EFS4LIFE

+1 Thank you, exactly the point I was trying to make earlier. I am an asshole, but I am honest

Good, now never let yourself unconciously allow yourself to be "that guy" It CAN happen. YES (IF) I ask the same. I may just do that. BTW my previous response was prior to my PM response. I am an asshole, but I am honest

\ No sir. I believe in progressive thinking and training. I am a firearms instructor for my department and I am constantly trying to better my training in this same manner. I am just asking you to thing about the facts, statistics, and reality of the situation before jumping to what I feel maybe needless regulation, red tape, and cost not only to jumpers that are "experienced" but our organization as a whole. So should we institute a Canopy-I and I-E program? Open canopy deaths make up the majority of deaths in this sport, not WS deaths, by FAR. I know a jumper with a .7 WL on a 200+ sq. ft. canopy that has a broken back. She was following all the "norms" she just made a couple bad decisions and it led to an incident. And the PRO rating is really more like an "endorsement" isn't it? It really doesn't have "Pro-I and Pro-I/E" does it? Either you haven't read my posts thoroughly or are experiencing selective reading when I say DSE the guy that MADE the proposal. Air we are really only slightly off base here. New jumpers should have to prove their skills jumping a wingsuit, I agree. There are plenty of FFC that do this, and do it well. I am just not on board with creating a whole new I & I/E rating for a specific discipline in the sport. What is your beef with a FFC standard and making it an "endorsement" by say any USPA Instructor with say 200 wingsuit jumps? That is just an arbitrary number I threw out there and would actually need input from experienced WSers, but you get the point. I am an asshole, but I am honest

Bill this is the only part of your reply that I disagree with. In contrary I believe they were taught and did not forget. I think they were complacent. Fighting complacency is a verh hard thing. I do not think a WS-I with standardized FFC taught will stop jumpers with hundreds of wingsuit jumps from complacency. BTW I waited to 200 jumps to jump a camera and even then it was a Contour. I was comfortable for a full blown helmet at closer to 300, but I guess I was a slow learner So Airtwardo where is the evidence for the other reasons? Do we have students killing them selves in FFCs? Do we have incidents of low time WSers dying? The recent incidents I remember all entail very very experienced wingsuiters. I am not saying WS-I would be a BAD thing necessarily for the sport. What I am saying is that I believe it is completely unnecessary. What are the facts? Has it been considered that all the extra cost involved may not even be justified? The added regulation and BS won't change anything? How did this issue surface? Was it brought up by DSE who would stand to gain quite a bit personally? Do some critical thinking on the issue please. If you have, and you have made your decision then okay. I respect you two guys a lot. Bill your checklist on downsizing was a great contribution to upcoming jumpers such as me. Airtwardo I dig your long time commitment to the sport, and I agree with your post 99.9% of the time, but on this I just don't. That's ok too. It has been drilled into me for the past 15 years to not allow myself to get complacent. It started with my service in the military, and continues today through my service in law enforcement. I have seen a guy that had been around guns for over 40 years shoot himself in the pelvis and nearly die. I have a life saving award on my wall and that I wear on my uniform for applying pressure until the life flight arrived. That guy knew gun safety, trust me. Unfortunately he got complacent for a second and forgot to clear the chamber before installing a trigger lock on his AR-15 and had the barrel pointed at his groin. He was adequately trained for sure, but that complacency bit him right in the ass, err groin area, it actually exited through his ass lol. In the same way that veteran cop has allows the attitude of "oh this is just another traffic stop I have done thousands of times" and ends up with a gun in his face, jumpers let their slack down as this is just a nother swoop or wingsuit exit. My point is when you guys come up with a solution for that type of incident, other than constant self vigilance, then please let me know and I will be on board 100%. Maybe the answer is in continuing education. Maybe Safety Day is wholey inadequate, I don't know. I just know that is the REAL issue in our sport, and IF we can FIX that then the "zero fatality year" becomes a glimmer of possibilty, until then it remains a fantasy, and until then I will just try to make sure "that guy" doesn't become me. I am an asshole, but I am honest

When I first flew a camera helmet I would say it was a complex piece of unfamiliar gear. I got coached up from experienced camera guys. DSE and the handful of people that will be qualified to be the I/E's in his proposal How are you going to decrease the number of highly experience people dying in incidents by instituting a WS-I program? Wingsuit students, okay I will bite, but those aren't the ones hitting the tails. STUDENTS are not the ones hitting the tails. Read that again Airtwardo. Show me where wingsuit students are dying, and fucking up planes. They aren't. It is the same as my profession (police) Guess who gets killed on the traffic stops? The veteran guys (me) with 5+ years on the force. It's called COMPLACENCY. Look at those swoopers I named. You would be hard pressed to find a person on this planet that would say any of them were in over their heads. Each had multiple thousands of jumps. Peter G had 10,000+. To be clear I don't fly wings yet. I want to one day and will seek out a proper FFC like Flock-U or hell even DSE when I do, but I don't need to pay for another rating when there is NO STUDENTS INVOLVED except for me being an experienced jumper learning a new discipline. If I had the benefit of having an experienced WS'er at my DZ I would just mentor under him and not pay for a FFC. That is the way it should be. I might be able to get on board with a standardized FFC being adopted by the USPA, but I reject the idea that I have to go to DSE or a small handful of others to learn it. It really isn't all that hard if you talk to wingsuiters man. This is overkill and ridiculous. Vote yes if you want, but I am voting HELL NO. I am an asshole, but I am honest

I guess I could live with this "endorsement" idea, but seriously there is no freeflying endorsement, CRW endorsement, etc. The WS-I is BS. I believe a few are trying to cash in and they see a potential monopoly. The tail strikes have shown to be from complacency. Simple fuck ups. Just as very experienced canopy pilots have died. I am not talking about the DGIT types. I am talking about guys like JT, Sean Carey, Brady Kane, Peter G, hell the list goes on. Those are just some of the ones I can pull of the top of my head from my limited time in the sport. Fuck ups happen, even by the best. Nothing we do will ever change that. Skydivers without wings have hit the damn tail too. I am all for safety and if I honestly thought that a WS-I program would greatly increase safety I would be all for it, but the bottom line is it won't. How about updating the BSR to read in addition to 200 jumps and USPA license, a jumper must have training from an experienced wingsuiter. Define that a expereinced winsuiter has X amount of WS jumps. Sign it off in the logbook. To make it a seperate INSTRUCTOR rating is absurd. I will be voting NO. Education good. Needless ratings bad. I am a tandem instructor. I INSTRUCT my students. I let them pull, fly the canopy, teach them about winds, etc. I need to be an INSTRUCTOR for this. If I fly a wingsuit I am not INSTRUCTING anyone. I am flying a wingsuit and don't need a rating, just like I don't need one to go freefly or fly a camera. I am an asshole, but I am honest

If you don't want to swoop why do you want to fly a fully elliptical? I am an asshole, but I am honest

Hey checkout www.scoobysworkshop.com This guy is awesome. Everything he gives you is 100% free. He isn't trying to sell anything. He has a great calorie calculator tool too. It really is pretty simple, figure out how many calories you should be intaking for your goals and have the dedication and determination to count every calorie that goes into your body. The only way Scooby's stuff doesn't work is if you don't. Good luck. I am an asshole, but I am honest

Suuuuure Squeak, we all know that your a fanboy and was WATCHING Jersey Shore I am an asshole, but I am honest

Dave For the record your post never refutes the fact that just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't. Look leave your hoodie untucked. I don't give a shit. I will continue to tuck mine in. You shouldn't give a shit either. I am an asshole, but I am honest

Oh I don't doubt rings can/have caused injuries in skydiving. I was just curious as to the event that picture was from. As far as hoodies go I tuck mine into my jump suit when I wear one. Could it cause a problem? My answer.....MAYBE. Meaning there is some possiblity. So why risk it? It does not benifit me leaving it out. The arguement "I have hundreds of jumps with one and it has never caused a problem before" seems dumb. That doesn't mean it can't or won't. To each their own though. I am an asshole, but I am honest

Flip your perspective of fear. I never feel so thoroughly alive and in the moment as when I am afraid. That is part of why skydiving hooked me in the first place. As crazy as it sounds I love the feeling fear gives me. It feels as if all of my senses go into high definition. It is like a sudden injection of the best drug in the world. The sky is bluer, the grass is greener, and I become hyper alert. Everyone feels fear when they start in the sport. Those that don't are either liars, or they have a screw loose. To be honest sometimes I still get a pinch of fear when doing something new in the sport. My first tandem (as the instructor) I felt that old familiar feeling creep in. Put a big ass smile on my face because I hadn't felt it in awhile, and I missed it. My first cutaway was amazing. It feels really good to save your life. Remember fear is temporary, but regret is forever. I respectfully disagree with others that have stated something similiar to laying off the studying and preperation. I am stoked to hear a student put in that kind of work. There is only so much information I can bombard a student with in the first jump course. Getting your own time in the SIM is awesome, and is to be applauded. The sport is risky. You CAN die. If you are willing to accept that risk the next step is do do everything you can to ensure that you don't (die). The only way to do that besides actual experience (that comes with jumps and time) is by doing exactly what you have been. Know what to do when the shit hits the fan. Throwing yourself out of plane without that knowledge is suicidal. Your first jump course was just the bare legal minimum. You just need to accept fear. It is okay to be afraid. Just don't let your fear keep you from your dreams. Learn to embrace it, or just kick it in the balls. The dreams are normal. I am an asshole, but I am honest

Gary do you have information about that particular ring injury? How it happened etc? I have learned something here today. Thanks. I am an asshole, but I am honest

I have no experience with a Springo but I do with the Stiletto. I am assuming it is a Stiletto clone. Oversteer is common on some elliptical high performance parachutes. It is inheriant in their designs. The Stiletto being one of those. I believe it is caused by the degree of taper on the leading edge of the wing, or maybe its the trailing edge. I am sure somebody with more knowledge can clarify exactly which edge. I am an asshole, but I am honest

I never sent you a PM. I said lets continue this in PM instead of highjacking the thread. You missed the point obviously, because the highjack continues... But you did. Your whole comment is counter to that. In the video in question he appeared to me to check his altitude every 2-3 seconds, just like I train my students. It is irrelevant if you think he shouldn't need to do this with his experience, or his own perception of his experience. It is what he should do. We could sit here and talk about what if since you love to do that aparently. What if his alti got stuck after his first check? Wouldn't you want that info as soon as possible? What if it flew off? I have seen that happen. Bottom line you came off as just trying to rip him, and IMO you were dead wrong. Young jumpers shouldn't be reading someone like you making fun of another jumper for checking his altitude to much. Like you said broaden you horizons. If you can't admit when your wrong...well.... The best thing to do is maintain an even position in the harness, allow your canopy to "seek" during the snivel and let it do it's thing. With over 5,000 jumps I am surpirsed you don't know this. Haven't you seen all those youtube videos of idiots try to steer their canopy with the rears during the snivel and oops end up chopping? I am not trying to school you. You are the one attempting the "schooling" as always. If you want to go ask the manufacture of the canopy you jump what you should be doing during a snivel. I highly suggest you do. Just have the balls to post their reply please. I guess you have more experience then the guys that made your canopy though and know better. Ego much.. Fucking Velocities are well know to have a slow inflation portion, and can take 800-1000 feet before fully open. I haven't jumped one, but I sure have packed enough of them and watch their openings. My neck enjoys all the deceleration I acheive in my snivel. I want every once of it. When I am coming out of my snivel at the same altitude as people pitching lower then there is no further increased risk. We both have similar altitude from that point to deal with shit. So I am not painting my self into a corner. I am pulling higher. Your "but what happens when you don't?" is bogus. What happens when shit goes bad and you don't pull on time? Lets not play this game. And I could sit her and come up with a thousands things that could go off plan for you and kill you. I pull higher. IMO everyone should. Bill Booth thinks that deployment heights need to be raised too, along with AAD activation altitudes. I tend to agree. I know my canopy. I know it's natural time in a snivel. I plan and jump accordingly. You can say it is a bad idea but you don't deal with this neck and know what is the proper balance in my situation. I might be a baby to you, but I am grown up enough to be able to make that determination myself and I am the only one that should be making that determination to. No one else has to live with my neck or my canopy. I do. You sit here an act like a jumper with over 500 jumps (me) doesn't know that pulling rears or pumping breaks will cause a slider to come down? Don't you think I teach that in my FJC? I just also know it can, and has caused many cutaways on fully ellipticals. I aparently am comfort in a snivel and you are not. Deal with it. BTW I jump a skyhook to prevent being one of those guys without a fully inflated reserve too. I KNOW my equipment, and I am a very capable skydiver for 500 jumps. I know enough to know I don't know too much. You always tend to sound like you know everything. That scares me. Edited to add: The jump with the 1600' opening I pitched at 4. I was open at 2.4 same altitude as guys pitching at 3. So it isn't "absurd" at all. I am an asshole, but I am honest

Dave Thanks or the comment. What you are saying though is kinda DUMB in my opinion. Kind of like in another thread you making fun of a jumper for checking his altimeter. I kept my mouth shut on that one though. You shouldn't start yanking on risers with a full eliptical. Causes all kinds of problems. Getting asymetrical in the harness. Easily oversteering your canopy into line twist, etc. PD wouldn't agree with you either. Give them a call, or go read their recommendations. I elect to break off a little higher than some people in the group may want. They deal with the higher breakoff or I it can be planned that I pull in place. I pitch at 4 they pitch at 3 only difference is I snivel longer. Almost your whole post deals with me being low....Um altitude awareness. If I am filming a tandem and the instructor hasn't pulled by 5 guess what fuck the opening shot I am tracking away and deploying by 4. I always pull at 4 period. Gives me plenty of time, and even at large boogies no one has ever said anything because my ass snivels down to 3 or 2.8 My canopy is never open high. It is not like I am giving someone advice or anything just stating for good reasons some people desire a slow opening canopy. I agree the 1600 foot one I probably should have grabbed the risers at that point. but just when I thought hmm this is taking longer than usual, it opened. I learned not to use a packer, that is all. I respect you as an expereinced jumper, but that doesn't mean I have to tow the line with everything that comes out of your mouth. Do you have a bad neck? Do you have any expereince with that? Where do you get off telling me what to do, i.e. stop jumping camera? I have seen a neurosurgeon and I am fine. I have a class 3 medical in which the FAA knows about my neck situation too. Want me to attach the letter from them? (FAA) Physical Therapy helps with the pain, and it is not bad enough for surgery. Traction usually keeps it in check fine. Are you a doctor? I must have missed that in your profile. You "usaully" give good advice, but sometimes you swing and miss. I realize I am a baby to you with 550 jumps, but it's my neck, my parachute, and my fucking life. If I am not putting others, or even myself, in danger so you have no say. PM me if you wish but lets not highjack this thread into a bitch session. I am an asshole, but I am honest

My slider hangs up every jump, but on purpose by pockets on the slider, no tension knots required. Talk about thread drift though. My bad. As far a deploying in a track I agree with the poster that stated wait until you have experience getting a real ggod flat track. Newbies will be asking for a spanking because they tend to have a steep dive. I am an asshole, but I am honest

***I don't have any previous neck injuries*** Be glad you don't brother. Talk about a pain in the ass, or er neck. There is nothing like cervical nerve pain. I get what your saying about apples to oranges, but I assure you mine does take 1000 feet. Before stowing slider, grabbing toggles, etc. A most chopped when a packer at Couch Freaks rolled my nose or some shit and I had a 1600 foot opening. Have about two seasons of video to prove it. I also assure you that my neck feels A LOT better with my current setup when I wear cameras then my previous canopy. I agree a canopy doesn't need to take 1000 feet to open softly, that is softly for someone without a buldging disc and camera gear strapped to their noggin. My openings I think you would consider TOO SOFT lol, but that is the way my neck likes em. I am an asshole, but I am honest

My canopy consistantly takes 1000 feet to open. Every jump. How? Had Brian Germain install a pocketed slider. He designed the canopy and listed it as an option for those that want a slower opening. Why? I have a bum neck from a motorcylce wreck (C4-C5) and when I jump cameras I need the softest openings I can get. Granted, I kinda wish it would open a little quicker when I am not wearing cameras, but instead of constanly changing out the slider or trying to afford a second rig, I just pull a little higher than most. People can have their own reasons for a slow opener. If you look at the evolution of canopies over the past couple decades haven't they, generally speaking, become slower opening? I Wonder what that trend is about? I am an asshole, but I am honest

Anyone have any ideas for music selection on my wedding jump? I am getting married on Friday in the plane and then taking my new wife for a tandem jump. If we have a double mal I think we will break the record for the shortest marriage ever! Of course we are getting video, but I have no clue as to what music to use as usually the music I use when I edit skydiving videos isn't exactly marriage material lol. Help a brother out and try to give me some ideas! I am an asshole, but I am honest

Um the same amount of time it takes for an ambulance chasing scumbag to start the calls. This is crap any SKYDIVER knows (or should lol) Can we have admin kick or ban a user guys? Or is that not gonna happen? I am an asshole, but I am honest

I never met Tizzle. I was just a "friend" on Facebook. I posted this on his wall after the accident and got a lot of likes from his peeps so I thought I would post it hear too. Still wish I could have taken one of his courses. "So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home." Chief Tecumseh I am an asshole, but I am honest

Hey brother get home safe. As to your topic man...my 2 cents. I was Active Army combat arms. Was in Kosovo 2000 and Iraq 2003. Have served as a police officer since, and am currently my departments firearm instructor. So I only offer this reply has I feel I have some useful experience. Bottom line find something you love. Find a great gun store, one that preferably has a range on site. Demo different weapons. Not going to get into the whole 9mm debate but I will say my department utilizes the .357 SIG P226. The 357. SIG round is a 9mm round with the power of a 40 caliber charge behind it. It does not have penetration issues. In fact it penetrates better than a slower moving 40 or 45. There was a well documented police shooting in Texas were the 40 failed to penetrate the cab of a semi but the other officer (different department) easily did with the .357 Ammo for it is slightly more expensive though. As to maximizing the damage cavity .45 ACP all the way though. However shot placement will always trump any wounding capability. Hell a .22 can be just as deadly if placed well. Personally I don't think one gun is enough though. Like the earlier poster stated I carry a Ruger LCR (he the LCP) most of the time due to the extreme light weight and easy concealment. I went with the LCR because it doubles as a back up on duty on my ankle and as a backup I like the revolver as it is hammerless in design (no snagging) and more reliable. No tap rack ready involved just pull trigger again. I found I left my SIG in my car (off duty) too much because of what I was wearing, and fuller size gun will show bulk, or be hard to hide, comfort, etc. If you are looking for one perfect gun for all scenarios it would be difficult to say. They are all different. I wouldn't mind owning a 1911 in .45 and in an ultra carry compact size though I will also agree with an earlier poster about the par Army training in regards to pistol for sure. If you aren't SF or MP or something where they do more training with them, then do yourself a favor and get some high quality pistol instruction. Our egos can easily get in the way. We know how to safely handle a hand gun, and we were in the military and all, but getting REALLY good with a pistol is a fine art. There are some great artists out there that can and love to teach even a combat vet as yourself a ton. At least they did me. The instructor course I went through was brutal (one round off the black you immediately went home) but I got 200 percent more accurate, and I thought I was a good shot before. PM me if you want any details on the SIGS since you said they are on your list. For example I hate the DAK trigger option they might try to sell you on. I am an asshole, but I am honest

Yup Amanda Festi at DeLand. She is ridiculously skilled in the air. I am an asshole, but I am honest

So guns should be illegal? Please go on and tell me more about how these criminal mass murders would follow those laws. Wake the hell up. All you would be doing is taking the guns out of the citizen's hands that choose to follow the law. They aren't the ones I am worried about. I want those guys to be able to protect themselves. The bad guys would still (illegally) have guns. Care to refute that statement in a rational matter? If you can? Which I doubt! I am an asshole, but I am honest