bmcd308

Great post, Cajones. My answer - Thraknawhatevers - I am unable to remember the correct name of their race due to my American myopia - have large heads with big eyes. Years of living suspended in green goo has given them thin skin. This is their fatal flaw. The liberal application 5.56mm ammunition will render them uninterested in pursuing a ground war on Earth. If they are insistent, I hope that their bodies decompose into good fertilizer. Brent ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Writing as a former college student, I can say that when you don't know anything about the assigned topic, it's better to have the gee-whiz that was neat fact than the gee whiz he's an idiot factor. Enough of the former was, from time to time, sufficient to disguise the latter. :) Brent ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Rob - Next time you are in Memphis you can check mine out at WTS. Dane packs mine for me, but Danny's wife (spaced her name for the moment) jumps one also, and Danny packs her reserve. I've been very happy with mine, but you might call Dane and talk to him about whether he likes it, since he is much more familiar with many more different containers than I am. BMcD... ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Try leaving the dropzone a little earlier; a safety meeting on top of a day of skydiving might be more than you can take. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

It's always at least noon somewhere. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Hope all goes well. Will be thinking about you. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Ouch. That second photo looks like it is going to hurt... You know there's some serious canopy counseling in progress in that picture - "Look, you muther *&^%er, get the $%^& back over my head and flare your ^&*(ing &*( off, because you backed us into a !@#$ing parking lot and there's no #$%^ing good places to ^&*@ing land around here..." At least, when I wound up having to take a high speed downwinder into a muddy, freshly plowed field, that's what I was doing. Canopy cursing started at about 100 feet and continued until my mouth filled with dirt. Brent ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2160749477&category=4 I thought it was funny. A predictable portion of you will disagree. Brent ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

I dated a girl for a very long time. We did not get married for bullsh!t reasons that always seemed important then, but we lived together for four years. I trusted her completely. She screwed me over. I do not think you are crazy at all for wanting to do the "verify" portion of "trust and verify." Some people are very good at hiding their real agenda, no matter how well you think you know them. Brent ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

I'm thinking about going. Are all of those hotels listed on the website actually close to the DZ, or do they list every hotel in town? Brent ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

It does tell you to stay as far away from a nuclear blast as possible - sound advice. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

I need to be able to check both boxes for the same jump. I did not do it by accident, but it wasn't exactly day, either. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

!!! ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

One thing that I would add to that is that any cheap SLR that offers autofocus will be difficult to focus manually. That is because the viewscreen inside is just a clear piece of glass, so your eye is actually focusing through the lens. More expensive AF cameras and all the manual focus cameras I have seen have a ground glass viewing screen, so that you are actually lokking at an image on a surface. Your eye will focus on the surface, and if what your eye is focused on is in focus, then the picture will be in focus. It is hard to focus manually using a Rebel because your eye will always be focusing for you. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

At f/8 and assuming a 4ft distance from your subject, is the whole subject in focus? I may be stopping down way too far. BMcD... ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

I have a Rebel Ti, and I am generally very happy with it. Your specific question is about comparing to the 2000 and the G, so I'll address that. The Ti has faster autodrive speed, which means a better chance at a good shot of an opening or an exit. It also has a metal lens mount, which arguably means it is more durable if you change lenses a lot. I think your decision really ought to be between a 2000 and a Ti, the G's aren't all that much cheaper than 2000s, and you really get a much better camera with a 2000. The improvement is much smaller going from a 2000 to a Ti, but I thought the motordrive speed was important enough to pay the difference. Canon is big on the increase in the number of autofocus points (7 vs. 5) in the Ti vs. the 2000, but I really have found there to be no difference there. I take as many crappy out of focus shots with the Ti as I do when I borrow my friend's 2000. The 2000's 5 focus points do a much better job than the G's 3. Do not buy the POS 28-90 zoom lens they try to sell you with it. You may realize that you had not actually been aware of what a true POS is until you use this lens. The 35-80 lens is the older model kit lens, and it is an even bigger POS than the 28-90. (Yes, I did buy the 28-90. If you want it used, we can definitely work something out note to moderators - this not really an advertisement, I'm just saying it to emphasize that I actually own the item I am claiming is a POS, so I know firsthand). I think the fixed 24 would be a better choice, but a fixed 28 should be a good bit cheaper. Look at the B & H website (http://www.bhphotovideo.com) and see what the premium for 24mm over 28 is right now. 24 will be wider but have more distortion. Also note that the kit with the crappy lens is really not any cheaper than buying the body and the crappy lens separately, so you're not actually "saving" anything by going with the kit. Another thing - you might be able to buy a used body at B&H. I have never bought anything used from them, but a coworker of mine has and had good results (condition as described). The zooms will be much longer overall than fixed lenses and much heavier. My favorite lens is the 50mm f/1.8 II, which ought to be under $100. This is actually a good quality lens, and if you only buy one lens, this is what I'd get (for general photography, not necessarily for freefall). Good luck. Brent ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

bingo ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Are you sure you didn't mess up the question? 1 11 112 1124 11248 Maybe this is just a different one. Anyone know the next line? ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Good luck, man. It's just like a skydive - you don't realize how important your goggles and gloves are until you do it without them. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

>>Two trains are approaching each other on a collision course. They are on the same tracks, and are 10 kilometers away. They are both moving at 40 km/h. A fly sits on train A and on the 10 kilometer mark flies from train A to train B. Upon arrival at train B, it flies back to train A, etc, until collision. The fly flies at 60 km/h. What is the displacement of the fly from the 10 kilometer mark until collision? Here's a small bonus: what if the speed of the fly is 20 km/h?

5 km? Won't it be at the impact point when they collide, and since they are going the same speed, they will collide 5 km from where he is now? Am I missing something? ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Depends on how long you stayed at the destination. edited, since I hit post by accident, to add that the more beers you have when you stop, the higher your average velocity, since your destination and stopping point will not be the same. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Interesting tidbit: DZ.com's very own cwelker, husband to the inimitable jlmiracle, my AFF-I, unsuccessful USPA BOD candidate and all around good guy, sells funeral cars for a living. Brent ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

My Hornet has about 100 jumps and is doing this, too. Got the "don't worry about it yet" from my rigger this past weekend. Keep us posted if you learn anything from PISA or by experimentation. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Oh my God! Moderator! Moderator! Help us! ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com