bigdad510

Aaah! there's nothing like doing a three way with two women....or even a four way... Wait, was that sex...or skydiving.... Brad

I jumped a hornet 150 a few times, they are nice canopies. Depends on your skills, they ain't for everyone. They do fly well. Brad

skydiving - one brain bucket making decisions horseback riding - two brain buckets making decisions, sometimes independently of each other. I'll stick with skydiving. I'm curious as to what azureriders would say? Brad

My first three rigs didn't have AAD's. It was a "personal choice". After seeing a lot of vdieo and incidents, and jumping video, I don't know if I would jump without one now. Like above - your choice. Brad

I like my Sony HC-96, top mount. Brad

Did you have the whole thing on the outside? I was thinking of drilling a hole and installing it from the inside of my helmet, with a rubbers seal around the edge to hold it in tight. Brad

Where do most of you place your cam eye button. I've seen a whole bunch of different places. I have one to installed, and I want to put it in a place it won't get bumped during climb out or anything, butt sill being able to reach it. I jump the Skydance Sonic helmet. Both my Rebel and HC96 are mounted on top. The HC Looking out from the back it positioned front Left, with the Rebel XT right beside it slightly behind. Thanks! Brad

The advice above is good advice. What does the manual say? A lot of jumpers hear that "rolling the nose" will slow down your opening. That's true for a lot of canopies. I'm glad I read the instructions on my canopy, because "rolling the nose" on my canopy, probably would result in a reserve ride. With mine, I have to push the nose deep within the pack job, and tighten (roll) the tail. Don't just assume any canopy's nose can be rolled. Brad

PISA made a lot of their canopies with color tabs. Someone up above said something about maybe not making packing easier. It makes it easier for me, especially when I’m in a hurry. It helps me propack just a little bit faster. I also use my canopy (Heatwave 135) to show new jumpers the line groups and where they come from. I The only other colors I've seen are red, which I had on an old Fury CRW canopy. Brad

I like these because they were the last pics of me before I left on my deployment. Beback in a month though,and can't wait to get in the air! Oh, and some four way I took. Brad

That's how I do it too. Brad

I like your response to this. my wife wants a career, which would make a lot of money. I'm all for it. I have 8 years left till I retire from the military, and I thought about your comment. Yeah, when the weather sucks, or there aren't a lot of tandems, you get screwed. That's why I'm a SCUBA instructor too. Only weather I stop running a class for is lightning! Yeah you don't make a lot of money in skydiving, but you have to be doing it because you love it! I want to do what I enjoy hen I retire at 39 years old, not what I'm forced to do to survive! Brad

If you ever jump at Gold Coast, please don't get your panties in a ruffle when you have about 10 people from the time you put your gear on, until exit, checking you out. We don't allow complicacy at the DZ. on more occasions than memory can recollect, we have caught new jumpers to "veterans" with gear issues. people change their gear all the time. A simple one, is someone turns off their AAD because they think they are done for the day. Then they get on a load later, and never turn it back on. It's a religious practice for several jumpers to lay yes, and hands on everyone chest strap before the door opens on jump run. Safety first...skydives forever! Brad

Our DZ you can get a low pass no matter how many jumpers exit low, on every load, and its out of an Otter. You pay for altitude. Mike's a kickass DZO! Brad

Hey Jason, Any time you exit an aircraft while in flight, the jump counts. Since you did you Tandem while you were visiting me, it's well within the time line and it counts. By the way, I just found out that Jenn is being induced today due to comlpications. Sicne I'm towards the end of my deployment, I will not be realeased aerly to fly back to the states. Brad

I have the HC96 it has LANC on it, I don't think the 48 does. I have mine top mounted. If you want a box, Bonehead has a D-Box for it. Give them a call. I had te HC36 first, it's the same size, and I was the test dummy to see if one of their boxes fit the cam. It does, and you'll probably end up buying a little bit of extra foam to pad it more in the box. I think the box is about 180.00. You'll probably want to go with a cam that has teh LANC. As far as zoom goes, for skydiving, you don't need it. I've never used it. Brad

I have one and use it for skydiving. It is a bit wide. I tried it side mounted and it sticks out too far. I have mine mounted on a Skydance Sonic. I can fit both the 96 and a Digital Rebel mounted on the top side by side. I started with the HC36, and it was very good, but had no LANC. But the 96 does. It shoots great video. I use manual focus on sports mode, witha .45 wide angle lense, and it works great! Brad

eBay..eBay..eBay for a lot of it, but make sure you do your research. There are a lot of threads on this topic. Real quick, I like the Sonic helmet from skydance headgear, with sony hc96 and any of the digtial rebels from canon. Brad

hold the button to turn it on, wait a sec..then every time the backgroundlights up (3 times) you immediately push the button once. Then it will do a system check. I love my argus, been good to me so far! Brad

I started skydiving in 1997, did about 70 jumps and then quit, due to getting married (another story). About three years ago, I made a deal with an instructor for me to do a reoccur jump and I'm certify him in SCUBA. I left the plane and for the very first time, I was scared all the way to the ground. My heart was bumping so hard in my chest, I honestly though I wouldn’t be conscious when I hit the ground. A little over a year ago, I got remarried and started skydiving again (great wife ) . This time, I wasn’t nervous at all. More relaxed than anything. My advice would to think about the jump, I'm sure there was fear there, just controlled a little better. However, never stop re-checking your gear "the life you save, may be your own". I’ve seen a lot of ol’timers who never check their gear, and one day it will bite them. Brad

Thanks Scott, good article, and not just for relining. I understood the basics, but did learn some from it. I'm going to use that as a training tool! Thanks again! Blue Skies! Brad

Ok, I'll be back from deployment soon, and my canopy will have its new line set on it ready to go. I just wanted to hear from some people as to how much difference a new line set makes, and if you have ever noticed what differences there are with a new line set. I have a Heatwave 135, and it flew great before I left, just felt like getting a new line set, because I had made over 75 jumps on it, and when I bought it, I didn't know how many jumps were on that line set. I’m also asking advice on if there is anything special I should be paying attention to the first couple times I jump it. I’ve heard about making sure the brake lines are set correctly, but it wasn’t explained very well to me. Thanks everyone! Blue Skies! Brad

I had the same problem with my HC36. It doesn't have LANC or an indicator light. I sold my camera to a skydiver that wanted it "just for the video" and was very patient and got a good deal on the HC96, it has LANC. Brad

When I started, I was told on my very first 45-sec delay (static-line progression) that the day you go up in the plane and don't have any fear, you need to quit jumping, no matter what your jump numbers, because you'll end up killing yourself or someone else. I believe that there is always fear in every skydiver, it's just more specifically "managed fear". The "managing" being what makes each skydiver unique. I have jumped with both a low number jumper (less then 50) and a high number jumper (over 1000) who say they have no fear in jumping. Both of them are reckless, and at times, don't care much about the other people in the sky. I don't jump with them anymore. So for numbers, don't think you can really peg an issue. I believe the stats for over 500 are because of the more things d-license skydivers are allowed to do, their risk increases. Brad

Gold Coast Skidivers (lumberton, MS) has a super otter Brad