mattb
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Everything posted by mattb
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Lisa - Good article! Thanks for writing and posting it. -mb
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"I strongly recommend you don't buy a new Sabre. They are old technology, and are becoming difficult to sell. It'll be even worse when the rumoured new PD lightly elliptical canopy arrives." I talked to some people who have demo'd the new PD "safire-like" canopy and it got good reviews. That being said - don't buy a new canopy if you can find what you want used. An assortment of Safires can be found at http://www.skydivechicago.com
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I'm probably the odd one out here - an alternative country fan. I like a lot of things from bluegrass to rock but mix country and rock together and nothing sounds better. (IMHO) -mb
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I'll join the crowd - Supply Chain Management consulting. Not as geeky as some titles but between meetings I get to program once in a while!
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Skreamer - You can always rebake it so don't worry about it too much. -mb
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More regulation and licensing good? No. Never.
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Anyone have tips or advice on using the auctions?
mattb replied to cyberskydive's topic in The Bonfire
Set up a paypal account so you can accept credit cards. It won't cost you anything. -mb -
Carrie - Nothing good / bad about a USPA credit card. Unless you charge a lot (travel on business hotel/airfare/car every week) it doesn't really add up to a lot but then again a lot of little donations from each member could add up. The low APR is likely to go up after 6 months or some time frame. Every MC/Visa is the same. Treat yourself to a Diner's Club if you start charging a lot. You can't carry a balance but the rewards program is great. I won't be slimy and post a "referral link" here but if anyone wants to help a skydive get more free stuff so he can spend cash on jumping e-mail me. ;) -mb
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Get a Pro-Dytter. I'm jealous of the Pro-Track information but if you get a pro-track you're just setting yourself up to buy the computer interface kit and spend another $100 or so in a few weeks / months. -mb
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Skreamer - I started sitflying on student status so I wasn't as hesitant to just start experimenting once I was jumping on my own. Here are a few thoughts - If you're jumping alone audibles aren't a must. Nice, yes but not a must. If you can't see your hand - arch onto your belly and look. As long as you can hold a sit or stand and don't cork (pop onto your belly and rapidly decellerate) you can jump with others. You may end up no where near each other but what was your first attempted 4-way belly fly like? Same thing. Learn to be unstable. It's not like belly flying where you will immediately have a stable relaxed position. Tumbling can be fun! If you want to jump with others it is easier to exit docked. Lock legs / grab chest straps / etc. Advice from somebody with only a little more experience, -mb
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Don't be so shy! I'm at SDC a lot. I've been around 3 of the last 4 weekend days. Work / tragvel will keep me away for a couple of weeks but I'll be back. E-mail me and let me know who I am looking for. -mb ps - I fall fast!
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Hey Chris. I jump at SDC as well. Being at 15 jumps I may have seen you do your hop and pop if it was last weekend. My girlfriend is in the AFP program so I stick my head in the room from time to time. I'm still waiting on my rig but when I get it look for a purple and yellow Wings container and say hi. -mb
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Sis - Welcome to the world of instability! If you're next dozen or so jumps are anything like my first attempts at freeflying you'll discover that its OK to fall back to earth, spinning, twisting, etc. as you try to get stable and then control (adjusting fall rate, forward motion, turning). The control is still a mystery to me. :) Wanna have fun - lock legs with somebody on exit - you'll probably flip / twist / turn a bunch but its a lot of fun. I've found that it helps if you get your arms way back if your docked in a sit exit. Just remember to arch and get stable to deploy! :) -mb
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Cows get diseases and dropzones get closed? Am I missing something or does Britain have 1 too many laws?
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See the following link: http://www.uspa.org/insurance.htm "Applied to skydivers, the new rules do not allow a person to be excluded from his or her employer's group health plan due to skydiving activity. Ironically however, the rules would allow medical claims to be denied in the event of a skydiving injury. In a kind of government double-speak, a summary of the new rules states that "While a person cannot be excluded from a plan for engaging in certain recreational activities...a plan can nonetheless exclude benefits for injuries because they were sustained in connection with various recreational activities..." Unless the new rule is modified, USPA fears that it's members could face denied coverage after being injured while skydiving. " The link has instructions on who to contact.
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We want pictures! I wish I still got a spring break, and christmas break, and summer vacation . . . . maybe I'll become a teacher
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Brian - Go to webshots.com. Download their screensaver / background program and then start searching their website for skydiving pics or adding your own. The program will refresh your background every X minutes and keep a calendar on your screen. -mb
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AFP vs. AFF - I don't know what AIF is. AFP is a 20 jump program leading up to the A-license. It could be much like the next official AFF program since the person behind it (Roger Nelson) is now on the USPA board. AFP includes 2 tandem jumps, a hop and pop, and one free solo jump in addition to 16 jumps with instructors. The program costs more than AFF but not that much more when you consider a couple of things - 1) all jumps are on video and 2) you rarely repeat a level. AFP includes RW and freefly (sitfly) training and from my experience jumping with non-AFP A-licensees produces a better 3-dimensional jumper. I don't know of any dropzones that do both AFP and AFF - only a few do AFP. They include: Skydive Chicago, Skydive America Palm Beach, and Skydive Spaceland. For more info check out: http://www.skydivechicago.com/instruction/compare.htm I admit I'm biased, I did AFP. -mb
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I think somebody posted a link here or on wreck.skydiving a while pack on an American woman trying to jump from space. Here's linke about an Australian trying a similar feat. http://www.feedmag.com/templates/default.php3?a_id=1645 and http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/03/0306_skydiver.html -mb
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All depends where you visit. The one non-USPA dropzone I've been to only wanted to know that I could explain how a parachute works. Call around - if they know about you ahead of time they are likely to be understanding. If you have to do a coached jump it isn't the end of the world - it's a good chance to get advice. -mb
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Ed - Freefly - you don't need a jumpsuit. I have been wearing a baggy shirt and wind pants for sitflying lately. About to change - I just got a jumpsuit for my birthday. -mb
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How do I get a free jump and the chance to land by a beer truck? Sorry about the injury - without that it sounds like a jumpers dream.
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Check rec.skydiving - somebody is advertising them for $850 for the rest of the month.
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Tigra - I liked the Wings container. Which is a good thing - I bought one! The reason I was able to demo the same rig all day was the fact mine is behind schedule in shipping. I've only jumped rental gear so it's unfair to say the Wings is better than XXX. I can tell you that articulated harnesses are far more comfortable than student javelins! I picked the Wings because of numerous reccomendations from around my DZ, the fact it is very freefly friendly, and I got a great deal on it. I can't wait for mine to come and will post a review in the gear section once I put a 10 or 20 jumps on it. -mb
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sorry - I have to brag This weekend 2 great things happened: 1) I made three skydives on demo gear (no rental fees). These were the first jumps in almost 2 months - too long a layoff. Also, I found out my gear should arrive within a week or two. (ok that's really more than one) 2) My girlfriend who started AFP to figure out why the heck I jumped so often got "hooked". She came down from her 6th jump (2 tandems, 4 AFP) and was grinning ear-to-ear. I think the words were something like "I wasn't falling, I was dancing on air." Tuesday she said she wanted to go back to the dropzone this weekend. (the previous version of this person thought once a month was a better pace) The girlfriend is into skydiving, can it get any better ? ? ?