jimjumper

A lot of rules are in place as an aid to an Instructor. No one wants to be the bad guy and when an Instructor is in a bind it's easier for him to invoke a rule than to try to actually teach someone that has already made a poor decision and is justifying it by pointing out it isn't a "rule". That being said however, when you make a rule you are permanently making innovation in that particular area out of bounds for the average jumper. Case in point, is wingsuiting. The USPA had, for 10-15 years, a ban on wing suiting due to a number of high profile fatalities. It was a rule and it wasn't until modern rule breakers come along that it was even questioned. Wing suiting, VRW, swooping, and BASE jumping all have developed because of people willing to break the rules. I think that while rules have their place to protect the unknowing they need to be well thought out and well written for their specific intention. Too many rules are put in place because someone made a poor decision and it hinders the development of the sport to apply a broad rule to a specific event. There are also many rules that are in place that are poorly written because it was politically expedient to distort the intent of the rule and get something passed than to walk away without at least an effort. I've always thought that USPA could use a professional tech writer at it's meetings so that when rule changes or new rules were proposed they were written exactly for their intention and if changes were made to a motion a new written proposal specific as a motion would be debated. Oral changes to rules in meetings sometimes don't make it to the paper version and the rule becomes a distortion of the intent. Long post, sorry about that!

+1! All of my tandems have been with big burley men. Not a hot chick in the bunch!

Jim is still doing tandems at Tsunami Skydiving. Not done yet!

It's also interesting that back in the days when flat (or stack) packing was the norm, line overs were almost unheard of. Being skydivers we had to find a way to create a problem where one didn't exist before!

I know of at least 2 active TI's that are over 65. I figure as tandem jumping ages, so will the TI's doing it.

Sounds like those ladders need another orange warning sticker!

Hmm..tortoise on the half shell. The 2 I have are about 35 pounds apiece. Serious eatin'

If I don't come home and feed and water the horses, burro, goats, dogs, tortoises, bird, and bunny they get really annoyed. If you really want to meet me for socializing, get out of bed when I do and I'll meet you for the early bird!

I've had tandem students come up to me and ask me if I remember them. I usually move behind them, look at the back of their head, and say "nope, don't recognize you!" Usually they laugh and I apologize and explain that with meeting 2-300 tandems a year it would have to be something exceptional for me to remember them.

He'll be out to do a tandem next week!

They still do. I was told it was due to a case where the person signing the waiver was under the influence and after injury, his lawyer argued the waiver should be held null and void since the plaintiff wasn't cognizant of what he was signing and that the DZ should have recognized the signs of intoxication. The videotaping is/was done to demonstrate in court that the person wasn't displaying any overt signs of intoxication.

Volunteering is good!

Talk to the shelter staff. They know the dogs in their care best and interested in matching a dog to an individual or family that will work so the dog isn't back in a month.

But the video would be so awesome!

There is already a discussion on-going in Incidents. Sounds like he did a good job of the dead stick landing.

Actually, I have been seeing a few new leg strap BOC's lately on older jumpers with shoulder issues. The pull is much easier on the shoulder.

Blue Skies magazine Anything that wears out, goggles, gloves, rubber bands or tube stows, closing loops, slider bumpers, etc. Look at some of the out of print books. United We Fall, Skies Call, Etc. Packing knee pads Go Pro extras, SD cards, batteries, waterproof case Repack certificate Hand warmers Boogie registration fee

If the toddler fired a "double-tap" it would certainly indicate some firearms training!

And your local S&TA is qualified why? There are no requirements to be an S&TA beyond being a buddy of the DZO.

This is getting off-topic but I couldn't resist! Still have the t-shirt!

A big loss for the sport. Met Bob when he took up residence at Cal City after moving south from Alaska. Amazing stories! You could easily do a book on the stuff he did. Last time I saw him was at Lake Wales for a POPs meet. I'd say RIP but that wouldn't have been Bob's style.

You put that pretty well. I remember when DZ's started going to square reserves and when Roger started putting students on Sabres! The arguments between the old and the new was quite the show. Gear and training constantly evolves and we are already seeing the next generation challenge the current.

There was just an article on Military.com about this in the U.S. The Supreme Court ruled that the law making it illegal to wear the uniform/medals was a violation of free speech. So the law was modified to make it illegal to do so for monetary gain to comply with the court ruling. At least it's something.

The previous are all good practical suggestions. On a little bit more of the lighter side try "Bedtime Stories for Skydivers", "United We Fall", and for a visual history of jumping, the 3 volumes of "Skies Call". I believe they are all out of print but used copies are easy to find on Amazon. I have gotten a lot of ideas and had a lot of fun from the stories and the photo's. Also for some amazing "there I was..." stories try "The Wild, Wonderful World of Parachutes and Parachuting!" These books were all written before we started taking ourselves too seriously!

I once spent a day crawling between 1,000 lb. explosive warheads changing supply tags. They were in crates stacked 2 high with a crawl space about a ft. wide by 2 ft. It was simpler to crawl thru them changing the tags than to unstack and restack them. Getting stuck would have mean't having a forklift delivered and a driver unstack them. Eerie feeling being literally buried in the middle of 500,000 pounds of high explosive!