lewmonst

STEVEO (Steve Utter to be on the same page) IS AWESOME. He is one of the nicest, most down to earth, most professional, humble skydivers i know (along with Rook). Don't say anything about Steve-O if you've never talked to him. He is just a great guy. I've done several jumps with him, and talked to him many times, about video, about jumping in general, little of this and that... He was shooting the Boogie video, if appeared busy, that's why. he had to jump back to back all day long to get footage, and buy his video, i gaurantee you'll understand why he works so hard. it's going to be the best boogie video ever. so yeah, he's amazing, and you should see him fly, like an angel. i asked him all weekend to dive with me, and he reeled off his schedule, but said, come find me later, i'll see what i can do... he's encouraging, always. and today, He made sure to jump with me before i had to leave. it was the best fucking skydive i've ever been in, excuse the language but it was that intense. we launched a 2 way headdown flower with 3 sitfly chasers who just wanted to join us, but since i'd asked him so much, he focused on my the whole dive... transitioned to sit, and he grabbed my foot and smiled, tried feet docking a few more times, geeked the camera, we both have cameras, and just had a blast. you jsut had to be there... so i watch him track off and give me a peace sign right before he opens, i open, and go to stow my slider, look behind me and he's chasing me under canopy, he get up to me, and says "don't move" so i don't touch a thing, and he brushed his end cell into mine, smiled and spiraled down to land. talk about a good dive and a great guy. jeez... I'm a school teacher and they've asked me to do a video presentation on skydiving to the school, so i told Steve-O this and asked if i could firewire his video to show the 2 perspectives, and he went out of his way to find another camera with more battery, get a firewire, and take the time to trade videos to help me out. Steve-O is awesome. I truly respect and admire him... just get to know him. ok, enough on that. BUY HIS VIDEO see our jump have patience, with judging people, and with ordering gear. mountainman, great seeing you, sorry we didn't get to talk. i have a safire 139, and feel i've made conservative choices in demoing and downsizing. you've been packing and working on rigging, so you know more than most people at your jump level, but canopy experience you only get in the air. please be careful. too many new jumpers are trying stuff that may be over their head, like a crossfire, which they can usually land with no problem, but sometimes a little cross wind, a little burble, a little swirly, a second late on the flare, a bad spot, among other things... CAN happen, and does. i watched too many people slam their knees and bounce into a tumble JUST this weekend in Richmond under crossfires becuase they're anxious to go faster. IT ONLY TAKES ONCE and on a lighter note, richmond rocked, no major injuries. i did see the hard landing on a night jump, she only had a concusion and was jumping again today... and despite the reputation, richmond was about half freeflyers and half belly. great night events, great parties, and just truly amazing people i guess you just had to be there green skies

actually mountainman, most people at richmond who strap on a camera with less than 200 get reprimanded by a select few experienced camera flyers and otherwise experienced jumpers... I started jumping my bonehead/dbox/pc5 around 200 jumps. I felt that was appropriate for me, however, i still got the speech. and the fact is, the speech helped, becuase just in talking to other people, i learned a few things about flying a camera that i hadn't thought of... and I've got over 150 camera jumps since then, successfully, and I'm still learning about flying my camera and safety issues. I progressed well as a flyer, and my flying skills were there before i put on a camera. but even still, there's SO much to learn in this sport, no matter how good you think you are, you still don't know jack... i still don't know jack. but i'm very cautious and have done a lot of research to make sure i consider everything i can about the safety of my set-up, i even practice dumping my helmet. The more experience you get, just skydiving, or flying camera, the more you learn that the less you knew back when you had a couple hundred jumps or less... or more.... AND in reply to your Dbox comment - no offense, but don't make assumptions and DON'T POST assumptions if you haven't jumped it. The typical D-Box has a much higher risk of snagging than a top-mount camera. whereas the Sidewinder which has a molded compartment and doesn't have any huge gaps like you bonehead/dbox is much safer. but you can still get a snag. A topmount will not get in the way of the risers, where some sidemounts have been knocked clear off the helmet from the risers. think about where your risers go on opening, from right behind your head to in front, and on older gear with wide (shoulder width) harnesses, it's not as much of a problem, but strap on a recent vector, jav, mirage, voodoo, wings... and notice how close the risers are to your head... the point is... there's so much to learn, never stop learning, and never make assumptions. talk to experienced jumpers. talk to experienced jumpers talk to experienced jumpers talk to experienced jumpers talk to experienced jumpers talk to really experienced jumpers lew

like i said, if you were there, please email me privately. thanks

i think we've advertised well enjough now for richmond, we'll let the boogie speak for itself. i think we met before, just look for the tall chic in green everything, long blonde (green) hair

if so, please email me thanks

i jumped the b24 last year, $20, i kept my clothes on and got lucky, won the raffle. not sure why they wouldn't allow b24 jumps this year. but quincy was still a blast, or I should say the WFFC was a balst, forget quincy, we'll go wherever the wffc goes... bombs away

sorry - one more thing, THE boogie starts Wed Aug 29 and goes through Monday Sept 3. forget the hotel room, bring a tent, you won't want to leave the party

just be there to clarify: -$18.50/jump -organizers for all levels - just don't be shy -no raft dives - well, you can try, but no tailgate -plenty of fast aircraft, see the previous post -minimun A license -Steve'O' is doing the video, if you haven't seen Cloud's Edge, get it, IT's Awesome!! SteveO is arguably the best camera flyer/editor/producer of skydiving videos I've ever scene. -$30 registration is worth the party, trust me -and it's Richmond INDIANA, not virginia (between Indianapolis, Dayton and Cincinnatiish) i'll be there, what else do you need?

i gotta back up fallrate on this one, Richmond THE boogie is the best. check it out http:// http://www.aerodromeskysports.com/richmond_boogie.html some awesome organizers, freefly, rw, birdman... usually around 1000 skydivers, and some great parties at night. i'll be there friday-monday (don't count out monday, guys, remember you have the day off) and btw, yes, he is called fallrate at the dz, meet him and you'll know why. btw, fallrate, it's been too long since we've done a chase you dive... and i'm known as swoop lew in richmond, but that's another story...

yeah, come to richmond, or skydive greene county in Xenia Ohio, their both way better. and why are you waiting until sept 14th??? if you really want to see skydiving, come to richmond over labor day weekend for The boogie... you've never experienced anything like it. http:// http://www.aerodromeskysports.com/richmond_boogie.html don't worry if you have a "reservation", the only reservation that can't be broken is when the money has already been handed over see ya in richmond

clay, what remi said.... last year the chopper landing area was a field closer to the road, and it was about half a football field with grass... for some reason this year we were back off the road in a smaller landing area, no grass, chopped beans. and yeah, the chances of someone from the regular altitude jumps hitting a chopper below them is really good considering there are almost always people in the air, and the chopper on a good day was running back to back, and lingered at 5,000ft. for a few minutes before the jumps... smack, or should i say... chop chop chop.... anyway, it's all about the alternate landing areas. although i had a couple great hook turns into the main landing area, surfed all the way accross and scared myself. who knew i could run that fast

i went with green for quincy... hmmm, wonder why

hey merrick, sorry about the leg man. that blows. i made 3 helicopter and 1 biplane jump,and they were all awesome. yeah there wasn't much grass on the landing area, either dirt or beans.... i definately wouldn't recommend barefoot, but whoever skipped those jumps becuase of the landing area was chicken shit and missed out. wasn't that biplane awesome. after i let go of the t bar, he dove next to me in headdown, then under me in freefall (i told him to geek my camera) really close too, it's sweet video. then as i was under canopy trying to figure out where to land, he buzzed me again, close enough to make my canopy breathe... it was awesome. fleehop was just cool like that. i jumped tevas all week, no problems. biplane photo is on my website click on lew below to see it. heal fast - hook it

none of them. ditch the symmetry man, that's old school. for the canopy, get something sharp. i really like the solid top skin w/different bottom skin and ribs. maybe, blue on top, yellow ribs, and white or black on bottom. the canopies that look different from different angles, above, below, front... are really catchy, and i saw a bunch at quincy last week. what kind of canopy is it? what size? and for the rig, ditch the symmetry also. be unique. don't be afraid of white, unless you're anal about cleanliness. I've had my javelin odyssey with white all over it for 2 months, and over 50 jumps, and it still looks sweet. to see it, go to my webpage and click on "who am i" there's a good shot of it there. but i'm all about green... bottom line, get what you like, becuase it will make you happy peace, hook it

yep, he busted it on his first jump at WFFC. i saw pammi and sis and later saw him in his cast... i survived with only bruises from a combat raft dive hook it

got it - LOVE IT i've demoed regular Jav's, Vector, Quesar, Racer, Reflex, and my old Sweethog... also tried on a voodoo, mirage and wings... and i personally like the fit of the Jav best, and the Odyssey is even that much better. the first jump i made on it i was nervous cuase it felt like i didn't have a rig on. i have friends that swear by other manufacturers, it's personal preference, kinda like clothes, some brands fit some people better than others. but I LOVE my odyssey, and it's still on my Visa i ordered at the end of March and received it about mid-June, but it was worth the wait. got the diamondback material and it looks sharp, i get lots of comments about it. you can see photos on my website: lewmonst.com peace hook it

thanks sis, hey no worries, the first year is the hardest to accumulate jumps. it took me 2 years to get my A and 26 jumps, ugh... but since then, i've made 300+ in 2 years. And if you attend training and seminars and read a lot about it, i'm sure you're way better off than the 97jump wonder skygod wannabe who thinks he too cool to go to training and know everything already. i'd rather jump with you. as for learning, shit, i'm in 4 years now and my learning curve is still shooting up. there's just so much to this sport... I'm going to attend the seminars at quincy. btw, look for me if you're at quincy, really tall blonde chic in green dakine suit, i'll jump with you. and let me tell you, you're going to have the time of your life at quincy... just be careful in the air under canopy, most people will have faster chutes than you, and there's a lot of traffic. i'm all about the alternate landing area. peace girl, blue skies

hey kids. i'm hitting summerfest tomorrow night, be there until i take off for quincy monday morning. look for really really tall girl, really really long blond hair, in 2 braids for flyin, possibly striped green, in green dakine suit (see photo at left

have rsl, DO NOT USE fly camera to the point, not only if you have entanglement and you chop do you need to get restable, but if you have entanglement and chop, it's most likely your main will still be tangled with your helmet, camera gear, in which case if your rsl pulls the reserve, you're probably going to have a big ball of shit of you main/reserve entanglement in which case your toast. if you have main entanglement with a camera helmet, you should be prepared to chop the main, and chop the helmet. that's right, dump it, $3,000 worth of camera gear ain't gonna do you any good if you bounce. be prepared to toss your camera helmet, get stable to pull the reserve. rsl does not allow time to do this. even if you don't jump a camera, you should know your shit and not need one. disconnect it. and one more thing, if you have a total, an rsl won't do a thing. if you don't understand this you should go back to class. oh btw, whoever said rsl's and aad's did the same thing? they are completely different got cypress, turn it on. you never know what 97jump wonder skygod wannabe is going to pull some combat rw out and kick you in the face... or when the casa's gonna flip and you hit your head as your tossed out the tail... all this, then hook it

tjn odyssey safire 139 pd 135 cypress

just got the august issue today. but i don't see any incident reports. i know there were incidents, and I am interested in reading the s&ta report to clarify the news "parachute failed to open"... what's up, did they skip this month?

i'll probably be there around the 9th thru the 12th... hitting chicago before that. no registration, $10 jumps, but i still can't miss quincy

changed my photo... seein if it worked.

this is lew i pretend to be an engineer for a large consumer products company that isn't making enough money so is laying people off and i volunteered to take the separation package, so i'll be able to skydive for a month, then i'll be broke again, so i'm open for suggestions.... Anyone? anything? anywhere? oh yeah, i also coach volleyball teams and do some freelance photography, neither of which can subsidize skydiving, but are far more rewarding than pretending to be corporate... hmmmm... what to do... what to do... i think you should have also asked how many jumps do you have and what discipline: such as 315, RW & Freefly, camera

yeah let's talk about spotting a full load of otter babies... spotting is easy, just stick your head out the door and look straigh down. if you know where you are and how the winds are up high and down low, no problem, but if you're behind 4 4-ways that take too long to climb out and launch, and the first takes the center spot rather than a short spot, the freefly babies at the end are pullin high or landing off... when it's green, GO oh, and streak, i was never really scared, but i self inflict a little bit of fear to do gear checks before everyjump, and i read all the incident reports, those will scare you. but i'm definately not the idiot trying to overstep my bounds like the guy described in the other thread about someone almost bouncing. it all takes practice man... the more you do it, the more you'll learn