tso-d_chris

Very nice. Sunrise Rigging builds a great rig, an excellent value.

Demand for used gear is what dictates its value. I can't keep large, used ZP mains in stock, while smaller stuff can be very difficult to sell. Everyone starts as a student, and has a need for larger canopies, but not everyone will downsize to small stuff.

I've heard of it often enough that I rarely if ever recommend a tiny reserve, no matter what the choice of main. For Great Deals on Gear

Maybe, maybe not. But their advice is better thaan an inexperienced jumper. I didn't see any posts by his instructor or rigger. Be careful not to confuse a rigger's advice with an instructor's advice. While many jumpers are qualified as both, the skill set is different. A rigger trains to understand gear very well. An instructor trains to understand the needs of students very well. If you want to know about your gear, ask your rigger. If you want to know what gear is most appropriate for your current skill level, an instructor is a better source of information, as it is their area of expertise. I believe I would get a second opinion before reducing my main canopy size by 23%. That is a huge downsize, even if the resulting wingloading is not excessively high. I have met very, very few instructors that would advocate such a downsize.

I'm still trying to get them to install SP2 for Windows XP. More likely I will have to do it for them next time I am there. The PC5 has a serial port, but no USB, unfortunately. Thanks, everybody for your help finding the driver. For Great Deals on Gear

Thanks. PM sent. For Great Deals on Gear

I'm trying to find a copy of the Picture Gear cd which serves as the serial driver for the Sony DCR-PC5. I cannot locate my original (v. 4.1 Lite), and it is not available on Sony's website. I'm sending the camera to a new home with my parents, as the Firewire port went south, rendering the camera next to useless to me. For proud grandparents, on the other hand, it is still a perfectly good video camera. I would like my parents to also be able to transfer stills to their PC. It's all part of my evil plot to get them to be a little less technophobic. Unfortunately, without this software, this becomes far more difficult. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. For Great Deals on Gear

I think I once read about Melanie Conaster's first jump ending in a reserve ride. I don't think she ever jumped again! Not even a few thousand times. For Great Deals on Gear

That sounds JUST like Kim!

Understanding why the birds sing -- PRICELESS!

[sarcasm] And you actually survived that extreme wingloading to tell the tell? Amazing! Better start loading your wing at 2.5:1 before your luck runs out at such dangerously low loadings! Call me and I'll make you a great deal on a Velo79 and a couple weight belts, so you can jump safely.[/sarcasm] For Great Deals on Gear

Perhaps an alternative to downsizing would be to order a Javelin Oddessey or a Wings container. Both have cut-in laterals that will help a larger container fit a smaller body better. chris

And I suppose the coin never lands on its edge when you toss it?

That's fucked up like a football bat.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why not a PD 193 reserve? Even with PD reserves, it is a good idea to size it appropriately for a worst case scenario. Remember, if you have to use your reserve, things are already going badly. IMO it is much better to wish you were under a smaller reserve than to wish you were under a larger one.

UPS Next Day Air and 2nd Day Air usually have pretty predictable delivery windows. Next day packages are delivered before 10:30, while 2nd day packages are delivered by noon. Whenever I have anything valuable enough to worry about shipped to my house, I try to use one of these services to minimize the effect on my schedule, which usually more than pays for the extra charge. For Great Deals on Gear

Good advice. Also bear in mind that not all helmets fit the same heads well. If possible try before you buy. I have found as a general, but far from universal rule, Bonehead helmets tend to fit larger head sizes best, while Parasport helmets tend to fit better on smaller heads. But, it is not always true, so try one on first. If you are not doing hard core RW, there's no reason an open face helmet would not be sufficient. For Great Deals on Gear

"The man that abstains from wine to the extent that it has a detrimental effect on his character is not without blame." -- Italian Proverb

Have to disagree. I'm not saying they are overpriced, but they are not the cheapest, in my experience. If you try you can often get (just as) high quality rigging work done faster, for less.

Given the info you provided, I would personally choose the Racer. I am not saying the Racer is generally superior to the Icon, but in this particular situation, it appears to be the better deal for the following reasons: 1. Lower cost 2. Fewer jumps 3. Comes with PD canopies, whichtend to have a higher new and resale value. 4. Newer CYPRES 2 compared to older CYPRES At the end of the day, though, it is YOU that has to be happy with your decision. For Great Deals on Gear

They're trying to match the speed of the 2x 2.5GHz G5? Or the multi-core PPC? You can't just compare clock speeds. While Apple's "twice as fast as a same speed x86" claim is probably an overstatement, 1 1/2 times seems reasonable, at least as far as G5s are concerned. Similarly, it cannot be said that a dual core 2 GHz chip is twice as fast as a single core 2 GHz chip. The performance would be closer to that of a 3 GHz single core processor of the same archetecture type. It will still be a year or two before the PPC becomes irrelevant in the personal computer industry.

Hmm. I can think of a few very good reasons. I have seen people break arms, dislocate shoulders, lose both contact lenses or glasses (effectively blinding the skydiver). Any of these is a great reason to jettison the sub 107 main in favor of a reserve loaded at 1:1. Doing so significantly decreases the odds of a small mistake on landing resulting in an ambulance ride or worse. On the other hand, those tiny reserves sure do look cool. Can't think of any GOOD reason to justify them, though. The tightest landing I've ever had to make has been under a reserve. In fact, rarely do reserve rides end in on field landings, especially since most people, for better or worse, chase their gear after a cutaway. Also worth noting is that many jumpers downsize their mains before they are really ready. I don't see the wisdom in advising them to make a bad reserve choice just because they made a poor choice for their main canopy. Like you, I know many jumpers that would find landing a sub 100 reserve a non-event, but on the whole, these jumpers are the exception, and not the rule. Most jumpers are WAY better off with larger reserves. For Great Deals on Gear

Sort of, but not exactly. First, I believe that when putting together a complete rig (assuming AAD), the very first thing to be chosen should be the reserve canopy. I don't understand why anyone would put an AAD on a reserve system that does not have a canopy large enough to land that person in a reasonably safe manner, downwind with brakes stowed. The choice of main should come after the reserve is chosen. If the jumper chooses to jump a main that is much smaller than his reserve, then incompatibility in a two out situation is a consequence of the choice of main. Accordingly, if a jumper is going to jump a main at such high wingloadings, then it behooves that jumper to avoid a two canopy out situation, even if that means pulling higher to ensure being in the saddle by AAD activation altitude. Of course, all jumpers should take care to make sure their kill line PCs are cocked. I am aware that in a two canopy out situation, it is better to have two canopies of similar size. I do not think this justifies choosing a tiny reserve. If it the concern is that great, the jumper should consider a larger main to match an appropriately sized reserve. For Great Deals on Gear

I am of the opinion that it makes little sense to have an AAD if you do not have a reserve large enough to survive an unconscious landing. Reserves are for times when things are going wrong. You may not be 100% when you have to land it. Its size should not require you to be at the absolute top of your game in order to walk awway from the landing. Jumpers can take precautions to prevent two canopies out. The size of the main canopy should not be a major factor in choosing a reserve canopy. For Great Deals on Gear

True, but some of the BSD engineers were brought on board by Apple. OS X also draws on many of the lessons learned by Jobs NeXT project, which also was not strictly speaking an apple project. But none of it appears to be stolen this time. Unix and FreeBSD are open source, and Darwin and open Darwin are apple projects. You're right though, it wasn't from scratch. It's Unix underneath.