sfzombie

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Everything posted by sfzombie

  1. i tried learning to fly on my own through static line course years ago and never did learn until i went to the tunnel this year. if you are doing aff, listen to your instructors rather than random people on the internet like me. having said that, when your instructors let go, they want you to fly flat and stable. ask them before you jump if you can try what you learned in the tunnel, and go through it on the ground first with them. again, don't listen to anything anyone has to say here or anywhere else without asking your instructors. oh, before i forget, did i mention to not listen to anyone but your instructors? kind of important at your stage.
  2. all i know is that i read about cypres firing when it wasn't supposed to, regardless of the fault, and that makes it a non-zero event. i have been in the sport since '97 and out of it more often than in having just got my a, so any information i have read is from years ago, but i read it and recall others on the dz discussing it. i should hope that they are dependable and reliable, but nothing is 100% effective, at least nothing electronic or manufactured. they may have the safest product out there and the best recall system in the event of faulty equipment, but if there have ever been any recalls or safety advisories where something has been repaired or switched out, then it could have failed and counts toward the effectiveness. just because the company caught it first does not mean it couldn't have caused a failure or else it would have been left alone.
  3. considering how many times i have heard about a cypres firing when it wasn't supposed to i would hesitate to call it 0 errors. i understand they changed things to reduce them but i seem to recall they still happen, not sure about that though.
  4. i don't see a suicide attempt either but have to disagree on one point. i have seen a person falling over 100' onto packed dirt and sustain only minor injuries(a couple of bruises and some scrapes) due to a proper plf. that says that what you do when you land is what says if you live or die. i have dropped from about 50' after having my wind stolen and it hurts like hell but is usually survivable if you have tight body position and roll like you are taught. i know that if i ever had a double total mal and was heading in with nothing out at my home dz, i think i may just start tracking hard and try glancing off the river rather than hitting the ground.
  5. thanx gary. i got a copy of it and will look into using it, and sharing it with anyone at my dz who may want to use it.
  6. i just got my a license with a proficiency card that said 25 skydives but my logbook i got on my first jump in 1998 said 25 freefall jumps. not sure about the sim and when it changed but it appears to have always been freefall, at least my book has it printed that way and it is listed as uspa fai license requirements.
  7. i don't like to see the trend go that way as it just shows that a certain phone was carried on a jump. if one were so inclined, one could jump with a dozen phones for a dozen different jumpers to falsify logs. of course, you could always have someone sign for a falsified logbook, just would leave a paper trail which some folks would rather not leave. having said that, i would like to have a shot at converting the code to android if possible. it sounds like a great idea and i hate iphones. send me a message if you are so inclined.
  8. i would go with an aon2 brilliant pebbles audible. you can set up to 20 alarms and it only costs around $100, depending on exchange rate from pounds. the only drawback i have found so far is that you need a computer or android phone to change the settings. works for me as i don't change them often though. i would agree with the not using it precisely on landings, just as a suggestion. our dz only has about 300' of width and the base leg is always more of a sweeping turn into the final, as there is just not enough room. i started hitting the target consistently when i started to use my eyes instead of adhering to the altitudes completely. but then again, there are never more than 4 of us landing anyway and the patterns are easier to keep track of. it can be a little bit intimidating making your downwind completely over the ohio river, but you get used to it and it is usually the other way.
  9. jump. as much as you can afford. be honest with the folks at the dz and you will gain experience by doing it. log them all and don't downsize too early. be safe.
  10. they were special operations guys, not special forces. i was special forces. delta force if i recall.
  11. being a student - solved that one by getting my a license after 22 years, 3 months, and 29 days in the sport and 61 skydives with 32 static line military jumps. weather money
  12. oh, i don't know about that. i just got an aon2 brilliant pebbles and it has 20 programmable alarms on it that you can set to count down every 1000 ft and it only cost $100. You have to program it with a computer or smartphone app but hey, for that price, i can get 3 and have them all pre-programmed. of course i would rather just use the phone, but then i am also into making my own altimeter/logbook that will record all sorts of data on each jump. i one were to make a wrist mounted altimeter using a raspberry pi with a gps module, you could have it sending an output to google glass i think. while the n3a sounds really cool, having a personal hud system that not only is an altimeter and logbook is awesome.
  13. i keep this email account for security verifications and i have this one email that keeps coming up and flooding my inbox. i have set filters for it, but they are not stopping the email. can you block this one email for me? the address it comes from is: admin and the subject line is: There is a new comment to Auditing Shooting Rampage Statistics. i have blocked it by subject, sender and still have hundreds of them. i have even unsubscribed from the thread, but this didn't work either. thank you. http://kitswv.com
  14. not digging, per se, just referring to more than the button by itself at the top. i'm just glad it didn't go away completely. you guys do a pretty good job with the website. i didn't know how much of a bitch it was until i started designing them. http://kitswv.com
  15. thanx. it is still there, just gotta dig for it. it's still easier than trying to remember which threads i'm watching sometimes. http://kitswv.com
  16. i guess i'm just being a bit nostalgic, but i like the old style better. it was the first real internet forum i was on, except for a website that was disbanded a couple of years ago. it was the standard i held all other forums to. i will miss it. that being said, i do like the way things flow, but i miss the button for "my posts". sometimes i just have a minute and want to see where the discussion is on a certain thread. can we get that button back? it would be a lot easier than creating a new section, although that wouldn't be too hard. http://kitswv.com
  17. are judges ever allowed to send it up to a higher court if they disagree with a jury's decision? http://kitswv.com
  18. i re-read it three times and am still missing it, oh well. it didn't sound right to me, but thank you for verifying this. http://kitswv.com
  19. now i do not know much about state laws and supreme court cases of those states, but wouldn't sheriff joe go with the arizona supreme court? or do they not care where you're from when you go that high in the judicial system? i guess i am asking why he is not using his own state's court system. http://kitswv.com
  20. and in some countries, death by stoning is legal. you cannot enforce the views of your society onto another. or shouldn't be able to, it's worked out so well in the middle east, though. and you shouldn't start legislating acceptable means of discipline from anyone either. there are always going to be limits as to what is acceptable, and they change, sometimes considerably as has been noted above. do you think that when franklin made the quote about giving up freedom for safety he was NOT looking in history for example as well? and you forgot one, hitler and the nazis are responsible... http://kitswv.com
  21. very good read, a bit on the long side, but very good points indeed. http://kitswv.com
  22. You got wedgied a lot in middle school, I've no doubt. ETA: Probably swirlied, too. nope, never. and when in junior high and high school, i went out of my way to keep others from being bullied. i had a couple of close friends who i was tight with and i was friendly toward almost everyone else. i have always stood up for those who either could not or would not and am very proud of it. i take great offense to being referred to as a child abuser, however it is america and you are allowed to voice your opinion, and you are welcome (as i actually served in two wars defending this right (ok, it was really about oil and the stupidity of a certain president)). and i am a little thick skinned, so any idiot's opinion on an internet forum will not bother me in the slightest. carry on enjoying the freedoms that people like myself have fought for. and stand up one time, look toward the sky, and say thank you to the ones who gave their lives for you. http://kitswv.com
  23. It's just like a violent child abuser touche, sir. i would rather be called that than a flippin' lawyer. and yes, there is just a little contempt in this post, i view lawyers as the bane of society. so, thank you for the compliment. http://kitswv.com