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Just wondering: I'm going to Austin soon & I'm looking for a rig. Any gear stores near Austin you can recommend?

Bumping this up if someone wants to shoot this over the weekend?

It's for a little iPhone application / game I am working on. & yeah, I'd take it myself but I'm not current enough to fly camera yet

Hi, I'm looking for first-person video footage of what a skydiver sees from exit to deployment. I.e. I want a helmet cam capture of a normal belly to earth freefall WITHOUT any people flying in the camera view. Just a boring, stable, belly-to-earth freefall until deployment. No turns, no loops, ... after the hill just a stable horizon, preferably no alti peeks or head movements. Does anyone know of such footage I could use? Anyone wants to shoot it for me for the price of a few jump tickets? Cheers - Francis

I've got a German Android, I'm a developer & would be interested in helping you test the app.

I jumped with one about a year ago, I remember a peak of 165 at or after exit (hard to tell) and then 120 slowly going down to 80 under canopy.

Anyone else who can't access the forums because the page is waiting forever for the 'adtuition' ads to load? Workaround: turn off javascript. What can be done about this?

Hi to all of our Swiss friends, I'm moving to Switzerland in May and I'm a bit confused about the Health/Accident insurance system over there: * It seems accidents are automatically covered in the basic compulsory insurance if you work more than 8hrs/week for a Swiss employer? * Does this basic coverage include skydiving accidents? * Got any suggestions for good healthcare providers for skydivers? Blue skies - Francis

Good you went for the surgery. I suffered multiple dislocations in both shoulders. One thing to consider is that strengthening the muscle through physio will help to *prevent* further spontaneous dislocations but when it does get dislocated due to e.g. an accident, it is a hell of a lot *harder* to put it 'back in'. I'm a pretty strong climber and it got to the point where it was absolutely impossible to pop it back in without anaesthesia, simply because the muscle contractions were too strong. I had surgery on my R shoulder when I was 18 and on my L when I was 28 or something. Haven't had a single dislocation since my surgery. One thing I regret is that I started climbing again a little too early after my second surgery. It increased my range of motion, but made my left shoulder a bit weaker. Listen to your doctor & stick to that healing time. As for skydiving, the lack of range of motion doesn't bother me at all now. With decent surgery you'll only lose a few degrees and you probably had an unnatural range of motion to begin with. The only trauma I have is a psychological one from frequently waking up at night screaming in pain due to yet-another-spontaneous dislocation. It kinda tended to freak out the girls.

Go to the RAPA forum at ukskydiver.co.uk. The CO/Pilot hangs out around there and will be happy to answer your questions about operating one. Done a few jumps out of it & there is a lot to like : huge door, fast climbing, ...

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone knows of a full-face helmet that can still be taken off easily by emergency first-responders to perform CPR? Cheers - Francis

So, what 'd you want in such a software? I'm a dev, but isn't entering jump data kinda tedious? I've been thinking about writing logbook software / website but I'm not sure there's demand for it. I'm still keeping everything on paper ... So: feature wishlist?

63 jumps and no reserve ride (yet). However yesterday I fckd up and ended up unstable on my back a little above 4000ft on a hop & pop (I normally pull at 3500). Happy to see reflexes kick in: hard arch, stable & pull, open at 3000ft. I hope I will have similar good reflexes in a real emergency. I'm getting a little nervous and have systematically been locating my handles after each opening on recent jumps.

I come from a climbing background & I asked myself exactly the same question: in climbing we 'backup' a buckle by threading the strap 3 times instead of two time through the buckle, why not on skydiving rigs? Or are the leg straps simply pulled too tight? Just curious.

I understand I have very little experience, given my jump numbers, but I've been in the situation of doing AFF7 in the non-uk system & then going to a UK-military-run dropzone in Germany. I was surprised at the generosity shown by the military guys: they have gone out of their way to welcome a low-number weekend jumper, insofar that I have decided to continue jumping at said dropzone, even if it costs me approx. 2-3 times as much as jumping at local (German) dropzones. (due to insurance). I'm looking at paying a couple hundred euro more than other dropzones, but I'm happy paying the price, and no, I can't really afford it :-( I received a free one-on-one coaching / security / recurrency day & was at AFF8 in no time. They have done everything possible to reduce the pain of being a member of the bpa. In general, I feel a lot more comfortable jumping 'military style' given their attention to detail & gear quality. I haven't spotted any harsh treatment, but I have a fairly thick skin & am pretty patient. My point: I guess it all depends on the dropzone & under how much pressure they are. To the guys at Bad Lippspringe: your rock !