MikeJD

Depends what you're looking for, really. The British Parachute Association magazine is a very high-quality publication and carries reports and pictures from around the world, but of course it does have a UK bias.

The first thing I ever saw him in was the Christy Brown biopic My Left Foot. Yep, it's one of those showy 'disability' roles and he got a predictable Oscar for it, but it was a fantastic performance - unsentimental, often unlikeable, and funny! I'd forgotten all about that movie until you mentioned the actor. I'd like to see it again.

"Danger, Will Robinson!"

And I'm not judging it as one. In the ways that I mentioned I thought it failed on its own terms, as a fiction-based action thriller. I reckon it would still be in my top five too - it's just that from the reviews I'd expected/ hoped it would make number one.

I thought it was great in parts, but on the whole I was a bit disappointed. I try not to let the hype build up my expectations (having been burned so many times before!) but from the almost universally positive reviews I expected to enjoy it more. I thought the nods to past films were strained - for example, if we're now in a Bond universe without exploding pens, then I'd prefer we could pretend that the Aston Martin ejector seat and machine guns never existed. There seemed to be too little logic at work. I'm happy for a movie to be over-the-top, but it still has to hang together. In some cases exposition seemed to be missing, while on the other hand the plot device of the personalised Walther was a waste of time. Agreed with Nataly about the unconvincing green-screen work for the bike chase as well (The Bourne Legacy is another recent cuplrit) - I'd much rather see a stuntperson in long shot than a clearly faked closeup of the actor that actually destroys the illusion that they're in the thick of the action. I thought the final couple of scenes, and especially the closing lines, were incredibly weak, particularly compared with the brilliant ending of Casino Royale - still for my money the much more successful of the two. Now all that said, I was entertained. It was good to see so much of London (and a London I recognised rather than the usual tourist-friendly theme park version). Craig and Dench were fine, Bardem was great. I didn't recognise Albert Finney at all! And my movie companion loved it, so maybe I'm just being a curmudgeon.

And the talking leads to touching And the touching leads to sex And then there is No mystery left. (Rilo Kiley - Bad News) In reality I'd say it is a form of prostitution. It's being intimate with someone for money. But then - at least in principle - I don't have a downer on prostitution, so I don't think it's all that important to make a distinction.

Thanks for that - not so much for the bathroom floor picture (that is old news!) but for another photo on the same page - it's been bugging me for ages wondering what was going on in livendive's avatar, and finally I get to see the full shot!

I've had (and lost) a few over the years. The first was given to me by a dear friend, and another was cut off a worn-out bridle line on my old rig. I think I just bought my current one. Lately I wear mine only occasionally, and never at the DZ. Some people think they're tacky, but I reckon they're kind of cool. I'm not a fan of 'look-at-me' skydiving t-shirts - I think it's much nicer to wear something that's discreet, but would be instantly recognisable to another jumper anywhere in the world. And I like objects whose functional design results in them being attractive, which I think closing pins are. Don't let anybody tell you that you have to 'earn' a closing pin necklace. There's far too much preciousness in this sport.

When it comes to separation, I thought we'd already established that the six-degree rule doesn't work!

I always get a bit vexed by these discussions about relative fatality risk. Even if one is orders of magnitude higher than the other, the risks of you being killed in a car wreck and being killed skydiving are both very small. I think what you've been experiencing is more of a gut reaction to putting yourself in a very unnatural situation - and the longer and more often you do it, the more natural and less frightening it becomes. You were asking specifically about the fear of your canopy not opening - I find that varies a lot depending on recent experience. Under normal circumstances I don't give it much thought, but if I've had an uncomfortable or scary opening lately then it's very much at the forefront of my mind when I dump!

Ah, but these are the real deal tuff times. Just wait and see . Regarding Yeager's reported arrogance - I do find it disappointing when somebody whose accomplishments I admire falls at that final hurdle. I'm not easily star-struck - but the closest I've ever got to meeting 'heroes' is being coached by some of the world's top skydivers. And without exception, one of the things I've admired most about those men and women is their warmth and humility.

You could always, you know, excercise restraint... Then again, maybe not.

I was more worried about the apparent lack of separation between groups. I'm assuming/ hoping at least that the camera guy and the girl before him had some kind of agreement, although I couldn't figure out what his intention was. Oh, and did anyone else get the impression he had a very firm opening? Wait, wait, waveoff... full canopy! Regarding the Skyvan door, I'm always amazed by how often it's taken for granted that it'll be operated correctly. Nobody wants to ask on the ground, either on the assumption that someone else will do it or for fear that they'll be volunteering themselves!

The fact is, within this sport there's a preoccupation with death that's completely disproportionate to the actual fatality rate. Like it or not, 'whuffos' are not the only ones guilty of mythologising it. I'd say I've actually known five people who have been killed during my twenty years in skydiving - a couple of them quite well, some of them barely at all, none of them among my closest friends - and you'll know people too if you stick around. Others have had much worse losses, of course. But I'd go so far as to predict that both of us will eventually die of something unrelated to jumping, Bruce. In fact, I almost guarantee it.

I have it on VHS, but haven't had a VHS player in years... LOL No need for a VHS player - I have it on DVD and so can you, for $10.

I was surprised (unless I missed it while wading through all the sniping) that nobody had mentioned 'drawstrings' in skydiving helmets. My Z1 has one to tighten the collar, and when it's pulled taught there are quite a few inches of excess elastic emerging from the back. I'm always careful to tuck it inside the collar before exit, but on quite a few videos I've seen it flapping around regardless during the jump. Here's an item of clothing that's designed for skydiving, and yet according to some of the posts here includes a potential safety hazard. I'd pretty much decided that the entanglement risk was negligible, but the post about the sunglasses cord made me wonder. I guess one bit of advice would be to replace the elastic in that type of helmet regularly. Thinking about it mine is very old and stretched, so there's more excess than there needs to be.

After a couple of decades in the sport, I've decided that jumpers are by nature no more supportive or generous than anyone else. But if that sounds cynical, I really don't mean it to be - rather, I like to think that most people are pretty nice when it comes down to it, and enjoy doing favours for others where they can. A small community like skydiving just provides opportunities/ excuses to exercise our better natures, and it's cumulative - one good turn deserves another.

They are broadly but not quite the same. Chances are your weight distribution will be somewhat different when you first skydive, since you'll be wearing a parachute rig (and a big, heavy student rig at that!) This will probably put your centre of gravity further forward but you may not really notice it. More and more people are wearing dummy rigs in the tunnel now to better approximate actual freefall. The really big thing about the tunnel is having the walls as a reference. When you're learning this is a good thing because it helps you develop the muscle memory that keeps you on heading and in place, although you may find the lack of reference a little disconcerting when you get into the air. Experienced skydivers often find themselves bouncing off the walls the first time they fly in a tunnel - partly because it is a little different, and partly because they never realised how much they move around in the sky. Some things will be completely new, of course - exits, and all that inconvenient stuff involving the use of parachutes - there's no way (yet!) to simulate those properly in the tunnel. And aside from all the physical limitations, never underestimate the effect on your brain of actually jumping out of an aeroplane for the first time.

You don't say where in the world you are. Since you're approaching this very analytically, that should be a consideration. If you're skydiving you'll need active dropzones within striking distance - and all aerial sports are of course weather-dependent, and the weather requirements vary somewhat according to the sport.

I really dislike the term 'indoor skydiving' - I guess it's more of a marketing thing than anything else. OK, it's done indoors, but there's no sky and there's no diving. But to the OP - although it's not the same thing, it does give you a taste of what it's like to manoeuvre your body in freefall. In that sense it might be worth a trip to a wind tunnel to see whether you enjoy that experience.

Thank you, Nataly

C130? Pah. You could perform it in a C182, if you did it on Stylophones!

I mean, that's a great example of training working in the event of losing an instructor. But...

Nice friendly DZ, and I think they have both Dornier G92s there at the moment - probably my favourite jumpship. Enjoy! Yes. If you normally wear lead, don't bother to cart it over there - take your empty weight belt and they will rent the pouches to you for very little cost. I daresay other DZs do this, but it's the first time I'd heard of it and I think it's a great idea!

Why? Whether dye makes a difference to pack volume or not, it's worth remembering that people still typically associate white with reserve canopies - so it's easier for someone to identify you after a cutaway.