kawisixer01

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Everything posted by kawisixer01

  1. so you guys are using dual session I assume?
  2. I believe you forgot: 3. get rid of stiletto that recovers waaaaaay too fast and forces you to ride fronts too low. lol
  3. What about a dual mount for the Sony action cams? As far as work flow, is that a better configuration?
  4. Thank you very much for the input. I haven't really looked at the fw tesla but judging by how they describe it's characteristics it is exactly what I'm looking for. I'd probably get a katana but from the folks I've talked to it seems like it's a roll of the dice whether you get one that opens decent or not. Also would like to have a convo with Icarus, especially since I saw they are now doing an instructor discount.
  5. Hey folks, I am having a hell of a time narrowing down canopies due to lack of knowledge of various canopies and jumping at a small DZ, and I think have only managed to make it harder. I've been jumping stiletto 150 for a few years and several hundred jumps. I'm looking to go down to a 135 and something s lot more swoopy with slower recovery arc, as I feel I'm riding my fronts way too low. I'm doing 90-180 front turns, and don't plan on going crazy on swooping but certainly love to have quick swooped out landings. I've been jumping a Katana 135 a whole bunch. I like how the canopy flies and lands, but HATE the openings. It seems like a roll of the dice whether you get a hard diving turn on opening that wants to spin up. The brand new one I demo'd was better than the one I've been borrowing, but still seems pretty sporty come opening time. I also jumped a Aerodyne Zulu 150, didn't get a chance to get on the 132. It's openings seemed OK, but the canopy seemed to have a bit faster recovery arc and a little weaker flare than the Katana. What other canopies should be in my wheelhouse? Crossfire 2? Safire? Sabre 2? The descriptions on the mfr websites seem about worthless in narrowing down what I'm looking for. I'm 170 lbs+gear. I should mention that most of the time I'm flying a tandem rig. lol
  6. I have this re-occuring fear that as I'm sliding a chest strap up my fingers are going to slip off and I'm going to backhand a student. lol. One thing I've noticed on the newer harness is that the lowers release levers seems thinner and can deform much easier, making it so that the detents on the ears don't line up when you re-latch it.
  7. I spent quite a bit of time in various parts of Canada for several years when I worked for Frito-Lay doing packaging automation projects. Mostly Outside of Toronto in Cambridge/Kitchener, Kentville Nova Scotia, Lethbridge Alberta, and Levis Quebec. I always has a blast. The Canadian guys were a great group and were always awesome hosts that were up for good times, great food, and lots of alcohol. I had a lot of fun traveling to Canada and was almost always treated well when out and about and by the plant personal as well. The few negative experiences I had were in Levis/Quebec city. There were some folks that gave me crap about being from America, and I even got the joy of the folks that refused to speak English. The positive experiences by far outweigh the negatives though. lol.
  8. To really get rid of wind noise I'd assume you'd have to look into throat mics. They are designed specifically for extremely noisy environments. They are also designed to pic up whispers, so are used in spec ops.
  9. I was thinking just the lunch box type cooler you'd see at a job site or toss a six pack into. Although I could see a bigger cooler enabling you to cook larger batches of food due to increased efficiency of the cooker due to less thermal loss through the cooking vessel.
  10. Wouldn't a cooler make a good vessel to cook in? I assume that temperatures used in Sous Vide don't approach those that would break down or damage a liner in a common plastic cooler. The cooler would work as an insulating container to keep the food cold in an ice bath all day. Once your cooker fires up the cooler would actually help prevent heat loss to the outside. A metal cooking pot, comparatively, makes for high thermal loss on both sides.
  11. So can too long of line stow bites or too tight rubber bands on the stowes. That is one of the first things I look at.
  12. Anyone know what the design safety margin is? In lifting and rigging equipment it's pretty typical to have things actually break at 150% of rated load. I assume human life equipment goes to a higher margin?
  13. I use a standard issue US military surplus duffel bag. Holds everything, has shoulder straps, battle tested durability, and costs about $10-20 at surplus shops.
  14. My wife and I sleep in the same bed. But for many many years I worked third shift and I slept by myself. It was a HUGE adjustment when I came to day shifts. I did not like it a lot at first, and I still often toss and turn looking to spread out or find myself being woken up by her (and frustrated by it). I know couples that sleep separate and they are just fine and happy as heck. In the days of our grandparents it was fairly common to have separate beds. I don't consider it a sign of anything other than two people that have found a way to get good sleep and be happy.
  15. Once under canopy, I teach to immediately check air space for traffic and altitude, and then check three aspects of the canopy, the three S's. Is the canopy Square (more like rectangle but we go with square to have the third "s"), Stable, and Steerable, if not than you are to cut away. Was your canopy square, stable and steerable? The big chance you take here is that shit may hit the fan down the line. The canopy you THOUGHT was OK at 3000 feet actually has a couple of snapped lines or a ripped cell. It flies fine with a little manual trim, but suddenly at 600 feet that cell rips the rest of the way, or another line snaps and you are now too low to chop and go to reserve. The issue you decided to nurse down now progresses and kills you when you are too low to do anything about it. You say you had to correct the rest of the way down. What happens when you are in the pattern and have to do some collision avoidance and land crosswind? That trim you were being forced to manually introduce just became a hell of a variable in your canopies control, one that could give you a very rough landing.
  16. So what if he's paying a low rate? If he's doing it legally than what is the problem? The root of the problem isn't people and businesses taking advantage of loopholes and such to save money, that's what tax lawyers and accountants are paid to do, and businesses and business people are obviously in business to make maximum gains. The root of the problem is a tax code that is convoluted, nearly 13,500 pages long (187 times longer than it was a century ago), and full of legalese and loopholes that folks can take advantage of.
  17. This one is covered there. And it's complete rubbish.
  18. One can get a class III with a single DUI on record. I believe there is a wait period. From what I've read, if you have/get a second, forget about it.
  19. Slobodan "Bo" Babovic in Wisconsin has to be very close or well over 10k. I know he's got 13k+ jumps and a lions share being tandem.
  20. Oh and by the way, you better go turn in all of your "Miltary style" skydiving gear. Because after all, you shouldn't be able to use something that the military developed and uses in war. A civi has absolutely no use for such military equipment and experiences like falling from the sky and flying a parachute. That's only for tactical advantage or saving pilots, and should never be used in the civilian world. People could needlessly die with such deadly equipment.
  21. Holy cats just caught an interview with Zach Effron on Live with Kelly this morning. Typical "oh boy crazy" stuff. But also saw this flash across the screen. I thought we had learned our lessons about AFFI having Go-pro on the top of their heads?
  22. Go ahead and explain why you think it's "military style"? Because it's black and the same shape? Sweet I guess a Jeep wrangler should be controlled or not sold because it's "military styled". No more camo clothes because they're military styled. An AR was actually designed and released as a civilian arm for hunting, i could produce a dated advert from it's release to prove it. An AR VARIANT was adopted by the military for many of the same reasons a civi would want to carry it for various disciplines including self defense and hunting. Many of the miltary's goals for its equipment are the same as what all of us would desire in equipment. It's very light, , dependable, extremely modular and can be fit to any task or any user without the major modifications needed on traditional rifles. Despite what idiot media will tell you, it's relatively low powered in it's original chambering of .223, being good mostly for varmint hunting and self defense, although I have taken deer with one while being a walker on drives in tight swampy areas. It's the worlds most popular rifle for a reason. Not because it's some ultra deadly and scary uber efficient killing machine. Because it is very easily customized, is easy to work on, and is fairly dependable. It's a great design that the sporting world has embraced for it's versatility not to look like GI Joe.
  23. In Wisconsin we keep on jumping, just a lot less and it's harder to round up loads. It's actually not really that bad as long as all skin is covered to protect from the extreme wind chill. Think about it, you're really only exposed for 5 minutes or so tops. Hell I spend all day skiing and riding snow machines outside if I'm not jumping. Jumping over snow cover is beautiful, and the cold dense air feels different. I also take trips, hit the tunnel, etc. Lately I've done so much "work" jumping all summer that come winter I'm perfectly OK with taking a bit of a break.