Bertt

Man, you're good. I just ran across one of these called Lafayette Tandem Skydiving in Opelika. That leads to a site called Gadzuk.com that looks quite a bit like Skyride. Your post answered my question. You don't have to outrun the bear.

OK, this might piss some people off and it might offend some people, but I don't care because my coffee is not ready yet, so here goes. I have a real black belt and a real MBA, and I'm scared that people who can't run their own lives will end up running banks. Coffee's ready; ya'll have fun. You don't have to outrun the bear.

Gone but not forgotten. I'm reading a book about Theodore Roosevelt. It goes into great detail about the personalities and politics of the world during his time. In the book, Woodrow Wilson has just been elected president, so the Great War is just around the corner. My grandfather was in the army during WW I, but he didn't go overseas. He was good with numbers, so he spent the entire war as a clerk at a base in New Jersey. You don't have to outrun the bear.

Koch Industries - Enron Anybody want to play? You don't have to outrun the bear.

That's about what I figured. The last PD reserve I packed was manufactured in 2006. The placard had a maximum exit weight and a maximum airspeed. It didn't require me to put the owner on a scale or check his logbook. Does anybody here have a newer PD reserve they could look at to see if that's changed? I'm not saying you should disregard their recommendation to keep the wing loading low on a reserve, but I think their lawyers have gone a bit overboard on this one. You don't have to outrun the bear.

FAR part 65 refers to packing according to manufacturer's instructions, but this has nothing to do with the present discussion. Fact is, FAA does not certify the parachutist (except for requiring 500 jumps and expert rating for tandem masters), so I'm having a hard time imagining what FAR you would violate at any wing loading and any jump number as long as you have a single-harness dual-parachute system whose TSO'd reserve has been packed withing the previous 180 days by an appropriately rated parachute rigger and which is not used outside the limits of the TSO. You don't have to outrun the bear.

The TSO has nothing to do with how many jumps a person has. Most of what you've been quoting from the PD manual is legal-speak for "we told him to get a bigger reserve, so don't sue us". I guess you could ask PD what FAA requirement they are referring to. By the way, you should update your profile, unless you really do have 200 jumps in 4 years and a reserve loaded at 1.4. You don't have to outrun the bear.

The discount rate is 8% and the stock is only going to earn 2% after the third year? I'd rather buy a treasury note. You don't have to outrun the bear.

What's really too bad is that the national news media spends so much time focusing on what color panties Paris Hilton is wearing and so little time bringing attention to issues like this. You don't have to outrun the bear.

As a guest, he's entitled to four Oreos; not the whole package. Perceived satisfaction is where it's at with cookies and milk. He didn't eat the Oreos because of their nutritional content (although they are loaded with antioxidants). He owes Oreos. You don't have to outrun the bear.

Reminds me of an 8-way I was on a while back for a guy's 100th jump. The rest of the group were either very expert RW jumpers or honest-to-God world record holding mega-experts. Just before exit, I told the other low-timer, "If you and I get together, this jump will work." Sure enough, he and I completed a 2-way and held on while the other six built it into an 8-way. It's fun to jump with people who can make things work. You don't have to outrun the bear.

Rifle, shmifle; when you're surrounded by zombies, this will clear a path in both directions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Gq0GCP3BU You don't have to outrun the bear.

What do you mean if zombies invaded the Earth. Look around ya. Keep the M4 primed and ready. You don't have to outrun the bear.

You and one other person is a "group", so 2 or 3 ways count as long as you planned a formation and it worked. You don't have to outrun the bear.

Let me help you with a moral concept you seem to be having trouble with. I'm versatile enough to disapprove of several things that are bad without the need to order them according to which is worst. I've read one issue of your magazine and I was not greatly impressed. Today, I'm less impressed. I did like the pic of the topless babes, but if you're going for edgy, you're not there yet. Have a nice day. You don't have to outrun the bear.

People who park their shopping cart in the middle of the aisle while they study the label on every item on the shelf. You don't have to outrun the bear.

You know what they say about guys with big feet...... You don't have to outrun the bear.

Billvon's answer is the correct one here. A person who's not a trained skydiver will most likely roll over on their back and spin after a few seconds of freefall. When they try to correct the spin using techniques familiar to them (twisting their shoulders, turning their head, etc.), they'll just make things worse. Why is that life-threatening? Because they'll either open the parachute upside down in a spin, or worse yet, spend the rest of their life trying to get stable. Your profile doesn't say where you are, but if there's a wind tunnel near you, that would be the place to continue your research. Wind tunnels are fun. You don't have to outrun the bear.

Did you do that? If so, I'd be curious to know the cost. I asked a different place that does printing and they said that because of the number of pages and the large number of color illustrations, the cost would be over $200. I've been happy with a digital copy rather than a hardcopy since then. You don't have to outrun the bear.

But you cared enough to let us know. I, for one, am touched. You don't have to outrun the bear.

You're really dating yourself if you know who she is. I mean, look at the picture - black and white - goes all the back to before color TV. Note to whoever: Pulling the cutaway on a training rig that gets used a lot is much easier than on a new rig that hasn't had the cutaway pulled very often. To get a true idea how hard it is to pull a cutaway pillow straight out, try it on a new rig. You don't have to outrun the bear.

I wear baseball batting gloves in hot to cool weather, and I have a pair of football receiver gloves for colder weather. If I need thicker gloves to keep warm, it's too cold to skydive. The rule I use is that if I can't tie my shoes with the gloves on, the gloves are too thick. (If I can't tie my shoes with the gloves off, I'm too drunk to skydive). You don't have to outrun the bear.

Guy comes home late one evening: lipstick on his collar, beer on his breath, perfume on his shirt. Wife says, "Where have you been?" He says, "I went to the strip club with some of the guys." She says, "You're not fooling me, asshole. You've been skydiving." You don't have to outrun the bear.

Just yesterday I heard a guy with about 5000 jumps who has medalled in several international swoop competitions talking about this very issue. The case he was talking about actually involved a guy with a 170 who wanted to go to a 150. He said he could get more out of a 170 than someone with a couple of hundred jumps could get out of a 150. I bet he would say fly the 170 for another year. I'm curious what you think of the Storm? You don't have to outrun the bear.

Every five thousand years we have to go through this. After a while, it's just more trouble than it's worth. You don't have to outrun the bear.