JWest

Some nylon screws are designed to break. The smaller the diameter the easier they are to shear off. I try to avoid things on the side of my helmet because that is where the risers are.

Of course I can think of way more. The people I've talked to about it give me that as their main reasoning. I had a hook knife during AFF. My training consist of "if you get tangled in a line or have a line over of your reserve, use that to cut it."

The main reasoning I hear for a knife is incase of a line over on the reserve.

That would work. They used to do it back in the day for full face racing helmets.

Doesn't the manufacture require/recommend the tandem system be inspected every 25 jumps?

It doesn't really matter. An AAD is a piece of equipment you should never use. If you unfortunately do use it both of them will do everything it can to save your life.

You're just saying it? So you aren't actually asking? Since you are just saying it, it is safe to assume that you haven't put any thought into it. Try that.

Yeah SDSD is strict. Glad I have caypres the first time I drove there.

Why should the average skydiver vote in the elections? I don't vote in elections when I know nothing about the candidates or the reasoning behind the election, but if this is important I will do the required research.

Pretty much. That should pull it straight off your back. Make sure all your rubber bands are the same size and all single stowed or double stowed. Don't mix the two this does not including your locking stows those should only be single stows. We aren't talking just about your break lines being the proper length. We are talking about the other lines being out of spec. This generally happens from the grommets on the slider heating up the outside lines causing them to shrink. With 400 jumps on the line it couldn't hurt to have a rigger give it a look.

It is not really stupid but it isn't advisable.

I would have a rigger check to make sure your canopy is still in trim. I've never had a specter get more than 2 twist in it and that was entirely my fault. Also give this a try. When you put your D-bag in your container make it so the stows are against your back and the bridal attachment is coming out perpendicular to the packing tray. If you still have line twists then it probably isn't being caused by your container. Meaning it is either the canopy or your body positioning.

The point of my post was to point out a couple of the obvious hazards I saw when I first looked at the pic. Maybe there are a few people who look at it and only think "what a cool pic". And while there are safety conscious people at most DZ's, it isn't always the case. I've seen unsafe practices at quite a few DZ's where the "safety conscious" people were not even aware of a hazard, or simply didn't see it. At big boogies, often there is no one walking around with a big stick checking things out. There are no such things as a "safe assumption", the golden rule ESPECIALLY with skydiving, is assume nothing. The tail is in an ideal position to catch a half hitch around a bridle cord, and that, my friend, can cause major problems: Horse shoe > bag lift off > partial deployment > spinning malfunction > cutaway and reserve deployment while still attached to a ball of shit > reserve entanglement >DEATH. Its already been done. The costume jump may not need to be scrapped at all, but maybe there were one or two things that could be done to make it safer. Its a bit late after being scalped to think it might have been a better idea to wear a simple hair tie. And as far as your "those damn kids" comment goes, we see enough disparaging of the "old farts" by young hotshots who think they know everything, to know that it is totally a septic attitude to take. Some of us have been around and seen (and tried) stuff that would make some of todays generation shit their pants. We've seen the consequences of screw ups as well. Its not good to see people repeating them. Rather than being looked on as killjoys who want to spoil someones fun, all we want is to pass on sound advice that might stop skydiving killing you. It pisses me off when people seem to almost take offence at proferred advice, rather than thinking it could be life saving information. And that happens quite a lot. "We're cool, what do you oldies know, talk to the hand". Condescending much? I can sense that attitude in your reply....but maybe its just that I'm a little touchy. I'm an old fart, after all...... And I'm always up for an argument!!! You old timers did do some absolutely insane stuff. I guess the reason I didn't get your post at first it because I saw the same things you did. Then assumed most people would. Felt like you were pointing out something obvious. A cape? Nope.

I guess I just didn't quite get the point of your post. It came off as more of a "Damn kids these days doing unsafe things without thinking about it" post than anything else. Yes there are hazards but there are safety conscious people at every DZ. It is a safe assumption that the hazards of the costume were at least thought about. As for the costume itself the orange stuff you see is braided into their hair. The tail while it is a snag hazard the chances of it interfering enough to prevent deployment doesn't seam high enough to scrap the costume jump. I would be more worried about a riser ripping out my hair.

I haven't been around long but all 5 west coast DZs I jump at have always gone up to the advertised altitude. Obviously if you get out later in the order you will be a few hundred feet lower than the first guy.

It's calculated risk and that jumpers choice to put themselves in that situation.

No way am I trying to start a brand war. N3 are great alti. The main reason I didn't buy one was because at the time it didn't have a wrist mount available. I don't like hard things on top of my metacarpals. I guess I access my viso about every month to copy the data to my computer. The menu just seems like once you lean it it's pretty easy. I mean you can get to the setting using the top or bottom button. just have to hold it for five seconds after its unlocked. I used to work IT not I'm just an EIT. Could be a factor in my ability to remember technical stuff.

Those line twists looked like they were their to stay. Once you start spinning on your back like that it's a one way ticket to chop city. I also think he was probably a little over 1k. The guy had a MARD of some sort. There was no time for him to get belly to earth. One thing he could have done to avoid the chop was drop the rifle immediately and try to prevent the twists from getting so bad. The only problem is that that falling rifle could hurt someone on the ground. For that reason I wouldn't have let it go either.

Marketing. Admittedly the first time I used my viso, I obviously didn't look at the manual or anything. I had to have someone show me how to turn it off.

Interesting. I thought the roadmap they ship with the viso II was very useful. http://www.pcv.be/files/VISO_II_roadmap.pdf

I completely disagree. Not only is it non-intuitive, but the manual seems to have been written by people that were too familiar with the procedure, and I'd bet they never tested the usability of the manual on people that weren't already familiar with it. Are any of them intuitive? It's unlikely that someone with no prior knowledge could pick up a N3, viso, altitrack, and know how to navigate the mines. For the viso once you learn the unlocking procedure it's pretty simple. Bottom button to access the log, center button scrolls through the perimeters, bottom and top buttons control jump number. Unlock using the middle button then hold for 5 seconds and you are in the settings. Again the center button scrolls through the settings and the top and bottom buttons change the settings. It's two buttons! How hard is it? Disclaimer, I worked in IT for a while so I may be unfair in my assessment of the average person ability to use simple technology.

It's one button to get into the log and one button to get into the settings. Not being able to use the technology you bought that hundreds of other people don't have issue with is practically the definition of user error, or incompetence, your pick.

$250 ski googles?!? Damn, I've been out of that sport for 30 years. It sure has gotten spendy while I was gone. $250 is top notch. The electric goggles are $400+ It's about $180 average, for a good pair of goggles. When I go out backcountry I bring three pairs because if they get wet it's game over. One pair of awesome ones $220, then two pairs of "shitty" $80 goggles. I agree it sucks. I tried to look up what type of coating G3 used on their visors to no avail. I assumed it's something similar and don't want to find out the hard way. I won't wipe out condensation or any wetness. Will use a hand dryer to dry my lenses if it's available. Once the lens is dry use a shammy cloth. Many googles come in a bag designed to clean the lens. If not there is anti-fog coating safe cleaner available to purchase.

I didn't know that. I've washed my visor a few times with soap and water but always let it air dry. I think it's still okay. I learned something about snorkel masks the other day. They DO need to be scrubbed quite well before use or they will fog up. I had a brand new mask that fogged constantly. Salesman told me to scrub the factory "oils" off of it. As long as you let it air dry you should be good. It is always terrible to watch someone wipe water out of their new $250 ski goggles. Those are the most sensitive to it. Yes, I learned that the hard way. Luckily I was able to exchange them.

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