Reviewing Stuff: Our fave viso mount

All matters for skydiving. So this time we compared three different viso mounts.
Everyone knows the moment when you open your latest order and it’s not like expected. So we want to bring some brightness to the dark to prevent some disappointing moments. That’s why we created our “Reviewing Stuff” series.
In the meantime there is so much equipment available for skydiving and most time there is no possibility to test it before the order.

For this review we had a close look to the L&B hand mount (which is included if you buy a L&B Viso), the L&B wrist mount and the wrist mount of Bertrand Adrenaline.

Pocket

The pocket of the two L&B mounts are absolutely identically. For us it had the right strength. It’s a little bit hard to get the Viso in the first time (if you weren’t using the tool because you don’t read manuals) but as soon you got the Viso in, it fits perfectly. There is no space movements of the viso and no material is in the area of the display.

With the wrist mount of Bertrand Adrenaline it’s the opposite. The pocket is much softer than the L&B pocket. So it’s very easy to put the Viso in without any help of a tool. And yes, it doesn’t look like the viso can move in there but the pocket itself has the possibility to move a little bit and that’s enough to annoy you. In our case the the little band between buttons and display move a little bit in the display area. It was still possible to see the numbers but it was very close to the numbers so it was hard to separate a 5 from a 6 when the Viso wants to tell you a number with 3 digits. And the difference between 600 or 500 meters might be important in some situations.

Comfort

The hand mount of L&B is fixed to your hand with a kink to one finger and a strip to your wrist. While our tests we didn’t prefer to have that big kink at the finger. Wearing this mount was compared to the other two mounts not comfortable.

The wrist mounts of L&B and Bertrand Adrenaline have a similar system. With a stretch band these mounts are fixed to your forearm. So it’s easy to turn it exactly to the position you want to have it. But the stretch band of L&B is more comfortable than Bertrands version. The band of Bertrand Adrenaline has two big logos stitched to the band and those are not flexible.

Canopy Piloting

While using the front risers the hand mount of L&B puts a lot of pressure to the fingers through the kink. Also the fixed position was not the best to read the Viso display while piloting the canopy.

Both wrist mounts can be put in a much better position at the forearm. So checking the height is much quicker while piloting the canopy compared to the hand mount.

Accessory

Both L&B mounts come with a tool called “tool”. This can be used to put the Viso in the mount. So this is easer with the tool but it is working without the tool, too. Compared with a pack band you can use the tool like a “pack boy”. We didn’t try this but officially it is possible. A little mini mirror is also included in the package. You can put it on the pocket so you can easily check your GoPro lights by yourself instead of annoying someone else in the plane. We like to annoy other people, so we don’t use this, too.

The wrist mount of Bertrand Adrenaline just comes with nothing than the mount itself.

Cost

The hand mount is included if you buy a Viso. In case it got lost you can order it for 26 Euro in the official webshop (links to all mounts are at the end of this article).

The wrist mount of L&B has the same price at the official webshop. Our local skydive dealer takes 30 Euro for it (totally OK, because you can try all sizes in the shop).

The Bertrand Adrenaline wrist mount costs only 15 Euro which brings an other angle of view to the whole topic.

Style

The hand mount of L&B really doesn’t get any points for style. It just looks boring and is not aligning at all to your body.

The L&B wrist mount is available in all colors. So for sure you find the version which fits perfect to your skydiving outfit. And it looks significant because it is. On the other side… close to every Viso owner has one.

The wrist mount of Bertrand Adrenaline is only available in black/red. But I really like the look with the big logos. Nobody else at our dropzone had one of those so it’s a little eye catcher with the thick band. But with a close look you see the soft pocket which doesn’t appear significant.

Result

We prefer to use the L&B wrist mount. Even it costs the most of all the three mounts we think it’s worth it.

If you want to have a close look at the mount before buying one we recommend to watch our video about this review:

These are the links to the tested mounts:
https://www.lbwebstore.com/accessories/hand-mount.html
https://www.lbwebstore.com/accessories/elastic-wrist-mount.html
http://www.bertrandadrenaline.com/shop/tools/cuff-elastic-black/

We hope you liked this article and if you are interessted to see a special review… let us know!

Reviewing Stuff: Probably the best hook knife for skydiving

Do you wear a hook knife while skydiving? Did you ever thought about a situation you might need it? Do you think your knife is able to cut a vectran line, the material of a jumpsuit or a riser?
Until a year ago I had no hook knife and I had none of those questions in my mind. Everything started with an skydive event in Germany which set a hook knife to the list of requirements.

So I went to my Rigger (also owns a skydive shop) and told him about my new needs. I knew there were some knifes available for ~30 Euro and it was not my plan to spend a lot of money. It was just to fulfill the requirements for this event. So my Rigger informed about situations in which a usage of a hook knife might make sense. Most of them were not on my list of possibilities a hook knife might be useful. But most important he clearly told me to buy a knife which really cuts instead of just fulfilling the requirements of some events. What he wanted to say was: Not all knifes can cut a vectran line in time you need this. And for sure no risers.

Since we (Team Fancy Shit members) knew about the important and eventually life saving differences between available hook knifes, there was the plan to create a video related to this topic.

Special thanks to Raphael Schlegel, the owner of Westerwings, who was available for an interview and gave us some vectran lines and some straps which are commonly used at skydive rigs.

And guys… eat more fruits!

Behind the scenes of our hook knife review

“Behind the scenes” of our hook knife review we are working on right now. Okay, actually we are just standing in the Westerwings Shop, pointing a camera at Rapha, our rigger we trust in, pushing random buttons.

We forced him to participate in the video, otherwise we reveal his darkest secret. (It has to do with potatoes)
So thanks Rapha for your insight in the details behind this special knife in your fancy shop.

The video will follow within 12 to 1337 days.

Reviewing Stuff: Rigging Innovations Curv

Realizing noobs look extremely good in awesome gear, we asked Raphael of Westerwings to show us the most fancy stuff in his store. Short time later the order for a curv rig of Rigging Innovations was placed.
Around 50 jumps later we really wanted to do a little review on the curv, because of reasons and it took us only 6 month to complete it.

As a side note:
We wanted Emma Watson as our rig model, but out of nowhere she declined the meeting, nobody was expecting that, so we had to turn everything around. Total disaster.

Even though it took so long, we forgot to include about 100 things we wanted to cover, so If you have questions, write them in the comments.