Zennie

We sort of have the same question rear it's head in the BASE world as well. As a general rule I think time in the sport is more important than raw numbers. Even though the jump numbers are the same there is greater accumulated knowledge over time. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Not sure what you mean by "outgoing" but I have great friends at both places and feel at home at both places. Everybody looks for different things. What one person likes another may not. Best advice I can offer is try both. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Sending both of you good vibes! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Another possibility is to do both techniques, as well as Dwain's front/rear riser turn, with a Pro-Trac or Neptune and then compare the graphs. I'd think you could get some interesting data on both vertical altitude loss and forward speed. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Glad you're OK Yuri! I'm sorry to hear about the accident though. I'll be keeping you and everyone else there in my thoughts. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Having worked as an administrative lawyer in a previous life, and having attended and participated in (for the state govt) administrative proceedings such as this, I'll echo these sentiments. Having written statements submitted in advance allows your comments and concerns to be part of the public record. Generally at meetings like this, testimony is not recorded and there is no stenographer, so if written statements aren't submitted beforehand, all that might wind up in the formal record is a synopsis of what you said... and those can oftentimes be distorted. I also agree that commissions take those represented by counsel MUCH more seriously than those that just get up and testify. If it's just you, most committee members just see it as you blowing off steam... show up with a lawyer and they start wondering if you may actually make their lives and jobs more complicated by fighting. The fact of the matter is, generally by the time these meetings are held, theirs minds have been made up. So the best you can do is have your objections be part of the public record and try to force a compromise by having the prospect of additonal proceedings loom over their heads. Maybe we should start a collection to send Rick H out there... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

So I guess we'd need to add a spoon, lighter, syringe and rubber hose to our fanny pack eh? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm pretty sure there's a "Felix" exemption to site bans. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

DAMN! You beat me to it! GMTA! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Wouldn't it be funny if lawmakers legalized gay marriage and then forgot to update the divorce laws accordingly? Doh! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Now THIS is a thread I'm looking forward to following! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Funny you mention this. I was considering a scouting mission in a VERY remote region of the Lone Star this weekend (fell through for other reasons). I was trying to think of what I would want to have with me along similar lines. Your list is very good, I'd add a signalling mirror and a glowstick or two. I'd also bring a miner's light as well. The led should really only be a backup light source, not a primary one. Basically what you want is enough stuff to take care of yourself if things go to $%^. The shoelaces would be good for a tourniquet, for example. Some bandages and a small roll of medical tape would be good. Some water purification tablets, and perhaps one of those little wire saws might also be a good idea. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

It would really be nice if some of the Moab folks, especially Jimmy & Marta, could make a pitch for us. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Same experience as Jaap. A couple of times the did the back-and-forth thing through the X-Ray machine to figure out what it was, but nobody has ever asked me anything about it. I personally keep mine in a stash bag just to avoid attacting undue attention. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

If you do then you have me and brit doing our B Mc Conkeys on the Team Hold My beer vid. If anyone wants a copy of it, I'll burn ya one and send it to ya, just PM me your snail mail addy and I'll send one out. And' y'all just wait, me, Brit & Co have some plans for HMB Vol 2 that will make the previous stuff look tame. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yep. Naked... Nah, work sort of gets in the way of that. But I'll repaint them if it really turns you on. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

*cough**ahem* Let's see. Who was the one jumping with three hot babes last night? Oh yeah... me. Who wasn't? Oh yeah... you. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yep & I'm doing my part. Note: I edited my sig just for you. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Fondren or Fountainview? In any event, I was probably driving that way: a. Because it was Monday morning and I was half-zombified; and b. I have to drive that way in city traffic to avoid getting my car smashed by morons driving large pickup trucks. Get me on the highway and that's a different matter altogether. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

The Houston BASE female/male ratio just got even better this evening! Grants hun! Oh, and way to take out Brit in the process! That made for some classic video! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm worried about the image quality. However, I just realized that even a bullet setup requires a camera. So nothing is stopping me from getting a camera and then experimenting with a bullet setup. One of our local jumpers has the new Samsung SC-X105L cameras with the external bullet mount. It's very easy to use and set up & is apparently water-resistant. The really cool part is that it uses no moving parts. That said, I think you need to give it a year or two befoer the memory capacity and video quality get up to speed with mini-DV. Comparing video clips between his camera and my PC-101, the video quality is OK, and probably fine for showing you friends, but it really isn't high enough to put together a video. Plus the memory stick capacity doesn't give you a whole lot of recording time. The one I'm really looking forward to are the HDTV cams that are just now starting to become affordable. They're still a bit bulky, but give them another year or so and I'm sure they'l be down into the mini-cam sizes. In fact, check out the new Sony HDR-HC1... verrry tasty. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Glad you're at home doing better. Nothing, I mean NOTHING beats prescription drugs. Oh, and like he couldn't have gone after something useless, like the pinky... but NOOOoooooo... he has to do a number on your birdie finger. Damn chows. I lost my mind. Does that count? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I read your post more carefully Ray & changed my response. Bridge jumps I generally use toggles to correct for 180s. Usually because I have plenty of time to unstow them in my usual fashion & time-frame. I don't think anyone will argue that toggles will get you turned around faster than risers. You also said this which I am in 100% agreement with. Bottom line, there is no one generic solution to every BASE problem (well... except the parachute part). One approach may be ideal for one situation and completely inappropriate in another. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Gratz Katie & JohnDoe! Oh no not at all, you were just doing boring stuff like crowd surfing during the Offspring set at the Warped Tour. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Also on the site that 460 referenced, there are a number of pages devoted to ram-air parachute studies. You can view those here... http://www.mems.rice.edu/TAFSM/PROJ/AS/ - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon