mattjw916

"slocks" clicky... http://www.bigairsportz.com/article.php#slider NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Should've chose wind tunnel instead of skydiving... it's easier to do as a group activity and is more inclusive of people that are reluctant to jump out of planes as recreation. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

LOL, count me in!!! NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

yeah, I'm sure PdF didn't win any friends or new customers with that brilliant ad campaign... It's really a shame though since I've heard generally good things about their products such as the Techno reserve for instance. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

And unfortunately there are some "coaches" that I wouldn't consider particularly qualified to conduct the jumps either... Alas, maybe I'll have to break down and make those night jumps so I am all-of-a-sudden "qualified" to jump with a student. Or maybe I could just fork out some money for a coach rating... and then money to renew it over... and over... and over... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Common settings on my PC1000 using a Sony .6x wide angle: Manual focus set to infinity Zoomed out to full wide (gaffers tape the switch down) Standard 4:3 mode, not widescreen Backlight OFF

I bet when the time comes to make an unplanned emergency exit at "low" altitude you won't have any trouble though... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

It looks like Icarus has a bunch of Safire 2 159s in stock on their website... great canopies IMO, you might want to give 'em a look. http://www.icaruscanopies.com.es/report_stock_order.php NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I think tandem to AFF progression is the way to go if it is available to you. Throw in some wind-tunnel training on top of that (if it's convenient) and you likely won't need to repeat any levels. Your freefall skills will then be far superior enabling you to get on group jumps sooner and progress in the sport faster. Tandem(s) before AFF also reduces the sensory overload you _will_ experience on your first jumps. AFF also usually entails jumping sport gear that will basically be just like what you will buy after you get your license, i.e. throw-out pilot chute and not old rip-cord spring-loaded pilot chute setups. I also don't like static line since you are "all alone" on your first freefalls without anyone there and progressing from dummy rip-cord pulls to 5 second delays seems to take people a lot more jumps than should be necessary. Your canopy skills might progress faster in static-line progression though so there are bonuses outside of the fact it is almost always cheaper. cliffnotes: Tandem ---> AFF is my recommendation. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

It's quite nice in May in CO... 5k is tolerable most of the year here anyway if appropriately dressed. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

We'll turn you to the dark-side yet... mwaaa ha ha ha... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

All concerned, The "Pity Party" for Steve will be held this Saturday in the Mile-Hi packing hangar. BYOB. Regards, Management NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Do all the tunnel you want... but one bad landing will take out an entire team's chances at anything. The benefits of training at a place like Skydive AZ are huge: awesome weather, fast and reliable planes, big tunnel, world-class coaching, etc, etc... There's a reason so many world/national champion teams call a place like that "home" and that's not just the belly-fliers either. Some of the best CReW, freefly, and freestyle teams train there too. Teams like Airspeed were trouncing the competition long before the big tunnels started sprouting. Obviously there's more to excellence than a lot of tunnel time. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I have one 6 year old used (PD176R) and one new (R-Max148) reserve... each one will be inspected the same way by my rigger and hopefully they will both work just fine if I ever deploy them. Personally, I'd never buy a reserve that had any rides on it unless it was inspected prior to purchase though. A used reserve, that has never been deployed, I'd just have inspected and packed without stressing about it and be happy I saved some money. YMMV. If you feel like you _need_ a new reserve in your container for peace of mind, then by all means buy one. That means more used reserves for the market in the future. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Racer, all the way... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

I believe I know someone that jumped one that had been packed for a year or two, maybe more... and the opening took over 2000ft but worked fine. He said that he could basically feel the canopy peeling open during deployment too, lol. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Both of those are good canopies too, I prefer the Nitron over a Stiletto by faaaar, but that's just me. Based on your jump numbers it's probably a good idea to go with one of the semi-ellipticals for a while before going to a full elliptical. A Nitron would be a gigantic change from a Sabre, more than you need at this point most likely. Try a Nitron 170 out a hundred or so jumps from now and I bet you'll love it! NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Vans and I tuck the laces in. They have never come out. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

The Fusion by Precision and the Lotus by Big Air Sportz are also good 9-cell canopies. Demoing is the only way you will be able to decide which one is best for YOU. Ignore the hype, try a couple, and then decide for yourself. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

As an alternative, I use "slocks" since I don't like having stuff on my reserve flap. A rigger can install them very easily. Check out the bottom of the page here: http://www.bigairsportz.com/article.php Once you open your chest-strap all the way the slider is pinned below and behind your head and can't come back up. If I ever needed more "performance" than that, I'd just go with a removeable setup like Grant mentioned. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Having an instructor rating doesn't mean you necessarily know anything about gear or keep up-to-date on what's going on in the gear world. I'd trust my rigger or local gear dealers more than instructors with regard to type of canopy, container, and which companies have had issues over the years, etc. When you are dealing with recommended wingloadings and such then I'd go to an instructor for recommendations. I definately don't trust the opinions of people who are sponsored and just try to pimp their brand-of-the-year. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Don't be sucked in by mega-pixel-counting to determine quality. That's a marketing ploy. Here's another comparo between the cameras for interested people: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/20dd70.htm NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

more shameless self-promotion from the Bedford tunnel.... there's a shocker.... NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Well, I haven't tried this yet but I'm sure you could use one of the popular DVD-ripping programs to extract the MPEG2 data stream from the VOB file, decode it, and write it to your hard drive. Then you can then transcode it and rewrite it to another DVD or encode and compress it with DivX or your favorite codec and burn it to CD instead. edit: also if you write another session to it, the previous session data should be imported into the newly written track list IIRC. I've never tried it, but it _might_ work. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

Sorry, if your canopy-flight caused you to "soil" yourself, you might want to seek the assistance of professionals. NSCR-2376, SCR-15080