Abedy

My reserve WL is 1,5:1, it's a Speed 2000, 135 sqft made by Paratec. My main is a XFire2 129 (1,6:1) so they go together well. I already had a ride with that reserve , however with the rig of a sportsmate of mine. Didn't have any problems, was easy to handle, didn't really feel like a reserve - meaning, good flare, easy and smooth flying, direct response to toggle input. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

The fabric is cordura. I had the same fabric with the Teardrop SF and it proved to be very resistant and still doesn't show any wear & tear except from some very small stains here and there. And yes, I also like the reserve pin being protected against my back. I made it my ritual to check my reserve pin when switching on the CYPRES (which is also underneath the double-secured flap on the back) first of all when I come to the DZ (followed by the usual rig inspection) so I'll always be sure my AAD is swiched on and the reserve pin is checked. The risers are are safely stowed in the newer Teardrops without velcro, there are... hm... rounded, rather stiff flaps you can put into ...hm... pockets. Well, it's the same solution you can see on almost any modern rig. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

@frontloop: Did you order a VIPER, too? If so, I can understand your disappointment. OTOH, I placed my order by the end of December and was told I'd have to wait for about 12 weeks or so. I think it's because Teardrops are pretty good value for money (compared to other rigs) and that is why it's getting tight during winter/early spring. Wish you'll get your rig ASAP. Carsten The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

I wanted to have a pillow reserve handle. I already had a reserve with the rig (of a jumper colleague) that was equipped with a pillow reserve handle and didn't have any problems, A D-ring isn't anything I didn't want to have, I just thought the pillow is better in cases when you are squeezed into a small compartment (as we are now with a C206 instead of a C208 ) or in cases of a lot of jumpers exiting at the same time. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

The idea has some charme, especially for DZ's with bigger planes such as Caravans or Otters etc. The British/UK approach sounds even nicer. I think once all skydivers got used to the idea that one of them aboard is "nominated" to be their jumpmaster they will listen to him/her which would make some things easier. I wouldn't like to pay for a jumpmaster unless I'm new to a DZ and be there for a boogie.... but then the jumpmaster would/should be the load organizer who is normally paid for by the org fee. At our DZ here in Gera, germany, the "Sprungdienstleiter" is the guy in charge. He stays aground and: - visually checks licensed jumpers (most of them don't even notice) - fully checks students, newbies or "suspicious guys" - announces the landing direction and if need be gives advice concerning wind, gusts and/or landing patterns, boundaries etc - checks who is to jump out when and with whom and if need be tells about delays between groups etc - radios students home - talks to cheeky, cocky, risky, dumb and stupid jumpers - mainly separately and in a quiet but serious manner. - organizes first aid if necessary - which, knock on wood! - is very rarely necessary! Sounds demanding and I bet it is. No wonder we call him "The Eye" If he thinks there should be someone doing a jumpmaster job in the plane (spotting etc) he asks a jumper (usually an instructor) Well, sounds pretty nice to me. Of course - as I wrote before - there can be fartknockers who dangerously fly zigzag directly above the landing area etc and you think "SOMEONE should talk to him" or you think "I'm gonna tell him ASAP..." - well, in these cases you may be rest assured "The Eye" has already had or is going to have a word with the offender. It's them guys who more or less silently work in the background who organize a smooth running business :-) Wow, what a long article just because I gave the idea some thought The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Hi folks, just right before the new season started and a couple days before my 50th birthday I got my new rig delivered. It's a Teardrop VIPER. As the VIPER cannot be chosen in the dropdown menu in the profile section I thought I may tell you a few words about it. Just bear with me. If you do not sharing my joy, just skip the article. I do NOT intend to start a rig war or a safety issue war... I've jumped a Teardrop SF for about 7 years and was fully satisfied with it so far. Due to me downsizing the rig got a little "too big" and the 176 reserve didn't go very well with the 129 Crossfire 2. So I thought I could get me a nice birthday present and ordered the new VIPER. Back pad and leg pads etc with Aero Spacer (foamed) for real comfort; I'm growing older! The laterals are attached to the back pad in a new way (no longer at the corners) so the rig fits even better in all postions you may think (or at least be able to fly) I also like the pop top reserve container, no hassle, a real innovation as I see it. Had to pull my reserve twice with a Teardrop SF, no problems. It comes with all options I wanted to have. I didn't want a small chest strap so I couldn't get a fully articulated rig, but I'm fully satisfied with the way mine articulates both in FS and in FF. If you want to read more in perfect English, have a look here. I also attached a pic The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Nice to hear I persuaded you to practise some German.

Though it would not have been impossible, quite the contrary... if there had been a girl willing to date me But again, you sounded and read younger to me, rather "halbstark". Thought you were 25+ The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Sorry to hear about your tinnitus problem. I also suffer from it but it's bearable. There are quite a lot of times where I do not notice it. Nature is a bitch, but the puppies are cute. Human beings are very good in adapting to almost all impairments. But yeah, I'd rather have a cure, especially when it's very quiet (at night etc). It's said to be also linked to stress, but as a college teacher, well... there are times when I can't really avoid being stressed. So this may also add to the problem. Another fine trigger is the noise when a fellow athlete drops the weighs of one of the machines in the gym next to you. Instantly let my ears start ringing. I do not tolerate this "manly" behaviour of dropping the weighs after the laaaast haaaard push/pull as a sign of how strrrong they are any longer and are infamous for having a word with even guys taller than me regarding this matter. Haven't been punched yet, maybe those boys do not dare hit a 49-year-old fart, whatever... But it helps and usually prevents them from further dropping the weighs. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Noise and noise reduction/protection was (and still is) a hot topic for Germany's DFV (German Parrotshooters' Assassination or something) Fullface helmet do not provide sufficient protection at least not in the range up to 1,5 kHz. (Can be seen at page 28 of this PDF) The levels are quite high both in the plane during the ride up and whilst freefall. You can find a diagram here or here Different authors recommend custom-made silicone ear plugs with replaceable filter that will reduce noise by 15 dB. These ones can also be used when attending rock concerts They are quite sophisticated and do not reduce levels in the range of human speech (~ 300 Hz) that much so that you can have a decent conversation. (Own observation, not based on measurements, but backed by this report.) Other findings: 1 min freefall equals noise load of about 48 min ride in ascending plane and at least 4 mins in wind tunnel. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Huhu, laughed my bum off

It's mainly the state collecting taxes (including VAT on other taxes!) that makes petrol/gas that expensive here. BTW: The gov't is planning to impose an extra fee on any inland flight and it's not clear if this will also apply to parrotshooters. If yes, ticket prices will rocket up to ~40 Euros (50+ Dollars), final kiss to it for many jumpers. The f*cking Greens will like that. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Wow, WL >1,6 at ~300 jumps. Most DZOs in Germany would have a word with you at least... See DFV WL Chart ("Erfahrene (über 600 Sprünge) können nach Schulung einen WL über 1,50 springen") Just wanted to say... The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

I think you got that 100% wrong. Oh shit . . . Are we allowed to agree? I think he actually meant "Redundant." Or if you'd like an even more sophisticated term: Pleonasm (At least "Pleonasmus" is used in German more often than "Redundanz" by sophisticated speakers. Not that I consider myself a sophisticated person ) The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

It's a little easier when the trip is 150 km... ;-) Apart from the fact that most modern cars provide a "board computer" which does all the calculations for you at any time you like to, it isn't that much difficult. Let's say the trip it's 237 km in each direction, makes roughly 470 km total. That's 5,7 * 4 ~ 23 litres plus 0,7 * 4,7 ~ 4 litres, about 27 litres in total. To calculate it more accurately isn't sensible since the average consumption doesn't necessarily apply exactly to the type of road/highway taken and the way you're driving... But either value is nice to work with. For some reasons, l/ 100 km is popular here and so be it... The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Just like the Mitsubishi Pajero. It is sold under a totally different name in Spain (and probably any other Spanish speaking country...) The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

It's time to spend some months in the States to pick up more cultural background. Had to look this one up. Huhuhuh... only an open carry issue at home or wherever you find some privacy to do it... BTW: At Nude Weddings, Everyone can see the Best Man! (Tagline, grabbed from a FIDOnet echomail several years ago. ) Ummh, should also apply to "everyone can find out who's circumcised" but that's not half as witty. The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Funny idea, nice to hit the headlines... It's more or less "Make love, not war" As money was mentioned: Some sex toys are really expensive, at least depending on what you consider "sex toys". It's not only S/M stuff but also very-close-to-real-life dolls (with steel skeleton, lots of silicone etc) which are sold for several thousands each. Not that I have one, but I saw a report on TV recently. As for young people and sex toys: Some weeks ago I didn't have a biro handy and asked one of my students if I could have hers for writing a short note. "Sure" - I wrote and noticed it was really nice to write with, "has a perfect fit" I said. (Not 100%, since we spoke German and I said "Liegt wirklich gut in der Hand"). Giggeling, giggeling, all of them... Wozzup? "Have a closer look, please" (deadpan). Wow... it read "DildoFee" (dildo fairy) Huhuhuhu... They then told me that most of them took part in a DildoFairy party some days before. Just like a TupperWare party They all have friends but it seems, they enjoy an extra ride now and then as well. OK, they're 19,20,21, but anyway, I think it's OK and shows they see sex as a normal part of their lives. @Lindsey: How to put it politely... You son being almost 14 means he most certainly has discovered sexuality already and... well, he might not have sex toys, but do you want to ... you know, his hands The "hands on the duvet" thingy does NOT work. Apart from that: No one can lead him astray when it comes to sexuality. "Unpure" thoughts cannot be implemented into his mind by other persons. It's called puberty. I instead would have been scared to death if my son or daughter had had guns. We always trusted our children. We talked about sexuality when it was time (in fact, our estimation was a little too conservative and thus we didn't have to explain much...) and told them to protect themselves and that they could ask whenever they needed to and never ever searched their rooms. Worked. No unwanted pregnancy, no STDs. Daughter was in Oz for a year when she was 18 and didn't come back knocked up or anything else. Both have been in relationships for years. OK, it's about time for grandchildren, but times have changed. But now we leave the topic way too far... The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

+1 Yes, I somehow suspected the occasional article would turn up but... at least there were some funny answers BTW: I'd like more female input, especially with experience-based comparisons The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

as i said, showers help with hygiene.. and those "complications" that you speak off are very rare. there's simply NO need for it! and for all i know, it's with most muslims and jews, even if they're only "3-day"-jews as you call them.. Sorry for quoting in full, but it's necessary. Under formal aspects, you are right. I tried to emphasis that it seems that most circumcisions around the world are mainly done for hygienic reasons. There may also be aspects of religion and/or tradition, though. If you refer to D/A/CH you're absolutely right since most circumcision there are performed on boys with Muslim belief. When it comes to Germany, there a many liberal Jews and the "3-Tage-Juden" (Michel Friedman referred to himself with this word, and so did Hendryk M. Broder regarding his father) and I think most of them don't have their sons circumcised for religious reasons in the first place. That's wild guessing, I know... The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

No more than Gosnell asked approval from any of the infants he aborted. Oh come on, that's going too far. Slaughtering babies in late gestational ages cannot be compared to removing a piece of skin... The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

No. BTW: I would not call it "disfiguring" The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

Sounds what happened to me, never needed any lotion etc... The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks

AFAIK circumcision is practised very often for hygienic reasons or to prevent complications such as [ur "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phimosis"l]phimosis[/url] (ouch!) And, at least regarding to Muslims, it's not necessarily religiously required. There's no reference to it in the Quran , it's "only" a sunna. Most Jews - so I suspect - do it mainly for hygienic reasons. (Most Jews in Germany aren't that much religious, often called "3-day Jews" since they go to their synagogue only for the three highest holidays) and I suspect it isn't much different in the States... The sky is not the limit. The ground is. The Society of Skydiving Ducks