Mark Rejhon
Member
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2003
- Messages
- 355
- Reaction score
- 10
Last weekend, I decided to enter a contest, at
www.crackberry.com/iluvbb
My submission was to conduct a skydive while holding a BlackBerry in my hand:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cOaoHq1Xes[/ame]
(By the way, hello to fellow Skydivers John Woo, Billy Vance and others. Some people on AllDeaf knows these deaf skydivers too as well!)
I submitted this description:
Background: "I started skydiving as a hobby in 2005 when I heard about the Deaf Skydivers at www.deafskydivers.org ... I got inspired as it had been something I always wanted to do. I called two local dropzones listed at the Dropzone Locator www.dropzone.com to find out if they would let me film this, renting a professional freefall videographer to film me in freefall. (Steve Verner is the freefall videographer). GO Skydive of Ottawa Canada had their new Navajo plane, so I took the opportunity to jump a model of a plane I had never jumped before! They mainly use these videographers for the tandem tourists who want to try their first jump, so that was convenient. It may have been the first time a BlackBerry was used while skydiving. Also, because of the risks of dropping a BlackBerry, I had it duct taped (cleverly) to one of my skydiving gloves, so I am not holding it with two hands. Notice I intentionally have it in the hand opposite the hand I use to pull! Although I was struggling to press keys to do a few operations with gloved fingers as it was slightly below freezing at altitude where I jumped Ottawa, Canada. However, I managed a few. The blackberry jump was my 515th jump, and I used my own gear. Inevitably, many questions and comments of "crazy" might occur, however, I should stress, while a risky hobby, it is no more dangerous than, for example scuba diving, motorcycling, or even ski-jumping. Several layers of safety features exist. I had two altimeters, including one on my wrist, to monitor my altitude and the maximum working time was approximately 60 seconds. The second altimeter is an alarm inside my helmet, with a small deaf-friendly flashing light attach in my visor (can be seen if you look carefully). I pulled before this alarm went off. In the unlikely event I ever become unconscious or incredibly stupid, there is an automatic activation device in one of my two parachutes in my rig, which will open automatically if I go too low without pulling. There are also other little details, such as training, but this is basically the nutshell! It is a very rewarding hobby."
Cheers,
Mark Rejhon
www.crackberry.com/iluvbb
My submission was to conduct a skydive while holding a BlackBerry in my hand:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cOaoHq1Xes[/ame]
(By the way, hello to fellow Skydivers John Woo, Billy Vance and others. Some people on AllDeaf knows these deaf skydivers too as well!)
I submitted this description:
Background: "I started skydiving as a hobby in 2005 when I heard about the Deaf Skydivers at www.deafskydivers.org ... I got inspired as it had been something I always wanted to do. I called two local dropzones listed at the Dropzone Locator www.dropzone.com to find out if they would let me film this, renting a professional freefall videographer to film me in freefall. (Steve Verner is the freefall videographer). GO Skydive of Ottawa Canada had their new Navajo plane, so I took the opportunity to jump a model of a plane I had never jumped before! They mainly use these videographers for the tandem tourists who want to try their first jump, so that was convenient. It may have been the first time a BlackBerry was used while skydiving. Also, because of the risks of dropping a BlackBerry, I had it duct taped (cleverly) to one of my skydiving gloves, so I am not holding it with two hands. Notice I intentionally have it in the hand opposite the hand I use to pull! Although I was struggling to press keys to do a few operations with gloved fingers as it was slightly below freezing at altitude where I jumped Ottawa, Canada. However, I managed a few. The blackberry jump was my 515th jump, and I used my own gear. Inevitably, many questions and comments of "crazy" might occur, however, I should stress, while a risky hobby, it is no more dangerous than, for example scuba diving, motorcycling, or even ski-jumping. Several layers of safety features exist. I had two altimeters, including one on my wrist, to monitor my altitude and the maximum working time was approximately 60 seconds. The second altimeter is an alarm inside my helmet, with a small deaf-friendly flashing light attach in my visor (can be seen if you look carefully). I pulled before this alarm went off. In the unlikely event I ever become unconscious or incredibly stupid, there is an automatic activation device in one of my two parachutes in my rig, which will open automatically if I go too low without pulling. There are also other little details, such as training, but this is basically the nutshell! It is a very rewarding hobby."
Cheers,
Mark Rejhon
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