Deuce

Hey, Free. Get a multi-thousand jump mentor at your DZ. Buy them beer, kiss their butt, listen more than you talk. My mentor had me wait until the magical 200 mark and I'm glad she did. You will hear conflicting information about every item in camera jumping. Definitely get a cameye II. That Y2K helmet looks pretty cool, you'll have to review it in the gear section. I'm curious about the cutaway chin strap they're developing. This forum is great for getting all the arguments about a subject, but nothing beats the advice of a veteran who cares about you. Lens: You probably won't be able to get close enough to freeflyers for awhile to make use of any wide lens greater than a .5 . If you are shooting the inside of RW, a .3 - .45 is cool. If you're shooting others doing RW or other freeflyers at your jump numbers, a .5 is plenty. Good luck! I love shooting video. I got some great stuff this last weekend when I visited Perris. Next week I'll take out the still camera. JP

Change of plans: phone call, case of beer, dip in backyard pool tonight. More skydiving on Sunday. JP

Thanks for the advice, Steve. Hope to see you there. JP

I'll be visiting Perris Saturday and Sunday. I'm looking forward to formation night jumps on Saturday. There's a possibility of doing the water class with the Jim Wallace school on Sunday. Any advice? I'm pretty sure I want to run if I see Skybytch walking toward me with a paddle or something, but anything else? Then again, Skybytch might be out whale watching and I'll be in no danger! I was planning to ship my gear back to NorCal UPS rather than keep it on my bike. I'm riding home on the coast and I don't want that big gear bag shifting around. When you hear them call for "JP" at manifest say hi. I will return the favor whenever you come out to Byron to "feel the love" JP

Coolcoolcool.

In reply to Pop: I'm probably what you'd call old. I have learned how to do some incredibly dangerous things in my short life. My experience has learnt me to find the grey-hairs that can still beat the crap out of the probies and listen to them. Pretty uniformly they will tell you that if you plan to jump for the rest of your life, learn RW (about 100 jumps) then mix in some freefly. Learn your sit before you go head down. Use a coach at the beginning of each new skill set. Do at least 200 jumps before jumping a camera. Who is your mentor? Do they have more than 2000 jumps? Most of the freefly skygods I know can nail out RW. I'm having a lot more fun, cause I can jump with both groups. It seems to be pretty rare for a person who did freefly to come back to RW later. My buddies I FF with are envious when I get asked to participate in a 12 way cause they just don't know how. A guy who started shortly after I did has over 100 jumps. He started freeflying right off his A license. He couldn't lurk his wife on her tandem to celebrate his 100 because he just didn't have the fall-rate and mobility skills on his belly to safely jump with her. He could have got her first freefall kiss. You should see her, totally worth 100 RW jumps. Really.

I'd be doing everything but skydiving but I'd be grouchy as hell. During the week I can put up with just about anything knowing I'm going to be falling and smiling and laughing with my friends on Saturday morning. Once my reset button has been pushed I start the next week with a fresh perspective. I have much more happiness, tolerance, and patience than I used to have. Oh, and I probably would never have gotten tattooed. JP

A bit of trivia: Drunk drivers often will "lock on" to your emergency flashers and rear end your car. More highway patrol officers die from drunks rear-ending their cars with the emergency lights on than by violence with people by far. If you're on the side of the road by your disabled car (at night especially) get away from it. Being on the bridge meant they couldn't get that far away. Bad deal.

Gale, I recommend you get an RW suit and do at least 100 jumps RW before you progress to FF. I have a Pit Special that cost a fortune but is worth every penny. I've got over a 150 jumps on it and it really shows no appreciable wear. One of the guys I jump with is notorious for tearing grippers off and he's been unable to tear the one's on my Pit. It's also now magical because Sebazz jumped it. Get the huge grippies, but don't get the second row of grippies on the upper arm. They're really only useful to tempt someone to climb onto your back in freefall and ride you. (Not like that's always a BAD thing) JP

Fresh battery?

Emmie, my number one skydiving partner jumps a Hornet. He's a rigger and a very good packer. He describes his openings as being like a box of chocolates (Forest Gump voice on:) "you never know what you're going to get". He's giving up on his.

Can you send your container back to the factory to have it cut down for a smaller reserve, smaller main?

I just became an Enthusiast! This is great! It's all turning around! JP

I will come roaring in on my black K1200rs, a huge royal blue gearbag lashed to the seat behind me. I will be encrusted with 460 miles of high speed bug impacts. My gear is all royal blue, black and red. I, like you, oh bytch, jump a Spectre. I'm thinking I would like to do the water training right when I get there around noon, and then jump all afternoon and into the night. I will buy you a pint if you're still around Saturday after the night jumps, and maybe we can beat the current dropzone RW record on Sunday if we can get 11 more people! Har! I'm feeling much better! Motorcycle riding and skydiving all weekend. Maybe I could find a bomb to defuse.. Oh wait, I'll meet the Skybytch instead of deciding what wire to cut! Yeee Haw!

I'll make my 200th this weekend, It'll be a Perris unless something significant happens in the next two days. It will also be at night. I'll meet a new friend I got aquainted with on this site, I might even meet the Skybytch, I'll get my water training out of the way while I'm there and Monday through Thursday I'm staying at a beachfront hotel on the companies dime! I'm lower than whale spit right now, but tomorrow is another day! Next week, mind you, is a spectacularly 'nother week.

Congratulations! You know, I was watching this Brit skydiving partner of mine practice his cutaway pantomime and I noticed he did two moves with each hand. He practiced ripping the velcro loose and then pulling the cables free. I don't recall practicing the cutaway that way, but later I saw on a post here that Bill Von or some other skygod noted that a jumper had to take two attempts at the cutaway handle because the forgot to break the velcro first. Did you even notice getting the velcro free of the pillow and handle or did you just Incredible Hulk them both loose? Anyway, congratulations. I'm statistically 106 jumps away from my first cutaway, but I'm hoping other brave souls step up and take my turn when it comes. Our S&TA has almost 2000 jumps and no cutaways, so it can happen.

Oh Lordy, If I could do math I'd have gotten a real job and done something with my life. I think B& H has the field of view listed for the lenses. Good luck.

Thanks all. I think when I downsize, I'll stick to the Spectre. JP

OK, I jump a Spectre 170 loaded at 1.26. The videographers that shoot tandems at my DZ are all jumping small ellipticals A) cause they can and B) because they like to get down quickly so they can set up to shoot the landings of their customers. Where is the trade-off between high performance and easy-neck openings? What are you guys jumping at what loadings?

I've got the Stroboframe QR on the top of my LT for my Nikon N70. Yeah, it would stick out farther than my,...standby..., OK I just measured it. The N70 on the Stroboframe QR sticks up 4 3/4 inches from the surface of the helmet. The PC 110 in a new-style Bonehead D-box sticks up 3 3/8 inches from the surface of the helmet. If you had a lower profile SLR like a some of the Pentax units you'd probably be about even. "Look at the size of his head! It's like an orange on a toothpick!" JP

Please set it up. Learning from the actions of others helps (me at least) to not repeat the mistakes of the past. JP

I think Bonehead makes a bracket that mounts to the top of the helmet with a shelf that protrudes out over your forehead and you mount the SLR upside-down right over your face. Since you've got an LT, have you thought about vertically mounting it on the side? For that you could just put a quick release or just bolt it to the flat side spot. I think vertical stills usually look better than horizontal ones because they can display more altitude. And they're already the shape of a magazine cover! JP

There's another thread on fear going right now, and it's really got me thinking. I think if you dive your plan, and on a first solo it's usually to look around and pull on time, you weren't really that afraid. I guess I would rank "fear" as paralysis that would lock you up and prevent you from remembering and following your plan. You maintained altitude awareness and pulled on time, so GOOD JOB! I worked in emergency services for a long time, and I can tell you that lots, if not most, people will weep in the chemical hangover caused by an adrenaline overload. As you get used to the adrenaline hangover you will probably get to like it, even though at first it can be a little overwhelming. Skydiving is as exciting as a shootout without the guns and violence.

had to "slip" it in Uh, that feeling is a little different.

Yeah, Mighty, actually I have a lapsed pilot's license and I've soloed in the 172 and the Cherokee. (Skydiving beats the hell out of renting an airplane to go have lunch somewhere) Again, it's not fear, really, but focus. Our pilots do a thorough pre-flight and one of them is also our airframe and powerplant mechanic. If I thought it required luck to get off the ground I WOULD NOT get in the airplane. I admit there's risk, but from risk comes ADRENALINE! Next time the BOOBIES need saving, please, please call me. JP