cloud_monkey

I don't know about looking at the horizon on opening while wearing camera gear - I've had some very bad experiences with hard openings while wearing camera gear but I found that if I just look straight down at the ground, keeping my neck aligned with my spine when I dump, and wait to look up until my canopy is almost completely open, it reduces the forces transferred to my neck. I'm not sure how other camera flyers prefer to hold their heads on opening, I just found that looking straight down is simply more comfortable for me. Give it a try - it might just work for you too

Tib's the big one and the Fib's the small one

Only an anterior? That's just lameI got the bonus plan = four compartment fasciotomy with meshed skin graft closure. I just tell everyone I was attacked by a Bull Shark off of Catalina

I don't know how "easy" it's been - I mean, I'm not married and I just moved to Seattle 3 weeks before I broke my leg. Don't know a single sole here - You think takin' a crap was hard - ever try carrying a garbage bag down two flights of stairs while on crutches? Oh yeah, and grocery shoppin' - Good thing they have that little motorized shopping cart or I would have been f&$^d Oh man did it suck until I got off of those damned crutches - I hated those freakin' sticks so much that I opted to drag myself around my apartment on my ass instead - Granted, my leg shrank but my shoulders got bigger Come to think of it - When I broke my arm I had a cast all of the way up to my arm pit - right arm, naturally - no wife that time either

You know you're a redneck when...... -

I know - ain't it GREAT When I picked up my meds leaving the hospital they gave me 100 Oxycodone and 100 pills of morphine, the pharmacist told me to hide it - I figured - fan f$&%^n tastic, I'm sittin' here in a wheel chair and now I have to worry about some junkey asshole robbin' me of my meds while I wait for my ride

[reply thats exactly it - this is the reason i am not allowed to put weight on it until then as the screws could snap and my tib and fib will ping apart. He he he - that's the same stuff my doc used to scare me - Stay off that damned thing or you'll snap the screws in your ankle!!!!! That just didn't conjure up a very nice visual - But then I started thinkin' how much easier the time passed while I was zonked out on morphine - It's a vicious cycle

[replySend me that comp 120 and i will send you my 135 I am here to help you out man. That's just wrong man. Then again, I've always been lazy when it comes to packin' and the 120's already hooked up - Maybe I'll just pull a Phil and slide it in on my ASS Does Phil still read these?????

I dig the site Jason. That heal x-ray just looks nasty. Shit that's gotta hurt.

That's very true - The way it was explained to me was that when the pressure inside the individual compartments of your lower leg exceeds your blood pressure, the blood can't flow through the tissue and it eventually begins to die. So, now I have a scar that looks like a shark bite - scares the shit out the little kids at the grocery store But hey, at least I still have my freakin' leg.

Ah you poor bastard - I basically shattered my shin - tib/fib broken in several places each. One stainless steel rod, four pins in my knee and three in my ankle. I also ended up with a four compartment syndrome - a nasty bi product of severe swelling which required 2 extra surgeries, an extra 100 or so stitches, and a foot long skin graft on the outside of my calf. That was 4 months ago almost to the day and I'm just now getting prepared to go skydiving again over Memorial Day. A good tip I found in a previous thread was not to skydive until you can jump up and down on your bad leg without any pain. I'm not quite there yet so I guess I'm going to wait and see how I feel before I decide to go. And, since I'm loading my canopy at about 2.1:1, I think I'm going to revert back to a bigger canopy for a while until I feel that I'm healed enough to run out my landings. I feel for ya bro - Rehab is a long and very boring process but you have to take it slow and give your leg time to heal, otherwise that injury will come back to haunt ya. Hope every thing works out for ya and get well soon z

That's very true - The customer is paying good money and they have every right to expect good results. Unfortunately, when you do enough tandem videos, sooner or later something is going to crap out on ya - There is no excuse for dead batteries or running out of tape but just keep Murphy's Law in the back of your mind. Your tongue switch will never break on a fun jump, it ALWAYS happens on a freakin' tandem. One way to keep mishaps to a minimum is simply to be prepared - I always have an extra battery and two rolls of film in my pocket and a few extra strips of gaffers tape on on my helmet. On top of that, I take one picture of the student before I put my helmet on - that way I know that my still camera/flash and tongue switch are working. Just a few tips that have served me well.... z

Yeah, I have to agree with Lew on this one. Once you develop a routine and get a little more used all the crap you have to do before you leave the plane the stupid camera mishaps tend to decline. As far as the sports mode goes - I don't use it unless it's a nice sunny day - you don't really need it unless you like the cool effect it gives the propellers on exit. On overcast days it makes the video darker due to the higher shutter speed. Just my two cents - Z

I think this was written just for you SkyAnt

He's got my sympathy - I've been sitting at home for the past 4 months waiting for my shin to heal. Shattered tib/fib, four compartment syndrome, 3 surgeries and just a whole lot of misery. Luckily I only have about another month to go - or so I hope - So good luck to Eric from me- hope your recovery moves on a little quicker from this point on. Peace and blue skies, z

Sure, why not hook'm in series and make one giant Flux Capictor - I can't help with the 1.21 Gigawatts you'll need to charge the freakin' thing but hey, that's what the forum is for, isn't it?

I agree - I've heard that very same thing many times. Much like with bungee jumping, most people just want to get a taste of what it's like. I'd say that if most'em are happy just to survive (kinda like my first B.A.S.E jump from the Hilton down town) As a matter of fact - if the poor bastards knew that most of us had wiped out our life savings, quit our jobs, sold our cars, or gotten divorced just so we could hang out and play in the sky, I don't think they'd even consider coming back for more

Nope, sorry bud. But, I do have couple of pencils, a tape, and a wide angle you could use

I think he missed the whole Casie's burned butt thread. Did anybody miss that thread? Oh GAWD, yes, I'm certain several people missed it It's all kewl, cause my butt is now nice and tan! Several? As in six, eight, ten, several? Well, I'm glad your butt's back to it's normal, tan, smooth and delicious self

I think he missed the whole Casie's burned butt thread. Did anybody miss that thread?

Apparently you are for me.... As Kelso would say on That 70's Show - That's a good BUUUURN baby

I think you'd be shootin' yourself in the foot there buddy. You're forgetting one HUGE point - customers go where they can get what they want. If you don't even offer the service they might just go somewhere else - I would. The vast majority of people only want to do one tandem - they don't have an interest in pursuing a very expensive and dangerous hobby but, they do want to get a taste. Now, you of all people should understand that if you take away their opportunity to get video/pictures on the first jump, you're taking away your opportunity to make the extra money on the off-chance they might return for a second jump - Never turn down a good thing my friend. If someone wants to pay you to film their skydive - DO IT

TRV-20 &TRV-30

Sunset load over Skydive San Marcos

I use a Competition Cobalt 120 2.08:1 and a Vengeance 150 1.6:1 The openings are usually good - just depends who's packin'