First, thanks to Jon K for his excellent posts. I agree with everything
he said.

I don't remember how I found out about jumping stilts, but I was saving
my money for Powerskips when Powerisers showed up for about 1/3 the
price. I got mine in February. They're the latest rev I think, with
the fiberglass wrapped. So far I'm having a blast with them. Some
observations:

* Out of the box, they were pretty stiff, and made an obnoxious honking
like Canadian geese. Some spray graphite fixed that.

* The knee foam is totally fragile, as Jon says. I used hockey tape to
wrap mine.

* It took me a while to figure out how to get any jump height. I got
the 7090's and weight 70 kg, so I have to work em pretty hard. The most
I've gotten is about 1.5 m (4.5 ft) before I max out the springs.

* The knee straps are useless IMHO for real jumping or flips. I bought
some webbing at REI and made my own straps. I wrap behind the knee, X
over the knee bar, then wrap again behind my calf. Like Jon, I also
recommend fat knee pads to fill out the curve of the knee bar.

* If you're going to try flips, I recommend learning them on a
trampoline first (layouts, not tucks). I use wrist guards, elbow pads,
and a bike helmet for flips. I have access to safety lines at a trapeze
school in Oakland (Trapeze Arts), and hired an instructor to keep me off
my head until I was confident I wouldn't crash badly.

Anybody going out to Burning Man this year? I can't wait to sproing
around the desert.

Mark Maxham