MB38

I tried it out on two solos last week and found myself able to do it part of the time... and backflipping the rest. Not discouraged though, I have a long way to go. I plan on getting coaching as soon as the wallet allows... be it tunnel or freefall. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Well, if somebody posts all the relevant dates/information I'll put one together. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Up until I bought a BH Optik, I was jumping a snowboarding helmet. It did the trick, but I found that there was a funny little pocket of air that would form below the front of the helmet and above my goggles on my forehead. What that meant to me was every time I do a flip or cartwheel when sitflying... the air would get displaced and pull my goggles down. That's more of a random experience than anything else, it's not like skydiving helmets are designed to keep the air flowing smoothly across your forehead. So the snowboarding helmet did the trick for me. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

I wait and I'll mention if asked. I'm not Brook The Skydiver, I'm Brook... who goes to school, works for a handful of jobs, golfs and skydives. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Several years ago, a few friends were sleeping in tents as well. With nobody to lock up their gear for them, they bought several pairs of legcuffs to pick up the slack. Every night they would cuff one side to their ankle and the other side to the rig's MLW. A little uncomfortable to sleep with, but they still had their gear at the end of the week. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

I think that the average person out there has experience jumping [not skydiving or base, just jumping] and experiencing freefall for approximately 1+ seconds. If anybody has ever jumped into a pool from a relatively high board then they can know what to expect. I believe that a PCA/SL BASE jump would be the safer of the two. A handheld PC on a short delay? Probably safer as well. When that person leaves the bridge with the PC in their hand, they're experiencing the same thing that they experience when diving into a pool... just a lot higher. If they could overcome the emotional/psychological stress of what was happening, it would be a familiar event. Assuming that person has had a bunch of practice launches [including mock PC throws] into a pool, they should be able to handle the short delay. Dead air is a lot more familiar to a non-jumper than the loud angry soup we fly through while skydiving. A 1-2 second delay from the potato bridge wins over a 5,000 foot skydive to me. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

$1, Bob. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Here it is. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Happen to have any footage from it? I'd be interested to see what 24p looks like in freefall. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Please don't. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

The issue here is what was stated earlier in the thread. Yes, most people's eyes aren't accurate down to the foot... but for many of us [glances at jump numbers] they are only accurate within about 3,000 feet. Eyes are great at telling when you're bottoming out, but I'll be damned if I could figure out 5,000 vs. 3,500 in a pinch. That said, I could figure out 3,000 and below pretty quickly... because everything's bigger than what I usually see when I'm waiting for my risers to hit my hands. But if I burn through my breakoff altitude and my audible fails, I may not know it. If I'm looking at my altimeter and it's reading 8,000 feet for the fourth time, it's time to stare at the ground and figure out where I am. That's my own personal reasoning behind choosing a visual altimeter over an audible. However, I've never been so into a jump that I forgot to look at my wrist. I understand that if I forget to look at my wrist I'm just as screwed as I would be otherwise... and a functional audible would take the cake here. The moral for me is to wear both. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Visible, but if I could only have one device I'd want a mechanical altimeter. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Lousy now but great by the weekend. Consider it rubbed in. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Here is a good idea of how they've helped. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Here's one [edit] But beware on buying with your jump numbers. On my third jump I was under a 230... now I'm under a 188. If I bought a rig on my third jump I would've outgrown it by at least two canopy sizes by the time it even arrived. [/edit] I really don't know what I'm talking about.

I'd love it if you could expand a little more, Quade. I've worked with SuperCircuits transmitters before with great success [on the ground] over several miles. My only concern is the continually changing orientation of the transmitter on the jumper, something an omni should help with [but not solve completely]. So where do the other complications come in? I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Shouldn't be too hard with something like one of these, particularly considering it'd be line of sight. Even their 2 mile transmitters should make twice that line of sight. You could put together a little transmitter system that would be small enough to mount on your helmet with the camera for only a few hundred. Stick a big yagi antenna on the receiver and you're in business. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

A much better idea. Once I have it all put together I'll send you a message, Jaap I really don't know what I'm talking about.

I've received a handful of extra submissions. Once I'm back on my main machine I'll put them all up on a website with an interface rather than as a file. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Dammit. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

1. Not die. 2. Not break anything. 3. Get a rig. 4. Become a functionally proficient freeflyer. 5. Start flying camera. 6. Get my C license. 7. Do a still air jump of some kind. 8. Get back into GCing. Most importantly: Learn, observe and be the safest skydiver I know to be. Refuse to be a 31/50/100/150/200 jump wonder. Know that not all of those goals may happen this year. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Imagine hanging under canopy. Then do a back [or front] flip through your risers. Imagine how risers/lines on a given side would be twisted around themselves. That's a step through. It happens during packing when the deployment bag accidentally gets passed in between the lines/risers. [if this isn't clear, i'll explain further] I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Will the camera be repaired or is it scrap? I really don't know what I'm talking about.

If anybody has more information/links, I'll save them as PDF files and add them to the file. I really don't know what I'm talking about.

I happened to have a Canon EOS Digital Rebel and their non-IS 300mm lens handy one day at Perris. Sure enough, there were a few big ways going on that day, so I got to play around with it a little bit. Here is a full resolution example. The jumpers were about 5,000 feet overhead at this point. I was shooting handheld at ISO 400. The shutter speed should've been 1/4000th, but I was shooting wide open and manually focusing... two of the elements that had an effect on the focus of this image. Here are smaller crops from other pictures I took that day. Almost all of those pictures were taken with the 300mm. I really don't know what I'm talking about.