gus

Linux? Sorry, not much help really. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Is the information there for high quality video caps? Both NTSC (625 lines) and PAL (525 lines) are fairly low resolution, surely the fact that it's stored as DV doesn't make any difference, or have I misunderstood? Hey, if you figure it out then post it back here 'cos I for one would love to be able to get betters stills from my PC9! Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Well done on the tandem!

Since I discovered that if you book well in advance you can fly return from London to loads of places in the States for around £300 I've been planning myself a little holiday - but probably not until Jan 04 So the question is this: where would you go if you had 10 days to jump your arse off anywhere in America? Critera: busy during the week, good weather, bunkhouse/food available, good altitude, good people... I was looking at Perris but I don't know what the weather's like in Jan. Opinions? Ta, Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

I don't know about Premier but have a look at this tool which I think does exactly what you want. I registered a different product from the same person and it was really good. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Someone actually asked me once: Q "Can you jump without a parachute?" A "Only once", I said And I had to point out that it was a joke! Whuffos are funny but mainly they're just missinformed. The longer I'm a skydiver the more I realise how little people understand skydiving. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone reaches absolute zero the Universe will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

I hate bloody Americans . It's not like your jumps aren't cheap enough already and your weather isn't sunny enough already. Not to mention all the hot babes . And now $5 jumps! I'll be at the dz tomorrow paying (whips out calculator) the usual $25 - for which you lucky gits can jump FIVE TIMES!!! My life sucks sometimes.

Well don't keep them all to yourself!

Hi guys, I'd be interested to hear from other people who are swooping Spectres (or at least trying!). I load my 135 at about 1.3 and would like to know what people think are good swooping distances on, for example, nil wind days - my favourites! Blues, Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

I'm so misunderstood . I didn't mean that the people from your home dz would start to hate you or loose respect for you - if they really are your friends that shouldn't happen. What I meant was if you go to a new dz it takes a whole lot of time and effort to build up the new relationship to the same level as the one you still have with your home dz - and that that might put you off. I'm all for getting about and I agree with everyone that said it's beneficial to you and to the dzs you jump at - I was just putting something out there for discussion as a potential barrier for doing so. But the effort is worth it (IMHO), you can never have too many friends! Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Definately. It's good to see things done differently, different people, different attitudes. My question is this: are people put off from visiting other dzs by the fact that they'll loose the relationship they have with their home dz? Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

I was just reading the 'DZ Politics' thread and it got me thinking about someting related. Why do we put up with it? In my case I'd really like to travel around a bit more and try out lots of different dzs (I've only been to 4) but despite the crap I occasionally suffer, directly and indirectly, at my home dz there's one thing that keeps me there: I feel like I've made a big personal investment. Do you know what I mean? It's taken quite a long time (about 2 years) to get to know a significant number of people there, the regular jumpers and the staff. More specifically I feel I'm at the point where the staff know me well enough to trust me and to leave me to get on with it. When I visit other dzs I'm lucky if I know a couple of people and I feel like I'm having to start over. I guess it's about earning the trust and respect of my home dz peers. Thoughts? Similar experiences? Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Good call - awesome book. I just bought my girlfriend "The Forest People" by Colin Turnbull - an anthropology book basically - one of the best books I ever read. Try it! Hmmm, Kama Sutra? Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

4:0:0 I'm skint so I just had to hang around the house with my girlfriend

That's exactly it: it's like learning to drive but only ever using a couple of the gears. Bottom line is this - we love to skydive, so why not experience as much of it as you can? Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

[minor rant] Maybe I'm imagining it but recently I seem to heard alot of newbies, some who I don't think have actually jumped yet, expressing their disdain for rw. Now, disdain for rw is a perfectly healthy attitude but at least give it a try! Contrary to what the 'cool' people here and on the dz might say, rw can be fun, challenging and very rewarding. Probably no more than 10 of my last 200 jumps have been rw but that's a decision I made having done nothing but rw for the previous 100. Make an informed decision, that's all I'm saying. [/minor rant] Ta, Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

Agreed. I'm sorry, that just doesn't follow - the one doesn't imply the other. Why not give yourself some credit, it was you that pulled yourself out of that hole. Why credit God for the good but deny him any responsibility for the bad? Alot of people would agree with that. Isn't that the point? Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

JJ, This guy you met sounds less like a reasoned theologian and more like a wannabe intellectual bully - his logic is far from watertight, his arguments are playschool standard and unconvincing. If you want to believe then believe - I'm all for religious freedom - but don't let your emotional vunerabilities cloud your judgments: be critical. Blind faith breeds fundamentalism and fanaticism. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

LOL! Pretty cool. For the 5 or 10 seconds before I f*$ked it up it was looking good - everyone in frame and me sat perfectly still. Thanks for all the good advice, I think I'll consider wings if I start doing lots of rw video and it makes me feel better that even real camera flyers get it wrong some times

Maybe this belongs in the Photo & Video forum..... Last weekend I was at the dz, all the usual suspects were absent so I manifested on my own and waited to see who else put themselves on. Turns out there was a six way so I asked the organiser if I could come along and film. "Cool, free video!" he said. He asked me how many camera jumps I had so I said about 50 or 60 but almost all freefly with only a few rw jumps. I told him I might not get anything at all on video but I'd stay out of the way and I definately wouldn't take anyone out. (See where this is going?) The jump was going pretty well until about 7 or 8k. I was dead centre above the formation thinking about how awesome the video was going to look when I got sucked in by the burble. I hadn't changed anything with my body position but the formation moved a bit below me and that was it. From the relatively small distance I was above the formation I was amazed how quickly I sped up and how hard I hit the poor guy that was underneath me at the time. We were lucky, I clipped his arm but it really could have been a whole lot more serious. I hit him pretty darn hard, if I'd connected with his head..... So what do I think I did wrong? I got obsessed with the video, I was directly above the formation which gives great visuals but gives very little margin for error. I should have realised that I hadn't done this very much and filmed from above and to the side. I was also wearing my freefly suit, which I thought would give me a greater range of speed but as big as I tried to make myself when I felt myself falling onto the formation I was pretty powerless to prevent it and that was not a nice feeling. I've learnt from it, I hope someone else can too. Gus OutpatientsOnline.com

I know a few people (me included) that have bought from http://www.go2camcorder.co.uk. It was cheap at the time but now seems pretty comparable to everywhere else. Gus "Sex? Once every six seconds. Skydiving? Five times, every six seconds."

Trust me, Skreamer will never pass as being British. Just not gonna happen!

It's really important that your rig is 'freefly friendly'. In my experience rental gear is generally not so great so please tell someone you're planning to sit and ask them to look over your kit first. After that just go out and have fun! I was told to do the 'dead dog' when learning to sit: roll over on to your back, let your arms and legs go all loose so they're flapping around above you, then you pull your legs in as tight as you can so your heels are touching your butt and your knees are against your chest , that will sit you up a bit, then just bring your arms down to the horizontal to sit you up some more. That puts you in to a kind of stable (hopefully) shuttlecock position from which you can move into a 'proper' sit. Pat Works describes it much better than I can! Remember your altitude awareness, freefly speeds are higher so your freefall will be shorter and you'll hit your opening altitude quicker. Borrow an audible if you can but don't rely on it. Definately. Give yourself a few thousand feet to slow down or you run the risk of getting severely spanked on opening! Have fun and welcome to the darkside

This really needs to be a proper poll on the front page! Sangiro? Gus "Sex? Once every six seconds. Skydiving? Five times, every six seconds."