Merrick

Yeah, those guys are badass! lol I think with a better a airbrush & a lot of practice I could be a lot better... I am fairly artistic (or so I've been told), we'll see tho! Dumpster - Yeah, next time I do anything like this I planned on getting an auto acrylic, I just wasn't sure how it would do in an airbrush or how much I would have to thin the pain.... who knows. "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

ROFL - well, if anyone else is dumb enough to let me 'experiment' on their helmet I probably wouldn't charge much more than cost of paints, tape, & shipping. I say experiment because since those are the only two I've ever done, it's all still a learning process right now. Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Bwahahaha.... Fucker!! ROFL - You guys are short! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Justin - ROFLMA... I actually thought of that when I was taking the pictures.... leave it to you to point it out! Andyman - Ummm....No, I haven't gotten it. lol Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Ahh, thanks Kris... I honestly couldn't tell you what clearcoat I ended up using, I tore the label off. LOL I can tell you that it is kind of soft as well, and it didn't really give me that shinny finish I wanted, but what can you do... as long as it all won't scratch off too easy I'm cool with it. Pam & I have missed you guys, I still haven't gotten my container, but we had planned on coming out this weekend anyway..... But, as I'm sure you know, the weather sucked. we have to go see mom next weekend so we'll try to sneak out to the DZ for a few jumps... otherwise we won't see you guys before we move.... only a few weeks left & we're off to NC. Blues man! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

.... this is the last one I promise! :o) "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

... and another.... "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Well, after I showed Pam my Helmet she wanted me to do something to hers as well... So, here's a few pics of our new custom helmets.... Nuthin' special, but it's better than plain black or white with stickers plastered all over. LOL I'm like Henry Ford... "You can have any design you want, as long as it's Flames!" LOL Oh, and I found a decent clear-coat that took care of all my problems, they look pretty kick ass now, and very hard to scratch now.

HA F***ING HA!!! I got it, it's really hard to explain, but I got it..... the saw worked great Remi! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

OK, this may sound kinda stupid to some of you, but how in the hell do you get the face shield off of the newer Z1's (the ones with the plastic hardware)? Mine is all metal so it's just simple nuts & bolts.... the bolts holding Pams on are all plastic and absolutely WONT 'simply' unscrew. help! lol "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

ROFL - Hey thanks guys, I didn't think it looked that good! lol I may end up having to redo it, but if I do, I'll just repaint the whole thing & do it right this time, and ORDER the clear coat before I start... Who knows. Thanks for the advice guys, hopefully I can find something for it so I don't have to redo it! Keith, I replied to your PM, but got an error, it probably went thru anyway tho! Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Well, I just finished airbrushing my Z1, and it actually looks pretty good I must say.... BUT, I've never used airbrush paint before, and it scratches really easy, I wanted to put a clear coat on it (& buff it out like you would on a car), but couldn't find any at Hobby Lobby. Does anybody have any experience airbrushing, is there anything else I could spray on it to seal the paint & protect it? My first mistake was not sanding down the entire helmet & completely redoing the basecoat as well (the black), but that doesn't have anything to do with the scratching. Hmmm.... Help!! lol

Yeah, and what about the johnathan? same situation I believe, I won't even look at one without fear of getting hurt! lol "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

I have two sets of the SR-1's if you need them, just let me know. I ordered them for mine & Pam's reserves before I realized they were only rated for PD reserves, so regardless if they 'should' be fine for any reserve, we're not going to use them until they are rated for our reserves as well. Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

lol - Cool... Scores: Average was .22 high was 2.51 low was .05 (didn't capture that one tho) lol Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Agreed.... not to mention the fact that absolutely none of Dan's post was "bashing" any manufacturer, everything he listed were mere facts in comparing other products to his. Facts, that anybody could see simply by looking at the competitor products, I noticed the overlapping in stitching on my old Sabre & thought it looked kinda shoddy. Now, I don't know what difference this makes as far as durability, but it definitely does show workmanship & attention to detail. I'm not Anti- or Pro-Atair, hell I fly a Hornet, and will probably never buy a cobalt, but I certainly went against the grain of what everyone at my DZ was telling me (PD & Mirage). I think the hornet is just as stable and flies just as good as any other semi-elliptical, slightly tapered (or whatever label you want to give) canopy on the market, & I got it custom made for less than half of the price of a new canopy from any other manufacturer, which was the most important decision for me. Anyway, regardless of whether or not you agree with Dan's tactics, the fact still remains that he was never derogatory, or tactless, he simply stated facts of construction, which is good information for any novice skydiver. It was good advice, I know of several people that have bought gear on blind-faith, simply because it was what everyone at the DZ pushed on them. Take my home DZ for example, the DZO is a Mirage dealer, has a good relationship with them, & absolutely swears by them, soooo, almost everyone at the DZ jumps a mirage, whereas I went with the Vector-M for my own personal reasons. Long story short.... Collect all the information you can about any given manufacturer, then make an informed decision.... thanks for the info Dan! Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Excellent guys, I appreciate your opinions.... I'll probably do just that, jump it a few times first before I decide. The question stemmed from one of those nights of laying in bed not being able to sleep because the gear-shop had called that day telling me my container would be shipped the next day!!! Thanks again, and now that I'm thinking more clearly I really wouldn't have messed with the settings before I jumped it. Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Here's an interesting thread about an all ampute skydiving team called "Pieces of Eight." There's a picture posted there that shows some missing arms, as well as a friend of ours Bob Clark (tall bearded guy in the back row - leg ampute). So my point, I see 13 people here that have overcome the very thing you're talking about just to do something they truly love. As everyone else has said... anything's possible with a little effort. BTW: Bob Clark is still one of THE best skydivers I've ever jumped with - He's BADASS! Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

As far as I know, this is only for solo jumping (IAD, Static-Line, AFF...). As for tandems and the new FAR revisions, there are no age restrictions. I've watched 10 year olds (maybe younger) do Tandems since this was released.... It just depends on the DZ. But, as wingi said, if they were to actually die, things could still get very 'hairy' on the legal side of things. Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Yeah, this was almost my exact plan, but after hearing that almost everyone that uses their front risers (on the hornet) have problems with the bucking at the factory setting... just thought I'd save a little time, I jump at a small DZ that puts out a LOT of students, that simple plan you just plotted could actually take up to 3 weeks or so for me (not that it matters). Thanks, keep 'em coming. Blues! On second thought, I'm not taking riser length into consideration... I'll have to look & see what length risers I ordered & add that info as well to see if there any similar setups. "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

Quotes from another thread: Just a quick question, I've heard that you should lengthen your brake settings on the Hornet on more than one occasion. Now that I've had my Canopy for over a month & my container should be in shortly as well I may actually get to jump the thing sometime soon. LOL Would it be a safe bet to go ahead & let the brakes out a little first (say, 3"), or should I keep them at the factory setting until I get a chance to jump it? Just curious on the different opinions... thanks. Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

You must be a pro-bodybuilder or something then eames. I put a few of those on mine & my wife's locking stows & immediately took them off. I couldn't get them open enough to stow my lines, and my wife certainly couldn't. I hated them.... What's worked really well for me is tube-stows on my locking stows then regular bands on all other stows... wonderful openings. "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

ROFL - [jestera] smiley should be renamed..... [carbone] smiley! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

ROFL - Yeah, What's up with all the skydiving movies on USA lately. For those of us who are jobless & stuck at home all day, they've been showing Terminal Velocity, Dropzone, and Cutaway is on right now (starring the 12 time best actor award winner Steven Baldwin LOL). I've wondered if the whole "kiting" a canopy off a sizable building would be possible. I used to work in a 353 foot building (probably the tallest one in this cursed town) and always envisioned basing the South Tower/building while they were doing a random fire drill! But, I don't have a base rig, and never figured out how to get on the roof! lol Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"

ROFL - or say.... a pumpkin!?!? I jumped with Scotty about 5 out of my 7 jumps when I was down in Houston.... He is an GREAT guy, & treats us lowtimers really good! It amazed me how much he could see on one skydive, he was able to land & give each person on the skydive some kind of advice. He also made it a point to make every jump fun, something that a lot of people at his level tend to forget.... Can't wait to jump with you again Scotty! Blues! "Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry"