CanuckInUSA

Some of us would love to see this current leadership replaced with a different group of people who aren't as corrupt as the current group holding the power. We have a federal election in a few weeks from now ... time will tell as to whether Canadians would like to see change in our leadership or if the corrupt status quo is okay by them. I hope to see change and know how I'll be voting. But I'm only one person. I know what you wrote here is more sarcastic than anything else and we obviously have differences. But I've read some of the other things you've recently said in other threads and believe it or not, on some issues we're not as different than you think. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It's just an observation. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I would never dream of doing this with one of my skydiving canopies, but I get better standup landings under either one of my monster BASE canopies by approaching in 1/2 brakes and finishing my flare from there. Of course this has a lot to do with the design of my BASE canopies as both are vented (which promote quick openings) and have valves (similar to airlocks) which allow the canopy to maintain it's pressurization and thus it's form while flying the canopy in deep brakes. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

And it shows. But please don't take this as an attack. I am far from a BASE guru, but at one point not long ago I didn't know anything about BASE as well. Plus while he doesn't directly mention this, many of us in the BASE community know the bridge Calvin19 speaks which gives us the advantage of know what's possible there and what's not. That's a good start. Hey we're off to a good start. Absolutely it depends on the landing area. Plus it depends on what the canopy pilot does. At this site Calvin19 doesn't directly reference, landing in the water is safer if the canopy pilot continues to steer their canopy over the water. If they head for either shore, then it no longer is the safer of the two options and BASE all of a sudden becomes the less safe option. I'm sorry but it's a parachute, it wants to open. Do you trust that your reserve will work? If the answer is yes, then you should know that BASE canopies are very similar in design and the two use similar packing techniques. A slider off/down BASE pack job is the most reliable packing technique you'll ever find. It's just unfortunate that you can only use slider off/down configurations on anything other than 0-3 second delays if you don't want to get slammed. But a high performance skydiving canopy is more likely to malfunction than a BASE canopy packed in the slider up configuration. Bad body position at pull time is one of the biggest culprits of an off heading opening (possibly resulting in line twists) regardless of which discpline you're doing. But you're right that BASE jumpers don't have the same amount of time to evaluate and fix the problem. At the bridge that Calvin19 not so directly refers to, it is extremely hard to actually hit the span in freefall. Of course anything can happen (like having an off heading opening and not doing anything about it). In the BASE world, Antennas and Spans (bridges) are considered safer than Buildings and Earth (cliffs) bound objects because the jumper often doesn't need to worry as much about off heading openings and object strikes. I've yet to do a BASE jump where I forget to pull. It's hard not to forget. Often you're so low to begin with that you take a shorter delay than what you had intended. Plus in some circumstances in the BASE world, it's safer to take a longer delay sucking it even lower just to get further away from the object. But it's not always easy to do. You can see that the people in this forum have voted exactly the opposite way tha the BASE jumpers have voted in the BASE forum (at least at this point in time). But it's all good as neither activity is safe and hopefully Calvin19 won't turn into a Deathcamp BASE mentor. It's a controvesial topic that's for sure. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

You're entitled to feel this way. But some of us don't view it like this. Who said anything about flying the heavy iron. I don't fly those airplanes in the real world so why would I fly them in the virtual world. Several years ago while I was conduction real world flights in Colorado, I fired up my FS to learn the mountains of that state (I've got a few bells and whistles added in the game to give myself closer to real life elevation points, so my mountains in FS rememble the real things). So when I landed in Glenwood Springs, Colorado's 2nd or 3rd hardest airport for real on a nice crisp sunny January winter day back in 2002, I couldn't help but pinch myself and tell myself "Hey you've been here before". I'd much rather learn from my mistakes in FS (like flying up the wrong valley) than make them in the real world. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Oh I got Betsy'd a couple of years ago. She was right, I was wrong ... I'm missing the Eloy Holiday Boogie this year. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Well it's clear that your way is your solution and it's obvious when you look at the two societies how different we are. One only needs to walk the streets of a typical large American city to see how your people treat each other. They treat each other like shit. Obviously this doesn't apply to all of America, but in many big cities there is a "don't fuck with me, don't look at me, don't even think of saying hi to me because I'm going to fuck you over if you do" attitude. I'm sorry but I would much rather live in a society where strangers are friendly to each other. Canada has it's problems. It is by no way a perfect society. But we don't need people like you telling us how to live our lives (your last post just shows how intollerant you are to others who don't believe in your morals). So leave us alone and let us deal with our own problems. But no matter what I say, I absolutely know how you're going to respond to this. So go ahead and knock yourself out. Write that novel and tell us how superior you are. But remember ... who cares what you think? This is not your country and it's not your problem. Go solve your own country's problems before you try and solve the rest of the world's problems. PS: Canadians should not be blaming the US for Canadian problems and stupid corrupt politicians are preying upon the fear of the ignorant masses thinking that political promises of banning handguns will actually get rid of them. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

If it was this easy, then why is there still gang/criminal problems in the US? Hey don't get me wrong, I'm not totally against some of your points. But I think a better solution is to try and raise your children into become young adults who don't think a life of crime is the way to make a living. And for those who choose a life of crime, I say throw the book at them when they get caught. I'd much rather see my tax dollars go towards the criminal justice system then what's going on right now (like stupid arrogant politicians making promises during elections which are impossible to fulfill). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Why should that matter? To me it's what the student does under canopy which is going to have the biggest impact. Oh did I just say impact? What's going to hurt more if the student fucks up low to the ground, water or the hard earth? Calvin19 isn't asking about is skydiving safer than BASE? He's asking is a first jump BASE student with a planned water landing safer (with a boat ready to pluck the student from the slow moving river) than a skydiving student having to land in their regular DZ landing area. With that in mind, it should be pretty obvious which jump is less dangerous. The water landing is much more forgiving ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yes Flight Sim has come a long way over the years. I haven't used it in over a month now, but I have flown all over the western US states and western Canadian provinces. I don't use it to learn how to fly (I already know how to fly as I am a real world certified private pilot), but it's a great tool for IFR practice as well as VFR terrain recognition if you've got the right bells and whistles. Are you sure about this? I've never flown an airplane with a joystick with a twist handle to control the rudder. How about going a little farther and getting yourself a yoke with rudder pedals. You'll never be able to properly replicate the feeling of flight, but at least you'll be using your hands and your feet as they'd be used in a real airplane. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Anytime you're landing in water, it's got to be (assumed) safer than landing over hard ground. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Plus if people hand handle stomaching a little skydiving, this video shows a sample of some good trackers and these aren't even the people I speak of in CO who do (almost) daily tracking dives. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I know tons of good trackers (there's at least a dozen really good trackers at my former DZ in CO). It's just that you need to hang out at the DZ and get in on some of their tracking dives to see how good they are. But there are way too many BASE jumpers who look down on skydiving to bother going to the DZ and thus come to the conclusion that there are no good trackers around here. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

As long as the jumper doesn't have any serious off heading issues, your local E is also a fantastic object to get some canopy time in as well. It's far from an easy object, but it's less stressful than the urban jungle. Didn't we do that on his last visit here? If not, I think we need to make him hike up more mountains ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm currently jumping as small as a Velocity 103 (swooping canopy) and as large as a Rock Draggon 303 (BASE canopy). These two canopies obviously behave differently, but they both fly and flare fine. Whoever told you about poor flare capabilities of large lightly loaded canopies doesn't know what they're talking about. My Rock Draggon 303 and Flik 293 (another BASE canopy I own) perform great and are faster than you'd think. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Miles' jumps don't necessarily impress me. It's the fact that he climbed out of that valley 57 times which is impressive. I think the most times I've climbed out of there in one day was five times and that was plenty for this ole camper. 57 climbs ... now that's impressive. Good Luck to Gary. Let's hope his openings are on heading and that his landings are nice standups. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Let me try this again then ... No it's not. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Spectre's are a 7 cell design and will come in steeper than their 9 cell counterparts. But don't let this freak you out. Spectres are great all-around canopies (I have a Spectre 150 for my wingsuit jumps). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

No it's not. There are almost 5 million people living in the metro Toronto with another 5 or so million living in southern Ontario. For sure some businesses would suffer if the tourism dried up, but to say that Toronto's economy is driven by US tourism just shows how arrogant some people can be. Population Demographics Labour Force Overview Economic Profile Key Industries A bigger problem facing Canada/US economic relations have to deal with the USA's plans on enforcing that everyone entering the US (starting in 2007) must have a passport and with only a small minority of US citizens holding valid passports, a lot of people are worried that cross-border trade/travel will suffer in both nations. To get back on topic though, Toronto's gun/gang violence is Toronto's/Canada's fault. Not the USA's fault. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

This was one of the biggest issues I learned when I did my initial high performance canopy coaching with Slaton last year. I used to think that I needed to be in the same part of the sky on every jump and he taught me that every jump is different and he armed me with the knowledge of what sort of turn rate was required in the different scenarios I may find myself in. To myself (outside of the turn rate issue), one of the most import things to know is when to get off of the risers and this is something that only time and experience can solve. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Dude if you show up at the ... with that helmet, I'm likely going to die laughing as I prematurely fall off of the object. Oh and on to some good news. My camcorder is back home and functional after not working for the last 6+ months. I'm not so sure I want to be strapping it to my head on a BASE jump (my skydiving helmet is side mounted and is susceptable to riser strike), but I can always bring a fanny pack and store it in there during my jumps. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey you've got a point there. As long as riser strike is not an issue, I see great value in remaining head high with those ears. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

When it comes to the less than legal jumps, pacing on a site appears to be of extreme importance. You know there was this other geographical region that we both know about which had it's share of old timers and newbies and was being jumped a lot but the newbies. So much so that the old timers decided to curtail their activities because they felt the newer jumpers were making things too hot. Now were the older times being assholes for not mentoring the newbies or were the newbies too egar? Some of the newbies survived and went on to become not so newbies to the world of BASE, but one or two of these newbies went on to getting hurt and hopefully lessons were learned by more than just the injured. Not that I would know what BASE was like before 911 (because guys like myself, you, Jaap, Abbe, etc, etc, etc are all still pretty green), but since that imfamous day, our sport has not been an easy sport to do (at least at the less than legal sites). I prefer jumping legal sites because I like to jump not worrying about getting busted and losing my gear. But legal sites are not easy to come by and the not so legal sites can be fun jumps as well. I may or may not be in the minority here in thinking what I'm about to say, but BASE jumpers complain that there is too much drama in the skydiving community (and there is drama there for sure). But all I see lately around here is drama in itself. So-and-so doesn't like whom-do-you-call-him because ... so-and-so is an egar newbie while whom-do-you-call-him is the old timer not willing to mentor so-and-so. I think it's great when someone becomes passionate about a certain activity, but BASE doesn't define who I am. BASE is something that I do for ... shits and giggles? ... I don't know ... all I know is that I'm on a high after certain BASE jumps are made, but making these jumps are still scary as shit on a pogo stick and it's not always easy to be standing there at the exit point asking yourself why you're there. I would love to open up some new sites (and may just do that as I become older and wiser in this sport). But I would also like to not fuck myself up while BASE jumping. I don't know ... except that only one of my two rigs is packed right now. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I can't speak for this year since I no longer am there, but as a former resident of CO you'd be surprised how much jumping someone can do in that state during all months of the year. It's really not as cold as people think (even though I guess they have had some bad WX this year). But it's all cyclical. Pretty soon the good peeps of CO will be out and about on a January/February weekend wearing shorts and t-shirts. Now myself on the other hand (returning back to the great white north) haven't been doing much jumping at all. I'm in Vancouver BC which while not cold, does get rained on a lot during the winter months. There has been the odd weekend that I could have jumped here and missed out on, but for the most part it's been raining and cloudy most of the time and I've only made 8 skydives and 3 BASE jumps since I left CO two months ago. I miss the sun ... but at least it's not cold here ... but it's all good. I don't think there is a perfect place to be when it comes to the best skydiving location. I'm under the impression that San Diego may be the closest thing to the perfect location, but rest assured places like TX and CO are not bad places if you want to jump all 12 months of the year. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Twice ... both times on high performance canopies. The first time (jump #498) a brake fired prematurely on opening causing my canopy to go into a spinning line twists that I couldn't recover from. I never would have known what had happened had I not had a video camera on my head recording the event since it all happened very very fast and very violent. The second time (somewhere around jump #1050) was also diving line twists that I couldn't recover from. The bungie between my leg straps broke at one point and I was complacent in fixing it. Then on this ill fated jump, my leg strap shifted on opening causing the line twists. For the first second or two, the canopy was flying straight (in line twists), but then it started to dive and since I was jumping an ultra high performance cross-braced canopy, it was easy to decide not to fight it and to go to plan B. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Time will tell, but I hope to be in CO next Sept for the 2006 CPC Championships.