ManBird

I shall not be there. Seems like fun, but it also seems like it'd be a lot of time and money spent for only a handful of jumps, when I could just drive out to the potato bridge and make a dozen jumps in a relaxed environment. Hmmm... maybe BASE isn't for you. Speaking of which, I've heard a rumor (emphasis on rumor) that skydiving gear will finally be kicked out of Bridge Day. Is that true? I personally think it'd be a wise move. The site makes strong recommendations, but isn't clear as to whether or not modified skydiving gear will actually be turned away. Same deal... you aren't taking that off the bridge are you? "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I remember that jump. I was two slots to your left. 114s 10-way on your third flight and great forward speed! You were in that red and yellow Classic, right? That was a really fun jump. Both jumps that you mentioned are in the "Wingsuits at Eloy" video: http://www.deepart.org/?id=115 "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

A "hook turn" is a special time in a boy's life when he first considers a career in pornography or the grey market. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I say "no". For a lot of people, they're fun later on. By no means are they necessary to enjoy skydiving. I've been going back and forth between my Katana 97 and my Fox 245. I've found that landing a canopy in the tiniest little spot can be as much a rush as swooping. Whatever floats your boat. Edit: And don't buy that "wind penetration" crap. You'd be surprised what a big canopy can do in sketchy winds. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I second that. I thought I'd never use it as a visual altimeter. I used it once and it was all over. I love it. I've found that I can get inconsistencies when it's on my hand, when I go to look at it. Must just be the way I rotate my wrist to see it. But I don't really look at my altimeter enough to ruin a chart (not in freefall, anyway). "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

No. Wear it in your front pants pocket or in your sock, on the side of your ankle. You (hopefully) move your head around a lot in flight, and it results in very shaky and inaccurate charts (same goes for ProTrack, as well). "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Funny that you mention it. On request of my girlfriend, I recently figured this out. Expenditure as follows: Jumping (Jumps, gear, and travel) - 40% Taxes, SS, insurance, retirement - 20% Bills and Rent - 12.5% Food (including beer) - 11.25% Transportation (Gas, insurance, maintenance, bus and train) - 6.25% Geek Toys - 6.25% Gifts and Holidays (mainly for my girlfriend) - 1.25% Miscellaneous - 2.5% She thought I spent more than half my income on jumping. That's only after taxes. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

That's exactly what I'm saying. I think it was just lost in translation. No worries. As an aside, I personally would get out with a wingsuit at 500' (edit: on my reserve), should that very rare situation occur. The airspeed from the plane is there to get the canopy open, and I know for sure that I can get my hands to the toggles in less than one second, even fully zipped up. Doesn't apply to everyone, of course. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Stern kicks ass, and I will be subscribing to continue to hear him. It will be nice to finally hear him be as creative as he wants to be. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Sorry, I thought the fact that they sold over 1,000,000 copies of their first album in under two years would have gained them some notoriety. They're from the US, but I think most sales were overseas. Very cool live show. A must-see if they come through your town. No, it's not spam. I just like their stuff and figured some other fans were on here. They haven't publicized the new album yet, I just noticed it on their site and thought I'd share. I've pre-ordered my CD. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

When you're flying a wingsuit, you aren't taking the student's dime. This thread is about wingsuit emergency exit procedures. Nothing to do with tandems. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Those poor tandem students. They were good folks. Well, at least I got out OK. That's my point. Edited to add: Emergency procedures for a tandem jump with a student can't be compared to an experienced jumper acting instinctively. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I think we've all been through this before. This is right up there with the whole RSL and AAD debates. There is no right answer, just opinions. So here's my opinion. To prevent an argument, I'm setting the tone of this post... OK. IMO, being comfortable with "unzipped" exits is unnecessary. No offense, but thinking that someone shouldn't be flying a wingsuit because they don't feel comfortable exiting with their wings unzipped is... weird. If you can't get stable within 1,000' of exit at least 98% of the time, that's when you should reconsider flying a wingsuit. I'm not saying that you, JP, have exit issues (we know that you don't), I'm just saying that the logic is backwards. It's like working on manual pin extractions for ten jumps in a row, when you should just have your pilot chute hooked up. After even just a few wingsuit jumps, you should be comfy exiting at any altitude, fully zipped up. I'm sure you are -- I don't know what experience you have with low altitude flights. Throw on a faster opening canopy and do some flights from 3,000'. It's no big deal. Seriously. In an emergency, two zips and a pull on the LQRS (or unzipping one leg with no LQRS) takes literally one second -- maybe two for the inexperienced. I know at least one wingsuit pilot that had a few wingsuit exits from below 4,000' feet before he even had 200 total skydives. It's really no big deal. I think the risk of wing entanglement is greater than that of instability. And like Scott says, if you're really getting out super low -- low enough to need to go right to your reserve -- then your configuration won't mean much. Just do a "student" exit and fire away. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

My 2¢ Zip your legs before you get in the plane to make your life much easier. Once you remove your seatbelt, get into a "ready to exit" configuration. I recommend zipping your arm wings down, at least, past your elbows -- this gives you some leading edge/control. I personally zip all the way up. This will prevent entanglements between your wings and any part of your canopy/deployment system. It may also prevent some stability issues that can result from uncontrolled wings inflating assymetrically. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

You can now pre-order Pink Martini's new album, "Hang On Little Tomato"! You can also listen to the entire album (low quality) on their site's radio. Much better than their first album, says I. http://www.pinkmartini.com "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yeah, I think the right A under the right conditions is just fine for a first BASE jump. Likewise, some Ss, even ones with easy daytime access (though illegal), are not good for a first jump. Nothing beats a daytime, legal span with easy access and landing area, but I wouldn't rule out all As for a first BASE jump. The mentor and wind direction and speed can alleviate a lot of issues. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yeah, I'm in. It's gonna kick ass! Thanks. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I actually just rigged my Neptune up to my chest strap to look at after I opened, and to see if it logs the jump (looks like it didn't log the jumps, but the altimeter worked). The wsExtreme kicks ass. I have a hard time closing it -- new to pin rigs, my pack jobs are big and sloppy, and the rig is very small -- but it kicks ass just the same. I used it on the 600' S, as well. Works just fine. I used the floor plate option the whole time (didn't bring the standard top closing loop). Once you see it packed up, it looks like there's a sub-200 in there. Very cool. At first, I wished that it had a stash bag pocket, but I found it easy enough to just wear the stash bag under my suit (though I did need some help getting it situated). I just wore it under my jacket for the bridge jump. It's super comfy, as well. The location and size of the hip rings and laterals give a lot of room between tabs on the wingsuit. This is overlooked on most rigs that claim to be "wingsuit friendly". You know the whole "three wing tabs from the top" hookup concept? It applies perfectly here. The lack of three rings is a trip -- no cutting away -- but no heading weirdness that can come from riser covers. The dynamic corners, and the way you do a low-profile pack with the floor plate, pretty much guarantee that you won't have issues with the canopy or tailpocket bumping the tray. It's a very well thought out rig and the quality is top notch. Plus it looks cool.

Thanks for showing me around! That was very cool watching/hearing you fly over. Strange visual and audio experience. What sort of delays did you en out getting? That first one looked pretty long. BTW, we passed by the hotel in Munich a couple times. We were in the right place, it was just very difficult to notice. Oktoberfest was just a bunch of drunken teenagers in stupid hats -- lame. We, again, slept for 3 hours (3 nights in a row!) before leaving for Prague in the morning. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

True. I even had a pigeon stand on my head and shit in my hair. These winged bastards just love me. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Yes. I was just too amped. Need to smooth it out and spend more time opening the leg wing. It didn't last too long and I was flying pretty quickly thereafter. However, this is something I want to correct before doing 1,500' - 2,000' stuff or stuff that's less sheer. I need to do more balloon jumps and learn more about what good objects in the US. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

I actually got one for making a right on red. Apparently, that US law doesn't apply in Italy. The other one was for a paperwork issue. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

When in Rome, drive as the Romans do. When in Arco, drive like a saint: http://www.deepart.org/files/tickets.jpg "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

First wingsuit BASE jump video here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1284386 Yeah, I pulled high. Just wait 'til next year. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click

Wrong sport. Besides, I bought absinth in the Czech Republic. Enough to share next time we meet. "¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click