New here and to the sport

[fendor1369 0]

Hello all,

I am new to the sport. I am in the Navy stationed with EOD in Sigonella Sicily. I went to military freefall in Sep. It was great I had no idea what I have been missing out on for all these years.

I have racked up 42 jumps so far. So far I have done night jumps, water jumps, Halo and Haho, full combat with O2 and weapon.

Highest jump so far was 17,500.
Longest freefall time is 72 seconds.

On the 6th of Dec I will be doing my first civilian jumps and finish my A license. Going to be fun. I am going to work on sit flying and heads down.

I can't wait till my helmet camera comes in, won't have it for the 6th but should get it soon after.

See you all in the sky.

I add a PIC to the misc section a min ago of me in my first helo jump. check it out.

John

John - D.S 1313

"I'll jump it, Np. It's all good"

[skymama 35]

Welcome to the forums!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[fendor1369 0]

I am strapping a camera to my head as soon as it gets to me. I bought the ContourHD1080p to get used to filming, once I get more jumps under my belt and master that little thing, I will upgrade.

John

John - D.S 1313

"I'll jump it, Np. It's all good"

[wolfriverjoe 1,353]

Did you read the sticky in Photog & Vid?

Lots of good info for the prospective freefall camera flyer.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[fendor1369 0]

I will go and take a look now thanks for the heads up.

Should be nice once I get the camera mounted. I might have to change my helment, I am flying a bonehead full face and there is not much room to mount it on there.

John

John - D.S 1313

"I'll jump it, Np. It's all good"

[skymama 35]

Quote

I am strapping a camera to my head as soon as it gets to me.

It's recommended that you have at least 200 jumps before you add a camera to the mix. Talk to the experienced people at your dz about how different a skydive is once you strap a camera to your head.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[fendor1369 0]

I read the sticky in Photog & Vid, but since I do more military freefall than sky dives the camera is the last thing I am worried about. It is just going to sit on my head and run.
I am not looking to film anything other than the exit. In military FF the exit is one of the most important things, as we jump with full combat gear at night... we can not afford to have anyone tumbling out of the C-130, that would be a bad day for all that are in that jump.
It has been said that the camera is just there to document the jump… really in this case it is just there for that. I am not trying to get shots to edit a vid or make anything cool, just something to show after the jump so the guys can see what they are doing.

I will give it a go and if I feel that I am paying more attention to the camera then the jump I will take it off but I do not see it as a problem.

John

John - D.S 1313

"I'll jump it, Np. It's all good"

[skybytch 259]

Quote

I will give it a go and if I feel that I am paying more attention to the camera then the jump I will take it off but I do not see it as a problem.

It's a problem. Seriously. I know people who had THOUSANDS of jumps before they put a camera on their heads and despite their hopes to be able to "ignore it," they couldn't.

A bit of unasked for advice for ya - when people with years of experience doing something that you are new to doing say that something you want to do isn't the best idea, it IS the best idea to listen to them. It's entirely possible that they know what they are talking about.

[wolfriverjoe 1,353]

Just out of curiosity, what do your instructors think of this idea?

Have you consulted them?

There are a number of military freefall guys on here, I don't know who is who, or exactly what (I know LouDiamond is a green beanie and you probably don't jump with him).

Have you ever examined a camera helmet setup closely?
Do you know what is/isn't safe, appropriate and secure? (or even too secure?)
Do you know what the hazards of jumping camera are?

If the camera is there, it needs to be a higher priority than the "last thing I am worried about".
There is a chance letting it "sit on your head and run" will get you in trouble.

I hate trying to tell people they shouldn't do stuff, that's why I simply directed you to the sticky.
But since you seem to be choosing to ignore that advice, I hope you won't ignore the advice you are getting here.

At least have good answers to the questions I posed above before you put yourself and others at risk.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[fendor1369 0]

I don’t have any instructors really, I am in military freefall. I left my instructors at jump #25 to go back to my command.

The two in my office that I work with and currently fly cameras say... I am not ready for to fly the big camera rigs but they will let my fly the POV camera that I bought.

I am kind of on the fast track in freefall there are three of us in airops for the command and one is leaving in March 2010 and I am taking his spot. Not much time to get up to speed. But that is the way of the military. I have 8 more jumps to be ready for the freefall jump master course. In Jan we have a week of jumping I will get between 9-15 jumps then… the first JM course after that is mine.

John

John - D.S 1313

"I'll jump it, Np. It's all good"