone who knows your rigger are pretty good. The chances of the seller knowing someone who knows the DZO are also pretty good. You simply have to find someone that both parties trust to fairly broker the deal. It usually isn't that hard to do. "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. And it gets really frustrating when someone asks for advice and then dismisses the good advice that is given because they don't agree with it or like the tone. You were given the suggestion to read through both Billvon's downsizing checklist and BG's chart/article. The two are pretty much the standard for downsizing. And you implied that they were "generalizations" aimed at the "lowest common denominator." Which is the standard response from those who intend to disregard them. So be careful before you blame everyone on here for wanting "to say how badass they are and how much of a rookie you are." You are starting to sound like the typical "Madd Skilz" newbie who's "special" "above average" and doesn't need to follow the rules. That doesn't mean that you are like that, but it sounds like you could be. And, FWIW, a 210 Sabre2 would be a reasonable next step, and it seems that you are ready for it. But I don't know you and I've never seen you fly. So why would you follow my advice? This place is great for info on gear, technique, and other "generalizations." And boobies too. Specific advice for specific jumpers in specific situations? Not so much. "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

Read the "Scam" links. There's a new fake" for sale" ad scam out there. Read the scam forum. Insist on an independent inspection prior to purchase. It's pretty standard to ask for that. Chutingstar (among others) offer an escrow service in addition to inspection. The seller sends the gear to Chutingstar, it gets inspected, you get a green light on the purchase and send the money, the seller tells Chutingstar that the funds have arrived and then sends you the item. Again, pretty standard. Search "rigger as escrow" for a lot more info. http://www.chutingstar.com/ I looked around the Chutingstar site. They have a lot of articles on buying gear and escrow, but the site is being changed and I can't find 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

I would. The veterans are the ones who pay the worst price for the lies and warmongering of the "facist pigs". And always have. The "fascist pigs" send the soldier off to fight and die and often ignore and abandon them after they return. I know a bunch of Viet Nam era vets. Many are very bitter at the way the public blamed them and treated them badly when they returned. More are far, far more bitter and angry at the government that treated them as poker chips to be used and abandoned, both here at home and those left behind as MIA/POWs. True patriotism is placing the country first. Not the government. There's a big difference. "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, technically, it's "30 minutes or more." And it's for the "average indiviudal." A few people have done Everest without oxygen. I would consider them far from "average" (TUC at 28k is around 3 min). Kinda like LD-50, the standard for lethal doses of poisons or medications. Different individuals will have different tolerances. Some higher, some lower. Wiki Clicky "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

Really? The military is on the leading edge of a lot of technology... Including solar. Considering the cost of a gallon of fuel delivered to the combat zones in Afghanistan (somewhere around $150.00 - $175.00 per gallon), anything that generates electricity without needing to use fuel to power a generator has a lot of appeal. They are testing and using a wide variety of renewables, and solar is among them. NPR Story "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 do know that there's already an ongoing thread for that sort of picture, don't you? I think the ladies would enjoy if you posted it there. "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

Approve is a strong word. Accept is a much more accurate one in my case. I was 32, married and on my own, so their approval wasn't entirely necessary. But I care about them and their feelings and their acceptance was fairly important. I did a lot of the standard "stupid adolescent" stuff. I had a motorcycle since I was 18, pilot's licence in my early 20s, so they had a pretty good tolerance for worring about me. Ironically, my mom was better with it than my dad. All she asked was that I use an AAD and not BASE jump. Dad never saw me jump. He only came out to the DZ once before he died, and it was for a benefit event where I couldn't jump. He was impressed, but had no desire to see me do it. He also watched a video of some early H&Ps I did, and fliched visibly at each jump. Mom, OTOH, came out one day to watch when I was flying the plane, and not jumping (she figured she wouldn't have to worry about me if I wasn't jumping). She had a ball seeing the other guys jump. So the next time I went to jump, she came along. And again, had a ball. We had video on the jumps, and a high overcast in the sky. She could see us go out of the plane, in freefall and then under canopy. Then we'd put the video up on the hangar TV and she could see it from that perspective. She's going to be 75 this winter, and still comes out fairly often. She loves sitting on the picnic table, watching the goings on. She loves seeing the first timers, scared silly on the ground before and triumphant and ecstatic after. "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

Sorry to hear this. My thoughts and prayers are with you. "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

Look at the history of the flying wing. It's an example of how the technology wasn't there at a given point to make something work. Now imagine a military platform that could allow soldiers to float 50 ft above an urban warfare environment surrounded by bulletproof glass. Technology can't trump physics. A large, lighter than air craft is at the mercy of the wind. It's really big and really light. Srong winds will overpower just about any engine you can put on them. Not sure what you mean about the flying wing. It worked, and worked fairly well from the beginning. The XB-35 and YB 49 flew quite well. There were a few stability issues, but nothing that was insurmountable. It was politics, inertia and bad luck that doomed them (some say sabotage killed Edwards, but I'm not one of them). And I don't want to imaging a slow moving target 50 feet up. RPGs or big guns (say 20mm or 30mm) would blow through just about any armor you could put on one of those. "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 do realize that that's a hell of a red flag, right? Scam or stolen are what come to mind first. It's possible it was a "yard sale find" or something like that, but if the guy is claiming a rating that doesn't exist, I'd be very suspicious. "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 dunno, I always thought that the "Hush-A-Boom" would be a pretty cool thing. Yup, I'm that old "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 what I was thinking when I read the title of the thread (for those who didn't open the pics, they were of animal pawprint tatoos). Personally, any "busy" print on clothing should be on something smaller, or partially hidden. A scarf, or a cami under a blouse or jacket. Or socks. I love animal print socks. Lingere doesn't count, because it's underneath, and (more or less) hidden. I love animal print lingere too. It's a lot more fun to take off. And isn't unwrapping the present half the fun? And the "track" tatoos should be similarly unobtrusive. If either are standing out really bad, then it's "trying too hard." "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, for the future, you might have your measurements taken for each of the H/C manufacturers that you are interested in. That way you have them available, and as soon as you see a rig that interests you, get the S/N and send it and your measurements to the mfg. They will tell you: - If it will fit - If it can be resized to fit - How much a resize will cost. Each mfg has slightly different measuring processes, but they are all very similar. And have the measurments taken by someone, DO NOT try to take them yourself. It doesn't work. A tailor or seamstress will do the best job, but really, anyone who can follow directions and read a tape measure can do 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

I'm okay with sheriff's and other agents of the government having guns. They've been vetted, well-trained, and can be trusted to use them responsibly... Well, the "rest of civilized society" seems to run for the "gun clingers" as soon as society breaks down. Look at the aftermath of any disaster when society breaks down. Hurricanes are the most blatant. And as far as law enforcement being "well trained"? HA!!!! Look at the NYPD, who hit 8 bystanders (some with ricochets and fragments) shooting one guy. Or look at the NYPD who had Glock make an extra-heavy trigger because their officers were having too many unintentional discharges. Or look at the ATF agent on YouTube who, after telling a class full of kids that he is "The only person in the room qualified to handle this gun", shoots himself in the foot. Trusted... yeah, right. And there are taxes on guns and ammunition. 10 percent on pistols and revolvers, 11 percent on all other guns and ammunition. It was supposed to go towards conservation and game management, but the government decided it had better uses for in in the early 90s. (not sure who was in charge when it changed, but they're all politicaians). Tax link:http://www.ttb.gov/tax_audit/atftaxes.shtml "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'm not too worried about the main opening. It has every time so far, and I've rushed through some seriously sloppy packjobs. And there's a reserve too. While it can fail, the numbers show that they open very reliably. Understanding your gear, how it's put together and how it works will help a lot with the fear of the main not opening. But there's a lot of other things to be afraid of too. The fear will abate after a while, but it never goes completely away, at least not for me. I've had very experienced jumpers tell me that they still get nervous on the plane. And they say that if they ever reach the point where they aren't, then it will be time for them to hang it up, because they are starting to ignore the very real risks. And that's dangerous. There's this DUCK that has been through AFF (and a lot more). She does a very good job of articulating the feelings and fears that go through most student's minds during the progression. That might help. And they are rather funny 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

Bolding mine. And that's it in a nutshell. Learn what the risks are, learn how to behave in a way that they are less likely to bite you. On a bike you wear proper gear, ride within your own limits and the limits of the road you are on, and keep your head on a swivel because you know the idiots in the cars won't see you. When jumping, don't downsize too fast, jump with an AAD, keep your head on a swivel in the landing pattern and make sure you jump at a DZ where they have a good safe pattern and enforce the rules. Those simple steps will take you out of the majority of the statistics categories. "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

Actually, I'd beg to differ old boy. It wasn't that long ago when there *were* educational discussions here on SC. I'm trying to find a few right now. Just seems rather difficult these days. :) There are a few. You just have to wade through the muck to find them. And then disregard the bullshit from the usual suspects that pollutes even the most educational threads. I miss Nerdgirl on here. She had some great stuff. Still does, it's just on facebook these days. "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

First one to the crater gets the good stuff? "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

Oooooh, snap! "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 would expect the wheels to be gone and it sitting on cinderblocks. And the pilot's window broken out and the radio gone "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

Holy crap!!! What are you using for a pull-up cord? 3/16 steel cable?? "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 get you. The drag is actually supporting some of the weight. Thanks. I got to learn something today. I'm just used to people thinking that there is a lower G load due to the descent. "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