JALUV2

I have to bump this thread! Sitting here taking a break from packing my own reserve and it had me thinking about Jack Hammer and his methodical and detail oriented methods! His noble personality and spirit keeps on talking to me through every repack I do! I first met Jack during Mike Gruwell's Rigger course at STF as an assistant Instructor during my senior rigger course. He taught me so much and he will always be in my mind throughout my skydiving career and every repack I perform! Thank you for everything you did for me! BSBD I will miss Jack Hammer!

Fly Free My friend! You will be missed,The face of Jumptown has severely changed yet again! I will never forget you and all that you have done for me and the many Great conversations we had. Every Jump I make I will think about you and the wisdom you have instilled upon me. Love you Gray, You will be sorely missed! BLue skies forever! Your friend, J

My Thoughts.....Pulse is for those that have not tried the Pilot! Initially I thought I loved the Pulse, Now I fly a pilot.

Got one courtesy of Mike G. when I went to his senior rigger class. I learned with it and think it works fantastic! Works great especially on the smaller diameter cord. Not hard to use at all.

I had a similiar experience with sizing problems of previous rigs and Jerome got my Seven perfect the 1st time! In fact when I get another rig you bet it's going to be another Seven! And of course Mike / Chuting Star were awesome to deal with as well!

I too live in the Northeast and I think it's just the weather talking! Six weeks till safety day seems like an eternity right now and I could also care less. because of the huge amount of snow it will probably be here until May and then we will have the muddy season and just maybe we will get 2 months of ideal jumping weather in between the rainy days then starting in October we will again have to deal with the high winds! The weather indeed does suck and would really like to move but my wife won't budge either! Plus I am stuck with a mortgage and couldn't even sell my house right now as it's not worth what I paid for it due to the economy and foreclosures! I am seriously thinking of short saleing and cuting away from the northeast there is nothing here for anyone it is very depressing. And yes I have S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder) And if you think I am whining G.F.Y. , lol A contractor friend of mine looks at it like this. Winter = Too damn cold can't do nothing! Spring = Too damn wet / muddy can't do nothing! Summer = Too damn hot can't do nothing! Fall = Couple of good days and don't want to do nothing!

This is for all the upcoming rigger candidates and iphone / iPad users. When prepping for my FAA test I studied using a program called Ground School. http://www.dauntless-soft.com/products/groundschool/rigger.asp It was a very helpful program and I passed my test on the 1st try. I came across it while browsing the app store tonight and thought this info could help someone else pass.

That's exactly why I am getting ZPX, So I can go with a smaller container and have more time and room to do so without having to buy another container so soon

or maybe a little margarita

The color choices of ZPX are terrible I wish they had an orange, I could make something work then! How about these, changing the color underneath the carbon to show more red?

Thanks, I did use that post to base my decisions, I am wondering how the red ribs will show and what people think of this choice other than it might be hard to find after a cutaway.

Getting ready to order a new canopy, what do you guys/gals think about this design? Just wondering how it might look in real life. Any thoughts?

EMS is usually always consulted about special activities and potential hazards in the local communities or are at least aware of such. Pepperell has been in business a long time and I doubt it was the 1st tree landing. I believe they had plenty of time to assess a different level of tax as you say. As far as not using the service, I am sure they didn't ask him if he wanted their services for a fee and furthermore sounds like they gave him no choice. The service was already paid for and the obligation is theirs unless they want to stop accepting government,state,local and federal funding and call themselves acme tree service.

3) You will note that the skydiver is being billed by the Essex County Fire Chief's Association Well if thats the case then that is a non profit organization, their website has no guidelines for billing in their constitution or bylaws which is required by the laws in the commonwealth. This is clearly an arbitrary bill sent to this skydiver on a whim. Wether he was at fault or not, would you like a non skydiver or an organization to critique you for mistakes? That is precisely what they did in this case, Maybe the should also write the SIM for us as well! http://www.essexcountyfire.org/bylaws.htm

The chief stated "Massachusetts has no statewide guidelines on rescue billing, and chiefs said these bills are rare, but handled on a case-by-case basis." So they send an arbitrary bill to the skydiver, Sounds like B.S. to me! Knowing this, if you landed in a tree at Pepperell would you climb down yourself and how many people in the future will do just that? I don't know why this makes me so upset it's not even my bill but as a paramedic, skydiver and taxpayer it pisses me off!

I guess you missed the reference to people being "Irresponsible" and being billed for it. i.e. leaving a candle going, smoking in bed or needing a rescue after crashing while driving like an idiot. They don't bill for these, why should they for a skydiver? I don't even care or know if he was irresponsible, the fact is he landed in a tree, followed the guidelines, needed help and is getting billed for it. there are countless times when people need help and do not get billed for it! It only seems to happen if it is outside the normal parameters of what people think is necessary or warranted.

In a sense we are taxed. I buy gas, food and other taxed goods in the area around the drop zone I jump at. I provide money that is taxed to the drop zone, who pays tax on the property and business. So the DZ being there generate tax $$ in many different ways. Also, I'm not sure I want a fire chief, or other government official deciding what constitutes an extra risk and how they will respond or if they will charge extra. I have family that work as fire investigators, and some of the stories of the just dumb things people do and end up burning down their homes make a tree landing look low risk and intelligence. Should those people be charged when the fire department comes out? If I wreck my car doing 10mph over do I get charged? 20mph over? Who decides that? What is the threshold? We are taxed for it, and their charter is to help people out....I don't think they should be in the business of trying to make money on it or decided what the deem as an acceptable reason for their services to be offered without extra penalty. Well Put!

I do see your point Airtwardo but on the same token I have been to many of peoples residence because they are to obese to get themselves to the bathroom and call 911 for assistance and that is not billed it is called a "PUBLIC ASSIST" We should send these people a bill for the 'ASSIST" I mean it only took the 2 cops that are required to respond, 4 fire fighters, 2 paramedics and I have been dispatched to these calls and have another call come in for someone in cardiac arrest and they need to dispatch a unit from another town. I guess the fire chief could say "the people in town didn't eat like glutenous pigs, they did it to themselves." NH charged this kid with a $25,000 bill for a rescue. This kid went off marked trails and was also quoted as being "irresponsible". Mt. washington even has signs that state that you will be billed for a rescue if you veer off the marked trails. He managed to beat this and get the charges dropped! [url] http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=10328847

I work as a paramedic and appalled by the comment that the fire chief stated "I don't think it should be the residents of Dunstable. We didn't jump out of the plane. He did." But the fire department is not billing for car accidents, fires, medicals etc. Because it is there job and get paid through government and taxpayers funds. They are being biased and naive towards a skydiver because they don't understand! They should start billing everyone then because they could make that same argument for everyone else's irresponsible actions. Oh and not to mention the cost is grossly overinflated!!! I wonder how many volunteers or people from the call dept. were there not getting paid or very minuscule amounts? Very disappointing! He did everything according to USPA safety regulations regarding tree landings (staying put) but I bet if he knew he was getting a bill for $10,000 he would have tried and climbed down. I know I sure and shit would have started climbing!

They are billing him $10,000 for the rescue! This is ridiculous, I wonder If they also bill people rescued in fires if a person was negligent and lit a candle, or the car accident victim that drove irresponsibly? http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/26392053/detail.html

I have been using this mount with no issues. very rugged and helps stabilize camera very well. http://www.xtremevu.com/products.html I am willing to sell it, I am looking to upgrade my camera setup. The contour is for sale as well.

I would say a combination of both B. And C. Go out, meet some people and do what you love, I am sure you will meet some great people that will help you out and get you back into the groove! Blue skies and happy flying (at least on your belly anyway,LOL) JK

I love my vertical suit. I would suggest giving Vladi a call thats what I did and he walked me through everything. Oh mine fit perfect 1st time too.

Wow, very poor work indeed! Do you have any pictures of it popped? I would like to see what actually comes out of there!

Hearing aids! Just kidding, couldn't help myself or you for that matter!