gravitysucks

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Gear

  • Main Canopy Size
    170
  • Reserve Canopy Size
    176
  • AAD
    Cypres

Jump Profile

  • Home DZ
    Lincoln Sport Parachute Club
  • License
    C
  • License Number
    35437
  • Licensing Organization
    USPA
  • Number of Jumps
    270
  • Years in Sport
    9
  • First Choice Discipline
    Freeflying
  • Second Choice Discipline
    Freefall Photography
  • Second Choice Discipline Jump Total
    60

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  1. Donkeys. Rednecks with sticks in their hands. Giant blue balls flying around. No, I'm not talking about what 'freefal' does in his spare time, I speak, of course, of Donkey Polo. Word has it that due to LSPC's recent mastery of this "sport" that it may be making an appearance in the 2009 Redemption Boogie. The only hangup is going to be that we will have to convince the Airport Authority that a temporary (yet regulation size) donkey polo field will cause no damage to their grass. So if we can convice Joe not to land like this: http://a507.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/79/m_198801642c315fcef256e23e09f6740a.jpg Then it's also possible we can convince the fine folks of the Airport Authority that a bunch of asses will do less damage than, well, you know. Anyways, as an Official Party Planner (you down with OPP?) for the boogie, I wanted to get some input to see how much outside interest there is for doing this in next year's boogie. It would involve a calcutta style auction with the proceeds going to charity and the winners getting a nice little prize.
  2. Jimmy Coiner doesn't quote movies, movies quote Jimmy. And I'm pretty sure I've seen Nick consume a gallon of beer in an hour before. Hell, I didn't even know that was a "challenge."
  3. Let's see it! Thursday Night Jimmy Coiner Drinking Exhibition kicks off with the Milk Challenge. Here's some links to get you fired up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxoVPrXEebY http://www.milkgallon.com http://www.gallonchallenge.org Rules: 2% or greater milk, you must finish in less than an hour, and if you do finish in less than 1 hour you cannot puke until the hour is up.
  4. And he does have a sticker on his helmet that says "GIRLS KICK ASS." I say you let him in. Frank, I wanted to demo some canopies and I was wondering if PD or any of the other manufacturers are going to be setting up at the boogie.
  5. That's right Frankie Boy. We'll take your leg and sequester you into me scurvy army of pirates. Maybe you've heard of us: Cap'n X and His Salty Seamen.
  6. This should be well within the scope and understanding of any competent flight surgeon. I agree with the above statement that it would be quite prudent to get a second opinion before proceeding. Many people have "stable" pneumothoraces and most of the patients I have seen with atraumatic pneumothorax which required surgical repair did not have 100% long term success with this. Bear in mind that as you ascend in altitude, any preexisting pneumothorax will enlarge. The air pressure in your lungs will decrease as you ascend, causing a relative increase between the pressure in the pleural cavity and the pressure in the lungs and thus the increase in size of the pneumothorax. It may not bother you for a hop and pop, but depending on the size of the pneumo may cause serious problems at full altitude and I'm not sure the effect it would have on a recently repaired pneumothorax. I would plan on tabling my jumping activity for quite some time, if not the rest of the summer. Disclaimer: I'm not a suregon, flight surgeon, or pulmonologist. Just some food for thought and not to be construed as medical advice. Hope it helps.
  7. I love the coach's comment. That's my kind of coach!
  8. Just make your next canopy a Spectre and be done with it. Every day when I pop my neck I think about that damn Sabre2 I USED to own.
  9. Packerboy I would agree with both of these statements!
  10. How about "Choose your battles." I can think of a few other things about USPA that would be way more worth griping about. I'll tell you what you missed: A few articles about some boogies you didn't go to, some picture of some people you don't know, and a list of names and license numbers. That's about it.
  11. Yeah I'm thinking about 12.5K would be perfect! I still land with my right foot slightly lower than my left, a habit I acquired when I sprained my left ankle (fishing accident.) Really be careful with the heat though. It will help you stretch it out better, but remember you just overstretched it anyways when you sprained it. the good feeling from the heat lulls you into complacency thinking the joint is healing when really it's a slow process. Plus the risk of burn injury from prolonged heat (seen it) and the fact that heat draws inflammation back into the injured tissues.
  12. I had a lengthy reply written, but I lost it when I went for the spellcheck. So instead you get this hasty one. 1. Compression only CPR, i.e. just pushing on the chest, is adequate enough to provide circulation and if professional resuscitation is within just a few minutes away, will significantly improve the possiblity of a positive outcome. I don't think any person without a specific duty to act (typically limited to on-duty healthcare professionals) should feel bad about withholding mouth-to-mouth. It's a scary world we live in and I sure as hell don't want anybody else's blood and vomit in my own mouth. 2. Helmet removal is therefore best left to the professionals. Just remember to always act in a manner that preserves a neutral, in-line position of the victim's cervical spine. Also note that this starts with the removal of the rig, the elevation of a few inches worth of rig under the patient's back will also mis-align the neck. If you absolutely have to take off the helmet, make it at least a 2 or 3 person job and do it gently. Remember that 1 person only is in charge of keeping that neck in a neutral position and they do not let go of it until it is safely secured using a device specifically made to do so. 3. You can cut a penny with trauma shears. Just use somebody else's. On that note, if you use a hook kinfe to cut webbing, try to use the victim's or somebody else's. Those things ain't cheap! Hope that helps. Yeah it WAS the short version!
  13. Scottjaco and NWFlyer both reference the tragic events from last year's Holiday Boogie. I think that is a good example of what was, by and large, an appropriately handled situation. After the second fatality, there was a brief stand down, and then the DZ very clearly announced changes to the landing areas and approach patterns. The aftermath of those incidents resulted in permanent changes to the landing pattern policy at Eloy, if I'm not mistaken (probably also in no small part also due to the canopy collision accident that occured there a few months after the Holiday Boogie as well.) Jumping resumed in a reasonable amount of time, and although there were many present who were clearly indifferent to the apparent tragedy, I witnessed no disrespect. In fact, I don't think SDAZ could have done a better job of handling the incidents. That having been said, I did witness a myriad of different reactions. My whuffo girlfriend, on the the dropzone for the first time in her life, was shocked, astonished, and scared. My jumping friends all took it to heart, some of us took a little break, and for some I think the memory of that incident and the emotions that come with it still follow us to the dropzone. And though we leave those emotions on the ground, the lessons that we can learn from the deceased are applied in the air. Having done CPR on 2 people in as many days, and for being "that guy" who has to respond to any injury any time I'm at the dropzone, has shaped my career as a jumper. If I had chosen not to go to Eloy last year, I'd probably have a hundred or so more jumps under my belt. Who knows, maybe I would have been drawn into complacency and made a foolish choice such as an early downsize. As it was, I took an 8 month hiatus from jumping, and thought seriously about if I wanted to stay in the sport. I made a list of things that I would never do again and things that I would avoid doing with the intent of minimizing my "risk profile." To MilliniaS: I sympathize with your loss. You are right in your sentiment and your heart is in the right place. You will find that every jumper has their own individual rationale for why they jump, and this in turn affects their perspective on another jumper's death because it forces them to contemplate their own. A friend of one of the men who died in Eloy told me that he had once said something to the effect of "If I die skydiving, don't tell people I died doing what I loved. That's a bullshit line." I know I don't have his words right, but if I'm not mistaken the point is this: If you die on a skydive, it's a tragedy for the sport, and, yes, this 'family' you speak of collectively feels the effect of that loss. But there is no personal tragedy, and you can't explain it to a whuffo. When you die doing what you love, only those who share that love can share in the understanding of it, and though we mourn we do not grieve. That is why the planes keep turning.
  14. Heat has little therapeutic value in an orthopedic injury. It does feel damn good, though. Still, I say forget the heat. Ice it, take your anti-inflammatories regularly, wrap it and elevate it.
  15. Mikhail, Most of the psychological "research" that has been done on skydiving tends to reinforce a pre-existing bias against participants in recreational risk taking. In academia, it is hard enough to find a niche to study that hasn't already been beaten to death by other people aspiring to put more letters after their name. I think this is why we see so many self-reinforcing research projects and a near lack of objectivism. About the time I started my graduate work, a movie called "Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk" came out and inspired me to do my thesis on the psychophysiology of risk-taking behavior. Since I practice in an ER, I have a bit of a different take on the outcomes of risk taking and extreme sports. It tends to make you focus more on the what instead of the why, and the tangible rather than the theoretical. In other words, I tend to agree more with Grillet than I do Apter peace