dragon2

The majority of people jumping with go pros are mounting them on helmets that arent really ment for cameras. Hemce they lack cutaways. I dont see a big problem there. I wouldnt go as far as calling all of them fools. As I said, I dont see a real need for a cutaway with this type of helmet + go pro. Sure there is some room for debate. Same goes with some other issues like jumping with a hoodie. Some might think its plain stupid and others do it all the time. Other than that, I definetly dont see why the cutaway would be any more necessary when sidemounted. Also I still dont undestand why sidemounts have suddenly became so dangerous. It's not sidemounting that is dangerous, it's sidemounting a camera as wide and as snatchy as a GOPRO that is dangerous. You won't hear me complain if you wanted to sidemount a sony actioncam, that formfactor is way better suited to sidemounting that the boxy gopro. I DO see a major problem with no cutaway. Especially with newbie camera jumpers. And yes I'd call them fools, mostly so for not asking (or taking) advice from experienced cameraflyers first. How can you think not being able to cutaway your helmet say when your brakeline is attached to your camera a good/safe idea?!? ciel bleu, Saskia

Sure you can mount it that way, if all you are going to use the helmet for is skiing. A camera on a fullface helmet is NOT safe for skydiving because you cannot cutaway a helmet like that. IF you are going to mount a gopro on a fullface helmet you want to mount it on TOP of the helmet not the side, plus have a whole lot of jumps (500+). This is not for beginners. A better beginner camera helmet is a open-face helmet with a cutaway installed. The go-pro goes up top or up front (never mount a go-pro on the side). You could jump a helmet like that at 200 jumps. ciel bleu, Saskia

Safely, meh, alive, yes. I have video somewhere of one of my former SL students (a fitness instructor so quite healthy and limber) inducing and then landing a downplane. She ended up with a busted hip. This was during the World POPS Meet 2012 @ Teuge NL, a good number of people saw her landing. I was on the landing field, filming accuracy, but they were dropping regular loads in between. As I heard from the JM, she exited very stable on her back for her first freefall. She opened her main after the briefed 10 second delay, while still stable on her back. By the time I saw her, she had a stable-looking side by side. She flew that for a while, then she started kicking. A LOT. Then the side by side turned into a downplane because she was steering with one toggle fully down. The canopies started turning slowly while downplaning. She landed like that. Afterwards, she refused to go to the hospital right away, said her hip was just sore. She was in full-on defensive mode at that time, saing she should never have been allowed to freefall, she also said she was never taught how to exit properly or get stable (I gave her the FJC, she did well enough for at least 5 jumps to be allowed to freefall, and her first freefall briefing was done by the chief instructor). She also said she was never taught how to deal with a 2out. She later said, Hey Saskia you told me to leave a side-by-side pretty much alone or else it might downplane, turns out you were right! From looking at the video, we concluded the main opened with one riser around her arm. the main was flying stable enough surprisingly, I would have left well enough alone myself. She maintained she was unable to cuyaway because her right arm was stuck, so she just pulled silver. reserve opened in a side-by-side witha couple linetwists, which is why she was kicking so much under canopy. When she couldn't undo the twists, she grabbed a toggle with her free hand and just PULLED, thereby inducing the downplane (this is all on video). She landed like that, one toggle fully down for a 'flare'. She landed sideways, presumably mostly on her hip. Now I didn't do the debrief, and somewhat glad of it because I'm not sure where would have gone with this student. She DID pull her canopy on time. I left this one to the chief instructor. I think the video is on my computer at the DZ. Ï might be there next weekend but not this weekend. ciel bleu, Saskia

It's the f4-5.6 version. I don't use it because it is too big to frontmount for me, combined with the D300 it just catches too much wind. Laurent has it topmounted so no issue there. I use my 10.5 and 16mm, happy with those. ciel bleu, Saskia

Neither. What have you been taught about EPs? Head back and ARCH sound familiar? What happens with your arch when you look down? Look at the main canopy departing? Why? So you get it on video? ciel bleu, Saskia

AFAIK full manual only with zenitars with a Nikon below the D200... MF isn't that bad you're right, but complete manual lighting is another thing... You could look for a 2nd hand fisheye but they don't show up often and aren't that cheap usually... Another option: I've got a 10-20 sigma here you could buy off me, same lens as Laurent uses. I don't use it much, or ever really; got too many other lenses that I like better Feel free to try the lens for a jump or 2, but you break it you bought it ciel bleu, Saskia

LOL your dad wouldn't recommend a zenitar i'm sure The issue with the zenitar on a Nikon 3100 is that is is full manual, so you need to set the f-stop, the shutter speed and ofcourse the focus all by hand. So, as long as you don't do any paid or real special jumps, going full manual might work in your case. However, I'd seriously look into getting a nikon 16mm or sigma 15mm (which would still be MF on your nikon, should've kept the D300 ). ciel bleu, Saskia

Generally, no, because otherwise you would have to let go of your brakes again to unclip your wings. People have died trying to cut a line, a bridle, etc so NO. If you cutaway your helmet because it is entagled with your main, releasing the helmet will likely mean it is now dangling from your main (read: banging into you /your head) and you will still need to get rid of it. Altitude permitting you valuate the new situation quickly, but I would think almost all cases you will still need to cutaway the main, unless releasing the helmet freed it from the main too and there is no damage, other problem with the main. Basically, when you start jumping camera, same as with your main, don't hesitate to jettison it should you need to. ciel bleu, Saskia

2 friends of mine (both TIs) did a couple jumps like that for a Dutch movie. Unlike the usual "Mr Bill tandem" where the passenger jumps off after opening, they had to land like that, all dressed up for the movie too. The female TI on front was heard on video right before landing: "Danny, if you *hurt* me on landing...!!!!!!!" ciel bleu, Saskia

It feels like 'ouch'. Or rather, '***OUCH'. On any exposed skin you have. Trust me, been there, done that ciel bleu, Saskia

Disclaimer: I'm no eye doctor Most skydivers I know who have had lasik/lasek are back to skydiving within a couple months. So after a year, skydiving is probably fine. Make sure your goggles are tight enough that they stay on your head and don't let in too much airflow, pretend like you have contact lenses ciel bleu, Saskia

Well I know some people have superglued the lenses of their OIS cameras.... ciel bleu, Saskia

Why are you using a camera with OIS for skydiving? You want a camera without optical stabilisation for skydiving, because it causes the problems you describe (even when you turn it off). Buy a camera with EIS instead of OIS, and get one of the CX series cameras they are proven to work for skydivers. The CX190, CX200 and the CX210 f.i. work beter for skydivers. ciel bleu, Saskia

Meh, it depends on where you live i guess... I don't think I've seen a LOR rsl for years here, all atoms I've seen lately have either no rsl or a single-sided one with either a straight reserve pin or a 9-shaped one. ciel bleu, Saskia

On a different helmet. The big problem with fullface helmets like that is that you cannot install a cutaway system. Something that should be mandatory on any camera helmet IMO. So especially for a beginner, a freefly-style open helmet with chincup + cutaway for a camerahelmet, especially with the big-ass hook a go-pro is, is the only way to go IMO. ciel bleu, Saskia

? Unforseen circumstances aside, which WILL some day happen to you if you continue to jump, there are events and DZs where you simply have to land cross- or downwind on occasion, for safety reasons. Downwind landings don't hurt/kill you. Having no clue what to do and just reacting can mean a broken femur or worse. Used to be, low toggle turns to avoid something or turn into the wind made up the bulk of skydiving incidents/fatalities. These days, canopy collisions are on the rise and if everybody around you is landing downwind, face it buddy, so are you if you don't want to run into anyone. ciel bleu, Saskia

Camera on a tripod and set completely manual, then combine in photoshop (or similar). ciel bleu, Saskia

Well Brian Germain stretched the lines on my vengeance once, and it def improved the canopy for a bit (eventually I had to reline it of course). ciel bleu, Saskia

So, why did you unhook the lines from the links they were on? Why not? Its how people learn and its not rocket science to correct any mistakes prior to jumping it If you're hooking up a canopy for a friend, it sorta implies you know what you're doing... Unhooking the lines from links at all, or without a tie-wrap or something to keep them in the right order and group if you really NEED to unhook lines from links (which you rarely do), sorta implies you don't. I'm all for doing stuff yourself, and making mistakes along the way is OK, but you should always hook up a canopy with someone right there to check your work (ESPECIALLY if you're unhooking lines from links or putting them on links for the first time) and preferably the canopy you're going to jump yourself if you're going to make mistakes ciel bleu, Saskia

So, why did you unhook the lines from the links they were on? ciel bleu, Saskia

I recently refused to sell a vengeance 135 to a jumper with 160 jumps... Guess he would've given me bad feedback if he could ciel bleu, Saskia

The Springo is an Stiletto-like canopy, and as such, not a very good idea to wingsuit with. The Electra OTOH is a much better choice for wingsuiting. This canopy is in the safire/pilot class, maybe even a bit like a Pulse/Silhouette in some ways. Excellent choice for wingsuiting. But if you´re thinking about wingsuiting a bigger suit, you presumably already have a good number of wingsuit jumps, and you should know the above already..? ciel bleu, Saskia

Yep. Geek toy! But... but... Now Bas really has no hope of getting his dreamjob ciel bleu, Saskia

Make sure you have a pullup cord in a pocket somewhere and just fieldpack the main. Rig on your shoulders, voila, free arms. If you want, you could just pack the rig there and then, but then you probably also want a couple spare elastic bands in your pocket. ciel bleu, Saskia