RopeaDope

OLD FARTS Obnoxious Loud Dirty Freaking Alcoholics Reliving The Sixties

If a felon has physical and unrestricted access to a firearm, be it in a vehicle or a dwelling, that felon is considered to be in possession of that firearm, regardless of who the actual owner is. In the example of a felon's spouse owning firearms, the spouse is also breaking the law by knowingly providing access to the firearm.

I weigh 240. My first several jumps were about as pleasant as being trampled by a bull. Chances are that the student gear you are using has one or more of the following issues that can lead to rougher openings- worn out PC, worn out slider, harness doesn't fit you very well, line set out of trim, break line shrinkage, little or no padding on the leg straps. You are also likely to not have the best body position during your opening sequence. Getting your own gear will fix a lot of that stuff, and experience will improve your body position. You can also talk to the packers and your instructors about helping you get softer openings by rolling the nose cells or psycho packing. When I got my first canopy, I had to psycho pack it because I sucked at pro packing. It turns out that with my pilot that gives me the softest opening, so even after I jumped the slipperiness out of it, I never went back to pro packing.

This is a pretty old thread, but rather than starting a new one, I'll drag it back out. I just received a rig from a customer who has been out of the sport for a while. His PD 160 R (manufactured in 2008) had only one repack on it before the rig was stored in a tuff box (fully packed). So 7ish years later, we deploy the reserve. Wings container. Pilot chute shot out almost to the end of the bridle before it hit the ground. Although the fabric stayed tightly wrapped around he spring, I was surprised thus far. I walked to the end of the lines and the reserve fell out of the free bag with a thump. Hit the floor maintaining its pack. I could have picked it up and just slid it right back in the free bag. I shook it out and hung it up. Looks pretty good, except for being wrinkled all to hell. There is some slight color staining on the lines near the attachment points, but not super noticeable. Since the CYPRES went in for an 8 year service (its first servicing), his canopy has some time to hang and air out. I considered sending it for a permiability test, but I don't think that will be necessary. I don't really like doing the pull test with clamps unless the manual says specifically to do so, but I popped the fabric tight in several places and do the thumb test to look for weaknesses. All in all, it looks great, but I think if you are going to take a break for several years, it wouldn't hurt to pull that sucker out and do a neat rigger roll on it.

I submitted a request for a list of seal symbols with first and last name, but was ignored. I wish the packing data card required a printed name along with the signature. I did take that old list from here and spliced it with the airman certificate database. After some sort/filter and copy/paste sorcery I ended up with a single data base that shows name, address, certificates, ratings, and seal symbols, but it only contains the people who were on that outdated list from 2011. I can post it if anyone is interested.

I would suggest a Pulse or Silhouette 170 or 150 depending on her comfort level. Both are very docile, but very capable and fun canopies. For a Pilot or Safire 2, I would recommend bumping that up by one size, so a 169/179 for Safire and 168/188 for the Pilot.

I just put the customer in my outlook calendar and set an alert to go out to them and me 2 weeks out. If I haven't heard back after the first week, I'll call and make sure they are tracking.

Hitler wasn't as dangerous or narcissistic as Billary.

Believe it or not, 92Rs already have one of the lowest GT score requirements. I guess about the only option for that rigger would be a Bath and Laudry Specialist with is like a 57 series MOS I think. Actually, a 92R requires a minimum of 87 GM (General Maintenance) line score section of the ASVAB. To minimize that line score is to diminish a multitude of MOS' required to make the Army function - including that of combat engineer, track vehicle mechanic, etc. The GT score is used to determine your General Technical placement in that MOS. If I make an 87 in the GM line score, but > 110 on the GT score; I may be eligible as a Parachute Rigger Warrant Officer. Yes, they require an 87, along with Bath and Laundry, Fabric Repair, and Lithographer. Those are the only four Army MOS that have a requirement below 90. Most combat MOS have a requirement of 90-100 and most technical MOS require from 100-120 minimum scores

http://www.molonlabemedia.com/2016/04/25/massive-amounts-wmds-found-iraq/ *edited to make it clicky

Bungee jumping is a good way to get over the fear of bungee jumping, but if you want to get over the fear of skydiving, you'll have to skydive. In order to learn how to land a canopy, you have to jump out of a plane and land a canopy. Stop wasting time and money on tandems and do your AFF or find an IAD program. Most important quality of an AFF student is to jump when your are told to jump, relax, pull when you are told to pull, relax, flare when you are told to flare, PLF.

Believe it or not, 92Rs already have one of the lowest GT score requirements. I guess about the only option for that rigger would be a Bath and Laudry Specialist with is like a 57 series MOS I think.

+1

No deep wisdom to it. Just clichés and motivational quotes. I kept reminding myself of all the people who have thousands of jumps and are still alive and still jumping. If it were so dangerous or so bad, it wouldn't be so "normal" to see these people enjoying their jumps. Remember to breath, focus on what you are/will be doing throughout your jump, everyone is nervous at first but you are already doing something most people cannot. Courage is essentially being afraid, but pushing forward anyways. It may help to "shadow box" it or "dirt dive" it as the skydivers say. Use a doorway in your house as a mockup. Practice breathing, if there are clouds, take note of their altitude (bottom and top). Go through all the motions. "On jump run" "is my radio on" "radio is on, are you ready to skydive" "fuck yeah I'm ready". Hand slide/fist bump everyone you can reach. Breath. Place foot, reach out and grab handle bar/strut/whatever, pivot being mindful not to scrape you rig against anything/anyone, poise, check in, check out, prop, up, down, away. Relax, arch, horizon, altitude, left instructor, right instructor, practice touch, repeat two more times, 5500 lock onto your altimeter, initiate your pull. Pull, pitch, arch, check your canopy, clear your ears, release brakes, listen to your radio for practice flares and turns. Flare and prepare for PLF. You can go through the motions at home and drill yourself so that when you get in the door, you just go. Do what you have done 50 times in practice. That's how we train Soldiers to run towards danger instead of away from it. Drill drill drill. When he time comes, you simply do what you are conditioned to do.

This is easy bro, I'm going to walk you through it. First, you need to get a bottle of water. I prefer Dasani but you can use whatever you like. So what you will do, is remove the cap and make a small hole in the center. You can use a drill bit, heat up a nail with a lighter, use your imagination, but put a hole in the center about the diameter of a peppercorn. Now you are going to drink exactly one third of the water. You could dump it, but you should hydrate for your skydive, so you might as well drink it. Now, you are going to replace that one third with vinegar. This gives you two parts water to one part vinegar. If you can find any, put a dash of strawberry or lemon extract in it (this is an added luxury mostly for smell good factor, but not critical to the mixture). Once all this is done, you put the cap back on the bottle and get in the shower. Squeeze the bottle firmly, forcing the mixture out, and use this to thoroughly rinse the sand out of your vagina. Once you have completed this, go do your jump. That's it. I'm totally just joking around with that bit. It could have been fear, doubt, anxiety, nerves, or maybe you simply weren't ready. Any of that is perfectly acceptable behavior. You did a tandem, which is something 99% of people are too scared to do. Then you came back. You are already in a small elite group of people who do extraordinary things. So welcome to the our little family. Now you know what to expect when you get back in the door at altitude and you'll be mentally prepared for it. Know that you have two competent instructors with you. Your parachute WILL open (and if for some reason it didn't, fuck it, you have a second one). As you ride up, focus on breathing. Nice and relaxed, slow deep breaths. Mentally rehearse your exit. Think about the placement of each hand, each foot, your exit count, your circle of awareness, and landing pattern. The second jump might be just as scary. On your 10th jump you may ride the plane back down because you just aren't feeling it. But as you gain experience, and you gain confidence in yourself and your equipment, it fades away and becomes an activity that you purely enjoy. I was scared my first jump, first hop and pop, jumping my first pack job, and first time landing with rear risers. Last weekend, I was at a little Cessna DZ, and I dozed off during the slow climb to altitude. When I woke up, I looked over and saw another dude playing Tetris on a Nintindo DS. I just thought to myself, "damn skydiving is great" and I closed my eyes for a few more minutes.

I say stuff like that to my wife all the time. She is Italian, like fresh off the boat from the "old" country Italian. I point that out because these women like to throw shoes. At this point, I continue do say dumb stuff because I'm still amazed at how fast and smooth she goes from standing in her shoes to winging them at my head. *During the winter months I can be more bold about it because Uggs don't carry that much velocity and they are soft. During the summer, I have to tone it down a little because not only do heals slip right off, but they come at you like ninja stars

It's hyperbole used to express that the man she fell in love with and married is a man who is a skydiver. The same man that took her to the DZ for a tandem jump on their third date. He showed her what he was passionate about and she accepted it. She continued to court a relationship with him and married him. Now she gets to have and to hold, through sickness and health, rich or poor, that same adventurous skydiving sexy SOB that she fell for in the first place.

You can sit her down and tell her that trying to get in between you and your skydiving would be the death wish. Just say, "Look here woman. Skydiving was with me before you and skydiving will be with me after you". She didn't marry a sweater vest wearing wine and cheese sampling fashion blogging scented candle maker. She married a man with calloused hands who makes shit out of wood and metal, eats cold beef stew straight from the can, and jumps out of damn airplanes because he doesn't have the patience to finish the flight. If she can't handle being awesome, she can go to Starbucks and find a long haired vegan with freshly manicured fingernails who cries every time someone buys an SUV.

Brian, Thanks for the new video. I have seen some of the old grouches giving you are hard time when you post links, but haters gonna hate. Most of us finish AFF and then have to find coaches or try to catch our instructors on a slow day to get involved in anything and continue learning. By the time you get an A license, you are on your own until you get a B license and a coach rating, or more than 300-400 jumps. During that lull it can get pretty boring jumping alone all the time and you aren't learning unless you are constantly watching other jumpers, studying material like "canopy and it pilot" and watch videos. So thanks for taking the time to share your experience with those of us in the transition from student, to credentialed jumper.

The tan Corcorans are fairly popular with the guys nowadays, but I never tried them. I completely wrote them off after I tried to ruck in them and ended up on a soft shoe profile for a couple weeks and had to walk around like a prego. That isn't somethings you are allowed to live down when you are in a "carnivorous" type unit. But the tan ones are all canvas like a jungle boot. Nothing to do with jumping or ankle support. Just a fad, like tanker boots.

I should be able to flip the ones I got for enough profit to make it worth my time as well as paying for what I keep. I have someone talked down to $375 on a pretty new looking Singer 20u73 with a table and clutch motor, but I'm not sure I want to sacrifice that much space. I'm also bouncing around the country quite a bit, so it is nice to limit large heavy pieces of furniture.

When you need good ankle support, but your feet need room to breath...

good patches take skill no matter what machine. its the operator, not the equipment. a nice machine just makes the process smoother.... Yeah, I get that. I do a perfectly acceptable patch with my wife's old plastic Singer, but it's like that saying, "dress for the job you want to have" I got a few yards of ZP and a few yards of LoPo just for practicing with, but I'm a perfectionist and want to bust out patches that Raggs Ragahanti would try to steal credit for. (Raggs taught me how to patch actually) I thought if I got a "pro" machine, like a 20U with a servo motor, I would have an easier learning curve to sew like a pro. Now I'm just experimenting with different machines/different styles, and seeing what I like (or what likes me) I'm a new kid on the block so I have to establish my reputation, and anything less Gan perfection is not acceptable for me, ya know?

I have experience with with just about all the black, green, and tan "regulation" combat boots as a grunt for 15 years. Those "jump boots" are almost exclusively worn with the Class A dress uniform. As a young grunt I got a pair because they looked cool. After my first 12 mile ruck march with them, I had a stress fracture in my foot because they suck are are made for looks. As for the soles and skate shoes and all that, think about what happened with DougH landing a big ole tandem and having his foot get snagged. Military boots have a heal. Great for walking in snow and mud, not so great when you land a canopy and those boots hold their ground while the rest of your body keeps moving forward. Also with better brands of all leather combat boots, you can still role your ankle walking down a flat sidewalk. *If "jump boots" are such a good idea, why are they not allowed at basic airborne school? http://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/rtb/1-507th/airborne/clothingreq.html **and BTW http://www.acuarmy.com/acu-combat-boots-c-5229_2417.html the $45 pair at the bottom is "standard issue". The rest are authorized, but you are buying them on your own dime

So when I first asked this question, I got some good info and ended up with a 401A. I had to clean old hardened up oil and break loose a few parts. By the time I get it put back together, my wife's aunt had been going on and on about how much she loved that machine, she remembers the day they got it, she learned to sew on it, blah blah blah. I gave it to her because I'm a softie. So then I was trying to figure out where to get a machine, how much I should pay for it and which ones people were liking. I ended up going with a Pfaff 230 that I found for $50, but it was seized up and pretty nasty. I ripped it apart all the way down to the last screw and scrubbed the hell out of it with WD-40. I put it back together with grease on every screw and around all the parts that were connected in a way that they aren't moving, then I oiled all he moving metal parts and it just purrs. I was so fascinated with the mechanical engineering, and enjoyed working on the machine so much, I started doing some research. Now, the beast is out of the cage. I spent 2 weeks hitting thrift stores, flea markets, and pawn shops across 3 states and snagged every metal sewing machine I could find for under $50. I think I may have a problem. I'm going through them one by one because I don't want to get parts mixed up or lose track of what I'm working on, so as I do some test patched with each one I can update if anyone is interested. So now I currently have a Singer 201-2, 301A, 401A, 403A, 503J. (Now looking for a featherweight to complement the 301A) I have the Pfaff 230, and a 332 junker for parts. I have a Bradford (jap clone looks very much like a Necchi Supernova), a Kenmore, and two Whites. The 403A I paid $150 for. It was going to be my main machine. It has a complete set of all cams, feet, and attachments available to a 403 and was restored by a pro and it looks awesome. But now I seem to have this bug, where I have to find these old beauties and restore them. I need to get to the DZ before I go crazy