Deuce

Naw. Pretty much the only people to be concerned about are ones you are likely to meet. The talkers are less dangerous than the quiet ones.

Yeah, if it had been like that experience in Kenya, that "whoosh" sound would probably have had a distinctly different character.

OOhh! That's Steve out front in the red shirt. Wow. He's an amazing freefly videographer, really, really helpful. Dang, he can belly fly at that level too? Paul and Lori, I hope to get some air time with you guys this year.

Mardi Gras boogie? Holy cow! Whatya gotta do to get a string of beads at that festival?

You'll get opinions here. That's all they are, no different from the opinions of your DZ staff. I have learned over the years when to fight and when to get along. If you are stuck at a DZ where all the staff is brand loyal to whatever, and the whatever isn't uncomfortable or dangerous, you might consider going along. Whether it's Cobalt vs. PD, Mirage vs. Wings, if the staff will treat you better and teach you because they are snobby about what gear to get, you may consider getting that gear. You will need their input about lots of stuff as you progress. So even if your staff is ill-informed, and considers that everything other than "their" brand is a deathtrap, taking their advice about brand might make your life easier. They are wrong, though, because almost all the available gear (all of it, as far as I know) is safe and reliable. That said, if I was teaching you to shoot pistol, I would recommend a Glock because I'm a Glock armorer. If you get a Kimber and it malfunctions, I'm limited in how much I can help you. If you want feedback about canopy control I can tell you about flying a Spectre (and about crashing one) if you get a nine-cell my input won't be as valuable because I have almost no 9 cell experience. Good luck! I tell you, Square One is the place at Perris cause you can rent and demo just about everything and choose based on what is comfortable and effective for you. Chow!

Word.

Ya know, when I had a pool installed in my backyard, the contractor made a point of telling me that people shouldn't put their parts in the vacuum return for the filter. I'm thinking, wha...? Skymedic, I would love to have heard the dispatch to that call! "Rampart 51, 210 Main street, two-one-oh Main street ...." Skymedic says "Did dispatch say 'stolen Volvo?" Driver says "No, dude, that was something about 'swollen vulva'" "Oh, that explains why the ladder truck is following us to a para call"

Howdy. I'm glad for you that you get to go where it's warm enough to jump. Jumpjumpjump! Welcome! JP

Family movies are the biggest money makers, but Hollywood doesn't crank them out. I would go to the movies every weekend with my kids if they gave me something to take them to. I can remember my Mom dropping us off at the movies while she went shopping. I don't know if I will do that when my kids are 8.

I don't have that lens, but I have enjoyed doing business with Pier. Marcus was very helpful when I was setting up my camera helmet. That said, I heartily recommend the Diamond .3. It's the lens I fly for inside video. It is incredibly sharp and truly, amazingly low profile. It looks like a freakin filter! So if you want to go that wide, I do recommend the .3.

I saw Treasure Planet with my kids on Saturday. Great animated skysurf scene at the intro. It kept my attention, some parts of the animation were really good, and my 6 year old girls liked it.

Yep. Byron love, baby! I live 20 minutes from a hug and an airbath. Life is good. JP

Well, the standard advice is to have 200 jumps before you fly a camera. If you are just going to be getting souvenir video, turn it on at jump run and forget it. Make sure your new video camera is the LAST thing you think about before heading to the run-up. You should get more jumps first, but good luck!

Tad, my very first post here was exactly the same topic. Emily Harris responded and showed me around Perris and walked me through the gear and license check-out. I hooked up with her posse and we jumped all weekend. Did my second night jump there too! Their facility, manifest, and aircraft are the best I've seen so far. (Eloy!) Anyhow, I'm about 3/4 RW and belly camera, and 1/4 freeflier. The RW zoo loads at Perris spooked me. I hooked up with their RW organizer for four funnels. Meet up with a volunteer from Perris to walk you through the check-out process (Yeah, Jack will check you out) and do some 3 and 4 ways with people more skilled than you. I suggest you resist the invitation to do an 8 way or larger. I did some solos at San Diego out of their Cessna. Cool pilot, very, very slow during the week. I think BillVon jumps there on the weekends. I haven't jumped Elsinore yet, but I'll get down there to meet the Shark-man eventually. You can't go wrong with Perris, and the freaking gear store (Hi, Lisa!) will loan or rent you anything that's manufactured for skydiving. A huge plus as you're probably considering buying gear. Have a safe trip!

Well, you gotta push a little to get better. I am a huge advocate of walking. I finally got my weight under control and heart rate where I want it from walking. When I was younger I would binge-exercise with running and weight lifting. But then, there would be the inevitable injury and it'd be two steps forward and one step back. So now I walk every day for at least 20 minutes, and use ankle and dumbell weights when I want some additional stress (good kind). Dropdeded, try walking and pizza. If you blot off the grease from pizza, it's really a pretty good high protein, high calcium food!

Good luck Dave. Your custom Chevy is gonna look great in the parking lot at Eloy! If you need to get anywhere when you're in Arizona I'll be happy to give you a ride in my stock 4WD 287 cid Dakota Quad cab.

I have a chronic pain condition, and I got undressed and on the table to have accupuncture done. The Dr. starts talking about cooking styles, west vs. east. More intuitive, less structured, I'm like, whatever, I'm hurting let's get this going. She lays out her needles. A couple of them are over a foot long. She tells me if she discovers a need as we go along she will use those to probe my chest. It's possible I could suffer a collapsed lung, but unlikely. She asks if I signed the waiver. This was in my pre-skydiving era, but now I can only think of this gal with her Hong Kong accent shouting at me with a collapsed lung "Fuck you buddy, you signed the waiver". I got up, told her, thank you, bye-bye. I think in a healing profession like that you have to have complete faith in the practitioner. Since I thought mine was a crackpot, even though she was a licensed MD and an accupuncturist, I split. Anything that works

I take DHEA, a multi (Flintstones chewable), and Ginko. The DHEA is the only thing I really notice that works. Impact workouts increase bone density, I think you may just have to walk through the pain. I got back in the air yesterday, probably shouldn't have. I did finally figure out how to land on one leg. Good luck!

My wife and one of my daughters were down with a flu bug that's taking about a week plus to get over. They were both layed out on the couch while the rest of us had dinner. Hope you feel better soon. I think the clock is ticking on me getting it. I think I should go jump while I can.

Yeah, like that one, but more tarty. A little less Hefner, and a little more Guccione please

Oooh. Gotta go. Star Treck's on......

Yep. One mirrored pair and one clear. Heck maybe even one smoked pair. Mine are all scratched up from my ringsite. Just need the proper motivation........

Well, I would.

You too, Gary! Jumping the day after Thanksgiving?

Nah. Shame, really. My Irish Dad doesn't drink anymore, my French Mom comes over, and occasionally I'll get her lit on mudslides, my inlaws, oh, my inlaws (St. Michael, Archangel, defend us in battle.....)sorry, I was praying for strength. They don't drink. I much prefer laughing and sharing booze with the DZ crowd. I like it a ton when my wife manages to join us. Come out to Byron Friday, Seb! You can watch me do boring straight in approaches all day! I'll give you a giant motrin for your headache. JP