Video Goggles

[billvon 2,990]

>1. A picture is worth a thousand words when I am trying to describe some
>minor malfunction during deployment or canopy flight and how I react to
>it. Ditto for major malfunction.

One of the worse scenarios I can imagine is a newer jumper having a partial mal (like, say, a minor lineover of one brakeline) and while dealing with it thinks (even for a second) "Whoa! Is that a mal? Is the camera getting this? I can use it to show everyone!"

>2. I feel I can better learn canopy control skills, accuracy, pattern flying,
>etc if I narrate what I am attempting and have that video reviewed by an
>instructor.

It is VERY hard to use video in that way. You lose too many speed/altitude/position cues. It's like trying to spot an airplane by looking out the windscreen in the front.

[champu 1]

Has anyone here jumped with snowboarding/snowmobile goggles anyway? They stick out quite a bit further than skydiving goggles and my guess is (unless you crank them down uncomfortably tightly) certain orientations will catch wind and tilt them away from your face making it hard to see (and if that wasn't bad enough your video is now pointed off who knows where.)

This would be exacerbated by the fact that the strap attachment points on snowboard goggles are positioned with the intent of the strap going over the helmet, which would be no good for skydiving. If you put the helmet on over the strap/goggles, you'll probably bow the goggles away from your face, letting wind in.

[johnboy 0]

I did my first camera jump at jump 143 (roughly) with a Hansen I found on ebay for 125 bucks. I managed to scare myself something fierce and put it back in the closet until about jump 240 or so. After that, I made a handful of jumps with a tandem instructor (him on a solo rig, no students involved) who was also an experienced camera flyer. We did at least 10 mock tandem exits until I could get the swing of the exit. Even further after that, a lot of jumps with fellow solo jumpers, and I still sometimes think I started too early with the camera. Having scared myself a number of times (not just for my own actions but trying to decipher what others are going to do, too), you're smart to stay patient! I've not made a jump in over a year now for personal reasons, but when I start jumping again in a few weeks, it is going to be without camera stuff for quite a while as I get comfortable with the air again, and it will be no where near tandems for quite a while, too.

Remember this is not a race to see who can start flying the camera the soonest, or who can rack up the most camera jumps! It is VERY rewarding when you get to do it, but the complications that come with the camera are extensive. As a few others have mentioned, it is not just the bulk of the equipment. I had a high speed mal a few years ago in which I really wish I hadn't been wearing my camera stuff, and I assure you, I got nothing worth looking at to try and figure out what happened to cause the mal. It took a few weeks for my neck to feel even close to normal again after the ride I went for.

Thank you for listening to the staff at your dropzone, and I look forward to seeing your video later on down the road!