Master_Yoda

http://www.motleycrow.com/ImageHost/MoreCowbell.jpg

Im pretty sure Spaceland has a couple skyvans, and I THINK there is one at DeLand. There used to be some C-130 jumps till some people decided to get fussy and fucked it up for the rest of us. It's hard to imagine anyone getting fussy about a C-130. Damn.

Only the Casa and Skyvan have tailgates, right? I seem to recall that there's a Skyvan here in Texas running out of Spaceland I think...? Where's the Casa at?

The Air Force Reserve has a bunch of em... they're pretty much civilians. So that's who put us all into the trees when Sicily DZ is damn near a half mile wide! LOL

Sooo.... Most dzs have at least one C182, some a 206. Others have otters and skyvans and I heard there is still a DC3 out there flying jumpers. What else is out there to jump from and where is it? Is there a cariboo(sp) still out there? How 'bout a civilian run C-130? Where's the exotic stuff???

I guess the whole thing about my desire to jump without a helmet is feeling the relative wind on my face. Knowing that it's distorting my facial features in some amusing way.. rippling the skin on my cheek bones. Are you safer with a $300.00 full-face helmet? HELL YES! But it ain't anywhere near as much fun. http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb117/Fishmonger_707/NSLF72.jpg

If more women just showed up at the bar naked, we could figure out who to buy drinks for in the first place. Add to that a medical certificate to confirm they can suppress their gag reflex, and you may be on to something! YES!

I'm likely to get both an open face and a full face helmet. I won't have to hear how passe they are from the youngsters. Not to mention custom frap hats are no more. And it'll give me an excuse to get creative with my airbrush. Then I'll look really cool! lol

Rob, thanks for your reply. I figure the riser is as likely as anything else. I really don't know exactly what took my helmet off or what cut my face. But after starting this thread and hearing various opinions and such, I have to admit that a full face helmet most likely would have prevented the cut.

Nice!

Wow. 30 cells. Gotta wonder if PD will come out with one of their own.

Nah dave, what's REALLY depressing is that it said "middle aged" STOPS at 44!!!!! I ain't no freakin' senior citizen for Christ's sake! Hell I still feel like I'm 30.

BUMMER! I have to admit, I never did jump that 727. Always wanted to. I just never got around to it. I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the jet jumps I got on a military static line. In fact my first 5 jumps ever were from C-141s in jump school at Ft. Benning. I missed the chance I had to skydive from a C-5 when I had a broken wrist from a no-wind landing.

I didn't know it was gone. Where else are ya gonna jump a balloon AND a JET in the same day? Party til dawn... jump your ass off... repeat & rinse What a drag it is no more.

Buy used gear & test demos until you KNOW what size canopy will keep you happy... THEN buy new gear. Try and find a container that will fit the largest and smallest of the size canopies you believe you will be jumping. Here is a "PIA Canopy Study" with sizes and pack volumes to compare. Print 'em out and bring 'em to your instructor when you ask him about it. http://www.rigginginnovations.com/forms-docs/documents/pia%20volume%2006-09.pdf And this one is just PD canopies only but is still a good reference. http://www.performancedesigns.com/packingchart.asp

should take your own words to heart then! Ladies and gentlemen, may I present "the troll". virgin-burner's favorite things are skydiving and causing trouble. It says so on his profile!

OK, that makes a lot of sense. As soon as someone mentioned that spandex would create more drag I started thinking about other materials. But I guess if it could be done, it would've been done by now.

Actually, they were your mom's. But I gave 'em back.

Just a thought I had. Maybe this is the dumbest thing you've ever seen. On the other hand... maybe not. Either way I'll just throw this out there and you guys can do with it what you will. It seems to me that the best way to prevent anything from hanging on your camera gear would be to eliminate all the edges which could catch a bridle or whatever. The best way to do that MAY BE by using heavy duty spandex which covers all the cameras and snaps to the edges of the helmet. Look at this crude photoshop image to see what I mean. http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb117/Fishmonger_707/camera-helmet-with-spandex.jpg You can see in the image on the left that I put snaps on the edge along the brow of the helmet. These would go all the way around the edges of the helmet to secure the spandex. The spandex would of course have to be sewn in a fasion that would fit your helmet and cameras. I'm sure a creative rigger could help you out with this. Anyway, it's just a thought. But I think it would work well to prevent any hangups on your cameras. If you can find holes in my idea, great! Use 'em to modify the idea to make it safer or more functional.

What are folks using these days? I used to keep a bunch of 550 in my gearbag for pull-ups and closing loops. All gutted of course. I use "Type IIA" in mine and in several others. Type IIA is gutted 550 cord LOL! Thanks.

Nice. Thanks!

Damn! I can remember standing on my head in a "no lift dive". I don't think I was going that fast tho! I used to do it for style jumps to pick up a lot of speed fast. Gene Paul Thacker stopped the video on me once thinking I wasn't gonna turn a set. But I did then pulled and was at 2 or so I thought. He was like... "I don't think so, bud. I think you were lower than that." Well, I ain't gonna argue with that man. No friggin' way! lol At least he didn't ground me.

What are folks using these days? I used to keep a bunch of 550 in my gearbag for pull-ups and closing loops. All gutted of course.

Yeah I certainly don't have any business looking for 20 ways as soon as I get current. But after a 100 jumps to get back to where I was, hell yes! Nice sig by the way.

Just my opinion. I'm not a personal trainer. Hell, I'm an over weight 40+ year old who needs to lose more pounds than I'd admit to before I can get back to my jumping weight again... But flexibility is very helpful. LOTS & LOTS of stretching. Stretch until you can do the splits. Then stretch some more.