AllisonH

Yes. Eloy can get cold in the morning, but we still jump. Weather is usually very good. Perris often has fog in the morning, so jumping can get delayed. Florida's weather can be a crapshoot in the winter. Eloy! It was a tiny bit cold in the mornings last year, but I got on the same loads as Remi's wife and we stole all of the blankets, so it wasn't bad at all

The 2 things I asked for were a new RW suit and one of those laser pointer/powerpoint remote things. I know I'm getting the jumpsuit because my mother told me to order it with her credit card. Pretty sure my grandparents are getting me the pointer/remote, because it sounds all professional and my grandmother was looking for gift ideas that wouldn't encourage skydiving.

Not meant to be rude, just to get you thinking... If you don't think you're ready for a 150 yet, why on earth would you think you're ready for a 143 reserve?

I competed last year as a 25 yr old graduate student. There's a list of 3 exclusion criteria -- one's age, one's time in sport, and one's jump numbers. You have to meet all 3 exculsion criteria to be ineligible.

I'm also currently looking for a job (for next summer/fall) and exploring different areas of the country. I don't have quite so many criteria, but good weather, good dropzones nearby, and low to moderate cost of living would be nice. I'm a lot more limited by what positions will be available, but I'm interested in hearing what people like/dislike about where they live. I currently live in Toledo, and have no desire to stay here. The only thing that's kept me sane so far is my skydiving friends and nonstop flights out of the Detroit airport!

26 US women's 6 or kids 4 - 4.5 All of my dress shoes are women's, but a lot of my play shoes are kids because they're cheaper

I think it makes more sense to think of it like this: Intermediate and Advanced are the difficulty levels of the amateur categories, and Open is, well, open to both amateur and professional teams. The Advanced and Open categories do the same jumps.

Yes, I agree with you - and being a person who DID go through the SL progression, I can tell you that you I didn't even get the yellow card until after my first clear & pull jump. So technically, there were no TLO's until that jump and after. I think I'll shut the hell up for a while. The TLO's of the static line jumps include things like safe, stable exits, successful practice pulls on the later ones, and learning to fly a safe and predictable landing pattern. Many DZ's don't give progression cards to students (AFF or SL or IAD) until they've done several jumps. (I'm not trying to start an argument about whether this is the "right" thing to do - just putting it out there). I often get AFF students on jump 3 or 4 who haven't had a card started yet, and I don't think I was given one until I got to 15 or 30 sec delays as a SL student. It varies a lot by DZ and by instructor.

How do you plan on getting a coach or instructor to sign off the second half of the proficiency card if they never jump with you to observe your skills?

Occasionally (really only if I already have the beginnings of a cold or sinus problems and probably shouldn't be jumping anyway) I have to pop my ears after my canopy opens, but I've never had any ear pain from jumping, and very rarely notice it enough to even call it discomfort. It always surprises me to hear tandems and students mention it, because it's never been an issue for me.

Many rental car companies will allow you to rent a car at 21 years old, but (except under special circumstances like being military) will charge you a LOT more for it. You generally have to be 25 to get rental cars at a good price. I'd look into the bus and shuttle options mentioned above.

I put it on mine, but mostly because I'm applying for a teaching position and teaching first jump classes is teaching experience. Different subject, but good opportunity to practice different teaching methods. I described it as a teaching kind of thing, not as a sports/jumping kind of thing.

Did you empty the deleted messages folder too? That counts toward your capacity.

Whoa! hang on a sec... Isn't 1-800-Skydive a legit number? 1-800-Skydive is used by many different dropzones throughout the country (depending on what area code you call from). Some of these accept skyride, some do not. In addition to Perris, Skydive Carolina, Skydive the Farm, Deland, Skydive Arizona, Skydive Chicago, Skydive Tecumseh, and AerOhio, along with many others, use that number. I wouldn't judge a DZ based on use of that phone number.

Not sure about the first lean back, maybe just getting adjusted in the door, but think of the forward as 1, the back as 2, and the forward and exit as 3.

I've gotten things like helments and jumpsuits from my parents for Christmas, but I think a new AAD is pushing it (a lot). Have you considered asking for money to go toward the purchase of an AAD? Then they could contrubute however much they wanted, and you could buy a used one if you couldn't come up with enough for a brand new one.

I voted this morning. From the time I pulled out of my garage to drive to my polling place until the time I had finished voting and was back in my car: 18 minutes!!!

How much do you plan on eating? I've weighed the same for the past 10-12 years, so I'm not particularly worried about it. I also know that suddenly gaining 8 pounds (such as when I put on a weight belt) does not make a noticeable difference in the way my canopy feels. However, I could see it making a big difference if someone who jumped a small canopy gained 20 pounds over the winter, so it's a valid question and it's good to hear that you're thinking about things like this. Although at this point it might make more of a difference in your freefall fall rate and how your jumpsuit fits.

Is 180 your weight with or without gear on? Remember that gear in that size range adds around 25 pounds to your weight. What do your instructors recommend you look at?

You can buy a new reserve ripcord with a soft handle from the rig manufacturer.

Hopefully the rest of us will learn from the story and not do the same thing ourselves. So far all I've washed in my jumpsuit is some pullup cords and ear plugs. One guy at my DZ decided to wash his rig, and ended up giving his Cypres a bath. I think he's now decided that paying his rigger to wash the rig in the future would be cheaper

You can buy a SIM (or download the PDF of it for free) at the US Parachute Association's website, uspa.org.

If you're just looking for an audible and not all the other features, Pro Dytters are great. I got a good deal on one and have never had the desire to get one of the "fancier" ones. I simply wouldn't use the data they give often enough to justify the price.

I'd recommend trying one on if you can -- maybe someone at the dropzone has one you can look at. I've found that with smaller jumpers (myself and some of my students) the wrist mount sometimes move around even more. Depends on the altimeter and the way your arm is shaped I think. Maybe it's not that they move more, but that if it moves on the back of your hand you can still see it, whereas if it rotates around your wrist you can't.

1. Whats your name? Allison 2. How old are you? 26 3. Why did you decide to start jumping out of airplanes? Saw it in the school newspaper, then decided it sounded like the thing to do. 4. Are you single or taken? Single 5. Do you have kids? No 6. What do you drive? 2000 Saturn SL2 7. Have you ever done a kisspass? I've been the recipient of surprise kisspasses 8. Where do you live? Toledo, OH 9. Do you have any pets? Nope 10. How many jumps do you have? 580 11. What color eyes do you have? brown 12. What is your nationality? American 13. Have you ever dated someone you met off the internet? No 14. Favorite Movie? I have a lot - Silence of the Lambs maybe? 15. What do you do when you arent skydiving? Trying to finish my PhD in exercise physiology, and tutoring math online in the evenings. 16. Have you ever BASE jumped? No 17. If not... do you want to? I have absolutely no desire to BASE jump. 18. Do you have siblings? No 19. Where do you want to travel to the most? Pretty much everywhere. 20. What's your favorite color? Blue 21. Where was the last place you flew to ( not skydiving )? Tucson, AZ