Zlew

I have nothing against the reason behind the webpage being pink (several in my family are breast cancer survivors)....but that pink theme was killing my eyes!!! Ah.... much better Z

He should be fine in AFF. He might be fast, but at 6'3'' he wont be too bad. It's the guys who are 230lbs and 5'6'' that freak me out (been there done that). Your boy is heavy, but he is tall.... shouldn't be that big of a deal. Z

Do you guys remember (not THAT long ago) what a pain it was pre Cam Eye? Camera guys always trying to find someone before exit, and ask (Can U see a red Light?....."what?" CAN U SEE THE LIGHT"....what? hehe") The highspeed guys had the photo sensitive LED's. Had to mount and wire a small batery pack somewhere, then tape the sensor over the red light on the camera.... They worked great as long as no sunlight made it in to the sensor... there really is no reason not to have one. I've saved 2 video's by seeing that I managed to bump my camera off in freefall. Z

I told you not to leave them on the floor at my place last month....

C, none of the above

Another option is to carry a small wire cutter with me, possibly mounted near my cutaway handle. Ideally, I'd thread the wire through the wire cutter, like the cutter assembly on my AAD. *** lol....just when i thought the sport was moving forward.... ROLL TIDE ROLL Z

About your reply to Quades questions (i'm sure he will follow as well). WHat he meant was, that it is very important that you are able to put the lense in the exact same place every time when you put the unit back on top. D-boxes and roll cages do a great job of that. It doesn't take a smart man to figure out that just a few degrees off in any direction can make your video un-viewable. ALso, camera helmets in current production CLAMP down on your head ("I'm putting my head in a vice" doc Bill) to make sure that there is no vibration, and that you put the helmet on the same place on your head every time. again we are dealing with scope...and u sitll don't get it. When I wrap a line around the top unit, and dupm your bag, PC, canopy out into 120mph+ wind, it will pull the unit off (unless your snag is on your bungie...hehe) and it will pull it up, and will most likely be flailing around violently. The point is that now instead of just having the snag on your helmet, now it is a violent mess in an UNVFIXED location, that you have to manage go clear....and aslo have to deal with that wire that STILL connects you to the mess. If you don't look at is as a question of If, but When you will snag... Bad things man, real bad things. I can promise you that set up is FAR from sag free,... And that you seem to admit that if you snag you are still connected to a cable, and that doesnt bother you...again man, it seems to me that you are clueless as to the seriouseness of jumping with a camera. I think a small TRV (about 1lb) on top of a mindwarp, or any other good helmet would be much more safe than a box that is about the same size as the trv, and has a cable that is attached to you. The wire man...tell me about how you plan on dealing with the wire in a matter of seconds in a violent and nasty situation. Remeber, Murphy does't let you snag at 12grand...you are going to snag down in the soup when time is your enemy. you have to at least show me a rudimentary understanding about what you are doing before you will get any respect from me. It sounds to me like you dont' necessary want to become a video guy (tandems, aff, 4-way etc), but you want to do something cool and have video footage to show your friends. Maybe you were intemidated about a real video set up, the risks, and the costs, and decided to try to make th ings better without reallly understanding what you were doing....and you, in my opinion, sitlll have major risks you need to figure out how to deal with before you reach your goal of being more (even as safe) as standard video set ups. If/When you snag, you MUST be able and willing to get rid of EVERYTHING that the snag is connected to. For most of us that meas getting rid of our helmets...the helmet is the least of your concerns because you are connected to your camera (thus your snag) in multiple places.... Before you get all huffy and respond to this message about all the "experianced people" who say you are ok, just think about what we are trying to tell you. Z

it's my goal in life to prove that any idiot can have a masters degree. sorry I was excited...... u know how it goes when you get excited(u know, you know?) So...R U with me? Z

Allright boys and girls. As most of you probably know, there will be a ton of the DZ.comers at Eloy for the christmas boogie. I think we should make it our goal to get one good picture (or 50.....) that will make the cover of skydiving or parachutist. Some folks were talking about DZ. bigways and even a sunset cross country load. With all of the camera tops we will have out there, we need to think of something to get published. WHY NOT? got anything better to do (I said anything, not anyone...there is plenty of time for that at night....and I don't think Parachutist would print that...but u never know a bout skydiving.......rambeling......sorry.....). So, whose with me? Z

once again.... i still dont' think we are on the same page. Nice vid. of you gettingi the lens off the helmet (yea, it comes off TOO easy like that if u ask me, you thought a floating pud was bad, how would u like that thing slamming arouond in your burble...could make things interesting at pull time). It doesn't take much of a snag , or a strong snag for something to be enough to get you killed. If you snaged your lense on your helmet, and you pulled it off (or it was pulled off) you are STILL attached to it by the cable, thus, the snag is still attached to you, and flying right where you are about to dump your reserve into before you kill yourself. Not only would you stilll be atached, but instead of just having to get your helmet off to fix the problem, now all the mess will be somewhere likely above and behind you.....lets trhow more gasoline on the fire! Even if the wire will pull loose or break at 5-10lbs...thats enough to get you in heaps of trouble. Old timmers who like to show off for newbies huh? Well, I"m 23, I guess that makes me old, and if you ask just about everyone in this forum, they would probaly say that they would perfer that a newbie not even jump with a camera until they are not newbies anymore. Some of us old farts have lost friends and family over stupid things like this. This isn't about Ego man. I"m not telling you that your gear isn't safe, I just want you to understand what makes things safe or not safe so you can make your own decision. Again, it's an issue of scope. I really don't think you understand the scope of what's going on, and thats not a good thing in skydiving.,...and really not a good thing when you strap crap to your head and go take peoples pictures. Oh yea, Quade had some really good points in his last post to you. things to think about. Z

ALl of the camera tops at my DZ can get their gear off in less than one second, and all But one, just need one had to do so. Of course you have to PRACTICE getting it off so you can do so quickly and while snagged up. Mtn. Climber reccomended a camera.... They don't deal with the vibration we do, rapid pressure changes, high winds, or repeated openning shock. I can't think of many people who abuse cameras like we do. You will see over time. everyone i know who used to have a JVC or cannon DV camera has since changed to sony. I really don't think you understand the importance of being able to get rid of your helmet. That WIRE that attaches from your camera to your helmet is what bothers me. If you snag, you have to be able to get rid of the whole thing now. And yes, one single wire is enough to keep you from doing so. We lose several camera tops EVERY YEAR to snagging and not clearning their snag before bounce time. i have a great picture in my head of you trying to unplug your camera whith 10 microlines covering your head. It bothers me when I see people get camera gear just because they can.... Like Quade said, this shit is real, and it isn't just like making another skyidve. You might benefit from sitting down with people who know a thing or two about this. I bet Quade will tell you to kiss his ass (and rightly so), but Show up to the Christmas boogie at Eloy, and I"d be more than happy to sit down and talk over a beer or 4. THis stuff is fun, but there is a lot u need to understand to make it safe.

Rule number one: never strap anything to your head you cant get rid of NOW. Rule number 2: Sony is the only camera I have seen stand up well to the abuse skydivers inflict on them. Rule number 3: Don't fuck with people who fuck with people for a living. You couldn't pay me to jump that set up. I just hope it doesn't kill you. Z

Go to the DZ listings and check out some of the feedback on Marana. The boogie is low cost....and ya get what you pay for. I spent one day out there last year, and then happily went back to Eloy for the next 4. Below is someone's account of the chirstmas boogie at Marana in the DZ.com dropzone listing fieedback area.

I tell the student in my briefing with them that I might give them a high five. Looks really good (and easy if u have a side mounted camera). If they know it's comming, it's no big deal. Never had any problems with them grabbing me. Z

wonder how he heard about the post... Z

Depending on if I"m jumping camera or not, and other gear lead etc..... Stiletto 107 and 97 ranging from 1.7:1 to just over 1.9:1 In the winter, camera, I can just barely make 2.0

Never said it was a replacement. However, most of the times you cutaway, a cypres will save your butt even if you don't pull without an RSL UNLESS you are very low. Cypres fires down to 350ft(right? or is it 300?), so guess what, if you for some reason chop at 6-700ft (in most cases, can be higher or lower), or below, cypres isn't going to save your butt, but an RSL would. However, the vast majority of cutaway and no pulls happen with enough alt. to get your speeed up for cypres. There are times when an RSL would save you and cypres would let you bounce (and there are times u are too low to chop and survive at all). But I wouldn't feel nearly as naked jumping a rig without an RSL that has a cypres, than have a low timer on borrowed gear with out an RSL or cypres.... tha'ts all I meant. Like I said, I reccomend RSL's for most jumpers, esp. low timers. It has saved a lot more people than it has killed. Z

Please do. This shit can kill you. I've seen some really freaky home made rigs out there that can make some nasty things happen. Z

I"ve been to a few DZ's that either kick the tandems out lower (9-10, then go all the way up) or are 182 dz's that use the slow motion then full speed trick to make the video longer. Some Slow-motion is ok for me, but this is SKYDIVING, we are going FAST...SPEED, thrill, that's what its all about. Not slow motion. WHen I see those videos I find myself wanting to fast forward to the real time video so I can see the skydive, not the 2 min slow motion. Maybe it's just me, but to me too much slow motion takes away from what the student did, and that was go jump out of a plane flying at 80mph and fall at 120mph and have a blast in the process.

It's one of those things that just depends.... For the most part, most folks at your level will do better with one than without...but I woudn't necessarly not jump becuase the rig I had didn't have one (Esp. if you have a cypres). More people have died cuz they didn't have one than because they did, and with lower performcance gear and nothing to make things crazy (sky surfing, CREW, Video etc.) it usually doesn't hurt to have one. As A JM, I usually reccomend people keep them until they can really tell me why they don't want one. I took mine off when I started jumping loaded eliptical canopies and video. Hope you have a Cypres at least. Z

I'm proud to say that if you do a google image search on Zach and Skydive..... My ugly mug will in fact show up. that made me feel so special. whoohoo Z

I think the DZ.com cross country could be very cool (and less crazy than a .com zooload). Picture this: Sunset in Eloy, crosswind jump run 10miles or so out in the DC3........... oh yea. me like.

still think we need a bigger pic of you and the other DZ.com ladies. There are so few girls in this sport.....HELP US OUT!! .

WHOOO HOOOO I've made it Momma... I'm a MADE MAN! hehe .

echo