crapflinger2000

2 really stand out in my mind: 1) In the midst of allergy season I take a couple little red pills and drive out to DZ. On the way up in the DC3 I am feeling woozy and spinny. Since I am going solo, I figured no big deal. Worked out fine but still not a good idea to jump while impaired in any way. I am sure most people who have safety meetings prior to jumping are way more impaired than allergy meds make you, but still. 2) Another jump decide to go solo to practice tracking/swooping. I give the solo ahead of me a solid 5 count and bomb out, intending to use him as a target. Here is where it starts to get stupid. 1) I did not tell the guy I was going to do this. 2) After 5 second delay between exists I have completely lost sight of the guy but against all logic decide to swoop on him anyway. 3) In my dive against an invisible target I am not holding back, going full bore into the unknown. Net net is that after awhile, I finally spot him, about 100 feet away, and we are definitely going to impact incredibly hard. So much for "big sky little bullet." I was a good enough tracker that I decided that best bet to avoid was to flatten my track out as hard as possible and try to hop over him. I DID avoid him, but by mere centimeters I am sure... I recall subconsciously raising one of my knees to avoid clonking him on the head with it. I landed and got the frick outa there in shame. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Be very careful who you fruitloop. When I was around 500 jumps, doing skyjumps up in Lodi, we did a 5 or 6 way and at around 5k broke off. I flew up to someone I knew pretty well, had equivalent amount of jumps, although quite a bit older, and fruitlooped him. To my horror he did not have that inherent "self-righting" instinct/skill down pat as I thought everyone did and the guy flopped around uncontrollably for about 10 seconds, tumbling away while everyone dumped. I thought I eff-ing killed the guy, but on the ground he just sort of laughed it off after I apologized profusely and said something like "yeah I had a hard time getting stable again". I never fruit-looped anyone ever again. Sad to say that a couple years later the individual went in on from what I recall was a cutaway-no-pull. It reinforced in my mind that not everyone out there in the sky with you is as, idaknow, "sharp" or "on-it" as we are (or perceive ourselves to be may be more accurate) and that in fact I probably HAD come close to killing the guy with my stunt. After that "epiphany" I took a general stern view of OTHER people fruit-looping people at break-off. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

And please thank the person who saved your bacon profusely. One time in the plane on jump run I noticed a guy who had his RSL attached not to the RSL "little ring" but to the "little ring" of the riser 3-ring system. Never thanked me. And in reality I am telling this story not because I felt slighted (I am sure it just slipped the person's mind to thank me and I've known the person for like 20 years so who gives a crap) but just to tell a story about how awesome I am at spotting random gear problems. Yay for me! __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Wellll... it sort of sounds like you would message "do whatever you want, consequences and responsibilities be damned". Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to say you mean "yeah go rape and pillage if it makes you happy".... For me, as a parent, I believe that my main duty in life is now to make sure that the kid is raised in a stable nurturing environment. That means that certain things I might really want to do (such as go to the DZ and do hop n pops all day long with my Velocity) are just simply no longer an option if it makes it less likely I'll be able to see that duty all the way through. You can't take it to extremes, its not like I am saying I should spend every waking minute plotting/planning/thinking about my kid - everyone needs their own space - but to me parenthood means some of the big-ticket wants simply need to be forgotten or at least put on hold. edited to add: I think I started thinking this way LONG before I was even married, when I went to the memorial service of someone who left behind young children. Before I had a kid my empathy tank was pretty much empty, but even back then, the thought of these kids growing up minus a parent was pretty scary for me. I always wonder, "What will they think of that parent in the long run?" __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

I am long out of the sport but obviously I can't leave it entirely if I am still lurking DZ.com. However, I think there is some validity to these types of questions. I now have a 13 month old ankle-biter and because of him I will never - ever do sky-jumpees again. Yeah, it is a SOMEWHAT safe endeavor but let's get real, people fuck up (even us perfect people), planes crash, idiots frequent DZs, etc etc. I would never take the chance of leaving my son fatherless for my own selfish need for swooping. There is no denying that one's participation in this sport drastically increases your chance of early death. I really don't want the last few seconds of my life to be spent in agonizing mental regret imagining my wife trying to explain to my son why he'll never see daddy again. Your mileage may vary, feel free to flame away. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Ha! Even though I am long out of the sport (not sure why I visit this forum every other day still though) I have something relevant to comment on. Just this weekend I took my ages old and turned into a pumpkin Cypres and used the cutter to chop through a coat hanger. Considered using a ripcord cable but didn't have one I could spare. So... my thoughts are: - Yes, impressive to know that the cutter has enough oomph to chop through metal - It doesn't take a physics major to know that "Yes, a rigid piece of metal is NOT the same thing as a cypres closing loop - under tension or not" - especially to those of us who worked with the material on a daily basis for years packing reserves. - However, the demo IS worthwhile - it shows non-technical minded jumpers that they are carrying a piece of gear with some good engineering and power to it. If it helps them move a few more units of a quality product, who gives a toss? __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

I have seen one of those lizards do it. With perfect imagination, visualization, an 88 pound girlfriend with large fast feet could do it……I think. We all know that very small rocks will float, so you may be right. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

I am absolutely flabbergasted that anyone on a skydiving forum thought that was real for even one second. Interested to get your opinions on this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe3St1GgoHQ I bet a lot of people on this forum are now wondering where they can buy those nifty shoes. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Sorry to resurrect this old-ass post but I find myself with some time on my hands at work and see a lot of "how/when to cock the pilot-chute and keep it from de-cocking itself" questions. As far as I know I (MANY years ago at this point) invented a way to do this while lying on the canopy. Never saw anyone else do this but then again I was hardly a well traveled skydiver. While lying on your slippery PITA zp canopy and squeezing air out, simply grab the bag in one hand, hold the pc handle in the other. Kick one foot up in the air, flop the bridle around your that ankle, pull the handle, and boom, you have a cocked PC. Takes like 2 seconds. I started doing this cuz as we all know the PC will de-cock a bit while standing up to flake/pro/psycho/trash pack the canopy (if cocked before-hand). Also, it was much faster as a video guy trying to make the next load than to get up off the canopy, cock the bloody thing, get back on canopy & squeeze the air back out, etc etc. No muss no fuss about canopy fabric caught in kill line, PC de-cocking, etc. Anyway, if you adopt this or are currently doing this, PM me about royalties I am owed. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Here is where I wish I had a chemistry degree... and further is indicative of the sample size of one issue I mentioned. Hypothetical... Freebag sits out in potentially pesticide laden cornfield for 2 months... Owner brings it back to you and asks, can we use it? My instant response would have been "No fricken way." Why? Lets say I pull test (although I am aware of no pull tests that are officially defined for this scenario and various fabric types involved - pc material, bridle, free bag) following acid-mesh guidelines. It passes. Do I know for sure that whatever chemicals it was exposed to won't continue to percolate while on the repack cycle and take it into some un-airworthy condition? No. I am not smart enough to know what chemicals it was exposed to, how long these chemicals take to take effect, how to neutralize these chemicals, etc. So I will assume that is un-airworthy. Even if some other rigger had packed it up and there had been a subsequent reserve ride on it (i.e. it worked fine the one time it was used afterward), that one sample size gives me as a rigger no warm and fuzzy that is is perpetually airworthy thereafter. Obviously, and as you say, it is a matter of personal decision on the part of the rigger. Am I being a little over-anal? Probably. But I'd rather have the un-needed cost of a freebag and PC on my conscience than someone's life. The obvious counter to my argument (and one which I will freely admit I have no counter to) is that this whole scenario outlined means that I have to have complete comfort over what every component of the rig has been exposed to in the last 120 days. Which is of course impossible. I have no idea if the owner kept the thing in his trunk in the summer next to an old car battery every day. But... if I know for sure that at least one component has been put "at risk", and I have no approved way of verifying strength/safety of that component, I'll pass on packing that component. So, is it possible that it is technically airworthy? Sure. Will I bet my customer's life and my guilt on that? Not if I can help it. But that is me, and I freely admit that I was way over-anal in my rigging days. Bill... suspect you are approaching this from a strictly technical/legal definition of "airworthy", and that really there is no disagreement here. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Not meaning to pick on you or anything but it is a good example of the "sample size of 1" issue I saw both in rigging and in other aspects of the sport... True, you re-used a freebag that had been lost out in the boondocks for some time and it has functioned perfectly for you. Great! However, IMO that one experience of yours is not enough to make a blanket determination that "lost freebag + no sunlight = OK to use". I've heard stories of freebags landing in agricultural areas and when found a mere couple days later were totally destroyed from pesticides and what-not they were exposed to. This would lead me to believe that exposure to such chemicals might also have some intermediate weakening effect on the freebag/bridle/PC not immediately visible (or in fact immediately manifested). When I was a rigger I had a fairly hard-fast rule about found freebags... if you don't find it by next day, stop looking cuz we are ordering you a new one. Other "sample size of 1" issues that used to drive me crazy were things like "well John Smith BASE jumped with only 50 skydives and HE lived!", and "I don't worry about my PC de-cocking a bit cuz Susan completely forgot to do it and her main just took a bit longer to open" and on and on and on. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Another question/observation... In my time as a rigger I was always a bit anal on safety stows... 1) I see more then a few rubber strands broken? Replaced it. 2) Overlap ends not well sewn together (i.e. zig-zag stitching not the full length of the overlapped bungee so that the ends can fork) so that it doesn't run freely through the channel and grommets? Throw it in the sewing machine and fix it. 3) Locking stows seem abnormally loose after packing into freebag (i.e. to the point where the recommended 2" stows just did not seem "enough") - replace it with a slightly smaller one. Legality issues aside (I suspect as a senior rigger I probably should not have been making my own safety stows - or at least not making them outside of factory spec), I always felt pretty sure of myself on the first 2... However, the last one I was always tearing my hair out, trying to strike the right balance between "can I avoid the PITA of making a new safety stow by just making the locking stows a wee bit longer?" and "nope I gotta replace it" and "don't forget it has to be loose enough to function in a horse-shoe scenario." Of course I was doing this all through guesstimation since I was not aware of any empirical data on how much tension in the stow was too much and how much was too little... Anyway, just throwing this stuff out there as I am bored at work and probably at least one current rigger probably is wondering the same thing. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Round canopy packing questions. In keeping with my “I am out of the sport so who cares how stupid I look” line of questions… I packed a bunch of bailouts and the occasional round sport reserve, but since I was very much a sport parachute rigger where rounds are few and far between, I always had a bunch of “not sure why I am doing this but what the heck” types of questions. To my knowledge only one of my rounds was ever deployed (it opened BTW). And let me say “thanks” to Al Silver who at one time called me on some screw up and thereafter was a valuable source of help whenever I called him. Regarding rounds (in bailout or sport rigs): a) Putting into Container - Why do most instructions regarding stowing the round in the container want you to S-fold the thing in one direction (let’s say bottom of pack tray to top) but the last fold with the apex is supposed to go the opposite direction (hypothetically one s-fold with apex lines back toward the bottom)? The guy who taught me rounds never really explained it… is it to protect the relatively delicate apex lines from abrading on the cordura? For aesthetic purposes? Other? It always seemed weird to me to do this since the guy who taught me rounds said “NEVER build in a twist into the canopy when you put it into the container” - because of this I spent a good deal of time experimenting with little scraps of pull-up cords (representing the folded canopy) to ensure that the way I was putting the canopy into the container would not introduce twists upon extraction (yes I tend to over-think things) – doing this last fold this way bugged me because if extracted vertically it would put in a bit of a twist, but I guess only a very minor one. b) Diapers - 2 stow diapers never really made much sense to me, seemed awfully ineffective unless you built in a bit of slack in the line group that was used to close the diaper relative to the other line group – seemed like w/o this the locking stows were likely to release early. Never saw this guidance in the manuals so I always felt a bit weird doing it but some experimenting on the packing table seemed to bear this out, so I did it. Keep in mind I am talking about VERY little slack – just enough to ensure the locking stows were the last thing to release. Anyone else ever do this? c) Seat Bailouts relative to Back Bailouts – why are these 2 separate ratings? The instructions for the Strong para-cushions really did not paint a different picture from the Strong back-rigs. Only real difference seemed to be super long risers and more of a challenge in getting the canopy into the smaller seat container. That’s all for now… debate/flame away… __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Thanks [to all respondents BTW]! I thought the Talon PCs were conical as well? Maybe it was just some of them. I seem to recall they were a very long (relative to the Javelin and Racer PCs) conical design... OK, I guess I can move onto my round parachute question(s) in a new thread. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Guys, I am completely out of the rigging game (and skydiving as well) but have been thinking bout this stuff a lot lately. Since this forum seems like a good way to get some questions answered I always wondered about, here is one... What are the mechanics involved when the mfr decides if fabric should be in or out of the coils of a PC? I mean, I always followed mfr instructions and "did as I was told", but never quite understood the rationale. I am aware that tapered/non-tapered coils (i.e. Talon vs Vector) might require different treatments of the fabric to combat coil lock, but even within the tapered PC rigs there was different guidance from mfr to mfr... Forgive me if I get some of these wrong, its been years... Racer - fabric in Javelin - fabric out Talon 1&2 - fabric in So, philosophically speaking, whats the thinking behind preventing coil lock? If this goes well, maybe I will start asking some of the "not sure why but the manual says... " questions I always had about rounds. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Seb, shoot me a PM if you find out anything. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Anyone have any preferred spots to see? About the only consistent advice I can get from the net is stay the hell out of Belize City. Part of the trip is to get Scuba certified on one of the cayes, anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with any particular dive shop that they would care to share? Your help is much appreciated. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Sorry, just gotta make sure... are you really advocating urine drinking in survival situations or are you kidding? Usually I have a good ear for facetiousness but it is failing me today... __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

I used to work at both DZs a few years ago when they were under somewhat different management. I have not been jumping consistently for about 2 years now, and when I drop by either DZ for any reason I find I only know about 3 people. All told I have spent less than 3 days total on any DZ in the last 24 months. Based on this, I can state with authority that Mike Freeze likes to make fun of Indian people, Steve Rafferty has a 3 pack a day string cheese habit, Brad the Hollister rigger inserts small pieces of salmon into reserves to attract cats, and the management of BOTH DZs are all in cahoots with each other, plotting to drive up the price of goggles to unreasonable levels. If you doubt me, go smell your reserve. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

My tongue went numb for like 6 hours from that stuff once. I was scared, but then realized the chances of my getting my GF preggo through oral sex were GREATLY reduced. I always like to look on the bright side. Thats what I get for not checking closely what I am brushing my teeth with. My toothbrush is now ultra-safe. BTW, what ever happened to KY with spermicide in it? That stuf was awesome for the impatient yet responsible crowd... __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

I concur, HR Block is shady... not only was there an expose in the national media awhile back about how they basically ignored tax rules and basically just made stuff up as they went along (FYI, the guys doing your taxes are NOT accountants, just regular joe-sixpacks who have undergone some sort of training), but my GF had a similar first hand experience, where the tax guy basically said, "Oh, you didn't do any charitable donations? Well, let's just put down $500 anyway". FYI, even if the tax preparer basically counsels fraud, as this guy did, HE is not the one to go to jail if you get caught. YOU are, since you sign the return verifying everything is correct. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

For all you who have undergone shoulder surgery... Just got back from Stanford, my doctor told me that I need some surgery to repair torn rotator cuff (although I guess technically it's the labrum that is all cattywompus, not sure if that is technically part of the RC or not). He basically said that he would decide what to do once he got in there, might be as simple as just suturing the tear, but another option might be to actually sever the biceps tendon and reattach that somewhere else along the labrum(!?) depending on how involved that tendon is with the tear. Does anyone have experience with this type of surgery? What were your experiences with recovery time, etc. Any reduction in strength post recovery, etc. Thanks! __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

you ARE in it. You are sitting at the picnic bench, jus ttoo small to see. I prefer hunter-killer missions with tweezers for my nose hairs. damn hairs musta re-grouped when I wasn't looking __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Dude, stop with the false modesty, everyone knows all about your list. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?

Yeah, I still have all my gear, BASE and otherwise, made a couple jumps in SMB a month ago... Went to Hollister but I saw like 3 faces that I recognized so I ran away scared. __________________________________________________ What would Vic Mackey do?