Tonto

Ditto to that. They got me my Mindwarp in a week - all the way to Africa. Great Service Square 1! t It's the year of the Pig.

Nothing new here. The Brits lost more men to the US than they did to Iraq during the Gulf War Part 1... You guys always hit what you aim at... just sometimes you aim at the wrong stuff. t It's the year of the Pig.

Say those from the only country to refuse to accept the war crimes court in the Hauge. Plenty of US war criminals. Plenty. t It's the year of the Pig.

Life doesn't suc that much. You've stopped smoking! You know how few people get that right? Hang in there. The weather will improve - ans as you say, when the DZ's open, you'll find the money.

Good for you! I'm styling this year. Had a chop yesterday, from a pressureknot that would not clear, a week before my reserve was due for a repack! It was cool. I heard my 3 rings clink as I left, nice landing, and I was on the next load with my back to back rig. We live in a perfect world. t It's the year of the Pig.

Rounds have a greater chance of a lineover for several reasons. A few are - the lines are longer. You really have to have some talent to get one on a square. Again, no slider, so nothing is controling the lines during deployment. The "daiper" (sp) was developed to help prevent just this on some round reserves - so it's a real problem. Opening speed - much slower, plus you need to fall a long way to get linestretch on a reserve, again because of line length. Also, the canopy inflates from the top, through the apex, so presurisation takes a while. True, once open, that's it - no brakes to unstow etc Glad you have few obsticals at your DZ

I wouldn't know what the situation is in the US, but in SA all student reserves are square, and no students may change DZ's prior to A licence without undergoing full re-training for that DZ. We're small - about 20 dropzones - so can keep things pretty tight. t It's the year of the Pig.

I'm guessing you and I can steer - so we'll count that out. Rounds have more malfunction modes than squares. Lineovers and inversions are but 2 of them. Squares open WAY faster than rounds. That's why they have sliders, so I don't know where the low cutaway thing came in. I guess if you've never jumped and you have only 1 chute - round it would be, otherwise square. As for walking back - you may be over trees, over water etc. There's more to a square than saving you a walk back to the DZ. t It's the year of the Pig.

Ramblers? Tagoolawah? I was there in 94 for the post equinox boogie! Was at the world meet in CF at Kooralbyn, and then the rest of my team went off to see the Great Barrier Reef... but I'm a skydiver so I went skydiving. Did some coolish 30 - 40 ways, with some wild people and a blunt axe... but enjoyed hugely - except the flies.. t It's the year of the Pig.

I read that a rocket with a 100kg (220lbs) payload of stone chips put into low orbit would nail just about every satilite within about 3 months. Any idea how you would get about a million pebbles out of shallow space other than wait a few years? What is the cost of every satelite vs 1 big bag of dirt? How many countries have rocket technology? (Oh. I do think a tank is more expensive than a trench though, but the rest of your examples are very valid) There are no impregnable defences. t It's the year of the Pig.

You're an honest person with a healthy ego. In the old days, I regularly punched through a grand. Why? Because I was young and dumb and beleived I had instant reflexes. Funny how getting better at stuff makes you want to do less. Putting a cypress in my rig has made me WAY more alti aware than before - as sucking it down now means garenteed proof of fuck-up. I do a lot of AFF. I'm quite current and quite alti aware. I do worry about the unconsious senario, as I have been smacked in the chops really hard after wrestling a students hand to the ripcord, but agree that loss of alti awareness is more likely to cause the cypress to fire. I have no problem with the wing loading on my reserve. There is some concern among other members when I hook it 180 after a mal, but I seem to know what I'm doing. Our DZ is 5500ft AGL and over 100F in the summertime - Johannesberg, South Africa. 16 reserve rides... and I know 17 is out there waiting. t It's the year of the Pig.

Yeah... but my 120 F111 loaded to 1.6 on half breaks won't put me down gently while sleeping... I'm figuring in that senario, its the least of my hassles. t It's the year of the Pig.

Spot on. Fast is last. Why? to reduse the chance of collision between groups and give everyone the chance of a good spot. We only jump a Porter, so it's quite easy. t It's the year of the Pig.

You're right there. Our DZ is 5500 agl (Johannesberg, SA) We jump a Pilatus Porter from 11 AGL, and it takes us about 13 min to get there. That's 16500 ASL. We don't use O2, as living at 5500 we've aclimatised to that altitude. When we get visiting jumpers up from the coast, we encourage them to use 02 on the climb. Last year we had 3 people pass out, sleep, whatever you'd like to call it, in the plane, and were unable to wake them for exit. We just stick a mask on them and belt them in. They wake up on decent. We're fragile creatures. Having rock climbed and hiked to 20 000ft, and watched young, fit, strong people throwing up with altitude sickness, and understanding hypoxia, hape and hace, we should be more careful. This is a silent killer, as even if you're consious, poor judgement abounds. t It's the year of the Pig.

And what would those advantages be? If they're so great, why are we not jumping round mains? t It's the year of the Pig.

I started on rounds 18 years back, and so didn't mind a round reserve for a few years. I've had only 1 of my 16 chops with a round reserve - borrowed gear on a crew dive (It was a wing loading thing) The club I jump at kept round reserves for many years, but we moved to square reserves on club gear about 10 years back to simplify the 1st jump course. Training on 2 different types of canopy, 2 different landings etc was just too much for most students to absorb. "A round will get you down, but a square will get you there" Dunno who wrote that one, but its true. t It's the year of the Pig.

Lucky guy! Shows many things. You have good health, good weather and good attitude! I have a job Monday to Friday, but managed 384 dives last year, and that included taking a month out to climb Kilimanjaro. I've been averaging 210 dives a year now for 18 years, so that is... 4 dives a weekend, 52 weekends of the year for 18 years? t It's the year of the Pig.

It's a trailer. Because it can trail. It never does, but it can. How do you feel about the term "Trailer Trash?" :-) Kidding. Just kidding. t It's the year of the Pig.

My name is Eric, and I've been soldier, a student, a telecomunications tech, a waiter, a restaurant manager, stripper, bouncer, bodyguard, writer, webmaster and business systems manager at various times in my life, but I have always been, and will always be, a skydiver. t It's the year of the Pig.

I'm a Pices, but born in the year of the tiger.. so I dream, but they all come true. t It's the year of the Pig.

Turquois, Purple, white and grey. t It's the year of the Pig.

Little to furry for my liking.. Or would that be feathery? :-) t It's the year of the Pig.

I would imagine it has little to do with DNA, since all gay people were born of at least mometarily hetrosexual parents until the test tube came along, and for around 10% of the population to be gay, DNA doesn't sound like the cause. I think its more like being a golfer or an accountant or an artist or a bricklayer. It's something you discover you're drawn to, good at etc. I think it chooses you more than you, your DNA or your lifestyle chooses it. I'm imagining and I'm thinking. Hell. I don't even know why I do most things or why. Seemed like a good idea at the time? t It's the year of the Pig.

Mmm. Did I say "your" bridle? I wear 1 pin for every 1000 skydives. Curved for work dives, straight for team dives. t It's the year of the Pig.

Cool. Nothing too wild there, but not boring either. Who owns the yacht in the background? How far from the sea are you? Did you get Stainless Steel Hardware? t It's the year of the Pig.