ChrisRomp

I started wearing mine when I started doing 4-way RW (jump 60-something). Sometimes I can't even see my altimeter because it's on my hand that's got a grip where I'm not looking (I still check it between points when possible). Granted, it's pretty obvious when three people turn and burn that I should probably do the same. :)

OT: It cracks me up that the Google ads on this thread have switched (for me) to "life coaching" ads.

Gotta start somewhere.

Ah, quite right. :)

OT: If anyone's interested in NorCal there's another one of these "camps" coming up but the deadline is fast approaching. If they had me doing 6-10 points at 70 jumps, imagine if you had a bit more experience? It's really good stuff. Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=363622960829&index=1

Cool idea, but the GPS bit is better for snowboarding, hiking, etc., I think. As for skydiving I know where the DZ is so it's easy to geotag. Not a reason to upgrade my existing Contour but if I had to replace it I'd consider the upgrade. :P

Holding my nose and diving in. Yummy bait. That depends on the person, and the culture at the DZ. I've been to dropzones with no RW jumpers, and I know a kid who started to sit-fly on jump #26. He's got ~150 jumps now and has probably only been on his belly for less than 30. Should he be a coach? Probably not. This January I did my first AFF jump. I just got my coach rating last month. Between then and now I've been doing 95% RW jumps, and a lot of 4-way. I'm the guy Lisa mentioned as doing 10-points in a 4-way scramble on jump #70. It was not very long ago that I was a student. I remember making the exact same mistakes they do, and what worked to fix it is very fresh in my mind. I got a lot of advice from 10k+ jumpers that was very difficult to translate into something I could use as a 10-jump student. More jumps does not make someone a better teacher. I love to teach (was going to be a teacher at one point) and I see too many students having to do solo after boring solo. I'm happy to jump with them, and that's why I got my coach rating. Also, the coach rating course focused a lot on adult teaching methods (which I was very pleasantly surprised to see). I see a lot of advice (good and otherwise) being freely given by jumpers of all experience levels to jumpers of all experience levels, but this is not the same thing as teaching. So, do I have a lot to offer a new AFF-graduate in terms of teaching good and safe skydiving, even though I'm still sub-200 jumps? Absolutely. Will a non-current 5000+ jumper find much value in "coaching" from me? Not likely.

http://www.basejumper.com

That's not cranky. I totally agree! Why keep test driving the car if you're going to buy the damn thing? ;)

haha... kinda related, but a thought I've had a few times so I'll post it here on DZ: If I die outside of skydiving, I want my skydiving friends to have my gear. Throw my jumpsuit in with the demo/loaner suits. If I die skydiving, burn that shit. All of it.

+1. We're all going to the same destination, and while I'm certainly in no hurry to get there, I want to enjoy the ride along the way.

For my first few AFF jumps I would get serious nerves on the ride to altitude. I never thought about not jumping, but I'd look around at the other skydivers and think, "these people are crazy." :) Going over my dive flow in my head calmed me down. Or striking up a conversation with another jumper about another topic (job, kids, etc.) also works. Eight months later and I can practically take a nap on the ride up. :)

Do you already have the GoPro? I've seen the ExtremeVu mount for the ContourHD on a full-face Z1. The only thing I don't like is no option for a proper cutaway system on the Z1. http://www.xtremevu.com/

Everything on this forum is 100% true and accurate. Sorry, I couldn't resist. I hope you decide to do AFF (or similar method) and learn to jump solo. It's a great sport and has changed my life. Listen to your instructors. :)

I dunno. Video from an outside flyer is (IMO) better than a handicam. And I don't see the whuffos buying wrist mounts for cameraphones or picking up a GoPro just for their one tandem jump ($99 for better vid and stills is still cheaper than a GoPro... for now).