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I have 60 jumps and I think my Spectre 230 is exciting. I weigh 195 to 200lbs so my wing loading is about 1:1 or a little less depending on my beer drinking habits. Try flying your current canopy in a decent downwind/crosswind to land. That'll tighten your butt cheeks up a little. Now imagine what it might be like to get in a tight spot with a more aggresive canopy. I think people get themselves "cornered" early on by getting into a canopy that keeps them too conservative in a learning sense. They also get an artificially inflated sense of skill. When the poop hits the fan they can't get themselves outside of the box because they have been skill cornered by too aggresive of a canopy. It's the same idea as learn to belly fly before you freefly. Skydiving is very forgiving until it isn't. My 2 low timer cents.

If it is a free service that would be cool. I can't stand trying to obtain signatures. I'm lazy with that. Plus, I don't feel liking writing in my log book like it is a diary. I want defaults unless stated otherwise and check boxes. It would be cool if there could be some sort of integration with DZ computer systems where your jump record would be uploaded to your account automatically. Plus, are signatures acutally regulated or is it just the DZs and USPA that care about them? I would think it would be more precise to have an electronic "deposit" of jump record to your account. Just my thoughts...

I always thought that the A/C is powered by the engine. If the A/C is on when the engine starts doesn't it put an additional, immediate load on the engine? You can hear the engine revs change when you turn A/C on. So, when you first start your engine the oil is thicker than when it is warm. More load on the engine when the oil is thick, the harder it is on the entire system. This is why there are different oil viscosities for winter and summer driving. Conclusion, it is bad to turn A/C on until you give the oil in the car a second to warm up. This follows the same idea that not giving your car any time to warm up in the winter is bad. This is just what I thought...

ahh, that is messed up. It still has me laughing though. That is a lot of effort...

This made me think of the Nigerian scams. Google scamming the scammers.

A professional packer? Did he graduate from pack U? That's funny. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/professional if you are packing for money, that makes you a 'professional' packer... if you were just packing for the hell of it, it would make you an amateur. Warning...I'm gonna get boring here. First of all, good point. Further examinantion of the definition of professional..."characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession". What are the ethical and technical standards of professional packing? If a professional has not clearly violated an ethical or technical standard of his/her profession can they still be rightfully accused of being unprofessional outside of packing for free? It would be an interesting bit if we could know the average mal rate of professional packing and self packing. You never know, maybe hiring a packer, on average, is more reliable than packing your own chute. I like packing myself, but maybe a case could be made for packers so they can make more money based on the results of the research. Packers could market themselves as the safer alternative, especially to newbs. Get them hooked when they are young and they are less likely to learn to pack for themselves. Plus, they can justify their added expense by feeling as if it is the safer alternative. This is kind of like the clever marketing you've seen with the skyhook/limited container choice. I wonder if one of the reasons Vector is so popular is that it is seen as the safer choice. Buy a Vector because it is "safer", because it has skyhookand is manufactured by the company of one of the most, if not the most innovative man in skydiving in terms of safety. Anyway, my guess on the mal is that the chute was packed professionaly according to the ethical and technical standards of the profession. It just happened to "freak" out that time.

A professional packer? Did he graduate from pack U? That's funny.

:) Is she a skydiver?Quote

Hehe, if it is for booty I would have to say that most sure do not make the effort to dress the part. I've seen some pretty demasculating jumpsuits. The other question is how many men where influenced to make their first jump because of a chic?

Guys may flirt with risk more to score a mate Men use it as a tactic to show off strengths, attract ladies, study suggests By Melinda Wenner updated 3:51 p.m. ET, Fri., Dec. 19, 2008 Men make up four-fifths of the world's skydivers and two-thirds of all rock climbers, and a new study suggests they do it for more than just the thrill. Men may flirt with risk because they think it will help them score women. Evolutionary psychologists have long believed that women are choosier about men than men are about women. It's not just because girls want to make life difficult for guys; it's because, at least historically, women have had to pick men who could provide for them and their children. This pressure forces males to work harder to prove their worth to females and out-compete other guys in the running. Social psychologists at Florida State University wondered: Could risk-taking be one of the ways in which men show off their strength, ambition and confidence to potential lovers? To find out, they asked 134 undergraduate male and female psychology students to participate in an experiment. They wanted to see whether men would take more risks if they were "in the mood" and if the men thought there were beautiful women around for them to woo. The researchers showed students pictures of either 10 attractive or 10 unattractive faces of the opposite sex. Then they asked the subjects how sexually motivated they felt — that is, how interested they were in finding new sexual partners. One-by-one, each of the students then played a succession of 11 rigged blackjack hands; since the researchers knew what cards the participants had, and all were given the same cards, the scientists could compare how the subjects played each hand. (Asking for a "hit" indicated a risky move, since the player risked going over 21, while "staying" was considered safe.) Finally, after the game, the researchers tested the students' memories for the faces they had seen before the game. The men were much more likely to take blackjack risks if they were sexually motivated and had seen images of beautiful women before they played. The guys were also more likely to take risks if they saw attractive female faces and remembered them afterwards — even if they weren't looking for a new partner — perhaps because the faces made more of an impression on them and ramped up their sexual desire. The behavior of the female students, however, wasn't affected by what they felt, saw, or remembered. "The bottom line is that risk-taking can be a tool that men use to show potential mates that they have desirable qualities such as confidence or ambition," said study co-author Michael Baker, a doctoral student in social psychology at Florida State. Interestingly, the study found that guys who saw attractive faces but weren't sexually motivated did not take more risks than guys who saw unattractive faces. Baker speculates that guys only take risks if they stand to benefit from them, because risk-taking does come with a cost — after all, a bad skydiving or rock climbing experience could keep a guy from reproducing ever again. "If men are not motivated to pursue a mate or there are no potential mates present, then the potential benefits of a risky display are less likely to outweigh the potential costs," Baker told LiveScience. In other words, if a guy doesn't really want a new relationship, then his safest bet may be just to stay home and watch football.

When you are chillin at the dropzone do some planning. Get a mark on the rig you are used to. Check out the aerial photographs. Understand the winds up top as well as on the ground and draw up a complete plan from start to finish. Additionally, don't jump sunset for now. Give yourself plenty of room and forget about the bad feelings from the past. Last but not least, make sure you smile and enjoy the entire process!

Has anybody ever heard of adding tiny amounts of acetone to fuel to improve fuel economy? This arcticel is very interesting anyway. Any comments from pilots? http://www.pureenergysystems.com/news/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/ If somebody could make this "clicky" I'd appreciate it.

I saw a show on the Discovery Channel about apperance and their benefits to different species. In one experiment a light brown bird was darkened with a magic marker with the idea that darker brown birds get more birdy ass than the light brown ones. Sure enough, it got a ton more birdy ass!!

Claritin D 24 hour - make sure to get the "D". You will have to sign for it but it is the BEST. Also, get the generic, it's cheaper and costs less.

I read an article in Parachutist about a 37 square foot canopy. It was described as smaller than a twin bed sheet. Hey, you only have 68 to go before your chute can double as a twin bed sheet. Sweet. The guy that owns this 37 square foot canopy also likes to jump motorcycles off the Grand Canyon before BASE jumping to the bottom. What else do you like to do? Your crazy man.

As soon as I was out the door I was pitching my pilot chute like I was in the final inning of the world series with 2 strikes and 2 outs. I watched line stretch and then rolled, or most likely flipped over with no problems. I passed my second and made a third to put it to rest. Most of the problem comes from the yaking at the DZ about them. For AFF students that have yet to do them I think it helps to remember that your normal deployment altitude is probably 5,500ft. *Calmly* step out to a spot a couple feet from the edge, watch the plane for a moment, then a *normal* deployment, ahhh the feels nice now doesn't it. Hehe I think Yamtx73's quote sums it up quite well. "NOBODY is a natural at this sport, unless you sit on a branch and shit thru feathers."