Deuce

Demo both of them. I had two "practice" reserve rides with a PDR143 before I had my three "real" reserve rides. Bonnie at Gravity Gear gets PDR demos every year and we all get the chance to do "reserve demo day" . It's a great chance to jump the same reserve you have in your container, or to try the smaller one you may be considering for a new container. So, I strongly suggest you get a demo of each, jump it hooked up as your main, and decide based on flying characteristics. Nothing but PDR for me, thanks.

OK, it's like 10:00 AM there, right? Have a doughnut, Kev, midmorning blood sugar adjustment. Yadayada. I'm older than most folks who post here, and I was only 6 when Kerry was doing his Apocalypse now thing. If you really want answers from those individuals, PM them. If you want to start a discussion, start one.

Are we talking about the same events as the World Games? RW, Freestyle, etc?

That's a great question. I'm really intrigued by the whole tunnel-rat phenomenon. We will have folks with really, really great "freefall" skills who probably can't track and don't have good canopy skills. So if somebody has 100 tunnel hours, but 20 skydives, should they be doing "big way"?

THanks for the pictures. I jumped with a British camera flier who had a Stroboframe let go of his film SLR. Unknown, like your situation, if the two plates were properly mated. The base was still on the camera, right? "Now THAT'S a camera helmet, mate"

Dude, you will never, ever see me, or read of me talking smack about canopy piloting. I fly a pair of Spectre's and just started flying a tandem canopy. I sprained both knees downsizing a couple years ago, and then broke my right ankle on uneven ground doing a flat turn to get out of traffic at Perris a little over a year ago. I've got about 700 jumps on the current Spectre size, and don't ever plan on going smaller or higher performance. Now, as to the Chowderhead Games, perhaps you are right, and I should have pronounced my participation when I downsized. (I'm confident my performance would have earned me at least a bronze) Maybe the Chowderhead Games could be a fixed day of the week where jumpers attempted great leaps beyond their demonstrated skill levels. The point I was attempting to make is that somebody falling off a Mr. Bill at 200 feet really wrecks the glow a nice 4 way freefly jump gives you when you land to the sound of sirens. I remember McBain,(Sluggo) whining to high heaven that we would not let him jump in 25 mph winds when he had like 40 jumps. The Fun Police In Action. My suggestion is that we let these daredevils do whatever they want with full Fun Police Amnesty, but they warn us so that we can get of their way with popcorn and a soda. The Chowderhead Games: Sponsored by RealTV! As to your post: Yes. I'm usually the first to do so. Burke himself told me one of my actions was "not smart", and the Swedes told me one more hook turn and I'd be deported. I don't think I have ever contributed to the Swooping or Canopy Control forums. I got nothing to say there, except when the low time jumper weighted up and crashed the swoop pond at Perris. I don't recall ever claiming to be a superior skydiver. I passed Jay Stoke's AFF-I class, and Connie Krusi's Tandem-I course and I've gotten to participate in some cool events, but every one of those experiences just made me more and more humble about my ability. There is always somebody WAY better, at just about everything. My hat is off to you BASE jumpers, that's something I won't attempt. Speaking of which, if a jumper climbed at 300 foot antenna you just happened to be on, and he was wearing a regular skydiving rig, would you be the Fun Police to him when he told you he was going to jump it, pilot chute in hand? Better yet, unannounced, he jumps after you do, while you are still in the glow, and just smacks into the base of the antenna. I don't think telling the guy he was making a big mistake would be condescending.

People getting mashed harshes my mellow, that's all. I like to be warned when I am about to see carnage, it bugs me when I'm having fun at the dropzone and somebody whumps into the ground near me. Happened just like that last year at Eloy. Standing on the porch of my trailer, beautiful day....WHUMP/crunch! Some knucklehead hooked it into the lawn, me, Loudiamond, hooknswoop, Amy (NO!...Wait! YES!) are checking the guy out, who managed to only break an ankle. It'd be fine if we just anounced things like "Chowderhead Days" with neato competitions like a swooping contest with categories by jumpnumber/wingloading ratios, Mr. Bill accuracy landings, microcrew for A license holders only, building roof landings and stuff like that. I'd pay to attend. My bitch is when folks pull stunts without warning us. Chowderhead Days. Kinda like Reserve Demo Days. Probably pretty hard to find a sponsor, though...

Welcome back! And yeah, that did it. Thanks for the lift, all. Fun pictures and good times.

Yeah, I was told it would not be a big deal, but it ended up being one. Next time I'm bringing a PAL unit. Thanks for the conversion offer, Jarno.

Dude, sort out your meds. The speed of the Herc is like 130 on jump run. The gifted fliers can get way over the top of the thing.

Sorry about the camera. Great pouty face in the picture, by the way... How was it attached to the helmet?

It should be discussed before having sex. "You're on the pill, and I'm wearing a condom, but what's going to happen if you get pregnant?" -You're going to marry me/live with me and we will raise the child together. -I want to have sex with you, not marry you, but you'll be responsible for supporting the child. -You'll never know about it. I'll raise the child and not even give it your name -I'll put the child up for adoption or have a relative raise it or give it to you to raise without any support from me. -I'll abort it. It's a conversation that kind of kills the mood, eh? I have a conviction that people should know things like this about each other before having sex.

Post a picture or an event that makes me smile. Who the F*ck am I? Nobody in particular. But what do you know, what have you seen, what is happenining right now, that you can share with me that will make both of us smile? I had an astoundingly wonderful time at Herc Boogie. The organizers, Jari, Andy, Gareth, Chris, Schwede, Camilla, Gunilla, all made me very happy recently. How about you? Tell me about good stuff!

You first: What is the airspeed of an unladen swallow? I'm getting HAMMERED on taxes because I choose not to have the Calfornia Teachers' Association determine the way to get my girl's into a good college eventually. If I made REALLY good money I'd be in one of the "public" schools in a district that has voted for a supplemental property tax so that their schools can compete with the private ones. I agree that the public school system needs to be fixed. The crux of this issue for parents is that as we work to fix it, our children will graduate from the broken system. Once they are out, we don't have an immediate problem.

Chuck, the pilot in this case has around a hundred jumps, I'm figuring, cause he had less than a hundred just a short while ago when asking how he could go about getting a sub-100 Velocity/similar. When I suggested he might take just a few hundred jumps before moving to the swoop tour he asked me where he would be allowed to do what he wanted, and I told him. (Definitely not BAS) I said "Dude, you could die." He replied "I want to die!" He hasn't connected that his complete disregard for his own safety is complete disregard for everyone else in the air's as well. I'm thinking the mixed reactions of Stupid/Cool here will result in more attempts. After all the effort made to make our containers and canopies safe, we've still got an element that insists on making skydiving even more death-defying.

OK, that'll be pretty freaking cool.

Oh. I immediately presumed the worst. I still don't think it's a good idea, and for quite a few more jumps I'd recommend he remains focused on the skydive from gear up to gear drop.

You got your A license maybe one jump ago and you are going to take a camera out and take pictures in freefall, then pack it away and do your deployment sequence? I wouldn't allow it if I was the boss of you. But I'm not.

Thanks, Mathias, and thanks for all the great tips about your homeland. Sweden was actually a whole country as cool as you. Can't wait to get back.

Hey bro, Do a search on "McBain". I think that is the person involved here. I have stated my opinion previously, and if it's the persons involved I think it is, then I am seriously justified. Argh. McB? If it's not you, I apologize.

Bill, I'm a big fan of yours. So, tongue in cheek, so to speak, did you look the nice little old lady in the eye and ask her about blowjobs? For the record, I was not allowed to get married in the Catholic Church. I am, in fact, a very bad man. Nevertheless, I appreciate the efforts of the good people, and that is the standard I strive for. Frankly, I'm not that good, but that doesn't mean that I don't know what good is, Philly. I couldn't give one watery shit what anybody else thinks of my little family. We are, however, a very good one. With all our individual and collective flaws.

Thanks all. I had lots of opportunities to think about the people I love, and I'm lucky to know lots of people to love. Thanks Q for letting my 1000th skydive, which was also today, not be a tandem. Thanks Gareth, Kevin and Iwan, for doing that rockin 4 way with me when I refused to do a tandem for my 1000th and Q stepped up. Thanks to Bay Area Skydiving, Connie, and Vic for all the patience and training I have recieved. Hey Betsy? I love you, and thanks for trusting me when I was new. I still have a ton to learn, but you saw potential when others were still looking. Thanks to all the folks who cut me slack along the way, and thanks to all of you who tried to kick my ass. Gareth has also taught me tons about how to live in the world of free stuff and skydives, and I owe him a ton. Thanks Henri, Ankie, and Wings for the free stuff and the Salmari. Ooooooooh. Salmari..... Good times. Good years. Thanks for the years, the hugs, the kisses, and the very good times.

Ow. Got me again. Those damned Catholic schools spending all their time getting me to deny my sexuality rather than teaching me to read. ( My repression and guilt is legendary on dropzones on two continents and one fairly big island ) Puh-leese. Like society in general isn't hostile enough towards homosexuals that there is any need to single out one religion. "If not for Catholicism and the Marine Corps, all the rest of society would have gladly embraced me and my lifestyle!" Definitely the Catholics and the Marines keeping all those NFL, NHL, NBA and Big League baseball players in the closet. They are freaking EVERYWHERE! Narrow it down as much as you'd like, Philly, the guy didn't need the New Jersey Catholic vote as much as he needs the New Jersey Democratic Party's support. Thus the weird "resignation" date.

McCordia has most of the Birdman footage, and it is very nice. He'll let us know when he has something together. I'm hoping with his digital imaging skills he can even make it appear I can hang with the skinny Finns!

Uh, negative ghostrider, the Cessna is full, with Connie and Vic. No need for the other POPS TI.