sfgroschwitz

Hey there, Just moved to Boston and had my car rear-ended by a semi on the way out here - anyone wanting to give me a ride to jumptown soon and/or on a frequent basis? Maybe for the caribou this weekend? Stephan --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Not silly, but rude. Seems after eight years and 4000 posts you still haven't learned to be helpful instead of just broadcasting your ego. Geez! --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

FWIW I've recently been using an N3Audio and a set of Shure in-ear monitors to protect my hearing. I don't listen to mp3's or anything like that though. With the Shures in my ear the background noise is limited significantly, but I have no problem understanding the conversations people have on the plane. Quite to the contrary, because the sound insulation cuts out more background noise than voices, it's actually easier to understand jumpers. More importantly, I don't have to listen to the god-awfully loud beep of normal dytters. Anyone who ever listened to that noise on the ground knows how crazy loud it is. It doesn't seem that bad in the air, but the noise level (and damage to your hearing) is the same regardless. The N3A allows you to use an audible with much less damage to your hearing. --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Dude, sorry if this came across as rude - first paragraph was addressed to you, second just a ramble, third to the OP. And I missed that you made the distinction between an RSL and the skyhook earlier, I only responded to the last post... Soo...peace it is. --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Hm. Didn't we conclude that in your case the skyhook didn't cause the line twist? If anything, your case would be an argument against not arching when cutting away using an RSL, or an RSL in general, but not at all specifically against a skyhook. Actually, it seems the skyhook did exactly what it was supposed to do, which is disable itself if there is more pull on the pilot chute. Anyway... I just got a rig with a skyhook, after studying how it works (including the tandem incident) and concluding that in my case it offers far more advantage than possible disadvantage. I discussed it with riggers and jumpers I trust. And I have seen a few jumpers who had very strong opinions against any and all RSLs (the very manly "I want to get stable before I pull the reserve and don't need some cord to do it for me" crowd) see a skyhook in action change their minds and get one for themselves. So yes, absolutely know your gear and study how it works, because just as that will help you use your gear right and deal with the 'what if's, it will also help you cut through people's opinions. And we all know it's skydiving, where everyone has one, even though mine is the only one that's ultimately right and perfectly reasoned ;) --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Disregarding for the moment whether or not the skyhook actually deployed the reserve (I couldn't tell from the video), are you saying that a) the skyhook has a higher risk of creating line twist in the reserve when chopped spinning than a normal RSL? b) the several hundred feet in altitude you might save with a skyhook as opposed to a normal RSL (or even no RSL) are always (or just in most situations) less advantageous to survival than avoiding the chance of line twist that's associated with it? Edited for clarity --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

The battery tray is now on the back. That might help with stability. --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

I guess I could try that out ... --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

I just got what appears to be a new version of the Solo as a warranty replacement directly from L&B (did I mention their service is terrific?). It came in the same packaging as the Solo, but the unit itself shows a few differences. The logo on the front face says Solo II, the buttons are red, and there's a red line around the side of the unit where the seam is between the front and the back panels. On one spot that red seam is bigger in the form of a square and encompasses a white circle. Hard to explain, I'll take a picture later. Has anyone heard what the deal is? Any other product updates in the pipeline at L&B? --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

I have one for sale. PM me if you're interested. --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Hm. Chemicals on a rig? Is that really a good idea? Don't get me wrong, I'd welcome any help to keep my rig clean, but the thought of chemicals on it is just a uncomfortable. Are there any hard facts that show it's safe? --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Would you guys care to post some pictures? It's really hard to imagine what you're talking about. --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Now I'm worrying about your helmet. Did you see it lately? --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Alright... First off: thank you all for your comments so far. It helps tremendously to build on your combined intelligence! Went and saw my buddy in the hood in his welding shop today. Turns out he did a static line jump years ago and he knew quite well what I meant when I talked about riser strike and such. Tickled his imagination and dorky inventiveness. We'll be working on making a nifty aluminum l-bracket next week. If everything works out as we hope, it might actually slide right into the base of the mount, and accept the base plate of the camera. We'll also see whether we can construct a base plate for horizontal mounting that includes a carbon fiber 'filler' for that gap on the right side (similar to Bill's suggestion). I'll keep you posted. Seeing the camera or the helmet in the video by the way is no issue. I got my .5 lens today and there's no problem whatsoever. Even the royal .3 lens I have only captures a tiny bit of the still camera, which is negligible given that I can't even imagine a situation in which I would use the xti with that lens and a .3 lens on the camcorder. --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

The RRS mounts look beautiful, but are so expensive... I'm neither independently rich, nor do I see myself becoming so through stellar aerial photography - especially not since I have such stiff competition at my DZ. If I mounted the still camera vertically, would I want to do that with the flash toward the inside or the outside? Inside appears to have the advantage of leaving the battery cover exposed and eliminate the flash as a snag hazard. Regarding plug size, I believe only the one from the xti would be a problem. In the current setup the plug on the cx100 is exactly behind the screen of the xti, and would have as much space as it wants. But yes, it seems I should wait with drilling holes until that Hypeye and the bite switch have materialized. --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Not sure I understand what you mean. Do you have a picture? I'm also running my brain hot coming up with a McGyver solution to add a homemade l-bracket that would allow me to mount the xti vertically. Thoughts? --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Oh collective wisdom of this forum! Please be so nice and have a look at this setup. I want to mount a cx100 and an xti on top of an optik illusion. The xti will be sitting on the ground for a while until I'm more comfortable with the video, but I want to make sure the whole setup will work before drilling holes (so far the mounts are only taped to the helmet). Specifically I'm concerned about the SLR looking like a snag hazard, and with how close I should mount both cameras. I kept the xti's port cover open to simulate a bite switch plug - which I don't have yet. Any other insight or comments of course also highly appreciated. Sorry for the image quality, had to use my cell phone.

thanks, that's helpful. --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

I't been a while - could those of you who have used it share their experiences? How does it perform in skydiving practice? Would you recommend the G10 as a smaller alternative to a DSLR? Why? Why not? --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

I've been using mine since July and I wouldn't want to be without it. It's more like a small computer that does what most people do with their computers - internet, mail, calendar, media. The phone function is like an extra, but boy do I enjoy always-on internet via EDGE (which makes the iPhone IMHO superior to the iTouch. Visual voicemail is one of those things that every phone should have. AT&T works just fine in downtown Cincinnati and most places I've been in the States, and EDGE is also fast enough for me. Doing casual surfing on my iPhone is still faster than on those medium-aged PC's they provide for graduate students in our department. In terms of how well it's built I have never had or seen any electronic gadget that feels so well constructed and sturdy. The glass screen is still absolutely perfect, not the slightest scratch on that thing. I'm sure some people have had problems, but I have no reason to believe that this is a widespread issue. I know you're in Australia, and it'll be hard to get your hands on one, but make sure you find one and play around with it. It feels seriously unreal. Mine has a few mini-scratches on the aluminum because I haven't been using a case, but otherwise it doesn't feel 'used'. If you did have a problem with it, Apple's customer service is phenomenal in my experience (albeit it got a little worse ever since the iPod is so successful - it's in the volume, I'm afraid). Most people won't need cell phone insurance. If you want to protect yourself against mechanical failure and make sure you get swift repairs, buy AppleCare. If you have homeowner's or renter's insurance, contact them and see if you can add line items. Most will do that, and you can insure one hundred dollars of value for about one or two dollars a year. Basically, if you pay 500 bucks for your phone, you can insure it that way for 20 bucks for the 24 month period you signed with AT&T. There are a few quirks I wish were fixed (no copy and paste, no Flash support, etc.) but nothing that would be crucial, and all of it easily offset by everything this thing finally does right. --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Hi all, I'm working on reviving the skydiving club at the University of Cincinnati. If you are a student, faculty, or staff at UC, or if you know someone who is, please let me know here or via a PM! Blue one's, Stephan --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

N/A

Dave, congratulations on your discovery. I do hope the third party observer will take what everyone says here with a grain of salt. In fact, the salting was the purpose of my first posting here. If you really believe that politics has played no role in all of this, I would invite you to explain to me what definition of politics you are using and then try to convince me. I'll buy the beer. Stephan --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Wow, reads like you are yelling at me. Sorry if my lack of 'ideal of ethics or laws on how things work' caused me to offend you. I made clear that I don't know the soap opera. I just pointed out that based on earlier posts it seems utterly ridiculous to argue that there has been no politics involved. Your harsh response actually strengthens my suspicion. At the end of your post I still don't know 'what is going on' (which is basically the definition of innuendo). But then again, I might not be smart/experienced/whatever enough to understand anyway. EDIT: After reading this again, I think I understand: I should have just kept my mouth shut. Ironically, that also is the Litmus test for whether or not an issue is political... --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell

Sounds like you're wondering / implying that Kip's resignation might be because he manages a new DZ and is under some political pressure. That's bullshit. AFAIK, Kip is resigning because he took a 12 year old on a tandem without a waiver and then tried to file a waiver after the fact to cover his ass and he got busted doing it. Discussion here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2995711;search_string=worst;#2995711 Well, Kelly, it's really hard not to get the impression that there is politics involved. It's actually worth reading the thread you linked. It starts with a pathetically concealed attempt at getting the word out about Kip violating USPA procedures, and the author - who incidentally is someone from an older, already established Ohio dropzone (also incidentally yours...) - admits soon thereafter that getting the word out was his purpose. If I understand the situation correctly, he took a terminally ill person on a tandem skydive after getting approval from the equipment manufacturer, but without getting a waiver from USPA. He was thus covering the safety aspect but obviously NOT his ass. Which is why he got suspended. That punishment doesn't seem to be enough for some people, as the story is still being kept alive (not openly though, but with innuendos, see the thread you linked). Looks to me like some people have been working hard to build and maintain pressure on Kip. I'm new to the sport and it's soap operas, but I do recognize politics when I see it. So maybe you SHOULD call Kip if you are interested in understanding why he resigned - otherwise one might get the impression that you are actively taking part in the very politics you are saying doesn't exist... --- The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. ~ Bertrand Russell