Miami

Actually they had a problem of the snaps not releasing during opening. Then they went to tuck tabs. The way they had the snaps mounted on the reserve flaps gave them way too many directions to try and open to, which caused them to lock up at times. Hope this helps... Miami

I bet they do, but if you read my last post or looked at the pics I posted you would understand that in order for there to be enough stretch for the snap to cause a problem a one inch section of riser would have to stretch almost 3 times it's length in order to cause a premature release. I'm glad you like the RWS risers. I jump a Vector at work, and agree with you that they are a good design. I just like the Racer risers better. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I still have yet to see a valid reason why the Racer risers are not an excellent design. Miami

I really doubt they would stretch that much without breaking. If you look at the first pic above you can see that the snap is mounted about an inch from the cat eye, and the length of the toggle from the grommet to the top tip is about and inch and a half to two inches. Which means the inch of riser webbing between the snap and the cat eye would have to stretch almost three times it's size in order to have a snap cause a premature brake release. Hope this helps... Miami

Not arguing with you because I respect everyone's opinions, but I thought I might try to sway you to like them... I actually found as I was taking the above pictures that they are a pain in the ass to get to release any other way than pulling down on them with the toggle. This is a good thing though, because you don't want them to release any other time than when you are pulling down on your toggle. After hundreds of jumps on these risers I have never had a problem with the snaps, and they cause no extra pressure or tension when unstowing the brakes...so little in fact you really don't even know they are there. If it helps prevent malfunctions I believe it is needed. How many cutaways have various skydivers had because they had a toggle come unstowed on opening? Very slight snag factor IMHO. When the toggle is stowed the only thing extra that would be a snag factor is the concave (or is that convex...I always mix those up) top of a very snugly set button. As is everything on every rig...but again I think that is worthwhile for the protection it gives against a premature brake release. And it is hard to tell in the photos the condition of my snaps, but after a couple hundred jumps they are still basically new. Hope this helps... Miami

I use a trv17 so I don't have much experience with the 38, but a friend of mine is using the 38 and has had no problems with it. He paid a lot more for it, too. If you have the opportunity to pick up one in good shape for that price go for it. One note though...it does not fit all that great into the (old style) d-box supplied by bonehead. We had to get creative with a dremel and expanding foam to make it work. Not sure if that new design d-box (which I hate) works any better. Hope this helps... Miami

Here are a few. Miami

The span of jumps I need to log goes back past the current pro-track I own...I quit putting them on paper about 1800 jumps ago or so, shortly after I got my AFF and Tandem I's. And I'm too cheap to spend the money on the jump-track software. Miami

All depends on who is signing your paperwork for the license. Your jumps on a pro-track are not signed, so technically they are not valid toward a license. I do know that RWS does not accept pro-track evidence for proof of tandem jumps for their examiner course...I gotta whole lotta loggin to do now... Hope this helps... Miami

Grateful Freds have been my goggle of choice for about the past nine years. They are a little softer than the Flexvision goggles, don't have that little edge that falls off and gets all sticky like the Flex-Z, mold perfectly to your face, last just about forever if you take halfway decent care of them...and it's all that for only 6 bucks! Sunshine factory has them in six different colors, I highly recommend them. Hope this helps... Miami

It is no longer in production. Yes Both of my racers have that bag (with the grommets)...is it recommended or even possible to change them out to (or trade them in for) the speed bag? Miami

The booties will be pulled a little tighter when he has his rig on. They look loose in the pic because the crotch of the jumpsuit is hanging lower than it would be with a rig on. Miami

Here is the "owners manual" to the skyhook. I really got a good idea of exactly how good the skyhook works here, but it is way toward the end and I couldn't figure out how to skip ahead without just clicking through the 229 slides. Good reading though if you are interested. Miami

[replytrue... just have to figure out how to schmooz my way into it and talk my way out of my current job.... did call and talk to the head guy... now just need to get things together.... i wana be special... think they have a short bus there???? No short buses but we do ride the short otters! Miami

Doesn't look like Vader to me, but it does look like Lord Helmet from Spaceballs when the visor is flipped up. Miami

What do you want us to do? Give the news something else to go on about at the Academy....the bunch of drunks that run the parachute program? It was kinda fun to do...I was the guy on the tandem's immediate right. Miami

Skydiving instructor.... Miami

Hehe...so next time I am down to Moss Point I can say "Who's your daddy?" without getting in trouble? What little bits I catch here and there...it is so great to see how far you and your sister have come. Makes me feel like a proud papa. Miami

Firefly...I work with Sherri's sister Shelly, who used to run Firefly with Sherri. Makes it real easy to have any work done to the jumpsuit if I screw up! Miami

There is a whole site for games like this here. And got 1863 so far on this one. Miami

I solely use my eyes. I do check my alt on occasion before I start a hook, but it is really just a reference for afterward. The alt I start my hook varies on each jump. If there is traffic, coming back from a not so great spot, or things just don't feel right the alt I hook can vary quite a bit. It is not really the alt you start your hook at that but the alt that you get off the risers and start to let your canopy plane out that is ultimately important. On occasions where all of the conditions are optimal I usually start my hook at about 1200 feet. After doing a 180-270 front riser turn in one direction I alternate to the other front riser for another 180-270. This is where the eyes really come in. I stay aware of how fast I am descending, what direction I am likely to be facing, and when the most opportune time to release the front risers is. If I am lower, I do less of a turn in either direction, or maybe only do one front riser turn instead of alternating turns. But I stay aware of this with my eyes and my eyes alone. Things are happening way too fast to look away to check my altimeter. It really kills me to watch other jumpers start a hook too low because they are obviously concentrating on something else, be it alt, getting hands in dive loops, whatever. Your eyes should not fail you, you use them every day, you should be used to what they are telling you. If you are in a situation where they might deceive you then you should wait to swoop another day. If you rely on an altimeter to tell you when to hook you will not know it has failed until it is too late. Hope this helps... Miami

3300 jumps...I'm an S&TA. Miami

Nothing really fancy with this one. The picture doesn't do much justice as to how painfully blinding this jumpsuit really is, but I can put it this way: If someone takes me out in freefall it's no accident, it's definitly a murder attempt. It also shows me how dirty my rig is! Time for a bath!!! Miami

That's the lowest price I ever saw when I was shopping around for one. I did wind up getting one for about $30 through eBay. Miami

Makes me think of what I heard about stripping the paint off of a 182. Takes off about 200lbs doesn't it? Makes sense that a canopy that was not dyed would pack up smaller than one that was. I do remember that the rigger I started my training with way back when told me he noticed white canopies pack up a little smaller than dyed ones. Miami

Bob heavily influenced how I shot video, and is part of the reason why I like it so much... He came up from FL one day to our dz in MS. No one knew who he was. Myself and my roommate had just taken over the video operation of our dz and were both fairly new at doing videos. He shares all sorts of crazy stories of videos and tandems back in FL...of tandems going out and doing headdown, him doing headdown with them and docking while shooting their video...and this is with first time tandem students. We laugh it off, but a couple weeks later we get a tape in the mail...he had made an extra dub of the tandems he had videoed that weekend...about 12 or 14 in total. We watched that video with our mouths hanging open the entire time. Everything he had talked about was exactly as he had described it...we were blown away by how he was able to fly with those tandems. He continued to come up on occasion...kinda just when ever he felt like it. It was always great to have him around...always had great stories, was great to jump with...just a great guy overall. We were all very sad when we heard of what happened...but he will never be forgotten. Miami