axelandr

most containers will allow for a larger reserve than main, or at least the same size.. don't know which containers you are referring to which won't allow this (although I'm sure they exist), but you will normally don't have any problem finding a container which takes a (much) bigger reserve than your main.. what container are you looking at? Alex.

If you're looking for skydive specific gearbags, I really like the design of the Tonfly one - www.tonfly.com or the Apex BASE one - https://www.apexbase.com/product.php?product_id=131.. both are fairly expensive but seems to be of high quality. Alex.

I do not necessarily agree that you won't be able to progress into freeflying in an hour - if thats what you wanna do, thats what the coach will teach you.. You can easily split that hour into 4 segments of 15 minutes, where you'll most likely spend the first 15 mins finding your bearings in the tunnel, learning to walk, enter and exit the tunnel safely, and probably some belly stuff, basic turning and some levels.. Those 15 mins is normally all you need to be confident enough (safety-wise) to let the coach tilt you over on your back, and volia! you're freeflying.. as for how much further you'll get in an hour, it all depends on your talent, how quickly you pick things up etc.. backflying is essential for moving to sitflying, so your coach will probably keep you on your back for whatever is left of your hour after the first segment, but he might throw in some transitions and work in fixed sitfly-positions on the net.. go for it, it's crazy fun! :) Alex.

these ones oughta do the trick as well.. http://www.chutingstar.com/newgear_en/zkulls-hero-overkill-dual-mount.html or http://www.chutingstar.com/newgear_en/zkulls-hero-overkill-pro-mount.html Alex. Edited to add 2nd option..

There is a least a couple of DZs in Israel, where one is supposed to be more friendly towards fun-jumpers than the other.. all within an hour or so from Tel Aviv.. Except for that I haven't heard much about DZs in that area.. There was some talk about a DZ in Jordan, but don't know if it is permanent or only open every now and then.. For NA there is nothing in Egypt (they're trying to get a commercial DZ going it seems) and Libya. Don't know about Tunisia, Algeria and Marocco but you're probably more likely to find something there than anywhere else in NA. The DZ-locator might help you out further.. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/dropzone/finder.cgi?search=mapSearch Alex.

tunnel-time might make you control your fall rate better, even though there is quite a difference between you and your soon weight-wise.. a baggy suit might do the rest, but in this stage of progression you should focus more on learning to actually fly your body than having a suit doing most of it.. less than an hour in the tunnel should help you come a long way achieving more similar fall rates, you breaking more and your son falling faster.. IMHO. Alex.

Sure, I forgot about Tonfly. They are definitely a force to be reckoned with, bot their suits and helmets are great.. Don´t know much about the suits from the eastern european countries, but I'm sure there are good suits to be found in europe without buying Sonic, Boogieman or Tonfly..

'Whole world' meaning USA huh +1 this thread seems to be US only, as we don't see a lot of these suits in Europe. I would check out Sonic and Boogieman as well, as they seem to be the high-end brands coming out of Europe these days..

well then, there you go - no problem to fit a Pulse 190 into an I5!

Price-wise I think it will be hard to beat the combo of Lodi and iFly in Union City (Bay Area). 13$/jump if you buy 50 (if not, 15$/jump, 5$ to 3000 feet) and 515$/hour in the tunnel if you fly twilight hours (at least thats what I paid a couple of months ago).. coaching is extra of course, but you can easily find world class coaches in Lodi, Stephanie Soria or TJ to name a couple. This way you can maximize and do coached jumps as well if you like.. tunnel at night and Lodi during the day is an unbeatable combo! if you wanna spice it up a little, you can always find other DZs in the Bay Area to combine with the location of the iFly SF Bay.. Alex.

Shouldn't be a problem, seeing that the Pulse packs more or less like a Pilot ZPX. I jumped at 188 Pilot ZPX in an I5 without any problems.. Alex.

Uuups, did indeed not see the sticky which basically answers most of my questions.. thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

Anybody know when Sony normally announces their new annual line-up? Seems to be in January, but if anybody can confirm, that would be great! any rumors on whats coming for 2012? Alex.

Thanks for the input! Like I wrote in my OP, it's hard to find the right source when you don't really know what you're looking for.. Appreciate the help! As for one question which remains unanswered - which of the current Sony cameras, used or new, would you go for if you had the choice today, and coupled with what lens? Any opinions? DSE? As I am mainly freeflying, this camera will also be used for that purpose - does this have an impact on which camera I should choose? or what lense to go for? Alex.

Thanks for this, I didn't think about the zoom at all.. good to know.. so, if you could choose among any camera in the Sony line-up, new or used and a general lens which will do "most parts of the job" as well as normal freeflying, which combo would you go for? btw, are all Sonys good to go with HypEye? Alex.

So, I don't know much about the technical aspects of video and by reading up I can't seem to get much closer.. there is a jungle of different cameras and set-ups out there.. I would like to know what the professional videographers on here consider their preferred set-up and why.. From what I get, it seems that GoPro/Drift/Contour is not considered professional cameras, but that the Sony CX100/110/130/150 are.. why is this - aren't these cameras somewhat dated? do they produce better quality HD than the newest GoPro? is this just because of the added lenses you can put on them and..? I'm looking into a new camera since the lens my Drift HD170 just cracked, and I might venture into doing tandem video soon and would like to get a set-up which will work for that straight away.. is it possible to get a camera + lens for less than 500$, if so what should I get..? forget about stills for now, I'm mostly in doubt regarding the video part.. any input or pointing in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

here's the reply from Skydive Dubai: not too much info regarding their activities during xmas though.. ********************************* What we need from you to be able to jump with us at Skydive Dubai is a CURRENT skydiving license, log book showing a record of your experience and a current membership to a skydiving association that offers you 3rd party liability insurance. Skydive Dubai Palm DZ is a ‘C’ license dropzone. We now require 200 jumps minimum and you have to have had a basic canopy course before jumping here, we will not allow you to jump without it. ***********************************

from my limited experience, I would say the Pulse will probably pack smaller than the Safire 2, but it`s more a hunch than anything else.. from what I've heard, the Pulse packs more or less like a Pilot ZPX, which would pack smaller than a Safire 2.. As for the reserves, it seems to be a pretty widespread concencus that the Optimum packs smaller than any other reserve in the same size.. no science to back it up, just a lot of word of mouth alex.

Buying the Tonfly CC1, would have set you back 550 euros+shipping (470£+shipping), without the hypeye (add 90 euros) - more or less the same you paid for your Fuzion.. basically the same setup, preconfigured directly from Tonfly.. not saying you did anything wrong going for the Fuzion, if it fits like a glove, great! I just love my Tonfly! a.

going rate varies from tunnel to tunnel, and when you fly. some places have twilight hours, which allows you to go in after business hours and fly cheaper than if you go in during the day. Friday trough Sunday would normally be more expensive than weekdays as well.. in the area you're talking about you should be able to get to the iFly Orlando fairly easy. It's a 12 feet tunnel where you can easily get the basics of 1:1 coaching done.. not too good for larger groups, though, because of the lack of space. but perfect for 1:1 FS, FF etc.. if you have never flown before, don't get too much time per day, as it is quite tiresome.. you'll come a long way with 15 or 30 minutes.. 15 mins will set you back 215$ during normal operating hours in Orlando. Coaching is nice, but expensive. if you're a newbie and you're mostly doing belly stuff, you might wanna ask if the spotter in the tunnel can coach you. this way you save some money.. but I would check directly with the tunnel first, and most definitely get some time with the spotter before going in, to explain what you are looking for.. if not you can always find coaches in Deland, ZHills, Sebastian, any DZ who would be willing to take you to the tunnel to coach you.. if you're planing on doing 1:1 coaching jumps, go with the same coach to the tunnel. that way he knows you and you can work on the stuff you wanna do in the air.. Alex.

the sweet thing about the Pilot is that you can get it in ZPX-material, which basically allows you to get a smaller rig to prepare for the day you might want to consider downsizing.. ZPX in the size your talking would pack 1-1,5 sizes smaller than, say, a Sabre 2 in the same size. To give you an example; I bought a Pilot 188 ZPX together with my Icon I5. The I5 is sized for canopies in the 150-range, but like most ocntainers it will hold both one size bigger and one size smaller. As the 188 ZPX packs like a 170 (or even a bit smaller in my experience), it wasn't a problem at all fitting it into the container sized for a 150. Now, by doing this, make sure you can fit a big enough reserve into the same container, don't just choose your container based on the size of your main. there are different options for reserves as well, a PD Optimum 190 will pack smaller than a PD R/Smart/Raven etc the same size.. this is if you want a smaller rig which allows for more options when it comes to downsizing later on, whenever that time comes.. as you're about to invest in new gear, you might as well try to get a container which will last you as long as possible.. as a sidenote; you're from Norway (so am I), you might want to consider buying your gear directly from the US instead of going trough a norwegian dealer which imports the gear for you. as norwegian TVA is high (25%), consider picking up the gear in the US yourself. the 25% saved on "smuggling" the gear back might just get you a free holiday with quite a bit of jumping included, for less money than if you get it delivered in norway. I buy all my stuff from Chutingstar, pick it up in either Atlanta or Deland and jump it straight out of the shop.. that way you can have minor fixes done in case something is not perfectly right as well.. alex.

I'm just guessing and putting some thoughts out there, but from my experience it MIGHT have something to do with: 1. Matter offered a so-so product, were not (very) cheap compared to what you got, and had the shittiest customer service ever. at least in the last couple of years. as a newbie, I personally dealt with them and they were brilliant till the moment they got my cash, from there on out it was ZERO. 2. Sonic offers a high-end suit (the V.2), which although expensive, offers almost everything a freeflyer would want. Their lead time isn't all that bad and the product is great. customer service is also said to be very good. that being said, I went for a boogieman over the Sonic, but a lot of my friends have the V.2 and really really like it.. as for matter vs sonic, I think (and hope) this might prove that high quality products and the way you treat your customers eventually pays back in the end and either keeps you in business or takes you out.. operating out of the same DZ doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it as I guess most of their sales are online shoppers anyway.. Alex.

The Emirates are indeed arab countries but a couple of them have a huge western influence, specifically Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Hence they might adhere to some of the western traditions more than countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq etc.. Heck, where I am at right now, in northern Pakistan/KPK, they even put up xmas-trees and whatnot, even though we're deep inside muslim territory.. who would have thought! email has been sent, just thought it might be easier if someone on here was spending time/working in dubai and knew what was going on.. Alex.

Just wondering if anybody know if there will be regular activity at the DZ in Dubai troughout Christmas..? Got a couple of days off and might be spending them there, but only if I know there will be jumping.. Also, there seems to be a temporary "D-licence only" going on for The Palm - anybody knows if this will be lifted, and when...? appreciate any input, Alex.