Grumpy

If you have any studs in your more sensitive areas (Prince Albert etc), consider removing them for a nudie jump. In freefall, the thermally conductive stud metal quickly drops to the ambient air temperature and then, apparently, it feels like your ol' fella is being burned from the inside I haven't experienced it personally but the memories of the unfortunate bloke who discovered this, dancing around the landing area trying to get some relief still makes me smile

PD did some detailed research into this a while back but the report is no longer available on their site. Does anyone know why it was removed? Here's the bulk of it. Well worth a read. https://www.skydivemag.com/new/2018-06-06-two-canopies-out/

That sucks. You'll be ready to downsize by the time it gets delivered :)

I prefer the display on the Atlas which changes automatically from aircraft mode (lots of detail) to freefall mode (thousands and hundreds of feet only - super simple and clear) and then to canopy mode (adds tens of feet) providing an appropriate level of detail for each phase of the jump.

...and more often than not, in the pond for much longer than that

Phil Onis in Australia has over 35,000 jumps. Don't know how many tandems but that's mostly what he's done for the 20 years I've been going to his DZ so easily over 10,000

An L&B Optima or Quattro is a great addition to your gearbag. The canopy alarms are easy to hear and they allow you to keep your eyes on the traffic around you and your approach rather than continually looking at your wrist. If you start doing higher performance landings in the future, they allow for much greater consistency on your final turn so you can start to fine tune your turn technique (but get canopy coaching before you start this). I have a wrist mounted digital alti (Neptune) but after opening, I rarely look at it again. I did try using the canopy alarms on the but couldn't reliably hear them so I got myself an Optima. The Quattro wasn't available at the time but it seems to have additional log book functionality for the same price so that's probably the way I'd go if I was buying again.

I agree with BMAC615. Consider worse case scenario, I'm unconscious, on my back, and my AAD opens my reserve container. Any delay or hesitation in the reserve being extracted from the container could have really serious consequences. I've chosen a standard fit reserve in my 306 in the belief that it improves the chances of a clean quick deployment and any reserve that's inflated over my head is better than a larger one that's still in my container. Just my reasoning behind my choices.

I've got one from here. Works great and is snag resistant. http://www.devianprint.com

I've got a 306 with Xaos 21-94. I put an OP113 in because I didn't want a full fitting reserve (don't want that thing hesitating when it's coming out of the container) but it's a small reserve when you're trying to put it down in a tight spot off the DZ. If I was buying again, I'd go 319 for sure. Same thickness as the 306, just a little longer and the 306 sits high on my back already (I'm 5'10" but my torso is quite long)

On the G3 helmets there's the little orange thing under the lining, left hand side at the bottom to adjust the tension on the chinstrap. It's just a little orange piece of plastic. The draw cord is wrapped around it a few times. If you unwind it a little it should take some of the tension off the chin strap.

Go Pro have released a new cheap version of the Hero, just called the Hero (no numbers or colours). http://shop.gopro.com/APAC/cameras/hero/CHDHA-301-master.html It hasn't got all the bells and whistles I'll never use and don't want to pay for. Has anyone jumped one? What's the image quality is like?

Sorry to hear you're leaving. Thank you for investing so much time in sharing so much useful information over the years with the community. Best wishes for the future. Dave

DSE, I just picked up a 1080 mini to top mount on a G3. The curved "snap tray" is more curved than the profile of the helmet so there's clear space under the centre of the mount reducing the mating surface area. Turning it 90 degrees allows it to match the profile of the helmet better but then I have to use the taller hemi-lock so the camera can be pointed forward. Would adding a small circle (half inch diameter) of VHB tape so there's a double layer in the middle of the snap tray be a good idea do you think? Can you think of any other way I could improve the interface between the two surfaces? Thanks.