3ringheathen

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Gear

  • Main Canopy Size
    95
  • Main Canopy Other
    Cobalt 95 - Troll 265
  • Reserve Canopy Size
    120

Jump Profile

  • Home DZ
    SPC
  • License
    D
  • License Number
    18302
  • Licensing Organization
    USPA
  • Number of Jumps
    2000
  • Years in Sport
    13
  • First Choice Discipline
    BASE Jumping
  • Second Choice Discipline
    Freeflying
  1. Cool jump. A word of caution though for anyone considering a similar jump: You said your alti read 253'. I'm guessing you were using a paragliding altimeter, and I'm also guessing that they are more precise than a typical skydiving alti. However, skydiving altimeters aren't too precise, some have margins of error as high as a 100'. This could be bad juju on a jump that's low to begin with! -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  2. I've got a mix of ZP and F111 BASE pilot chutes. All of my unvented BASE PCs are F111. One reason is that, all other things being equal, F111 PCs are less likely to cause an off heading opening in the *BASE* environment. As far as skydiving goes, I'm generally ok with either. ZP lasts a little longer, but the kill line shrinks and wears at the same rate, and F111 is less likely to slip out of the pocket. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  3. Funny. I was looking for the "blowhard" option on the poll. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  4. I always understood that a major reason free speech is so valuable is that it allows individuals to decide for themselves which ideas are extreme or hurtful. Once restrictions on free speech are allowed, someone else does your thinking for you. That's far scarier to me than anything I read in his article or his follow up rebuttal. 1) College students are not kids, they are adults. As such, they are assumed to be generally capable of critical and independent thought. 2) His opinions are clearly unpalatable to many, but nothing I read incites or condones violence, and therefore is not at all comparable to advocating nuking all Muslims. That'd make teaching subjects such as oh, I don't know...political science, history, ethnic studies, sociology, geography, and so on, pretty damned difficult. You're certainly welcome to disagree, (free speech!), but I for one, am glad Einstein wasn't prohibited from commenting on politics. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  5. In my experience, top mounts expose you to significantly more risk as far as neck strain on a hard opening. The leverage issue seems to far outway the right to left balance issue. On the other hand, riser strike on a side mount, while rare, can be bad news on a base jump. Jumping camera on a base jump is particularly dangerous, and I'm not solidly convinced that either option is clearly better. I lean slightly towards top mount, but wouldn't want to jump camera slider down/3 second delays too frequently! Ouch. If your risers are long enough, your camera shouldn't be a problem top mounted, because the slider should still be sufficiently above the camera to avoid snagging. Lots of variables. Good look sorting out what's right for your situation. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  6. The HC series is small enough for either. The type of planes you jump out of, and whether or not/where you'll mount a still camera might tip the scales one way or the other. If you're always jumping larger airplanes, topmounts are nice. If you have to jump 182's, 206's and the like with any frequency, you'll dislike the top mount. My HC30 is top mounted right now, but I'm probably going to switch it to the side like my old PC7, and mount a still on top. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  7. CPC = Canopy Pilot Competition? I've been a bit pre occupied lately...is there a website or something? -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  8. It's a far more reliable way to alienate one's friends than it is to make money. It's basically a pyramid scheme. Of course they'll tell you that it's not, but they are either lying to you, wrong, or splitting hairs. Ultimately, it's BS. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  9. The issues you bring up are controlled for in the experiments. All possible pairings and the order in which the tests are administered to the subjects are randomized. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  10. A few tidbits: The first time I found myself around a bonfire at a boogie, I overheard Bryan Burke talking about landings. He said simply "If you're stabbing your toggles, you're f***ing up." That was probably nine years ago. I still remember it, and it has for the most part kept me out of the corner ever since. I printed and saved Bill Vons treatise on flat turns off of wreck dot. Eventually, I overlooked a set of power lines at an unfamiliar dz. I realized a little too late that they were there, and had to turn. In large part due to reading Bill Von, I knew enough to do a flat turn, and only broke my ankle, when I otherwise would have been killed. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  11. They're what you get from a productive fart. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  12. I'm ugly. At least tomorrow, you'll be sober. Apologies to Winston Churchill. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  13. If it were legal, people could probably afford to ingest it in safer ways. Brownies anyone? However, I won't go so far as to call it completely safe, no matter how ingested. That's hardly a compelling argument for maintaining the status quo. Just think of all the terrible things that similar logic has been applied to in the past. We should be considering the pros and cons of legalization on there own merit, not on how well they conform to historical practices. So cigarettes should be illegal, too? Driving under the influence would still be illegal, even if general use was permitted. Stoned steering isn't safe, but I'd prefer to be on the highway surrounded by stoned drivers rather than drunk ones. At least the collisions would be at lower speeds. This could well be an argument for legalization. Are you suggesting that pot made the suspect violent? I'd suggest that it's fear of a ridiculously long prison sentence or money that motivates someone in that situation. People are already using, at least there would be tax revenue. Let's not forget the obscene amounts of money currently spent fighting the drug war, and incarcerating productive members of society. People who, for the most part would be paying taxes if they weren't in jail for pot use. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  14. There's some truth to that statement. The extreme working conditions and exploitation that gave rise to unions has been dramatically improved. Largely due to unions. There are definitely drawbacks to unions, and the cost/benefit analysis isn't as crystal clear as it once was. Eliminate all unions and get back to me in ten years. A whole lot of people will miss them far more than they can presently imagine. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.
  15. I'm opting not to vote in the poll. Bill's post sums it up nicely, particularly the examples at the bottom. In my opinion, liberals *tend* to have more pragmatic approaches to issues, and conservatives *tend* to be more short sighted. There are, of course, exceptions. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.