July 2015

There is not a fail-safe way to know which size of helmet to buy online. Ideally, you would be able to walk into our ChutingStar shop and try a bunch on, or be able to try on helmets at your local drop zone. But for some, it's just not possible. Each manufacturer does post a size chart for its helmets. And that is a great starting point. You'll want to get a soft tape measure, which you can find in the sewing section of any grocery store. Measure around your head, level with your forehead and behind your ears. Continue reading →

Booties have become almost standard even for a beginning skydiver’s first belly fly jumpsuit. Booties are extremely beneficial for formation skydiving and tracking. But many skydivers quickly ruin their $400 jumpsuit by walking around in those booties every weekend at the DZ. And it only takes a couple of weekends to wear out the stitching on the sides, causing the bottoms of the booties to fall off. Continue reading →

(Published in Blue Skies Magazine) So you’ve racked up those first 200 jumps and you’re itching to throw a camera on your head…or it could be you’re looking to delve into video work to break up the monotony of tandem and AFF jumps…or maybe you’ve finally traded in that old camera setup from the ’70s, and you’re ready to try one of these new-fangled camera setups. In any event, you decided you would just order the new cameras, helmet, box, quick-release, indicator lights, bite switch and the like and assemble it yourself. It can’t be that hard, right? A drill, a screwdriver, maybe some gaffer’s tape, and you’re ready to go. The only problem is, now that you have all the parts in front of you, it’s not making a lot of sense. And you’re a little worried about drilling into your $400 camera helmet and screwing it up so bad that you would have to buy another one. Continue reading →

Start by marking the center of where the mount will be installed. Use a 45mm hole saw to drill the hole for the X-Shut Integration Kit. Insert the outside piece of the integration kit along with the X-Shut base from the outside and mate with the bottom piece of the integration kit from the inside of the helmet. Screw together with the appropriate length of screw (provided with mount). Continue reading →

Is your GoPro HERO2, HERO3 or HERO3+ giving you fits at times? We've found that the majority of units work excellent right out of the box, but for some there are a few updates that are needed and/or a glitch that needs to be worked through. The good news is that once that's sorted out, we hear nothing but raves about the GoPro cameras (and we use them ourselves too)! And if you need any GoPro accessories or more GoPro cameras, ChutingStar has a large stock of all things GoPro. See our GoPro Camera section at this link, including the new GoPro HERO7 series cameras if you're ready to upgrade here.  So here are a few random issues below along with fixes to get your GoPro camera working at it's best capacity. Continue reading →

If you are having some issues with your new GoPro HERO3, the following steps below will have you back up and filming shortly! We have run into some of these issues and after extensive time on the phone with GoPro, have learned a few things that we would like to share before you jump to returning the camera. Even if you have done this before please try it again: First off what kind of memory card do you have? We have found the most reliable to be a SanDisk Class 10 30mb/s 200x. Continue reading →

HypEye D Pro Review Video for ChutingStar. Continue reading →

(Originally published by GoPro Nov. 4, 2014) It's important to use one of the recommended SD cards in your camera, or you may experience freeze-up or video corruption issues. We recommend only purchasing name brand SD cards through reputable resellers. There are both counterfeit and underperforming SD cards out in the marketplace, which can prevent proper functioning of your HD HERO camera's features. See the Memory Cards available from ChutingStar at this link. Continue reading →

This Cazer pilot chute came with two metal links. We prefer to substitute those two metal links with a PD Reserve Slink and a PD Main Slink. The reserve soft link is used to attach the bridle to the inside of the main D-bag. The main soft link is used to attach the end of the bridle to the top of the canopy. Continue reading →

(Published in Blue Skies Magazine)

Hidden behind flaps, under grommets and inside your container are tiny pieces of metal that can end your Sky God status in a hurry. In an ideal world, all the metal in skydiving is polished, shiny and smooth as silk. But manufacturing issues, abnormal wear and just plain sharp edges can lead to frayed and broken loops in your main and reserve container. The inspection is easy; a little bit of time and some basic knowledge on what to look for will go a long way in keeping your container closed when you need it to be. You can also save yourself from having to constantly replace your loops.

Continue reading →