MagicGuy

Wow, that is a shitload of pot! I, too, wonder if they cloned the truck or paid someone to use theirs. I wonder if they had the uniforms to match!!

CPI is an awesome place. I made my first jumps there about a year ago when my home DZ was all closed up for the Winter. Luckily for me, CPI jumps year round, and welcomed me with open arms when I showed up as "the guy from Jumptown". The people at CPI are great. I can only speak for the Winter regulars, as I have only jumped there in the cold. But they are troopers, and show up every weekend regardless of how cold it is. It can be slow in the Winter, but everyone is willing to take turns getting on loads to be sure that everyone gets in at least one jump. This was awesome for me, because I drive 90 minutes to get to CPI, and if I can't make a jump, it wouldn't really be worth a 3 hour round trip. The landing area is nice. The landing direction changes in regards to which direction the winds are blowing, and in one direction you have to come in on final over a line of trees. It can be a little tricky and turbulent if you don't plan it right, but I have never had any problems. Other than that, the landing area is perfect. The scenery is awesome! Not much else to say, really. Even in Winter it is a really nice view 360 degrees around the airport. I'd recommend CPI to anyone! They are a great bunch of people, they want to help people progress, they want to organize jumps, and overall, they want to have fun. Oh, and did I mention they are open in the WINTER?!? Yes!! CPI is the shiz.

It's great that you want to learn how to fly your Hornet really well. Really, it is. But I would start learning the riser stuff up high before coming in on your fronts, especially without having dive loops. You will be a lot safer in the long run. Good luck and stay safe. Accidents can happen on Hornet 150s just as bad as they can on Nitron 120s.

I did my AFF training at Jumptown last July and I have been there every weekend since! They have an amazing student program that turns out a ridiculous amount of graduates that go on to get their A Licenses. Brian Grady is the rigger and, well, he's the man.. not much else to say there. Coaches, the new Super Otter, the pilot, the hangar, the people, the landing area, the bonfire and night time social life - nothing is left to be desired. Oh and Dave Brown comes and offers FREE coaching, in whatever discipline you want basically, a few times a year. Doesn't get much better than that, kids. Jumptown will always be home for me!

I beg your pardon. What the fuck are you talking about? It was his nice way of calling you an a....

I really could care less about one person that started jumping a Stiletto too early and luckily didn't get hurt. Truth is, for every person who downsized too aggressively and made it out alive, there are probably 10 others who can't say the same thing. I bet if you asked him, he would even say that it was too early for him to be on an aggressive wing like a Stiletto. It's really pretty ridiculous to think that 100 landings is enough experience to fly an elliptical canopy. It's even more ridiculous that you are putting these thoughts into beginner skydiver's minds. But whatever... hopefully they have enough common sense not to listen to you.

Good. Part of my point is still being missed, most likely due to my lack of being able to word it better. Some people take the fact that they have two brand new rigs for granted, when some people who have a sincere passion for our sport can't even afford a used rig. That's all.

Whoa, dude, calm down. First of all, I never said that you had anything given to you for free. The point that I was trying to get across was that people who can't afford new gear, that work hard to afford their used Dolphin.. those people appreciate their rigs because they finally have a rig to call their own. Do you know how many people get out of this sport because they can't even afford a USED rig? Nevermind two brand new rigs? Happens all the time... And I agree - why have two rigs when you barely stay current. Oh, and by the way, I used to own two rigs, both used, and realized that owning a second rig, even though I jump quite often, was more of a luxury than a necessity.

I don't think I would say that the flare height changes on an F-111 canopy, but the technique, for me anyways, is slightly different. Zero porosity canopies like to be flared in a 2 stage method. Stage (quarter brakes roughly) to plane out the canopy, stopping your descent, and finishing the flare to stop your forward speed. F-111 canopies seem to like to be flared in one continuous motion. No stage, just start to finish flare with no pause in-between. This is only my experience with F-111, so proceed with caution!

And the other thing is.. just because the rig is "used" doesn't mean it's going to look shitty or be in bad shape. The container I'm jumping right now I bought "used". It had 80 jumps on it and had not been jumped in over a year before I bought it. Not a thing wrong with it - looked brand new. And after the 250 jumps I've put on it, it STILL looks brand new. Some people just take care of their gear better than others (and I guess, to add to that, have better landings than others ). Gee, I wish I could afford two brand new rigs. But guess what, most people can't. And I think those people that can't have a lot more respect and pride for their gear because they had to really work for it.

Jee.. I'm not trying to talk crap about you but I've seen some of your other posts and I think some of your advice is a little irresponsible. You have to remember that with your 400 jumps, people with less jumps look at your advice like it is the right thing. You have to be careful what you tell someone on here - they may take it literally. Regardless of whether this person has great experience or not, with 116 jumps, Stilettos and Crossfires are NOT what he should be flying, period. Go with a Sabre2, man. You won't be disappointed with it.

I haven't had a cutaway yet (knock on wood) but I think until I do, I'll keep my metal handle. I like the fact that I can hook my thumb in it. I have seen some low profile metal handles that looked awesome. I wouldn't mind switching to one of those.

I really want a guitar.. that would be sweet. A Sabre2 120 would also be amazing..

Yeah, seriously. New gear is great but the majority of people can't afford $6,000 on a brand new system - especially when downsizing in the future is most certainly going to happen.

That is pretty freakin' cool.

What you just described are some of the dreams I'll have. They'll be so intense, feel so real.. that when I wake up out of them, I feel physically exhuasted. Strange. Yeah, I never got good enough at lucid dreaming to the point where I could change or control the dream. I could only ever do it to wake myself up out of a bad dream. I've heard, however, that it's a skill that CAN be learned. Symbolism I guess is more what i was talking about.. if anyone's ever noticed it in their dreams. I've also seen on those talk to the dead via a psychic medium shows that when loved ones that have passed away come to you in your dreams that it can be a psychic type connection.. I don't know how far I'll go to believe that, but I do stand by the fact that DREAMS ARE WEIRD.

For as long as I can remember I have always had dreams. Very, very rarely does a night go by where I don't remember at least one or two of the dreams I had that night. I'm beginning to feel as if I'm in the minority when it comes to how often I dream. My dreams are, for the most part, fairly realistic and accurate. Mostly good dreams, or at least good humored and not scary or bad. Of course I have bad dreams every now and then, too. Oh and I always dream in color, never black and white. When I was a kid I was actually able to, when I was having a bad dream, able to tell myself in the dream that I was dreaming, and immediately wake up right after. It was an awesome ability to have, and occasionally I can do it these days. I later found out that this is the beginning stage of full on lucid dreams, where after you realize you are dreaming, you can actually take control and turn the dream into what you want it to be (heh..). Anyways, dreams are really interesting to me. I don't really try to interpret them, although I've heard that there are certain types of dreams that actually can/do mean something. So, how often do you have dreams that you remember? Do you try to make anything of them? Ever had a dream that turned out to be real?

Wow Brian, looked like a blast. Really nicely made video, too.

Student gear (Nav 260s - Nav 200s): jump#1-20 PD190 jump# 21-25 Spectre 170 jump# 26-30 (low WL not quite sure .8 or so) Triathlon 160 jump# 31-95 (.9 WL) Sabre2 150 jump# 96-120 (1.0) Hornet 135 jump# 121-124 (1.1) Triathlon 160 (other canopies were borrowed, back to the boat) jump# 125-140ish) Pilot 150 jump# 141-400 Wearing my weights, about a 1.1 WL. I've also jumped a few canopies in-between. Sabre2 135 for about 20 jumps. Got awesome swoops on the 135. Sabre 120 for a handful of jumps. Really windy day, no swooping. Lightning 143 for a couple jumps. Next canopy that I'll be buying will probably be a Sabre2 120. Should keep me happy for a while until I go to a 107. Probably another 150-200 jumps away, we'll see how it goes.

So just to add to the used gear posts that have already been mentioned, another big piece of advice I can give when buying used is.. Don't Be Picky!!! So what if the main has some pink cells. Who cares if the container doesn't match your jumpsuit. WHO CARES what color the reserve is!!! Be aware of your priorities. Make sure the container fits, both you AND the appropriate canopies for your skill level. Make sure that the person that you are buying it from is a legit person. Usually if they are serious about selling their rig, they are willing to send it to your rigger to get it checked out beforehand. You will probably end up wanting to go smaller with the canopies, so forget about buying new. Way too expensive, and you can get some really amazing deals if you look around. I got an amazing deal on the gear I'm jumping right now. Be safe.

October 27th. This is the longest I've done without jumping since.. well, since I started jumping last July. Money has been tight, but things are finally going in the right direction again. My rig went out of date today, so once I get a re-pack, it's up to Ellington to freeze my balls off. And I can't wait..

Oh man, I can't believe I am just reading about this now. This is the first message I ever received from skinny: dont let these fucking moral idiots get to you..Just fuck with them. Righteos pricks..lol Haha, I laugh every time I read it. I knew right there I liked this guy. He offered me his trailer so I could come down to the Farm and do AFF cheaper. He gave me names of people at the Farm when I was considering taking him up on the offer. And I never met him.. Such a shame. My condolences to his family and friends.

"It's responsive enough that I won't need to think about downsizing for years." I'm quoting you on that one!!! Glad everything worked out fairly well and that you're having fun. Stay safe, man.

Sweeeeeet. Special thanks to skydemon2 for getting my ugly mug up on here.

10 minutes.. 2 PMs.. I love this place.