mdrejhon

It's certainly not bad for a whuffo article - much more accurate than a few articles I've seen in the mainstream. A bit too much headline sensationalism though, but the headline does play into the death statistics (the statistics seem to be pretty accurate)

Pssst... Click Here For Proper Tunnel Time Posting Procedures

I was saving up for a new Vector3 container to be filled with used canopies, when a complete Vector2 rig close to my specifications popped up at my dropzone that I could get inspected and test-jumped before paying. Talk to your dropzone people. They'll be the best source of information. Also, I do strongly recommend getting used to BOC if you plan to stick in skydiving for a while -- you'll eventually want to upgrade your rig, and there's a bigger variety of BOC containers on the market. If you're worried about BOC problems (missing hackey in freefall, etc), remember you've also got silver to pull too. BOC is actually pretty reliable. (However, some people with disabilities, there are legitimate reasons for other kinds of deployment systems, but think it over carefully and talk it with others carefully...)

Okay, NOW it's starting to faintly resemble the Colorado one.

I got pied at near the end of the day, I think after my 102nd jump. There's no window for 100th jump pies -- it can be deferred to later in the day, with the rig and jumpsuit safely out of the way.

Done. Although don't do any BASE. Yet.

I promise it won't be Hockey I'll turn on to -- Not all of us Canadians actuaually like the Hockey stuff -- and I prefer a good Heineken or other interesting premium brand.

At least he wasn't forced to drink Bud Light

Trevor, Do you know if the IMAX version will ever be shown again around here in this region? I missed seeing it in IMAX before I thought of even getting seriously "into" skydiving, and am kicking myself for that. The upcoming lists don't look promising.

397 miles for me. I'm in Canada. Assuming I take highway 91 (secret shortcut to Boston) instead of 89 (Google Maps recommendation), to maximize 4-lanes all the way, that's a 6 hour drive at freeway speeds. Montreal is a bottleneck, though.

Man, I wish this was before the Canadian 80 way attempt in late June. I'm trying to make it to 2 or 3 camps before then so I can make the next 100 jumps very RW-heavy, if I am to have a fighting chance of being a part of that. At least Skyventure NH is opening real soon within 6 hour driving distance - can't wait to fly there . Either way, if I have funds, I might try to make this Skyfest. We'll see...

Is the Discovery TV crew keeping tabs on things too?

Which one would that be, so I can avoid it? FWIW, I fly a Sabre 170. The openings are brisk but I am okay with them (opens in 600-700 feet.)

Hi, Google Maps for cellphones - yes, scrollable too - This is an amazing program. Much better than any map direction finder I've ever used on a cellphone Works on a lot of devices (Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, BlackBerry, etc) www.google.com/glm (Be warned: Uses lots of data. Better have an UNLIMITED data plan!)

And you can even do scrollable Google Maps too on Cellphones now! -- www.google.com/glm

When I become a vidiot at maybe 300-400ish jumps. We shall see about that. (If I ever have ANY business using a camcorder in freefall. ) If so, then better'd WATCH OUT. You've been warned.

I agree with you -- bellydown attitude if possible. However, I have a question. Isn't the reserve PC springloaded? Is the springloading strong enough to overcome relative wind for the first fraction of a second (6 feet of bridle)? Also, isn't the reserve PC tilted slightly away from the main PC, meaning if there is enough force in the spring to overcome the relative wind, you'd have more distance between the reserve PC and the main PC if you track forward before pulling reserve in a PC-in-tow? Theoretically, wouldn't the answer might even be a "yes" - only that there is no guarantee that the spring is strong enough to overcome the 120mph relative wind to clear the PC-in-tow with more clearance than belly-down. And that is precisely why bellydown is safest, because you're at least guaranteed a minimum separation at least; By default, I agree with staying bellydown attitude (if not stood up) -- safest option if if I ever have a PC-in-tow and need to EP immediately. That's what I am taught. I just have the above curiousity.

Since Billy is deaf, it will be a totally legal use of relay service -- The worst thing about it might just be a waste of about $1.50 per minute of FCC/government subsidized dollars (which pays for the relay service). You can already request a M or F operator. Maybe you can ask for a GWM operator, instead of a MWM operator

Deal. As long as you use Canadian censors to give the PG13 and R. We're at least slightly more permitting on the sex stuff at least (at least in the Quebec area, anyway -- like France), and we at least screen it for gay-nonoffensiveness.

I used to work in the home theater industry, so... Yes, good point, assuming apples versus apples -- Keep in mind that 5 megapixels taken from a big sharp lens downsampled to 720p and compressed from a good codec (high bitrate) looks much sharper than 1080p taken from 3 megapixels taken from a small lens. 1080p requires 6 megapixels for full resolution (2 megapixels times 3 for the individual RGB elements), plus a lens that doesn't blur any of this at all. So either it must be a 3 CCD of native resolution, or a single CCD at three times resolution (bayer pixel arrangement), to more-or-less eliminate the CCD resolution as a limiting factor. The earlier 720p camcorder that uses only a single 2 megapixel CCD is actually not maxing its resolution -- You need at least 3 megapixels to max 1280x720p sharpness (1280x720p is one megapixel -- but because of bayer CCD's and interpolation, you need about 3 megapixels to max the sharpness of 1280x720p), and from the results I've seen in the home theater industry, I can clearly see that earlier 720p consumer camcorders aren't "that sharp" -- much softer than the studio 720p camcorders, and much softer than digital photos taken on higher-megapixel camera and downscaled to 720p for comparision to a freezeframe from this 720p camcorder... The best computer-based 720p I've seen are the 100 megabyte WMV clips from www.wmvhd.com -- Looks much better than the worst 1080p video I've seen. I'd like to see a camcorder that PROPERLY records the full potential of 720p with minimum interpolation. The current consumer 720p's aren't good, I've seen much better 720p working as a contractor in the home theater industry. A good downsampling algorithm from 5 megapixels is definitely one piece of the equation, but lens, codec, etc quality definitely plays a role -- and this brand (Sanyo the cheapie) isn't that well known for videophile quality. However, as the manufacturers throws more pixels, better lens, better scaling, and better codecs, I do believe 720p will eventually start getting much better looking in a consumer camcorder. (i.e. more akin to resizing a 6 or 8 megapixel digital photo down to 720p equivalent resolution; it suddenly looks much less "soft" from excessive interpolation from a bayer CCD) But, yes 1080p done properly, is REALLY SWEET. (If max sharpness is preserved -- from incoming photon to final display, that is -- picture quality is never better than the weakest chain) I'm not getting that excited either, yet, but as professionals know, the past crop of 720p camcorders have been decidedly ho-hum and I definitely know 720p consumer camcorders have further big leaps to make in the sharpness and quality department. So don't dismiss 720p completely just yet. For example, many of today's good 1CCD DV camcorders are much sharper than yesteryear's 3CCD DV camcorders -- and the DV resolution has not changed. I expect such a major evolution to occur with 720p, especially if it is encoded in the video file at 4:4:4 component sampling or even merely 4:2:2 format. Even with the same lens and electronics quality, there are cases that 720p at 4:4:4 and 4:2:2 look sharper for color-filled images than 1080p recorded at 4:1:1. (The digital video file format will dictate limits on this - I do not expect a consumer camcorder to be able to do 4:4:4, however) 4:1:1 looks ugly when you're filming, say, a flower field of tulips from a distance -- because of color bleeding and smearing effects. That's an example what I witnessed on one model on an earlier crop of 720p video cameras. Ugh! MPEG4 versus HDV versus proprietary, quality of codec, overcompression, etc. It all gets frustrating. Clearly, lots of improvement yet to be made, but forgiveable since HD in a consumer camcorder is still a novel and new thing... Bottom line. Hopefully the consumer camcorder manufacturers get their act together.... :)

I'm going to respond; Personally, I don't mind the funny gay jokes that go on at dropzones and most people don't even know that a gay guy is in their midst when they make em, but I should point out a couple of gotchas: (A) Operators go through a lot of frustration with IP Relay Scams. They don't need any further abuse from their already miserable jobs because at some relay centers, all operators spend several hours stuck having to relay on a fraudulent phone call attempt. (B) Straight people often have stereotypical perceptions of gays, which may be offensive to gays. (anal sex jokes, homophobia references, etc.) Script the conversation carefully in advance if you must make this phone call. Even so, it is not going to be funny to everybody. Television sitcom style routines are fair game (Will and Grace style, Saturday Night Live, etc). Anything that is on the same level as that is fair game. Also many relay centers have rules that disallow them from relaying explicit information, and they say "(EXPLICIT CONVERSATION -- WE DO NOT RELAY EXPLICIT CALLS) GA"

Sinus infections can clear up pretty quickly if you do everything to stay healthy. For example, my home dropzone out in the farmland has fresher air than in the city (The planes dont fly often enough to pollute the massive dropzone land), and one can lounge around all day relaxing and not worrying about housework, etc. If it is not too cold and not too warm. A sinus infection can clear up in two days. I was sick but went to the dropzone anyway. Went Friday. Slept in. Miraculously I was full of energy the next day and my sinuses were clear. Bring lots of healthy food and drinks though, and find someplace comfortable to rest and read a book between watching the parachutists land. Less stressful than sitting in a cluttered home that you don't feel like doing household chores in. I seem to recover from colds much faster at the dropzone for some reason. (happened twice already.) I do bring a full cooler stocked with good food, so that I can stuff myself with good food. Resist the temptation to drink beer instead.

Welcome back... I haven't jumped since October because of the damn Canadian winter. I will do at least a few snow jumps when the weather is sunny, not too cold, at some nearby Cessna dropzone that is sometimes open for winter jumping. I'm pretending to fly my canopy through the office hallways while working late, when going to the kitchen or bathroom Look for me to jump like crazy during some midwinter skydiving vacation down south... But not until after I spend some money on some ski trips first!

20 minute downtown commute on foot for me. Got rid of the car (freeing up many thousands per year of costs), carpool to the dropzone, and use a car sharing service when I need to use a car for various purposes.

Charge at least $75.00 per hour? Even if it's just waiting on the phone line for customer service.