Hellis

I know earplugs wont help as i use them myself and i hear the squeaking noise. But i think (have not tried myself) a mp3 player and this at max volume will do the trick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ Tell us how it works

When my gear makes that sound and people look at me, i say its my bad hips

True. But because it gets a evenly thick shape and the PC is slippery it does make me worried. I fold my PC the same way as in the video but i dont fold it in half as he does. It gives me a longer PC that fills the whole length of the pouch. But yes you should maintain your stuff. And one way to keep the wear to a minimum of the pouch is to not have the PC packed when you are not jumping. I usually stuff down the bridle in the pouch and wrap the PC around the MLW/Legstrap-area when im not using the gear.

Is it a problem for you to make the linestows or the packing/bagging? Everyone knows how a rubberband works, so use the time to learn how to PACK, not to make linestows. But as Sparky says just use a normal rubberband to make the first lockingstow if you want to practice closing the container. As long as the bag is closed, its good enough for practice.

Not really an issue, but it makes your pilotchute "small but thick", this will probably wear out your pouch quicker. When i pack it the way he does my pilotchute is only half the lenght of the pouch. This makes my pouch look pregnant

Think of it as if your googles where dirty. Your eyes will still work the same but it wont look the same. Your camera will record in HD, but there will be "dirt in front". I bet DSE can fill in with all the tecnical aspects of it. Try and borrow your friends lens and video something with close distance and compare it with your lens. Only you can decide if its worth the money

Yes, as a good citizen you walk over to the customs office and declare your new jumpsuit and pay VAT. *cough*

No, im giving it all i can. The brakelines are a little shorter than factory setting, so i can reach it all. But i got a pm from a rigger, and we are discussing if my lines are out of shape and/or if my brakesettings are correct. And i really do think my lines are out of trim. So to the OP (and everyone else), my opinion above might be wrong about the flare of the Spectre. If you are going to buy a out of shape Spectre, be prepared to run

Thats not my opinion about my Spectre. You might be correct that you can do so in lighter wingloads, but i really hate zero wind days when it comes to landing. The canopy has enough flare to give you a soft landing, and enough to correct if you flared too early, but there is not enough flare to get rid of the forward speed. I usually have to run like crazy in zero wind.

True, but i was not thinking of powerlines. I was thinking of guywires, im not sure there are guywires but there could be. Im not a soccerfan myself, but the few times i have been on a soccerfield i have noticed they have a net behind the goals so that if they miss the ball dont end up in the face of a fan. On larger soccerarenas they usually dont need them because the goals are further away from the spectators, but by the look of it on the video, it does not look like a big soccerarena. If there is such a net that eliminates/makes it more difficult to approach from the shortsides of the field. If the arena is closed it will be a hassle to get out. Trying to get someone to open for you or geting out on your own. As i said, IF i would make it there i would not land on the field. But the parking lot would probably be a good choise for me. Landing inside the arena/soccerfield is in my (limited) opinion a bigger risk than outside even if that means landing on asphalt instead of grass.

What was this guy DOING! I'm glad he walked away and all but.....WHAT? See that soccer field! Yeah land there! And holy mother of god that thing came down fast! Any info on this guy? I hope he's ok but OUCH! If i could make it to the soccer field, i dont know if that would be my first choise of landing anyway. They usually have lights at all four corners and cables going between them. You can land on a soccer field but i would want some information about the field before i make it my primary landingarea.

Why do think so? Are people running around with the snow shovels on their heads?

I have one. I have seen flyblind but not been able to try it, its winter now. But i dont think i would want anything blocking my hearing and definitely not something beeping in my ear when doing CRW. I think it would be way to much of an distraction, the GPS i linked to above could be mounted as a chestmount altimeter and i can look at it "when i can/have time to".

I just found something that could be of use. As i understand it, you set a position and then it will point an arrow to the position and show the distance. Anyone use it or anything similar? http://www.bushnell.com/products/gps/backtrack/ Are they serious about the calibrationvideo? Seems odd

Depends. If the video is done good, then i agree. But a lot of tandemvideos i have seen is really bad. You can clearly see that all involved in the video just thinks its another day at work just doing what i have to do. And the videoedit is the same quality. The end result of it is the tandemfactory video, nothing that makes this video any differnt from the next. Is that quality video?

Even if i have not seen the video im sure you are correct, is probably an amazing video. In the airplane you usually get better video from a external camera than the handcam. The videoman can climb out and focus on the student and get good video. The handcam usually (i have not yet seen one that is not) is very jerky, which i understand, you need the arms to get out of the plane. But it lowers the overall quality of the video. The option would be to cut it out, and just have video from when you are sitting on the edge of the plane, but then you would miss the excitment of geting closer to the door. Handcams can capture very nice exitshots because if the camera is aimed correct you can see the fear in their eyes. If that would be external camera you would get very nice video of the "complete" exit if the cameraman does not F up the exit. When it comes to the freefall part the handcam gets very nice closeup shots but not much else in my opinion. The videoman can get a closeup that is as good as the handcam, but usually does not. The canopyride is a must in a tendemvideo in my opinion. If you want to tell the story of a tandemjump you must have it all on video, you can not leave out ~1/4 or 1/5 of the experience. You need to have the scilence, the smal conversations that goes on up there, the veiw, the student controling the canopy themselfs. All of this is lost when using videoman. Then the landing has to be taken with external camera, when the TI is landing the canopy you, obviously, get crappy video. Having external video on landing is a must. In my opinion the only video, is combined video. This debate about handcam vs external video has two sides. Both saying the other is a ripoff. I think my opinion in this is a third option, that you must have both to get the whole experience. I would not say that external or handcam alone is a ripoff, but to get a good video of it ALL you need a combination. I think it would be awsome if this is understood, and that we can stop this fighting about handcam vs external and focus on delivering a good product instead. I understand what Rhys is saying that its working on all DZs but for big turbine DZs the only problem i see is the cost (?). Now flame me

I think handcams are great IF they where combined with outside video. Normal video miss a big part of the jump, the canopyride down. You get video of everything, geting dressed, going in to the plane, plane ride, exit, freefall, pull, and then the camera just disapears untill you land. Thats a very big important part of the jump. If the TI would have a handcam you could get that part to on video. But if i would choose between one or the other, i say outside video.

I dont own a Neoxs, but i have a good guess about the timer. In competitions you get a time in which you make RW, when the beep comes time is up and you can focus on seperation before the pull instead.

Im just waiting for him to show up in the 'I've had a two-out thread' saying he had a biplane that he made a double frontriser hookturn and swooped both canopys across the pond.

Did it ever cross your mind that in a biplane those two PCs that are not retractable are beeing close enough to tangle eachoter? I admit that i have never flied the Triathlon, but if its anything like a Lightning, please dont advice anyone to put weights on. Let them make that decision themselfs. The Lightning does not have the same margin for error as your Saber2 when landing it.

I respectifully disagree he said he only wants to do a little CReW a tri would be perfect for that, you can always add a weight vest if one of the jumpers need to increase their wingloading to match another jumpers. Even if you do that a 150 loaded at 1.1 and a 190 loaded at 1.1 won't fly the same so you will never be perfect across the board You are funny! I sure hope you stick around, im having a blast. Just looking at aerodynes homepage. Hybrid canopy: CRW canopy: What i have learned from those ~10 CRW jumps i have made and a few other redneck CRWs is that you really dont what a canopy that opens slow. But i know you are going to disagree so, explain to me why im wrong. And what are your rules about removing/replacing/attaching a pilotchute? Riggerjob or can any skydiver do that on his own gear? (not because its hard, but is the skydiver allowd to)

If you are doing a solo that would be fine, if you were in a group someone will usually have an alti and you can look at one of theirs or watch them turn and track and you should turn and track as well Are you serious?!!! He clearly says 'What is the general rule you follow if you are unable to clearly see your altimeter?' Do you really think he means the altimeter has fogged up? How is he supposed to look at a friends altimeter if he cant see his own. My god!

Oh oh! I hear someone saying VIDEO!!!

The method that works for me is to not place you knee on top of the first s-fold but to place one knee on each side of it. I have used this method for the last ~400 packjobs and it works great untill you get to the smaler canopys. It works on a 150 but not on a 111, never packed a canopy in the midrange so i dont know where the lower limit is. The idea is to keep your knees on the sides making sure the canopy does not slide out. When you have done the first fold you place one knee on each side so that your "front" of the knee is in height of where the canopy ends when you have done the last fold. I gently squeeze the first s-fold between my knees/legs keeping the width of the fold about the same as the bag. When you handle the canopy to make the second fold the first fold will rise slightly, but dont worry about that. As you make the second fold use the "free hand" to push down the first fold and get linetension. When you make the second fold push down the canopy between your legs/knees, this will make sure the canopy does not move around. You have now confined the canopy between your legs, the floor and your hands from above, the canopy cant go anywhere. If you keep the material stretched it will be much easier, if there is any air in the canopy it will be slipery. Take the time and squeeze out all the air before you try to bag it Just remember to keep track of your feet and not have them in the lines. Good luck

This post is not directed at you Sparky. And how does this add up with the other thread about FJC time? Right now, the numbers show ~50% had 5 hours or less. I know the poll is a bit off since some of those who answerd jumped rounds and i asume there was not much talk about how a wing works and how to fly it. To properly show and explain all parts of the gear takes about 2-3 hours, right? Yes i agree, some jumpers dont have a clue, i see that here on DZ. When i was still a student i read a gearquestion a guy with 300 jumps had, and i knew the answer. But if its a problem why not take care of it wile you can? When they are still students. Once they get their mad skills they either dont need the knowledge or dont care since they made it this far.