ast4711

That was the reason for my post... I am not sure What is the common best practice to resolve a solo flat spin? I would still try to bowl up, but given that happend after cutaway, what else than pull silver would be a better option?? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I am not sture if "get wide if you get in a spin" would help. For Tandem sidespin`s it is teached that you need to bowl up you and the passenger to stop the spin.... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I would not wonder if their (go pros`s) advertising videos are actually taken by a real camera gear and are faked or at least highly post processed at the end of the day.... All the small camera videos, taken by other fellow jumpers, I have seen are nowhere near the quality they advertise with... But now, flame on me... :-) alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I had the same experience a while ago while doing 10-12 videos for a 4way during their training camp. After one or two days I had the same annoying bruises... (was used to porter, caravan, sky van before, not many jumps from otter... So... I asked the coach about any special technique, and guess his answer: "Don't use your inside leg..." :-) It worked :-) So.... I guess, it is just a brain thing, just keep focused during climb out and do it better... I`m not so much taller than you... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

@ potatoman: 100% Agree to both of your points. I remember if doing video, after leaving the AC, I do not look at the alti at all. Neither in Freefall, nor under canopy - if jump and opening goes well (I have an audible too....) So malfunctioning or missing wristmount Altimeter is mostly not an issue at all - if everything goes well!! I also have a good number of jumps - does not make it better btw, but I would never want a "novice" to be in a situation where he is not able to reliable check his altitude at any time!! You are also right that it is very easy to spot your buddys analog altimeter, but it is nearly impossible to spot your buddys digital altimeter. In consequence, this is a point to consider, even if you are very familiar with your digital one. Altitrack is a good alternative, but it does have all the inherent problems of every electronic device. Considering all this, I still love my N3... :-)

Well done summary! I personally absolutely prefer digital altimeters (use an N3 and had neptunes before) but mostly because of their additional features like logbook. Nevertheless, like you described, all the electronic gadgets needs power. So sooner or later you will end up with an electronic device which simply stops working because you forgot to change batteries, or to recharge them. Taking care of this requires awareness someone probably needs more for the important stuff. So if I use an electronic altimeter, I have to be prepared to a failure and in worst case be ready to e.g. jump without working altimeter. Realising that the good on the ground altimeter just stopped working minutes before exit puts a lot of additional stress on the user. If he is not prepared for this, then I would argue against and instead recommend the good old analoge (we know even they can fail....). This is the reason why I think every new jumper should at least by an analog alti to start with and to delay the decision to go electronic for a couple 100 jumps.... alex

Why do you ask then...? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

ok... ic.... So just another reason why I went right with the icarus :-) alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Could it be an issue with the retainer loop shrinking over the time? Don`t really see how, but we had the same problem with spectra lines on a sport canopy where after some (many) jumps the eye got smaller and smaller up to a point where it was nearly impossible to insert the hard part of the toggle into it, let alone releasing the toggle... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Yesterday we had a women, I turned away last year because of her overwight. Story a year ago was: Women appeared for tandem, looked a little heavy, I took her to our briefing room, and asked her about her wight. She claimed 85kg (178lbs).... :-) Put her on a scale and guess: 115kg+ (240lbs) ! Explained everything to her and made clear that a jump is impossible. Since she had an already payed voucher (wight limit printed on it), I offered a full refund. She resigned and claimed that she will come back some day... Yesterday, she appeard again and hey, looked great!! Lost much, I think still 85-90kg but not more, so here we go...! Jump was great, she was so happy and everybody could feel that this jump was her big inspiration to finally loose wight! alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I found out that this is not an issue for me: I am left eye, right handed and always had the ringsight on my left eye. When I got a new helmet the sight was mounted on the right eye by mistake. I never felt any difference at all.... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I like your setup, but as a long-time manfrotto user, I decided to try something new here`s why: 1. Manfrotto`s are quite heavy. I guess 100-150grams or so - per unit! 2. Manfrotto`s are quite high. I mean they put the suspended wight of the camera about 2cm higher than necassary. These two issues brought me to my new plan to make a new top plate with integrated x-shut`s. Very lightwight, ultra-low surface, I hope that contributes positively to my current neck problems! It is not ready, but I will post pictures when ready :-) alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I have had lots of problems with my whole right arm, caused by computer mouse usage - which is my daily job... :-( At some point I invested in a touch pad (apple user) and all of the pain went away in about a month or two. I think it was all about the changing hand movements, especially the muscles which are involved in clicking objects.... just an idea, but might help you... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

One thing to consider is batteries. I learned that sooner or later you will face a situation where the electroinic device simply stops working because of an empty battery. If all is well this happens on the ground, but one or two times, I missed the check on the ground and found myself in the plane without an alti at all... These digital altimeters require more maintainance simply because of the needed batteries! This is why a plain old analoge alti is a very good investment to start with... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I "fear" to use gatorz with CL`s but I hate my goggles too... Maybe I try these correction lenses you put in over night (don`t know their name) anytime soon.... Until them, I continue hating the goggles but only because they do not look as cool as gatorz :-) alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Tighten your mlw to the max and get softlinks instead of the standard metal links. That helped me most, it brought these 2cm missing :-) alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

+1 for an optimaII !! -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

.... I think, if we all collect our stories, we could make a bestseller of it Funny example: I opened a gearstore last year and so I had had some guys on the phone with typical beginner questions, which I honestly answer as best as I could! I see this as a way to differ myself from others.... The best one was someone with total 20 jumps, no license jet, but in the market for helmet, digital alti, audible and more and equipped with a lot of money: You guess it, not only the best would be good enough! And of course not used, even his instructors pointed him to the cheapo way and told him to slow down.... Best of all, he wanted to buy a bh-revolve and a matching mount for his Sony TX5 (no joke!) on the side... :-) I don`t know him personally, and will never see what he ended up with - I would love to see his first jump with tx5 mounted on the left side!!! I think nearly all of the thoughts more experienced people have put into the topic of teaching were totally wrong. They were right in its sense, but not in the way we brought all that to others. That is something not related to a specific activity (e.g. skydiving) but also the way the human brain developed in the past.... If you consider this, all makes sense :-( Sometimes that makes me sad! alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I did the same, and since I was always very reluctant especially regarding Stills on Facebook, I expressed that concern more than once in the last 2-3 years... And I got flamed for that. End of season last year, 3 of my edits ended up on facebook within hours, all without any credits at all. At least two of them were uploaded by somebody I spoke about my concerns before. I think there are a number of people who don`t care, don`t know, or generally do not respect someone having a different mindset... :-( Very bad, but this is part of the problem, that you see every second f*** 35jump AFF-Graduate with a gopro... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I don`t have any opinion to share in this case, but I just wonder why someone, who seems to be somehow representing a manufacturer, needs to login to this board as "TrojanHorse".... If I would represent a company, especially in such an important case (possibly), I would do everything to make shure my messages are distributed as professional and trustworthy as possible.... alex

I don`t know about the Visio (other than common knowlege) cause I don`t own one, but I used a N3 for about a year and 250 jumps now: What made me mistrust first was the way the N3 is mounted: Imagine a velcro strap with fingerring and some silicone sleeve threaded thru the strap. The N3 is simply sled into the sleeve. At the first glance I thought this is something that will not hold very long.... After a year and many jumps, mostly tandems where I needed to get ready in small aircrafts (you know it`s going to be tight there...) sleeve and the strap are looking like new! No problem at all! Second, the N3 body is made of aluminium, and the display cover is now glass. This combination is not only rock solid, due to the new "clicky" Buttons - everybody who used a Neptune knows what I mean... :-) it is also very useful and lot more easier to operate. Third, the N3 uses a USB rechargeable battery, which lasts long enough (sorry, I don`t have data but every now and then I connect it to my computer and transfer the logs and at that time it also recharges....). I did not have one jump where the battery was indicated below 50% and I remember only 3 or 4 times this year I connected the thing to a computer... So in my opinion no problem at all! And you can find a USB port on every DZ nowadays :-) Ah and USB is so much easier than IrDA, no more hassels with this trash-technology!! All in all I had exactly not one problem with the N3 since I used it. It accurately logged every jump (shot delays, speed and of course all usual dives like tandem or video of course. I did not do any wingsuit jumps this year...) With my older Neptune 2 I was usually challenged with empty batteries, corroded or misaligned battery contacts, or weird readings, which I got used to handle so also no big deal.... but not once with the N3. I may somehow be biased because I`m Alti-2 AFS but I strongly belief they did everything right with the N3! If they could add native Macintosh Support for their "Neptune Maintainance Unit" - called NMU - I would not know what else to ask for... :-) alex PS: Did I mention Paralog on Mac? I works perfectly, due to the USB-Port of the N3...! -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I used a N3 for about a year and 250 jumps now: What made me mistrust first was the way the N3 is mounted: Imagine a velcro strap with fingerring and some silicone sleeve threaded thru the strap. The N3 is simply sled into the sleeve. At the first glance I thought this is something that will not hold very long.... After a year and many jumps, mostly tandems where I needed to get ready in small aircrafts (you know it`s going to be tight there...) sleeve and the strap are looking like new! No problem at all! Second, the N3 body is made of aluminium, and the display cover is now glass. This combination is not only rock solid, due to the new "clicky" Buttons - everybody who used a Neptune knows what I mean... :-) it is also very useful and lot more easier to operate. Third, the N3 uses a USB rechargeable battery, which lasts long enough (sorry, I don`t have data but every now and then I connect it to my computer and transfer the logs and at that time it also recharges....). I did not have one jump where the battery was indicated below 50% and I remember only 3 or 4 times this year I connected the thing to a computer... So in my opinion no problem at all! And you can find a USB port on every DZ nowadays :-) Ah and USB is so much easier than IrDA, no more hassels with this trash-technology!! All in all I had exactly not one problem with the N3 since I used it. It accurately logged every jump (shot delays, speed and of course all usual dives like tandem or video of course. I did not do any wingsuit jumps this year...) With my older Neptune 2 I was usually challenged with empty batteries, corroded or misaligned battery contacts, or weird readings, which I got used to handle so also no big deal.... but not once with the N3. I may somehow be biased because I`m Alti-2 AFS but I really belief they did everything right with the N3! If they could add native Macintosh Support for their "Neptune Maintainance Unit" - called NMU - I would not know what else to ask for... :-) alex PS: Did I mention Paralog on Mac? I works perfectly, due to the USB-Port of the N3...!

Did you try Google`s PICASA? It does what you requested.... I did and I think it`s a good tool, but it also sucks performance wise when you are dealing with a very large number of objects (>50.000) especially when using a NAS or other form of Network Storage. In fact, I did not find the "right" tool for managing a very large number of objects... :-( alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Well... In Germany you get your TM Rating from either DAEC or DFV. They also offer the necassary insurance, in case you own a rig. You do not have to deal with the manufacturers and their ratings. I have no experiences dealing with DAEC but dealing with DFV (www.fallschirmsportverband.de) is usualy straight forward and simple. If you have a foreign TM-Rating, you can apply to a german license, the form you need is this: http://www.metatag.de/webs/dfv/downloads/DFV_Antrag_Lizenz-Berechtigungen-Umschreibung_V5-10-2009.pdf Best way to go would probably be a german TM Examiner who can give you all the necassary training and sign the forms... In my case, I started TM training on a ATOM, did my first couple hundred tandems on Strong and then got my own Sigma. Everytime an experienced Tandemmaster on the system in question explained the new System and the differences to the systems I used before and signed my logbook. That`s it. Maybe you need a jump with an experienced jumper or examiner in front. With the Sigma I went to an examiner, because nobody I knew already knew anything about the Sigma... hope this helps. alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

What`s the purpose of this question? Even if you tell your children before aff, how can you be shure they understand anything of the possible consequences??? Let me say this: I have four: Oldest will be 11 in May, youngest is 6. I started skydiving before i met her mother - now we are divorced and 3 lives with me one lives with her. All of them are frequently at the dropzone, they even saw 2 reserve rides by myself and one or two (not so bad) accidents of others. I think at least the oldest one realize there is a risk. But she also saw that everything can turn out well if somebody does the right thing, follow rules and be prepered to learn. Hey, the oldest even packs my and my partners main... :-) I am absolutly shure, they have no problem (other than beeing bored at the dz sometimes) with me and my partner skydiving. For them it is just a normal thing, they dont even tell their friends about it to impress them or whatever.... For the record: None of them did a skydive yet. I will take them on tandem if they _really_ want it by themself, but not before!! They did a passenger ride in the skydiving aircraft (set in the tandem harness, connected with me just in the case) but did not really like it. alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de