costanza

Hey Bob, Interesting project you're working on. I used to do parachute R&D/acquisition for the Army, and actually worked with I-a-I on a project. I wonder if the resident knowledge has left the company, or maybe the connection hasn't been made yet. Also, this type of trainer in part already exists, and the DoD owns them...hope the Navy knows. Not trying to kill a SBIR proposal.

I get down to Hawaii a lot and bring my gear to jump as well. Pacific is the only option of the two, and I've had decent experiences there. The view is quite possibly the best of any skydive I've ever done, maybe except a tandem over Fiji. couple things for you to think about: the dz is an early one. first load is anywhere between 0630-0700 and they finish just after lunch time. the wind picks up, so it's a great time to go head to the beaches on the north shore. tandems take priority. I did sit a couple days all day waiting to get on a load, and only got one slot on the last load of the day (about 230 pm). be prepared for that, but you are hanging out in Hawaii and it's beautiful, so... talk to the video guys about landing patterns and flight patterns. they know what's up and won't steer you wrong. bottom line, awesome people, totally worth it, bring your gear, visual orgasm during your jump.

Greg Windmiller does too, plenty of experience as a recently retired Golden Knight

Allergic to latex too, but I have never had a reaction handling the bands, and I just get hives, no anaphalaxis thankfully. Also might consider talking to folks at your dz about a stowless dbag. that would cut the number of potential encounters down too.

nitrile/latex gloves over or under your regular gloves are there mostly as a wind stopper. the only advantave I've ever seen of putting them on over your existing gloves is you don't have to take your regular gloves off. make sure if you go over the top you get a large enough size, and check if you have velcro, etc. that will snag those. once they tear, kind of useless. the last jump I did here in Alaska was about a month ago now before the dz shut down for the season. was something like -9F at 10K, and not much warmer down closer to the ground. I jumped with a pair of dakine ski gloves that had a rubberized palm I use for ice climbing. worked fine for me, but was cold. biggest thing to do if you are going to try using winter gloves is try them on and see if you can grab and engage your toggles and BOC. I put my rig on and did practice touches for about 20 min, and then 3-5 min before each jump with my eyes closed. Your hackey will likely feel quite different with a glove and can cause issues. regardless of what you choose to wear, if it's winter jumping and sufficiently cold at altitude, your hands will be cold. keep some hand warmers in your gear bag for after you land. arm position and moving through cold, low moisture air will just suck the heat from your hands and body. not much you can do but minimize the suck factor.

It is spinning up during inflation. After it hits the back of my head. that's an interesting bit of information. where are you experiencing getting hit? is it on the side in the back of the head, or dead center in the back? I wonder, because the G3 is slightly pointed in the back, if you are getting hit dead center in the back of the head, have someone film your openings and make sure to get your leg position. Maybe you're starting to backslide just as the deployment bag leaves your container, and you are sliding into it, which could easily cause it to start spinning.

I looked at those gloves, or something very similar at least, for work a couple of years ago. the big things you'll want to note: how fast do they warm up? how warm do they get? what is exposed (cabling)? what are the power requirements, and how long do they last? for most jumps, if you wait until you get to 1-2k before jump altitude and put on nitrile gloves underneath what you normally jump in, those cutting the wind helps a lot. I know for me, once I get out, I don't notice the cold. I did a jump here in Alaska last weekend and didn't really realize it was cold until maybe at 1000 feet. I have done jumps in AZ and ME where it was painful the entire jump though. back to my original 4 thoughts, those should help you figure out if it's worth getting them, or toughing it out. For me, some good insulated winter gloves (another story for another day) and one of those chemical hand warmer things when I land seems to be sufficient.

looks great in straight-line, calm, no malfunction flight. when do we get to see the mannequin test of the spinning mal?

have had this thread booked marked for ages, just got my new tonysuit in the mail yesterday. put the shoegoo on with the shoes in the suit, to get the right shape? not with me wearing the suit right? I got the airspeed stye booties, and I think I could fit my shoes into the suit without wearing them. how critical are the shoes you use - does the shoegoo move at all after curing or would it crack? what I mean is if i used more pointed shoes opposed to rounded cross trainers or something. I'd hate to have the stuff peel and break off after a while.

good to know about the liner, I had thought of ask them that.

I was talking to Nick from Cookie about washing mine too. It definitely smells like me, and it's kind of gross sometimes haha! He mentioned you can take the visor off, all the mechanical parts, remove all the removable parts of the liner (the chin piece at least), put it in the dishwasher and run it with just a tiny bit of soap. No heated drying though!! I'd probably see if i can run it on a cold cycle somehow myself, just to be safe. Some of the spray ideas are nice, but how will that get the sweat already in there out, as opposed to just masking the funk?

I had the same concerns when I was shopping for my current helmet and was going to be wearing glasses. The best thing for me was to go to Chutingstar, and try on helmets with my glasses for about 30 min. Some of them fit well, some I couldn't close the face shield without my glasses being smashed into my face. Others the temples were being squished to my head. Even if the website says it can accommodate glasses, most can. Things to remember though - everyone's head is different. Everyone's glasses are different. It could be that the combination of your head and your glasses work with a Rev2, it could be that they work with a different helmet. I'd recommend trying a bunch of them on if you have the chance. Or at least trying on your friend's helmets.

for those referencing a VR simulator, it's called PARASIM http://www.parasim.com/

I try not to spend too much time understanding what Chris D writes, since I don't want to cause a brain aneurysm, but I'm sure his version of reality is quite nice.

as far as price, pretty sure that's exactly what I paid to send my suit back to bevsuits and have them put the booties on.