mxr73

Thanks for the replies everyone. As I said, just a rookie here and I simply thought something looked amiss. Who better to ask than the pro's. Thanks again everyone

Please forgive me ignorance but I am a very, very new jumper with minimal jumps. However, I came across a picture of a tandem jump and noticed something odd. Now I may be way off base here so please don't jump on me if I'm mistaken. It appears the top "clip", is that what it's called? In this picture is not fully secure. What I noticed is the spring loaded piece does not appear to be engaged. Can someone tell me if I am correct or not. This isn't meant as a criticism, but as a learning experience.

Interview for PO Constable. Asked what my hobbies are. Generally high risk activities. MX racing, jumping, ultra distance 24hr extreme races. Result...hired. I don't understand what the issue would be.

You folks are great.....the encouragement you all have offered has convinced me to go. If any of you are attending and happen to see an old guy with eyes as big as plates wandering around.....it will be me. Thanks again everyone.

Hello folks, I hope this is in the right forum, if not I apologize. Anyway, I am a very, very new jumper with a paltry 35 jumps under my belt. There is the "Canadian Invasion" in Eloy this January and I'm interested in hearing what you experienced folks think about a student jumper attending such a big, busy DZ. I have only my solo certificate and when January arrives I will not have jumped for several months. With the vast majority of you having several thousand jumps and years of experience I'm sure you can visualize the capability's and limits of a 35 jump student. From what I have read it sounds like Eloy is huge, very busy and not tolerant of mistakes which I COMPLETELY understand and agree with. Safety is the basis of my post. I don't want to be any kind of safety issue. In addition I would hate to lay out a sack full of money, get down there and find that I am not capable of jumping at such a large DZ. I'm simply trying to learn this sport in as safe a manner as possible while keeping the incredible joy I experience while participating. Anyone who takes the time to reply....thanks.

AFF level 1. I can't possibly describe how much I was sweating...literally. Until my feet were back on the ground, I'm sure I stopped blinking once we boarded the plane. On the way up I was so terrified I simply could not comprehend how I came to the decision to try the AFF course. On a positive note, I'm now very happy I jumped....I'm quite addicted and now very poor.

Oh man, did that make me laugh. Although that's not the guru I speak of, there is a striking similarity regarding their talents. The skydiving guru I'm referring to has also "dropped some of the most thoughtful rhymes on wax."

That's quite impressive, detective. Your first reply did seem a little strange as some of your statements seemed like you had a specific individual in mind. Still, I figured the odds of running into someone I know were extremely low. It looks like I have at least 15 minutes booked for the wind tunnel. I'm quite excited to have the opportunity to utilize the experience to improve my abilities. On a side note, just how do I speak and write? I have to assume you mean like a poet. Soft, meaningful and I touch the soul with every word. At least that's what I will go with. Appears this topic has gone WAY off track.

Ok....how in the heck did you figure out who I am?!? My profile is as generic as it can get other than indicating I'm from Canada and I have 35 jumps. Perhaps we should swap careers...it appears you would be better at mine than I am. You're very kind with your comments.

You guys are fantastic...I have yet to receive what I would feel is poor advice. Once again, thanks to everyone for their help. I will be sending Karl a PM right away just to confirm a few things. RiggerRob....you're hilarious. That said, I wouldn't want to show my wife your post. She may have me out looking for a "playful young lad" for her. Miss ILUVCHUTERS.....I recognize your license number and the little dog you have in your picture. Out of all the posts and all the forums on the internet, I bump into you here. Small world. As for the tunnel. I agree, the coach is mandatory if I plan on correcting a "few" things.

You could most certainly be on track with the 3.5 hour drive to the DZ being part of my "legs" issue. At the start I used to stay out for a couple days at a time. Lately it's been drive up, a jump or two and then leave the same day. I hope Eloy works out as planned. I'll be more than happy to jump with coaches the whole time; I just want practice. That and I simply love this sport. The freedom, the excitement and incredible fun are addicting...as you all know. On a very positive note, the wife and I are heading for Colorado for a few days, I didn't think about it until yesterday. I found a wind tunnel 1.5 hours away from where we are staying. I am going to be spending some time in the tunnel if there are openings. First time and it should help. Feel free to keep referring to me as a young lad, I actually felt like it until I told my wife. Her response was to raise one eyebrow, grin and state "that's right, you're a young lad". Not sure if she was sincere.

Here is the latest. Prior to pestering anymore of you professionals I spoke to a new jumper who attended Eloy during the last trip. I have been informed that she had yet to apply for her solo and was still allowed to jump. There will be very experienced instructors and coaches from the DZ I attend going and it appears that I will be able to get my A-CoP down there. I'm pretty sure our DZ owner will also be going again and he's essentially a guru. That said, being permitted to jump does not mean I will be satisfied with my abilities in order to justify moving on. I will post a link to the requirements for the A-CoP at the end of this post. The PIM1 also has it in a chart format on page 15. I'm stuck on a couple major points...I'm very critical of my performance and I simply want to ensure that I am a safe and capable student before I move on. At this point I am not thrilled with all of my jumps. The second problem revolves being a bit of a perfectionist. Packing absolutely baffles me. The first time I observed a professional perform a flat pack I was astonished and horrified. I expected to see every fold perfectly laid out to the millimeter, every line perfectly straight and so on. Everyone is careful when they pack; it's just not like I expected. I can't seem to grasp packing in a confident manner and I'm embarrassed that I have not progressed to packing on my own. It literally takes me 10 minutes to flake the canopy just because I want things "just right". Again, I want to be safe and capable. I'm at the point where I feel bad for my coaches and instructors. Almost like I am disappointing them for not progressing at an appropriate pace. They constantly tell me to stop being so critical, that's not easy to do; especially since the sport has zero margin for error. Perhaps it's my age, I have taken up this amazing sport at 39 years of age, I'm an old feller and I want to do and learn everything I can in order to minimize the chances that I kill/injure myself or someone else. I am aware that those are possibilities regardless of an individuals knowledge or abilities. Since I have strayed a little off topic I'm going to ask one more question. During my AFF and several solo jumps afterwards I was able to fall straight down during free fall. Lately for some reason I can't seem to keep from "wandering around" in the air, especially backsliding. I retreat like I'm running from the herpes virus and it's getting to be quite frustrating. My legs feel like they always have but watching a video shows another story. Not only have they moved in but my entire body looks like a corps in full rigormortis. Legs, legs, legs is what I hear from the instructors but my ability to keep them out has vanished and I'm not sure why. Anyway, thanks again to everyone. here is the link to the A-CoP requirements. http://www.cspa.ca/en/cwc/cops/qaq-cop

10-4....thanks for the direction.

Crap...The information I was looking for was right on their site. Sorry folks. Looks like I'm out of luck....A is required.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond and offer their opinions, advice and experiences. It's greatly appreciated. I understood that the CSPA solo wasn't that terribly important but I had no idea that it was "unofficial." Quite a bummer really. I would love to get my A-Cop but the DZ I obtained my solo from is roughly 3.5 hours away and the season is coming to a close quickly. That, money and my own opinion of my abilities has slowed my progression. My wife is incredibly supportive, my mortgage is not. It looks like I had best send the Eloy DZ an email providing my information and requesting their policy. I would hate to miss the Canadian Invasion. Perhaps I should have emailed them right away. I apologize if anyone feels I wasted their time. RiggerRob....Being called a "young lad" is the best compliment I have received in years....many, many years. Even if it was given in mistake. Thanks!! Thanks again everyone.

Hello folks, I searched for the answer to my question but was unable to find what I was looking for. I am a VERY new jumper with a CSPA solo license with only 35 jumps. Anyway, I would like to head down to Eloy for a couple weeks....do I need a USPA membership to be eligible to jump? One more thing...why do some Canadian drop zones require a USPA membership? Thanks for your time.

One last point.....everyone enjoy your jumping season. Ours doesn't start for another 27 days....bummer. I have only 15 jumps and I'm addicted already. What an awesome sport we have.

You have either been living under a rock, simply don't know any better or are commenting just to try and take part in this conversation. You're right, how could violence come about when there is a 300lb deal being made. Small potatoes really. Not to mention the fact that other folks will target dealers because they almost always have a large supply of cash at hand. As far as the PCP (also known as "wet") it may not happen where you are but I assure you it's not that uncommon up here. These people are not morally sound people. They will do anything to maximize profits. An example would be with 5 deaths we had about 2 months ago. Ecstasy related incident, another drug that is looked at as harmless. The manufacturer of this particular batch cut it with rat poison to make the supply go further than it would if it was clean. These are not good people, they don't care about you unless you're a customer. Save for specific areas, MJ is illegal. Using it while exercising discretion does not change that fact. All of my babbling so far has been to make one simple point. Do the right thing even when nobody is looking.

You're right, if MJ was legal, the drug related deaths would surely drop. About my job, hypothetically if I was given the opportunity to rid society of drugs and the only requirement was for me to lose my job.....believe me or not, I would quit. I have seen too many people who's lives have been destroyed by using drugs. It makes me quite sad to deal with people and watching the changes they go though. One last point, not every supplier out there is morally sound. I have seen samples of MJ that had been soaked in PCP. The user doesn't know this until they pay the price of being under the influence of PCP. It can and does happen. Regardless of what you do.....be safe.

You're right, technically not a narcotic. I simply used the term narcotic as a global view. of all drugs. However, I do find it interesting that MJ is in the same class as heroin (Schedule I).

Those numbers I threw out were just for comparison, not an actual survey result. I will agree with you that MJ "probably" doesn't have the same negative effects that alcohol has. In reality MJ is definitely on the low end of the scale of harmful narcotics. I don't buy into anything and I hope I'm not coming across as a read and believe type of guy. I base what I say on what I have personally witnessed. I don't think MJ should be legalized, I do believe that it should be decriminalized....basically the same as a speeding ticket. I don't arrest everyone I come across that is in possession. Attitude and discretion play a big part in how I deal with a situation. By the way, I'm glad to have a good conversation that doesn't degrade into name calling and flaming.

Agreed, everyone involved should have been given equal "punishment." I also agree with you that alcohol is involved in far more deaths than MJ is. My rational to that is if you question 10 people, I think it's safe to say that perhaps 8 of them drink alcohol. When asked the same about MJ use, I would think perhaps 3 may admit to using. What I'm trying to say is if the ratios were equal, perhaps the death count may balance out as well. Please don't think I'm trying to preach to anyone, I simply want people to see the big picture and please be safe regardless of your choice.

Very interesting discussion folks. Several logical opinions and several that simply don't make sense. I am very, very new to this amazing sport but even I can see that there is very little margin for error when skydiving. Personally I want everyone in that plane in the right frame of mind. Anything less is foolish. Additionally, several folks have pointed out that smoking THC simply won't kill you. I really don't disagree with part of that statement. However, there are folks that have been killed as a result of being under the influence of THC. One last point that almost everyone doesn't think about when commenting on the deaths caused by THC. As a PO here in Canada, I can tell you that I have been to many scenes where dealers have had a transaction gone bad and the result has been a body in the ditch that we have to deal with. I'm basically saying to look at the big picture and how far reaching the effects are. As far as I'm concerned, one life lost is one too many.

As a spanking new jumper (club solo ok) I really don't have the experience to make a suggestion. The reason I respond is for one reason. I too am VERY self critical. Even my AFF instructors told me to relax and have fun. The relax and have fun was my last jump of the season. When I touched down I was PUMPED!! None of the previous jumps felt so good. Everyone has very good points and suggestions.....the one that really struck home was from Pops. He mentioned going on what could be considered a fun jump. The owner/operator who could be considered a guru, grabbed me and said lets go have fun.We went up and I had the best and last jump of the season. I think no pressure jumps are very beneficial. Remember that this is supposed to be fun for you. Don't give up because you're frustrated.

Everyone's advice is appreciated, this site was suggested to my by my coach as a fantastic site to talk and learn from experienced folks like yourselves. During my last jump my coach strapped on a 10lb weight belt which resulted in a great, level jump together. It sounds like my options are learning to modify body position and get a suite that offers as much drag as possible. On a side note, I am thoroughly addicted to this sport, so much so that I am considering backing out of MX racing. Neither sports are cheap and there is no way skydiving is going to lose out. I'm a bit of a YouTube junkie, I found one of the funniest videos of a tandem jump....I thought perhaps I would share it. It's really quite funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_rfvcNYUks Thanks again everyone, Jeff