RMK

I agree with @lyosha above on all points. Over the years, I've travelled in over 90 countries. Do NOT speak to these officials anymore more answering their queries in the barest form (the suggestion to use an agent on your behalf is even better). Ask yourself, what type of person seeks to have a government job of this nature; you're not exactly dealing with the best society has to offer from either a perspective of intelligence or empathy.

I have an L&B Altitrack, Ares II and Viso II. I also have a VOG on order. Best overall alti is the L&B Altitrack; it does everything and easiest to view. I’m a proponent of visually seeing needles/bars as opposed to just numbers when you need to know info quickly (skydiving, aircraft, etc). Should you be determined to go digital format, the Ares II is a big jump better than Viso II (I’ve now given my Viso II to my son). I wear my L&B Altitrack on every jump and add the Ares II (on riser mount) for wingsuiting. Regarding VOG, I asked around differing DZs and got 100% positive feedback by anyone who has ever used one; so ordered one in early November. My order confirmation noted deliver time is presently 12-20 weeks – so will be late Jan at the earliest when I receive mine.

- store your rig in a dedicated wheelie suitcase which you can use for storage, DZ visits and flights - If not jumping for more than couple weeks, remove pilot chute from BOC (* see idea below) - use a garment brush on rig before putting away (type you use on men’s suits, not the hard-bristle type you clean your bathroom tiles with) - NEVER put your rig away wet or damp. If last jump of day was to wet grass, take you rig home unpacked and pack main at home when dry - don’t store rig in area of your home that may get wet or flood at any time * I had my rigger make this pouch for me years ago. When storing rig, I remove PC from BOC pouch and put in this bag and tuck the red loop handle under my Javelin’s main pin cover while storing

1) Provide some detail of what you seek and what time of year; don’t just say "what’s cheap guys?" 2) When taking advice, be cognisant of who you’re listening to. Jump numbers don’t mean much if that person has done all or the majority of his/her jumps at just one DZ. For people that have only jumped at one or two drop zones, don’t listen to them at all – what do they have for comparison? Regarding the mention of Skydive Spain, Seville above, I heard good reviews and recently spent two weeks there, however I was QUITE disappointed and have no intention to visit again. I wish someone would have warned me prior (for reference, I’ve jumped over 40 DZs including US, Europe, Africa & Australia). You said preference for Europe, however if you’re going for several weeks, I’d suggest finding a cheap flight to Florida and jumping at Zephyrhills. Even with the weak British Pound everything is still cheaper in the US.

Haven't seen that video before; that's wild.

No, just people devoting their life trying to solve it. Spend your time and efforts making your life and/or those around you better.

A lot of people viewed the "Gangnam Style" video. Doesn't make it important or infer those interested in it were intelligent.

I haven’t looked at this thread in probably 10 years. There's now over 59,000 posts here and this is 51 years after the event. Find something more productive to do with your life and spare time. There’s actually shit such as “CooperCon”? Wow; WTF? It’s not exactly a murder case.

For the US during the winter months, I'd second the recommendations of Perris and/or Elsinore on West Coast and: Zephyrhills on East Coast I love Zephyrhills; that's such a pleasant/fun place to jump. Other DZ's should take note.

Skydive Spain is predominantly frequented by British and Indian jumpers (two nationalities that are known to put up with hardship and are not known for complaining). I visited after hearing "good things" but was quite unimpressed; I would NOT give it a recommendation or good feedback. They've got some nice airplanes, some air and a credit card machine - not much else. No areas to sit and chill, damn near no shade covering (even though they are in Southern Spain) and the DZ management gives off the vibe that no one is really in charge. If you are either a 1) first time jumper, 2) have only jumped at Skydive Spain or 3) a professional/sponsored Skydive Spain jumper you may a differing viewpoint. If you've seen good dropzones before, don't expect much.

First time back here in probably 4ish years; does seem quite subdued now. Similar to the above posters, after having children started jumping less and less. However, now my oldest son is turning 16 and doing his AFF, it’s recharged me to get back in. Took the gear in for AAD service and reserve repack and now I’m good to go.

After jumping since 2002, I was out for a couple years without jumping; got back into jumping in 2018 only to be interrupted for a couple years due to the COVID travel problems. My oldest son is turning 16 this month and will be doing AFF during the school mid-term break in October. As my DZ info is now quite “stale”, I’d be interested to know what DZs now have the best vibes and most fun. I live in London, so primarily looking at European or Mid-East DZs (as you must be 18yrs old to jump in the US, we’ll have to give that a miss for the next two years; though I loved Zephyrhills as my US favourite). I'm more about “fun” dropzones than competition-oriented DZs. Also if the local area/hotels are nice that is a plus, so that my wife and younger son can travel also – though probably looking mostly at weekend trips with my older son. I’ve jumped a lot of DZs in many countries, but am out-of-the-loop as to what is good now. Historically Empuriabrava, Spain featured with most jumps in my logbook – so something nearest to the "heydays" of Empuriabrava would be nice.

I can’t really see the photo clearly, but is that redneck white trash actually wearing eye and ear protection to go on a mass-murder shooting spree? Only in America.

Technical Feedback: I'm confused by the forum's new formatting/display of quotes. Honestly, I was reading this post by Ron and thought "damn he's actually making sense" before I realised it was Jakee's text in the same body as Ron's text.

I’m quite disappointed with the new GUI of the forum. layout uses far too much screen space for single thread titles, threads & posts. removal of country flags for nationality/location The screen layout makes it slower and more cumbersome to use the site. On some of my other hobbies/interests forums (pilot & helicopter forums) there is always confusion as to whether the poster was asking/replying regarding North America, Europe or other locale – now we’ve introduced the same confusion here.