Mixxit

It's a good book. It's not entirely focused on Skydiving. It's more of a "think like a champion" type read. I would definitely recommend it.

I suppose I would have to abandon my usual "chug the bottle" approach, huh?

A good friend of mine at the gym just became a distributor for the stuff. He swears it's going to change the world. He claims it cures lots of diseases and infections and disorders and stuff. I dunno. I can't see choking up the $40 bones to try it though. I heard it tastes pretty good.

Couldn't live without mine. It syncs with Outlook great as well.

Wiley-X SG-1s. They rock! Check eBay.

I have an iRiver. It rocks!

Well said.

I was there for this near-incident too. I was honestly horrified until we got around the corner and saw the jumper luckily suspended from the powerline. Thankfully he's okay. My question is, when the jumper was asked why he didn't cut away the downplaned main, he said that his reserve had a line twist in it. Considering his low altitude, he was afraid to cut away the main and ride the line-twisted reserve down. What's everyone's opinion on this? Even if there was a twist or two I think I would have still cut it. At the time he landed, both canopies were at his sides.

Corvette. Duh!

I thought that as with reserves, mains must also be repacked every 120 days? Then again, I could be dead wrong about this. Is that just the "recommended" repack time?

As a relatively new jumper, I can tell you that doing a tandem first would have it's benefits. My buddy and I did our AFF right out of the gate. In retrospect, there's a side of me that wishes I would have done a tandem first. Trying to remember everything you need to do in freefall, along with the shock of jumping out of that plane for the first time, made for a pretty intense first jump. Had I done a tandem first, I could have gotten over the shock of my first skydive without have to worry about hand signals, and practice pulls, and watching my alti, and circle of awareness, and.........you get the point. Then again, if you know you're going to stay in the sport, then why waste the cash on a tandem. I can see it either way. I've never done SL so I can't really comment. I'm glad I could be of no help what-so-ever.

DJ, you clearly already have too much time on your hands in the off season if you're already cyber-stalking me! The guys on here always tell me to talk to my instructor, but they don't understand that my instructor is completely mental! I guess I should get some info from Relative. I'm pretty sure I could stuff a 210 in that container, but I don't want to wrestle with it everytime I pack. Any other insight on the 7-cell vs 9-cell? How many cases of beer do I owe now, DJ?

I have a container (Vector 2) that will hold a 190. I'm thinking of getting a Spectre (7-cell). Am I able to bump up a size (i.e. 210) on a 7 cell and still have it fit in my container? Obviously a 210 is still a 210 but is the actual volume any different? Also, does anyone have any insight as to why I should get a 7 cell over a 9 cell? I've heard lots of different opinions but was just wonder what you guys thought. Thanks!

No doubt! I totally agree. While I'm trying to find the best deal on all of my gear, skydiving certainly isn't a bargain shopper's sport. That's definitely not my primary reason for considering the 170. But if the 170 IS going to be safe for me, then there's no reason to stress over finding a 190.

Thanks for the info so far! Yes, I'm basically comparing apples to apples. I'd be looking at something like a Sabre or similar in either size. Peer pressure certainly isn't a factor. It's more of a performance issue. Not to mention that used 190s are hard to find at a decent price. Any other input that you might have is mucho appreciated!