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7 hours?! That's awesome Hang glider! Okay, thank you! I was confused. That makes more sense now

My boyfriend is interested in paragliding, so I was thinking about taking him for his birthday (yes, I've already taken him skydiving and for some reason he wasn't into doing it twice ). Here are my questions: 1. How long are you in the air, generally? 2. As a skydiver, would I find this incredibly lame? It would cost me $150 to go with him, and if it's just a parachute ride, essentially, I'll save my money and just take photos for him. (For the cost of 6 skydives, it would have to be cool/unique). 3. What's the difference between the kind with a parachute-like wing (for lack of better description) and the stiffer plane-like (ditto) wing? (If that last question didn't make sense, this is the place I'm looking at: http://www.paraglidewashington.com/index.htm I've always seen paragliders that look like little motorless planes). Thanks!!

Thank you all for the advice and information! For the record, I don't under-value the work of a seamstress at all! I just know one who would cut me a deal. And yes, she can sew "tough" stuff. :)

Call me cheap, but for the life of me, I cannot understand why an empty weight belt costs as much as it does. Is there any safety reason why a person could not get some high quality material and sew a weight belt themselves? It seems that a seamstress could be putting these things together at half the cost. Is there any special reason not to do that?

Thanks :)

Don't sweat it. Online forums have a minimum catty rating of 8 People only consider it "whining" when they aren't the one talking. Of course you should get it out, vent, look at it again, feel, think, and make plans. If you can't process your experiences, they aren't worth anything. If they really didn't want to hear it, they wouldn't be reading it, now would they?

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. I was injured in September, and have been out ever since. The accident was serious but not at all life threatening (pretty bad ankle break requiring some surgery). I've talked to the DZ manager about it, and we discussed what could have gone wrong. No one saw me do anything wrong, but it could have been a weird spot in the field, me not planning to PLF, or possibly a last-minute stall due to some very short brake lines. Personally, I think it was planting into a bulge in the ground. I'm getting the brake lines lengthened, will be practicing a lot of PLFs, going to Safety Day, and doing a tandem all before I jump again. When I jump again, I'm going to jump in a sport brace, and have a radio on, for a ground coach. I feel like I'm doing what I can, but I'm wondering what other people have done when they've come back after an injury? There's also the issue of my family thinking "well, now that you've been hurt, you understand this is stupid and will stop." But maybe that's a different topic

Sorry. That does suck. I also understand that it's hard to talk directly to the instructor because there's a power differential there, and obviously you want to keep jumping. All of my instructors were awesome, fortunately, but I did find they had a lot of different strategies and opinions. I would often just ask them "what way do you do x, y, or z" and then do the jump their way. I ended up being able to test out some stuff and find my own style. I wish all instructors were as good at teaching as they are at jumping, because obviously it's a stressful thing to learn even under the best of circumstances. I'm not trying to second-guess you here, because I think venting is okay and obviously I wasn't there, but it might help to give him the benefit of the doubt and say "okay, he didn't know he was being so critical, and he wasn't trying to make me feel dumb." Maybe it's a lie , but it might help you stay calm. If your DZ is like mine, you may not be able to pick your instructor every time, so you may need to just recognize he has a major limitation. Also, I think it's totally legit to say to him that you were concerned about being forcefully shoved. I don't know about you, but I don't like people jostling me (or anyone!) around in the plane. That's how pilot chutes get loose and handles get moved. Personally, I think you did the right thing going to the manager.

Clearly I'm looking in the wrong place, but I thought recall information would be easier to find. Does anyone know where can I find a list of Infinity recall notices? I have a '98 and I just want to make 100% sure I know what the history is. Thanks!

No free fall Note to self: do not vent on internet......

Cool. Thanks for sharing. Always looking for new things to read

I really try to play nice with everyone who's getting into skydiving. I'm also pretty new, so I try to be very humble. I try to make tandem students feel welcome, and genuinely respect absolutely everyone who jumps, even once, as they are taking a risk equal to any other and adding to the collective knowledge of all jumpers. But I am feeling pretty cranky at the moment about tunnels advertising themselves as "indoor skydiving" and tunnel users who have never actually jumped calling themselves "skydivers." Am I total snob or is it fair to say that if you didn't jump out of a plane with a parachute, you didn't frickin' skydive? I didn't even consider my static lines real skydives because there was no fall! Hell, even after getting my license, I feel like I'm barely a skydiver. The tunnels allow small children in them because there is very little risk, no real falling, and of course no parachute involved. To me, it's like saying playing a race car game at the arcade makes you a race car driver. Of course they're awesome for practicing, and many, many incredibly skydivers use them for that. And they're probably a good way to decide if you want to try an actual jump. I'm sure many people play in them who never plan to jump, just because they're fun. But to me, the term should be "tunnel user" not "indoor skydiver." Am I a snob? I feel like they're downplaying the skill required, the risk taken, and the real meaning of this sport. I don't want to be a jerk, but I feel like shoving arrogant tunnel users out of planes...without parachutes.

To me, it makes sense. It I try to explain to my boyfriend that I'm frustrated by my back-sliding on RW's, it's reasonable for him to not understand. Unless you've been up there, it's hard to describe why some things are trickier, what goes into a jump, etc. On the same token, if someone was trying to explain snowboarding to me, and how they're trying to figure out some new trick, I would not get it. I would probably just end up staring at them, they would get frustrated trying to explain why the angle of their knees is so important (or some such thing), and they'd stop talking. Face it: talking about skydiving is boring to non-skydivers. They don't care how a seven cell flies compared to a nine cell. They don't care that you just learned to sit. They don't have a frame of reference, so there's no way for them to gauge how important something is. I usually answer questions in a very limited-capacity (i.e. "I'm working on improving my skills when I'm flying with other people. It can be tricky to get into formations and stay that way") rather than boring them with details. Then I ask them about their hobbies (and try not to zone out )

I hear it a lot too, and it kind of makes me sad. You really want to do this, but you don't? Lame for you. I answer their questions nicely, and if I have one on me, I give them a card for my DZ which gets them a little discount on their first tandem. Then I usually try to change the subject because I feel like people think I'm fishing for attention

It definitely feels better jumping on your own, but Dramamine before a jump should help. August's "Parachutist" also had a piece about improperly adjusted harnesses resulting in some queasy rides. Perhaps you could ask the instructor to check your gear and make sure you're cinched in properly? If you're continuing with tandems, that is. Best of luck!

Honestly, I think all forums for all topics have this tendency (which is usually why I don't stick around too long in any given place). I think it stems from the anonymity and the weird dynamic that goes on where people think they know someone through their posts, and therefore feel "invested" in smacking them down, because they take it personally. Obviously safety is serious, but I agree with you that this is not a dropzone, we're not in each other's air space, and thus this is the perfect place for calm discussion. The anonymity even grants the rare opportunity to ask "stupid" questions without looking stupid in front of people you plan to jump with. What a great chance for people to coach others in a friendly way! I'm just about to get my A license (this week, I hope), and I certainly don't think I know everything. In fact, it's horrifying to me how little I do know. That's why I want to ask questions, hear advice, etc., and it's been awesome to be able to do that here. I've found people pretty cool so far, but keeping my distance is probably part of that. So, I would say participate as you want, and ignore the people who are feeling pissy. They were "100 jump wonders" at one point too, and I'm sure many of them think that their number represents the level of respect owed, even though they probably change their opinion constantly, so their number is always the threshold for who deserves respect. Speaking of which, why is everyone so obsessed with their jump number? Yeah, 5,000 is a lot. Oooh, ahhh. Are you also a cool person? Fun to jump with? Nice to talk to on the ground? A good person in other aspects of your life? Worth being friends with? I swear, some people would tattoo their number on their head if it would automatically update, just to show off.

Have a friend break the window in your car and say it got stolen from there? That's totally my plan B It's only insurance fraud if they can prove it!

Sweet! I have Allstate

What company is that through? I'm most interested in covering theft, but I would definitely like to price out a damage policy as well.

My insurance company does not offer policies for property outside of renters/home owners or auto. So, if my rig is stolen out of my car or apartment, the way my policies are written, I can have it replaced, but I haven't found a way to protect it just in its own right. Does anyone have an insurance company that will insure gear? My rig cost about twice as much as my first car, and I insured that piece o' crap, so I'd definitely be willing to pay a little each month to protect my gear. Any ideas?

I was at my DZ, lingering around the front desk, one day when someone called and asked how much the licensing program cost. When they heard, they said they were just going to buy gear and get a friend with a plane to take them up. His plan was literally to teach himself to skydive with ZERO instruction; just jump and figure it out on the way down. Darwin for the win!

Wow, that sucks. That is not the way my DZ works AT ALL. I show up at my scheduled time, the instructor is there to meet me, we go over the material, and we jump. Walk-in tandems get told to schedule a slot for another day, because the tandem slots are booked and all the instructors are busy. The only time we're sitting around waiting is when the weather isn't cooperating. You are paying way too much to be treated so poorly. If you have another DZ, go there. If you don't, I guess you're sort of stuck, but I would agree with everyone that you need to bring it up with the manager. Unless all they ever want to be is a tandem mill, they had better treat their jumpers with more respect. Even on a nice day in the middle of the summer, our loads are probably 60% licensed jumpers and AFF students. There are lots of tandems coming in and out, but they have pre-booked time slots, and they don't get to bump anyone.

Someone mentioned to me that there was a practice exam on this site somewhere, or some kind of study guide for the A license oral test. While I will obviously be reviewing all of my manual, is there such a page somewhere? I couldn't find it, but thought maybe someone more knowledge than I am might have it handy. Thanks!

Good point I guess what I mean is that there's an assumption that we'll do anything for a "rush."

I appreciate your study topic. I feel like people assume all skydivers (or climbers, etc) are "adrenaline junkies," who lead really dangerous lifestyles. Not true! I would say most of us are not reckless at all, and personally, I actually have a pretty tame life. It drives me crazy that life insurance companies, for instance, assume we're all trying to kill ourselves for some cheap thrill.