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Welcome, Derek! It must be beautiful skydiving in BC - I've never been but heard that it's a treat. Year round is the bomb-diggety!

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on triple digits! Post the pics!! A gentle suggestion . . . fill out your dropzone.com profile so we can get to know you a bit better. Fill out whatever makes you comfortable, it seems to make members "gel" a bit more here in the forums. Blue Ones, Arrive Safely John

Personally, I would post a malfunction in the Incidents Forum if I thought others might learn from it, and it would prevent others from having the same experience. I would, however, steer away from making it an emotional story and stick more to "here's what happened and why." I feel that would be much more useful and solicit more constructive replies. Arrive Safely John

I closed the loop. Thanks all. Arrive Safely John

:3:0 My first tandem on Saturday was an 18 year old girl, recieving her birthday gift from Dad. Not only was it her first skydive, she had never been up in an airplane before! I love those! She loved it . . . she'll be back to do AFF. Arrive Safely John

Our very own Raefordite is a physical therapist. Send her a PM!

Here's another one. When I'm adjusting their leg straps for the initial fit on the ground, and I need some room to make the proper adjustments, I ask them to "spread their feet apart." What I really need is their legs apart so I have the room to make the adjustments, but asking for feet apart is much less likely to offend. It produces the same result anyway. Arrive Safely John

Unplanned lurks are not cool at all. The lurker has no clue what the skydive plan is, and more importantly, does not know the break off plan, and may not have one for himself either. Planned lurks are excellent - a good use of a solo jumper's time. They should be in the dirt dive and understand the "no-fly zones" that apply to that particular skydive, and understand his break off altitude and direction. I have had unplanned lurkers in the sky with me, and have addressed each happening by making sure the person understood why it was dangerous, and how he should have gone about it to create it safely for all involved. Last year, I made a special tandem for promotional photos and video. An unplanned lurker showed up in the video back behind me in the distance. I didn't know he was there until I watched the video. I was a little miffed about that one. The pics are golden, though! Arrive Safely John

I am looking for Paul Rafferty, who has recently relocated (somewhere) from North Carolina. The reason?? I have some parachute components that belong to him and I'd like him to have them back. Does anyone have an email address or phone number?? Please PM it to me. Thanks, Arrive Safely John

I wash mine in the washing machine, cold water, easy on the detergent. I make sure all of the zippers are zipped so they don't get damaged, and remove everything from the pockets. I hang it to dry - NEVER putting it in the dryer. I pre-treat stains with Shout before throwing it in the washer. Another note - if you spray your new jumpsuits with red cap Scotch Guard, continuously shaking the can during the process, they will stay cleaner, and come cleaner when you wash them. Use three coats, allowing the suit to dry overnight in between. Check with the manufacturer of your jumpsuit too, since they will have the hot tip on specific materials. Arrive Safely John

Absolutely. On those occasions I have a rather well-endowed female student, and I can't see the chest strap to loosen it (Sigma harness), I have her put my hands on it. I take great care in being a gentleman and a professional - not out of paranoia, but to make sure nothing takes away from my student's incredible skydiving experience. One more thing . . . occasionally I have a student that is a bit overwhelmed, and is scared when I loosen the chest strap. In those cases, I hold the chest strap hardware so they can see it, and remind them that it's still connected and I simply loosened it. Arrive Safely John

I suggest you consult the manufacturer of your harness/container first. They designed it, they built it, and they should be considered a qualified opinion. As you probably know already, Bill Booth - the owner of Relative Workshop - is a Dropzone.com member and frequents these forums. PM him and I'm sure he'll help. This is not to say that you have not already gotten qualified opinions, but I think it will help you settle on your own way of doing it. Once you decide, buy a big bag of your choice of rubber bands - they are really cheap. Keep them in a big ziploc bag in your gear bag, and keep a dozen or so in the pockets of the clothing you jump in. Arrive Safely John

Bill Hallett from Mirage Systems is "Unisyn" here in these forums. PM him and he will give you his spin on it.

She's right on the money with her estimation. I'll throw in my two cents . . . I am a Michigan suit fan. I have been very happy with the fit and the quality. There are a lot of great jumpsuit manufacturers out there. Arrive Safely John

Like you, I adjust them snugly, according to the manufacturer's instructions. Check out THIS THREAD Arrive Safely John

Welcome back, Neil! If your travels bring you to "No Hope" Pope or Seymour Johnson, stop by Raeford and say hi. It's a great place to be - I'm sure Sunny will recommend it! Arrive Safely John

First of all, welcome to the forums, and good luck on your jump today! HERE in the Dropzone section of this site, 6 people have rated it, so you can get some immediate feedback. Also, you could send each of the dotcommers that rated it a PM (Private Message) with more questions. Also there are a coupla threads HERE and HERE Hope this helps! Arrive Safely John

Cheryl Tiegs Linda Carter Janet Newton (my school librarian) Arrive Safely John

Shoot an email to [email protected] and Brenda Reid will get your size info for you. Arrive Safely John

Add me to the list of Instructors who will always make sure one Instructor rides the plane down with the student. Always. Arrive Safely John

Yep, it was addressed in THIS THREAD HH said he would add the Home DZ search option . . . I'm sure he hasn't forgotten!?!?!

It's all good! Arrive Safely John

Why did you post this same question in two forums?? Arrive Safely John

I don't depend on mine - I never have. I will jump without one, and when I do, altitude awareness is not a problem. When I first started jumping one years ago, I was taught to use it only as a reminder. I trained myself that way and remain that way today. Arrive Safely John

Contact Strong Enterprises and they'll give you some names of Examiners near you. Contact Info Arrive Safely John