Shivinski

Hey, before I spend time to compile a list myself I thought I would ask if anybody here has or knows of any available list which contains the basic data of all the skydiving canopies by all manufacturers, and the same for containers? Something along the lines of: Brand, Model PD, Sabre 1 PD, Sabre 2 PD, Valkyrie ... NZ Aerosports, Leia NZ Aerosports, Crossfire 3 ... Parachute Systems, Volt ... etc. etc.

Jumps | Canopy | Wing Loading 0-21 | Student 260-240 | 0.85 22-45 | Safire2 189-149 | 1.05 46-90 | Spectre 170 | 1.05 91-134 | ZP.Exe 150 | 1.15 135-240 | Sabre2 135 | 1.35 241-300 | Stiletto 120 | 1.5 301-590 | Crossfire2 104 | 1.65 591-850 | Katana 97 | 1.85 850+ | Comp Velocity 84 | 2.15 The biggest and scariest jump by far was between the Crossfire and Katana, 7sq/ft but a completely different beast the Katana is much more like my Comp Velo now than anything else. Started induced speed landings at around 150 jumps (straight in's then onto 90's). First 270 was on the Crossfire at around 340 jumps. Since then most landings where the airspace is clear have been 270s.

Having just got a VC84 with the PD removable slider, I'm also finding the openings at terminal anything from brisk but fine, to a bit too positive to be comfortable. Here's some of last weekend's openings: https://youtu.be/nO8VITcAFos I'm tempted to get my rigger to make me a hybrid removable & collapsible slider in the (larger) regular slider size. Is anyone using similar? And how are the regular slider openings vs the removable openings on a comp?

I've got a Katana 97 at about a 1.85 WL... Love it! It's definitely the first canopy where I've been able to really dial in my 270 in a proper way (then again, I was on a Crossfire 104 before which had a horrible positive recovery arc when diving her too hard!). I've done about 300 jumps on it so far and she still has plenty to give. One thing as has been mentioned before is that the KA is trimmed very damn steep! Also, one thing I've really noticed and about the only downside is the power in the rears (or lack of) compared to a velo. The velo's i've jumped have had loadsss of rear power however the KA almost seems a bit spongy and certainly lacking, especially towards the lower end of the rears response. All in all, it's a fantastic stepping stone, however in the next 12 months I'm looking to switch it up to a comp velo 84 now.

So I've just measured how long the shutter lag is exactly (manual focus, high shutter speed): Shutter lag using normal shutter button on camera = 0.13s Shutter lag using homemade IR wired shutter release = 0.23s Also interesting on the note of FPS, I've changed the drive mode to continuous and found that once you press and release the IR shutter button it starts shooting max fps (4.2fps at jpeg setting) and does not stop until you press it a second time! This essentially turns it into a GoPro style "Continuous N-photos every second" approach which could be useful. Unfortunately the way the software for the M3 is compiled there is no Magic/Tragic Lantern version available for it, and most likely never will be, hence my homemade hack. (Luckily a lot of the video features of MagicLantern are already built into the M3 anyway: focus peeking, audio monitoring)

Shutter lag when on manual focus seems to be okay. Not as quick as pressing the physical shutter obviously, but maybe like 0.3 of a second. Not tested it in sunlight yet. We've got a distinct lack of that here in the UK winter right now. Hoping to test it in the sky this weekend though.

Being a Canon guy for the last 10 years I've recently decided to invest in a mirrorless camera for my skydiving that I can also use with my collection of Canon lenses with an adapter. I got a good deal on the Canon M3 and so went for that. Only problem is, as anybody who's got one for skydiving knows, it doesn't have a port for a wired shutter release. The only way to trigger the shutter off-camera seems to be with the RC-6 infrared remote. I've bashed together a little rig for making a full tongue switch wired cable shutter release for the Canon M3 on the cheap and thought I'd share it with you. What you'll need: 1 Canon RC-6 Shutter Remote - get a 3rd party one from eBay for £2.99 ($3.70) 1 Canon M3 Silicone Rubber Sleeve - again another eBay job £4.80 ($6) 1 Male - Female 3.5mm jack cable £1.50 ($1.90) 1 small switch that you can press with your tongue £0.50 ($0.60) 1 Can of Silicone Sealant (IMPORTANT: Has be be neutral cure sealant, otherwise it'll corrode the electronics of the remote) £4.60 ($5.70) Some heat shrink to seal cables £1.50 ($1.90) Also a soldering iron and solder. And that's it. Now essentially the aim is to get the remote wired up to the tongue switch, which in turn has a 3.5mm connector jack to connect the remote to, and the remote will be glued to the side of the silicone case. We'll extend the IR diode around to be right in front of the camera's IR sensor so triggering it will always trigger the sensor. Step 1: Take the RC-6 remote apart. Unsolder the IR diode at the front, and extend it about an inch with two wires. Also notice the tracks on the back where the remote switch makes contact to cause the trigger to fire, they conveniently go to the other side of the board via two holes. Use these two holes to solder in two cables that will go to your female 3.5mm connector which will be glued onto the back. The two cables will exit out of the back of the remote via a small hole you'll drill. [inline remote_front_solder.jpg] [inline remote_rear_solder.jpg] [inline remote_finished.jpg] Step 2: Measure out the length of your cables for your helmet. On one end solder the tongue switch. On the other solder the male part of the 3.5mm jack. Cover both sides with several layers of heat shrink and shrink it down to make a nice solid and tight seal. [inline cables_naked.jpg] [inline cables_finished.jpg] Step 3: Now because the M3 sleeve case is silicone, pretty much the only thing that will glue to it is more silicone, hence we'll be using the silicone sealant (plus it's nice and rubbery so will take movement well). First make a small hole just right of the IR sensor hole in the sleeve, through this push your extended IR diode so it lines up nicely in front of the sensor when it's on the camera. Then using a good strong dose of the silicone sealant go mad with glueing your remote to the case (as it's naturally cured sealant, feel free to completely douse your remote electronics in it, it won't react with them and will actually protect them in a rubbery silicone seal) Easy! That's basically it. Obviously test every step of the way that it works with triggering the camera, but at the end of it you should have a nice wired switch for your Canon M3 [inline on_helmet_rear.jpg] [inline on_helmet_side.jpg] [inline on_helmet_side_whole.jpg]

That's a super interesting technique! I've never seen that before, but it looks quite elegant. Have you used this technique of over/under yourself?

Thought I'd share as I'm pretty sure this is the first video of a head down formation filmed in 360 virtual reality (if you're on a mobile, move your device to move around the scene. If you're on a computer, click and drag your mouse across the video). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxwIk8G1PcI

Hey, just wondering if anyone else has had problems with rolling the joins of the tail too tightly around the neck and base which then cause twists. Essentially I've done about 130 jumps on my Katana 97, and on the whole the openings are awesome (way better than my old Crossfire 104). However this weekend was the second time I've gotten twists on the canopy (having gone 400 jumps without a twist on my XF). Luckily, I happened to be wearing a camera that was looking backwards and what it captured was quite interesting. The twists didn't come out the bag, as you can see from the video the canopy comes out the bag with a slight 45-90 degree off-heading, but then it stays wrapped in it's tail for quite some time before it manages to get air and start inflating the nose, during this time, as there's no inflation going on the whole bundle spins itself around causing the line twists once the canopy actually starts to inflate. Now because I was wearing a big and heavy 360 camera on this jump, one thing I do remember whilst packing to try and slow the opening was that I made sure to make everything very neat, and I also remember doing 4-5 very tight rolls on the neck and then the same 4-5 rolls further down the tail when I wrapped it around. (As opposed to me usually doing 2 tight rolls on a normal packjob). Now I don't know if that is what caused it, but from the video it does look like it could be a probable cause for the canopy staying wrapped up for too long. Has anyone got any similar experiences, and what do most people do with the tail joins once they wrap it around the canopy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wKWvHiHY5A

Nope, no special mouth switch. I was on those jumps, and Richard just manually zooms with his fingers... Of course it helps if you can fly at a level where you can fly independently of your arm movements

1-3: Skymaster 260 (0.67) 4-15: Skymaster 240 (0.73) 16-29: Skymaster 230 (0.76) 30-35: Safire 209 (0.86) 36-45: Safire 189 (0.96) 45-93: Spectre 170 (1.08) 94-134: Zp.exe 155 (1.18) 135-350: Sabre2 135 (1.33) 351-399: Stiletto 120 (1.47) 400-Now: Crossfire2 104 (1.70) I've been doing induced speed landings since ~jump 150. Started with 90s, then 180s and now working on my 270s. It's been conservative at times, and less so at others, but I'm currently happy and confident in what I fly.

Thanks Andy! I'm happy with the reserve, and actually the 120 will be a temporary measure until I finally convince my friend to downsize and sell me his Xfire109. I got a Stilletto120 free with the rig as well and have been told that should fit tightly, but safely in there (although it won't look very pretty).

Hey, just a quick question. Has anyone here got any experience with fitting a 120 (specifically a Sabre2 120) into a Jav RSK.5 which has a PDR106 in it (currently also a Stilletto 97 as the main)? Would it be possible, alas a bit tight? Thanks

I've had a second hand Vortex 2 built in '99 for 2 years now. Initially had to strengthen the main flap but other than that no problems at all with it.

Heya, I've got a 2nd hand Freefly Suit from Tony Suits made out of (what I'm almost certain is) 4-ply. Now it's always been a slight bit too big on me (a few inches too tall and a little bit more baggy than I would have liked). Now I'm no fabric expert so this might well sound like a bit of a retarded question, but I was just wondering if I could shrink it by sticking it on a hot was (my washing machine goes from anything between 20 degrees to 90 degrees C)? It's all black with white stripes so there's no colour running to worry about. If not, why not?