bliston

touche... hope I spelled that one right. Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Ron, you walked into that one. Where do you think the guy who's post you were responding to is from? Way to reinforce the "dumb American" stereotype, jackass. Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

New plug worked... I simply had to solder the 3rd (un-attached) wire down and it was good to go. Of course now it doesn't work on my older camera. The radio shack plug was bulky and a pain to work with - I ended up lathering JB Quick into it to strengthen it and feel good about it holding up at least. Thanks for the thoughts, Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Thanks, guys. I'll give a new plug a go... Phil, I moved from Guate to Florida, so I'm just a short drive from the local RS. Cheers, Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

N/A

I have an old still switch that I made - it's a 2.5mm plug with a switch similar to a pro mouth switch. It's worked fine and still works with a Canon Rebel X I have as well as with a modified Kodak V705 camera. I have a new camera that it only partially works with - when I use the remote shutter release it only does what a 1/2 press of the on camera shutter release normally does, it only focuses the camera. The camera is a modified Panasonic FP8. Is there a chance that I have a mono plug and if I buy a stereo plug and re-wire it that I'll be all set? I just don't want to have to throw down $45 for a switch if I can avoid it. If a stereo plug should work, doesn't anyone have a good source for a 90 degree plug on line? Thanks, Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

I have an old still switch that I made - it's a 2.5mm plug with a switch similar to a pro mouth switch. It's worked fine and still works with a Canon Rebel X I have as well as with a modified Kodak V705 camera. I have a new camera that it only partially works with - when I use the remote shutter release it only does what a 1/2 press of the on camera shutter release normally does, it only focuses the camera. The camera is a modified Panasonic FP8. Is there a chance that I have a mono plug and if I buy a stereo plug and re-wire it that I'll be all set? I just don't want to have to throw down $45 for a switch if I can avoid it. If a stereo plug should work, doesn't anyone have a good source for a 90 degree plug on line? Thanks, Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

We had a great meet, more info here: NSL Story We had 30 4-way teams total this year, and unfortunately West Point teams weren't able to come out. If we can resolve the scheduling conflict that the Black Knights ran into and get the same civilian draw next year, we'll be looking at over 40 teams. Contact me if you'd you'd like to be on the email list for next year... Huge thanks to event sponsors: SkyVenture New Hampshire, Cypres2, United Parachute Technologies, Performance Designs, SkySystems USA, Skydive Pepperell, The Radisson of Nashua, Unfeathered, Gu Sports, and Bev Suits. And a big thanks to the National Skydiving League for the coverage. Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Brian Stephens or Jim Rees from Mass Defiance are local and very experienced. http://www.massdefiance.org I have a tunnel instructional video available that had most of the 2-way drills they use. Contact me if you'd be interested in a copy (I have them available for download...) Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

For the 4-way FS event, we currently have 30 teams total registered. 11 Rookie teams, 16 Intermediate teams, and 3 open teams. I know that there are a couple more in the works - please get in touch if you are in the process of forming a team. We are at capacity at this point, but I'll do what I can to secure additional time to accomodate additional teams. If you live near a 12ft. tunnel and would like to compete remotely, let me know and I'll get you the draw for your class. Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

For the 4-way FS event, we currently have 11 Rookie teams, 16 Intermediate teams, and 3 open teams registered. I know that there are a couple more in the works - please get in touch if you are in the process of forming a team. We are at capacity at this point, but I'll do what I can to secure additional time to accomodate additional teams. If you live near a 12ft. tunnel and would like to compete remotely, let me know and I'll get you the draw for your class. Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Whoops - that should read "Saturday December 11th for FS and Sunday December 12th for VFS" Sorry, Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Whoops - that should read "Saturday December 11th for FS and Sunday December 12th for VFS" Sorry, Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Event Announcement – 2010 NH Tunnel Meet! If any teams want the meet draw or anyone is up for organizing a concurrent meet at another 12ft tunnel using the same draw, please let me know. Dates: December 10th for 4-way FS (and December 11th for VFS) Registration deadline: First come first serve - limit of 12 Rookie teams and 18 Intermediate or Open teams. Register by Sunday, November 21 to receive a t-shirt. Email nhtunnelmeet”at”gmail”dot”com with the full names of each team member, their email addresses, each person’s t-shirt size, and your team name to register. Format: Same as last year, 5-round Rookie meet starting at 7am, 10-round afternoon Intermediate and Open meet starting at 11am. Meet Directors: Ben Liston (FS) and Ari Perelman (VFS) Chief Judge: Jim Rees (multiple other national judges will be on site this year) Teammate finder spreadsheet: Enter your info here if you are looking for teammates https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ApFFDKFiX0PedHctZnRiUzRwVEtNLTR1cUJVYVB2bEE&hl=en Changes for 2010: Sandbagger prevention - Any Intermediate teams that includes two or more members who won the Intermediate class last year, have won an Intermediate gold medal at US Nationals, or any medal in the Advanced or Open class at US Nationals should register as a “guest team.” That means that they can compete, be scored, and will be recognized, but will not eligible for medals. Open class draw will now include block 10, so we’ll have: 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, and 22. The “player/coaches” for the 2-on-2 Rookie class will be drawn on site the night before the competition – there will be no pre-formed full 4-way teams or requests. Let me know if you’d like to volunteer as a player/coach. Communication: I am working more than full time as opposed working half time (or not at all) like in years past. I’ll respond to questions and confirm registrations within one week. Please include your phone number if you email questions so that I can have the option of calling you with my response. Live Free and Fly! Ben ______________________________________________________ Read this info if you didn’t compete last year: The 3rd annual NH Tunnel Meet is on! 4-way Formation skydiving tunnel competition will happen on Saturday December 10th, 2010! Same deal as in past years, there will not be any cash purses, but prizes will include tunnel time and donated prizes from manufacturers. There will also be a 2-way VFS meet on Sunday December 11th. VFS meet director Ari Perelman will send out more details about the VFS soon. This is a community organized event - judges, meet directors, player/coaches, and meet support staff all volunteer their time free of charge as an end of the year "give back" to the skydiving community. Registration prices (for the Saturday FS events) will be $65 per competitor regardless of her/his competition class. Price includes a pizza lunch, bottled water, a DVD of each team’s competition rounds, your meet flights, two-minutes of official warm-up time, and if you register before the November 20 deadline, a free t-shirt for each team member. The three competition classes are Rookie, Intermediate, and Open. The Rookie class will be a 5 round morning meet, and the Intermediate and Open class flyers will compete in the afternoon over 10 rounds. For the Rookie meet, two competitors will be paired with two veteran 4-way folks who will serve as “player/coaches” (at no additional charge!). Rookie competitors should plan to be on site by 7:15am and should sign up with as a pair and provide me with a team name. Payer/coach pairings will be drawn on site and the awards should be done by 11:30am. The Rookie class is designed to give folks that are new to 4-way a chance to get involved – no sandbaggers please! Folks interested in being player/coaches should contact me. Intermediate/Open teams should arrive no later than 11:00AM. The competition rounds will be completed by 7:00PM, and the awards ceremony will either happen as soon as the judges finish (at about 7:30PM). The meet will be modeled in NSL fashion for the three divisions of 4-way. The Open class will have 5 to 6 points per round and use a modified dive pool for the meet (all random formation plus blocks 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, and 22), the Intermediate class rounds will have 4 to 5 points per round and consist of random formations and a few blocks (7, 9, and 14), and the Rookie class will have 3 points per round and consist of only random formations. The maximum number of Intermediate and Open class teams (combined) will be 18 and the maximum number of Rookie class teams will be 12 – teams will be registered on a “first come first serve” basis. To reserve a spot for your team, all you need to do is email Ben at NHtunnelmeet”at”gmail”dot”com with the team name, the competition class you will be competing in, the full names of all four team members, each team members email address, and each team members t-shirt size. Ben Liston, Meet Director NHtunnelmeet”at”gmail”dot”com http://www.skyventureNH.com Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Event Announcement – 2010 NH Tunnel Meet! If any teams want the meet draw or anyone is up for organizing a concurrent meet at another 12ft tunnel using the same draw, please let me know. Dates: December 10th for 4-way FS (and December 11th for VFS) Registration deadline: First come first serve - limit of 12 Rookie teams and 18 Intermediate or Open teams. Register by Sunday, November 21 to receive a t-shirt. Email nhtunnelmeet”at”gmail”dot”com with the full names of each team member, their email addresses, each person’s t-shirt size, and your team name to register. Format: Same as last year, 5-round Rookie meet starting at 7am, 10-round afternoon Intermediate and Open meet starting at 11am. Meet Directors: Ben Liston (FS) and Ari Perelman (VFS) Chief Judge: Jim Rees (multiple other national judges will be on site this year) Teammate finder spreadsheet: Enter your info here if you are looking for teammates https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ApFFDKFiX0PedHctZnRiUzRwVEtNLTR1cUJVYVB2bEE&hl=en Changes for 2010: Sandbagger prevention - Any Intermediate teams that includes two or more members who won the Intermediate class last year, have won an Intermediate gold medal at US Nationals, or any medal in the Advanced or Open class at US Nationals should register as a “guest team.” That means that they can compete, be scored, and will be recognized, but will not eligible for medals. Open class draw will now include block 10, so we’ll have: 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, and 22. The “player/coaches” for the 2-on-2 Rookie class will be drawn on site the night before the competition – there will be no pre-formed full 4-way teams or requests. Let me know if you’d like to volunteer as a player/coach. Communication: I am working more than full time as opposed working half time (or not at all) like in years past. I’ll respond to questions and confirm registrations within one week. Please include your phone number if you email questions so that I can have the option of calling you with my response. Live Free and Fly! Ben ______________________________________________________ Read this info if you didn’t compete last year: The 3rd annual NH Tunnel Meet is on! 4-way Formation skydiving tunnel competition will happen on Saturday December 10th, 2010! Same deal as in past years, there will not be any cash purses, but prizes will include tunnel time and donated prizes from manufacturers. There will also be a 2-way VFS meet on Sunday December 11th. VFS meet director Ari Perelman will send out more details about the VFS soon. This is a community organized event - judges, meet directors, player/coaches, and meet support staff all volunteer their time free of charge as an end of the year "give back" to the skydiving community. Registration prices (for the Saturday FS events) will be $65 per competitor regardless of her/his competition class. Price includes a pizza lunch, bottled water, a DVD of each team’s competition rounds, your meet flights, two-minutes of official warm-up time, and if you register before the November 20 deadline, a free t-shirt for each team member. The three competition classes are Rookie, Intermediate, and Open. The Rookie class will be a 5 round morning meet, and the Intermediate and Open class flyers will compete in the afternoon over 10 rounds. For the Rookie meet, two competitors will be paired with two veteran 4-way folks who will serve as “player/coaches” (at no additional charge!). Rookie competitors should plan to be on site by 7:15am and should sign up with as a pair and provide me with a team name. Payer/coach pairings will be drawn on site and the awards should be done by 11:30am. The Rookie class is designed to give folks that are new to 4-way a chance to get involved – no sandbaggers please! Folks interested in being player/coaches should contact me. Intermediate/Open teams should arrive no later than 11:00AM. The competition rounds will be completed by 7:00PM, and the awards ceremony will either happen as soon as the judges finish (at about 7:30PM). The meet will be modeled in NSL fashion for the three divisions of 4-way. The Open class will have 5 to 6 points per round and use a modified dive pool for the meet (all random formation plus blocks 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, and 22), the Intermediate class rounds will have 4 to 5 points per round and consist of random formations and a few blocks (7, 9, and 14), and the Rookie class will have 3 points per round and consist of only random formations. The maximum number of Intermediate and Open class teams (combined) will be 18 and the maximum number of Rookie class teams will be 12 – teams will be registered on a “first come first serve” basis. To reserve a spot for your team, all you need to do is email Ben at NHtunnelmeet”at”gmail”dot”com with the team name, the competition class you will be competing in, the full names of all four team members, each team members email address, and each team members t-shirt size. Ben Liston, Meet Director NHtunnelmeet”at”gmail”dot”com http://www.skyventureNH.com Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

In case anyone is interested, scores and video are posted below. Big thanks to everyone who organized teams and all the people that participated. Also a big thanks to event sponsors: SkyVenture New Hampshire, Connecticut Parachutists, Inc., Cypres2, United Parachute Technologies, and Performance Designs. Ben ___________________________________________________________ Colorado Team name: Colorado 4x4 Round 1 - 4 Round 2 - 2 Round 3 - 0 Round 4 - 2 Round 5 - 1 Round 6 -1.5 Colorado Jumps ___________________________________________________________ Lost Prairie Boogie Team Round 1 - 2 Round 2 - 0 LP jumps ___________________________________________________________ Chicago Team Name: SDC Summerfestivus Round 1: 3 ( 4 - 1) Round 2: 5 Round 3: 1 Round 4: 1 Round 5: 0 Chicago jumps ___________________________________________________________ New England - CPI Team Round 1 - 6 Round 2 - 9 (10 -1) Round 3 - 4 Round 4 - 4 Round 5 - 2 Round 6 - 3.375 (two stars and 11 total flyers making it through) New England jumps ___________________________________________________________ Chicago Roster: Allison Harper Becca Minkin Chuck Finley Deb Middleton Eric Smith Gretchen Podraza Jerry Lehnerr John Kallend Kelly Leitner Mike Oolman Mike Vagher Paul Wold Russell Patterson Sally Finley TJ Hine Steve Lefkowitz (captain) Charles Lane (Video) Laurent Beaudouin Mick Nuttal Gene Vetterli Colorado Roster: Alan Ganter Andy Anderson Brian Ball Chris Edwards Craig Julien Helaine Rumaner Joel Steverson Kevin Chapman Kipp Chambers Russ Moran Rusty Lewis Steve Zeder Tad Bechtel Tom Reiman Traci Van Woensel Jim McCormick (captain) Todd Edwards (video) Rob De Voto (alternate) New England Roster: Jim Rees Scott Latinis Paul Leslie-Smith Justin Beaudreau Hollie Reno Jack Cunniff Sara LaWare Brian Stephens Ari Perelman ScubaSteve(video) Michael Kamszik Vera Renalter James "Bu" Klinge Ben Liston Corey Beaudreau Alfonso Gioiella Brian Touhey "Scuba" Steve Feldman (video) Lost Prairie Roster: Lisa Walker (S California) Debbie Parisi (S California) Mike Groarke (Montana) Bob Bonnitz (S California) Cathy Coon (S California) Jean Aitkin (Canada) Dave Leclerc (S California) June Urschel (S California) Ken Williamsen (Canada) Malcom Garnau (Canada) BJ Worth (Montana) Rich Grimm(S California). Dwight Cyz(Canada) Brett Wold "Beezley" (Montana) Mike Robinson "Splash" (S California) John "Pete" Scharrer (Canada) Randy Pacheco (N California) Keith Wyatt - Camera (N California) Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

PM sent... It looks like there are actually a fair number of "teams" that will be involved. The NorthEast contingent and then Colorado, Chicago, Elsinore, and maybe a NorCal team. Judging may end being done by uploading stuff to Chicago's CamScore system, or via youtube. If any other teams are interested, please contact me by email: ben "at" massdefiance "dot" org. B Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

I just use a length of microline and mini rubber-tipped claps that I got at home depot (they are less than two inches long. some small hooks screwed into studs on opposing walls and then a little fiddling to get the length right and you'll be all set. Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

I honestly think that Skydive Dallas is offers more FS support than any other DZ in the country... I only jumped one season there, but consider it my home DZ. Truly a great place, with great leadership, and great local jumpers. Don't pass the opportunity to get out there for this event or others if you have the chance, and a few fun jumps with the "Friday Crew" will keep you smiling for at least a week. Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Cheers! Have fun and feel free to email if you have any questions about stuff after giving the drills a go in the air... Blues, ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Deadline is about 10 days out, get in touch if you're interested in a slot! Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Glad you liked it and found it helpful. I'll have the video available for about 2 more weeks. If anyone else wants a copy, get in touch (via PM or by email through the Mass Defiance website.) Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Hey Jim, Here is an attached picture of the way that I like my booties to fit. When I'm replacing booties on jumpsuits for people, or adjusting the way they fit, I have them lie flat on the ground, face down and stretch their arms straight above their head. Then I have them extend their legs and point their toes. By marking the material right where their toes are (with their shoes off), I seem to get a good mark of where the bootie material should end and the flat "sole" should be sewn on. So folks prefer a slightly tight fit, and those that have less of a natural arch might want a tighter fit that the above method will give them. However, after doing a fair bit of tunnel flying and coaching, and watching people in the air, I've noticed that sometime peoples booties are too tight and make it harder to both extend their legs all the way when they track and to maximize their lift if they are trying to fall as slow as possible (or get back up to a formation). I hope this is helpful. You may want to use the method above and have someone mark the bootie with some chalk or something, just in case the manufacture says, "how much shorter do you want it?" My guess would be that my method creates booties that are slightly longer than the norm, and don't think it has much of a chance of making them too short - my fear would be that the manufacturer would might over-shorten them if you just give it to them without any specific guidelines. Have a good one, Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

I have an instruction video available. Here is a link to a sample of the video: http://www.youtube.com/user/Skyleague#p/search/0/ic7sC30bocA I have copies for download through yousendit.com - both iPod/iPhone and high res Quicktime versions. I'm not going to describe all the drills, but here are the individual chapters: Basic Body Position Balance Drill Fall Rate Control Turning 90, 180, 270, 360, 540 Drill Side Slides Forward/Backward Movement Forward/Backward w/ Grips Box Drill Superpositioning Carving Stability Drill Speed Grip Drill Turning Grip Drill 360 Madness Drill Cat-pole two way drill (90 degree rotating cat builds) Cheese Grader (Cat/Compressed Super-positioning) Side Slide burble hops Sidebody to Sidebody hops Cat to Cat hops X-Drill hops (open to phalanx) Block 7 7/9 drill block 8 piece work block 16 piece work block 19 piece work block 21 pieces block 21 center work 4-way tunnel flying (Mass Defiance in Eloy) +/- 15 min. (all blocks) Knee flying Contact me by email or PM if you're interested... Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!

Hey folks, Below is an event announcement, if anyone is interested in putting together pick-up (or more organized) 16-way groups at their home DZ for that weekend and would like to do the same series of dives, I'd welcome it. Perhaps this can turn into a youtube meet or NSL style event. If you are interested, let me know and I'll be sure to send you the the "draw" once I design the jumps. NORTH EAST 16/16 RUMBLE A Two Group Invitational Formation Skydiving Event at CPI Saturday, July 31, 2010 (7AM to 7PM) On July 31, 2010, Ben Liston will be organizing a two group dueling 16-way event (32 participants plus video flyers) at Connecticut Parachutists, Inc. The goal is to draw the best formation skydivers from the North East for a day of challenging sequential skydives and tons of fun. This will be a quasi invitational event, meaning that participants will have to fill out a short form to register to ensure the quality of the event. The event will have 5 structured jumps for the day, with optional additional jumps if there is time and interest. Each of the two groups will be led by two or more “team captains,” all of whom have won multiple medals at the US Nationals as members of the Golden Knights or Arizona Airspeed 16-way teams. There will be a planned progression of dives that will grow in complexity/difficulty over the course of the day. Some will be national style sequential dives, others will require more intricate and delicate builds, and some with be challenging FS "tasks" you've never seen or heard of before. This will be a one day event, running from 7AM to 7PM. However, if the weather looks bad for Saturday and good for Sunday, I will make the call to run the event on Sunday, August 1st instead - this decision would happen on Friday, July 30. Therefore, all participants need to be available to come out on Sunday in case we have to change the event date for better weather. For folks that need it, you’ll have one weekend day free. The registration cost will include an event t-shirt, a Subway catered lunch, your five jumps, all the organization, a raffle ticket, and video. Still pictures will be available for purchase directly from the photographers and an edited video of all the jumps (both groups) will be available for free (via download) shortly after the event. Event sponsors include: SkyVenture New Hampshire, Airtec GmbH (Cypres2), United Parachute Technologies, Performance Designs, and Connecticut Parachutists, Inc. Thanks for your interest. Email methodicalrigging"at"gmail"dot"com for the official announcement and registration form. Blues, Ben Mass Defiance 4-wayFS website sticks!