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Does anyone remember something about the slide on the Beretta 92F coming loose during testing and hitting the operator in the mouth or head, causing him serious injury? I tried to google for this but couldn't find anything other than someone mentioning it in another forum. I remember one of the guys i used to shoot with (before large bore handguns were banned here) who had that model handgun mentioning it too so i don't think it's urban myth. If anyone can find anything to substantiate that, there is proof in that that even by yourself at the range and operating yourself as safe as you like, the weapon can malfunction on you. I will look for evidence to substantiate that later today when i have more time. And yes, i appreciate the instance of something like this happening is extremely rare, probably unlikely unless 1000s of rounds are put through the thing - although if you were law enforcement or military this might be the norm. Edited to add - google "beretta" "slide broke" to see what i'm talking about... "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

As i said, this was not directed at you (who certainly seems to be a responsible gun owner). This is directed at the sorts of people who think it's ok to leave a gun in a handbag or in their unlocked drawer while their 5 year old is left unsupervised to play in that room. Also, if you are at the range with someone else, and you are doing everything right, what's to stop that person deciding they want to go postal right then and there and shooting you even when you are doing everything right? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Shooting a gun is like skydiving - it's as safe as can be until something goes wrong and then you can have a brush with death in a blink of an eye, perhaps before you can do anything about it. To admit that you are either: a) a skydiver who will never be in an accident, or have anything bad happen to them, and that driving to the dropzone is more dangerous that falling towards it at 125mph with only some air for support or b) someone who carries a gun/shoots regularly and are well trained, therefore an accident will never happen while that weapon is in your hands is pretty scary and (potentially) dangerous to your health IMO. PS This was not directed to anyone in particular, just my ramblings on this cold tuesday afternoon. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I don't know if it was the exact same one - the one from Panama city that Chuck saw - but it was the "Bell Rocketbelt" in both instances - for more info on the Bell, see that link posted above (www.robetbelt.nl) I imagine that Bell had a number of these things kicking about - they don't seem TOO hard to produce, and i'm sure they needed a couple of them in case they got flown into the ground during testing. My guess is that somehow the guys in the article Nick DG posted got ahold of one of them, and the guys at RocketbeltInc did the same. Quite where they got them from is anyones guess. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Thanks for providing some numbers, that's really useful. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

good ideas, thanks. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I'm just trying to be proactive in my assessment, i don't really think it needs a replacement - the rig only has about 130 jumps on it. I just want to make sure i can look for signs over time that might indicate "ok it's time to think about replacing the spandex". I know some people have said "if you can begin to see through the spandex, replace it" but i figure it should be done before that. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

A couple of years ago, i bought a new Teardrop Superfly. I have no reason to believe that the BOC spandex has lost any of it's elasticity, but am curious to know if any of you riggers have a "test" or means to see if it's still deemed air worthy for freefly? I have had no issues with it to date, but would like to know more about how to identify if the spandex needs replacing (i guess not just for my rig, but anyone elses i see where it looks like the opening has gotten loose). Is there a good way to test? Thanks Edited for tipoze "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Wow what a crazy story! Is that true? I would like to believe it, but it sounds like something straight out of a prime slice of pulp fiction. What has happened to Wentzel? Was he ever sentenced? Thanks for that, made for some intriguing reading!

No they haven't and i agree with you on that, but that's sort of why i put "scientifically minded" in my original post (and given that i put this in speakers corner i think i was pretty lucky to actually get some level of genuinely good insight from people who seem to have knowledge in certain aspects of this area, or related topics.) I guess other corners of the internet might be a better place for me to start my research on this - thanks to those that helped me try to learn more though. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Not “blaming” anyone, just stating an opinion. Sorry i didn't mean you to take me literally on the "blame" thing, hence my use of the in that post. Anyway thanks for your and others posts in this topic, it's been very useful to read for me. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I think the most common sentiment expressed seemed to be that although genes might have *something* to do with it, it's not solely down to that, but people can become obese for all sorts of reasons, medical, scientific and otherwise, most of which were not down to them just being "lazy and lacking in willpower", as you put it. I know people have different body types and metabolisms - but what i don't understand is sure, if you have trouble burning off fat, how does that matter if you have a low fat intake and exercise more than you otherwise might have to if you had a high metabolism. I'm being curious to know more about how this works, given i saw a program on obese kids and was wondering if when i have kids of my own, they might end up being obese through something like genes which i have no full understanding of right now. I was just wondering if that were a possible scenario, not trying to spread bad feeling or hate as you say. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Ok, i was just watching something on overweight kids, and i was wondering - although it's not a new topic - what's the latest on whether someone can be "genetically fat/obese"? Is there a "fat gene"? I must admit, i haven't researched this much, but was hoping some of the more scientific amongst the community could clarify for me. I don't understand how, if you eat well, and in the right quantities and exercise a little, you can be obese, but would love to know more if there is something that causes certain people to become huge and there is nothing they can do about it etc. Thanks "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

The funny thing is, as soon as he says "They will probably never let me show guns again" he immediately goes "OkBrian bring that other gun out" "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

...and then unbelievably carries on giving his "gun safety" seminar! This HAS to be seen to be believed - it is one of the most ridiculous and stupid things i have ever seen. Thank god for video, it's a miracle he didn't kill someone. http://www.compfused.com/directlink/680 The reason this is posted here is because of the many times people won't question those who are "trained professionals" about guns and their ability to use them appropriately. I guess that this proves if it can go wrong, it will, and we need to judge each and every individual situation on it's own merits. Edited to add - quite why they allowed an "undercover" agent to be filmed in the first place is also lost on me "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

nice site, thanks "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Yeah but like the 84 Olympics, i seriously thought "no way is that for real" and put it down to special effects/good props etc. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

thanks Dave

damn you actually saw it fly? I wish i could have been there to see that. I remember the one from the 84 Olympics but i always thought that was a crane LOL. Anyhoo, thanks for the further info. I wonder how much he paid for that thing. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I just watched Out of the Blue (nice DVD btw). In one scene around a swimming pool, some guy flys what looks to be a real jetpack around a swimming pool, coming to land right on a small stage. WHAT THE HELL?! When did we get jetpacks? Has anyone got any info on what the hell this was all about, and any more info on the actual project itself? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I was directly quoting Bill Booth, so blame him! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I didn't know if that stuff was right or not - it's quoted from Bill Booth some years ago but seemed relevant to what you were wondering about so i just copied and pasted. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

After doing some more research in this area, i found this: I don't know if that's precisely why, but considering this was from a post Mr Booth put up in 2003, i figure he probably knows what he's on about "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I'm in the UK - 500 minimum or 200 jumps in the last 18 months for wingsuit jumps here. I'm in no rush anyway, i'm still learning the basics.

Ok i completely forgot about the wingsuit issue. That's still some ways off for me, but it's where i want to go, so i guess that was quite an easy decision to make. Thanks all. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts