Deuce

I've been told that under pressure you will eventually know that you have your helmet, your camera, there's a cassette in the camera, the battery is charged, you have a spare battery, the Cameye is plugged in, the lights are working, the sight is still aligned, your customer is ready, you're ready. And you walk to the plane without your rig. I've also been told to "dump in place" when the 4 way or whatever turns and burns. Adding the camera stuff in is stressfull, and now there's expectations of others to meet as well. I have memorized my checklist, my preflight, and the last stuff on it is the camera stuff. Mine starts "Pilot-chute cocked rig, happy face, handles, Goggles, Altimeters 1-2-3 (hand, audible, audible)".... yada yada. I make sure I do this before taking a step towards the plane. I like my Kenko .5, but the .6 is a better match for a 28mm SLR camera, if you plan on doing a film camera later. Blues!

I'm really proud of any person who skydives. Most of them are terrified of all or part of the process. It's nice to know you can confront a phobia, but it's uncomfortable to confront them every weekend. I'm glad I bungee jumped, but I don't intend to do it again. It was real exciting at the time. And for lots of people the question is "this year: 200 jumps for $3600 or a week at Club Med?"

A good proofreading is a spanking well earned.

At Byron, I hooked up with a coach, who then hooked me up with his circle when I was proficient. I'm there early when the skygods are still rolling out of bed so I can fill in for them when one of them's late. Those RW organizers like even numbers. All the big dogs show up, I'm freeflying. But now I get to run with the RW big dogs all I want, and I'm trying to break in to the big dog Freefly crowd. It's nice to have a coach vouch that you're not dangerous. From the responses you've gotten, Perris people already respect you. Lots and lots of people never even get that. I did four big way funnels at Perris. I would have traded any of them for a good two-way. (especially the night jump that ended a jumpers career) Take your time, you've got at least 50 years of jumping ahead of you!

Good luck.

I have a diary entry from when I was 21 that reads like that post. Get your fricken degree. Get your Master's too. It sucks *ss, it's boring, it does not matter what it's in. It will open doors for you like mad for the rest of your life. If your record is clear, you can pass a psych and a med screening, you can be a cop in California RIGHT NOW. Forget the crap you see on TV. Being a cop is being a real life hero every day. Yes there are exceptions, and some cops are *ssholes, some priests are pedophiles, and some skydivers are suicidal. Tough love: Suck it up. It never gets easier, you just get used to it. If I were your age and single: Join the reserves (any service, Navy for food, Air Force for bases, Army for a black beret, Marines for a cool tattoo) That will help your desperate directionlessness, and then if you want a cool job where wierd sh*t happens every day be a cop. The pay is real good in Cali, 60-100K with overtime. Watch Parenthood, the movie with Jason Robards and Steve Martin. You're in the boat, it's in the water, the water is moving, you might as well paddle and steer, even though you don't know where you'll end up. I got married when I was your age. That has been the only constant in my life the last 16 years. EVERYTHING else has changed. Beware of slacking. It's addictive and self perpetuating, but I do know some really happy slackers. It just took them some time to adjust to not having stuff in a consumer society. I would not be 23 again for anything. (Well, almost anything, but Quade voluteered anyhow)

THAT'S IT! You are the man! Thank you.

Liver! I'd donate a big chunk of hot steaming JP Liver! It grows back! Think about that!

You generally need somebody, but "reason" is generally absent in these events. An armed society is a polite society, but heck, skydivers are polite already. I smell a darwin award.

The first thing the pro camera flyers at my DZ told me was NOT TO ACCEPT INVITATIONS TO FILM OTHER JUMPERS OPENINGS. Clearly, you are not the first to skate by an cypress fire doing this. The ringsight trains you to frame. Lots of the really good flyers started with ringsights and now have the habits that allow them to not use one. The ring sight is teaching me to move my eyeballs and not my head when I'm doing an area check while filming. The chincup really reduces helmet shake, but makes it harder to smile. I've got an articulated ringsight and a ratcheting chin cup. There's pictures of my setup further down the forum.

God bless the pioneers of this sport. Without them and their trailblazing, I would not be skydiving as a hobby. Stopwatches and belly reserves. GUTSY.

We're out of a King, usually Chris. I look forward to your feedback. Is knowing that "down" is 90 degrees from the horizon enough?

I expect some truly lowbrow humor. This one is set to be hit out of the park, but I'm at work.

I'm being dense. Again. I'm thinking an all female jump would rather have a Lori shooting video than a Paul. I am willing to be their John, however.

I've been taught to look out at the wingtip and then to the nose to figure out "right below". Seems to work.

Right on! Welcome back!

Quade, you nutcase. It's a girl-thing! Ltdiver has this locked up.

A knob came with my D-box, and I like using it, even though it increases my snagadelity. I can't find it. Anybody know where I can get a new one? I can't find it at B&H, or Pier.

Isn't it remotely possible that at 2 grand everything seems fine but something goes wrong and you cutaway only to tumble out of your harness? Also, (not clear) if they told you not to monkey with the chest strap, and then you did, they grounded you to get you to listen. If they grounded you to punish you for asking a question, immigrate to the U.S.. What Nazi jackasses.

Congratulations. Let the real fun begin.

I've EATEN at Alices Restaurant.

Marry her Clay! If her parents like you and she's got money and she has no problem with you skydiving, GO FOR IT. And being Catholic ain't so bad, you get to drink wine about an hour into the mass

That's my tag line, wolfman. They flare when the leash goes slack. Here's two I hear on EVERY load from Tandem masters. Why aren't there more blind skydivers: It scares the dogs. My first jump was a night-water jump; I closed my eyes and peed my pants.

How do blind skydivers know when to flare?

Very cool. Nice colors. One word: Sunscreen (maybe that's two words)