BillPaine

Climate change is increasing cases of malaria in Kenya, various viral diseases in Australia's outback, and tropical dengue fever in the U.S. "Widespread appearance of dengue in the continental United States is a real possibility," write Anthony Fauci and David Morens in a commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Climate change and poor efforts to control mosquito populations are contributors to the potential problem; in addition, write the authors, "The combined effects of global urbanization and increasing air travel are expected to make dengue a growing international health problem for the foreseeable future." "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

But I wonder if the significant cost is the only reason for this equipment not being used extensively. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

G'day Dave. That's what I'm taking about! Do you know if any of the Picton guys are using this system at the moment? "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

I'd like to find out if anyone is developing freefall communication systems mounted in full-face helmets. For example, in a perfect world a four-way team should be able to talk to each other in free-fall. Similarly, the ability for jump masters to be able to talk directly to their AFF students in free-fall for their first few stages would certainly be an improvement on the usual hand signals. As regards the obvious problem of wind noise, devices are already available in aviation that cancel out background noise. Can anyone bring me up to date on this. Thanks. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

"Some things" getting better does mean things are "generally" getting better. Make yourself a list of "bad things" verses "good things" that our species does and be realistic. And all the while we're spreading across this planet like a disease. Things are NOT getting better. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

"As far as I can tell, things are generally improving all the time." Open your eyes. Countless wars, rampant disease and starvation, economic inequality, political corruption, trashing of the Environment to name but a few. We are disappearing up our own arse my friend. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

May I also recommend "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris. Another excellent read for those of us who favour rationality over contrived myth. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

Regardless of evidence (or lack thereof) for either Evolution or creationism, we are supposed to be making intelligent choices here. I choose to support the theory that is the most rational and reasonable. As such, I can not possibly support mythical inventions contrived out of ignorance of the workings of the natural world as a way to explain our presence in this world. As Richard Dawkins said: "I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

Recommended reading for all participants of this thread: "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris. And here are a few quotes for your perusal: "Men are not the dreams of gods. Rather, gods are the dreams of men." (Carl Sagan) "Gods are fragile things. They may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense." (Chapman Cohen) "I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." (Richard Dawkins) "Blind faith requires no vision." (Flacco) "Where knowledge ends, religion begins." (Benjamin Disraeli) "A man's ethical behaviour should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." (Albert Einstein) "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

Recommended reading for all participants of this thread: "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris. And here are a few quotes for your perusal: "Men are not the dreams of gods. Rather, gods are the dreams of men." (Carl Sagan) "Gods are fragile things. They may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense." (Chapman Cohen) "I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." (Richard Dawkins) "Blind faith requires no vision." (Flacco) "Where knowledge ends, religion begins." (Benjamin Disraeli) "A man's ethical behaviour should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." (Albert Einstein) "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

I've just checked it out on the ParaGear website. I suppose my only concern would be how easy it would be to remove these friction locks in a hurry in the event of a water landing (for example). My DZ is close to a number of large lakes (not that I expect to land in them but shit happens). I think I'll get a couple regardless and see how they go. Thanks for the info. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

Yep. Sure do. But I must confess that I'm not entirely comfortable with the concept of having to use a bungee in the first place. It strikes me as cheap and nasty solution to a basic design flaw in the harness. I know this system has been in place for some time but I'd like to know if there are any harnesses out there that don't require bits of elastic to keep the leg straps correctly located in free-flight. Similarly, I've been surprised to learn that leg strap slippage is not as uncommon as I first thought. Surely it's not unreasonable to expect the buckles to firmly grip the leg straps and hold them in place regardless of what position I'm flying in. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

Call me old fashioned, but in a sport where the only thing standing between me and the grave is that rig on my back, I treat my equipment like a deity. I don't tolerate ANYTHING that may compromise its integrity. If there is ANY possibility that moisture can interfere with the process of getting a fully-inflated canopy over your head then don't jump it. Dry it out, re-pack it and live to jump another day. Is winning a swooping competition THAT important? "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

Sorry guys. I've obviously got it wrong. I've just spoken with the manufacturer and the buckles are indeed forged...not cast. My mistake. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

It was actually the manufacturer who replaced the buckles for me at the weekend. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

As you may recall in our last exciting episode…my right leg strap was slipping on my brand new Talon FS rig (up to six inches when I was on my back in the sit-fly recovery position). I had the buckles on the leg straps replaced last weekend and did the same jump. This time the right leg strap only slipped about an inch. On examination, the knurled area on the right buckle was not as "rough" as it should be. As such, it wasn't gripping the strap as well as it could. Apparently, this part is cast (as distinct from being machined manually) so I suppose it's reasonable to expect anomalies. So if you're leg straps are slipping you may also want to consider getting the buckles replaced. It seems to have provided the solution in this case at least. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

I had the rig custom made to my exact measurements but I'm visitong the manufacturers this weekend to see if any errors were made (or maybe the measurements I sent them were not correct). More news about this after the weekend. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

I don't know what the technical name for the buckles is but the manufacturer tells me that they are the standard buckles for that rig. But they are not stainless steel. I'm driving up to Sydney this weekend to see the manufacturers. They're going to change the buckles and check out the leg straps in general. I'll jump the rig the weekend after that and then post another entry here to let you know how it went. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

Thanks for that Rob. This sounds like a good option. I'll see if Parachutes Australia will do this modification for me. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

In the usual "box" flat-fly position...belly to earth. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

Is anyone out there having problems with leg straps slipping through the buckles when there's no weight or pressure on them? It happens primarily when I'm sitting in the aircraft. With my legs bent up in the seated position, the straps start to slip through the buckles. I have to tighten them up each time before I get out the door. It also happens once I'm under canopy and I squirm down in the harness to get into more of a seated position. However, the reason why I'm writing this is because of a more disturbing incident over the weekend. It was my first attempt at freefly. I did a solo jump and practiced getting onto my back (in the "recovery" position) and flipping back to the normal flat-fly position. While on my back I practised stretching my legs out straight (back track) and then tucking my legs up to my chest just to see how it felt and to make sure I could keep stable and maintain a heading. When the time came to dump, I flipped back on to my belly, waved off and reached back for "the ball". To my horror, it wasn't where it was supposed to be. The leg straps had slipped a good six inches and the whole rig had shifted up my back. My first attempt to grab the ball failed. I quickly went back to the normal box position and then threw my right arm around the back with more force. I just managed to grasp the ball and managed a successful deployment. I've spoken with the manufactures of the rig (a Talon FS built in Australia) and they have indicated that this is not a common problem. I've also spoken with various instructors at my drop zone and they also don't experience anything like this. I would be interested to hear from anyone who HAS experienced this (not to mention their solution to the problem). "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

Yep, that's me. Nice to hear from you. I'm attending my second ABC camp at Nagambie next week (and looking forward to honing my rel skills). "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

Good advice. Thanks for that. PS: I didn't realise "starcrest" was a purely Australian term. What do they call the discipline in the U.S. (or elsewhere)? "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

I've been in the sport for seven months now and I've just past the 100 jump milestone. Naturally, I want to progress my skills but what should I now be focussing on? Each person I ask (including instructors) gives me a different answer. Person "A" says "go for your starcrest". Person "B" says "work your way through 2, 3 and 4 ways". Person "C" says "get into free flying". As such, I'm confused. Is there a standard training progression or should I simply go for whatever is being offered on the day? "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com

I have been taught to pack. I can pack a broken-in canopy (or F111) no problem. It's just the getting-the-bastard-in-the-bag bit. Practise will eventually make perfect. "We have met the enemy...and he is us." Pogo www.mondo-fiasco.com