TomAiello

It's 24-13 Georgia. But Wisconsin looks on the verge of scoring. It's a pretty good game. Not many bored Georgia fans, today. Where's AggieDave? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I know what you mean. I had never even been to a football game before I got married. But my wife is a huge Georgia fan. Huge, as in, she knows everyone on the sidelines because she was a trainer for the football team when she went to UGA, we have a 'G' flag hanging from our house (in Idaho, where people ask us why we have the wrong colors on our "Green Bay stuff"), she has a big red SUV with a 'G' plastered on the back, and people here often ask her what her car tag (UGADAWG) means. I think she went to four home games this year (remember, we live in Idaho). So, I've become a UGA fan by marriage... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Nope. Pro-Tec's take camera mounts very well, though, and although I've never used this particular helmet, for example, it looks like it's cheap, offers good protection, and with some shell work ought to be easy to make snagless (and with a camera mount, if you wanted). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

There are several posters who tend to ride the line, and seem to delight in baiting other posters. I think this is a problem. The moderators have had quite a bit of discussion about this. One of our solutions is to crack down on the folks who seem to always be trying to inspire flame fests in this forum. Perhaps it's something of a double standard, but it's a double standard that arises from the individual conduct of the people in question. If you are one of those folks, and you have been warned via PM by a moderator that you are, expect that you will be treated strictly. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I figured some folks in this forum might be interested in the discussion here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I like them. For overall protection, I think I like some of the mountain biking helmets the best. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Sure, for skydiving. BASE and rigging have some crossover, but they're not the same thing. For BASE rigging? I'd definitely want a BASE jumper. And for skydiving rigging, I'd want someone who skydives. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I just went to automotive places. Not auto part stores, and not mechanics, but rather the guys who put on graphics, install stereos, that kind of thing. The first place I went to didn't do it, but knew exactly who in town did. Apparently there's a segment of the car market where the in thing is having carbon fiber dashboards, door panels and what not, so the guy I found had lots of experience forming custom shapes to fit cars. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm not in favor of using velcro rigs for sub 200' freefalls. When I've done that, I've (heavily) primed the velcro. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I have a friend who knows how to sculpt carbon fiber and some other surfaces like that. He's able to take a bonehead (or whatever helmet you like) with a "snag prone" camera mount, and sculpt a cover around both pieces so that it's smooth and snagless. You might see if you could just find someone who could do that custom with whatever helmet you prefer. I know I've talked to guys who do that kind of thing for cars (usually for custom interior detailing and what not) and found that their rates were actually very reasonable (especially compared with the cost of a new camera helmet). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If you read the Koran, I believe you could reach the conclusion that democracy is contrary to Islam. You could also reach the conclusion that Islam requires democratic government, as well as dozens of other conflicting conclusions (the Koran kind of reminds me of the Bible, that way). Islam was originally an empire, more than a religion, and it had a very strict government and administration that was pretty much despotic in nature. I'm sure that the Prophet (who, remember, was on top of this particular empire) would have been very opposed to democracy (which would have reduced his power by a fair bit). Remember, this is the guy who beheaded his political opponents. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

...Help...Can't...stop...laughing... I love Dave Barry. If he ran for president, I'd vote for him. Or at least I'd tell the exit pollsters that I had. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Line twists are fairly common as people learn wingsuits. And they suck even more because of the extra fabric in the way. Still, I've seen line twists from standard jumps, both because of high winds (1 second delay in 45+ mph winds) and dumping from a slightly unstable max track (similar to why some folks get line twists dumping from full wingsuit flight, at first). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

75 jumps with a GTi is a lot more than many of the BASE jumpers I see trying to fly S3's off cliffs. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

How is the head protection? I've been a bit dissappointed in the protection offered by many skydiving helmets. They seemed more designed to protect you from flailing limbs and hard docks than real impact, in some cases. I've particularly noticed a lack of protection at the back of the head, and a tendency to use light "cushion" foam, instead of heavy "padding" foam. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This is essentially the technique I use. Without line twists, I prefer to double (rear) riser stall, then release one rear riser and transfer that hand to the opposite front riser for a double (side) riser turn. I've not tried this with line twists, though. A significant set of line twists can change canopy trim pretty dramatically, so that your canopy won't necessarily fly and respond as you are accustomed to. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Or at least a momentary PC hesitation. If the inflated PC is going to change body position, the shrivel flap has to hold momentarily, and the PC has to exert enough force to move your body (but not the shrivel flap). That's roughly equivalent to saying that you'd have to be able to hang from the bridle for a moment before the shrivel flap peeled. I'm not sure I buy it, but I guess it might be possible in some rare circumstances--about as often as a serious PC in tow with an inflated PC on a velcro rig. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'll try to add more later. I'm a bit rushed just now. How much education? Are we talking about grammar school for everyone, or free Ph.D.'s for the country? That's a pretty wide margin, and one that "everyone" is demonstrably unable to agree on. Given this failure to agree, I believe it is unjust to force those who do not wish to support the system to do so. No. Not really. That's because I pay my doctors when I am healthy, via a device called a monthly health insurance premium. I pay them continuously, knowing that I will eventually need to call on their services. It's an evolved mechanism to allow me to group together with others to pay for our collective health care gradually, so that should any of us (those who have voluntarily joined this little socialist collective) need it, it will be available. You are correct. Using your tax dollars to support causes you disagree with is a violation of your Liberty. You are wrong. I would object. That one person is enough for me. On a more realistic note, do you think it's possible to concoct a single spending plan and get everyone to agree that it is "wise"? Watching a congressional budget hearing ought to quickly disabuse anyone of that notion. If neither system has ever been implemented in a pure sense, how can history be said to have "proven" anything about either? I disagree, but thankfully, neither of us has too choose for everyone, nor are we able to. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Both. It's going to depend on how big a set of twists you have. Climbing hand over hand up the twists is very hard. On the other hand, you have pretty good arm strength/weight ratio, so it may be easier for you. Maybe something to try hanging in the backyard? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I was climbing up the side of a big piece of granite. I saw these two guys go flying by. I said "wow, I've got to try that!" So I went out to figure out what I needed to do. It turned out the first step was "make a couple hundred skydives..." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've heard people differentiating the Phoenix Fly tracking suit (pants and jacket) and the Phoenix Fly Wingsuit (V-1), by referring to the tracking garb as the "Phoenix Fly Suit" and the wingsuit as the "V-1". -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't know about you, but I can't tell the lines apart that fast. I'd hit the object while trying to sort out which line was a control line. I'm in favor of climbing above the twists and just grabbing a whole riser group. I've turned canopies above twists on 3 occasions. It can be very confusing, but once the turn starts, you can tell what you've got in your hand (by the effect on the canopy), and any turn is pretty much better than smacking into the side of the object straight on. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've had it happen to me, off the popular 480' A in NorCal. Average summer winds there are quite high, and I've exited in enough wind at the top that you couldn't hear each other (even when shouting into each others ears). Maybe 35? or 40? At any rate, ground wind had me going backward at landing, and it was a good deal weaker than the exit wind. A 2 second delay on days like that has given me noticeable wind turn in freefall. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's actually pretty easy to predict almost everyone's posts here. I know, for example, that Kallend will give a fairly good "liberal" view, PhillyKev has a more moderate, varied "liberal" with occasional fiscal or gun conservatism, Ron will give a good mainline American "conservative", and Kennedy will almost always post exactly what I'm thinking. The best posts, in my opinion, are the ones made by someone who doesn't share my views, but that make me really think about their position, and my own. I think Billvon gets the nod for best average post quality on these criteria, at least for me personally. Still, the fact that you have a good idea what someone is going to think on an issue is no reason to assume you're 100% correct, and stop reading their posts. And it's certainly no reason to make things personal (which, in my opinion, happens way too much in this forum). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Wow. Great link. The statistics I saw were in the print version of The Economist, and were drawn, if memory serves, from some UN study. But they were nowhere near as comprehensive. The link you gave is definitely the place to look before giving to charity. Knowing how the money is spent (and how efficiently) is key in making sure that private charities actually work. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com