Alambic

Definitely helps... last question: I assume lenses are specifix to the monkeykam, aren t they? Alambic

Hi there, read the very interesting article by Andey Frey on bullet cams http://www.dropzone.com/features/MakeMyCameraanExtraSmall.shtml and found only one thread on this : http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=319902;search_string=bullet;#319902 that didn t solve some of my doubts: -What about the "widening lens" (the one you usually add to a cam to skydive to have better angle of vision... sorry not to kbow the word, I am not a native speaker)? do you still need one, or is it included is the bullet cam? -What about breaking the "digital chain"? if I understand well, transmission between the bullet cam and the recorder (ie your belly mounted MiniDV cam) is analogical. Don t you lose any quality in this digital->analogical->digital conversion? -What about stabilizing? I heard that on many MiniDV cams image stabilization was granted both by harware and software, and that with such bullet cams you lost one if not both types of stabilization. Thanks to all, I am not currently flying camera, because I have a fragilized neck, so I am very interested in this type of systems.. JB Alambic

How do you say that uin english? "If you re not smart you've got to be tough", that s it? Seems you were tough enough... Alambic

OK I don t think it is worth asking you why, because continuing such a conversation cuold only end with some awfully bad manners :) Just hope you will have an opportunity to change your mind. Bye, and safe jumps... Alambic

Wow... you explained UK was because of weather, but what s up with France? Anyway: -France can t say anything... it wouldn t be honest :) -Spain: Pro:Nice nice nice people... nice nice nice weather Cons: Except Empuria, some times some "amateurism" because skydiving is not as developped as in USA, or France for example -Morroco Pro: nice scenery Cons: no permanent DZ Alambic

I understand your point of view... I don t want to have tu cut away, but I would feel more confortable to have already done one in the past... All of this for a simple reason: when shit happens, you can experience brainlock, and I still don t know if I would... I know at least three cases (not cutaways, but low turns) where someone in a bad situation did exactly the opposite of what he should have done, for brainlocking... And I would feel more confident to know I am not in this case... Alambic

In fact they're not.. ;-P (I got a bad landing in Spain, and I don t think I have been cured seriously... that was not a serious wound, hopefully) I know that it doesn t add a lot, but just as an information: the insurance included in the licence of the French Federation is available worldwide... maybe this could be negociated too in other federations... Alambic

You re forgetting that if you don t pull you deserve to die }:-) (just joking) Alambic

Will it be your very last? or will be a last like the 1524 times you said you were quitting the discussion? ;-) Now reading over and over this discussion I understand your point of view, and I just noticed that the same reasoning of "would I do a jump with so many people if I hadn't a Cypres", is the same as "would I jump with this packing I just ended when they were yelling at me to get on the plane, if I hadn't a reserve"... And it seems to me that all the skydivers I know have done inconsciently this type of bad reasoning one day or another. (being aware of it or not)... Now where I can t understand your (or Bill's or others that have similar ones) reosoning, is on the link you're doing on this fact (people getting tolerant on their own safety relying on devices), and dependency... Can t you just admit that there may be different reasons to chose to always jump with AAD, and that there are good and bad reasons to do it... I think on this thread and other ones on the subject almost all the oposition you have had is on this statement "Every person that refuse to jump without Cypres is relying too much on it", while many agree on "Cypres isn t a good reason to lower your safety standards". You say "never do a jump with Cypres you wouldn t do without Cypres"... And I say "I chose not to jump without Cypres, because Cypres exists, but I commit to never accept I jump I wouldn t have accepted if I had jumped in the pre-Cypres era"... you don t have to actually jump without the cypres to think like that... Alambic

Are you speaking of vertical speed, or overall speed... because the cypress will only record the vertical one... Alambic

Do you think it could go that fast? Cypres triggers at 35 m/s, no? that means 126 km/h no? Can a canopy go that fast (in overall speed possibly, but in vertical speed?) ? I believe not, but if someone has feedbacks on this it would interest me. Alambic

Ron, just one thing: every two post you say "I have 3000 jumps, you have less so listen to me"... I listen to you... but here in France someone decided that you had to wear an AAD... And this guy must have at least 3000 jumps to... so he doesn t agree with you... Now: I don t have 3000, but I have two persons with 3000 telling me opposite things... what do I do? Listen to both of them, and trust my judgement to see who I agree with... So please, stop taking your number of jumps as an argument... Less experience than you doesn t mean stupidity, so even someone with fewer jumps, even if doesn t know all can have an opinion... and an open minded attitude is to listen on both side... That's all I had to say... Alambic

I let this discussion to go on supporting France team in Gap... But still Ron, If I understand and agree on part of you point of view, (people should make dangerous things because they think they are safe), there is no problem for me in adapting your jumps to the level of security of your equipment (the same as not jumping non FF compliant rigs on FF) Alambic

I am totally OK with being dependant: I won t do anything stupid thinking "I have a Cypres that s OK"... I will do something stupid (because let s face it real skydivers do stupid things... and after (maybe long after) the jump they say: why did I do this jump, it was stupid), but I won t do them thinking my Cypress was here... I just jump with a Cypres because it allow to do stupid things, but because in a certain extent it gives me an added survival chance in case shits hits the fan... Alambic

Once again I think you mix this two things: -people who do stupid things and have the cypres an excuse for it -people who take the cypres as their security standard, and don t see why drop their standards... Alambic

Ron: wound you do RW without helmet? I don t think I would because if I could get kicked and it would be dangerous... For me the basic gear to skydive is: -main -reserve -harness -altimeter -ditter -AAD I jump with this, because I think it is security optimum... and it is the reference for me... If I ever do a jump without one of these elements, I will take EXTRA care... that s all... It doesn t mean if I have them I take EXTRA risks... do you see what I mean? Alambic

Yes let's say I am dependant on my Cypres. For me it is OK for me... but that s just a matter of risk management... It is a security device, transparent (it doesn t interfere with my normal skydiving as long as I don t open low)... And yes, if I had to jump with a Cypres I would take extra care... and not do the same kind of jumps... Same way as if I jumped without helmet, I would be more careful not to bump on sb because I am less protected... (I don t drive faster because I have a seatbelt, but if I hadn t I would drive slower... see the difference)... Last thing: Jumping once without an AAD to know it is... For me it is useless, because there is no experience on it: doing an exercise of recovering of a spin learns you to ... recover from a spin in case it happens jumping without an alti gives you experience in case your alti fails jumping without an AAD doesn t teach you anything useful when shit happens, and the only thing you will prove is "it is OK to jump without Cypres, Murphy s law doesn t work", and lead people to forget more often to put it off If what you want to prove is "Cypres isn t a reason to take more risks because it does no miracles" bring up cases where Cypres didn t do anything... have people jump without it will teach them the wrong lesson.... Alambic

Quite frankly Ron for me you are mixing two things: -People who think that whatever they do the cypres will save them and do stupid things (BAD) -People who know the Cypres is an added security, without thinking it will save them in some cases (not all), and because this cases will always exist they don t see why they should jump without a Cypres (i am of those ones) I am not dependant, I am careful... Alambic

Let s be realistic: it will still take years before all people in all situation get indifferent to ethnics/gender/sexuality factor... There is still a lot of attitude like -people of the former dominant majority still with discrimination over the minority -people from this samemajority fearing to say anything bad to someone of the minority by fear of others thinking he is doing descrimination (let s see the case of the NY Times) -people of the minority with anger against the majority, who will call anything bad happening to them discrimination... -without discrimination, egalization not done yet because it is not instantaneous It exists because wa have memories, and a lot of bad things have happened and still happen... It is almost impossible to ignore it. The only thing we can say is that is still a concern nowadays, but it will be less and less... Alambic

In this sport there are a lot of Security Rules to respect. The more of this rules you respect, the more chances of survival you have. There are some rules once or from time to time that can be broken with a fairly good chance of survival (not wearing an helmet, not using an Altimeter, no Audible, no AAD)... And if you can learn something breaking one of this rules in a prepared way, it is worth a try with more caution on the other rules (jumping without altimeter) You have to respect as much as this rules as you can, because they are complementary. There is one good reason to break one of these rules: to learn what to do if shit happens (Ho my alti is fucked up, but I am OK I know what to do I did a jump without alti) Amongst the bad lessons you can learn from breaking a rule there is this one "OK, it worked once, so now I know that I can break it whenever I want, and that will work..." (that is the reasoning of drenaline or billvon) There is no probs in a few jumps without helmet or cypres... if shit doesn t happen OK, but you never now if shit won t happen on that one jump where you said "Cypres Off? OK, what the hell" Where I am OK with you, is on fact nobody should say "I respect rule A, so I don t need rule B" because rule B is for some cases, and rule A for others That is what they do when they say "I have a Cypres, so I can do whatever I want" Yes, but cypres won t save them in some cases That is what YOU do when you say "I packed well, I respect all the rules, I don t need a Cypres" Yes but there are cases where whatever you did shit happens, and this time the cypres might save you... or not... The point Bill is that you said before that on a perfect jump you wouldn t need a Cypres... Hell no... on a perfect jumps I would need a reserve either. But in a jump that is not perfect I prefer having a reserve, and an AAD and so on... And no one can tell if a jump will be perfect... Alambic

Here is what I would do: -If it happens high, soon after the exit, (above 8000 feet let s say), I would track all the way down (except being a very very bad tracker, 25/30 s of track should be enough too be far away), and If I can, open near break off altitude (if they have not break off yet, they have not tracked yet, so they are where you left them) to ensure horizontal separation. If I am a bit lower and have a doubt whether I have tracked enough or not, yes that s when I would try to open lower than them... Disclaimer: I tell that for small ways from 12000feet... and I am not saying "do as I say", I am rather asking "is it right like this?" Alambic

I get exhausted too... Same kind in fact as after a day skiing: during the day I am fine, but as soon as I get back to accomodation I am just burnt out, my muscles and brain just want rest... Alambic

Same in France, and in Spain... very few "coloured" (I put brackets because I am not sure of the word) people in skydiving there... Alambic

Merit have the reputation to -open hard -wear fast (a joke around here is to say that PdF sold them already worn, a bit like what they re doing now with the blue jeans...) It could be a first canopy, if not too heavily loaded... but if you load it, with this kind of characteristic it could hurt your back... Alambic

I plan to keep it too, and I am quite conservative in general.. I am juste thinking about it, looking at the PROs and the CONs... Keeping my canopy is one of the options... Alambic