damion75

I'm very disappointed. I thought that this thread was going to help me in my ongoing hunt for a pygmy donkey... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

I don't think there are enough posts in this thread yet. Guns are evil... no, wait I mean people are evil... er... no what? where? Hmmm. Chill people, its not Somalia. Not that there's anything wrong with Somalia. Or Texas. Er, not that I mean Texas is like Somalia. Hmmm. Thoughts? *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

That is a relief - that is the main feature which got me talked into buying a 400D rather than a 350D on Saturday. The salesperson also mentioned that the 400D has a faster focus function which may or may not be significant but surely can't hurt... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

I think that this might be a better idea! *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

To be strictly accurate, you are both slightly off. There is no difference between the freefall activation speed or altitude between the expert and student Cypres. The student cypres however has a split activation altitude so that if the student goes through 1000ft with a speed below freefall but above the activation speed of 29mph (partially opened canopy scenario) the student cypres will activate. From the Cypres Manual: *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

If you are into flying conservatively (a good idea!) then why not have a conservative canopy? It is less likely to hurt you... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Has the BPA been approached to assist on this? Surely that is one of their core functions? (I'm guessing here but allowing DZs to close is not helping to promote the sport!) Good Luck. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Thanks for the info - that is expensive but if I do head over to Greece again I will bear it in mind! *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

I can see where you are coming from with this, but given the speeds that we are playing with, significant altitude differences are a matter of a second or so. Add to that the difficulty of working out height differences while actually in the sky (500'? or 200'?) small differences like this are easily achieved by different wave off speeds, how fast you go for the hacke, open etc. If you are really curious then compare pro-tracks (if available) but as long as you have the relevant horizontal separation, I wouldn't be too concerned.

I wonder how many people think they can get behind the wheel and compete at Nascar, and only realise that a couple of hundred thousand miles first might have been a good idea when they are staring at the wall approaching their (out of control) car very fast... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Sounds cool dude! What plane(s) do you have there? What are jump ticket prices like? Blues! *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

I am curious as to what point you are trying to make with this post? Are you trying to impress us with your freeflying ability at 100 jumps? Or your social skills? *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

I agree with your point about the student radio mount on the side of the student's noggin. Not quite as big or as snagworthy as your average camera but still an anomoly... More use than the radio on a neckstrap that I learned with which was completely inaudible, but not as good as the radio with an earpiece... To go back to the camera thing, for a reasonably well mounted camera, I think the biggest risk is distraction rather than snagging. No matter how well intentioned the flier is to just capture what is going on around them and not intentionally capture the shot, you do end up getting distracted both while preparing and later risk distraction in the sky to film that pretty canopy coming towards you! The simplest way to prove that is to give it a try. You have above the required minimum so borrow a camera helmet and give it a go... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Apparently you missed this discussion: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2567193;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread as well as discussions elsewhere on dz.com. I surely did. What a shame - I got a lens from Max in 2004. It is a great bit of kit and his service was immaculate. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Have you looked at the Stealth 0.5 from royal lenses? http://www.royal-lens.com/ Very similar to the waycool lenses and low profile. Really good quality optics too. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Yes errr, I meant that you could write it... I guess I really should read all that stuff from the BPA then I would have known that you gave it up some time ago...

Sounds like you have been watching 'Cutaway' too much! *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

That is a very interesting point, which surprises me too. Perhaps a couple of articles in the mag about the council and some of the council members would help? Council member profiles of someone who has been in for ages, and someone in the first or second year... Craig People do tend to bash the council and perhaps a bit more info about what they get up to would help us decide whether we should or not!! And yes, I did vote... but maybe only for the chance of a free membership... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Dude, you are missing something. There is a whole other thread relating to this jump and all the details that you are after are in that. I forget the name but it is in this forum. As for freefall speed, there are far more factors involved than just the exit weight of the individual. It is also not a competition so relax!! Higher freefall speeds are not necessarily a good thing as you may find it harder to slow yourself down enough to effectively jump with others which could limit your choice of disciplines. In any event, have fun and blue skies! (Something that we are very short of in the UK right now!) *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

I'm not sure that I would agree with that - distractions (ie Camera flying potentially) can cause things to go wrong all by themselves. Particularly when the blinkers go on in order to focus on getting that cool shot even though you are "just recording your jump and not trying to really film anything" The blinkers can cause you to fail to notice plenty of things including other jumpers and your altimeter... It is just another risk. IMHO. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Serious reply? Buy a new canopy. That is simply what the Sabre2 does. I am pretty sure that there are several threads on this. Jon Le Blanc himself, while giving packing lessons to several friends with Sabre2s at Espace 2005, told us that this canopy can't be packed to give a consistent on heading opening. I am sure that someone will disagree with me though! I put about 10 jumps on a 170 and about 40 on a 150 some time ago and it was the openings that put me off. Sorry I can't be more positive or helpful. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

To the OP: Please take Agiiedave's advice and do not try any of the things which I think this poster is advocating. I also really doubt that turning a Diablo (a canopy famous for losing height in turns) through 90 degrees at 50ft is a good idea... Play with your canopy, enjoy it and stop playing at around 2k so that you can start working on your pattern.

As someone living in Africa, I'd have to call bullshit on that. t As someone living in Africa, would you like to be a little less useless with your post and elaborate? As someone living in the UK I'd like to ask you to be a little more polite when discussing things with someone of Tonto's experience. As someone living outside of the USA I would like to point out that social and economic circumstances in many parts of the world are different to those in the USA and not everyone (particularly in perhaps Africa and Eastern Europe) can afford the quality of all singing all dancing equipment that we in Western Europe and the USA enjoy. I am confident that in those places there are plenty of people jumping gear which is older, not as well constructed or not as well maintained. Of course there will also be plenty of people jumping kit that is just as good. That said, I have read on here of several people (newbies mostly) based in the UK/US trying to buy kit that I would not touch with a barge pole. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

I think that you may be missing the real issues with flying camera. I suggest throwing this thought out there on the camera forum and getting some quality responses there which may make the reason regulations / recommendations a bit more clear? *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Speaking as an Anti-aircraft instructor, I'm afraid that neither of those things will help the plane against modern gear. But actually its much worse that that since the most dangerous ground fire for aircraft in low level flight is not dedicated ant-aircraft weapons but each and every Tom on the ground with a rifle... Incidentally I was under the impression that the new LLP (Low Level Parachutes) are designed for a 250ft exit. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.