DougH

That is some stupid shit! Reserve handle looks like hell, ghetto camera setup, no actual step on the landing gear. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I see we are back to bitching about your underwater home you financed with an exotic subprime loan, eh? Those fucking bankers, how dare they push such a product on some one who aparantly has enough sense to later earn an MBA. Totally preying on uninformed consumers who shouldn't know any better. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

That setup is extra awesome when the Velcro is near the end of its life span, and the canopy is brand new. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Shah, a little hint, tandem students are too busy being zonked out of their gourd. They may be temporarily enamored with their instructor, but they usually couldn't give two shits about the other fun jumpers on the plane who are making lame comments and acting like hot shit. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

We have people cook out all the time. Normally there a few people in each large group that don't jump, so they grill burgers and dogs etc. Great for the instructors! The students, or at least their cheerleaders, feed us lunch when they are cooking out. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Is that bad? Is a dropzone that is primarily (or all) tandem automatically bad? No it isn't. If it is local it can be a great thing. Don't be a dick and I doubt they will tell you to hit to road. When they are busy they need to jump tandems, that is how the DZO and the tandem masters butter their bread. But normally when there is a single tandem going up, or a break in between loads you can get jumps in. It is nice to have a place just down the road to get a jump in on short notice, if the nearest turbine DZ is a far drive down the road. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

In my opinion the customer service and experience for tandems at a 182 drop zone can often exceed what you get in at a large turbine drop zone. Whuffo's don't know the difference because an Otter isn't needed to have an awesome skydiving experince. Plane ride: Sure you sit on the floor in a 182 but you get big windows and a nice tour of the area. At my DZ we have nice views of Narraganset Bay and LI sound. With a nice padded floor sitting in a 182 is pretty comfortable. The ride in an Otter is equally tight. They just stuff more skydivers in there. As a tandem student you are either on a straddle bench or a side bench. You get a small window, maybe, and a quick ride. Instruction: Many big DZ's pair students up with their instructors for hands on training, many do not and hand the student off for a brief introduction before boarding the plane. 182 DZ's offer the students more hands on training (most of the time). The volume is less, there is more contact with the instructors, more time to hear about the sport. If altitude and free-fall time is all a tandem is about why are the turbine DZ's only going to 13k? Why not 15K? The tandem is so much more than giving first time jumpers wads of free-fall. 20 seconds of free-fall can easily be substituted for other great experiences. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

What tandem equipment do they jump? "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Seems to me that every tandem manufacturer has a manual that details exactly how to adjust the tandem harness. Do overweight students, elderly students, and disabled students require much more care, additional planning, and additional training; yes absolutely. But that doesn't change the fact that you need to tighten the harness properly, check it again before boarding the plane, and check it again before exit. For every single student, period. I don't need to be videotaped, I have a personal rule with zero exceptions. I will adjust every tandem harness to the manual. I will check the adjustment three times. I will check the connections in the plane multiple times. I will check my tandem container and all handles multiple times. Then again I am a newly minted TAN-I, and I instruct at a 182 drop zone. If a larger DZs operation model doesn't allow for me to be able to check harness multiple times, and do proper gear checks pre-exit then I won't jump there as an instructor. Every single instructor has the ability to operate under their own set of rules, and if they can't meet those rules at an operation they can choose to not instruct there. Is it a failing of the system that a guy with 3k tandems failed to adjust the harness on a tandem jump that should have required more care than normal? Or is it a failing of someones own personal rules? How many times were jumps made with poorly adjusted harness with regular body type students that turned out fine? "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Use your GI Bill for a college degree, use the better job from said degree to pay for your licenses and certs. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

NEX-5N looks to be even smaller. I wonder if you could set these up to fire continuous shots. Set and forget it more or less. Maybe I can find one of these in a photo store so I can get an idea of true size. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I think you are right, smallest I am finding is 22mm and a cropped sensor. I suppose I could use a wide angle conversion lens but it would probably bring the quality down to the GoPro range. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Thanks. BH shows it having a 28mm lense and a cropped sensor. I am guessing that would make it closer to 35mm and not 16 or 17mm. Am I missing something? "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

So has there been any new cameras or developments in this area? I wanted to experiment with a small camera in different mounting locations to get some stills from interesting perspectives. Toe cam, belly cam. GoPro is nice in the sense that you can have it take pictures at a set interval, and it is rather wide, but I don't think the image quality is that great for anything other than FaceBook posts and 4x6 prints. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

If you can, can you please share what the specifics of the fatality were? I *think* I have thought about the failure modes in my setup but I could be missing one. One danger is that it deploys in freefall and tanges with my container and/or canopy. This could hinder cutaway and/or reserve deployment. To avoid this I use multiple tandem stow bands to secure the line to the unit and my chest strap. The drop line is wrapped around the unit and tightly secured, and then the whole unit is secured to the chest strap. To deploy prematurely it has to be knocked off the chest strap and multiple stow bands have to be peeled back, or the line has to pull free from them. I could improve this by putting it in a pouch that needs to be opened to be deployed after under a good canopy. Second danger I considered was the unit snagging with another jumper or an obstacle under canopy. I tried to minimize this risk by using a very light line that would break with minimal force. I could improve this fail safe by attatching the unit and the end of the drop line by using a stow band as a breakable link of sorts. What else am I failing to consider here? "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Never, never tie anything to you rig you don’t want to be buried with. Sparky Sparky I allways appreciate your input but you and I both know that equipment is not black and white. I got the idea of the dropline strobe from a very experienced jumper and rigger who has used this method for decades. My setup is well thought out. In freefall it is no more dangerous than a student AFF radio, or chest mounted alti. I use multiple rubber bands to keep the line secured until I deploy it, it has redundancy built in. Under canopy it posses a small snag risk but the line has such a low breaking strength that it is minimal. I tested by tying off between my rig and an anchor, it snaps easily by walking against it. I am not hanging 100 feet of 550 cord off my harness. It deploys down and behind so there is very little risk of it getting snagged on the canopy itself. In hard turns the centrifical force keeps it as far away from the canopy as the line allows. I could put a cutaway on the setup but that will overly complicate it. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

That situation would have tested your morals for sure. Cute young blond girl knocking the door down (screen door in this case) to get in bed with you. I think I would hedge my bets and tuck her in to bed and slept on the couch. Too drunk to make a move. But in the morning when she sobers up she might be very impressed with what a gentleman you were.

Jimmmmmmaaaaay X2 x2 x2 Man! Prefessers and Administrateers bleeding students dry. Just another ponzi scheme. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

She must have been pretty drunk. But she is (was?) also pretty hot! http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57442468-504083/colo-woman-zoey-ripple-shot-by-homeowner-faces-trespassing-charge/ I think the wife shot her because some young girl was trying to hop in bed. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I have had this morbid what-if scenario pop into my head at times when sitting in the back of a 182 and looking at the baggage compartment door. Spinning in, on fire, and stuck in the tail. I could always kick open the baggage door and try to throw a PC out. It would be more of a pop and yank. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I purchased from Paragear the FIREFLY 3 RESCUE LIGHT. It is bright as hell, and works really well. I keep it off in freefall to avoid blinding myself and other jumpers. I added a long line to the unit which is secured to my chest strap. The line is wrapped up on the unit, and then it gets stowed on my chest strap with rubber bands. When under canopy I turn the unit on while looking away, and pull it clear of the rubber bands that it is stowed in and drop it between my legs. It unrolls and ends up a bit behind me so it doesn't blind me during canopy flight. It is visible from above and below using this method, and 360 degrees around. On landing it bounces behind me until I come to a stop. In that sense it could be a snag hazard under canopy but I think the risk is low and the drop cord I used has a relatively low breaking strength. I am pretty sure it would snap easily if it caught anything. For me the risk of having an well visible strobe is worth the small snag risk. Most of the strobes that other jumpers use are just to meet the jump requirements but they don't work very well. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I guess I have that effect on people Remi lol! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Ok so either no one lives in Dallas, or I am way too big of a dick online! Went out with some co-workers to Deep ellum. Saki bombs and sushi @ deep sushi and then a bar with a live band. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I am here for work tonight and tomorrow. I have my evenings free. I have been here a few times before but new recommendations are always good. Any good eats or bars to check out? Any one local want to grab a beer on me? "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

That is one of the most stupid things I have ever read about! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P