pd190

aggie dave put together a really good list of "songs to skydive by!" do a search for his posting. I personnally recommend the following: Blur - Song 2 (track 2) System of a down - aerials (track 14) Freddy Jones Band - in a day dream POD - alive Bare naked Ladies - crazy There are many, many others......

0:8:0 0 - nothing changin' here. 8 - Got some great jumps in this weekend. Started saturday out with a fun 4 way from 8 grand. just to warm up and have some fun. Did a tandem and then a video and then spent the rest of the day jumping on to the beach. 3 beach jumps in a row! It was awesome. Last jump was a sunset load! Man it ROCKED!!! sunday was a nice slow day. Did a tandem, and then we put together a 4 way (planned 8 pts.) for a guys 200th, (CONGRATS to Conquest150!!) we hit 7 out of 8. Did another video and called it a day. Another great weekend spent on the beach!!!!! 0 - no beer owed

86 round SL in 11 years (man, those landings) 571 skydives in 5 plus years. (not including MFF's) I like to average about 100 jumps a year. When I first started 80 was my goal. Now, I'm getting about 120 - 140 jumps a year. Also do camera work and picked up my tandem rating this year, so hopefully, numbers will pick up.

The only pain I've ever encountered with my kidneys is the morning after a long night of drinking capt. and coke!... (J/K) I've never heard of anyone having problems with their kidneys from skydiving other than the above mentioned.

Ya know, I trained and worked out of that base for quite some time. It's a perfect place when a change of Camp Swampy is in order. What pisses me off, is first they want us gone, Oh...wait you really are leaving, no..no... you can't go, we won't get anymore federal funding and the locals won't make any money from the sailors and Marines that train here...wait you can't go..... Okay, now you aren't going, okay, we'll run around naked in the live ordance impact zones so that you won't drop any more bombs, and we'll cost the government millions of dollars in wasted training time and extra deployed Marines for security at the gates. then when you send them, we'll beat them with rocks and sticks because we know they won't shoot us, and then we'll destroy government property. Yeah, and then when the shelling starts agian, we'll run naked through the impact zone, only we'll be drunk this time. You know what I say, they made their own bed, so FUCK them! (sorry for the vent, just my opinion.)

30 : 19 (jumping pound-in's USMC)

0:15:0 0 - nothing has changed! 15 - Wow!, talk about a busy weekend on the Beach!!! I'll break it down...... Saturday - (11) Started the day with a reunion 4 way scramble dive. Some guy we hadn't jumped with in a while came from his home DZ to jump the beach! Rock on Ruppert! Knocked out 6 tandems and 2 vids, got a good four way in with a new jumper. (Larry owes beer for first four way from a 182 while exiting from the V!) After all of this, what could be better, well, a sunset BEACH JUMP! That's right folks, a beautiful red sky and sandy beaches makes a perfect day! Sunday - (4) Had to leave early but still got some in... Did a four way to start (7 pts.) Knocked out another tandem, then did a two way drill dive (15 pts.) Finished the day with a nice BEACH JUMP. Lots of people watching and got whoops and yells on landing! It was Awesome!! BEACH JUMPS ROCK! 0 - no cases owed. Only 5 more months till I can fall off of the wagon. (Gave up beer for New Years resolution.)

return it and Run -awayyyyyy......from JVC!! Get a Sony product, you'll be happier and have less problems.... I know, I had JVC and now I'm all set with a Sony!!!!

I read that as "Breaking Wind Productions." Sorry, guess I'll have to slow down a little when reading posts........

I'm pretty much the same out the door. I jump a Bev suit with large wings. At my DZ we have TM from 260 to 180 pounds. It's definatley a challenge moving from one TM to the other. The best advice I can give is practice, practice, practice. Be aggressive in your movement, but not overly aggressive to compromise safety. One senior camera guy taught me a few tricks, but pretty much I had to figure out the little tricks myself. Use every chance to jump with the TM's that you can. Figure out each one's flight characteristics and then tailor your dive attitude to match. Practice level changing on regular dives and use that when doing tandems. Oh, yea, get the biggest wings you can and then send it back to them and request bigger ones. Bev custom made mine from a crappy little drawing that I sent her. You can always fold in big wings, but you can't stretch small ones! Good luck!

0:7:0 Saturday - Able to get at least one in on saturday before the weather rolled in. Got a 3 way 7pter. spent the rest of the day working in the soon to be finished new hangar. Sunday - Absolutely beautiful day on the beach. All of those stupid clouds stayed way inland. Started the day with a nice 4 way with 6pts. Did 3 tandems, worked an AFF dive vid for training, and finished the day with a 3 way 9pter with Rick from Z-hills and another local. Thanks for the great dive Rick, hope that you and Debbie enjoyed your visit. Also worked the beach DZ so that some new qualified jumpers could get their first taste of the sea air over the beach. All in all, another great weekend on the beach!

I am a current owner and operator of a Dolphin container and just like everyone stated, "You get what you pay for." However, you must also consider what and how you are going to be jumping it. Let me first start by saying that I am very please with my Dolphin. I do mostly RW and the rig fits good and is comfortable. If you are going to be free flyin' with it, you really have to have a tight pop top. any play what-so-ever will result in material snaking it's way out from underneath the pop top. I've seen alot of dolphins with 1 -4 inches of material exposed (something to watch out for.) I've had mine for about 5 years. I first bought it before they had the riser covers and velcro systems, It was a snap closure, but I have since had it modified by Altico. if you are buying an older used container, immediatley get those snaps replaced. I had real problems with those snaps actually pulling through the material on the pack tray for the reserve. All in all, I think that the Dolphin container systems is a decent system with the budget minded skydiver in mind. However, before you purchase a new one, look at what you are thinking about doing with it just not price alone. Like stated previously, think about resale as well. I bought a Dolphin in 2000 that was still in the original factory plastic (for a back up rig) for $300. Thoughts to consider.

546: 1 : 0 1- had to do intentional for tandem rating. 0- because of malfunctions

I like Milwauke's Best Light.....that's my fav CHEAP beer (man, I'm really cheap!) But it's usually Bud Light. Nothing beats an ice cold beer at the end of a hard hot day of skydiving!

k - it's not that hard. I've built three custom style d-boxes for odd cameras. But Paul is right, it is very time consuming and messy. I've built two different styles (top mount and side mount) the last one that I built from start to finishing with mounting and everything (basically, I set his whole helmet up for him) took me about a month. Lots of pieces to manufacture and lots of sanding and prep work. But the end result was worth it. It looks good, works, is safe, and only cost the dude $75 in parts and labor. So the big question is, can you work on something for a month, or do you want it for next weekend?? Another note, if you screw up fiberglass, it's easy to cut up and patch with more resin and glass. I love the stuff. PM me if you want detailos on how I do it!

A good friend of mine jumps a (approx) 2200 sq ft American flag (whoops, banner, sorry Billvon.) He does demo's in the area. He designed and built a special deployment bag for the banner. He really put some time and thought into this. When he first started, he was jumping it with a Manta 288 (I think) and he was getting pounded into the deck. Because the flag (banner, damn) is so large and he has 35 - 40 lbs of shot on the end, he had to flare at like 30 ft. He was taking a beating! I hooked him up with an older military style square (Paraflite MT-1X 378 sq ft) and he is doing much better now. Good glide and flight with nice soft touch down landings. You should see this thing being packed! I've helped him pack it a few times, and it is quite a chore. Stretch it out, fold in half X 4, put the weight in, and S- fold it into the container system. It's a great system he designed, with safety first in mind! (Emergency cutaway handles, safety locks, B-12 connectors, the works!) I think he has about $4,000 in the system and is still perfecting it. Check it out at (web address to follow): www.proairshow.com He's also been working with the Green Beret Sport Parachute Club lately. If you've seen one of their shows, you've probably seen his banner.

DO NOT BUY A JVC PRODUCT FOR SKYDIVING VIDEO!!!!!! 'nuff said...... I recommend that a search is called for. Do this and you will see that JVC vs. Sony has been well debated. Just my opinion.

You hear a radio commercial for the new (Dodge) Grand Carivan and the only image that comes to mind is a beautiful plane with a big door, bench seats, and a fast climb to altitude...

D, My standard answer is "Refund." But this is what I usually do..(not that I screw them up to much anymore, but man, when I first started....whew!) Give him at least the money paid minus the dough to cover your slot. Then offer him a choice of raw footage or a slightly edited version. Basically, don't spend the normal time editing that you would a good one, just add some music and some cool shots. Some of the other camera guys at my DZ would be happy enough with what you described, but its important to me to produce a good quality product for the person. If it doesn't fit to your own personal standards, than at least work something up for the guy. Just my opinion...

$967..... Doing a vid for a tandem, had a super, ass-spanker opening and lost my camera helmet. Figured the snaps for the chin cup broke. (It was an old ass protec that was modiifed for a camera system.) Never found the helmet or the camera as it landed in a large woods. It was a great vid, too. (sniff)

6:14:0 6 - hours driving to the DZ (usually takes 2.) Damn 4th of July traffic! 14 - jumps for the weekend. Did 9 tandems, 4 vids, and got one 4-way, two pointer in with some really new jumpers. They paid beer for their first four way. 0 - no beer owed this weekend. I'm still paying beer for a bunch of firsts from two weeks ago! Great weekend this holiday! Worked my butt off at the DZ. DZO had the BBQ going all weekend, everyone who showed ate more than they could handle. Hey AggieDave, had your first chucker yet?? Adam

Yep, got mine last night in the mail.. Is there a law agianst reading Parachutist at work??

0:6:1 0- still no luck! 6 - Did my first working tandem jump. Got 2 vids in, did another working tandem, hit a four way with some guys, hit two points (the organizer set up some really tough points to challenge a few low timers) and then had to get a BEACH JUMP in! Yeah!! Nothing beats a sunset beach jump from 2 miles offshore at 5000'! 1 - one case owed for my first working tandem jump. Beer will be paid at the 4th of July BBQ. All said and done, great weekend on the beach. after the jumping on Saturday, I was plain ole' wiped out for Sunday. Did some DZ maintenance and packed. Great weekend.

Well, time for an update.... He didn't show up this weekend. I hope that he isn't giving up. Genn, it's definately not because he's not liked. Okay, time for some examples. You guys need more info. That way you can see better what I'm talking about. Here are specifics that the DZO is concerned with..... 1. He physically assualted (bear hugged a tandem master in training jumper from behind seperating something in his rib cage) a jumper causing him to miss work on Monday and a doctors visit. This jumper had just met this guy the same day. We still had two tandems to complete before the end of the course. 2. Borderline sexually harassing female tandem students. He made some comments to some ladies who were completing pre jump training. These are just two of the examples. Now that you have a little more information, am I off of my rocker for wanting to help this kid????

G -yep, that's the exact question that I have been asking myself for four days now. "How in the world am I going to get this kid to listen to me, if he won't listen to the senior instructors and the DZO?" That's why i turned to another instructor I know and DZ.com for help. I'm hoping that working with him in a more "one on one" environment might limit his distractions, help him to understand the processes of working with other people, and maybe give him some useful information about what I've learned. I should have my first "session" with him this weekend, so I'll post updates. The problem with the suspension thing is that he just got off of a suspension. Not really a suspension, he just took some time off for other matters. I guess we'll see what happens this weekend.