dragon2

A pin check encompasses way more than "just" checking the reserve pin. It definitely includes checking the AAD (although that may have to be done by the jumper himself in case of a back-mounted display). So, in my view, a pin check would show a AAD problem like that, yes. ciel bleu, Saskia

Time out. You don't qualify for a demo jump, but that makes a "non-demo" off airport jump ok? Please take the time to consider the consequences of your actions. If you don't have the skills to pull off a demo jump, you likely need help ensuring that what you want to do is even safe. +1. AFAIK, any jump intentionally off-airport is a demo jump, and you should have the skillset for that. ciel bleu, Saskia

If the unit says it fired and the reserve is stil closed, you have 3 scenarios: 1) the unit malfunctions, it hasn't fired but has a cutter problem 2) the unit fired but the loop wasn't through the cutter 3) the unit fired and your reserve is now hanging on by a few threads or has been locked In either of these cases, would you jump the rig? So, if checking the display of the unit shows something wrong, does it matter what the underlying cause is, at that time? It should go straight to a rigger, either way. ciel bleu, Saskia

Argus could as well. You pull lowish and it fires, but does not cut the cable all the way. You get on the next load and all the moving around rips the closing loop. or worse you climb out and the reserve fires. Both have the potential. But if you get on a plane with a "half fired" Argus you did at least 2 things wrong already: 1) you caused the argus to fire, and so far all fires have been when they were supposed to, ie within parameters not just at any moment. 2) you got in the plane without checking your AAD display (it being blank or giving an error msg about the cuttter). I say the chance of an argus bringing a plane down is way way lower than the chance of a vigil doing same. ciel bleu, Saskia

Nope. Up to a point this does apply to experienced jumpers. But students are the responsibility of their instructors. If you were any kind of seriously hurt over here, and didn't have your C-license yet, you would be asked to get a new medical. Doc says you're ok to jump? Then you can. ciel bleu, Saskia

You got your wires crossed there: the one that can potentially bring down an airplane is the VIGIL (1 and 2). Which has not been grounded. ciel bleu, Saskia

Another factor is that that is a lot of weight. I've worn 29 lbs of weight before, my usual exit weight at the time was 150 lbs but I had to film rotation at a ~2.0 wingload. Wearing that much lead meant wearing both a vest and a belt and that made my handles sit real snug against the weights. Now I was just filming not IN the formations so less chance of needing those handles, but still. Also landing and walking around with that much weight wasn't that much fun. Let alone of you land out. Wouldn't want to have to wear that much on a regular basis, myself. If you are going with the weights, my advice would be to put a lot of it in a pocket on the back of the rig vs on the jumper. ciel bleu, Saskia

What if I don't want to jump a KAP-3? They all have had issues in recent times and not one of them is perfect but the KAP-3 is the most consistently effective and least problematic, except for user error perhaps [/:P] I vote for the Astra ciel bleu, Saskia

+1 ciel bleu, Saskia

The fusion depends more on body position for on heading openings than the rest of those canopies, bar the sabre 2. If you get on-heading openings on a same size sabre 2 chances are there may be something off with the canopy (or the way you're packing it). If it's a smaller canopy though and if you don't have that many jumps, I'd look into body position first. ciel bleu, Saskia

I have a Tony suit with the loop-around shackles. I sewed on rings on my rigs, lower than usual so they fit the long loop. If I jump the jacket with the loops actually around the legstrap (ie, on a borrowed rig), I can undo the shackle but I can't get them completely un-looped, which is annoying. ciel bleu, Saskia

click ciel bleu, Saskia

One of the problem alti's showed signs in the aircraft (800ft off), it showed me being at 4k when I was in my landing pattern. Another one of these altis caused a cypres fire (alti WAS faulty but IMO so was jumper...) Another one was a RTFM/too-good-pilot problem: if you fly at 1k for 20 minutes your neptune will now think that it is at ground level. This will not happen with an analog alti. Another time the alti just went nuts in freefall (-13k?~!?), due to a broken temperature reading thingie if I recall. ciel bleu, Saskia

Don't know where that line comes from, seen it before, but I have also jumped with digital alti's wrong by 800ft to 13000ft and in between. ciel bleu, Saskia

I once got into an argument with a potential employer about which province my home town was in I'm pretty sure I know where I live, but the interviewer was adamant I lived somewhere else. I gave in after 2 tries, but didn't get the job ciel bleu, Saskia

Doesn't look like it has a place to put an audible in, something you'll want later on. If you want a cheap skydiving helmet, I'd get pro-tec, fairwind or equivalent (whatever your local skydiving shop sells), with HARD ears, so you have a place to put an audible inside. ciel bleu, Saskia

A few years back, a AFF student quickly became the GF of an AFFI I know. She got real good coaching every step of the way. Then she was allowed to follow him on a tandemjump, having 50+ jumps at the time. GF was about 120 lbs. Soon after exiting, GF managed to get lower than the tandem, actually she was almost straight below the tandempair. GF couldn't see then tandem anymore. GF OPENED HER CANOPY. If she had been right below the pair, 3 people could have gotten killed. You do NOT want anyone on a tandemjump that has even the potential to screw up. ciel bleu, Saskia

Not really, as the IS only helps with freezing YOUR movement (ie, camera shake), not your subject's. Basically, what IS does is letting you shoot handheld with 4-16 times slower shutter speed than you could without IS. With action shots, you mainly want FASTER shutter speeds. Anyway, IS might help, but I wouldn't buy it for action shots perse as that's not what it is good at/aimed at. It's perfect for handheld shooting of canopies in the air @ 300mm though

I must say that personally I rarely use IS (or rather, the Nikon variant VR). For jumping, it's simply not needed due to the wide angles used. For macro, turn it off. For landing shots, IS might come in useful, depending on the speed of the incoming canopy (swooping) IS may be useless. If you shoot off a tripod, IS should be turned off. All in all, if you can afford it, by all means get an IS lens. But if you come across a good deal on a good non-IS lens, wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me, personally. Like I said, I use my 2nd hand built-like-a-tank 80-200 f/2.8 way more often than my 70-300 VR even though that lens has much faster AF, has IS, is lighter, is a twist-zoom and has more zoom range. YMMV If you can, try and borrow or rent a lens you think of buying, see if it works for you and your intended purpose (demoing lenses would have saved me plenty of money...). ciel bleu, Saskia

What are the conditions you're taking shots in? If you're looking to take shots of jumpers in the air, or futher away when they land, a 70-300 or 80-200mm lens might suit you. If the pictures you shoot are generelly pretty close up, you might want something along the lines of a 28-70, 28-105 or 28-120mm lens. Some tips: if you want to shoot using autofocus, get a lens with USM motor. If you want to shoot in lower light conditions, get a lens with a decent aperture (f/2.8). Remember you get what you pay for, the cheap 70-300 lenses are pretty much useless in my book, but a 2nd hand good lens can just the ticket. Personally (on a Nikon) I use my 70-300 VR sparingly (even though it's a quite good 70-300), my fav lens is an old 80-200 f/2.8 lens that I got for cheap. Heavy as hell and slow AF, but it's sharp, good in low light, nice range. Quality glass

Did you mean to reply to me? What snap? ciel bleu, Saskia

Can't tell on your pictures, but if the lower toggle tab is open at both sides, stick the slack (downwards) into the lowest tab, before you put the toggle in. It's how I stow my brake lines on my b2b rig (keep forgetting to ask my rigger to sew some elastic keepers on). If not, or for a nicer solution, a rigger can sew on some keepers for you for a few bucks. ciel bleu, Saskia

Finally got some! Did my 2000st jump today!!! Freebee tandemvideo with passenger Paulien's little brother, 2nd camera and of course Paulien. Little brother felt like a VIP ciel bleu, Saskia

Thanks!

So, I'm in the instructor course this year, meaning I get a lot of student referred to me as "I need to practice" The weather started out crappy today, so no one was in any hurry, a good environment for newer jumpers to chat about stuff. Since I like to chat a lot, this worked out just fine My catch for today was: - 2 guys for their 3-monthly "harness tests": taught them a lot about 2 out situations, in-plane emergencies, and most notably explained to one of them, a ~150 jump jumper, what exactly an RSL does and does not do and some ins-and-outs of an AAD. He had some notions about both but mostly had no clue. Took me a while, but then the light dawned and he got it! Then a group of 3 newer jumpers was getting a show-and-tell about gear (risers, cutaway, RLS etc) and I got them passed over to me, so helped them understand about RSLs some more, explained the concept of a freebag, and enrolled them all into the upcoming creeper competition to boot. Also I had to do preparation for my next course day, in which I will get to teach other instructor-wannabees about plfs. So, thought it was a splendid idea to get some practice in those myself, first! Oh yeah I actually got one jump in late in the day, a tandemvideo, with unexpected splendid weather: a few clouds in the background to catch the low setting sun. How good can life get? ciel bleu, Saskia