bluetwo

Also gotta say don't get discouraged. Things come in time and yes I'm still very new too but in my limited experience I can say skydiving is like a lot of things in that the more you do it the better you'll get and the more comfortable you'll be which adds up to more fun and more learning. Keep at it!! _______________________________________

Very nice... a different sort of story. I bet it's awesome to add jumping to your repertoire. _______________________________________

Hooked for life now.... that's awesome. _______________________________________

That's true. Thanks _______________________________________

It occured to me that Brian Germain should have a Wiki page with all the amazing things he's done, and he didn't have one until I started trying to make it, only I'm new at creating pages and I thought I knew what I was doing... I need some help though. There's already a pretty nice page about "Airlock (parachutes)" that mentions Brian and his work with them so we're already on the way to having some great links. I meant to make this a "Work In Progress" page, but apparently I used the wrong links and it ended up being an actual published page, which unfortunately means it might get deleted if it doesn't get brushed up pretty quickly. So I figured with all the folks on this forum there are probably a few that can contribute and make it work. Thanks for looking: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Brian_Germain _______________________________________

Big welcome to the forums bro. I'm in Afghanistan right now too, and got about 10 months left. There's a lot of good info to read here and while you have time to read up beforehand I suggest you order a SIM (skydivers information manual) which will teach you a LOT and it's not in the horribly boring format that a lot of manuals are written in. It does cost a few bucks but no big deal: http://www.uspa.org/SIM.aspx If you're totaly sure you're gonna stick with it you can order an altimeter, goggles or helmet. Actually it might seem like I'm encouraging you spend a lot of money on this stuff right now but that's not really the case. It's more food for thought than anything. Glad you found the light man!! _______________________________________

Big congrats on surviving your first jump and good luck with the rest. I actually did static line and loved it. _______________________________________

I got to fly a Solo 230 on it's first 5 or 6 jumps and it was great! It opened a little off heading every time but at least it was consistent. Really stable, even in a thermal or last second wind direction change and great flares. Students with higher jump numbers or intermediate jumpers will probably find it slow and boring at landing time.

QuoteSomebody hit a nerve did they? Quote HAHAHAhA..... ok that was hilarious. _______________________________________

If you are a naysaying wannabe asshole prick that actually likes to pick apart what people say or do and use technicalities like a wannabe asshole prick. If you constantly judge people and go around talking about how long you've been doing something so therefore you must be right in every way, you should definitely do the world a favor and just move on to something else because there are a lot of cool people in this sport who don't want or need you around. Flame on professional naysayers. _______________________________________

QuoteI'm a newer skydiver and haven't jumped in below freezing yet. but I've been wearing dirt bike gloves every jump and will probably wear the cold weather dirt bike gloves once it gets below 40. They have great dexterity and feel and are still wind proof. and i got all sorts of dirt bike gloves laying all over my houseQuote I've jumped when it was 30 on the ground and that air was by far the coldest thing I've ever felt all at once, and mind you I've been colder from long term exposure. That cold air at 120+ MPH was so intense, to the point that my goggles were useless to keep my eyes from watering. In fact I started out in a track which was blowing the water out of my eyes but when I went to the stable position my goggles got completely soaked. So to remedy that I started tracking again just so I could see. .....oh yeah. Before some naysayer comes along - I did go back to stable and wave off before opening. _______________________________________

When you ask a question like this you know people are going to give good answers, argumentative answers, stupid answers and without fail losers will hijack the thread. But if you like dropzone.com that's just part of it I guess. Anyway, I'll go ahead and save some asshole the trouble and point out that I'm inexperienced compared to most. That said, I found what works for me and that's just what you have to do. _______________________________________

QuoteThat's because a completed, signed, stamped A card IS an A-license. Most people do apply for the A license anyway because if nothing else, getting it filed with USPA means that if you lose the yellow card, there's still a verifiable record of you having achieved the A license. If you lose the card, you'd have to redocument everything, which could be a pain. But by having the card, you did have a license.Quote I like that.... and I like this thread. Very informative _______________________________________

Big congrats from Afghanistan. Have some fun for me sometime _______________________________________

Still trying to find gloves that have good grip and offer some protection from the cold. I think I prefer bare hands in the warmer months. _______________________________________

Just a little bit over 2 hours, which leads to camping out at the DZ. I usually go even if the weather looks shabby. _______________________________________

I used to go to a park for lunch with my SIM. If the weathers nice it's hard to beat _______________________________________

I've been pleasantly surprised by the fact that the U.S. Army hasn't tried to prohibit yet. I guess the fact that the Golden Knights are so popular helps a little bit. I have had to sign a "safety pledge" in which one of the lines says "I will not take any unneccessary risks" ...which I always signed because to me skydiving is a necessity!! :D _______________________________________

I just see it as: it's natural to have some fear, and you should, especially to the degree that it makes you remember to check your gear, do gear checks on others, re-check your handles before you get out and you see where I'm going with this. While doing this just remember, outside the plane and into the air is where you want to be. That's what it's all geared towards. Planning to go to the DZ days or weeks in advance, driving there, packing, talking parachutes with buddies, the loads of cash you pump into the activity... it's all geared towards getting out of the plane and everything you do right after that. So yeah, it's a pretty crazy activity but we love it and we do it safely so others can do it safely too. _______________________________________

Awesome, and I think I'll save it on my computer!! :-) _______________________________________

I wanna get some more tunnel time. _______________________________________

Awesome!! Glad you discovered it too. Sure other things are fun, especially dirt bikes, but there's just nothing exactly like skydiving. Blue skies! _______________________________________

Awesome!! There really isn't anything like jumping. Welcome and have fun reading, learning and moving up _______________________________________

An entire book... in one little line! Isn't it though? It just came to me, but yeah. I had a feeling there must be a lot of people out there who can relate. In my case she never let on that she didn't like how I took it and ran with it. At least not until it was too late anyway. She says I tend to fixate on things whatever that means... Ironically after we split up I haven't been going as often, and well it being cold and rainy might have something to do with it. _______________________________________

Hi Mike, I feel your sentiment all too well. I think my ex hates skydiving now...... _______________________________________