babz

Yeah, sadly we all susceptible to greed / manipulation so no system which involves people is going to be 100% at drawing lines. I'll admit I thought type 1 was genetic and type 2 was from lifestyle choices - my knowledge is very thin on it

Seems fair to me.. In the UK we tax cigarettes are a ridiculously high level (around $10 for pack of 20). End of the day, if people smoke they stand a much higher chance of needing expensive medical care. The options are either recoup this from the smokers directly through higher premiums, higher prices on packets of cigarettes or higher prices for all.. Take your pick. Should we tax morbidly obese people more? Probably a similar argument could and should be made (exemptions for those with underlying medical conditions which cause it could be made). I think in a universal healthcare system, you need to either charge everyone a flat rate and adjust that to be Medical cost / number of people = premium or bring in supplements for certain activities.. The right / wrong side of the line for supplements for me is choice.. If you choose to do be in the risk category through lifestyle choices then you pay, if you don't have a choice through underlying medical issues (Type 1 diabetes / thyroid issues et al.) then its unjust to charge more.

Some people like two audibles for the extra awareness / lower risk of failure.. Also some people are deaf in one ear so two slots lets you chose which side to put your audible on

Started as a economic / trade union back in the late 50's which has 'evolved' (according to site) into a political union. It's not legally a union like we have bound states in the USA, and I cannot see the UK ever submitting to such a direct union. Is it treason to leave the EU? In short, no as each country within the EU maintains its own sovereignty. In the UK we have a discussion around Scotland gaining independence from the UK which does have a strong political / legal binding agreement. No one has mentioned its treason on the part of Scotland. I think confederation of countries is a better term than a European Union as its a confederation is much more like what we have (and sounds like we're in star trek..)

Damn us Brits eh ;) Quick google seems to suggest its owned by a company in philly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Mountain_Sports - owners - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versa_Capital_Management I can kind of see why they'd do it, because they are in a loose loose scenario - run the event showcasing the black rifles and get vilified by the media for not showing compassion or ban the guns and get put down by the industry..

I think really the US and Western powers need to keep their noses out of this one.. it's not their fight. This is sabre wrattling to get a response from the USA - best bet. Ignore them public and make sure you've got reasonable defenses in place. Pyongyang knows that the USA wouldn't stand for a Nuke heading their way without them really becoming an enemy. I think this is the best to let the Chinese deal with the North Korean's, as I'm sure that China doesn't want a Nuclear armed regime with a short man syndrome on their doorstep.

A vote to change EU powers being rejected isn't the same as a vote to get out of the EU. Once the british public have spoken it'll be very difficult for the politicians to ignore the response. Can you imagine the response of the British people if Europe tell us (/demand) we do another vote - I'm thinking V for victory here..

I think the British wouldn't stand for it, especially as the only view that the EU would fail to accept is a NO. If the public voted out of Europe there'd be nothing they could really say / do to prevent it

In my first year at uni a guy in my halls asked if I'd be interested in going - being a pissed student I said hell yeah.. Nothing really came of it until a year later when he started the club and I was called on it. Did my first s/l jump in winter '06, and did a handful of jumps until I graduated in '09 and started jumping more regularly (hence the low jump numbers for time in sport!) I'd love to say part of the point break generation, but actually my first memory of skydiving is from.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SObBfRS8psU (I was 9 when it came out..)

The french response was pretty funny, especially as they don't appear to appreciate the irony.. Given the UK agreed to an trade union in the 70's and the EU has changed into a political / social / economic union... I love Europe and have for some times considered leaving the UK. However in the minds of the British, we aren't cultural part of one europe. The English Channel is much a gap in ideals/culture as it is a stretch of water..

Whilst I'm not a fan of the expansion of powers that the EU has, and the manner in which it operates. I don't think a straight out is the best option for the UK. Personally, I'd like to see the trading integration, environmental and security aspects of the EU. I think some of the legislative power needs to be scaled back from Brussels to Westminster where we can have a greater level of accountability. We are a net contributor to the EU in terms of contribution vs subsidy, however there are some benefits of being in the EU. If Cameron can play hard ball I can't see the EU wanting the UK to leave and I dont think it'll come to that.. I think the vast majority of the EU sceptics would 'sell' their vote against EU membership for concessions on immigration..

Agreed, over here its meant to be part of the year MOT Test to keep your car on the road. I also thought you couldn't get them in upside down.. turns out you can (not me, oncoming cars..). Which angles them up at eye level.. now that one is bright..

Failing all else, Duct tape ;) On a more serious note, you can get a little sticker which fixes the same issue on UK cars when driving in EU (due to switch from driving on left to on the right). Might be worth looking into weather you can put one of these stickers on to do the same. I drive a reasonable height car (Audi A3) and find myself constantly dazzled by drivers of 4x4/SUV - which are registered in the UK. Might be a case that the regs aren't fit for modern high power bulbs..

There are posts on UKS with various expert statements, but I expect these to be rather one sided. I think the real question is should the governing body for parachuting be getting so heavily involved in the pilot regs. Does flying a jump plane differ from a normal aircraft on pleasure flights and how is this impacting the health of the pilot? I'm not a fan of arbitrary age rules, as ultimately there are guys out there in their 70s who are fitter than some guys in their 20's. Personally, I work in IT not aviation medicine so my view is pretty pointless but I am interested in what those who know say..

Really depends how they set up their handsets and how your land line / their cell provider set up their network. Unless they have delivery reciepts enabled on their handset then chances are they wont get any error (this by standard has been disabled on on all handsets I've had - and is dependant on their cell provider)

One thing with gear hire in the UK vs other places. The DZ often insists their packers pack the hire gear (unless you're signed off as one of their packers..)

One other thing to factor in is whether your 30 jumps per year is where you want to stick at - or is this limited by availability of kit hire. If we stick down the route that you're doing 30 jumps a year you're splashing £300 on kit hire. For those jump numbers I doubt you're looking at a brand new rig, so say £2,500 for a second hand rig with a couple of years left on rig. So costs for this rig per year: Repacks - £70/80 Bungees - £5 for a big bag / free depending where you jump Cypres maitanance - £42.50 (based on 170 service cost split over 4 years) General maintenance of gear - Hard to say, £50 a year on older gear? So you're looking at around £180 ish to keep a rig in the air over the year. Obviously varies depending on the rig / no of jumps. At the end of a couple of years you should still be able to sell the gear for a reasonable return as second hand gear appears to be retaining its value quite well in the UK for close to what you paid for it.

We will leave that one down to the Greek prince ;) I don't get the anti monarchy view in the modern world.. they are pretty toothless these days and I get a paid day off work, when they get married / have an anniversary.

I held off jumping a full face until I nearly had my C license. But now am glad I've got one and jump it whenever I can. In winter it makes the jumping much warmer, my face is a bit more secured from the loose limbs of my team mates and generally it's less hassle than an open face. Last weekend mine did fog up once, but that's cos its a little big on me and need to just add a bit of padding around the mouth piece. Easy enough to deal with in the UK winter.

Love it when you see flybys in the Dornier, it is one hell of a jump plane. Bit of a shame they are too old to be that widespread.

This is one thing I cannot understand, how can a 30s gear check infringe on freedoms? Surely it is better for the DZ to ensure their jumpers are correctly geared up - any accident that can be caused is surely more hassle than printing a copy of manifest and ensuring jumpers initial next to their own name when been checked.

I've got a Pilot 168 in a V348, with a PDR 160. At first it was a bit of a bugger to get it in the bag, but I dont really notice it now - however the container does look pretty tight. It'd be interesting to try and get something like a Pulse 190 in there to see how it compares to the bulky pilot.

Not everywhere! [edit: But, get an AAD.] He's just got his A License... he needs an AAD everywhere ;)

Takes about 30seconds - 1min to change a visor on the phantomX. No tools needed to do so either just push two tabs. Rather than thinking visors, have you tried both on to see which fits your head better?