jeiber

Hi Earl, I've never owned a DZ, but I've seen two fail and a number of them succeed, so I'll just combine this with my business experience and you can take it for what it's worth - nothing! You'll probably have a hard time keeping the business alive if your primary market is fun jumping, especially when just starting up. Profits from fun jumping will barely pay for gas. With the tourist market there, you'd be a fool not to target the thousands upon thousands of wealthy vacationers that travel to Negril. Fill the remaining slots with fun jumpers, and run fun loads when there aren't any tandems. But trust me, you stand to make a killing off tandems! Look around at the DZ's you frequent - how many fun jumpers have the money to travel to Jamaica? Starting off, you'd have a much greater chance of success if you had your pilot's license, or tandem rating. That way you're significantly cutting overhead as far as staff is concerned. Consider a bunk house for fun jumpers. Most scuba operations have these, and they're usually filled. Build relationships with the local resorts. This will be an endless supply of fresh customers, and if you can host a boogie, you should be able to get skydiver discounts. Finally, talk to successfull and unsuccessful DZO's to find out what works, and what doesn't. Rigs probably won't be a hot selling item, but t-shirts probably will! Good luck, and I hope to jump there next trip to Negril!!! Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

I'll second that! Good openings, long recovery arc (compared to Stiletto), and powerful flair. An amazingly versatile canopy! I kind of miss it.... Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

Yes, I remember reading that. He also mentioned that it could be a pretty risky move if enough speed isn't built up. Since we're on the topic, if someone could elaborate, please do. I've been curious about trying this (at altitude, of course). Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

Yeah, good point. Don't think music or narration is appropriate... Maybe just a text intro prior to each clip, describing the person's experience and equipment, dissolve to clip, then fade to a black screen, where text describes the injuries, or worst case, 'survived by wife, brother, sister, etc...' for added effect. Just ideas anyway... There are quite a few talented video people out there. Who's gonna get the ball rolling on this little project??? Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

I agree, very nice editing job and cool music. It inspired me to start editing all that video I have sitting around... Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

And Even More Pics.... Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

For those that haven't been lucky enough to meet Mel yet, I can tell you she's just as sweet (and hot!)in person. Thanks for the nice write up Mel. I'm printing out your message and putting it in the photo album - your words are immortal! You rock! Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

Since you ran out of soap, I expect mine in the mail! Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

I'll put some of the less incriminating ones up in the next day or two. If there are any you want prints of, let me know, and I'll get you the full size image. Pink Mafia - all I can say is WOW! You ladies are hot, and sure know how to throw a party! Wendy, Mel, and all the others who helped set this up. THANK YOU! The party rocked. Fireworks, lasers, and smoke machines?! Wow! This one is definitely on the calendar for next year. Thanks for all your hard work! Jeff, aka 'the well endowed devil' Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

I've been totally worthless today... Been staring out the window and surfing DZ.com all day long... I'm soooo pumped!!!!

I have a Sabre2 190 she can use, if it'll fit in her rig. Only problem is I'll be using the D bag and PC... I know it's a little big, but thought I'd offer. Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

I'm a huge Nikon fan as well. I have an F100, N90, but use my old manual focus N2000 for skydiving. I think the original poster already has a Canon, soooo.... Personally, I'd go cheap on the camera body and spend money on a good prime lens(es). I'm not familiar with Canon's line up, so I can't offer specific advice. Just think about what features you need/want while skydiving. I thought about picking up a second N90 to jump with, but why? Just so I can turn off the autofocus and put it in manual mode? No thanks. The ONLY thing I wish my N2000 could do is bracket (for shooting chromes)... but even an N90 won't do that without a DataBack. Jeff ps- if you're doing tandems, you may want AF for shots on the ground. Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

A loooong time ago (ok, two years ago), some friends and I filled a car up with inflated condoms... just when we were all light headed (and drunk), we realized that some wise ass threw some lubricated and/or spermicidal ones in the pile. We had that crap all around our mouths... pretty nasty. Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

Hee hee. Batteries too?! sorry, couldn't resist! Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

I think that's a great idea. After all, in order to be a tandem master, you have to watch that sidespin video.... Why? Sometimes people need to see the not so glamerous side of things. There's a video (FoxSports I think?) of a guy who hooks in and breaks several bones, including his back. I hooked in almost a year ago, and seeing that sight picture makes me sick to my stomach to this day - I watch it occassionally to try and keep myself modest. I'd like to suggest that you don't just include HP canopy accidents. Some good gruesome video of people flying 1.2:1 loaded canopies into the dirt would dispel the 'but he's flying a HP canopy, that won't happen to me' way of thinking. Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

I second that! I'm considering wearing all black and devil's horns... screw cupid! Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

I wonder where I can get one of those 'bananna hammock's' that male strippers wear? Naah, I don't think I have the cajones to wear one of those in public. Don't read into that statement ladies! Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

FYI, Belks has some pretty cool VD boxer shorts. Ahem, not that red hearts are 'cool' for a guy to wear , but I guess it would be ok to wear under the robe for an event like this. Now to find a robe.... should costumes be freefly friendly? In other words, is a lingiere (sp?) jump planned? Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

Smaller canopies are significantly stronger than larger ones, due to the shorter distance between ribs, and the more suspension lines per square foot. This came from someone who works at PD. The specs canopy manufacturers put out are often geared toward the target market for the canopy. The discussion I had with PD was regarding the Sabre2, which is an 'all-around' canopy (an awsome one at that!), but can be safely loaded up much higher than what the web site says. This may not pertain to reserves - I didn't ask. I'm loading my reserve higher than I'd like, but it's the largest reserve I can fit in my container. The skydiving market doesn't cater to large jumpers (I'm 6'4" ~270 exit weight). I'm not concerned about landing it, or opening speeds, but I do worry about being unconcious under a highly loaded reserve. Once PD comes out with their new reserves with smaller pack volumes, I'll be upsizing. Until then, I'm doing the best with what I have to work with... Jeff ps- I'm not fat, I'm big boned!!! Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

I recently started using Vegas 5.0, and like it much better than Premier. The biggest feature that I like is the fact that effects can be previewed in real time - no need to render. Once I get the hang of it, I'm sure I'll like it even more! Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

I personally thought it was well worth the read

Hey, easy now! I wasn't even referring to Ian's post at all! I was responding to the situation where people were misinterpreting the comment from the guy with 75 jumps. As I stated in the message, I don't think the guy meant any harm, I think he was just making a comment that was meant to be funny, but misinterpreted. In regards to the whole 'sense of power' thing, I'm not referring to anyone who was commenting on here. I'm referring to those people (again for clarity: NOT on this thread) that are sarcastically called 'Sky Gods'. I was trying to make the guy feel better, since it seemed he was a little put off by someone else's humor. Boy this thread is just FULL of misunderstanding! Jeff Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!

Hello all, Having never been to Sebastian, do you guys, errr girls have any advice for any of us out of towners? I guess I planned the perfect weekend to visit!

That's not an overly aggressive wing loading for your number of jumps if you ask me, but I don't know your skill level, so I'll leave it at.... Be careful (duh!), and have fun!

Confession time - Started 90's at about jump 150. Then one day this past summer, about jump 300, I did a nice 180 right into the ground... Of course it was right in front of my mentors on the PST. I got really, really lucky, and ended up with two broken ribs, a separated shoulder, two knees with ligament damage, and a whole lot of wounded pride. This is going to sound really twisted, but I'm glad it happened. I learned a valuable lesson (one of several) about 'the corner' that day. I was under a Saber2 loaded at about 1.5. Had I been under anything smaller, I probably wouldn't be here... It took me about 10 jumps to get my nerve to swoop back, but I've since purchased a Neptune to assist in my setup. Overall, I feel like the incident has made me a wiser canopy pilot. Too bad it came at such a price... then again, many pilots paid a much higher price and never had an opportunity to learn from their mistake.... BTW, the pros comforted me by telling me about the time(s) they hooked in. Even the pros screwed up when they were 'young'.... Shhh... you hear that sound? That's the sound of nobody caring!