surfbum5412

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Everything posted by surfbum5412

  1. Come back and read these words in another 10 years or so. If you last that long, maybe you'll begin to understand the value of welcoming others into this sport with a more supportive demeanor. My greatest personal challenge in maintaining interest in skydiving is trying to ignore those with your type of elitist attitude, knowing the harm this does to our sport. What harm does this do with a guy that has done 100 jumps in the last 4 years? Haha. I surf too, so I have a different take on this. If someone told me that in the last 4 years, 25-50 of those days they went surfing, I would be thinking "kook" in the back of my head.
  2. Your jumping to conclusions without reading what I wrote. Neither is better, only a difference in lifestyle. Unless you're making 500k/year, the difference between 150k and 45k per year is having the luxury to not have to cook :-) Specifically what I'm talking about, I believe the correct term is "DZ-rat."
  3. I'm with ya. I love jumping, but lately it feels like a chore. Assuming the weather is good (it's been spotty at best around here lately), I have to drive an hour to the dropzone. Then I have to wait an hour or two to get on a load, which means I get to crouch uncomfortably in a cramp aircraft for a half hour while we get to altitude in order to get a couple minutes of fun. Sometimes, it doesn't seem worth it. But I do still stare up at the sky looking at clouds, thinking, "There's a hole, we could be jumping." If I gave it up, I think I'd miss it dearly. If you're losing interest at skydiving at 100 jumps, haha, just stop now and go away tourist.
  4. Although this is true, and I appreciate the fact that you're using quantifiable measurements and not anecdotal, the statistic says nothing about individual risk.
  5. Always keeping things fresh will give you a better chance of not burning out. I do at least a couple non-point-driven-frrefly-jumps throughout the day like tracking or high altitude hop-n-pops. Also, one of the hard things for me is trying to relate to a lot of the peeps at DZ's. Some of the skydivers that are around my age (late 20's) are blue-collar-stagnant-career kinds of peeps who drink too much or do drugs. I'm amazed when these guys who make $10/hour take trips to Colorado to fly in the tunnel for the weekend. Haha, I would love to see their credit score and savings account. I'm not saying I'm better than that, it's just my view on career and life is different.
  6. That statistic is not true. Even the raw number of 32 fatalities out x number of jumps isn't accurate either because when you start looking at the fatalities, you realize that many don't apply to you (swooping, wingsuit, CRW, health conditions, no AAD, no RSL, etc...) are you saying that becuase im a student i dont have as much risk or more? or are you saying that some daily activities arent as dangerous as 1 in a 1000? please explain a little more. Where did you get the "1 in 1000" number to quantify the risk of skydiving?
  7. That statistic is not true. Even the raw number of 32 fatalities out x number of jumps isn't accurate either because when you start looking at the fatalities, you realize that many don't apply to you (swooping, wingsuit, CRW, health conditions, no AAD, no RSL, etc...)
  8. LMAO! greatest comment I have seen in a while. Hahahaha.
  9. 1. Disconnect the RSL? Then why do you have an RSL? Hahahahahah. I jump with an RSL, and that type of mal situation is exactly why I have one. 2. Flying the opening means maintaining a good body position while getting into the saddle and maintaining your weight distribution as evenly as possible throughout the opening sequence.
  10. "Does that mean they are competent just because they claim to be?" You're totally missing the point man. I'll rephrase...in general, assuming that someone is a current and competent canopy pilot, those numbers (WL/canopy/swooping) are not uncommon to see, and according to a lot of people, are not considered reckless. This is not saying how safe it is, it's only an observation of trends. How would I know if he's competent? I'm only assuming that he is. And if he isn't, forget everything I said regarding him. Geeez. And don't take it personally, I love to argue. We'd have tons of fun on jumps.
  11. Hey Dingle Berry, I got to ask, How do you know Loumeinhart's skill level? If I were to give an endoresement of someone elses canopy skills I would not have to assume he was competent. To the OP, I have jumped multiple sizes of pilots and Saber2s and the recovery arc for saber2s allways seemed longer. What are you talking about, bro? I never said I did know, I am only assuming. And assuming that he is competent, those numbers (jumps/WL/swooping) are conforming to canopy progression trends. I am not taking a stance on where it lies on the safety continuum, I am only giving an observation. And if my "assumption" about him being competent is wrong, then the above is thrown out the window. Are you serious??
  12. No, it is not. To me, skydiving is freeflying (4 axis of body flight). A safe and common progression is necessary, but if you want to be a freeflyer, you should start immediately.
  13. At the level of jumps he's at, Loumeinhart can fly a x-braced if he wants. At 500 jumps, a 1.7 WL on a Sabre2, busting 180's on approach is not reckless, assuming that he is competent. Agree that 180's are not smart.
  14. What? Are you watching American Idol or something?
  15. Dude, as much as your opening speed might be an ingredient for a hard opening, there are way more important factors that contributed to you breaking your back. Coming out of a sit (approx. 145 mph) and pulling is not a significant factor to blow your back out. I've seen guys pull in a head down flock...I'm sure they don't let the *cough* slider slip down at all when packing *cough* See the thread above yours. I agree with him completely. To me, skydiving is freeflying. A person that learns to fly in all 4 orientations is all around, a better body pilot. It is not an advanced discipline; it includes learning to fly your body in all orientations, including belly. As long as someone has freefly-friendly gear, gives good separation, and turns perpendicular to the line of flight...who gives a fuck how much the flail.
  16. Exactly how many people do you know have 75 hop-n-pops during their first 150 jumps? I see your point, but generally speaking, I don't know anyone that would rack up a lot of hop-n-pops at such a low jump number. My guess would be because they're not at a canopy size where swooping is fashionable.
  17. I'm not saying she was being clever, but the hole should have been blocked or covered up. Re the mugger.. It's the mugger committing the crime.. Blaming the victim for being an "easy" target doesn't change the fact that it's the mugger who is at fault. It's a psychological phenomenon called "victim blaming." Example, women are more likely to partially or fully blame female rape victims. Nothing a women does gives a man the right to rape a female. In this case, if the hole was not unattended, the women would have not fallen into it. People blame the fact that she wasn't paying attention as the reason she is partially or fully to blame. 1. What if she was playing with a friend, not paying attetnion, and she fell down the hole? -In the past, other girls playing with friends have fallen down sewer holes, and the news covered every minute of it. Did you sympathize with girl then? Of course you did. 2.Ok, so the variable is a cell phone. I'm sure your pre-conceived notions, like mine, of people on cell phones is that they are annoying and oblivious to the world around them. And illogically, what you are doing is thinking cell phone (oblivious people= negative) with unattended sewer hole (not in her control) and coming to the conclusion that people on cell phones are oblivious, therefore it was in her control to avoid falling down the sewer. Switch cell phone with (playing= fun and positive) and now you have a dilemma, huh?
  18. I would hope everyone this day-an-age has a dytter. Haha. I get a kick out that, too. Some freeflyers forget that freeflying includes all 4 orientations. If you can't belly fly too well, you probably can't back fly to well. And if you can't back fly too well, you probably can't sitfly too well...etc...
  19. Yeah, cause I'm sure a wingsutier would just randomly decide to fly right by you under canopy without your permission.
  20. I didn't see a choice for "immediately following AFF." Start flying on your back and getting comfortable with that; then sitfly; then head down. Always remember to face perpendicular to the line-of-flight.
  21. Depending on where your at in LA, TAFT is an awesome choice.