Cajones

There is still some variation from DZ-to-DZ in this area. I think it has become less of an issue, though. I can remember heated discussions in years past about the "pointing" signal. My resolution is, in practice, to change the signal from a perceived "pointing" to the hand signal for "one." No matter if it's "pointing" up, down, sideways, or whatever - it means "one." The number "one" refers to the first priority of the student jump - to save their life. This' done by deploying a parachute, of course. The "one" principle is reinforced during training by giving pull signals of multiple orientations and from multiple angles, by never pointing at anything with a single finger (got that from Rick Horn) - very difficult habit to break, and throwing in the occasional "Pimsleur" method of expecting a pull sequence anytime I point at a student. As far as: Keep asking questions, and adding in your $.02 - you might learn something, and so might the rest of us - no matter how many jumps we have. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

AAD's can definitely be ruined by water landings. There is a kit available for the Cypress AAD that give a small amount of protection from water landings. If you land in the water with your Cypress, it needs to be sent to Germany from a thorough check-up from the manufacturer. If you are unfortunate enough to land in water with your AAD, get your gear out of the water as fast as possible, and remove the reserve and AAD from the container ASAP. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I definitely teach to remove the chest strap, if possible. It doesn't keep you in the harness, once you're under canopy. Also, disconnect the RSL, just in-case you need to cutaway. I also teach to loosen the legs straps a bit, but point out you don't want to loosen them so much you can't reach the toggles. The inch or two of extra flare you gain by being lower from loose leg straps is small. If you are jumping a micro canopy, where an inch makes a big difference, you should have enough experience to compensate. We even practice this in the hanging harness to see how easy it is to remove the chest strap and loosen the leg straps a bit. This makes it very easy to get out of the harness after entering the water. The reserve will definitely be positively buoyant after entering the water. Depending on the container, it will float for some time. It will also make you float face-down (bad thing), and make it difficult to free your legs once you get your shoulders out. Additional concerns include: Land as if it were flat, solid ground, preparing to PLF (you never know exactly how deep it is), land as much-as-you-can facing into the wind (no Stupid Low Altitude Maneuvers/SLAMs - just like landing on the ground), land as close to the shore as you can (it's generally shallower and it's easier to get to dry ground or be rescued), clear the canopy from your head by following a seam to the edge (you can't breath through zero-p, and once F-111 is saturated it "sticks" to you making it very difficult to get out from under), get out of your gear, and swim upstream(if in moving water). A cutaway is typically only needed if the landing is in moving water, such as a river, that can cause the main to drag you with the current. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

The native lens is actually wide enough to match up with my Sony .6. The camera is definitely slower at high resolution. You can bump the size down to 1600x1200 and still get very good 8x10s to get a tad more speed. I tend to use the full resolution, as you never know when you'll get that super-sweet shot that deserves to be wall-size. Settings are typically ISO200, with shutter manually set to 1/125,matrix focus, flash disabled, and light set on sunlight. Everything else is left on auto. You can setup your DigiSwitch to use all of these settings, as well as single frame, and all kinds of things in the menus. The setting you will have to experiment with, most, is focus. You can set it to infinity, but I use few steps back to fly really tight. It helps just a little when you're in your slot, but hurts more than a little, when you're not. I have found the manual settings to be very similar to what you'd expect from a 35mm SLR with the same settings. The greatest exceptions are the ISO settings and higher shutter speeds. I recently shot about 750 frames of Volleyball Tournaments in two different locations. Both were relatively well lit (much better than a typical indoor sporting event). Using ISO800 produced 8x10's that're far less grainy than I'd expect. Shutter speeds of 1/125 and higher produced nearly identical amounts of motion blur. Both of these are likely products of the CCD. The plus side of good shots with ISO800, and the minus side of not-so-true exposure timings. The 5000 has some very limiting factors (compared to something like a 10D) for things other than skydiving, but you'll find it more than acceptable in the conditions we usually jump in. It's much cheaper (although the 10D is worth the extra $$$, to me), and much lighter than any other comparable setup. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

50 on the list, but Andy is up there twice. He can only fly one slot. Lew's Mom is pitching in, too. Since she's willing to ride tandem with me, we'll count her. She's such a cool mom! The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I know this isn't a poll,but I definitely agree. Try to knock out the all the way through your A-license at the same place. The Instructors/Coaches can help you much better, when they can see your strengths and weaknesses. Unless something like safety compels you to go to another DZ in the middle of your training, stick with one. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

http://www.harbortronics.com/ is probably who you're looking for. The article in Parachutist has a photo of my CoolPix 5000/Harbortronics setup. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

So Premiere closes the timeline window, when you press record on your camera??? Send me a PM with the specifics of your computer (chipset, O/S, other software - everything). The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I don't think we have to worry about folding on the dz.com server. Looking at the performance monitor graphs, it's hit way too hard, way tto often to churn out much in the way of folding. I'm sure he's using his personal computer to fold - and kudos to him for pitching in. I'm folding on five, now; I just got my laptop back, today, and the first unit is about half-way. Team ranking is #147, and we're only a few short of a 50-way. Keep sharing the love. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Wow, I'm feeling kind of special. A shout out from Wendy (just returning the repaying the great karma you set to me!). An article on the home page of dz.com (mostly a cut-and-paste of my first post on this thread). A PM from someone with some very kind words for being groovy. And now some hipsters referencing me as a "celebrity" on this thread. I was having a challenging day, with Cingular Wireless tugging my chain, and the people at Best Buy almost sending me into a rage (they redeemed themselves in most excellent fashion - Best Buy kicks ass, but not as much as you guys!) Who knows - maybe my sweetheart will come home and give me some extra-special lovin (or maybe some prison style huck-a-buck)... Livin' right - it pays in the end - but it's also nice when it pays a little in the middle, too! The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

There are pro's and con's to each. I've seen a sort of preconception that side-mounts are for freefly, and top-mounts are for RW. I have both. The side mount I like for video-only, as the camera has a lower arm/moment than a top-mount - easier on my neck bones. It's also a bit closer to my eye, so flying the camera lens in close is a bit easier. The top mount is really solid/stable, and you can load up the cameras on it (I've had four on my head - not something I'd want to do all the time). Top mount is also great for people with narrow shoulders. It's a narrower profile, so chances of riser strike are a bit less. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

In order to export to your camera, yes. As far as the invisible camera on export system, I agree with Phree. You can spend a bunch of time trying to tweak your system to run the transport and export to your camera, or just manually record. This assumes your camera is set to be a monitor on preview, and you are actually seeing the preview. The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Who's organizing and sponsoring the event this year? The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Look! I'm famous! The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Not really. Your Sony uses electronic stabilization. Just a wonder of software. The EOS lenses you're referring to actually move the optics to stabilize the image. The 3-chip Sony 900/950 and VX cameras use this technique, and call it "Optical Image Stabilization." The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

You give the best medicine... And if these other people knew how much fun it is to wrassle' with you, they'd all want a turn... WooHoo!... I'm gettin' some "extra special" lovin'... Life is good. Now, to get back to editing.... 831 The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

http://www.wrigleyvideo.com/videotutorial/tutorials.htm The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I thought the "official" position on unpacked canopy jumps was not in the interest of safety, but rather a time issue. It was my understanding the extra time it takes to set up unpacked canopy jumps would take away opportunities for more people to jump. My reply was with multiple exit points, why not have jumpers exiting from one, while these more advanced jumps were preparing on the other... The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

If I didn't take a break every now and then, I wouldn't be able to keep up with my favorite thread. Now, can you put something on these lash cuts, so they don't get infected? 831 The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Good thing you got it fixed, or your post might've looked like this... Very confusing... The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Should this thread be moved to "Talk Back?" The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I think that was covered a few times. You can do a search, but here's one of the posts... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=443706#443706 The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

I use Avid Xpress, and Adobe Premiere. Avid, mostly. You say you have "alot of video to edit..." What's the source of the video and what's the final output? The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Just try to remain calm... Take a deep breath and let it out slowly... The thread started with a personal attack, so let's try to reroute that energy into something productive... Now let's try to keep this focused and positive... Move along folks - nothing to see here! The laws of physics are strictly enforced.

Doesn't seem as funny if you spell it right... COLON! The laws of physics are strictly enforced.