klafollette

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Everything posted by klafollette

  1. I was looking at this as an option for my Bonehead ReVolve full face. It would all depend on how short the strap can be made, since on a full-face, the chin strap pretty much only extends across the chin. The strap mounting holes are much closer together than on an open face, where they are farther up the side of the face, closer to the ears. Anyone know how short it can be made and still work?
  2. Yeah, I've been using search through the forum to find an answer to this question, but haven't found it yet. I"m looking to get a Contour to mount on my REvolve full-face, either the Roam or HD. I'm concerned that the 170 deg FOV on the Contour Roam would end up getting a good chunk of my helmet in the shot. Anyone have direct experience with the combo? Other option is to go with the the Contour HD which has a FOV of 135 deg, but I like that the Roam looks simpler to use with just the slide on/off switch. No other power button to deal with. Planning to get the BoneHead mounting plate with the Contour Rail. Anyone have direct experience with the combo? Getting for personal use, mostly on RW jumps, would like the wider FOV of the HD, but not if all I'm getting in the shot is a bunch of helmet.
  3. I have tried both. If you're looking for something quick/easy, then Brian's style works great. Depending on your rig style, the ends might not hide under the riser covers and look a little odd. Last season I bought a new pair of RWS Trulock toggles from ChutingStar, and had them put their style S-Locks on them. They work just as well, and are nice as they are hidden between the risers, and I could get them in the same color as my new risers. Overall, I prefer to Brian's style purely from a fashion point of view.
  4. Ditto on the pocket slider. Stuffing the nose can lead to pushing lines you've worked so hard to get in the middle of the pack-job, starting to move around the outside, and increasing chances of a line over. Monkeying around with the pack-job can be fleeting at best in controlling opening speed. A pocket slider provides a controlled consistent way to control opening speed once the canopy has undone all your fancy packing tricks and starts to inflate.
  5. I've had the UPT semi-stowless bag for this past season, and love it. Advantages: Definitely easier/faster to stow lines. Promotes on-heading openings, reduces chances of line twists since unstowing lines does not cause bag to rock side to side like a standard bag does as the tension of the rubber bands on each side come undone. And you don't need to replace as many stows. Disadvantages: Paying for a new bag. Other than that, I don't know of any.
  6. As a new jumper, would recommend keeping it simple and having a manual wrist altimeter like a Galaxy. You don't want to worry about batteries dying or malfunction on ride up, leaving you without a visual alti. A L&B Optima would be a good audible backup, and nice since it will also do pattern altitude beeps. Only after you are 100% comfortable with gauging altitudes by sight, and can fly a pattern without looking at your altimeter, would I then consider an electronic wrist alti.Even then I personally prefer the analog mechanical on my wrist. My Galaxy is going on 12 years without a problem. It just works. All always, this is only my opinion. Talk to your instructors, blah blah blah.
  7. Not a nightmare. I change mine every year. Just a couple screws, the plate, and the ratchet mechanisms to deal with. Only tricky bit is to keep track of how the ratchets are orientated on the visor once you pull them out. Just do one side at a time, after you pull the visor off the ratchet, immediately press it into the square hole of the new visor. If you're afraid of getting confused, put an orientation mark on the ratchet with a magic marker, wherever it makes sense to you.
  8. Mine did not come with a bottle of solution. What does that mean?
  9. Had mine since April, here in hot humid Chicago. No issues with fogging. In the fall when it starts cooling off will be the real test. My only issue has been the chin strap keeps loosening between jumps, and it's a pain to keep having to tighten it in the plane. Is there a recommended way to tack/secure the length or something, so it doesn't change?
  10. Proper Vector closing loop length is indicated by the binding tape on the edge of the side flaps stacking on top of each other. the grommets should not be stacked. http://www.unitedparachutetechnologies.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40
  11. Ditto on the recommendation to changing the slider. I've had some back issues, and every once and a while my Samurai will spank me with a hard opening, for whatever the reason. I had a pocket sewn onto the leading edge of my existing slider, and now have soft smooth consistent openings, whether I pack or have a packer do it. Depending on the canopy, either a larger slider or pocket slider may be the answer, I'd talk to your canopy manufacturer about their recommended solution, and likely your local rigger can do the mods.
  12. Only thing I don't like about this method is that the pilot chute kill line window is not visible, at least not with my UPT pilot chute. You have to pull a little bridle out and flip around to see the window which is now inside the fold. Not so important when I pack myself, since I check it during the packing process, but if using a packer, I always like to check it, even if I cock the pilot chute myself.
  13. Ditto to Andy's comments. From the proposal, this would be an entertainment "skydiving simulator", with small diameter air column, slow speed, turbulent air at the edges. Not even close to what one of the AirVenture style tunnels give you. Might be good for basic learning belly stuff, but not much else.
  14. Question for anyone with a Revolve. I'm looking to upgrade, I have a Gunner and one of my beefs was the audible pocket was only accessable by pulling the foam pad off the velcro every time, to get at the back side audible pocket. How does the REVOLVE audible pockets work? Can you get at it without removing padding, etc? I pull my Pro-Track out frequently to get look at the jump stats log or change altitude alerts.
  15. Once you have your license, Definitely look at used market, either at your DZO, or a reputable retailer like Square One or Chuting Star. Talk it thorugh with your instructor and local rigger. Given this was 10 years ago, my first rig was a used Mirage with AAD, Safire main, and PD reserve, all for around $3K. I downsized the main canopy one size (with a used main) after 400 jumps. I jumped that for another 100 jumps before I bought a new custom everything rig (a Vector3 M-Series BTW), which all ran about $6500 for container, main, reserve, cypres. Buy used, save your money for more jumps before looking to buy new anything.
  16. I had shoulder surgery couple years ago for rotator cuff/labrum problems. My doc is highly regarded in sports medicine and takes care of many athletes in Chicago area. He strongly discouraged nerve blocks. I can't recall all the reasons but remember it had something to do with post-op pain rebound being much worse as the local anesthetic wears off, which then required more pain killers to manage and slowed recovery. As it was, it was very painful long recovery (over a year), but ultimately worth it.
  17. Ditto on Estes Park. That's one of our favorite spots to stay as a kickoff point to explore Rocky Nat. Park. About 90 minute drive from Denver.
  18. Well, it's at least the question when it comes to religion vs. atheism. The other debate is creationism vs. evolution. Creationism debate typically assumes a religious construct, but as you say it's also about the nature/existence of a "super-natural" being. That typically means a God or Diety to most people, but those are our labels. That supernatural being could be something neither a god nor diety. It might not even be intelligent. Our creator could be a giant space-worm that eats comet dust and poops organic organisms.
  19. The real question isn't necessarily about the existence of a super-natural being. Rather, if there is one, why would one want or deserve the distinction as a Deity, God, or anything to be worshiped? I'm guessing an omniscient being wouldn't have those kind of megalomaniac traits or have self-esteem issues requiring constant praise from us.
  20. How can you definitively say that something cannot come from nothing? Do you have proof of that? You have to define the context of the nothingness. Nothing in this universe may be something in another universe. We just can't see it from here. In 2 dimensional space, there is no "up/down". You have X and Y axis, but Z axis is unobservable in 2 dimensions, and would appear to be "nothing". But for us living in 3 dimensional space, the Z axis is where we have so much fun. It exists for us.
  21. I've found it interesting that there is such a inherent linkage from the concept of "a creator" to "god" and "worship". For those who assume that being an atheist means not believing in a creator, I disagree. I allow for the possibility that life on earth could have been sparked by either natural/chemical processes, or even possibly by deliberate means. That could mean it was done by a long extinct intelligent race, or even existing beings that secretly watch us. We could be a giant science experiment, or an accident. Just because we may have been "created", that does not warrant a leap to "God" status or worship. If we appeared to Neanderthals with our current technology, we would likely be thought of as "Gods". It is a giant leap for us to put upon our potential creators "God" status without understanding their motives. If they have the power to destroy us and make it known we must worship them or die, then I might decide to play by their rules. But then again they might say, Oh yeah, we were playing with a new gene splicing tool 100 million years ago, and accidentally sent some samples to your planet when Bob miss-dialed the transporter. Sorry about that. Been cool watching you all evolve. You've been worshiping us as Gods all these years? That's silly, we're just Andromeda government employees. Bob was promoted to management in the last millennium after that last screw-up. For those who say there is proof that "God" wants us to worship him, read the bible. Well you have no proof that the bible is the word of God. It is more likely the word of Man trying to explain things that he could not understand long ago.. Other than the words of the bible themselves and professed faith, there is no independent proof of its description of the genesis of life or the existence of "God". Frankly I think it was manuscript written by Bob. He hoped to have his novel published since he hated his dead-end gov't job in the Andromeda gene splicing dept. It was on his desk when he miss-dialed the transporter.
  22. When people throw out the the Pascal's Wager as some justification that I'm better off hedging my bets by "believing", I think of it this way: If there is no God or afterlife or heaven, then when I die, that's it, game over, end of story, I won't know the difference, nothing lost. If there is a God, and he would punish and deny me entry into heaven or whatever is the afterlife, because I did not put faith in an entity that did not show himself or make himself known, or prove in any indisputable way to me that he exists, or in which I would be punished for having the intelligence to ask questions....well, I would call that BS, a dirty trick, childish and without any moral standing. From a god like that, I do not want any part of what you are selling. You are by my standards dishonest and immoral for not judging me by the kindness I show to others and good that I do. Which I do BTW without threat of retribution or promise of reward. If you have power over my existence, I will suffer the consequences, for I have held the higher moral ground and will not compromise my ethics.
  23. Long time XP user here. In past, rolled a Vista laptop back to XP so understand the pain and reasoning. Have a new Dell D830 for work with Win 7 64-bit. Really liking it. Stable, Fast, Functional, and with 64-bit, can finally use the full 4-GB RAM that it has.
  24. Wow, must the trendy gift of the year. My wuffo wifey gave me an Optima too!
  25. I have an Oxygn A3 helmet with the external recessed pocket for an audible. Currently have a Dytter in there. Want to get a new Optima-2, but not sure how it will mount. Oxygn doesn't have an internal pocket in the lining. My Dytter has a clip/bracket that is zip-tied to the helmet, and then the Dytter clips into that, so it is easily removable. Looking at the Optima, seems like they now have zip-tie holes right in the body, but that would make it semi-permanent. I emailed L&B, and Mads wrote back, saying "We know of some jumpers using the "Protektor" to mount the audible on the outside of the helmet. I send one "Protektor" today, free of charge you can try." So, while I wait for the "Protektor", wondering if anyone else has done with their Optima on an Oxygn A3. Has anyone tried using the Protektor case for the Optima, to mount in the Oxygn A3 Altimeter pocket? Mads Larsen didn't specifically say he know this works on an Oxygn A3,