Newbie

have a look at this - if you replace the words "nudist" or "skinny dipper" with skydiver, and "nudist bathing" or "skinny dipping" with skydiving, you sort of have a few answers to whats going on in your head, maybe. And if not, then you always have an article on skinny dipping to refer to, which will become useful if you stay as a skydiver long enough http://www.angelfire.com/mo2/jewishskinnydipper/ "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

LOL sweeping generalisations based on sterotypes are where rascist slurs originate from man, didn't they teach you that Unless you are a jew yourself, you have to understand a statement like that will upset a few people who are (not me mind, it's the sort of thing you grow up with so i'm used to it by now, although that was cool of you to apologise to others who seem to have got more upset by it). You wouldn't go up to a black guy and say "whats up my nigga?" now would you? Same broad kettle of fish. To the person that posted the original post, as you can see there are other jewish jumpers out there, but you shouldn't let a lack of them at your particular dropzone discourage you, we're all (generally) part of one big happy and supportive family out there

i beg to differ, my bacon sandiwch tasted great this morning! Just because you are born into a religion and are therefore that religion as specified by that religions rules, does not mean you have to follow that - or any - religion or its religious laws. I like to make my own decisions, but that doesn't change my bloodline "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

if you reread what you have said here, and then read your account in your initial post, you might rethink about what you've just said here because it's contradictory. Not being altitude aware applies to pulling too early as well as too late. Being aware of your surroundings to me is knowing that if you pull at 6000+ft you will still have people in freefall somewhere in the air above you, maybe not directly, but how do you know that? And if the guy after you has flown down jumprun by mistake and is right above you he/she won't be expecting to see canopy at that height so that could be quite a surprise to them I'm not chastising you man, and you sure as heck shouldn't beat yourself up over it - we all make mistakes and you definitely seem to appreciate you have learnt from this one which is great - but don't assume something else that you think you have under your belt or you think is pretty simplistic can't bite you in the ass, and that next time there might just be someone - either yourself or another jumper - on the receiving end of the mistake. By all means carry on doing what you're doing and having fun, but why not do a few coached jumps, or some 2 way flat stuff and built up your air awareness a little first? Being in the air means being responsible not just for your own safety but others too. Again, just a suggestion though. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

I've virtually given up on cherry muffins. It's always the huge muffins that are the worst culprits too. It's just a huge ass amount of dry mouth to experience going through, trying to hunt out a piece of fruit that you think will be buried away somewhere, but never materialises. What happened to the goold old days when you used to get half or even whole cherries in those things? Anyone got any reliable muffin brands that have decent amounts of cherries in them, a la Baskin Robbins Very Cherry flavour? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i started just after 100, which was about right for me. It comes down to how perceptive and controlled the indivdual can be, but having said that for MOST people, starting to freefly with sub 50 jumps seems pretty crazy to me. At that level most of us are (or should be) still coming to grips with jumping out of a plane, feeling the wind and working it, and also working with others in the air and working on essential survival skills like max tracking, separation and canopy piloting. Quite how someone thinks that it's appropriate to be trying hd at this level is lost on me, but there you go. When i have a ff'er who i know has low jump numbers (overall jumps, not necessarily low ff jumps) and is before or after me on the load, it scares me more than the jump itself. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

As you see I realize that I made a huge mistake. Thanks for pointing it out though. (j/K) just out of curiousity, why did you not look at your alti before pulling? Are you wearing an audible? It's highly recommended for freeflying because of the faster fallrates, and because you might well spend more time on your back in a ball, and lose visual with the ground during the jump from time to time. It might be worth you doing more flat work first, to get more comfortable with just being in the air, and increasing your awareness rather than jumping straight into freefly stuff. Others might say just ff from the get go, but from the jump you just described there, it might be safer if you just worked the air flat for a few dozen more jumps. Just a suggestion. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

how fast are you falling vertically when under a 46 sq ft canopy loaded at 4:1 and not flaring? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i have 100+ jumps, i'm thinking of down sizing? Obviously i'm joking, i'm quite happy with my 190 right now. But i'm curious to know what the smallest canopy out there is right now - anyone got any stats? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

have you done a HA jump from 43,000ft? If so what was it like? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

You'd be surprised. Do not underestimate the power of a skydiving student to do something totally unexpected. i would also like to add to this to not underestimate ANY jumper to do the unexpected - we all know about the poor camera guy who got in and jumped thinking he had a rig on and didn't - extreme case, but it happens. No one is exempt from a momentary lapse in concentration, so students, look out for everyone in the plane, even if that person does have thousands of jumps. Don't fiddle with their gear, but do speak up if you see something you think doesn't look right. If my chest strap was misrouted and you saw it, i'd want you to ask questions, rather than sit there in silence thinking you were being stupid for commenting on an "experienced" jumpers piece of kit. If in doubt, ask. There are no stupid questions. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Quade do you think its ok for us non Sun Path owners to stow excess as per that elastic stow toggle method? My risers/brakes are identical to that set up so i figure yeah, but wanted to check. Thanks "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

thanks that looks pretty good to me. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

the cuffs are separate at the back of the riser - they are not "linked" to the shoe for the brake horn, so if i used them it would not "open" up the shoe where the brakes are stowed. "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i was just reading the incident on Jan Chandler (http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=682571;page=1;mh=-1;;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC) and thought i would ask this. I don't have slinks, i have normal regular connectors on my Hornet, but right now i don't stow the excess line anywhere. Generally i will just keep it between the front and rear riser when packing them into the container, to prevent wear, but should i be thinking about stowing them properly, rather than laying them between the risers? On the other side of my risers, where the brakes are set, are some little spandex "cuffs" where i'm supposing the excess is designed to go into, but they are SO tight that it's nigh on impossible to get them in there - i really have to poke them down hard, and i think it produces more wear on the excess line than benefit. Anyway should i be stowing these things? I was told by some experienced jumpers its more "messy" than anything, not a problem per se, but i want to be 100%. By the way, my brakes are held in place by horns at the top and bottom. Thanks "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

dang ok. I can't dl here (firewall) - i'll check it out at home. Thanks "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/mals/LineOverRT_1.jpg I'm curious to know how you get out of this situation. Do you just hope and pray? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

Dear God I didn't even consider that. Thanks Dave!! *smacks self on forehead* don't worry Wrong, i figured i wouldn't practice back tracking at breakoff until i had done some coached jumps/2 way tracks like dave mentioned, and was happy that i was able to get as good a track on my back as on my belly before back tracking from formation. Thanks for the info though guys

good point, thanks for the advice, will try a coached jump "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

i want to learn to back track - how can i practice it on solo jumps and hold a heading wihout barrel rolling to check the ground? I guess the sun could be used as a heading indicator, but what about when it gets closer to the middle of the day and its above you? Thanks "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

who's Mike Muscat? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

we dont like going without the "drug" for too long or else we get withdrawls, we would rather eat like shit than not be able to jump-or go hungry, non "user" friends can get left by the wayside as we spend more time with other addicts, some of us beg borrow or steal to sustain our habit, there is nothing like waking up and smelling the smoking pipe of "jet fuel" first thing in the morning-or last thing at night for that matter, nice expensive cars/houses/tv's/partners can get dropped in the name of following our habit etc etc "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

ok let me attempt to re-hijack this from the hijackers... Gimp, i was thinking of heading out for about the 24th - 6th, so i'd be up for sharing the room - do i get a bed, or is it going to be sleeping bags on the floor type of deal? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

anyone got any recommends on places to stay that will a) be available and b) not break the bank? I take it the bunkhouse will be full by the time i get there (24th). Will it be too cold to camp in a tent? (bear in mind im from the UK, so camping out, even in AZ winter time might still be nice and warm for me). Better yet, does anyone live nearby and have a spare piece of floor i could rent for 2 weeks? How far is the drive from LA to Eloy? (i'm figuring maybe 400 miles or so?) How far is the nearest store or whatever off the dz? I'll have a hire car, but it seems like there's nothing for miles apart from more desert. How much do they normally charge for high alti/balloon jumps? Will the parties be any good Thanks! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts

anyone got any stories to back up these claims? Should make for some interesting reading... "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts