NVizABull

Damn Lee, I still miss the hell out of you! It's hard to believe it's been 8 yrs since you left us....but you are still living strong in so many of us through the great & fun memories. Miss ya Lee!

N/A

We're supposed to be a self-policing sport....however, if you say anything about an absolute safety violation, you're ostracized, banned and you're a bad apple. The worse it gets, the more I feel inclined to go back to scuba and hang up the skydiving....it's been a good 14 yr run...I'm just waiting for the fatality that totally rocks the sport, ends up in court and a judge throws out the waiver issue, to prove a point...blatant violations, injuries or death all equal a big pay day and pay your own legal fees! The big guy/gal with the gavel has that power...it's how precedence is set.

I basically posted this to get a concensus and remind a 200 jump wonder that he, the TI & DZO are blatently violating... I admit, I got sick of looking through the SIM online and figured it coming from a concensus of TI's maybe that would hold more validity than some "rigger"...afterall, I'm just a girl, wtf do I know...LOL. The answers you all stated were exactly what I stated and was told to "f*ck off" Have a good one.

thanks guys, you all confirmed my opinion....i'm not a TI, but a rigger and with 14 yrs in the sport, have tried to be a safety conscious jumper....it irks me to see these people enter the sport and think they're special and don't consider the safety of others, just worried about what they get...and 200 jumps over the course of a couple years is not by any stretch putting you at an experience level to be flying video with tandems.

whether posed or not...this is a good reason to exercise your risers to keep from having one hang up. I've seen it for real and it's a very scary situation to see one of your friends fighting for their life because they were toooooo lazy to unhook their risers and exercise the set out of the webbing. If you're new and don't know how to, ask someone...I'm sure you can find someone that can and will help you. Safety is no accident!

the uspa used to have a 500 jump minimum for flying video with tandems...actually looked for it and couldn't find it... anyway, just curious with the tandemmasters out there what your opinion is? you've got someone else relying on your judgment and their life...why compromise it with someone that's not got but a couple hundred jumps wanting to allow their ego override judgment and think they can do anything? just looking for some tandemmaster opinions.

Obviously you aren't keeping up...Mike's been freefly friendly for the past 8 yrs or so. He's gone one further on the reserve pin cover with a tuck and the velcro. Bridle covers, etc. The other person saying that a Dolphin not lasting is incorrect, as well. They all use the same manufacturers for materials, so do the math. I'm not going to get into the pissing match, but I have two Dolpin rigs. I've been jumping for 14 yrs.

tension knots also come from not untwisting the steering lines from time to time....i've seen some people be packing and you can see the twists easily. remind them to remove the twists and let them know it can cause a tension knot that can be a cutaway and reserve ride.

AGREED! I went on plenty of jumps with my ex as the passenger when he was refreshing and always had chicken handles and always checking/touching handles as part of his/my piece of mind that if anything did happen, I was trained and prepared to handle the situation.

hang it in an open air condition for several days, the smell will dissipate. I am a smoker, however, don't smoke in the house and my gear is kept in a storage box when in the car. I've actually charged a customer extra for having to hang it so that I could stomach having his gear in my face to pack his reserve. He gave me a tip and from that point on, actually started keeping his gear in a storage container.

Dave, glad you commented on the strobe...it's amazing how many think that a glow stick suffices...when i get out in the dark, i want to be marked as a plane and anyone in the sky will maintain an "avoidance" that a glow stick is not going to give you. And for those that want to argue the point, watch night jumps and tell me how well you can see a glow stick when a jumper is only at 1000 ft....you can't. I've been on the ground and watched and you can't see a glow stick. Have fun, be safe, keep your head on a swivel and be prepared to flare like you've never flared before because the ground will come up all of the sudden.

still think of you and still haven't been able to delete your numbers from my phone...miss you Howard!

you might want to re-read your FARs..."direct supervision under a licensed rigger of the type you are packing" and since we jump backs, and most riggers in the sport are rated for back, then you need to get with a rigger on the dz and ask if they'll let you pack under their supervision.

bigger is almost always better...i had a canopy collapse at 40 ft. which prompted me to upsize one reserve size and two main sizes...i went from a pd126 reserve to a 143 and a sabre 120 to a sabre 150. do what you feel confident, comfortable and happy with, not what the "cool" people think is right for you.

you obviously don't have one and don't understand that they are a fine canopy and just need to be "caressed" during packing. i have two sabres and the only hard opening i've had was when a patch that was already on it when i bought it blew. i get 700-1000 ft openings and enjoy my canopies. all these people that complain about the original sabres and don't have one are the same people that have plenty to say about the dolphin rigs being inferior...and i have two dolphin rigs, as well and enjoy them. roll the nose, place it properly in the middle, quarter your slider and bag it. by the way, i don't have the oversized or pocket sliders on either canopy.

what's wrong with Dolphins? i've got 2 of them right now...sold one last year...i enjoy mine!

According to what I could see of photo 1, it appeared that the closing loop was way too long, as well. For the closing loop to be proper length, the grommets should stack or, at least close to it. Another issue I see pretty regularly is 2-3 FEET of lines being put in the bottom of the container. NONE of the manufacturers encourage this procedure. And, when you say something to the individuals who are making this a practice (and teaching new jumpers to do it), the response is usually something on the line of "I've been doing this for XXXX number of jumps and so far it's not been a problem". Yeah, you may get away with certain things for a while but when it gets hairy, it's going to get hairy in a real bad way. I'm sure they would change things if they had their reserve container ripped off their back or one of their friends had it happen, but until they see it, they will do as they please. As a result of the one post made about long hair and the entanglement recently, I've made changes as to how I keep my hair under control...learning from someone else's mistake and not wanting the same thing to happen to myself.

ok, so they won't allow anyone other than specific riggers have the specs on the lines...this is a bunch of crap to start with...PD not only gives you the specs but allows you to access them online. so the dz has 3 icarus tandem canopies. i've been keeping an eye on each of them and advised the dzo that the linesets need to be replaced, at the very least over the winter...this was probably a month ago. so lately, there are two of the three that are winding up almost every time and the other day there was discussion of a potential cutaway. my response to him was that they really do need to be replaced and i'm not going to argue with him that they don't because 1) he's the dzo; 2) he's one of the ti's and 3) you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink, just drown him. i've seen tension knots that i really don't understand how the slider made it past, the lines are in poor condition. i've always recommended to my customers that have more than 500 jumps on a lineset to keep an eye on the situation constantly, if they are going to refuse to replace them upon immediate recommendation. i've got a dzo that's telling me that the linesets should get at least 1000 jumps, however, he's not a rigger. i'm really ready to throw my arms up in the air and give up with this guy. for those of you that are ti's and riggers, i would appreciate you responses and if you are NOT a rigger or a ti, leave this thread alone, i'm really not interested in a 50 jump wonder's take on this.

miss ya and think of you and that baby face!

I missed your birthday publicly, however, you were thought of and talked about....and missed incredibly.

and those pretty, yet quite mischieveous, violet eyes. I was just showing some pictures this weekend to my family and there's an awesome 8X10 of Lee in my album...he is greatly missed! Last time I saw him was at Perrine and there are some great memories of him on that trip. Miss ya bro...I'm sure you're having the best low pull contests with Dwain. Kaye

No, Howard never got "porked"...I tried to get him to get porked, but it never happened. K

Howard is on the left with the hat on and Tom Sanders is on the right. Kaye

There's a classic Howard, Denise & Tom Sanders shot on the aerialfocus website on the Photo Gallery for Perrine Memorial Day 2001, Page 1 (P5010134), not to mention Howard being the 1st two shots on Page 1. You will be missed, but never forgotten my friend. Kaye