cdunham
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Everything posted by cdunham
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Was that her 100th? No, but I have the video, in case you care to revise the point estimate.
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No, I've never actually jumped there. I started jumping at Woodstock, with Sluter and some other folks you probably know, and then went over to Pepperell. It's pretty much a 2-3 hour drive to any dz outside RI, so I might as well go where my friends are. If they're still talking to me after no contact for six years! Sorry to hear you are still grounded. Now that you mention it, I remember you posting about it. Bones heal. Does your husband dig scars?
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I'm not sure 500 is possible. That would be one every three minutes. I'd love to know what jump ship he used to do that with!
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Thanks, Donna. Lake Elsinore is a very photogenic place. I'm hoping to get some more shots from Jumptown in the next week or two! Hey, if you are around, will you join me on my 400th? Carl
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I hate to ask this, but is that a picture of you sitting next to a poodle in an antique shop? Hanging with Twisted Sister in some chic pub? What? Carl
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Yes, indeedy! These are from some pix Tom took last weekend. I have some more here. Someday I'll wrap some html around these, but for now, I just scanned them in and dumped them there. Donna, yes this is a "classic" Racer Elite. No RSL, no Cypres, no mini-risers, no microlines, no square reserve, just the bare essentials. Paid $1400 in 1986 for it. Works great, has saved me every time so far. It's right here, do you want to say 'hi'?
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OK, this is totally random, but I'm jazzed about it. I'm not jumping this weekend because I have to paint the house. It needed it. So I was at Home Depot, and decided to go for it, and get one of those Wagner power sprayers, because I am desperate to not spend the next three weekends painting! Holy shit. This thing rocks! Its too late now, but next time the house needs painting, I'm going monochrome (no seperate trim color), getting it all done on Saturday, and jumping Sunday. Yes. Sorry to bore you all with this, but I have no other life. Carl P.S. I'm now offically a dz.com geek, with his own picture. Ph33r m3!
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I've been using some called SkyBands, which are also high-quality flat elastics. I have to say I liked tube stoes better for packing, but I feel a bit more comfortable with these heavy-duty elastics. They do wear and break, but less frequently that standard "office" elastics. Oh, and they are a hell of a lot cheaper than tube stoes. Carl
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Oh, here's one I hadn't thought of. In the "Safety" section of this fine site, there are some sections from Dan Poynter's book. In the section on breakaways in general, he makes the point that in some (older) 3-ring systems, the large ring will flop down after a cutaway, and may be confused with the silver reserve handle. I just checked my rig (Racer Elite, manufactured July 1985, I guess that qualifies as "old" ), and it potentially would do this. The large ring will rotate as far as 90 degrees (perpendicular to the webbing), which means that if it did, it would be a big silver D-like ring pointing out in front of me, in my field of view with the reserve handle. Yet another reason to look at (and optionally grab) the reserve handle before chopping the main. I don't recall this happening the one time I had to use it, but I also use the "grab both handles before cutting away" method. This may be a factor in some of these "no pull" incidents. Carl
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And you're lucky I'm straight. I guess? Carl
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I wouldn't rush to judgement on this one. I'm sure some small percentage of people freeze up, and many do panic, but many more hit the ground reaching for whatever they can. The only difference it makes for the rest of us, is that if we assume that these folks just froze up, then we have no further responsibility. Otherwise, we need to understand why they were unable to pull, and train ourselves to avoid those situations (see my previous post on the subject). This is a really worthwhile topic. Carl
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One thing to keep in mind is that these people may not have been just riding shit down, or deer-in-the-headlighted. If you read the Cypres saves reports, you will see that there are a large number of them where people were tugging like hell on the wrong thing, usually the reserve ripcord cable housing. Many of them also seem to pull the cutaway handle, and think that is enough (or that it's the reserve handle). It may be that these no pull scenarios are the same kind of thing, only we didn't get to find out what was going on. The lesson here may not be to say "why don't people pull, I would be doing everything I could!", but rather, "If this happened to me, would I be able to locate the right handle?" Talks to being aware of the handle locations, especially in freefall, under canopy, etc. Don't just train your muscle memory for where they are while you are on the ground or in the plane. I say that, but I don't do it either. Time to start. Carl
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Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be a musician! Sorry, son, but I'm afraid you can't do both. ---
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Mike, Interesting juxtaposition of your posting and your signature. Sorry, couldn't let it go.
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Got it, thanks.
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And I'll bet he suggested you sign up for his canopy control course that your dz offers. What, there isn't one? Wait, you mean there aren't any anywhere? How do people learn to fly canopies, during the 10 jumps of their student progression? No wonder we slip, slide, crash and end up under the wings of parked aircraft. Carl
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I'm having a hard time picturing this. When you talk about "slider stop lines", do you mean the lines on whose ends the grommets end up resting when stowed? And by rebound, do you mean that these lines reaching extension "boing" (forgive my misuse of technical terms) and force the slider part way down the lines before canopy inflation? When will you be publishing this patent? Carl
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Um, I would cross-reference this discussion to the other thread on "skygods". I know I've called whuffos the "walking dead" on this forum, but that doesn't mean I think I'm above them in some way. It's more a pity thing
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This is a parody of the classic Evel Kneival quote: Bones heal, Chicks dig scars, Pain is temporary, Glory is forever! --- Carl
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Lisa, Sounds like a lot of difficult work and a very difficult decision, but that you and the rest of the jury exercised a great deal of courage making the decision you did, especially given that he was already convicted. It's nice to know that the system works, at least sometimes.
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Dude, in the picture it looks like your 3-ring releases are misrouted. PSYCH! Made you look!!
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Zennie, it looks like the Snell rating that these meet is specific for snowboarding/skiing. I wonder if that is sufficient for skydiving? This may be a case of apples and oranges (hmmmm... case of apples and oranges... yummmm). It's interesting that the Leedom claims to have "PATENTED ENERGY ABSORBING RIBS", which would seem to be similar to frap hat "ribs" in how the disperse or concentrate energy. Yea, this seems like an area that could use some research. I'd hate to shell out $$$ for a helmet that wasn't much better than my hat (style aside, I'm kind of tired of the conehead look
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The term can be used in all these ways, but it is usually derogatory, referring to one who thinks very highly of themselves, whether they are good or not. Generally, these people are quite talented, and do have a lot to offer, if your are willing to put up with their bullshit. But usually there are other talented people available who are easier to deal with. For example, Roger Ponce de Leon is one of the greatest skydivers in the sport, has an amazing sense of where to put people in a dive, an artistic sense of style (he builds beautiful rw skydives), and is a very patient teacher. He won't hesitate to tell you when you've screwed up, but he doesn't humiliate you in the process. But I wouldn't call Roger a skygod, out of respect. Carl
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Hey, I spent the better part of my childhood in a TV trance, and I turned out, well... oh, I see your point.
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The incident reports person mentions a couple of times in his analyses that he thinks frap hats actually do more harm than good, as they focus energy rather than disperse it. This seems to make sense, although my understanding was that most head injuries (less than actual fractured skulls - eg concussions) are actually caused by deceleration and the brain knocking around inside the dome, ripping against turbines and all that, in which case the hat should be OK as long as it stretches out the impact over a longer period of time, as helmets do, especially when they crack. Anyone have any facts on this? Expert opinions? Uninformed drivel that sounds somewhat plausible? Carl