crashtested

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Posts posted by crashtested

  2. So after my 8 years as a professional skydiver, It's finally time to hang up the altimeter.. my misspent youth breaking all my bones has finally come back to haunt me and despite my love of the sport, getting back into the sky anytime soon is not going to happen.

    But with any end there is a new beginning, and hopefully the beginning is Akuzoo -

    Our First project you can find here www.skydive.akuzoo.com

    Check it out, Let us know if you have any ideas or requests, we'd love you to help us design the best gear on the market.

    We are aiming to release a bunch of different configurations, including harness attachments, Helmet bags, Camera gear inserts etc.. but we need you to tell us what you want!

    I'm excited about the future, I hope you guys like what we're up to.

    Sam C

    BAG WHOLE BAG WEBSTIE.jpg

  5. Hello Everyone,
    I was hoping that some of you might be able to help me out.

    I would like to put together a video for a student presentation evening that I am putting together of a load of Collisions, mistakes, and the like for an educational brief.

    I would prefer to get videos from people with experience, and a short description of what went wrong, and why.

    I realize that there is a certain amount of shame that people feel when they make massive mistakes, and maybe they would prefer to sometimes keep them hidden from the judgmental wold that we live in, however i promise you that having Them sitting there, on your hard drive is not going to help anyone, nor save lives, or prevent injuries in the future.

    By having experienced skydivers involved it may start to break down the skygod mentality that is sometimes prevalent within the sport.

    And show a few (80 students) that shit happens to the best of us.

    If your keen, please send video clips to [email protected]

    With your name, Jump numbers, and a short description of what went wrong and why.

    I would really appreciate some input.

    Thanks
    Sam C
    FAI D106767

  6. Let me tell you..
    Larsen & Brusgaard

    Once again these guys have blown me away, to the point that I feel the need to send them booze and cake.

    I am A professional Skydiver, I have A LOT of gear.
    Maybe 7 or 8 products from these guys and I needed a little bit of maintenance doing on a couple of bits, one of my Audible buttons seemed to get stuck, The back of a 5 year old altitrack needed a new battery case.

    I sent them an email, asking if I could buy a new back, and a new button, they told me to send it to them to do. 8 days later, (New Zealand to Denmark and back) Received a package, no note or bill, Just fully refurbished gear, it looks like new.

    I'm Absolutely blown away, and feel embarrassed that you did not ask for any money for this service.

    Thank you so so much guys, You absolutely rock, You have my business forever, and recommendation sealed for life.

  9. Hey Guys,
    To clear up a few of the questions…

    Size of speed star = 5 or more- for small plane Dz's
    Size of speed star = 7 or more for big plane Dz's
    The jump limit of 500 is solely for the person organizing at the DZ… This was to ensure people with some big way experience would be looking out for the newer guys…
    we are encouraging people of all ages and abilities to join in the fun.

    I hope this clears that up.

    Sam C

  10. Hi Everyone,

    WHATS IT ABOUT??
    As one of the missions for Deepseed this year, they have asked me to put the word out to see if we can get enough interest to complete a round the world Speedstar record.

    HOWS IT GOING TO HAPPEN??
    As we spin around the sun, we would like to have Skydivers throughout the world form a speed star, at designated times.

    WHO CAN BE INVOLVED
    WE want to have skydivers of all abilities, and ages to join us, people from all nationalities and beliefs, countries and drop zones large and small.

    HOW DO WE SIGN UP
    All the information about the event is on the new Deepseed Newsletter, including contact information etc.

    http://archive.aweber.com/deepseed25off/ISSnX/h/Deepseed_February_Skydivers.htm

    Thanks
    Sam C

  12. Nope this is not me..

    I don't see any real benefit to releasing breaks on a sigma :) . not only from an obvious point of view, but i don't see how inducing a turn could help you get out of line twists on a tandem canopy, i also did not like the exsessive lines it created by attempting to do so, nor the fact it seemed to push the twist down from the lines to the risers.

    I have had one cutaway on a tandem due to line twists, and have since found that having the passenger adopt a good arch with there legs between mine to be more useful then having them attempt to scissor kick there way out with me.

    I do like the idea of having a student filming there own experience.. pretty cool

  14. I have around 1800 tandem handcams as a heads up to my experiance on this. I'm 6ft 220lbs

    If you can't fly without one arm filming then you should not be doing tandems, let alone handcam tandems.

    how anyone can't fly there body and a student who lets face it is taking 70% of your air, in any position / orientation needs to look at there flying ability / exit position.

    The super wide lens is a godsend for those tm's with smallish arms, 5ft 6inch people, one of out tm's is know is t rex, due to his minute arms, he gets aweome footage using a cx110 with a .2 ninja lens, and with steady shot on.

    We also dual this up with go pro's or the like for pictures... the image res si great.. as awesome a shot as most outside footage.

    I see the go around with the student filming, but i would much prefer to have there hands in there harness. and be in a place where they are thinking about body position, rather then trying to get an awesome shot, i think overall the quality is comprimised, however that might be reflected in the price you charge.?? (i have no idea)

    And i still have not heard of a incident involving a TM wearing a well constructed hand cam... my set up is not much bigger than a large altimeter, with no snags, i would not do it otherwise...
    and the day i compromise my life for "the shot" goes into the category of the day i have a ADD fire... New job needed!

  16. Quote

    Thanks for the video.

    I jump Sigmas. One day I had line twists similar to yours that I couldn't untwist. I would start to untwist, get 90 degrees and turn back towards the rear again. Shit, gonna have to chop. :S

    Then I realized that the passenger's legs were sticking out like a weather vane. We'd get sideways and the wind from our canopy's forward speed would push us around backwards. I told him to tuck his legs back between mine. From there we were able to untwist normally. B|

    I hope this experience of mine may be useful to others in future line twist situations.



    2nd'ed

    Also try bunching risers together, rather than pulling apart... I've also chopped something similar to that, so goes to show it does not always work

  17. I just looked back at the video, couple of observations

    The harness is set very low, way below the hips, which makes the belly band more of a Vagina band.

    The leg straps which should be touching the Groin / covering hips bones (more so on fat and old people) are around the thighs

    The CHEST strap, is around her navel area, should have been adjusted upwards.

    The back band due to the lower setting of her leg strapswould have then been hanging around the bottom of her buttocks rather than above her butt, and unless it was realy really tight, you only have to get one saggy buttock over that band and your OAP, will start to slide out.

    I looked at the approach to the plane, and the harness looked slighty better, but was still far to low, also there's a strap hanging loose, but i presume that is from her hip connectors rather than a loose back band.

    YOu'll also notice the TM is distracted taking her walking stick away to give to Ground staff rather than checking the harness, possibly!!

    But regardless of whether the instructor checked the harness again or not, I doubt he would have adjusted it, as this is how he has been taught, and how he has made 1000's of other jumps, Presumably.

    The over the top exit, is pretty dumb, even with a well adjusted harness, but the loosness of the whole thing is evident when he is able to stand up whilst she is sat down, when in the door, but once again if you get away with it over 1000's of jumps, than why why you change what your doing??

    Any Instructor who has jumped in the same plane as this guy, or cso, or the person who issue his rating, are as much at fault as he is.

    if you don't speak out, than people won't change. skydivers don't like criticism, constructive or not,

    but dumb stuff like this will happen.. if YOU let it

  18. This is all me...

    I seem to be in a really steep dive every time i fly it.. like really steep.. i have limited wing suit experience.. so half of it is my own issue..
    But i have never had a problem flying a wing before, have always felt relaxed, good heading and flight times / distance...

    Is there a technique which i should be adopting which varies greatly from other suits??

    it took me around 6000 ft to get the suit stable and flying in a controlled manner.. on both flights so far.. any help would be appreciated..

    previous suits flown.. acess- s bird - gti and shadow...

  19. Quote

    Quote

    ...but then there are some particularly bad outs, so it's a good thing to make sure you're aware of them. The landing area is right next to a freeway. It's a non-issue if you set your pattern right, but it can be freaky if you've never jumped that close to a major road.



    In addition to the freeway, there are grape vineyards and their associate wires. I'm told they are pretty bad to land in.

    I've jumped once at Davis when I was in town. It was great and it's in the same part of the state.



    If you land in a vin yard, maybe land inbetween hte vines, or use one of the many access roads in-between the vines... or you could just check your spot, and the winds and pull higher if you have any doubts...

    the landing area is massive... not all grass but plenty of outs all over the place.. as nwflyer said, be proactive, its pretty old school there. and if you have any doubts about your ability to look after yourself, go elsewhere

  21. Very Cool DZ.... take a tent, and you can camp on the dz by the hanger. there's bathroom and toilets on the dz.
    Most people camp or there may be bunk house rooms availible...
    You could do 50 jumps in 5 days quite happily if your quick at packing and the weathers good, expect 5 - 10 loads during the weekdays, and 30 + loads each day during the weekend..
    It was $650 cash for tickets last time i was there.
    If your going give TJ landgren a shout, he's a dam good coach, as is mike, but i don't know if he coach's or not!! www.norcalalliance.com
    have fun, look after yourself there, its a pretty experianced dz so keep your head up and watch what your doing if you dont want your ears boxed...

  22. Quote

    you think flying backwards would of helped my accuracy!?

    i think i would have been a lil' better off without the 39° fever and having had a little more than 2hrs of actual restful sleep - the lesson i learned: NEVER jump again when i'm not feeling 100%.

    :|



    ha ha ha ha
    Not enough sleep, strong winds, feeling groggy...

    I've sure learnt my lesson...

    ha ha ha ha...

    Man the fuck up... and learn how to fly your canopy everyday..

    I'm betting you can't even land the thing downwind, or on rears... post a video of you doing both of those and i will stfu.

  23. That is brilliant.....

    Very rarely do so many warnings, advice, over pages and pages of transcripts completely get ignored to the extent of the skygod in training, actually really fucking themselves...

    Maybe we could cut this thread down a bit and make it a sticky...

    Well done sangi, you've done yourself proud....

    I'm Glad it was only you, and not an unsuspecting victim as-well.

  24. Welcome to the world of skydiving.....
    You are not alone in being afraid, still to this day, I ride up in the plane thinking why am i doing this as a job, 1000's of jumps per year, and then your out of door, and the smile works it's way onto your face...

    I started jumping due to my fear of planes, 4 and a bit years later, i jump for a job.

    I love it, i enjoy the madness, and the fact that it scares me every once in a while...

    Every skydiver is in the sport for a different reasons, from postmen to scientists, to Adrenalin junkies, people with mental illnesses, to the most boring people on the planet, its a great melting pot of life, all in one world wide jar...

    Welcome aboard.... enjoy the ride..