packerboy

Just like you can't go buy an 18lb one of those really cool looking bowling balls with a brain painted on it or something and go bowl a 300. Those guys have bowled as many games as Moledski has training jumps. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I am talking about the rigger in question concerning the title of this thread not some hypothetical pencil pack your own rig thing and screw your rigger. I take my rig to this guy for a reserve INSPECTION AND REPACK and he just takes it into his loft away from my prying eyes, puts his stamp on it, signs the card and hands it back to me and charges me $60 and leaves me believing he had done a full proper repack. Meanwhile unbeknownst to anyone, my Cypres battery has exploded and acid has leaked out and eaten a hole the size of a bowling ball in my reserve parachute. Thats fucking negligence. Will it say in his riggers logbook that he packed it? Do I give a shit what his little black book says? His legal seal and signature is on the card. I'm sure handwriting experts can prove either way. As far as I'm concerned he just cut the brake lines in my car. Like I said, Joe Blow who wants to go to a boogie and his reserve expires 2 days before, who asks his rigger to hook him up is a whole other moral debate, one that I have not been around the sport long enough to really be informed and involved in. A rigger doing it behind jumpers backs (no pun intended) when they are expecting and paying for a complete inspection on their lifesaving equipment should be considered criminal. My 2 cents. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I get this even at low jump numbers. I've got 475 jumps and people will say "You can do this 8 way thing or 4 way no problem, you've got 500 jumps". Well I have about 400 freefly and 75 belly jumps, throw in the gap between my belly jumps and I RW no better than someone with 50 jumps who has gone hardcore in the last few weeks. I have a hard time staying on level and not reaching for grips. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Pencil packing when all parties involved (First rigger to pack, jumper, second rigger to pack being the same as the first) is one thing and a whole other moral debate. I personally only agree with a pencil pack on the riggers own personal gear that the cycle of possesion leads only to them. I pay my rigger to inspect my gear and pack my reserve parachute, not sign a card. Doing so without the jumpers knowledge is seriously f'ed up. If someone went in with a reserve malfunction on one of those rigs I would bet someone could be charged with criminal negligence causing death. The rigger and the dropzone that the rigger worked for, even if they had no idea he was doing it. If it was proved that a pencil pack had occured (not sure how it would be) there would be people going to jail (and there should be). If he pencil packed my reserve with a fatal flaw in it without my knowledge I would pursue legal action against him. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

The chest strap is designed in such a way (if routed properly) that if you are putting a force on it, the hardware cinches even tighter. They are designed to keep you in your harness when you open your parachute. Someone hanging on puts a load in the same spot your opening would, but not as much of a load. So as long as you stay away from the emergency handles it can be done safely. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Sounds like the folks who got the pencil packs were probably safer off than actually getting the pack job... -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I have a very skinny head and have a hard time finding any helmet that fits. That being said, I just got a Z1 Evo this week and it fits great. I put a chincup on it and mounted my (also brand new) Sony DCR HC-42 on the side. The camera doesn't fit very well into the Parasport Italia camera bracket. The on/off switch rests on one of the mounting bolts causing the camera to be a little cockeyed, but add a little plate to the bottom and I will be good to go this weekend. Just have to get my first camera jump beer. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Could you imagine being the guinnea pig for that shit? Craziness... -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

You forgot #2 #1 PULL #2 PULL ON TIME #3 PULL STABLE #4 BE PREPARED TO PERFORM EMERGENCY PROCEDURES IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY #5 Perform the entire skydive flawlessly. #6 At some point, buy beer Anything after the first 4 don't matter so much. But don't take my word for it.. I'm not an instructor. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Not an instructor or a student, but I would think that having an outside video guy on an AFF jump would be distracting for the student. If the video guy was on the same level or lower than the student, the student may see them and get distracted. Not to mention that alot of people get performance anxiety when the cameras are rolling. When the most important thing to flying stable is being relaxed... it may hinder the whole process. May be a tradeoff with the actual instructor wearing a camera though... debrief/performance anxiety which would you rather have? -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

About going to get a better job... In North America people get jobs as a server or bartender because it IS a better job than some, and that is because of the tips. When I worked as a bartender in Banff I would pocket at the very least $100 in tips on a very slow day, $150 to $250 on an average weekend and new years eve myself and another bartender split $1600 in tips. Funny thing is... alot of that money came from Brits who weren't used to tipping and would tip WAY more than average. At the clubs and pubs here if you don't tip, you don't get service because that waiter is at the other tables making a better living than he would paying attention to your cheap ass! It's called a symbiotic relationship. Not to mention certain income tax benefits such as..... not paying them. (So I heard ) -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I'm sure he's not the only one checking his chest strap, and I'm sure all the people involved in making this safe are not doing the whole 24 hours in one go. There must be shifts. I bet if he had a total on jump 599 at night he would be very quick to realize it. Keep in mind he is in the zone of having already had 599 parachute openings that day. Something going different would be very obvious. His reaction time would be a bit slower after 20 hours but still quick enough I think. Safety would be the #1 concern with something of this magnitude, and well thought out. edited to say: 598 parachute openings at the least for all those technical math buttheads around here. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Skydive Gananoque is a USPA group member dropzonee which houses a CSPA "club". You can jump at the dropzone as long as you hold one or the other, doesn't matter which. By the way, we have a lot of jumpers travelling from Toronto on a weekly basis to jump here. Just bring your log book and your membership card and we'll hook you up. www.skydivegan.com -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

How's my avatar? -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Fuck it, if you are minding your own business in the sandbox and some kid thinks he is king shit of Sandville and chucks sand in your face what you do is go home, work out, get big, and come back and punch king shit in the face and take HIS shovel. Good luck with your business. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

The new Sony models HC26/36 don't have the LANC port for the cameye, just the HC96 whic as a fair bit more expensive. Try to find one of last years models HC32/42. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Even the retailers couldn't figure out which lens I would need for a Canon. I was eventually going to buy a Sony, but I had a Canon and I'm not trying to rush anything (including spending money), so I thought I'd try it. In the end I decided if I was going to sell the Canon I would be better off not destroying it first. I was lucky though to have Fuzzy point out that the new HC26/36 Sony models don't have LANC port which you need for the cameye. Just the HC96 that cost $1000 So I ended up going with the DCR-HC42 (last years model) which is apparantly the last "base" model Sony vidcam that is going to come with a LANC port. I guess Sony found that the only ones needing that port were high end consumers that would pay the extra for it, and it was a high selling point for the cheaper cameras. Glad I found that out since there aren't too many of the HC42s on the shelf anymore. 2 in all of the Henrys stores in Canada, none in Future Shop or Best Buy. Thanks Fuzz!

Well... I'll push my own Canon related thread off the bottom of the page by saying I bought a friggen SONY! Are you all happy with yourselves? That thread had no replies by the way, but this one has SONY in the subject.. so I'll bet I'll get a reply even though I'm not really asking anything.. ya bunch o' Sony sucking sony lovers.... hah I'll probably love it. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Do you have any sort of filter or are you touching up with PS or something? That color is amazing. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Someone want to post a pic of the Racer tandem setup? -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I've seen it done about five times at our dropzone, evry time succesfull, but it could've gone wrong any of those times. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

1-6 minutes for sport main, 10-15 for tandem main. However I have been know to take hours, days, weeks, and yes even months to pack both. As a matter of fact, my first jump last week was on a pack job that took me 6 months. Stupid Canadian winters. -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Thats the way I looked at it. At the very least you should have been on the phone and not spouting e-mails about taking your business elsewhere. What is it really worth for him to have you around? -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

First time to hit a tree? Geez, that sucks. But out of all those things, most deserving of having to buy a case of beer! -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

I am going to put a CanonZR on my head for some beginner hack and slash freefly video. What kind of lens should I bee loking for? -------------------------------------------------- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson