rbanfield

Yeah what's with that wriststrap? I could have put that thing around my leg. Instead, the extra velcro just liked to catch on everything... my shirt, my jumpsuit, my steering lines... I cut off the excess in the same triangular shape, pulled out the trusty soldering iron, and melted the end sealed. A week and several freefalls later, all is well.

People hosting their own videos is pretty easy... use torrents. Sure Windows sucks, but there are plenty of torrent clients. Since skydivingmovies.com is amenable to hosting these files, perhaps after a certain number of snatches, they can host the file permanently (hosting after the file becomes popular becomes that much more unnecessary in terms of swarm speed with torrent files, however it will allow those using their 'home' bandwidth to stop seeding and free up disk space for other good stuff). Essentially the idea is to get those posting 100MB "My first AFF" videos off the site because relatively few actually care about them (and those that do care can host with their own bandwidth), meanwhile allowing 100MB "Jeb Corliss" videos to be hosted on site that way 500 seeders can delete the 100MB (50GB of distributed data).

I searched skydivingmovies.com, however I came up with nothing. Any chance someone has the link?

Last I heard, Fedex international *ground* shipments require an account with Fedex. You may want to verify that your shipper has an account. I hate UPS with a passion. They may be a little cheaper, but they are the only company I have received damaged items with, and they have done so multiple times. With UPS, I have also had items that were "DELAYED DUE TO LATE TRAIN" for two days! When I called to ask when my package would be delivered they said they did not know and refused to give me any sort of estimate. I asked if I should call up fedex as I'm sure they would be able to give me a time to get a package from Jacksonville, FL to Tampa, FL. In closing, I would like to remind you that UPS's trademark colors are brown and gold. When I drop a load in the toilet, I also see both brown and gold. So let me ask you, what can brown do for you?

I can't speak of the performance benefits of the chest rings, but I really like the way the main lift webs move inwards to the center of your chest. It's like my rig is hugging me, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

http://www.nbc17.com/news/5126632/detail.html# 10/19/2005 ORMOND BEACH, Fla. -- A Florida woman said there was an unpleasant surprise in her family's dinner Monday night -- a bullet. Diane Johnson, of Ormand Beach, Fla., said her son-in-law found the bullet in the pork roast she served for dinner. She said she bought the meat at a nearby Publix grocery store. A representative said the company has several checks to make sure meat is the best quality for their customers. Johnson said she would just like a replacement roast. ------------------------------------ Take a look at the picture in the story. What a bunch of retards. That's not a bullet... it's the end casing on a meat thermometer! Remember this the next time the media preaches about knowing something about guns... they don't even know what a bullet looks like...

Could I also say "I don't follow the Earth calendar, I follow the Pluto calendar, where a day is 153.282 hours and therefore my reserve doesnt need to be repacked for another 646 days?" I betcha those Plutonians would do that too... fuckers

I vote dragon...

Doc, You know as well as anyone what the difference is between these with 3-5 years left on them and the one which has already expired but which information the seller chooses to withhold. One key difference is it's illegal in the US to install a unit which is expired because some one thinks it is a matter of public safety. We are not talking about trying to hock a piddly piece of broken electronics here past the warranty period... we are talking about a potentially life-saving and potentially life-endagering device past the end-of-use period. For those people who defend this seller, come on now. We're not saying the seller is acting illegally nor are we saying he should be put in the electric chair... we're saying he's a conniving waste of sperm and those who frown on such behavior and would lift a finger are letting potential buyers in on his scheme. No wonder someone a while ago felt the need to write down "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." You'ld figure any idiot could have figured that one out, but apparently some people dont! The more I listen to the things people say the more convinced I am that I'm a better person.

You're quite welcome.

That's not exactly true... in my state you don't even need to wear a helmet, and wearing one which is expired would not be breaking the law. In this case, the seller has chosen to represent a life-saving device as "good-as-new", which it is not. A better analogy would be to compare it to a used car salesman who tells you the car is in exceptionally good condition and is only putting out n parts per million of exhaust... even though it turns out that n ppm is greater than the number allowed by the emissions regulatory authority of the state - and therefore not legal. Your argument there being you should have done your homework and found out what specific ppm is allowed within your state. I agree that someone should not go purchasing stuff they don't know what it is for or what restrictions it has. But in the case of the one lady who was buying it for her husband... well damn, that's a nice lady who shouldnt be screwed out of her money. Here is a response from one guy I sent a message to: "Thanks for your email. Fortunately I was out bid, and I got a few other emails similar to yours before I decided to Buy it Now. Good to know that there are lots of other decent skydivers out there to watch my back :) " That makes me feel so bad about myself I'll have to go jump out of plane... oh wait...

I think it would be valuable for a student to take the FJC before they jump for the first time, and also at the end of AFF. During the later course, the student could just sit in an already scheduled class and keep relatively quiet. The reason for this is that they would have a better understanding of exactly what they are dealing with (e.g. in a water landing disconnect the RSL, what a downplane is, etc). I'm an engineer, and understanding how all this stuff works excites me. I imagine quite a few more people are just happy every time they throw out a pilot chute some huge chute comes out after it.

I'm not unemployed... I'm just an asshole, so its funny to make sure this fucktard doesn't peddle his expired wares to those who know-no-better.

Thanks for the very clear response Dolph! I definately agree with you that my distance of knowing when to flare would be very very off. I think were I in that situation that is the point I would be most likely to screw up. Naturally this is also one of the most important places not to screw up. In response to my not flaring high enough, I think I would also be tempted to try to punch out the flare by pulling too far down and end up stalling the damn thing out. It is nice to hear the recommendation to cut away and pull out the reserve. In the original thread that this thread was a response to, more than a few people thought riding the main down would be the appropriate course of action since it is technically a good canopy. That is the reason I was curious as to the course of action to take. I would definately feel rather guilty not only taking some other dude's rig, but then cutting away his main! I guess it is better than trying to scrub the blood out though...

I also sent him a message. I had sent ebay a message 3 days ago, however it appears they have done nothing about it.

I saw my altimeter drop by 400 feet while in my apartment with a hurricane 150 miles away and us getting a fair amount of bad weather. If the barometric pressure is still equating to a -500 feet drop in altitude, I would guess its not quite 100% safe to jump anyway as the thunderstorms wouldnt really be that far off. Am I wrong?

When I read the post on jumping the wrong rig I wondered the same thing. That is, would a student (or me with 40 jumps weighing in at 195 lbs) be able to land a nylon napkin. How about I work my way through and someone tell me where I screw up. 1. I deploy and see this tiny thing over my head. Let's assume I dont deploy into spinning line twists which I would immediately cut from anyway. Let's also assume I dont think this is some malfunction I haven't heard of before where only half of the parachute opens up.

This is exactly what I have been saying. It's a friggen piece of electronics... they do fail... and not always as you might expect them to. People say not to rely on the cypres to save your life, but you do have to rely on the cypres not to take your life with some type of unintentional deployment (like when you're on the plane). Fortunately, Airtec has put so much care into their system that the probability for this is very low... very low, that is, when following their express instructions to have it repaired every 4 years +- 3 months and thrown away after 12. If you dont follow the limits, you may be putting yourself and others in danger. The reason for mandatory maintenance is given on their website. Obviously if the unit is expired, they will not maintain it. "The CYPRES is a very compact and sophisticated electronic device, which - during a 4 year time period - was probably subjected to all possible mechanical and thermal stresses. It is a possibility that the CYPRES had been left in the trunk of a car for days, the rig lay in the sun when packing, a landing was not so good and/or the unit may have been subjected to great temperature differences if jumping in cold areas. In addition, certain components age and need compensation even if the unit is not used or switched on. As with other rig components, CYPRES performs its task on every jump - and not only if an activation occurs. A possible activation is the end of a continuous work process. To ensure that the unit performs this work - even after a long period of time - as precisely as a new unit does, it needs a thorough check periodically. This is why the maintenance is necessary." I have a feeling if something bad happened due to an expired cypres the people on this forum would shout at the idiot using the expired piece of equipment rather than questioning the amount in his coffers. In our minds, income will not assuage what ignorance has caused. There was a time when people jumped without AADs and lived to tell the tale you know

If the government ever decides to seize my house or neighborhood in order to hand it over to a private corporation for the purpose of tax revenue when the house and neighborhood are not in disrepair then I will be ready and I will not be taken alive. I almost want to take a trip to Oakland so I can run a theory by them . Those idiots up in Washington may let my country go to shit, but for that man whom the district is named and who currently resides on Mount Vernon, Virginia.... this ones for you

Let's not forget the popular Supreme Court ruling from June of this year and how the justices voted. In the case of "Can the government take your land and hand it over to someone who can 'perhaps' make more money?" Yes, the goverment can redistribute property for no good reason: John Paul Stevens, Anthony Kennedy, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer No, the government cannot redistribute land to some commercial entity so that the city can make more money: Sandra Day O'Conner, William H. Rehnquist, Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas. Clearly this was a conservative ploy . Let's paraphrase a little Limbaugh on this one: "the only thing we the people are left to do is lay down the sandbags, load up the rifles, and put grandma on the roof with a flag 'Don't Tread on Me'".

You can always try blowing your local distributer.

But would you put everyone on the plane's life on B or A over C? I once had a car who's doors decided to lock for no apparent reason whatsoever. It would lock at seemingly random times, no matter if the car was stationary, on for a long time, etc. This was (to my knowledge) before the days of automatically locking doors after a few minutes of travel. When told, "the power door locks don't work" I would bet my money that pressing the button did nothing over randomly locking the doors. The method of failure is unspecified... We don't know shit about it... Perhaps, just like my old car, moisture can creep in a rotted seal after 12 years. Bottomline, your ability to wager money stops when it risks the life of those around you.

Note that an AAD needs only an electronic altimeter and a timer to determine both current altitude and vertical descent speed (change in altitude over time). If the electronic altimeter(s) and/or timer inside the AAD fail in such a way that the device will not go off, then keeping an AAD past its manufacturer specified lifetime is an acceptable risk. If the electonic altimeter(s) and/or timer inside the AAD fail in such a way that it goes apeshit and starts sending readings all across the board, I would imagine the possibility that the algorithm for deployment can be tricked by the faulty sensor. Reserve deployment inside of the plane is then a possibility. It is a possibility that the reason the Cypres limit is 12 years is because of exponentially increasing likelihoods of failure at 13 or 14 years. They don't need to let us know that or the mode of failure because they tell us to pitch it after 12. Of course, it is also a possibility that they do it just to make more $$$.

I jump at Skydive City (www.skydivecity.com) in Zephyrhills, FL which is NE of Tampa. The people there are great! You can also check out reviews of the different DZs on dropzone.com (Skydive City's is here http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/dropzone/review.cgi?ID=392)