tbrown

Are you buying new or used ? If your heart is set on new, Wings and Infinity are two excellent choices for workmanship and quality AND they're both at the low end of the price range. But just because they're inexpensive (relatively) does NOT mean they're cheap. Some of the rigs out there are insanely expensive. No names, but $1899 is too rich for my blood, especially when it doesn't even include extras... Just about any American built 21st century rig is SAFE if it's been taken good care of by the owner and their rigger. There's a lot of beautiful gear available for very reasonable prices too. Some people with money to burn seem to trade in their rig every two or three years to get something newer, sleeker, faster, hotter. My rig is a Javelin that I bought used. The previous owner took immaculate care of it. It's a complete system with PD canopies and a Cypres. I got the whole nine yards for 3 grand. It fits (we're both big guys over 6 ft and over 200 lbs) , it's comfortable, it's good looking, it's safe. I love it. So don't go throwing a huge stack of cash at all new gear unless you've got several hundred jumps and have refined your idea of what it is you're looking for. Best of luck! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

As a Democrat, I'm glad that Gore's not running. The 2000 race was Gore's to lose and he lost it. Fact is, he couldn't even carry his own home state of Tennessee. I don't know of anyone whose ever lost their home state, not even McGovern or Mondale. And if Gore HAD carried Tennessee, he'd have won it right there because Tennessee has more Electoral votes than Florida. Florida wouldn't have mattered. I couldn't stand Gore's preachiness. I basically held my nose and voted for him. Then when the Florida debacle followed, he tied the thing up in litigation. Bush basically stole Florida fair & square, the way Kennedy stole Illinois in 1960. At that time, Dick Nixon refused to demand a recount, even though he knew he'd been screwed. He didn't want to put the country through it. Not Gore though, he called out the lawyers and made more preachy speeches. He will forever be remembered as the whiner who tried to sue his way into the White House. And by the way, for the record, I hope this year John Kerry beats Bush's ass like a gong. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'll still be there, but will be grounded by the shiny new pin I'm getting in my ankle tomorrow afternoon. Came in like a freight train last weekend on a hot day & no winds, my foot caught something and did a 180 while the rest of me kept right on going. Earliest estimated return to the friendly skies is now September (no swimming either, which really DOUBLE-SUCKS !). It's better not to even dwell on how hugely disappointed I feel. But I still want to meet you all and have a great time. So have fun and be safe out there. It only takes a moment to fuck up your whole summer and there's no going back on it. See you there. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

LOL! My thoughts exactly. I was standing in line in the Bombshelter when the PA went off asking for help. I was actually in the middle of ordering when I just left and ran out there. Lucky for those guys that a few guys with cooler heads and not as dumb as the rest of us got there first and started talking to the guys. It was funny how their eyes got bigger and their chests got smaller as more andmore and more skydivers ran around the corner withour funny suits on and all ready to kick there ass. So after this jerk and his pals made trouble twice, and the cops came out twice, they still walked away ? I'd think a night in the Perris jail would've given them the kind of therapy they needed... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I've got a Spectre that I psycho pack and the openings are just fine - and no slower. The snivelly part of the opening is when your center cells are inflated anyway, the canopy's struggling to get the slider down like a lunatic in a straight jacket. You'll get that whether you Pro or Psycho pack. A psycho pack is WAY easier to get in the bag and you'll be amazed how much smaller and neater your closed bag is and how nicely it fits in the container. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

This is a dangerous myth. Bill Booth explained it awhile ago in a similar thread. You simply do not have the time to fool around with trying to clear your main risers after cutting away, you have more urgent business at hand, like pulling your reserve immediately. IF your main is loose, even in the bag, there's way more than enough drag to seperate the main risers from your harness. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

No, they didn't. Fifteen or twenty years ago, you threw your p/c and got a good stiff opening in about 2-3 seconds. Not a slammer necessarily, but enough of a tug to make you grunt and feel like a sack of cement for just a moment. And before that, rounds opened pretty quick too, though mostly nice & soft (especially Paracommanders). We used to do lots of 30 second 4 way stuff from Cessnas in those days, with typical breakoff at 3500 ft. And that was considered safe by-the-book skydiving. In those days a snivel was a "WTF" experience & not considered desirable. We've since learned to consider a snivelly opening to be a good thing, that just needs to be initiated higher. The little cross braced buzz bombs didn't even exist back then and are an entity all to themselves. I've never jumped one, so will go along with whatever their owners think is best. I find breakoffs at 4-5 grand, depending on group size are a lot more relaxed and I don't mind taking a longer track at all. I do harbor a personal opinion that people jumping in groups should at least feel confident about dumping at 3 grand. Trust your gear, it's the people who get twitchy in a crowd because they "have to" open at 3500 that scare me. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

"The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" ?? By Spock ??OMFG.... Anyone ever heard William Shatner's version of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" ? I wish I were joking, but it really exists. I was going to nominate "Convoy" - that's a big 10-4, buddy, and the alltime ball biter of the psychedelic set, "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida".. It's like bad acid, "please God, make it stop and I'll NEVER listen to it again, just make it stop!". By the way, NOBODY is allowed to dis The Grateful Dead, NOBODY. I said so. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Aside from abortions, and abortion referrals, Planned Parenthood provides a whole lot more. My daughter has dragged a few of her friends into local Planned Parenthood clinics when her friends told her they were having unprotected sex with their boyfriends (my daughter's a good kid, she looks out for her friends). What the girls are given is pretty amazing. I'd thought they'd get a little ziplock baggie with a few condoms, but instead they get this amazing Halloween sized sack filled with condoms, foams, gels, and a dissolving spermicidal film strip - that was a new one on me. They get a bunch of literature, they get a good talking to about what they're doing and how to be safe and healthy about it. Thank God somebody's giving these girls what they need, because their parents obviously aren't. They're too hung up denying that THEIR kid would ever open her legs to a boy. But the girls and women who visit Planned Parenthood for any reason at all, whether it's for an examination, for counseling, for treatment of an infection, for anything at all are all set upon by the Bible Nazis who scream at them and call them murderers indiscriminately. These people are just like the friggin' Taliban and would probably be very happy to live in the prop3er moral atmosphere of a country like Iran or Afghanistan. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

How about rephrasing the question. Should the state, or anyone else be telling parents whether or not they can pierce their children. Or spank them if they're disobedient (and I mean spanking with a flat hand - not with a belt or a stick, or a fist). Next they'll be telling parents of boys that they can't have them circumcised. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

She turned me into a newt ! A newt ? Well, I got better... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

What floor are you on ? Is there a window ? Can you open the window ? It would be a shame if there was an accident, but it might solve some problems at the same time. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

How about Red, the dad on "That Seventies Show". If he ain't a hardass, I don't know who is. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I take Claritin seasonally for hay fever. Also used Sudafed a few weeks back after I fucked up my ear skydiving, so it wouldn't happen again. Feels good to be in some government file as a dope abuser. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

This all came about as a result of the Laci Peterson case, but many people believe there is another motive behind the legislation -- which would be to weaken Roe v. Wade. That's right. This law wouldn't have had the least difference in the Laci Peterson case, as she was not murdered on Federal property (i.e. a government building, military base, Indian reservation, etc. Hmmm, this would subject American Indians to further prosecution that average white Americans needn't be concerned with, interesting). It's a smokescreen. I mean unless a lady gets killed at the friggin' Post Office, this law does nothing but attempt to establish a legal precedent to undermine a woman's right to an abortion. I feel safer already.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Right now we've got a girl living in our home whose boyfriend is a Marine in Iraq, his second tour. She just got a letter from him telling her how hard they'd been hit, with two dead and nine wounded. I remember this kid when he was in high school, playing bass in a crappy band. I pray every day that he'll come home to her and that Bush and Rummy and all the other big money draft dodging assholes who sent him there will all be gone by next Jan 20th. And that's a big uh-huh. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Blah, blah, blah, more lies and bullshit. Kerry's just another human being, he's no saint and the world won't be saved when he's elected (God willing...). But anybody can take a cheap shot. He went, he served, he lived. Sorry about that. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

How about Cypres ? It's not just an island that Turks and Greeks fight over anymore. Also head down, freefly, swoop, carve, and "in the corner" - hell I had to learn those new terms ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I like college until about my senior year, then I just got bored as hell with it. Like Muenkel sez, life is what you make of it. If you went back to the old campus you'd go out of your mind hangin' out with KIDS, it's surprising how much you've already changed without realizing it. If you need to shake your life up, please do whatever it takes. I'm all of a sudden 48, with too many regrets. Believe me, the DECADES fly right on by. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

>Does anyone have experience landing on rears more than a handful of times? Oh yes. There are a great many swoopers who land using rear risers on every single jump. So what kind of a flare should you expect from rear risers ? I've seen pics of swoopers using the rears, in most of the pics they're scooting across a pond too. As I'm interested in experimenting with this maneuver for practice & confidence (up high first, of course), I'm wondering about an actual landing. Let's make some assumptions for our readers. Let's assume a seven or nine cell ZP "medium" performing canopy, like a Sabre2 or Spectre, at a WL of 1.0 - 1.3, in your recommended 8-10 kts winds. Do we still have to run like hell ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Going back to what Aggie said, there's little we can do other than bring it up with the DZO and S&TA. From that point it's in their hands. You could start a pool for bets on when the kid goes in. Bets could be accepted as to the date or weekend of his demise, whether or not he manages to kill anyone else besides himself (and how many), etc, etc. The DZO and S&TA might actually do something at that point, especially if you're promoting the pool and taking bets from the students as well... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Dave I think you've hit the nail on the head for a great many pro-choicers. I'm not personally comfortable with abortion either, but as a matter of law and public policy, safe abortions must be freely available to women who want or need them. An interesting aside is that if you carefully read the Roe v Wade decision, there is a section on the historic background of abortion in America. Abortion was in fact a widely, if quietly, accepted practice until the early 20th century. During the Reform Era of the early part of the last century, abortion was outlawed, but only because it was such a medically unsafe procedure at the time. It was a misguided, if well intended effort to protect women from what was a very dangerous and unreliable procedure, there was no "aw, gee-whizzing" over the rights of fetuses. The entire "moral" argument against abortion is a purely twentieth century invention by a bunch of Bible Nazis withh too much time on their hands. Oh man, do I sound opinionated about this ? You bet I do ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I hafta go to the DMV and get new plates because some asshole keeps stealing license plates in my neighborhood. This is the second time in 6 months. Then I think I will go make a couple, why not ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

My only concern, as I work in a factory environment, is being forced to see a doctor of the company's choice and not my own. I've got a GOOD family doctor. The one time my employer sent me to their clinic of choice, for a back strain, I was set upon by complete hacks who insisted on x-raying me with a machine that looked like it came from East Germany in the 1950's. They had no idea what they were doing and I already knew I didn't need no damn x-ray. I'd hate to think what they'd do if I was seriously injured. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !