Cloggy

Get another hotel! Although the ferry to city center runs all night, the one you're booked into isn't exactly in a happening area...

Cute.... dog...

From my own experience: try to avoid getting your finger stuck in the pipe at pull time... I have a hackey, but I feel a bit uncomfortable with it (sitting outside, exposed to the wind). I'm considering changing it to a freefly handle.

Another one... Check your tube before you jump! http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48831

Purple.. is, uhmm ... so eighties..?? ' http://www.xs4all.nl/~bstolk/AvatarPF.jpg As you can see, no genius of design was involved in this ensemble... Just can't be bothered to fork out a few $100 for a new suit.

Is back up again

Is unreachable for a few days already.

Maybe somebody at Parachutes de France can remember or ask Hannes Nolde himself?

See attached pic, you should team up with this one

Don't worry about the a or b. It indicates that software version 2.3.1 is installed on hardware revision a or b. (Sure, with 2.3.1b you got the newest of the newest ).

Looks as what is commonly referred to as the 'Nigerian' scam. Some people toy with them a bit. http://www.athengreyimages.com/agiCheckScam.cfm You can see how the scenario in your case would evolve

Hmm, I'd be very cautious with this. Melamine. That's the stuff they make plates and mugs of and coat fiberboard with.. Very hard and tough resin. I don't know how this melamine sponge works or what it's physical characteristics are in sponge form, but I somehow suspect that it is rather abrasive, with a zillion microscopic needles scraping the dirt out of the pores of your dirty wall, rig etc. Works very well, but I wonder what microscopic damage there is, and what the 'needles' do when worked into the fabric and what damage they can do over time? Bart

The fluorescent colors ZP-fabric are more sensitive to UV . (I hope this hasn't anything to do with deploying mines or other unpleasant stuff? .) Dunno how heavy or impact-resistant your payload is, but wouldn't a 'toilet paper' streamer be sufficient? Maybe a watersoluble coating could help the streamer to survive long enough to survive a drop in rainy weather, but dissolve completely afterwards. Or cover the thing in biodegradable foam (the stuff they make the biodegradable packing peanuts/foam from). Would be fun throwing al these foam balls from a plane Cover the parachute in fertilizer and glue grass seeds to it... After a few days you won't know there was a parachute. Could think up some more, but I think my boss needs my brain...

Something like this? http://p4961.typo3server.info/65.1.html?&L=0 From Paratec

Talking about trivia.. They are called the "Navigator's balls" and as sailors are iron men, they're definitely iron balls They're adjustable to compensate for the offset caused by the ship's steel structure. Near where I live there is a small Compass Island where the ships would calibrate their compass. I guess they'd line up the ship to the island and shift those balls around.. Not that I want to take my compass into the air (hell, noting the position of major landmarks and the sun's position should be part of your preparation...), but I was curious anyway. Turns out my altimeter has no influence whatsoever on compass readings.

Lifetime of LED's is typically stated in the 100,000 hour range... or 100 times the lifetime of a normal bulb. That's why LEDS are usually not servicable. And in this application... I don't see anyone clocking up 100,000 hours skydiving Certainly not on a warning LED that blinks a few times every jump... So, don't worry about the LED... It takes about 10 years of continuous use to burn out. You probably snagged and broken the cable many times before that. And if that happens, just stick a new one on.. I guess L&B could easily have used a two color LED in this application, that can shine e.g. red or green. (And with some trick, orange as well). But is it really necessary? If you're really worried, change the cam-eye LED to another color?

KeeClamp is a nice system for quickly throwing things like frames or railings togehter: http://www.keeklamp.com/us/catalog.html Not particularly cheap though...

A Neptune is great for finding out your descent rate: to see what really happens when you do quarter, half, full brakes, floating on rears, how much height you loose in a turn etc. etc. If you're not getting your own Neptune, try at least to borrow one for a few canopy control jumps. One of my main reasons to get a Neptune: to get to know my new canopy better. Without instruments it's pretty difficult to judge the descent rate (IMO). But don't get too focussed on instrument readings: even if you know your descent rate, you have to take other factors in to account to land on your target (e.g. wind speed, direction, gradient). Bart

And divide the stretch on the softlink (5%...) by about 6(?) as it is looped around twice... Nic, but you're on the wrong track anyway... Spectra goes out of trim due to shrinkage... Usually it's my closing loop that goes out of trim..

Hi, maybe I understand it incorrectly, but it seems a bit odd to me you're basing the decision between pull-out and throw-away on the handle. Both systems have their specific pro's and con's and problems that can occur, or is this not a factor in your decision? Just trying to learn.

Not entirely a myth. RFID tags are made in active and passive varieties. The passive don't have a battery, the radio signal from the reader energizes them and read range is up to about 15-20 feet depending on operating frequency. Active tags have a battery to boost the range to about 100 yards. Which still isn't very helpfull if you have to be within that range to find your lost canopy... Seems to me that a simple miniature beeping transmitter (as used on e.g. animal tracking) would be a more suitable solution.

Option 1 + boogie somewhere? Couldn't you have your repack done in Europe somewhere (lower shipping cost/time)? Don't know if that would be OK with USPA regulations though. Option 4 could have some insurance implications...

It's 83.5 x 90 mm, 385 grams.

When I got my new Sabre-2 I started to psychopack straight away and stuck with it since. Never had any problems, and it seems to open more consistently and on heading than with a regular propack, although it takes a bit more time (700-800ft) to open. I planned on moving back to regular propack after I got the canopy broken in, but I just can't be bothered: don't have the patience for propacking.. Never had to pay for packing and I can fit it in a rig designed for a 150: no sweat (except on a hot day ) And it's good fun seeing the look on people's faces when they see you roll up your canopy like a sleeping bag

Could be worse (or better?? ). Repack every 4 months in Belgium. Or apparently 120 days in the US.