dan osmanRead: < 1 min

RIP Dan Osman

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It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Dan Osman passed away while rope jumping in Yosemite at the Leaning Tower rock formation. I recall reading the rope he used was left out in the rain or snow and may have contributed to the equipment failure. Dan lived a pretty nontraditional life, often living in a tree house, climbing up waterfalls, jumping and swinging on ropes (not bungee) thousands of feet off the ground and performing breathtaking free solo feats like the one in the video below…

RIP Dan Osman (February 11, 1963 – November 23, 1998).

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Read: < 1 min

HangTimer: Back-up that Spray with Some Facts Son

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Many moons ago I wrote about the Airpod, a device you wear while snowboarding that measures hang time while pulling airs. Now an application for the iPhone does that and adds a few more bells and whistles to boot.

HangTimer for the iPhone uses the iPhone’s accelerometer and “hairy math” to calculate air time from the point of take-off, speed at take off and location at point of take-off. HangTimer detects your location and provides trail maps, snow reports and resort web cams (when available). For 3G users there is the following added functionality…

  • Detailed speed and location of every jump
  • Link to Google Maps to plot your hits
  • Top Speed at takeoff for every jump

Of course the HangTimer can be used for any sport where it’s safe to have your phone on you (mountain biking for example). I’m interested to know if, when climbing, will the HangTimer measure falling distance (WhipperTimer anyone)?

The full version of HangTimer sells for $9.99. There is a free version which lacks many of the features described above, but does measure hag time and tracks your best jump and total airs per session. Personally I feel this app is well worth it, since I can slip my iPhone in the pockets of unsuspecting ‘big air’ friends only to bring them back down to earth aprés.

Posted by: Lawrence

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Quiksilver MoondakRead: 2 mins

Quiksilver Moondak Watch and TideGraph

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

Tides don’t affect the breaks I surf all that much, but at my favorite spot, low slack tide (between low tide and when the incoming tide starts) is probably slightly better. That’s all the reason I needed to go out and plunk $95 on a new Quicksilver Moodak watch. Even though I carry my iPhone with me at all times and have the very capable and more informative TideGraph app.

The Moondak version I have is all black – including the screen and maybe I sound like a curmudgeon, but I’ll be damned if I can read it unless I find myself in close proximity to a 1million candlepower halogen light source. Another annoyance with the watch is the number of times I go to glance at the time, only to be in tide mode. The convenience of quickly checking the time is a frustrating 5 mode clicks away.

The Moondak is a good-looking watch which an abundance of features. Features like the lap and heat timer functions which are appealing to runners and surfers alike. The Moondak is also stylish enough that it can be worn out at night.

Consider the Moondak with the lighter face (it comes in different version, some much easier to read than mine) and if you have an iPhone, then by all means get TideGraph, it’s really good and the upcoming 2.0 version promises to be even better (including a map button that shows a satellite view of port in Maps app).

Posted by: Lawrence

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