skypuppy

Strong words... When I started jumping at Bridge Day in '84 I didn't wear a helmet - and I used my skydiving gear... Ditto for the years after that I returned... Last year when I finally went back I wore a helmet (I often didn't wear helmets skydiving in the '80's and early '90's either, but now do on almost all jumps)... I must say next year I'll still wear a helmet, but I certainly think it felt better when I used to jump it without... So I think that it should be personal choice as to whether you wear a helmet or not... Likewise when I went back to Bridge Day last year I used my skydiving rig even though I had a base rig in the van. It wasn't the same rig I used to use but it was the same make and vintage. And I get awfully tired of hearing people say that you shouldn't be allowed to use skydiving gear off the bridge when, used properly, it's as safe as any other gear... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

It's so long since I read this whole thread thru that these might actually have been mentioned, but I recall a couple to do with bad neighbors - one was of a dz flying their plane over a Farmer McNasty's one nite and dynamiting his barn???? Another urban myth I heard was of some jumpers who were doing a demo at a mall one time throwing a dummy out without a parachute from 500' into a corn field across the road... The legend had it that a spectator watching suffered a heart attack and died... Anyone else ever heard that one?> Then there's the one about chickens... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I managed to jump in my 20s, my 30s,40s,50s, and 60s, but was never to get even one in my 70s. Thats the way it goes, so all you DZ . Commers can make one for me. I promise not to claim it in my logbook __________________________________________________ Well, Bill, I'm planning on getting my Tandem Master rating this spring, so maybe we can get you in the air yet, as one of my guinea pigs! Blue skies If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

he said thats why he uses a cypress and said some d00d once had 12000 jumps and got KO'd by a lesser experienced jumper and went in In actual fact he the 12000 jump skydiver had a cypres on his rig - he just didn't remember to turn it on. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

That is an interesting report without much detail... One thing I noticed was 19 claims for plane in flight? What are these about? Is this dz owners claiming for damages to their jump plane? This is 222,000 that in that case shouldn't have been paid out as a general membership claim - shouldn't it be covered under their a/c policy? This report really doesn't clear anything up?! If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

*** Kind of like a 'Biker' but with teeth! We don't all have teeth. Some of us played hockey... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I'm a little confused, 'twardo. At the beginning of this thread you were saying that high claims against demo jumpers were leading to a cancellation of the demo insurance - now you seem to claiming that it is general membership claims which are responsible... So maybe the PRO rating was working? Did the claims information you received change your understanding of the situation? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

We're talking about people DYING here, and you're worried about marking up your container? If you live through it I think that would be the least of worries.. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Just thought I'd mention that one of the first Canadians to pass a baton in freefall is still an active jumper - Floyd Martineau did the feat in BC with Darryl Henry in the late 50's. ------------------------------------------------------------ Floyd just contacted me to let me know that the actual jump took place in Welland, Ontario, not British Columbia as I originally stated... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Just to clarify the situation, Bill Cole did do some jumps with the Labatt's Team in the early '80's, however he was not in the commercial... Sorry if I wasn't clear about that... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

The posts that started all this were definitely NOT questions - they were I here what you say but I'm going to do it this way - which may lead to other newbies trying to do the WRONG THING, and getting hurt... Thus, she got flamed, and justifiably... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I still stand by the statement in my original post... Maybe years ago there was always a chance, but now it is very small if not zero... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Maybe, maybe not, but I'd say the probability of about 25000 canopy collisions is pretty high. Well, if they got it and then someone DID have a dmal, the record wouldn't count, because the rules state that everyone has to live for x number of hours afterwards before the record is official... But that's another story. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I already said that in my opinion it was obvious you weren't going to change this person's opinion - therefore it became more important at that point to let people know where she is coming from so they won't run out and follow her advice first opportunity... It was no longer about teaching her, but about minimizing the damage done for others... I agree totally with Ron's actions - I might have just given up, thrown my hands up and left, but he did nothing wrong. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

started when I was 19 in 1979 and continued through to today, tho some years were better than others... Last year was my worst year - only 1 base jump and 2 demo jumps because of an injury and a financial and social setback dating back a couple of years now... Made a lot more this year. After 24 years I currently have just over 2400 jumps... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Nightingale says "Old timers need to guide the newbies to the best of their abilities. Newbies need to listen to those who've been around a while. But nobody's going to listen to anybody if they sound like a jerk when they're attempting to educate someone." It's obvious in this case that the person who should be educated already knew it all - enough to argue with instructors much more experienced than her... The danger then is other newbies not realizing her qualifications and taking her advice as gospel... Ron was justified in posting those pm's if only to allow other jumpers to realize who they are taking advice from... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

500' using skydiving gear (my Glide Path Maverick) packed slider up, with a regular skydiving pullout pc on a short 5' CRW bridle... It was supposed to be 900' (two weeks after Bridge Day, '88, jumping into a party) but we forgot that the party was about 400' higher than the dropzone... We knew it looked low, but we figured from 900' it would look low anyways - then when we landed (short canopy rides) we realized our altimeters were still reading 400'. Missed my pud the first time I reached for it, too. After we landed we went up to the owner (who hadn't been there for the jump) and said (at a buck per thousand feet, here's your 50 cents...) Funniest thing was that there was a guy from the Ministry at the party. He never said anything about it, but he probably would've liked to. Looking back on it it wasn't probably fair to dz owner, although the jump was off the dz, however at least because he didn't know about it beforehand he shouldn't have had any liability .... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Blahr says 'A good pack job is a good pack job whether the packer has 20 or 2000 jumps. That same good pack job can still produce a malfunction for no good reason and its not more likely on the 20 pack job guy than it is on the 2000 pack job guy assuming good pack jobs all around' I don't believe this... If you inspecct your equipment before packing, pack properly and deploy stable, there is no reason for you to have a mal - you may get a pc hesitation or an off-heading, but a catastrophic failure is not in the cards without some external event (ie collision, high-speed opening, etc.). What your saying is much more likely on a BASE jump where the opening (sans slider and bag) is less structured and exits and object closeness are always wild cards, but on a skydive where you follow the rules, you should have no more than a low(er) opening... (This is assuming you don't jump experimental equipment - like the tandem rigs produced back in the mid '80's, when people didn't necessarily understand possible design flaws - or mini risers - or slinks (incorrectly positioned) - or overstressed rapide links, etc., most of which should be caught during an inspection anyway). As to the odds between a 30,000 jump-wonder and a 300-jump wonder, they're only the same if they use the same packer... Similarly, you can only have a double mal if you first have a main malfunction - ergo if you don't have a mal on you're main you'll never have a double mal... This is why I pack my own... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

No, I didn't say that someone I didn't count as experienced couldn't or shouldn't offer advice - in fact I pointed out that I might actually seek out advice from someone with less than that particular number of jumps but involved heavily in 4-way - about 4-way or some other area in which I thought they might have useful input.... However, as far as someone with

Yes! Definitely! I realised a while ago that the hardest thing to learn in skydiving is anything you have to learn from someone with less experience than you. I've seen 4000, 5000, 6000, & 7000+ jump wonders, who cannot learn to freefly unless they learn it from someone who has more jumps than them. It's kind of sad, really. Not to many coaches out there with that much experience, but plenty with less, and a lot to teach. I hope I never become like that. You know, it might not be jump numbers getting in the way of instructing. It might be the instructor not being able to relate to the student who has more jumps than they do. That, and the neon blue hair and endless piercings might also be a distraction to professional instruction. Message sent is not always message recieved and a good instructor will be able to adjust to help the student learn. You know there might be something else involved here too, like lacking muscle memory of desired positions and movements, fighting against years and thousands of jumps of other muscle memory... I encounter the same things myself after a couple of thousand jumps doing rw, crw and accuracy, freeflying just doesn't seem to come naturally to me... And it's easy to get discouraged and give up when you seem to be simply wasting your money and what's worse, your jumps and time... Being an old guy ain't easy... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I feel I have to stick up for Ron here... I noticed the posts on canopy control before and checked out the poster's profile - at the time I was almost tempted to join in, but I thought the situation was well defused by the original instructor... Still I couldn't believe someone with that many jumps would actually contradict an instructor with more than 10 times her numbers... Now it's happened again... The problem is of course people with not much experience reading these posts and not realizing the experience level of the poster, taking the advice it offers and getting hurt. In that case it is probably a good idea for Ron to put out in the open the experience and attitudes of the poster for all to see before they make a decision to follow her advice. I've thought about this lately, and frankly I don't consider anyone with less than 1000 skydives to be experienced. Of course it may depend on where and what type of jumps you do and on an individual basis I may concede some people with 700 jumps (or even 500 or 400) in some cases might be experienced, but they would usually be people with a fair amount of time in the sport, possibly or probably a rigger, and probably have serious competition experience. And in the case of someone with less than 1000 jumps but who competed heavily in 4-way I might listen to them about turning a block or launching an exit, but probably not take advice on canopy control... I know with over 2400 jumps in 24 years I'm not the most current or up-to-date jumper there is, but I know enough to know when I'm out of my league, and how to figure out how to get where I want to be (both figuratively and in actuality). If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Like Yuri said during the wingsuit seminar at Bridge Day, you want to deploy high enough that you can actually SEE what tree you're going to land in before you hit it... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Keep in mind that according to what I heard Loic did a series of jumps here at ever decreasing altitudes - this was not a one-off flight... One man's nightmare is another man's dream... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

See the thread entitled Fan Man in this forum... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

He has facial bone damage which is putting pressure on his brain. Jimmy - was Jim wearing a helmet? Full face helmet? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone