brettski74

I had the same problem with my tunnel DVDs from Eloy. I downloaded a fairly cheap Windows application called CD Roller which allowed me to identify the recorded tracks and rip the raw MPEG 2 video data into files on my PC. Unfortunately, it's probably not the most user friendly tool for non-technical users, but it was cheap and did the job that I needed. Once you've got the video off the disk, you can either leave it on your PC or you can re-master it onto a DVD and finalise it, assuming that you have appropriate software for doing so. I personally use DVD Architect Studio 4.0 from Sony, which came with the Sony Vegas Video Editing suite, but there are plenty of other applications out there that should work similarly well.

So if we're gonna stand around and talk about the event, where's the beer?

Your CLICKY seems to be broken, but mine should work ok. [Cool] Looks like you missed the colon (:) after the http protocol specifier.

I've been many places in the world where that didn't stop people.

I don't know about that... Actually, there are several Canadian FS coaches from both Alberta and Ontario that I know of that do tunnel coaching. If you're thinking of doing some tunnel time, just ask around. You might be surprised what you can find. I hadn't heard of Vincent LeMay doing tunnel coaching before, but I haven't been out to NouvelAir or met him personally, though, so I'm not terribly surprised by that. I don't yet know anyone from Canada who does freefly tunnel coaching, but like others have said, there are great coaches from other countries and they had plenty to teach me. [Cool]

I do all my transcoding using mencoder, which comes with mplayer - an open source media player. It's an extremely useful tool and has zillions of options and features, but it is a command-line tool, so if you don't like command line tools you might want to look around for one of the myriad front-ends that people have built to use on top of it. I personally use the command line, so I can't recommend one in particular. There is a Mac build of it. It shouldn't be too hard to find with google.

Shin splints can be bad news. Have you ever seen anyone about them? If you're regularly having problems with them, you might need to think about taking a break to let your muscles heal. Doing some exercises to strengthen the tibialis muscles would be a good idea, too. Get yourself a theraband and try doing foot extensions. You can also try raising yourself onto tip-toes and down again, either on a step or on a flat floor. If you keep running, especially if you're increasing your runs, you may get to where I did, where it got so bad I was limping out of bed in the mornings - I was a stubborn runner, or maybe stupid is a better word. All it scored me was a couple of months of physio and much longer off running.

Did my ankle back down in Eloy in January. Since I got back, swimming has been my cardio training of choice. While the ankle's still a little tender, you need to be careful pushing off the wall or diving, but I was fine doing both freestyle and breatstroke. I don't know how bad your injury is, but it's been working well for me. I'm thinking of maybe trying an elliptical machine, now. Good luck!

Sounds like a defective unit. I assume it went back to the factory. What did the Argus folks have to say?

That's not a cutaway, nor was there any reserve ride. You will owe beer for your first reserve ride. The beer's not a fine. It's a rite of passage that allows you to share your experience with other both less and more experienced than you. While you're all standing around, sharing a few brews and chatting, you might learn something from people who've been there before, and others who've never been there might learn something from you. It's more about sharing and passing on the knowledge and culture of skydiving. In any case, if you want to give the folks at your dropzone a carton of beer, I'm sure there will be plenty of guys and gals there to help you drink it! btw. Are you not servicing your three-ring assembly every month or so? You do know that you're supposed to pull the cut-away handle and service the three-ring assembly once every month or so. This is to keep the webbing flexible and prevent it taking on a set, which may cause the rings to hesitate when you actually do cut-away in an emergency.

I think he's referring to the updraft that tends to exist inside storm cells. It can draw aircraft up tens of thousands of feet inside the storm cloud where you get the chance to play in rain, freezing rain, ice, hail, and/or lightning. Not really a good idea - particularly for aircraft such as parachutists or paragliders. The incident I think he's referring to was discussed in this thread.

Crutches impede your sex life? Why don't you just lie them next to the bed/bench/rock and just get on with it? I'm still with you on the no sex thing being better than crutches. About the only cool thing about crutches is you have an excuse for taking one of those electric buggies at WalMart, but given how slow they go, and the relatively tepid level of excitement inspired by the average WalMart, it's a pretty lame plus.

That kind of time will do a lot more than make you comfortable in the air. Oh - and when you say a solid block, are you expecting to be able to fly in the tunnel for 5 hours straight, or are you thinking of spending a week there and spread it out? I don't think a dedicated tunnel rat would even last that long without their muscles melting. If you spread it out enough and have enough other people to share with, you might be able to do an hour per day without getting too tired, although I don't know what the cumulative effects of doing that day in day out for a week might be for someone who's not necessarily in shape for tunnel flying. If you've not flown in the tunnel before, and haven't flown for a while, you'll probably be feeling the fatigue after 15 minutes - perhaps less. My first tunnel session was 20 minutes, but the last five minutes of that I was probably spending more time fighting fatigue than getting good learning out of it - and at the time, I was still jumping two days every weekend.

I hear that feeding them can be expensive...

I don't know why I bother.

Gotta agree with you there. Coopers is probably the best of the "larger" breweries in Oz, and Coopers sparkling is the only real Australian beer you can get in Canada. All of the Coopers brews are worth a shot, though.

Only in Ireland I thought potatoes are just what happens to eggs after you bury them in soft peat for 6 month before recycling them as fire-lighters.

Yes - fill out your profile. We don't bite any worse once we know who you are, and knowing what level you're at and where you live may help answer some of your questions. I think there's several questions - or at least several answers to your questions. Bottom line is that I've talked to DZOs, coaches, instructors, packers and riggers. Not one of them has told me that there's money in skydiving. Many of them have told me quite the opposite - that there's no money in skydiving and if you can make money to support your habit elsewhere, do that and keep the skydiving for fun. As far as how to be able to do nothing but skydive all day, there are several ways that I can think of: 1. Become rich and live off you portfolio of real estate and other investments and spend your days doing whatever the hell you feel like. 2. Become an instructor and live a meagre existence - I've yet to meet a rich instructor. On the other hand, they usually seem to be cool, happy and well-adjusted people on the whole. 3. Become one of the top jumpers in the world and get sponsored by someone like PD or get yourself on some professional stunt team or something. #1 will take you a lot of effort outside of skydiving, but once you're there, you can do almost anything. Oh yeah - lot's of people would like to get there, but only a few do. #2 takes time and commitment to the sport. I'm not one. I've dreamed about it, but at the moment, that's all it is. I've got plenty of other goals to strive for in the meantime. I don't see the point in becoming an instructor until I'm really good at a few things, and that's at least several hundred jumps away, I'm afraid. Another thing to think about is exactly what do you want to do in the sky. Not everyone wants to teach basic freefall skills or do tandems all day. That could turn your fun past-time into something that feels like a job. That depends on you. #3 is probably the hardest way to do it, and to be honest, I'm not sure what sponsored guys really get. I've heard that some guys sponsorships are just big discounts on gear, which doesn't really buy your baked beans in the morning. I know Airspeed and other teams like that do a lot of coaching, so I expect that a lot of their money comes from that. If you want to jump year-round, move somewhere that's sunny, like Florida, Arizona, Southern California, Australia, etc. There are places that do winter jumping up north, but the cold may make you re-evaluate the fun-ness of the exercise and you'll be much more constrained by weather.

I'm not familiar with either of those units, but based on the model numbers, I'm assuming that the x51v is a later model and probably a better deal if it's not costing you anything, however, before you buy anything refurbished, I would do a little homework and see if there's any reason why they have refurbished stock to give you. I bought a refurbished HP laptop a few years ago and starting having problems shortly after I got it. I'd gone overseas with it just after buying it, so the warranty didn't help much (90 days, only valid in North America) and a few minutes research on the net I found that the model that I'd bought was a lemon, which probably explains where the refurbished stock came from. I'm sure that there's plenty of refurbished items out there that are perfectly fine, but do a little googling. It doesn't hurt to be a little more sure of that.

Cool. I guess I misunderstood the clarification. Nice to have it cleared up for dummies like me.

I will, shortly, but I thought I'd start with gnawing my arm off at the shoulder. That makes it a lot more attainable.

How much vodka, and is it the good stuff?

...finishing this sentence.

All by himself? He must have had help, surely!

Why such low coverage? CSPA insurance covers you for $2 million, worldwide. $50,000 may not go far if you impact a Rolls Royce or a person. I've no idea how much of my membership fee goes toward providing this.