EppyNephrine

Enough said right there. Even folks who don't condone recreational drug use should support this basic principle.

There are BSRs against it. However, they are forms you can fill out through the USPA to get permission. Shannon Sharpe Skydive into football field http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tgyixVK17k

I think the second half of the quote is the more valuable pearl of wisdom. "Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life" Perhaps our judicial penalties are too lax. Think about it: for violently raping a woman in America, you might have to spend a few years of your life in a warm cell where you are clothed and fed. Probably no jail time if you are rich. Whereas in some of the countries you listed, one could get their hands chopped off just for running a stop sign or saying the wrong thing to someone. I wonder how high their crime rates are....

This is awesome. I, too, am pretty interested in the same question that the OP posted. So I would love to hear results from anybody that has first hand experience playing around with this; not speculation (we can all speculate). It can be more than just distracting... I was once rolling out of my turn as my rubberband that held my slider down broke. The slider shot up to just under my toggles and restricted my risers from their full range of movement. When I went to grab my rears, the input felt completely different.

You can thank William Randolph Hearst & the timber industry for the initial illegalization, as well as the alcohol and tobacco companies for maintaining its illegality. Sorry, but this information is quite inaccurate. To my knowledge, there has never been a study concluded by a credible group that shows a direct link to cancer & cannabis. One problem is that nearly all cannabis-using individuals that develop cancer also smoke cigarettes. There are no recorded cases of marijuana-only users developing cancers related to smoking^1. Yes, cannabis has been proven to contain carcinogens. However, it has also been proven to contain a myriad of compounds that hamper and kill off cancerous growths. Not to mention, you don't have to smoke pot to gain the positive effects. Synthetic THC, as well as edibles can be consumed to COMPLETELY avoid any carcinogens found in marijuana. Oh, and did you know that the American Cancer Society advocates the use of medical marijuana? http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/marijuana ^1: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=large-study-finds-no-link

Oh, and one more thing. If you are worried about your rigger's abilities, ship the goddamn thing off to UPT's workshop to have it done by the folks who made it. It's a one time assembly, and reserve repacks are two times a year. Given that it is your life we are talking about, 2-3 weeks for maintenance to your rig and a little extra $$ for shipping shouldn't be a concern.

Sounds like the primary concern from most of you folks is human error in rigging the Skyhook by your rigger. Which doesn't really make sense to me if you trust the same rigger to assemble/pack your reserve. Either way, I feel sorry for you folks for having a poor selection of riggers around or just not knowing your rigger/rigger's skills well enough to trust him/her. You are only trusting them with your life, after all. I am, however, surprised that nobody has mentioned jumping a Skyhook as a video flyer (risk of entanglement on helmet before cutaway). This is really the only issue I would give a second thought about. Yet, as a video jumper, I use my Skyhook on every jump. Yes, the chance of a Skyhook malfunction does exist, but so does the chance of not getting your reserve out in time, or not being able to find the 2nd handle, etc... Like someone mentioned, odds tend to favor those with RSLs. And anywhere that I can increase my positive odds, I'll take it.

The Denver Broncos have their own official skydive team, the Thunderstorm. Here's a video of them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKJH8HGnqBs And their FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/denverbroncosthunderstorm

Oh, it is out on the internet... p2p, file share sites... but as for buying it, that I don't know about. Where? I've looked everywhere and cannot find any version of this movie, CAM or better.

The Wings of Blue do a lot of jumping. They are Air Force, I believe. But when they come jump at our dropzone, it's a pain in the ass having to avoid those WOBstacles.

You should check in to demoing a NZ made Crossfire. If you were impressed by Spectre openings, you'd love this wing.

Like I said, the best progression would be to master consistent, jaw-dropping swoops on a Katana then move on. By the time you get awesome at swooping it, you will have enough skill to determine what style of canopy will best fit you instead of asking others for advice. The question you asked above tells me your skill range isn't anywhere near a Xbraced canopy. Imagine you got a Honda Civic for your very first car. You spend six months learning how to safely drive in traffic. Then, just as you get comfortable driving, some rich bastard comes along and gives you a quarter of a million dollar Lamborghini. Would you take it out and drift corners and such just becuase you know how to drive? Probably not. Because you don't want to fuck the car or yourself up.

I'm sure that you'd be safe on a JFX, but if you want performance, get it from mastering your technique; not downsizing. My advice is to max out your canopy before you switch to crossbracing. Not to mention, Xbraced canopies loaded under 2.0 are not performing at their potential. Consistency is the key. You should be able to consistently execute a smooth turn that maximizes the speed you can get out of your canopy (incorporating both front risers and harness input). And you should be able to consistently plain out without rears/toggle input, as well as hit your gate. If you can do that pretty consistently, then you're golden. How are your bailout techniques? Could you stab out of a turn then flat turn under 50ft? Now, with that being said, I think a downsize wouldn't necessarily hurt. A katana loaded in the 1.6-7 range will perform a lot more efficiently than your 1.4 loading. Cheers and safe swoops.