mattjw916

well I'll take that over the "Bitchy Unionized Hags of United Airlines" calendar... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

don't panic (yet)... been through the merger thing before and life in the big corporate world isn't as bad as the media (ironically) and the film industry (double irony) make it out to be NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I agree in spirit. Some things just must be 100% like putting on gear, finding handles, pulling them in the right order, etc... for obvious reasons. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

From 5k you have a ton of time to get stable, way more than you think you do... there's no need to achieve perfection on exit and if you couldn't stabilize yourself quickly... you wouldn't have cleared AFF. I've spent many a winter doing H&Ps out of King Airs due to the cold weather and my process is basically the same to this day: Yellow light, deep breath, exhale slowly, relax, check spot, green light, dive, orient myself into the relative wind (head high), relax, relax, (add more relaxing if you want to hit terminal before pulling), and pull! That probably took 200ft to accomplish, 4800 more to go... I think for my first H&P I had a big group of CReW guys laughing at me since I looked nervous. We've all been there. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Another bump for wise words. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Personally, if you aren't 100% on any task make them slow down and go over it again until you feel confident. Most of skydiving is mental anyway. The plane and gravity do most of the work for you. If an instructor gives you a hassle, get a better more patient one... this may entail sitting around and waiting, losing a day, having to go to another DZ, etc but in the end of the day you're in charge of your own skydive and saving your own life once you leave the plane. On the other hand from your few posts so far is sounds like you are basically second-guessing everything anyone tells you. So this is all just one side of the story. My recommendation is to lose weight and show up with a more open mind. Skydiving is just like the military in many ways... hurry up and wait... hurry up and wait... Post less, jump more... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

mental gymnastics aside unless the instructor(s) you are jumping with will let you do it, it doesn't really matter so you get some snot on your goggles and look like a dork in a pro-tec... suck it up buttercup once you get your A you can wear your G3 like the cool kids on youtube go fly in the tunnel in an open-face and get used to it NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

do a one-handed blind-man and let it rip! NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

every limb is black and blue... I'd try bowling but I don't think I can lift the ball at this point head down is hard NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Halon... "deadly"... lolwut Any gas is deadly if you run out of O2... Halon is also great to use to extinguish fires on expensive/rare cars since it doesn't leave residue and cause additional damage. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

80/3/1 80 minutes of tunnel, 3 jumps, diver on an 8 way night jump out of a Skyvan... absolute perfection... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Can't go wrong at Perris or Eloy... tunnels, great organizers, fast planes, big landing areas, restaurant/bar on-site, etc, etc... Both have events going on throughout the holidays and you can literally jump with some of the best in the world on any given weekend. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

this and/or when tandems stop going which is 23 or so NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Yeup... no matter how much money I spend working on my 38 year old Chevy... it's still a 38 year old Chevy.... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

this NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Why not? Plenty of people know what crowd they're going to fall in with right off the bat... After all, I can't say I see many belly flyers with tats, gauged ears, wearing DC shoes, etc... Well, I hope you at least wash it occasionally... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

meh, you can do basic RW in a freefly suit but dumping money into a suit with big grippers and booties that is just going to sit in the gear bag really isn't a good use of money for someone that wants to freefly I agree people should be competent in the basics but buying a dedicated suit for it is a bit much if that not what you really want to do. A properly fitted 1-piece freefly suit really makes all the difference IMO. Start with something cheaper in the medium drag range until you figure out your fall-rate... then after you beat it up on landings and packing buy a spiffy one tailored to your range and all the bells & whistles you skipped the first time. Remember, you are going to absolutely punish your early suits... plan accordingly. Some DZ's have old suits laying around, you can always borrow those or ask around... people who have been around a while usually have a bunch of old gear at home. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

bump and clicky http://www.skydiveaz.com/experienced/events/detail/2013/11/01/christmas-new-year's-boogie-2013 NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

agree... with all the modern choices out there, why risk being spanked by an old canopy in order to save a few bucks? With all the old Stilettos floating around I'd feel much more secure with one of those in a backup rig if I wanted to pick up something on the cheap. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I find it alarming that people are so quick to cave to the "vocal minority" lately. Personally I don't have enough free time to be offended and outraged with this degree of frequency... then again, as a white male of British descent, would anyone really care even if I was? /shrugs NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Another helpful suggestion I received recently from someone with much more time in sport than me was to take a look at the flags or other indicators in the landing area and ask yourself if they are all blowing the same direction. If not, that's a good indication an invisible dust devil or something else you don't want to fly through is in the area that you may not be able to see from your angle. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

that's just plain mental... Using my handy iPhone app my home office reads around 50db with only my computer idling (and I would consider it on the quieter side as far as computers go). NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

that looked fun NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I also still use an L&B Pro-Dytter (basically an old version of the Solo) which is about 9ish years old. Still works perfectly. I had an Optima 1 for a while until I crushed it somehow. I liked the swoop alarms but I really haven't needed or missed them lately so I haven't replaced it yet. I use a Viso 1 for logging and a visual altimeter. I mostly use that for under canopy though. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

congrats