brabzzz

On that note, anyone wanting to use an escrow service/site is a almost certainly a scammer too.

You would not have to lurk here that long to pick up the basic terminology. A quick read of how things work and a browse through all the classifieds will arm them with all the catchphrases required. Often they'll just recycle an ad from severl months ago. We're more vulnerable because we just flat out don't expect scammers here and there's a higher level of trust. But we're their perfect target - 'small' high value items. I won an auction on eBay for 2 rigs. I saw my old rig relisted months after i'd sold it. I won another rig on eBay. They were all scams. I'd like to think i'm pretty heads up on this so they hit me as really obvious after i'd actually made contact with them, but not everyone sees the telltale signs as they're not obvious unless you've see them dozens of times before. There's no substitute for ringing them up, requesting more pics of obscure things (the pilot chute attachement point...), ask if they'll do cash on delivery etc . No Western Union. Ever. The 'closed box and packed' argument never washes. It's $1300, get it out the f*cking box and repack it again man! If you can, meet them at a DZ. If they make too many spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, it's a scam. If it's too cheap, it's a scam. If they want to overpay you (or some other odd arrangement) it's a scam. You can never be 100% sure, especially if you're sending money up front. If in doubt, leave it. It's not the end of the world. There are 50-60 new bits of advertised gear here daily. Sorry you got done dude. May the scammer get backed over by a bus - bad karma and all. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Thanks - just had a browse around their site - they don't appear to stock lenses. Will ring them anyway though, once the time difference is a bit more favourable! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

I've got friends in Deland at the mo and it would be nice if i could get them to pick up some stuff for me to bring back (a lens). Does Deland have only one gearstore? Do they have a website (i've searched in vain)...or does anyone have contact details for them? Cheers, Mike --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

No half measures, you gotta be aggressive - do it like you -really- mean to move. Thrust your hits forwards, i mean really forwards - which puts you into more of a stand (necessary). Dont ram you arms behind you to compensate...that defeats the point. T'is all in the hips. Hump god to go up etc. hmmm, what a sexual position sitfly is, even if it looks like you're sitting on the bog. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

iirc yellow is lolon (not teflon). They're 'often' seen with two cables instead of just the one (next to each other). Seems like a way to (probably) be equally safe yet be able to differentiate onself from the other 99% of people and have a clever sounding reason to back it up too. A bit like pinpull. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Does what it says on the tin. The backlite is cool. Screen is clear when viewed straight on (more or less). At extreme angles it not so great, but LCDs never are. Anyway, i'm practically audible dependent so who cares about the screen! ;-) The real time jump replay is great. You basically hit play after the jump and you see the seconds tick on the top row and speed (or height) on the bottom row. Means you could try different positions (say for wingsuit) in each quarter of the skydive and be able to compare them without a laptop afterwards. Likewise, speed built up vs. time during a swoop is easy to see. Data logging seems perfectly adequate. Nope, there is no PC link...but it never claimed to have one either. The supplied wrist strap is sh*te. On the first jump the seam/stitches split 75% across. As in i nearly lost it on its first jump. Two lines of stitches and all's well no - but it's a shame regardless. If you want/need one, it's a good bit of gear.

Hehe, I actually miss the fear of the early jumps...you know...when they open the door, the cold air rushes in and you go white as a sheet. Then you walk back in with a giant ear to ear grin, eagerly looking forward to repeating the ordeal again in two hours! It helps to rationalise away the fear. The gear is fine...you see hundreds and thousands of jumps being made around you. It works. The plane works. You've seen it. You can land it, 'cos you've done it before. What are you scared of? Pretty much nothing, it's irrational - though perfectly natural! Good luck.

Likewise, agreed. It's your life, your decision to get out and your gear. Your actions (both before and after leaving the plane) are ultimately your doing. More responsibility needed on an individual level. I'm all for more paperwork and pen pushing if it achieves lower insurance premiums, but i think it might actually increase complacency to an extent. Kind of absolving yourself of responsibility by getting checked... It's not to say we shouldn't check people, i've caught two chest straps in as many years. I just don't think it should be compulsary and i sure as hell don't want to be signing for anyone! What's to stop them faffing their gear up the moment you walk away, for whatever reason? Your name is still on the scrap of paper... --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Hand to foot. People tend to wave their arms around a bit in some kind of balancing act. Try to fly it too, i'm as guilt of combat docking as anyone !arghhh-a-a-GOT-IT!!!!-and...funnel!! T'is fun but flying it teaches you far more. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

A less honourable man would have taken it in and then phoneed up FedEx to chase up where the f*ck their canopy was.

Was gonna say, all you need is one single solitary (free) bungee. As for which one to buy, the cheapestone that is modern and works. That means either a used ProDytter or a new Solo. Unless you are willing to trade more money for extra (mostly useless) functionality. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Get on a canopy course or get someone who knows what they're doing to explain landing on rears and what to look out for. There are plently of reasons why you might need to do it. Stuck thumbs, tension locked toggles, broken brake lines or lack of time to unstow reserve toggles. None of those are ideal times to be figuring out the finer points of landing with rears...

Gotta echo the 'nail other positions first'. It's just plain embarrassing when freefliers can't fly flat proficiently. Likewise, no end of people want to do head down jumps, and, when they finally settle for a head up, are somewhat sh*te. Being competent is not just holding a sit. That's a given... Likewise backflying, tracking etc. Nail it first - freeflying isn't just head down - it's the whole lot. I've spent a few seasons head up and and only just feeling the benefis of doing more headup will be marginal compared to starting head down...

What's in a skydivers future? Absolute highs and great times, but also some real lows too.... On a more cheerful note, gotta agree with the whole 'being modest/not mentioning it' thing. It does totally tip and conversation - and i hate that! I've taken to making up hobbies and weekend activities in some situations! It's easy to forget how quickly non jumpers tire of skydiving babble. Only noticed that when a couple of us got into an animated conversation on base and noticed all the skydivers had zoned out! Hehe --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

I'm sure they both work fine, but at such a similar price the Vigil cannot compete with a Cypres. It does nothing better for most jumpers and does not have ~15 years behind it. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

I don't think i'd be too quick at converting a digital number into a meaningful height. With an analog one, when the needle hits the colourful sectors, i need to do something. No thinking required. You can see the needle moving and you've got a graphical and foolproof indication of time remaining. I've had the needle fall off as i exited (probably before, but i didn't check). The inbuilt ohshittometer picked up on that at 5/6k when the needle was at at '2' - the ground looked too small for 2k and too big for 14k! I did the next jump with it like that - there wasn't time pack and fix it. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Cool, cheers Kris. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

you can mount it very securely using one standard bungee picked up off the floor. Lay the bungee flat -across- the ear slots. Feed each end of the bungee 'into' the helmet through the slots 'furthest apart'...and voila, inside your helmet you not have 2 elastic loops poking through to hold your audible in. So it's inside the helmet (might need to chew some foam out) and held in by the bungee. It's not cool, but it works just fine. Tape over all the holes in the protec. It'll look less g.a.y, your ears will be warmer and you'll hear the beeps better.

Is it possible (ok, i'm sure it is....but 'easy-ish' and 'affordable' are important too) to get a fallrate graph and/or glide angle without the need for a laptop? Has someone knocked together a palmtop app that interfaces with a protrack/gps? I read about the bluetooth one on here, but that one 'just' beeps. Don't get me wrong, that's hardcore and damn cool, but not what i'm after. Cheers for any tips. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Not too sure to be honest - I guess I just wanted a new toy under the xmas tree... Well: 1) Made to measure rather than 'off the peg'. 2) Bigger wing area. Better performance - maybe, as that also depends on the pilot! 3) I'd heard nothing but praise for them. 4) They're more common in the UK than the S-Fly, so comparisons/feedback/coaching is easier to come by. 5) I expect it'll backfly better due to the extra inlets - SFly, like most suits, doesn't have them. I suspect both suits are more suit than their current pilot is capable of fully and efficiently using. However, as WS base is the long term goal (emphasis on -long- term, as i'm damn uncurrent in both disciplines), i feel i might as well stick with the suit i might end up using for that (minus the extra inlets etc) if that time ever comes. I guess i'll see if any of my expectations turn out to be true soon! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Just thought i'd resurrect an old thread. Can't wait for some warm weather! Backfly inlets in there too. New toy...arrived just before christmas! http://img57.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5049wkn4.jpg Old toy... http://img299.imageshack.us/my.php?image=suitou6.jpg Blue ones (once these grey ones f'off)! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Just for the sake of argument: 1) I'd consider the 'bright neon eyesore of a canopy' factor as pretty important when chosing a canopy. Sure, it shouldn't ever be an issue, but we live in the real world. It's never been close enough to be dangerous, but i've turned somewhere i could have sworn was safe only to find myself staring at a navy blue and teal canopy. And i've had the same happen to me from the other perspective. the orange and yellow ones though (not to everyones taste, and the bugs love them) don't have that problem... 2) As long as it opens, turns and lands 'ok', that's all i really care about in a main canopy. Unless you're swooping, i think most people live far away from the outer limts of their canopys performance envelope -and whether you jump a Sab2, Spect, Pilot or any of the equivalents, it makes dick all difference if we really think about it. They all work just fine. Some finer than others, but all fine. So the colour is as much of a safety factor as anything. It'll minimise the chances of someone else killing ya - then all you have to do is not bounce yourself! --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Green. Always. Red. Unless you're sh*t hot. Brown. Wrong decade (and, indeed, millenium). More than 3 colours. More than one bright colour. Too much orange (you might get confused for a Nethers student and grounded for spiralling under 2k! ). --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com

Blacks ha(s/d?) a 20% off sale. Join quidco and buy online..and get another 8% off. They do some ok gear, depending what you're after! Look into buffalo gear too. Looks a bit gay, but is windproof and very warm. --------------------------------------- Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club www.skydivebristoluni.com