topdocker

Last plane out of Saigon- I'd get on. Just another fun load- I'll wait, bound to be another plane Most of us probably wouldn't notice getting in any plane, just pile in and hold on. Knowing ahead of time would be the tricky part. How fun would it be to hear from the pilot on the climb to altitude, "Ah, that damn airspeed indicator finally quit on me. I'll just open the window and figure it out!" top Jump more, post less!

Yeah and people call me shallow! Yeah Shah just put a bag on her head, you don't need to look at her face i kid i kid i kid I said that to keep her face from being on the internet. You are shallow, with your opinon and standards about women. So; I'm just curious if your wife meets them. My wife doesn't meet ANY standards, she sets them! top You are _so_ whipped! Welcome to the club. Nope, smart! Jump more, post less!

Yeah and people call me shallow! Yeah Shah just put a bag on her head, you don't need to look at her face i kid i kid i kid I said that to keep her face from being on the internet. You are shallow, with your opinon and standards about women. So; I'm just curious if your wife meets them. My wife doesn't meet ANY standards, she sets them! top Jump more, post less!

Lowtimer!! top Jump more, post less!

Yes, I have several of the talons, including a brand new FX, and those work great, but at the time we were sponsored by another container manufacturer and had to switch. That rig was redone and added onto and reworked again, but the riser covers never stayed closed. Just cuz its new doesn't mean it looks pretty! Now we're back to Rigging Innovations and love it!! So, thanks for the heads up on modern gear! Top Jump more, post less!

Hallux, who stepped on your tail??!! I do not consider it egotistical to ask that someone "know" what they are looking at before they touch it. You may have a gobstop load of jumps but not know if my racer with a pull out is routed correctly. You can't check the p/c being cocked cuz it's in the container and so is all the bridle, you can check the pin, but did you know it supposed to be straight? I don't mind a check from someone who knows some things and can assure me they do, but I do have the right to request my gear be left alone otherwise. I have had more than a few "experienced" jumpers walk right up to me, grab me, grab my riser and covers and try and stuff one inside the other. Not ask, not advise me first, just grab. Or better yet, start yelling at me in the plane as I get ready for exit as if I was on fire or something. For seven years, those riser covers wouldn't cover my risers with all the crw crap on them, but every dipstick who thinks he can help me has to try without asking. Leave my gear alone. You can ask and if I think you are qualified and know what you are doing, then I will grant you permission to inspect my gear. And, not everyone on the load has the right to check my gear, that's total bs. They have the right to expect me to do my best not to endanger myself, them, or the aircraft with my equipment. top Jump more, post less!

Oh, I'm really sorry for possibly hijacking this one, but nothing pisses me off more than that. Had on kid just open my flap without even asking or telling me what he was doing, and then closed it up and gave it a "nice" strong hit/tap right on the flap over the pin as a mean to tell me it's all ok. Again, I'm sorry to go completely off topic, but I had this urge to vent... Wish every person asked for permission before touching any person's rig. Yep, nothing better than someone you don't know, opening your main flap only to find out you have a straight pin and no d-bag. (Yes, i'm doing crw, please don't touch my gear again.) I think the issue really is: ask before you touch anyone's gear, and know what you are looking at when you see it. If you aren't familiar with various types of gear, then checking unfamiliar gear is worse than not checking it. And as the checkee, I retain the right to refuse a check from someone I do not know. top Jump more, post less!

Pay off the credit cards from the last four nationals. It might make a dent!

If they are responsive and alert from a collision after opening from an rw jump, they better be a real he-man. They got two hundred pounds of pissed of oldtimer hanging under them, are you going to be able to lift that line off your neck, altimeter, or hook knife? Odds are pretty good you are getting zero lift from my canopy and all the weight is suspended through the my lines onto the upper jumpers body and gear. Two people under one main is going to lose altitude fast! Before we get to an altitude that is too low for action, he/she better be pretty far along at getting me loose, cuz I'm sure I will have a spinning/damaged main that will have to be dealt with too. I have plenty of experience with wraps and entanglements, most at an altitude where we could deal with them. You would be amazed at how quickly you will lose altitude while you are focused on a problem (getting line off your altimeter, for example), and those two canopies (or three or four) are just eating each other up, and your distance from the earth. And the weight and strain on your body if you are holding everything up is immense, compounded by any spin induced by uneven loading. It's way easier to deal with an unloaded main, than a loaded one. Lastly, I'm not sure I agree with Mike Lewis's article MakeitHappen referenced. CRW lines are not HMA or some other small diameter tissue remover, sticking out your arms and legs out in a head on collision may get them torn off. I'd say cover up and close up, hope you come out the other side, then just the deal with it. Trying to not enter the lines by sticking out an arm may earn you the nickname "Lefty." Remember, Mike was referencing CRW wraps and entanglements, not much ones occuring lower and with faster canopies. Pack better, track better, and open a little higher. The life you save may be mine! top Jump more, post less!

Toga Party!!!!!!!!! top Jump more, post less!

Do you still keep it in your purse? top Jump more, post less!

It seemed like a good idea last night in the bar. Jump more, post less!

[replySo what do you do if you have a full-face helmet on and they wouldn't be able to hear you? Make the motion (cutaway motion) with your arm a couple of times. Odds are they want you gone....NOW! top Jump more, post less!

I'm not sure I agree with this. If one of the entangled jumpers is clear and has the opportunity to remove themselves from the situation, I think they should. If one is already entangled, then it really can't get much worse, but getting half the load off the flying canopy as soon as possible can only improve the odds. Also, if the top jumper is entangled he/she may not be able to move, breath, cutaway anything until the weight is off the entangling lines. Also, I could see an unentangled jumper riding in one with someone who is entangled just because he thought it was the thing to do, rather than save him/herself. Man, just thinking of all that HMA or someother cheesecutter line around me (or through) makes me shudder! MakeItHappen, can you convince me otherwise? Not wanting to start a brawl here, just want to learn more. Jump more, post less!

[replyScenario #2 - You have a spinning malfunction. As you start your 2nd 360, your body hits the open canopy of another jumper. Whatcha gonna do? Cuss about my lousy packing and lousy tracking... Then I would check altitude, tell the other jumper to cut away NOW!!!! (Weight of two jumpers swinging under a single canopy is not good and leads to rapid loss of altitude). Now I've got to clear stuff off me and keep track of altititude, then clear my malfunction. At some point, say 1000ft I may have to stop clearing and cut away hoping the reserve will clear what's left on me. Again, pay attention as stuff may be on the three rings and prevent risers from clearing. Not a good situation, but it beats riding in a malfunction. Hate having to say, "Hope this works!" Good stuff, skyB. Lack of imagination is a dangerous thing in this sport, "I couldn't imagine that happening!!" Lousy thing hear when something happens. top PS. Have we missed something in training new people in this sport about what can happen even if you open up a nicely flying canopy? It seems that there is a lack of "What if" training. Jump more, post less!

Finally, someone brought this up! Check altitude again, yell altitude to other jumper and see if they are conscious and okay. (They may not be able to respond, may have line around their neck, and my leaving will help that, too!) Tell them clearly that I am going to cut away. Check handles, check for traffic underneath and around my intended area of frefall. Cut away, making sure to fall flat stable and away from my gear (no riser hangup). Put my cutaway handle in my teeth so I don't drop it. Pull my reserve handle. Thank god for a good reserve and wonder what dipstick hit me. Find safe landing area and steer clear of more dipsticks. Tell everyone back in the hanger, "No %^%&! There I was..." How'd I do? Happened to me on my 25th jump at 1500 feet. Plenty of time under my round reserve to look at the countryside before I landed. My story is I could have stood it up, but was trained to PLF. top Jump more, post less!

One of the advantages of S/L progression was if a student was having questions or not sure on something, he/she could sit in on another first jump course, since they we're every weekend if not more often. They could learn not only the things they knew they didn't know, but things they didn't know they didn't know. The latter being harder to figure out until its too late. At my old dz, it was recommended that recent grads from the S/L progression should sit in on the FJC to fill in any areas that were missed or forgotten. It was nice to have a student that was an example to the new students, monkey-see, monkey-do kinda thing. Somewhat difficult to do with an AFF class, because it is focused so much on the Level A jump. top Jump more, post less!

Yeah, ii's amazing how many people go to the hook knife option when they have never unsheathed a knife under canopy. Saw one guy sitting in the 206 pull out his hook knife while fooling around on the way to altitude. Unfortunately, he cut his chest strap in two as he drew his weapon. The rest of us were laughing our asses off as we left him belted in behind the pilot! One woman I knew carried a big ass knife for crw, and when we asked her to show us how big it was, it took her about two of three minutes of work on the ground to get it out. Not much good in the air if you can't get to it. After twenty years of competing on a crw team, I have only seen a teammate use one once. That's something like 5000 crw dives and seeing one hookknife use by a teammate. Seen a few uses by static line JM's though! Would never even think of trying one under a lineover on an rw jump, burning up precious time and altitude when action needs to be taken. Maybe on a crw load, but I seriously doubt it. Reserve repacks are easy and landing a canopy with cut/blown lines can be tricky. top Jump more, post less!

Not wanting to completely let you off the hook but.... Have you had someone experienced jump your canopy? Maybe their is damage within the canopy, maybe the canopy is out of trim, maybe the brake lines are too long for your arms and cannot give you an effective flare. You probably aren't familiar with how a canopy should fly/flare for you enough to know if something is wrong. Lots of things effect your landing that you have not thought about. I don't want you stop learning and blame the gear, but it should be looked into as well. top Jump more, post less!

What about the opening scene of Powerrangers? top Jump more, post less!

Nah, the landing area is Crissy Field (unsure of spelling and don't care enough to look it up). The official out is the bay. PFD's on the jumpers. Hoping for good photos/press and no one getting wet or worse! top Jump more, post less!

and flavored! Jump more, post less!

Since about Saturday afternoon. top Jump more, post less!

The whole reason for "dating" is to see if your values are in alignment with the person you are attracted to. "Who pays," is part of that value system. First date, asker pays,maybe the second. After that a little communication about who is in charge of what and who buys is the key. If you can't ask who's going to pay the bar tab, how are you going to talk about birth control, STD's, etc, when that time comes. On a different, but related topic, how come no one offered to cover the costs of my child care when I was a single parent? As someone pointed out upthread, a lot of the cost of going out on a date for a single parent is in the care of your children, but that isn't just for the women, a lot of dads out there have kids at home, too. top Jump more, post less!

I'd go main for a couple of reasons. 1. Everyone is bombing, tumbling out of an A/C with little regard for opening altitude and direction. Classic time for an opening collision. 2. I could catch a lot the freebags and ransom them back for whiskey. Besides, my crw canopy is probably faster than my reserve! top Jump more, post less!