Newbie

yeah good points. Thanks for the advice all, i'll probably splash out on it as i will want to eventually move into stills photography too.

ah well that puts paid to THAT post then! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i.e. we have a means to hook up a light that sits right in front of our face and connects to an audible altimeter like a protrack that can send out warning "flashes" of light? Sure it would only be a backup device, but it would probably be quite an inexpensive way to increase awareness of altitude, and be especially helpful for deaf skydivers. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Don't say i didn't warn you... "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Thanks for that, i'm pretty sure i know what you mean based on that description

Thanks - can you please PM me when you have time and let me know how you spec'd up the simple cutaway system on the ratchet system? That would be really useful! Thanks mate "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I have read much on the FF2 having no snag points. Is it worthwhile having a cutaway system installed then, if not top mounting anything? Education required please!

Non skydiving friend coming to make his tandem in a week or so and i want to email him/print something for him to get him hyped before we roll up to the dz. If anyone has anything (maybe someone how describes their first jump experience or first tandem etc) that could post links would be great! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Yeah you hit the nail on the head. I don't obsess nor does it affect me adversely to the point I don't enjoy myself. Its more exactly what you said about lines breaking/turbulence/if a jumper I didn't see comes out of nowhere on a collision course etc. And yeah, its about getting the Fear but also I end up thinking “ok what would I do if that DID happen”. Thanks all for the replies, its intersting. Oh PS I was referring to while under canopy to the guy above "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Ok thanks, its heartening to know even the “big boys” with thousands of jumps occasionally get this too. Yeah, I forgot the ground rush thing-that can give it to me too. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Interesting. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

But i thought by prefixing "-American" you are prefixing it with a country, not a race. African American just means the ancestoral lines are from Africa. Mexican American means the ancestoral lines are from Mexico etc I thought the prefix was to recognise the ancestoral country of origin, not pertain to a race? What about people born elsewhere, who then settle in America? Should they stop being Peruvian or Australian for instance, and then just become American when they gain citizenship, even though they sound/act/culturally are not American at that stage? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Ok, sorry if i offended, it's hard to sometimes know what someone is meaning when stuff is typed online. Thanks for letting me know

I don't get it - people seem to have issues with anyone not white not just calling themselves "American" and leaving it at that. What's wrong with being Mexican-American, Chinese-American, Irish-American, African-American, Native American or Nepalese-American if you want to be? It's not like people are saying they aren't American, it's just they are showing some recognition and respect of where they originally came from. Who cares, they are still calling themselves Americans right? Someone please educate me as to why this is wrong? I know America is traditionally seen as the big melting pot and it shouldn't matter where you have come from as you are all "American" now, but i don't see how putting ones country of ancestoral origin before "American" makes them any less patriotic does it? What am i missing? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Did you really have members of your family who died in the Holocaust, or are you jokingly refering to that and the subsequent reparations as a similar type of movement to slave reparations in the US? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I get this fear at about 1000ft sometimes that if something were to go wrong, there is little that can be done. I'm way below my EP hard deck and occasionally i get this irrational fear at about 200ft or less (right down to sometimes 20ft off the ground) of "oh man would it not be good if my canopy somehow became detached right now". Of course, i know this is irrational, as it's like the old "what happens if my leg straps break?" train of thought, but i still get it sometimes. Not for a prolonged period, or on every jump, but sometimes it's just a passing thought. I totally trust my gear, and i don't know why i'm sometimes getting these weird thoughts. Is this normal? Who else after a couple hundred jumps gets "the Fear" for irrational reasons? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

thanks for the nice write ups and kind offer of a ride Brian, might just take you up on that

No i will be in NYC "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

The wife is from NY, but we both live in London (where i'm from) but in my numerous trips out the NY i still haven't jumped out there. I'm keen to do so, might get a chance later this year, but i'm wondering...which clubs out there are good and relatively easy to get to from the city? Good, as in, good people, good vibes, good aircraft, good value for money etc - everything you would like in a dz. The Ranch seems really well established and a nice place to jump but some personal experiences are always nice. I read some of the reports on the dz in the dz reviews, but quite a few are a little old now. Is it still as nice a place as what it seems? What other places in NY are worth a look in? Where is nice to jump mid week too? Thanks "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

what's your exit weight out the door? I'm guessing it must be about 1:1, as you are still a student? Anyway i've got about 150 jumps on my Hornet 190, loaded at 1:1 and had it from new. Occasionally i get a hard opening, but that's more to do with my packing technique (or lack thereof) than the canopy itself, i'm pretty sure. When i pack slowly and consistently, i get sweet openings off it. I only ever pro-pack, i don't roll the nose, but you can try rolling the top skin a few more times when you have put the nose in - this can slow the opening a little. Don't go nuts, just try an extra couple of rolls. As someone else said, make sure the lines are stowed well and the slider is fully quartered so that it catches air properly. Good luck "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

How does the (un)ethical behaviour of Nestle and it's baby formula provision to the 3rd world relate to you and your tax dollar? Are you somehow saying you working hard means they can have an easier life? We all work hard here in developed nations, we all pay taxes (we, in the UK pay far more than you in the US) but does that mean we should not look at how companies exploit people for massive profit? I'm a consumerist and capitalist, not some free thinking communist who believes we should all work for the betterment of the state and its people, but somewhere you have to draw the line. For me, it's when a multibillion dollar global conglomerate decides that profit is worth more than the lives of new born babies. If everyone said that, and didn't want to look at trying to help out the less fortunate this world of ours would be in a sorry ass state thats for sure. Look at the recent tsunami appeal for evidence of how we should and can come together to help out those less fortunate. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

maybe? For someone who, on the surface, says they volunteer and help out at church, and one would therefore suppose otherwise, you don't seem to have much kinship or compassion towards your fellow (wo)man "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Again, another person who thinks just because you have the benefit of a leading healthcare provider in the west, and it worked for you means it must be bullshit right? How on earth can you compare your situation to that of a mother in a small town or village in India or Africa? You have the very basics provided for you - clean water, trained and unbiased (for the most part) health care providers - does that mean everyone has that? Of course not. Before casting judgement on the issue, you really need to readjust your mindset and come out of your comfort zone, and do some reading on the subject area. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

You think Nestle is supplying powdered baby milk out of the kindness of their hearts? They are not selling it out of the back of a truck in the middle of an African village - they attempt to persuade/undermine/coerce medical professionals, (many of which do not have the necessary skills, training and understanding to know the full in's and out's) to get them to promote the benefits of their product to local people who have little to no basic knowledge of health care provision compared to what we do in the west. The only free powder they will get is free samples to hand out to new mothers...and as someone has already mentioned, once a switch is made to powdered milk, the natural supply from the mother will stop. Before casting judgement from the luxury of your 1st world, developed perspective, why not try to put yourself into the mindset and conditions of someone not so fortunate as yourself, who has no access to the internet, reports, television and first rate healthcare provision. Before lambasting those who can see what a developed, first world company is actually doing to these people, it might be worth considering that without outside intervention and pressure, global companies would be allowed to run even more rampant in these developing countries, doing whatever they wanted without care or concern for those that are negatively affected in the pursuit of even more profits. Sure, many of them are already the target of concern for many consumers who consider who they do business with before plumping down their cash, but specifically companies targeting mothers and new born children are top of the pile of those who deserve the most attention in my opinion. If you actually had any knowledge from unbiased sources (like the WHO and UNICEF - organistions who put the well being of people, and specifically children, at the centre of their operations) you would know that last sentence is probably one of the most naive things you could possibly have written into a post on this subject. As others have said, people have been boycotting and heightening awareness of Nestle and it's practices for almost 3 decades - you should probably look into why that is before trying to address this subject area. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Specifically in light of their aggressive and underhand marketing of powdered baby milk subsitute in developing and 3rd world countries? I do, i'm just wondering what others thought about this, and if anyone else does. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts