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Good to hear! I was curious about the consequences. Did they just go elsewhere? Or did they pull their heads in and buy safer stuff? I don't assume anything. I was trying to instigate conversation. It's just a lot easier for a safety officer to say to a low experience person that they can't do something than it is to tell an experienced person that they've bought the wrong thing and it's unsafe to jump.

Is anybody anywhere aware of a DZ Operator or Safety Officer who has stopped an appropriately qualified person from jumping a small video camera on basic equipment safety grounds? For the sake of the argument, let's put aside questions about first camera jumps, low experience etc. Let's assume the person is reasonably competent and is jumping with equally competent people. Let's also assume the camera is a common brand and the mount is similar to what 'everybody else' wears. Is there any example of somebody who has been 'brave' enough to buck the trend and stop the camera jump in question? Has anybody said 'there's too much of a snag risk'? Or 'those things are potential killers and I don't want them on my DZ'. If so, what were the consequences? It seems that small cameras are now such a common piece of equipment that it's going to be too hard to stop. Quote

It's also harder to see your emergency handles when you wear a full face helmet. Plus it can fog up. Plus you can get snot all over the inside of it.

Welcome! Good on you for pursuing your dream. You will never like all of your instructors, and it's only natural that you will relate better to some of them and you will learn better from some of them. Just remember that ALL OF THEM have something in common. They probably don't know about your life-death musings, but they certainly don't want you dead. They might be pushy, or they might seem insensitive to somebody like you who obviously analyses things a lot. But they want to produce safe and competent skydivers. They too have overcome a lot and pushed their own personal envelopes to become instructors. It doesn't just happen by magic. 15 minutes listening, really listening, to a real instructor is worth much more than 5 hours of time with strangers on forums. Some people might even pm you and try to poison you with their own take on skydiving. Please be careful about who you choose to listen to! Good luck with your skydiving. When you're in freefall and focused on your task, you can't clutter your mind with all that other stuff. Liberating, isn't it?!!

List looks terrific. I'm an ignorant foreigner. What does roll out of bed mean? We use 'Fluffy' training. As in Fluffy the cat always manages to turn herself over in freefall.

I have a Drift Ghost top-mounted on my G3 and it is terrific. I can open my visor all the way. The snag risk is minimal because the camera is about the size of a small pack of cigarettes and fits flat on the top. (I have a Cookie flatlock.) The camera itself is pretty good. Specs are close to Go Pro. The remote is a piece of crap. Not worth the money. Flimsy, with too many modes and too susceptible to bumping. I usually just turn the camera on when the plane is on jump run and then put the helmet on. It means I'm shooting excess stuff before exit. But at least I'm sure it's on. It is easily adaptable to the helmet you have. You just have to remember to turn the lens 90 degrees when you have it in flat position rather than upright.

A couple of other points that the guy with the camera did not set the finest example on: When you track away at the end of a skydive, your head MUST be on a swivel. Look to each side, look back between your legs. In this case, the threat was right in front of him and virtually invisible, but he still should have been looking around. When you open your parachute on every skydive, especially a larger formation group, LOOK AROUND the sky and get on your risers, ready to avoid hitting anyone. Going straight for your slider while screaming 'Oh shit' is NOT going to help you avoid a collision. I agree he was not to blame. But he can take his own positive steps before bad habits set in.

Agree wholeheartedly. And he/she did it all with good old fashioned English plus a smattering of punctuation. Not an emoticon in sight!

Astute forum peeps have picked up on most of Greg's bizarre claims. You missed a couple though. He says he works in the legal area. I heard he spends his nights watching security screens. He says he warned Aussie women about predators. He actually made a comment about women skydivers getting breaks in the sport because of men who want to take advantage of them. Two of the Aussie chicks took issue and he tried to change what he'd said. The man is deluded. He is a troll. His opinions are worthless. But the debate has been interesting. I think H&Ps should be compulsory before A licence everywhere. 5k is for pussies. 3k or lower is more realistic.

The hardest thing for me to learn was to see myself succeeding in a jump. Once I actually believed that I COULD, I very often DID!

Well that's the challenge really, isn't it. How do you sum up a huge briefing in written form? We usually go through the dive - the slots, the angles, the positions in relation to the base. Will it be fast or slow? Take it back to the exit - every slot, every job. The best way of packing up for this aircraft. Getting in the plane in the right order. Re-discuss the dive plan. This time with reference to the exit that you've just discussed. The approach - different for every slot. Radial, stadium etc. Breakoff - planned height. Where will you be? What is your job. The what ifs - What if it funnels? What if somebody goes low? What if somebody takes the wrong slot? (Usually keep working to centre until break-off. No more chasing the low man. That's old school and sets up for collissions.) The flight plan under canopy. Jump is not over until everyone lands. Then there is all the other stuff: Dress for success. Consider weights. Is your camera dangerous for our stack-up? How you can dock on that guy if he has a freefly suit and no grippers. There are just too many things to cover here. And that's why its always worthwhile getting coaches on board to cover all these things. Quote

Can we put aside all of the logic and planning for a moment? The best laid plans don't always go to plan. On at least four separate skydives, when the angle flyers and trackers have told me they'll be in a specific place for opening, I have found myself (a flattie) right on top of them. Somebody give these people a GPS!!!!

A couple of years ago, I saw a muscle bound bloke struggle with his handle. His rig was older so it was easy enough to just move the boc pilot chute back to the old leg strap throwaway. Worked a treat! No good for free flying, but a good option for a flatty who's starting out.

Fifty? Only 50? Most of the people I jump with are in that zone.. and I'm not far off, myself. ENJOY!!!!!

I've done this and it works really well. There's something about the orderly departure and initiating the track slowly together that makes for a faster, longer, more directional track to separate from others. It's not a bomb burst at the end. It's a case of fanning out, not enough to cross into the next group but enough to get away from each other in the team. As for the question of communication between the team trackers, it's all really obvious when you're actually doing it. Somebody suggested it's not needed for smaller groups but the 20+ skydives are the perfect ones to practice this technique on. I've been on 25ish ways where supposedly experienced people wander off in all directions. This doesn't happen with tracking teams. The precision of a tracking team is considered to be part of the formation skydive plan. If you cant do it, you might be capped. It is one extra thing to think of. Some might say the most important thing to think of in the whole exercise. I've only done tracking team breakoffs about 80 times, on 20 to 100+ formations. I've found this style of tracking surprisingly successful. I'd like to hear from some load organisers who promote it. Or, better still, from the camera flyers who see it in action.

What The??? Where do you get if from that the AFF jumps are not included in the stable freefalls? That sounds like one Chief Instructor's rule? Of course, a CI would have the right to make such a rule, but that should be checked from DZ to DZ. Either way, there's no huge rush as you'd need 50 jumps for the next licence anyway.

Andy Keech. His three 'Skies Call' books inspired many of the current stars.

It is a ridiculous saga. I can't believe anybody keeps fuelling his efforts at attention. He comes across as a self-important tandem passenger who read a few things on the internet and took it upon himself to share his opinions with all and sundry. I suspect it wasn't his skyhook opinions that caused the problem, but his obvious desire to undermine everyone else while making himself look clever. Even now, he claims its a heartfelt apology, but he really just wants people to think he's right. Ignore him.

Check out the APF (Australian Parachute Federation) website too, because you'll need to purchase an Australian membership. It's also worth ringing the DZs ahead to check their operating days. Most of them tend to be weekend only. Although you can often find a slot during the week. Also, check if they have special requirements. Many require an AAD regardless of your experience level. The weather is starting to get good here. Look forward to seeing you in our skies!