brabzzz

*sigh* Get me out of this office and on a dropzone as well! I feel your pain! Especially on crystal clear blue days like today was... --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

A quick stab at google will answer that question. Might help to remove one 'S' first though! edit: sh*t - mental note to self, read the question slowly and carefully first! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Is there an (un?)official line regarding the magnets and Airtec (or other geeks) electonics not interacting more than is healthy? I'm no engineer so excuse my ignorance if it has no effect whatsoever! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Two at the back, one at the front and a few more handles. I think you normally need to pay for (or do) the reserve repack (and in Gap, you had to pay for a vidiot too). It was tempting, but the expense meant i just did 5 normal jumps instead!

Heya - hows you doing? I thought i recognised the name! I'm getting measured for a phantom as soon as i finish my cuppa

That was my thinking too - am drooling just looking at it. I suppose i'm just trying to justify (to myself!) why buying a container worth more than many peoples entire rig is a good idea! It clearly is a good idea, in the 'heart' rather than 'mind' sense!

Just my S-Fly expert (SF1/2 colours

Is it worth it? In the great big scheme of things, it's only about 5% more on the price of a fully pimped V3. On the other hand, it's $150 (intro price!!!) which seems like a toss load, especially as i assume it only matters when walking/sitting. What's the full price gonna be? Has anyone tried it? How does it compare to the (free) Aerodyne one or considerably cheaper Sunpath gucci-padding? --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Scary scary shit. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

They also ran it last weekend in the Sunday Times. got a call from the parents telling to buy the Sunday paper - it undid some of the 'reassurance' i'd worked into them previously though! One about the tunnel too: http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,10292-2385982,00.html --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Along a similar topic, a mate did an inflatable dive where he held onto a penguin. A big inflatabe one - probably half his height and four times wider. We'd made a ducktape handle on the bottom (literally) so he could hold it one handed in a sit. Lessons: 1) If the plan is to sit with it (and it + jumper have unknown combined fallrate and characteristics), make sure everyone on the dive can sit (and really 'move') if need be...a group of sub 100 jump FS peeps are not the ideal load the first time round. 2) Expect the totally f*cking unexpected! The dive was incident free. Except at pull height, which he took a little lower to ensure the FS guys with him were not on a collision course with the inflatable. Upon going flat, he let go of the inflatable....which, instead of rocketing skywards, chose to plant itself squarely in the middle of his burble and was going nowhere. A few twists and turns later, he'd persuaded it to move, but what if he'd been lower or less experienced? --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Ahhhaaaaaa Off the PIA chart, i'm 3%/10cu.in. over on the main (Sabre 135) and about the 3%/6cu.in. under on the reserve (PD 126). I appreciate humidity, individual canopies and moon phase means those figures are pie in the sky. Anyone got one with something similar in it, or repacked one that did? The Sabre has 40 jumps on now and will have at least another hundred before the Atom would be ready.... --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

I've jumped both the MI-8 (very nice!) and a Squirrel (sp?) several times. Not quiet sure why you get crap alti on most helis in the UK - both these went to 13k+ at literally warp speed for £12 and £28 respectively. We chucked a 4 way out the latter, and, well, lotsa stuff out the Mi-8! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

I'm sure it's been discussed to the death, but when are these low bulk reserves gonna materialise? The PD press releases says there's a 143 and a 99 prototype on display, but nowt more? --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Get one now. Set all 3 alarms to 1.5 or 2k. It could save your life. Ideally you should never hear it if you do that. No need to use it for breakoff or whatnot higher up (if you don't want to) - but down low is another matter. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Indeed, those cutaway thoughts are ever-recurring. The only thing stopping me is the potential 50%+ paycut, and the fact that the financial disparity is only gonna grow the longer i leave it. It's a sorry state of affairs where one forfits doing something they love for chasing a mouse 7+ hours a day. All respect to those who make the jump. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Or just don't decare it as you go through customs... --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Well, that killed the market for my DVD of it which I was about to put on eBay!

Occasionally you need to whip it out NOW (not a fraction of a second later...eg with a canopy below you or 1500ft coming up on the alti). Maybe there's some wingsuit nylon flapping too. A pad? No thanks. On my next rig I'm just gonna get the gas pipe. Light, distinctive and $30-40 cheaper. A no brainer. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Any pics of the new covers posted anywhere? Are they removable (i can't imagine why, except perhaps when washing the rig...)? --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

A couple of years back two good friends had a (low) canopy collision. One fatality and one serious injury. There were perhaps only three other canopies out there, all much higher (as they were students). I was out at the Espace boogie a fortnight later with 70 other canopies. I was sh*tting myself under canopy as I only had 75 jumps and was all too aware of what can happen with 68 less canopies in the same piece of sky. It was incident free. The following year one of our organised group hit a deploying canopy as he tracked off. A fatailty. Some would say the with that many people about, the chances are obviously greater. But the same thing happened very recently. Between two jumpers. On a two way!!! 4 canopies or 40. 2 trackers or 20. No difference regarding the lessons to be learnt. I'd almost argue that complaceny is greater with 'only' three other jumpers than on bigways. I catch myself being more complacent on smaller dives...

I'm torn between an Atom (weird French thing) and a V3+skyhook...which is getting onto 40% more. Part of me agrees with skybytch, the other bit says 'it's only money' in what is a stupidly expensive sport - and it stacks the odds that tiny littly bit more favourably as far as safety goes. As for you, try and buy something used. MUCH better value for money as far as 1st rigs so. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Your milage will vary as i've no idea what the situation is over the pond. In the UK, you'd make sure all that CC debt is on a 0% interest card and then shove the rest in an ISA or other account earning 5.15%+. That way you're earning interest on money that isn't yours.

I don't think a newbie can go anywhere and make judgements on people there regarding skydiving decisions or their performance. 1) It's a tiny sample that you're observing. Post AFF/SL, you're kinda on your own. If you get a small canopy and regularly stoof it, can't pack and are generally a bit of a peckerhead, it looks bad. But that's unlikely to be a direct result of AFF/SL - people develop differently post fjc. 2) I'd say the only criteria you need to be looking at is the vibe of the place. Friendly? Welcoming? That's what'll keep you coming back. Chances are they're both perfectly safe. It is in their own interest to keep their students walking - else who'se gonna buy the jump tickets?

Not in the UK. Still can't see what the problem is with someone trying freeflying at 20 jumps. As long as they're going solo with good kit, who cares if they decide to do some flailing rather than belly flying? --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com