gowlerk

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Everything posted by gowlerk

  1. gowlerk
    Oddly, I could not find a photo showing a close up of ZPX fabric. So I made one. If your canopy has a weave like this, it is ZXP. If it has small squares instead it is not. [inline ZPX.JPG] Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  2. gowlerk
    If this is able to use a wired switch I may just be all over it. But I am curious. Why does Sony call this camera a DSLR? Am I misunderstanding the meaning of SLR? Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  3. gowlerk
    Yea, but he is averaging 14.5 post a day. I think Chris D is coaching him on how to use da net. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  4. gowlerk
    My first response is, send PD an email and ask. They are very good at answering questions. If you need an answer tonight, it may come from here, or try the swoopers forum. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  5. gowlerk
    I had a look at the pdf file. The two short pieces are just lark's head knotted to the loops. Easy, no tools, no tough knots. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  6. gowlerk
    My question is, why would you get an RDS system if you only want a removable slider? The slider itself is much simpler. And no doubt cheaper as well. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  7. gowlerk
    Post bed machines are used to sew in hard to reach inside areas, like heavy bags, shoe making, some upholstery and such. I've never heard of a rigging use for one. Look here for better explanation. http://www.chholderby.com/industrial-sewing-machines/industrial-sewing-machine-guide/ Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  8. gowlerk
    Like most things in life.....you get what you pay for. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  9. gowlerk
    There is definitely an element of "does the movie theater let you bring you own popcorn?" here. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  10. gowlerk
    I have 4 or 5 of them in various states of completeness. The Ebay selling price for them has dropped recently. (pay no attention to asking prices) You don't need most of the accessories for rigging work, so just get a cheap one. Don't worry about the manual, you can get service and user manual online free. (send me a PM and I will email them to you). I would not pay more than $75 for one, unless it's been fully restored. (which is mostly cleaning) Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  11. gowlerk
    Really? Shit, just say no to nanny states. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  12. gowlerk
    FWIW, I have that manual. It lists the D container as 400 ci ideal and 425 ci being firm. The canopy volume chart I have lists several measurements for a Raven 2. From 429 to 483 ci. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  13. gowlerk
    It has been done. If you ask around you may find someone who will allow you to attach a camera to your harness chest strap. I have heard of people hand holding Gopros. That being said, most DZs will not allow it, and none on your head. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  14. gowlerk
    There is a camera forum here that can advise you on camera technical issues. I will assume that this charity skydive you are contemplating is a tandem, if so just inquire with the DZ about providing you with video. If is not a tandem, you still need to check with the DZ about options. Student or first time jumpers are not normally allowed to wear cameras when jumping. Most DZs and some governing bodies require an experience level of 200 jumps before allowing anyone to wear a camera on a skydive. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  15. gowlerk
    Who knows what you can make "fit". But I have recently packed a few Talon one D-8s with Swift Plus 175s and a Raven one. They were full as far as I was concerned. I would just say no if someone asked me to put a Raven 2 into one. Ken Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  16. gowlerk
    I recently had a customer bring me a Wings for a repack. I looked at it and admired the nicest, cleanest looking pack job I'd ever seen on a Wings. It was a larger one and and the cap was nicely sunk into the pack job. I was very impressed and wondering if would be able to do as well. Until I measured the pull force needed to open it. You guessed it....35lbs. The loop was too short, but it sure looked nice. Of course this doesn't really have anything to do with dust, and I also doubt that dust had much to do with the rig in question here. Ken Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  17. gowlerk
    Chris, rounds are much less likely to be involved in collisions with each other because they all drift equally in the wind and have very little forward speed to get into trouble with. That is why they are still used for mass troop drops. Today's canopies are plenty colorful enough. Please, more reading and less typing. You can do it. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  18. gowlerk
    I'm sure Rover is just sharing some of the "inside" talk that goes on. We are all professionals who want to give people an experience to remember and hopefully impart some knowledge on the way. My tendency is to impart more knowledge to those who are interested and less to those who aren't. Both can be a lot of fun, or not. It is good to take the attitude that they are students, and I call myself a TI, not a TM. I just find it too cynical to pretend that most of them are there to learn. Or perhaps it is I who am too cynical. Either way Doug and Rover and I are all the others are doing their best to deliver a safe quality product to the consumer. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  19. gowlerk
    Obviously BPA feels differently than me! God bless them, and a nanny state organization to boot! I did not know, thanks. I am not an HP pilot, and like I said my feeling may not be worth much. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  20. gowlerk
    My thoughts FWIW (not much). When we talk of "HP" canopy skills we general mean the art of aiming our canopy at the ground in order to gain speed for the fastest and most graceful landing we can manage. There are some truly wonderful people doing truly wonderful things along these lines, and I love to watch them. But it is a black art. It is so unforgiving of mistakes that no sanctioning body such as USPA will ever publish a methodology for learning these skills, nor should they, as it would encourage even more people to do it. Indeed, what the population in the sport generally does is discourage this activity. Also as it should be. There is no truely safe way to learn it, just ways of lowering the risk. If you want to follow this path, you will need to find willing mentors, or unsanctioned "schools". Good luck and be safe. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  21. gowlerk
    I do most of those things as well, but they are still mostly passengers. Go look at the advertising your DZ does to attract tandems. They advertise rides, not lessons. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  22. gowlerk
    ............................................................................ No! USPA shouold nt lower pre-levels before jumping hand-cam. New TIs need a least 100 tandem jumps - to burn basic survival skills into longer-term memory - before adding any more gadgets (e.g. cameras). There is a LOT of learning going on on those first 100 jumps. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  23. gowlerk
    They are a student not a passenger! 1) Experience has not shown a need for a cutaway system for tandem handcam gloves, and I have never seen one. 2) When they ride with me they are mostly passengers. Almost all bucket list types. I may teach them something, but I'm not dishonest enough to tell myself they are students. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  24. gowlerk
    If you don't have a MARD (Skyhook) you have a chance of your reserve p/c clearing the trailing main. If you have a MARD, your p/c will be directly dragged into the mess. Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.
  25. gowlerk
    My feeling is that as valuable as the Skyhook MARD is, the Collins Lanyard itself is even more vital. This is from seeing a main riser break on a Vector 2 tandem rig. Without the Collins Lanyard the chance of this event resulting in a double fatality is large. My strong belief is that any RSL needs one of these devices. BTW, who is Collins? In any case thank you to him and Booth for the double save. Ken Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.