Tolgak

While there are likely very few of you on this forum: Do well in class, get a job, socialize as much as possible, jump often, and be bold and suave for the women! (To women: be a bit more open and friendly to guys, damnit!) All of us who have gone through or are still in college have made many mistakes that can't easily be remedied without significant time and/or money commitments. I want all of you to know that confidence, patience, and a little impulsiveness can get you a long way in all of your pursuits. It's really that simple to be ready to embrace the experience. I bid all of you a good first year in school. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

Of course that's what he meant. But damnit, it is my goal to get more people in on the wonderful feeling of going shirtless on a jump (don't do it after it rains [we need a smiley for pain]). Plus, the more women that get in on the shirtless deal, and the more brave those women get, the more altitude we'll get for jumping. Everyone wins! Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

I can sitfly and I do it in shorts and a t-shirt without pain. Going commando makes no difference in the air (but makes a hell of a difference everywhere else ). The flapping from the shorts shouldn't do any damage. It's never bothered me. The leg straps can definitely be an issue though. And your solution to the shirt-over-the-handles thing is also backwards. Instead of donning more clothes, one must take more off. If a shirt covers handles, it's clearly a safety issue and must be removed

I've got a 3 hour drive ahead of me today and I need to be entertained. Any song suggestions for said drive would be appreciated. I'm not going to specify genre or anything, just hit me with ideas. The only limit is that I don't want songs about driving or traveling; that's just corny. Just some good tunes to jam to. No country or rap either. I don't enjoy it. Thank you! Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

What did your doctor say? Ask him/her how much healing time you need to be able to jog and/or jump off a chair onto your ankle. That should give a rough approximation of how much healing time you need to be able to land a canopy (assuming it's appropriately sized for your weight and experience level, of course). Or, you could just get medical advice on the internet. The doctors told me it should have healed by now. I have been planning to see one again. Personal experience matters a lot to me, which is why I asked about healing time on the internet. Considering the nature of what we do, I'd expect ankle sprains to be a common problem that people have experience with. The amount to which something heals is a subjective value, and I suspect that in medical opinions, the value they tell you is when something is barely usable again, not when the pain subsides. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

Before I go more in to this, I have completed EMT training and have done clinicals with various agencies and at an ER. I can perform BLS and am fairly good at catching signs and symptoms of many of the ailments and injuries one would cover in an EMT class. I am making my determinations based on that knowledge. Take what I say with a figurative grain of salt. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

Just a question, where does it hurt when you do walk normally? Because you say you can't put pressure on your big toe, but you have a sprained ankle.... Does it hurt in your toe? or does it hurt on the sides of your foot? or somewhere else? It hurts right under and slightly posterior to the inner side of the ankle bone (talus?). That is also where the bruising occurred. If I use a stride which requires the inner part of that foot, I get pain there. can you move your foot from left to right while keeping it 90 degrees to your leg? (stand on the floor, lift your foot a little and "wiggle" gently) It has full range of motion with no pain. It's only when bearing weight on that part of the foot do I feel anything. Do you know what kind of trauma you sustained? (inversion, eversion?) Inversion I think If you damaged some ligaments, it can take up to six weeks to heal with treatment, (like sportstape) and longer if you don't treat it. I'd recommend wearing shoes that support your feet and ankles, like jogging shoes, or even better, lightweigt walking shoes. I do that. Also, after that it will still be a little weak spot, and you can feel a little pain whenever you misstep somhow. (in a hole or something) Aside from the issue you state: Is it possible to get back to regular use and a proper stride? also when you go jumping, have someone, or if you're able to do it yourself, put tape on your ankle / foot, so you can't twist it the wrong way. (ofcourse you'll first need someone to show to you how) I know how to do so and I've done it for about 6 weeks after my injury. I've since fixed my landing flare so it shouldn't be an issue. Anyway, this is how we treat sprained ankles at my work. ofcourse it is better to keep from jumping for six weeks at the least. But you did a good job taking 5 weeks! (I just taped myself once, and kept jumping because of teamtraining.... not a very good example here... but since I kept on taping for six weeks and wearing the right shoes it "only" took me 8 weeks to say, hey, it's over... but kept on jumping though....) Thanks Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

Just about 10 weeks ago, I had a hard landing after a skydive that "mildly" sprained my ankle. It was not broken. While I was walking a week later and skydiving within 5 weeks, I still cannot walk while putting pressure on my big toe. I have to walk on the outside of my left foot as it hurts too much to use the other side. I miss my ability to run and sprint and I fear it may take much longer until I can comfortably use my entire foot to move. For those of you that have had sprains in the ankle region, how long until it was back to normal? Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

There is no question. You have the opportunity to get an education, you take it. Besides, a job can keep you jumping at a moderate rate while you're still in school, even if you're paying for rent and transportation and all that "life" stuff. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

1) Use my freshly dead corpse for the body of a robot. 2) Donate my body to science and cremate me when finished. Do whatever you want with the ashes, though if something poetic is in mind, launch them to space or mix them into the concrete of a spaceport (should be commonplace by the time I die). Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

One doesn't have to be a king to realize that tyranny is happening. The mother is being unreasonable, and actually working against her cause in being controlling like that. The mother seems willing to dish out a life-long punishment for a crime that will be committed no matter what. As far as we know, classes aren't being failed nor is class being skipped. If the child is willing to receive an education, how much do you really care for the child if you're willing to and have no need to take that gift away? A more reasonable approach for the mother is not to hold the offspring back from what she's clearly interested in and hell-bent on doing... but to make sure that the interest is approached in a safe and responsible manner. From what I've seen, the people my age that have received "no"s throughout their childhoods end up loosing motivation for other things while retaining motivation for their original interests. The people that are forced into activities have little passion for them, as good as they may be. The people that receive "yes"s throughout their childhoods are a mixed bag. The kids that are encouraged by their parents to follow their interests end up being very motivated people for many things they do and have very good skills in their early interests. The earlier the treatment begins and the longer it lasts, the more extreme the result. At college age, independence and personal growth has to be encouraged. It's the first taste of independent life for many people and if there's still a parental force holding one back in such an extreme way, energy that would go towards school and learning how to live as an adult instead goes towards combating the parental limit. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

Scream "BAIL BAIL BAIL!!!" Someone else will have the door opened shortly. Problem solved. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

Clearly it was to test the faith of the parents... Nothing like sacrificing one to make others say funny things to show benevolence. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

Life in a medium security prison. She not only died, but it was a torturous death. As bad as some felons are, they will mess with you even more if you do things to children. A life in a regular prison population will be a more appropriate penalty than death, which lets him get off his punishment quite easy. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

I don't think any patriotism should be taught in schools. To do so is indoctrination, and it's not beneficial to society to have indoctrinated people around. Students should be taught a no-bullshit history of this country and the world without leaving out important things. For example, I had no clue what a pilgrim was until late middle school. I just thought they were people with funny hats. We celebrated them and we had no clue about them. Only when a person knows fully about his country and can make an intellectual decision about his allegiance to it can he start being called a patriot. Now, one must go beyond simple allegiance and conduct himself as a helpful member of society if he wishes to honestly call himself a patriot. You can say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, remove your hat for every witnessing of the Anthem, offer your seat on the bus to every soldier, and raise the American flag every day in front of your house. If you don't understand at least the basic points of the Constitution, if you don't vote, if you haven't done something to contribute to this nation*, you are NOT a patriot. I'm tired of all these nutjob jingoists screaming about putting hands over hearts or wearing flag pins or all that other ceremonial crap. Patriotism must come from knowledge and true love of country, not indoctrination and certainly not by forced recitals of the Pledge every morning (whether or not it has "under god" in it. *Contributions do not have to be of public service nature. By this, I mean to pay your taxes, contribute to your economy if possible (work!), and maybe do some volunteering. Skydiving too... good people skydive. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

I don't frequent PBNation, but I am a fellow paintball player. TolgaK or Tolgak on PBN, MCarterBrown, Tippmann, SpecOps Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

I don't think anyone here is even implying quitting college to go skydive. She said herself that she would never do such a thing. The issue here is her figurative leaving of the "nest." Independence is a valuable trait to have and maintain and it's not something that just comes out of nowhere. For many of us, it takes a few acts of rebellion to various degrees which sometimes (as in my case) happen a little too late in life. The loss of college funding is a huge deal and it's a large risk to take. I think a parent's outlook on the situation can change, as evidenced by my case. My parents often threatened to stop co-signing my loans for activities that they are now proud of me for being involved in. Considering I go to a private school, there's no amount of work I could do to pay off school without those loans, even with scholarships. My parents learned to recognize that some of the activities they opposed have brought me more happiness than I would have otherwise. I think with the proper approach to the situation, skydiving can be enjoyed without risk to college funding or anything else. It may take baby steps of rebellion but it can be done eventually. Take your time, work with your parents, and do some things you like that they disapprove of. I'm not saying to go completely anti-authority on them. I'm saying that you should ween them off their power over you. They should be encouraging you to live for yourself. Sometimes it requires taking control away from them for that realization to come. And trust me, unless you've been a complete pain in the ass to them all your life, they wont find it as easy to cut your money as they say it would be. If they see success in your future, you don't have much to worry about. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

In any case, it's not drag you should worry about approaching the speed of light... it's the massive explosions that would occur as you hit any particle at such a speed. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

Airspeed is measured in a couple of ways. I cannot find what type of airspeed 614 mph is, though I'm suspecting it's his True airspeed. While that's pretty fast, it isn't very impressive considering his Equivalent airspeed. To put it simply: Equivalent airspeed (EAS) is what an object "feels." A plane flying at 100 KEAS at sea level will be truly slower than a plane flying 100 KEAS at 100,000 feet. However, the control inputs will feel exactly the same. Only the engine will behave differently, and that doesn't apply to skydiving. So, using the knowledge I have available: At 90,000 feet at 614 mph, Kittinger's Equivalent airspeed would have been somewhere between 100 and 150 KEAS. That is about the range of belly-flying and casual freeflying speeds. Those who did the head-down record of around 300 mph were moving at much more dangerous speeds. To conclude, Kittinger may have been fast, but he was sitflyer fast... not fighter jet fast. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

If you're in college, I'm assuming you're 18 (or very soon to turn 18). That takes your parents out of the equation as far as being permitted to jump. If your parents really cared for you, I don't think they will stop funding your education over a few skydives provided that you don't take their money for the jumps. If you have a job and can afford it, go for the AFF. College is a great opportunity to start making independent decisions and this is definitely one of them. Your parents never have to know that you go jumping, and you have no obligation to tell them. Just be smart with the money. Don't use food, car, or rent money to go jumping. Get a job (if you don't already have one) and use that to pay for your jumps. Good luck. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

In Boca Raton there is a place called Big Kahuna tattoo. I think it's somewhere near Mizner Park. While I haven't had a tattoo done yet, I know from reviews that the artists there have won numerous awards and are perfect if you want an original image on your skin. My sister got a few tattoos from them and, as simple as they are, they look amazing. Their Website: http://bktattoo.com/ Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

The thought of the cost entered my mind only after pulling the handles. Had it existed before, I would have held on to them. The D-ring is from a rig designed for students. It's of average size. And no more having fun jumping. The only other rig I can use got a tear in the canopy some time after my last jump. On top of getting a reserve canopy packed, I may have to pay for a patch. The setback will be about a month, because even after the rigs are fixed and the reserve repacked, the money I'll have to pay for them will prevent me from jumping. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

I went jumping today and have determined without a doubt that if the issue was my fault, it was improper stowage of the lines. The problem was fixed, they are packed nice and neatly now, and now I can work on getting the canopies neater as I fold them for the bag. I talked to plenty of people about the handles, including instructors, and they have no beefs with a soft reserve handle. It seems like a simple issue. If we trust a soft handle for our cut-away, what difference does it make for a reserve? The force it takes to pull out that pin feels similar to the cutaway force (not much at all). I would not attribute a lack of reserve pull to soft handles. A side note: Did a hop 'n pop from 13,500. It made for a great end of the day. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

I don't recall anyone telling me to do this, but when I check my handles, I do little flicks with my hand to symbolize pulling them out. They taught me upon opening canopy to go belly, wait 3 seconds, look over the shoulder to see what's there. If there's a problem, troubleshoot it if it's solvable and above your decision altitude (for cut away). Ride it down if it's a low-speed but too low, cut away if it's both not solvable and high-speed. To pull the handles, look cutaway, grab cutaway, look reserve, pull cutaway, grab reserve, pull reserve. Disadvantages to soft handle: can't completely wrap your hand around it until peeled off from harness. Even so, there's no way a closed circle with your fingers can guarantee a complete grip of the handle like it would with a d-ring. Advantages: Easier to see, get my hands around, and keep a grip on. Even if you can't guarantee a grip on it, your thumb alone can easily peel it off just by pushing down on the top of it. All of this can be done because it sticks out a little bit more than a d-ring. It's much more difficult and time consuming to get fingers into the d-ring (especially with gloves on), which pretty much MUST be done if you want to remove the d-ring from the harness. It took me one hand to pull the soft handle. It took me two hands just to get my thumb into the d-ring. The time difference alone during my malfunction is enough to be sold on soft handles. I rehearse the procedure often enough not to get confused between the two. I don't see any benefit of a D-Ring that can outweigh the benefits of a soft handle after this experience. Maybe some of you can enlighten me. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?

I forget the deployment altitude. I should have mentioned earlier: I was on a 3-way with one of the instructors and another student, and the instructor was the one who called off the dive. He did it right as I was about to check the altimeter, but I figured that since he was waving us off, it we were low and it would have been better to just separate and pull rather than waste the extra second looking at the altimeter. I made an effort for a quick glance but I can't say anything other than it looked like it was somewhere higher than 3k. I did have plenty of time to do the look and everything, and that's what everyone tells me I should have done. However, the thought process went something like "falling too fast, don't have enough time, cut, pull pull pull" After the reserve opened I found myself at about 1700 feet. I don't think it would have been worth the effort to troubleshoot, considering my packjobs still take around 1000 feet to open (trying to get it down to 500). I don't think it was a weak PC pullout. I have long arms and a really strong throw. Something else I hd in mind: I read a discussion here about how low-timers shouldn't have soft handles for the reserve. I think that's total BS. The cutaway handle only took a second to grab and pull. The reserve handle took me a good 4 seconds (at least) to get my fingers through and to pull. It sticks so close to the body that it takes effort to get a hold of it. I don't care to wait that long next time and will be getting soft handles whenever I get around to buying a rig. Dropzones are terrible places for inspiration. What does one think when one looks up for a sign only to see a bunch of people falling?