NWFlyer

Call Skydance in Davis. They just did two of them this past weekend. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

The video I've seen (I have no idea what brand/model of goggle) is mediocre at best, especially relative to the quality from other small cameras nowadays Fine for a "woo hoo look what me and my friends did this weekend" kind of video, but not great for much else. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Then there are a lot of nuts in this sport. And a lot of sellers who should be tarred and feathered.

https://www.facebook.com/skycam/media_set?set=a.10204029663891991.1073741832.1535591317&type=1 https://www.facebook.com/skycam/media_set?set=a.10204029515648285.1073741831.1535591317&type=1 Here are some I saw that were public. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

And then you spend time writing a very clear and specific ad with all of your details and you still get dumbass messages asking you for information that's in the ad. It's not as bad as craigslist around here, but it can be sometimes. As for prices, the market will bear what the market will bear. You don't get to decide what something is "worth." You only get to decide what it's worth to you at that time. And the seller gets to decide how long they are willing/able to wait to get the price they want, or if they want to lower the price to make it more likely to move. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Shouldn't this be in History & Trivia? Nah, seriously. I loved looking at all the photos on FB... what a great bunch of characters! "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I've got about 800 jumps on the PD Pulse (I have two). They don't open hard, they don't snivel, they just open, in probably 400 feet or so. Generally on heading, great glide ratio if you end up long, I'd think it'd be a worthy contender for your big-way canopy.

He's already bored enough to want to take selfies/FaceTime with his buds. If he makes it to 200 jumps without moving onto the next shiny thing I'll be surprised. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Good luck with that - at some DZs (certainly not all) if you can't walk off the landing area with minimal assistance, 911 will be called. They're protecting themselves as well as you. (Of course if you're conscious you have the right to refuse medical treatment by the EMTs/medics, but at this point there's a record of the call.) Good luck with that, too. It's called insurance fraud, and while you might be able to get away with it, if you don't, you could end up with even more financial issues than if you were just honest about it in the first place. Having been the victim in an accident (not skydiving related) that involved three separate insurance companies and multiple medical providers over the course of several months, I will also say that keeping the details of the truth straight is hard enough; keeping a web of lies straight would be quite difficult. As others have mentioned, ask to see the specific policy language. What you want to look for is exclusions, which is where such things should be covered. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

At least Larry's walking the walk at his own dropzone with respect to separation of high-performance landings from standard patterns (though unfortunately, it hasn't entirely eliminated canopy collisions at Eloy). I've been to other dropzones run by board members that hadn't done much to implement the change required in the group member pledge, though that may have changed since last I visited. Yup. From what I've learned about the EC's response in this particular situation, it's very much all about appearances. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

I'm with you except for this: I'll still try to do what I can, locally, to keep up the safety culture at my home dropzone. I'll continue to try (perhaps in vain) to get through a safety message to at the handful of the YouTube/GoPro generation that'll actually listen to a grumpy middle aged lady. I'll continue to "vote with my feet" by not jumping at places that I feel have a poor safety culture. But expecting diddly squat from USPA... nah. I'm with you on that. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

No! But I want to take a #selfie and send it to my friends while under canopy

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call not publicly releasing an email between executive committee members a "cover up," but it's definitely a "maybe if we ignore this long enough it'll go away" move. But apparently we have a Parachutist article from Rich on the topic to look forward to, so I'm sure that'll set the record completely straight. (And, oh yeah, to respond to the questions in the email you were forwarded. Yeah, I was aware. Unofficially of course.) "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Are you that bored with the sport already at 80 jumps? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

'Zactly. Most event posts on here have slowed down considerably in the last few years as the chatter moves elsewhere. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

You don't want to be wearing the shoes, as you'll leave them in the booties while the Shoe Goo cures. That would be a long time to sit with your feet up so as not to touch the booties to anything!!! The point of putting the shoes in there is to help the bootie "shape" to the shoe as the Goo cures, so your best bet is to use the shoes that you wear jumping. I wear skate shoes (Skechers) when I jump. They're fairly chunky shoes with a rounded toe; if I were to use a different pair (say the New Balance Minimus shoes that I wear to workout) I'd be shaping the bootie to a very different style of shoe (flat with a more pointed toe). Not the result I want to achieve. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

http://www.uspa.org/AboutSkydiving/SkydiverDemographics/tabid/303/Default.aspx http://www.uspa.org/AboutSkydiving/SkydivingSafety/tabid/526/Default.aspx That took 10 seconds to find on the USPA web site. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

If you're 200 lbs without gear, you'll be more like 230-235 lbs with gear. That would put you at 1.22-1.25 wingloading on the Pilot 188. That's considered aggressive for a new skydiver. If you look at the recommended downsizing chart that Brian Germain publishes (that is generally accepted as a good guide for wingloading), that kind of a wingloading at your weight isn't recommended till you're closer to 300 jumps. http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf. If you're interested in the Pilot (which can be a good choice for a new jumper, properly loaded), you may wish to look at a 230 or possibly a 210. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

So yesterday I was trying to reset the password on an account that I hadn't accessed in a couple of years. I was asked my security question which was "What is your favorite vacation spot?" Of course I answered "Montana" ... which was wrong. So I had to actually call to get the password reset and the account unlocked by validating other personal information. Once I finally got back into the account, I reset the password and the security question. My original security question response: Lost Prairie. Apparently I was quite specific when I originally answered it. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Are they trying to tell us we should stay home? "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

How many people who agree with you are tandem instructors or are otherwise qualified to speak on the quality of tandem instruction? How many people on this thread just asked clarifying questions? (Hint: asking questions agreement) I'm not a tandem instructor (hell I've never even done a tandem) so I'm going to refrain from providing an opinion. (Hint: that doesn't mean I agree with you. It also doesn't mean I don't agree with you. It means I try not to form opinions on things I'm uninformed on, and/or for which I've only had one side of the story presented.) "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Cool your libertarian jets! Not suggesting USPA rules, federal rules, or even specific dropzone rules, just saying what I think ought to be best practice and smart judgment. (That said, it's perfectly within the rights of a dropzone to set standards of behavior for their staff/contractors... it happens at employers all over the country. The student/instructor relationship is a little different, but colleges & universities also have similar rules for student/teacher relationships, and in the vast majority of cases there both parties would be adults). "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Consenting adults gonna do what consenting adults do, but I'm of the mind of "at least wait till the person's no longer your student." So if you're a TI, feel free to chat 'em up after the jump, make a plan to connect later, but hell, let the student go home and come down off the adrenaline rush before you try to exercise the pussy pass. Your hit rate might be lower, but at least they're making a slightly more conscious decision. As for instructors working with continuing students, keep it professional till they're at least cleared for solos, if not till they have their A license. Or, hand the student off to others and don't get involved in their training. And by all means, if you bring someone you're already dating into the sport, let someone else teach them how to skydive. I think a TI providing a tandem to his/her date is okay, but if the person is going to go on and become a solo student, they ought to have someone "neutral" teaching them. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

Knowing when to say no and being able to say it is a really important skill in this sport. Kudos for keeping yourself safe when you realized you weren't feeling well enough. And yeah, in the hot weather keeping your system in balance becomes absolutely critical. On the ground take advantage of every bit of shade you can get. Gear up as late as safely possible so you're not roasting in your jumpsuit any longer than necessary. For me, the heat absolutely kills my appetite, so my strategy on a hot training day is to preload for breakfast (which I'm enjoying in air-conditioned comfort!) and to eat a tiny amount of food regularly throughout the day, of a type that'll help to keep things balanced (a little sugar, a little salt). So I'll get small apples, or berries, that kind of thing. I've also started making sure to have small bags of roasted/salted almonds or salty trail mix that I can shove in my pocket and eat on the ride to altitude, because on a busy training day, that might be the only time I have to get some food in. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke