DJL

I don't have, nor will ever have enough time and knowledge to follow my canopy from beginning to end and know that it is made perfectly. Items are outsourced because somewhere in the world there are people who will make the same or a higher quality product for less money than those in country X. The problem isn't the company being cheap, it's the worker in country X who thinks that just because they're a citizen of that country and they punch a timeclock then they deserves a nice truck with a Hemi. I have more faith in most foreign made items than I do American made items because I have witnessed that many Americans are lazy and put little value on craftsmanship. In my field (mechanical engineering) I have seen some amazingly lazy things, and I have the pictures to prove it. The attached is how one contractor supported several lengths of sprinkler piping in a hospital. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

Not to thread-jack, but I saw it last night. Thankfully, for free. We were drinking through the movie and about half way through I'd gotten sick of choking on the cheese and I stood up in the theater and said, "Ok....just hand me the script and...I'll finish it....honestly." I was met with a mixture of annoyed and approving stares. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

I don't own a camera helmet but was thinking about this just because that's what I do. What I thought would work is to construct the padding of the helmet so that the PC is inside a sleeve within the helmet padding. When you cut away, you would also extract the sleeve from the helmet and as the helmet fell the PC would come out. No springs, and nothing complicated. The only way is would come out is if the helmet were off because you cut it away. I call this the Doug-Hook-Camera-Helmet-RSL. Edit: Speaking of modified helmet cutaways. Ask psw097 to post pics of his cutaway. Pretty nifty. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

My roomate is even more scared. As he is the subject of many a firework launched underneath his door when he comes home to copulate with random bar-chicks. He will henceforth be the subject of much humor on tape. See you on Sat. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

What's the difference between the TRV series and the PC series? "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

Is anyone jumping this? How do the stills look? How are the stills activated? How difficult was it to mount the camera? "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

Saw it last night and thought it was pretty blah. I've read a lot and about 18th Century Naval Warfare and liked what the they got right but didn't like the rest of it. Topsails during a hurricane? Good emphasis on the captain being a sailor. It was unfortunate that Crowe was (typ)-cast in this part. The sub-plots were contrived and poorly acted. Most of it was a half-hearted attempt with the only point being to tug at your heartstrings or invoke patriotism. There were some technical things that I thought were BS, but I don't want to give away the movie. My summation: "Gladiotor goes to sea." "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

Could their be any more proof, either arguing the points of Darwin or Fate, that these people are blithering idiots and simply wrong. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

Is smoke on the ground ever used in a demo? This seems like something that could help the jumpers to forsee the 3D aspects inside of the stadium. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

"I think newbies should climb there first couple of Ant's." This is to say that only new people should have to exert effort and without reference to the object of the exercise. It's kind of like when I was at VMI and it only mattered that you shined your shoes or maintained your appearance when you were a 1st year cadet, just because you were the new ones. This the opposite to playing on the lacrosse team where you maintained the respect of others by being a good athlete. In reality, in this situation, I'd think a new jumper is exactly who you don't want expending all their energy on the way up, then feel forced to jump because their feelings over the effort they put into it will overpower their decision over the conditions. Climbing is to base jumping as driving is to my career. I can get here by several means but what's the point. I'm not going to create a better product because I walked on nails to get here. The people who like to climb can climb. The ones who shit on others for not climbing are meat heads. The difference is that the object of biking is exertion, you're a wuss if you don't take your medicine. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

I'll check my rig when I get home. When I got it switched from a D ring to a soft handle I think velcro was put on both sides of the handle so that there is a velcro connection on the inside and out. Regardless, and in reference to: I agree, I haven't measured the force on mine but I can't imagine it being more than a few pounds. On the incident in Finland which prompted their ban they said that the force required to extract the handle in "any straight direction" exceeded 20 lbs. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=508246;search_string=incident%20finland;#508246 So, how could this possibly exceed 20 lbs unless there was something specific about this rig. I think that Finland is being held hostage by a group who just likes to flex their muscle. As I said, I'm not a rigger, but I'm an engineer, and regardless of what type of handle it is, you can make it so that the force does not exceed whatever setpoint. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

I notice he has one in the other hand too, yet what's that just to the right of the miller-piss? I think he's bringing the piss to be consumed by others and keeping the good stuff to himself. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

I figured as much but if someone is too weak via injury to exert 20 lb on the ripcord then I can't imagine they'd have any luck with the handle without peeling first. eWave, how about the tandems? "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

This is in reference to the recent posts about soft pillows and pull-force, please do not bring up any other issues such as potential for flopping under the webbing. It’s my understanding that when someone gets a conversion to a soft handle that they then have twice the contact area (IF ALL VELCRO IS IN CONTACT). In addition, the Velcro no longer releases via tension, as it does when the D-ring breaks the bonds with a normal (perpendicular) force, but rather it is now a sheer force. In theory, this means that the force required to break the pillow from the pocket is now more than twice that of a D-handle. Recently there was a fatality in Finland in which the investigating group determined that the individual was unable to pull the handle because it exceeded the 10kg (20lb) max for pull force because it was a soft handle. This resulted in the grounding of all rigs with soft handles. This seems like a pretty thoughtless process of policy vs. research. Couldn’t those rigs with soft handle just be inspected, modified, and tagged so that their pull force was less than 10kg? When a rigger converts a rig to include a soft pillow reserve handle, do they check the pull-force? This is something that I’m interested in seeing on my rig. I’m pretty sure that the pull force on mine is much less that twenty pounds. I can remove it with just my wrist. Also, on my handle, there is only half the amount of Velcro as there is inside of the pocket. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

From the incident discussion you posted: Is there any substantiation to the claim that she was unconcious? In the report, they say that there was evidence that she attempted to pull the reserve but was unsuccessful. How did they know this? Edit: The mod on my rig to have a pillow handle results in both sides of the pillow having a velcro connection. This could mean that it will take more force to remove it compared to the D-ring just separating the two sides. If anyone is worried about the pull-force on their rig then why not just eliminate some of that velcro. Banning soft handles seems like a pretty thoughtless solution. You can find out how much force it takes to remove the handle. On your next repack get with your rigger and add weight to a line connected to your handle until it does it's job. Note to all: I'm not a rigger. I'm interested in hearing what riggers have to say about this. I'll post something in gear and rigging to ask about this. http://dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=764555;#764555 "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

I think that's a great idea and sounds like a lot of fun. Are there glow in the dark paintballs? Would be pretty sweet to do that on a night jump. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

I could use a copy of that too. I'll PM you with my email address. THANKS "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

I've heard funny stories about jumping with Jackson. People go there...but don't come back. Yeah, I can't wait to get back down to CSS. Jumping with Jackson was a great CRW experience. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

I saw that video the night he did it. That was a few weeks ago if it was the same. The weekend of NSL scrambles and a CRW get together? You can see the bird take a shit when it realizes it's about to get hit by something big. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

Everyone can hit on Monkey's clicky to see the reasons I have soft pillows on one rig and want to have D rings on the other. Lunch break is over, time to get back to work. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

Question for everyone. If it's such a big deal to have a D-ring reserve handle then why not have a D-ring cutaway. Next, I see the problem with the soft tab handle but the soft handle with a thumb hook is a different story. Talk amongst yourselves. Yes, and that guy sounds like he ran his mouth right over you. Get an apology or kick him in the nuts. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

Have one of your instructors smack you in the face just before you exit. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

I have a good spin here. So, basically the people from Coca-Cola, Doritos, and Verizon didn't want to be associated with this? Doesn't sound like a very good reception to me, but time will tell if the controversy was valid. I'm interested in watching this and lukily I'll have input from someone who was in the middle of it. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

Did you make this up or are you hiding your sources for security reasons? "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

Sneak attack. "I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher