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Let’s Talk!
You’ve surely thought about talking in freefall, and you may have even tried to make it work. This vision is now a possibility, thanks to a new product available to the skydiving community. Since early 1998, American jumper Mike Swanson and Ryoichi Komiya, a jumper from Japan, have been working on a communications system for use in skydiving and related activities. Swanson, along with Jennifer Drew, Jon Devore and Stephanie Devore, started a new company, Rare Dynamic, Inc., to sell the systems. The head-down world record event held in March 2004 at Perris Valley Skydiving marked one of the first times jumpers used the entire system. Luigi Cani also used the system during his Icarus Extreme VX 39 Project. National champion freefly team Alchemy used the system for coaching and training with great success throughout 2004. The specialized noise-canceling microphone is the gem of the system, and the new technology behind this microphone is what makes the system as effective (and expensive) as it is. Komiya has designed several types of systems for one-way, two-way, and group communication. Rare Dynamic can customize each package to suit specific applications. Systems range upward of $1,200, depending on the complexity and number of desired users at once. How quickly use of the systems will spread and whether their use will become standard in skydiving remains to be seen. But it’s easy to imagine new and different ways to apply the systems to different types of skydiving. With this new technology, jumpers can take the next step in the evolution of the sport. More information appears at www.raredynamic.com. |
