Bodhisattva420

How many jumps do you have? Once you get off student status, start asking people to go on some tracking dives.

I ate this 10 strip of acid awhile back and had a vision . . . so I made it happen!

So no shit, there I was, I thought I was going to die . . .

I thought driving 1000 miles sounds pretty safe!

All of you math geeks can criticize my math but here's what I figure: 30 skydiving fatalities per every 3 million jumps puts your chance of dying on each jump at .001% If 30,000 people are killed each year in automobile accidents for every 3 trillion miles driven, one person will die for every 100,000,000 miles driven. So driving 1000 miles would equal a .001% chance of resulting in a fatality. So . . . 1000 miles in a car = 1 skydive

I agree with Andrewwhyte. Type in 'Fandango' into youtube and watch the skydiving scene. This video should cover everything. No need for a FJC, jump first . . . train later!

You could theoreticaly get your 'A' for $1302 at Skydive WesTex if you can get everything signed off in 25 jumps. They are only open on weekends though, so you'd probably need to make three trips to Texas to get in 25 jumps.

Yeah I guess S/L is dead!

My buddy just made his second skydive, a $100 tandem at Lodi. I think he might have the bug; he mentioned the great $1000 deal for AFF. I tried telling him he should take a static line course since he could make 2-3 times as many jumps for $1000 but I can't find anywhere online that offers static line training in Northern California. I did see that Skydive Madera offers a static line course but it says something about students switching to AFF after their first jump which seems to defeat the purpose. Does anyone know where I should tell my friend to go? Thanks a bunch! (Sorry to hate on AFF but I'm CHEAP!)

Riding motorcycles is a lot more dangerous!

I've heard your suppose to try and roll on your side to clear the burble if that happens. Can you try once to give the bridle a yank? Or is that a bad idea?

I was kind of bored, checking out this old thread, and reading the USPA Group Member Initial Application when I noticed on the application form a line asking for an 'airport name'. Do you have to have an airport to open a USPA DZ? The DZ I started jumping at was just a trailer with a dirt runway, but it was not affiliated with the USPA. So my question is . . . Do you have to have a real airport to start a USPA affiliated DZ? (not that I have the money to open a DZ or anything! I just want to be like Truman Sparks someday!)

I just watched Fandango for the first time and I had deja vu! Eagles Nest, where I took my first jump course, is straight out of Fandango! WesTex is badass too!

LOL!

I guess what I was trying to imply is that my Bachelors degree is pretty much worthless since I can make the same amount of money packing parachutes. The only way I really see my degree helping financially is if I decide to return to school in the future.

I'm already burned out! I REALLY don't want to be a social worker! But . . . I REALLY don't want to go back to school! I fucking HATE school. Jesus Christ, I can't take this shit anymore! Thx for all the advice though!

Don't do it Joe! The guy you bought it from has a limp! =P I'm not sure if this would be any safer, but they do have a triathlon 160 laying around. I think the owner wanted $650 for it.

I'm graduating from Texas Tech University in May with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with a minor in Substance Abuse Studies. I should be qualified to be either a social worker or a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor(with two years experience) after I graduate. Both of these jobs pay around $27,000 to $30,000 a year. That works out to roughly $13 an hour. So I've been doing the math and I think . . . I could make just as much money packing parachutes! What do you guys think? Social Worker or DZ bum?

Suzuki SV650s

I was reading this on another thread and it sort of sounded like me! On my last jump one of my instructors informed me that I had packed my RSL equipped student rig improperly. He fixed the error in my packjob but I don't remember what exactly he changed regarding the RSL. I was just wondering if there are any common mistakes I need to avoid while packing. Any advice would be appreciated. Here is the post I was reading by Andy9o8: "my first DZ (was) partly responsible for the death in the 70s of a student there, who I'd gotten friendly with. He was a nice, but small, timid and bookish kind of guy who was very out of place at that DZ, and most of the established up-jumpers there didn't want to have much to do with him. He also fucked up a lot, and that should have been a red flag to the DZO, instructors and experienced jumpers that he needed close supervision and mentoring. Instead, because he was a "turkey", he got the opposite. On his last jump, he packed the hook end of his Stevens System RSL lanyard into his main container. I have no idea whether anyone ever taught him how the RSL worked or what to do or not do with it. Compounding this, he was being jumpmastered by an older guy, also a bit of a nerdy goof-up, who also was kind of an "outsider". This guy (the JM) wasn't very competent himself, and probably had no business jumpmastering students (he jumpmastered me on my first freefall), but he was kindly and accomodating toward students. Obviously neither the jumper nor this JM caught the error in a gear check. Anyhow, the mis-packed RSL caused a main horseshoe/baglock, from which he (predictably) didn't cut away, and when the reserve deployed, it entangled with the mess and he went in. As far as I'm concerned, if he'd been properly mentored overall, and properly supervised on the jump, that accident wouldn't have occurred. Now, that's a worst-case scenario, but it's one that actually happened. " Is he just saying that the metal hook got snagged on something inside the container ?

He might be legit. But if you want to know for sure, buy him a jump! No real skydiver would turn down a free jump, not even an injured one!

Everyone keeps telling me to stay away from F-111 mains. I'd like to get into base jumping eventually and the guys on basejumper.com recommend learning to fly an F-111 accuracy 7 cell. If I end up getting an accuracy 7 cell, do I need to buy a new one? The Flight Concepts Fury 220 is $1000 new. Do I just need to save up to buy a new one?

Yeah, I didn't even think about that. I was just looking at the jump numbers. I suppose they are too old . . . I knew it was too good to be true!

My buddy and I have been looking at used rigs in the classifieds. Do you think this set up would be safe if we stay on our bellies? 1992 Racer w/ 1992 Raven II Reserve(218sq.ft.) 33 repacks, no rides - $400 http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=87005;d=1 Converted Raven II main (350 jumps DOM 1992) - $350 http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=83175;d=1

People that feel invulnerable probably don't read the incident forums.