Joellercoaster

I met someone who named her dog "Oddie" after her Jav... damn those two seemed to have an ambivalent relationship. I will also contribute: Spock Zigzag Mal (can't believe nobody thought of that already) Hackey (or Pud, depending on what you're into) Consider also naming it after your favourite DZO. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This is not an avatar-related test. [edit: but if it had been, it would have worked. Ha!] -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Yes, but how did he get his feet on back-to-front as well? That looks like a handy trick. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Yes, but did you then paint eagle eyes on the side? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Hey, this is sort of on-topic... I guess. I've seen a few photos (there's one in the new BPA Calendar) of freeflyers wearing open-face helmets with coloured visors down to about nose level. Seems like a very neat thing for head-down. The reason I'm asking though is not because I have any desire to do head-down, but because they make these guys look like Ace Goodheart from old-skool anime Battle of the Planets. Does anybody know what these are? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This is an amazingly good thing, and bears repeating. In my very short jumping career, I have already watched people retake AFF levels until they simply ran out of money and gave up twice. In both cases, they were at places that charged the full rate for repeated levels. Sure, you could fly through AFF without breaking a sweat (many do) and have this not be an issue, but if you don't, and money is a factor for you, it could throw a massive spanner in the works. And unfortunately, the only way to know if it will be you doing level 5 half a dozen times is to do AFF and find out. I learned in Spain and it was fine. Loved it, would recommend it to anyone. Plus you're in Spain! But don't embark on AFF without considering what the impact of repeating levels will be at the DZ you're at. Langar's repeat policy gives me a warm fuzzy feeling about it, and I'll be sure to visit it one day. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This is true. Pretty much anywhere in the world is cheaper to get into skydiving than the UK. Gear costs more. Tickets cost more. Training costs more. honeyjigga: I heard, anecdotally, that the majority of new skydivers in the UK are trained in Spain nowadays. Looking at the costs, it seemed like a no-brainer to me so that's what I (and many others on this site) did. Gear rental is a major money sucker. Good, second-hand gear can be had relatively cheaply if you're a normal sort of body shape () and have enough jumps under your belt to know what you want. Learn to pack (even if you're not going to pack for others). Packing will suck your money. All these are ways to bring the cost down. Having said that... skydiving is really expensive. It just is. The way all these people afford it is, they earn enough money to pay for it, then they pay it gladly because the love of jumping is worth it to them. Even though it's a big fraction of some of their incomes. Take a tandem and see. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Ha. My rig was more than my last two cars. Put together. Both of them were decent, just... not sexy. Certainly not as sexy as a rig of any kind -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

See also "Castles in the Sky" (maybe Ivan van Dahl? some dodgy Eurotrancer, anyway ). May I never hear it again. I'm not even a long-term skydiver and I hear what you're sayin' already. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Used to be four years in either direction, but now I'm not so sure... people kind of even out as they get older and stop learning so fast. 30/24/36, I guess? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

SDR on the 'pod gets me to the office through the cold London Wednesday mornings. Oh, and the cold British Winter, in which I am too much of an Australian wuss to jump. Thanks guys, it's a beautiful thing you're doing. PS: Personally, I think you both need to swear more. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Dude, that still sounds like AFF! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Hey snap, we gots matching goggles -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

See also Neptune Wave. All the case prettiness, interface and... uh... form factor of a Neptune, with all the functionality and logging ability of a Dytter -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Is this the one with the "best second point" award? Some of those photos are classic... -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Aerodyne - Icon Sport container sizes. I don't think they do specific harness sizes, but they do supply measuring guidelines. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I don't get it from skydiving, but yeah, I've noticed that there is definitely a smell that goes with extreme fear/excitement. And hot glue isn't too far off how I'd describe it either. I don't think it's heightened senses in general... just that weird, high-pitched adrenal smell. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Oh yeah, forgot one. If I can crank out a hundred jumps between now and then, save up a bunch of cash, fly to the US, and go to WFFC just that once. And jump a balloon while I'm there. And buy a non-dorky helmet! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Have you seen the reviews in the Gear Section? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Actually start jumping in the country I live in, instead of the one I keep going to on holidays. Find a Rookie 4-way team. In any country. Get a non-dorky helmet. Get some form of license some time before 100 jumps -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

w00t - that's a pretty one -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Silhouettes do seem to get great reviews but there seem to be none around. Well-kept secret? Some lesser-known mains I wish I'd been able to try (and will when I'm next shopping for a canopy, even if it means I'm shopping for a long time): Lotus Silhouette Firebolt Then I will probably buy another Pilot I guess those three are sort of "oddball" canopies in their different ways. One is airlocked, the other two are hybrid ZP/F-111... perhaps this accounts for their left-field status in the present market? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Heh. I got my jumpsuit back from modifications in a cardboard box the other day, delivered to the office. People kept asking me what it was. "Oh, this? This is the last engineer who realised during code freeze that some of their stuff was still broken, and wanted to just really quickly check it in." I think I'm going to take up gardening. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Well, they were pretty close. The character on the Katana bottom skin is "yaiba", which is the character for "blade". "Katana" is very similar though; it's simply missing the little cross-bar on the left-hand downstroke. Having said that, that character on the bottom of the canopy doesn't look too good anyway. I may be wrong and it could be some super cool calligraphist's work, but stylistically it looks like what happens when Western tattoists copy kanji from books. Always reminds me of those people whose tatts end up on hanzismatter.com. Can you buy them plain? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Indeed. I think RXS's killer app isn't going to be the streaming/upload part (though that is undoubtedly cool, and is what will excite venture capitalists and other potential backers). As a software guy, I heard about their app that does all the formulaic parts of tandem video production - ie., the money part - during the upload part. I thought, "I should have thought of that." Except I probably would have made it free, and nobody would have used it It's just a really clean, obvious-in-retrospect idea. I hope they succeed. [edit: speling] -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?