Newbie

another good point. He was definitely brain locked (as i mentioned, he was supposed to pop straight back to head up if it wasn't going well). Thanks! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

please excuse the crudity of my drawing, i can't use Paint very well. Why do we not have a cutaway/reserve pillow with a contoured "pistol" type grip (not as extreme as in my pic, but you get the idea), complete with a hole near the top to insert our thumb for extra leverage? The hole doesn't have to be used (obviously, as handles don't use that design currently and work well enough) but if you could loop a thumb in, it would provide greater leverage. The only down side is i guess if you wanted to drop the handle quickly for whatever reason, it might be looped onto your thumb if you have on big gloves or something. You might also risk having someone else stick their finger through and pull, so perhaps the hole could only be used on reserve pillows? Anyway just a thought. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

LOL good point. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

good point - often i will eat a bowl at 1am or later, if i'm hungry and up. Who else is a midnight feast cereal killer? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

someone please post a pic of this! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

this week i have gravitated back towards Coco Pops for that chocolately hit in the morning. When i'm feeling sophisticated and mature, i will usually grab a box of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, but that's usually my 1 out of every 4 boxes of choice. I often mix Sugar Puffs (Smacks to those Stateside) or Ricicles with Jordans Country Crisp with Luxury Raisins (man raisins in the mix are so damn good, especially when the milk softens them up a bit!). One of my fav cereals which i only get as a rare treat, are Frosted Wheats , but at £2 something a box, which will only provide approx 5 bowlfuls, it's too expensive to have all the time, not to mention all that sugar! (but damn they taste good!) I remember when i was young visiting family in South Africa, you could get Strawberry Pops which were amazing - i haven't had them in about 12 years though, i have no idea why they aren't available in the UK, Kellogs needs to change that, i think they would do very well here. I can't be the only near 30 year old who gets excited about cereals aimed at kids, surely. What do you guys get from the cereal aisle? Also, "are you a pour the milk and eat straightaway person" or a "pour and wait until soft" kind of eater? Me, i'm sort of in the middle of the 2 - not too soft, not too hard. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

thanks drew, i thought about this, but i guess it's been drilled into me so much not to go flat while ff'ing, or to avoid going flat, that it didn't occur to me until i got down. Will bear it in mind though (on these smaller ways anyway) "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

not very fun, and thankfully not a serious one - although it was a definite slammer. Looking back it was a stupid plan from the outset - my friend and i doing a 2 way sit (which we had done before and were good with) and a friend with 300 jumps or so working on his HD. Anyway the 2 way was more or less solid, a little vertical separation, and i was also trying to watch out for my HD friend, who can't hold a good position for more than a few secs. He was below me, on his head, but was leaning back, actually in more of a back track position, suddenly coming at me from about 20ft below and closing fast. Im in a sit, looking at his face thinking "ok go into your sit whenever you are ready" (this is what we had arranged - he would use us as reference points, but stay away and not hit us - apparently). So he is closing fast looking at me with a sort of blank expression and both of us know whats coming (all he remembers while rising toward me was "i think this might hurt") - anyway we are both lucky as we hit my foot sole to his arm, on the bicep i think. It was pretty scary nonetheless. My question - what would have been the best thing for me to do? My thoughts after were maybe ball up and sink, which is pretty much what i was doing when he hit i think (probably more to protect myself as he was coming my way). It just came out of nowhere. We decided we were trying to do too much on that jump and the next one was scheduled to be a 3 way sit, to keep it nice and straightforward, but we got weathered out. So i will be wary of putting myself in a position like that again. My question is whats the best action to take if you have a collision coming your way? Any help appreciated "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

separation is extremely important, and working it out can be mindboggling difficult at times, especially if you really get into the numerical side of it, which from limited experience, most don't seem to bother with (in fact everyone i hear says will mostly say"wait until 45 degrees....." (wait until you get into that aspect of it). It's a fine balance - don't go to soon for obvious reasons, but likewise don't leave it late - there are people behind you who need to get back. Learn about separation to the point where you know what to look for, what to ask for and how to calculate it to the best of your knowledge, as well as asking experienced people/jump master for their thoughts on it (usually they will say leave x amount of secs). Take responsibility to know when to go, so that you don't make it hard for the groups behind to get back, but you don't endanger yourself or the previous jumper(s). "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

the way i approach skydiving is how i approach life - it's impermanent. Always balance the risk against the benefit (i.e. if you are spending more time worrying about jumping than the level of enjoyment you get from it, you probably shouldn't be jumping.) Never believe this is safe - as everyone else has said, you can do everything right and still die. It's a question of risk level though, and there is much you can do, read and practice to reduce risk level, and make your jumping safer. Also you are just starting out, and i was worried when i started too - i was probably worse than you are now - i used to get on a jump plane to do my AFF looking at people jumping out when we were on jump run, thinking "omfg what am i doing here?! These people are NUTS, they are jumping out of a plane, why am i here, i have to be crazy, i will never be like these f*&ing nut cases!" Fast forward a few years and uhm, well...things change. Just remember, take it slow, no need to rush anything, read lots, ask lots of questions from people who are experienced, understand what it is they are saying and why, and never let your ego (complacency) get the better of you (which it will try to if you stay in the sport even just a short while and start to get more confident). Good luck with training and have fun! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

it might not be the best use of resources in your eyes but it could help catch killers more quickly (Derrick Todd Lee, John Allen Muhammad, Richard Ramirez, Charles Sobhraj etc). Sure Pareto's 80/20 rule states we can assume the person committing the offence can be grouped to a particular profile etc, but i think you leave yourself open to overlooking and missing things if you place too much emphasis on that. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

QuoteAnyone who pussies out of fighting back against such a piece of shit is culpable for the harm he does to others in the future. reply] just curious - if this happened as we think it did (i.e. she shot him at close range as he was about to drive off) how is that "fighting back" and not a revenge/retribution shooting? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

1) Registration leads to confiscation. Period. There are no two ways about this. If you want to claim that we gun owners are yelling about a boogeyman with regard to this equation, we have only to point to NEW YORK CITY, WASHINGTON D.C., CALIFORNIA, ENGLAND, AUSTRALIA, and NAZI GERMANY. Those are real-world examples of exactly what we are concerned about: GUNS WERE FIRST REGISTERED, and then the knowledge that the police had regarding who had what guns and where was used TO GUIDE THE POLICE IN THE CONFISCATION OF THOSE GUNS. How can you argue that we are making a big deal out of a phantom fear when it's a fear that has become reality already, even in parts of the United States?! 2) "Cooling off periods" are generally unnecessary. Many of the "heat of the moment" killings take place at a time of day when gun stores are not even open, so it's not like people are rushing out, buying a gun, and then going and killing someone. I think this concept is largely a myth. And there should definitely be no "cooling off" delay if a person is buying his second, third, or thousandth gun. If he already has guns available to him, if he wanted to murder someone, he'd just use those. 3) If a person mislays his gun or allows it to fall into the hands of a child in the household, there are penalties in place in many jurisdictions that will apply. But if a person's gun is STOLEN in a criminal theft, I hardly think that he should be held legally or criminally responsible for crimes that are then committed with it. Your car could be stolen and then used to run someone down. Should you then be held accountable as though you were the murderous driver? What about your kitchen knives? Your chainsaw? Your can of gasoline? Are you referring to those major metropolitan cities like NYC, D.C., and Chicago, where despite the most stringent gun control there is -- BANS -- they still lead in gun murder rates on a consistent basis? Seems to me that you provided the biggest argument yet for the abandonment of the very policies you are advocating: they're abysmal failures. Blue skies, - http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/html/dclm/ldinfo.html How is this document stating you cannot own a gun in NYC? And i quote: "It has come to the attention of the License Division that certain consulting firms have advised licensees that renewals are no longer automatic and that the License Division has refused to renew hundreds of licensees. This is untrue. License renewals continue to be routinely processed and approved in the overwhelming majority of cases." Violent crime in NYC is down to it's lowest levels in years. This is according to the FBI as of last year... http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=1091 "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

http://www.n-tv.de/images/200110/2778665_Shirt_Osama.jpg http://www.tech-sol.net/humor/paperwork.jpg http://www.thismodernworld.com/media/gra/binladen.jpg To us, the things THEY sell are repulsive, just as these items above might be seen in the same light to those out there...2 sides to every coin etc "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

In which case you have invalidated Nac's defense of your position, and should answer Turtle. ps - good choice of fiancees; straight white teeth make things so much nicer. i did answer Turtle. And contrary to popular belief, some of our ladies in the UK actually have GREAT teeth Brit babe "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Do you fear a hammer, just becuase someone can crush your skull with it in seconds if you're not careful? Do you fear a pen, just because if you slip you can cause sever disfigurement or death? Pciking up a gun and holding it does not cause it to fire, no matter how many cops say "it jsut went off." Why wouldn't you want to know how to pick up and handle it safely, rather than allowing an inanimate object to terrify you? I don't fear pieces of metal and plastic, no matter their shape. I do, however, have a very healthy respect for the power and responsibility that comes everytime I ahndle a firearm. There are four very simple rules that help me do so. 1. Every gun is loaded. Everytime you put it down, somebody loads it when you're not looking. (check the chamber, everytime you pick it up) 2. Never point the firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy. (if you don't point it at anything valuable, you can't shoot anything valuable) 3. Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it. (know what you're shooting at, and what you mighth it is you miss or shoot through) 4. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire. (last back up to all other rules, avoids accidental discharges) Kennedy can you HONESTLY compare the destructive power of pen's and hammers to a handgun?? I really don't think you can. Of course, it's the HANDLER of these we should worry about - but the nut with a gun is far more dangerous than the nut with the hammer/pen/knife. As i said in my post to Jeffrey, yes education is helpful in addressing peoples phobias - but frankly, sometimes people don't want to address them, and that's not difficult to comprehend, whether you are pro, anti or fence sitting on guns. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I will go on record that it is 100% always bad to have an "irrational" ANYTHING. It shows that you have allowed the smart part of your brain to freeze and stop thinking, and let raw fear do the job for you. You seem to be... well... advocating irrationality! How bizarre! By the same token, whuffos have no idea how to use a parachute correctly, right? Should they have an irrational fear of parachutes and skydiving? What about a person who walks near a swimming pool and doesn't know how to swim? He should have an "irrational fear" of it -- or should he maybe have instead a "healthy respect for the potential danger"? You condition the "inbuilt fear" to be for those who don't know anything about guns. Well, how about we address that by teaching people -- kids and adults alike -- so that they don't have to fear guns irrationally, and so that if they encounter them, they'll know how to handle them safely? Got something against education? Blue skies, -Jeffrey of course i don't have anything against education, nor am i advocating irrationality by any means. Simply, i understand where this irrational fear in people can come from. I like you, believe irrational fear to be a bad thing, but people are phobic, which by it's nature is a fear of something that can be completely irrational. I am terrified of spiders. Why? Who knows. I have some theories (being scared by them when i was very young etc). Do i know it's completely irrational that i'm scared of this tiny thing i can crush? Of course! Do i want to do anything about it? I would love to, but you know, what i can't even get near to them to try and overcome my fear. Maybe someday i will go on a course to get over my fear, but right now, i would prefer to stay away from them. Can this apply to people and guns? Of course. And i can understand that. That's all i was saying. The idea that it's irrational to be scared of a harmless house spider is obvious. The idea that it's irrational to be scared of a device like a gun if you know nothing about them, is well, not irrational to me. It's understandable. (yes education is an answer to curing that irrationality, but some people, like me, prefer not to be educated on matters that concern irrational phobias for whatever reason). "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

So according to you, only cops and military should have guns. Uh huh. Why is that? You do know that, at least here in the US, cops have a higher crime rate than people who carry concealed, right? Also, you think that being tageted by a nut requires being famous? Why should people who can afford 24/7 bodyguards be the only ones who can protect themselves. If you want to play probabilities, no one in the US is likely to be a victim (overall likelihood of crime victimization is around 4%). If you realize a gun can be necessary to protect oneself (as you stated via acceptance of bodyguard carry), why deny it someone who wouldn't make as many headlines? Everyone from the Clinton Justice Department to unaffiliated researchers have found between 1.25 and 3.5 million Defensive Guns Uses each year here in the states. Couple that with the fact that active physical resistance with a gun lead to the lowest probability of being hurt in a crime, and you must ask, would you rather there be another two million crimes each year? Show me one anti-gun politician who is not pushing for a blanket ban. To counter your argument, I inform you thus: OK, so maybe even the eco-freaks have more sense than anti-gun logic. I'll buy that. man i really need to stay out of the gun threads... Kennedy, as i have now mentioned several times in this post, in an ideal world people should be able to protect themselves with whatever they want (within reason - i.e. no, i don't think an AK47 is necessary for home defence, but a handgun is). This, however, is not an ideal world. I'm sure you, John Rich, peaceful jeffrey etc are all RESPONSIBLE gun owners. I just think that there are people out there who aren't, and don't equate the ownership of a gun to the necessary level of responsibility. Oh course, a gun is not a hammer, but it has the ability to do damage far more quickly to more people than a hammer could, so that's why you need a certain heightened level of responsibility to go with that. Again, i'm not having a go at you, i'm sure you are responsible, but not everyone is as accountable. I also stated i can understand why those who are pro gun control want certain armed protection. That's it, no more no less. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

No, as I mentioned above, in an ideal world you should be able to protect yourself (within the limits of reason). I also understand why it is some advocates for gun control still want armed protection for themselves/their families. However, owning a firearm for defence, hunting whatever, to me, should equate to the heightened sense of responsibility that goes along with that, as well as having some kind of compulsory safety/proper usage training. At times, this doesn't happen/isn't thought about, hence problems can arise. You are trying to dictate policy with no backing. You say should and could - but offer no ways or means. It is good the way it is - if it isn't broken - don't fix it. I'm not trying to dictate anything. Offer no ways or means? Ok how about if you want a gun, you have to have it registered, along with your details, have compulsary cooling off periods, detailed background checks, training for the type of gun you are buying and some kind of "responsibility" training, to be laid down in law (i.e. if this gun is mislaid and falls into the wrong hands, we will be coming after you). Personally i don't see any of this as an infringement on my rights. Hell i can still own a gun right? (as long as the background check turns nothing up). Yet you still will have people saying "no way should i have to register SH*T, it's my god given RIGHT!). I would say the problem in the US is far from "not broken" at least in major metropolitan cities. Go and speak to any cop who has just worked a weekend shift in a major city in the US and ask him if gun's aren't a problem. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Then maybe he should not comment about OUR Constitution, and how WE do things? I mean since it does not affect him and all. Ron, i think that would be missing the point of Speakers Corner, no? Besides, my fiancee is a US citizen - which means part of YOUR Constitution may one day become part of MY Constitution. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Geez, all those 100% positive statements. All of them wrong. It only takes one example to prove such a statement incorrect. Drive-by shootings: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/3859709.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3855583.stm Gangs: http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1142336,00.html Public drug dealing: http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-13170413,00.html Um, pardon me, but US and UK statistics show that *England* has a higher violent crime rate than America. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cjusew96.pdf Your arguments are completely lacking in facts. thanks for taking an interest in my post which was directed at Skyrad, John. The reason it was directed to him was because he and i were discussing areas of London, not Sheffield and the Midlands, which is where those drive by's took place that you posted. Peckham, the area i referred to is an area of high social deprivation, which you could classify as a ghetto, and i was implying through what i said to Skyrad that just because it's seen in that light, doesn't mean we see open drug dealing and drive by's. Of course, those sorts of things happen in this country, but it's by far the exception to the rule, even in light of what you say about the UK outstripping the US in violent crime. I still stand by my statement that more likely than not, violence does not lend itself to the public arena. You can post all the links you want and tell me that my arguements completely lack in facts, but i have spent almost my entire 29 years in London, working and hanging out in areas you might as a tourist consider "no go". How many times have i been the subject of violent crime? Zero. How can personal direct experience not count as valid fact? By the way - you should read your own sources - the last link you posted, barring the fact it's completely out of date now, states: "The major exception to the pattern of higher crime rates in England is the murder rate. The 1996 U.S. murder rate is vastly higher (nearly 6 times) than England's, althgouh the difference between the two countries has narrowed over the past 16 years." "Firearms are more often involved in violent crimes in the Unites States than in England. According to the 1996 police statistics, firearms were using in 68% of U.S. murders but 7% of English murders, and 41% of U.S. robberies but 5% of English robberies". "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

no i hear you - there are certainly bad, messed up elements to things here - i guess it goes with the territory (large, sprawling, metropolitan city etc). I guess you working on the "front line" will get to see more of this than most of us, so i appreciate where you are coming from. Book some time off though man! Summer is here, finally, and if nothing, take off a few days to relax in the park and just do nothing, head to the dz etc etc. Nothing like a few days of doing nothing to give you a much needed break from things. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

No, as I mentioned above, in an ideal world you should be able to protect yourself (within the limits of reason). I also understand why it is some advocates for gun control still want armed protection for themselves/their families. However, owning a firearm for defence, hunting whatever, to me, should equate to the heightened sense of responsibility that goes along with that, as well as having some kind of compulsory safety/proper usage training. At times, this doesn't happen/isn't thought about, hence problems can arise. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

So - what you are saying, is that if you are against gun control you require more guns to protect you than . . . no that can't be it - So, what should happen is that the people advocating gun control shouldn't heed thier own words - oh that can't be it either - Damn this is hard trying to figure out what a liberal thinks - it crosses over itself ina linear thinking way. OK - one more try - If you want gun control - it is neccessary to have guns to protect yourself with the very thing that you say will not protect anyone but is still a protector for you? I guess i just don't get it. Kinda like a guy that pickets infront of a major oil company for poluting the world and using up all the fossil fuels, getting into his Humvee, driving to the DZ and making some jumps. no, don't get confused - it's simple. The arguement could go thus - don't deny those who require guns as tools for their jobs (law enforcement, close protection bodyguards etc). Some people are more likely to be targeted by nuts than you and i (celebs/politicans). They will require heightened security. Gun control does not necessarily equate to a blanket ban on guns. And if you can find me an environmental protestor, picketing a major oil company driving a Humvee, i will put on the monkey suit and dance down the street while playing the banjo. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i work in education and until recently was a firm believer that it's parents and the role they play (or rather, don't play) that has a direct effect on how the children grow, develop and behave. I still hold this view. However, when i was in one of the schools i work with recently, i saw what i would say was an example of some teaching that really wasn't great. Suddenly i thought, "are they badly behaved because the parents are so strict at home that they think they can get away with things in school, that they play up here? Are they angels at home, devils at school?". Anyway i still think it's to do with parenting, i don't know why, i don't have any kids, i guess i'm just going on my upbringing as my experience. What do you guys think? What makes a child badly behaved? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts