lyosha

My helmet is a G3, but looking at the mouth ventillation of the KISS helmet I think it's not as condusive to Grellfab-style mounts because the vents face down instead of out like in a G3 and phantom (and it's the vents that provide stabilization for the mount). It will be interesting to see if the guys at grellfab would be able to come up with something as good as their product for the G3 helmet.

mad skillz yo. On a more serious note, Rich Winstock's previous abuses of position of power are very much relevant to this current incident, and billvon is easily out of line for deleting mention of them from these forums. I've said it a few times and I'll say it again - that this guy is in a position to be chief advisor on safety across the country is painting our merry little carnival ride known as USPA as little more than a bad joke. Joker for mayor of Gotham!

At this point I'm surprised people are still posting in this thread...

I've cut mine away ~50 times (it doesn't fit in my helmet case attached to the helmet so I've had to do it like once a day lol) and it comes off clean. The only thing left is a pair of rubber bands in the mouth ventilation area. One other thing of note - people are afraid that a line grabbing their mount will pull their head in some random direction. Grellfab mount is held on by two rubber bands. Anything pulls on it, the rubber bands will dampen the force to substantially less. I've been punched in the face in freefall and the mount got rotated 180 degrees and it stayed on and I didn't know it even moved until I landed and noticed.

What canopy did you switch to? Also: can the people that say they have issues with the storm please note their wingloadings on them? I'm curious if the thing performs very poorly when overloaded.

Don't jump helmets without cutaway systems (or a grellfab mount). If that's not an option and you absolutely must, there's pictures of people using these: https://www.chutingstar.com/skydive/bonehead-cutaway-chincup-kit https://www.chutingstar.com/skydive/chin-cup-quick-release-kit and of course there's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuqJV3eRH0g Not sure how successful they would be.

Not that ridiculous. I had a friend pass away due to a malfunction scenario he couldn't have conceived possible. I've met at least one other person that narrowly escaped when a quirk in his gear he did not know about turned a routine situation life and death. I have read far from every post that you've made, but as someone that's used a GoPro from jump ~70 onward I can tell you my approach differed from your approach in that I took the "what can go wrong?" question very very very seriously and took the most conservative approach that I could, which is not something 90+% of people with small format cameras do, sadly. Ironically in retrospect I am okay with my actions at 70 jumps, but now at well over 200 jumps I'm still not okay with doing what most people do with GoPros for myself still. My mount broke recently (in the car ride to the DZ) and I've been jumping without a GoPro for a little. I feel a little naked without my visual logbook, but I'd rather wait the two weeks for my new mount to be made than do what a lot of my friends do. Because I'm not okay with jumping a camera without a cutaway - informed personal choice. But you just don't hear the words "informed personal choice" very often on dropzones nowadays. You hear a lot of "you need X jumps" and "It'll be okay" and "it worked fine for my friend for 50 jumps". Risk analysis seems to be devoid from what you are saying. And that is my issue with what you are saying. And effectively I'm on your side of the fence on the issue. I'm just not sure 200 jumps is what you need. At this stage, this thread has come full circle from useful -> entertaining -> painful to watch. Time to call it a thread and move on to actually skydiving?

My GoPro mount has a cutaway. I've cut the thing away probably ~50 times on the ground in various helmet angles, with eyes open, with eyes closed, whatever. I pay zero attention to the GoPro because I want a visual logbook, not some fantastic shot. Because the odds of a bridle or lines snagging the mount is very small due to its location. Because I'm as confident in my ability to cut away the camera as I am in my ability to cut away my parachute should anything happen to snag. I pay zero attention to it - it's not a distraction. The notion of hiring a dedicated camera guy on every jump you do is nuts if you're not in a competitive team preparing for a competition...

Amen.

Personally my participation in this thread was to try to change the status quo to what I would consider "safer" and "better" views on cameras. I feel I am the antithesis to popular belief about GoPros - I just so happen to have been jumping with a GoPro since roughly jump 70, and haven't had an issue because of the process I went through prior to jumping. No mad skillz, no youtube footage, just a video logbook. And conversely, I feel that camera-horny 200 jump wonders do really stupid stuff out of camera/footage hornyness. ... but at some point all meaningful discussion ceased, so I've been viewing this thread for primarily a good chuckle at human ignorance. :)

+1 they already are, no?

Except the RSL. I did a fair amount of research and got a Wings for my first container because it was substantially less $ than other manufacturers. I knew that a first container would outlive its usefulness in a few seasons, so didn't want to commit too much $ to something that depreciates quite a bit. That having been said my next container will probably be a Vector, maybe an infinity. Because I intend on keeping it around for much longer. Do you not feel like a Wings container will last as long as a vector? One of my containers is a 7 year old wings that still looks like it just came from the factory. It's how you take care of it that matters. The wings container will last you as long as you want it to. Full disclosure I'm a wings dealer so I'm biased toward wings. I have several rigs including a vector, several wings rigs, and a vortex but I still love my wings rigs most. I became a dealer because I loved the product, not the other way around. I did not mean that my container will fall apart. I meant that I'll likely downsize out of my first container in a couple of years, and will need a new container. Two things happened since I started skydiving: 1. I got some direction with what in the great many things one can do in the sky I enjoy more. 2. I absorbed a TON of information about rig design. For my body type and the activities I envision myself spending more time doing I feel Vector and Infinity offer the best rig for the size of parachutes that I will likely stick in them. I have two criticisms of Wings rigs - their reserve compartment likes to hold on to the freebag, restricting its exit sideways (kind of important in case a cypres has to save your ass) and their freefly handle really really really likes to pop out on the plane ride up. Aside from that - functional, cheap and comfortable.

Pull, count to one, should feel force from risers on shoulders. If that's not there, I have a problem.

Except the RSL. I did a fair amount of research and got a Wings for my first container because it was substantially less $ than other manufacturers. I knew that a first container would outlive its usefulness in a few seasons, so didn't want to commit too much $ to something that depreciates quite a bit. That having been said my next container will probably be a Vector, maybe an infinity. Because I intend on keeping it around for much longer.

the problem is the GoPro mount on the ball. You can't give a good spin.... Use a lower profile GoPro bowling ball mount, duh. Make sure it has a cutaway. Just in case. You never know.

touche'.

Not choosing sides on the debate, but to be fair there have been people with arguments pro and con that have been trying to impose their views on others. I got misquoted

My calculations were based on the price of a Vigil. What did Wicked Wingsuits say?

I am decidedly "FOR" the creation of no less than 10 new AAD polls by tomorrow morning.

I don't want to get involved in the business of lending/renting gear/money. But you should see if these guys will help you: http://www.wickedwingsuits.com/ http://cloud9rigs.com/

Maths are useful. You can't compare AAD appraisal to PDR appraisal. Every AAD that I've seen sold used has been sold for or close to its formulaic value, in very short periods of time (last one I sold went in ~15-30 minutes). The demand for used AADs is very high. So, given that you'll be able to sell your AAD should you want to not use it anymore, and that it has a defined, finite lifetime, you can figure out the monthly cost of AAD ownership. Which is ~$6. You can squirm all you want but that is reality. Wicked wingsuits rents them for ~$20 if memory serves me right. A company called cloud 9 just emerged onto the scene as well and claim to offer AAD financing. Have a chat with them if borrowing money and then repaying it incrementally over some period of time is that confusing for you.

As has been mentioned, the cost of an aad is $6 a month. There are people who will rent you one for like $20 a month if you don't have a grand of credit left. Still less than one jump ticket a month. If you can only afford to jump once a month, I think you should consider not jumping. You will never quite be current.

After recently having to investigate the death of a friend and try and console his grieving loved ones I think the above is very on point. You cannot believe you're not being an asshole if there are people you care about in this world and you don't do everything you can to be safe. I've had to be the shoulder covered in tears of the girlfriend of the guy that thought he had it all figured out.

I have met a lot of skydivers (more than some, less than others), but never met one that took an ounce of additional risk because of an AAD in their rig. This is another false argument that pops up - that people who have AADs take more risks than those that do not. Simple fact is last I checked getting knocked out and landing unconscious into the side of a barn still hurt like hell. It's a pretty strong motivator to NOT ever want to have your AAD go off.

If you don't know why you shouldn't have one, you should have one. If you know why you are better off without an AAD, by all means. Mars and Vigil AADs cost ~$6 a month, so I don't buy the "it's expensive" argument within the context of skydiving. Pack one parachute a month for someone else and you're there.