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Retire the pilot chute if there is any doubt in your mind regarding its reliability. It may be fine, but at the low cost of a new pilot chute, why would anyone care about replacing it? Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Motion sensors can be set off by animals, particularly birds, as well as rain. With enough false alarms, the cops just won't bother showing up. The only problem is if an alarm is set off and cameras turn on. At night, no one can see you on the tower. Just park far enough way. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

In addition to the permeability, inspect the mesh for wear and tear. Inspect the tapes, especially around the bottom where the center line attaches. Inspect the fabric on the topskin to ensure there are no tears. Inspect the stiching between the mesh and the topskin to make sure it's fine. Pilot chutes have exploded before, but it's been many years since an incident. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Wait a minute... I meant a video of the woman taking a shower. LOL Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

And some video of you taking a shower would also help with the research. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

The covers are called radomes. They are used to prevent exposure of the parabolic dish to the elements. This can be more critical for high frequency transmitters and receivers. These dishes are highly directional, meaning that they pose essentially no hazard unless you are in front of them. Microwaves will cause tissue heating, which is detrimental to the eyes (which can be permanent) and for men, the gonads. However, the duration of exposure is so little while under canopy or in freefall that I do not expect health effects to be significant. The radiation can however damage things like video cameras or electronics. There was one case years ago where a jumper's camera fried in freefall when he passed a dish. The video was interesting. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060610/ap_on_re_us/base_death;_ylt=AuS7.VDoZ7ZqKDmBhyFGMYOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ-- By JOHN MILLER, Associated Press Writer 35 minutes ago BOISE, Idaho - The jumpers leaping from the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls free-fall for three seconds before releasing their parachutes during a 486-foot descent. The bridge is the only manmade location in the United States where so-called BASE jumpers — short for the buildings, antennae, spans and earth from which participants leap — aren't required to get a special permit for year-round jumps. It also was the scene of four accidents in as many days last month, including one that killed a 34-year-old California woman. Still, officials say they don't have any plans to increase local regulation of the sport. "We spend more time out on lost snowmobilers than we ever do on BASE jumping," said Nancy Howell, spokeswoman for the Twin Falls County Sheriff's Department. "We're not reassessing anything." Unlike skydiving, where people jumping out of an airplane have several thousand feet to pull their parachutes, the margin for error in BASE jumping is much narrower. Once they jump, they have only a few seconds to deploy parachutes packed specially to fill with air quickly. Shannon Carmel Dean of Alameda, Calif., became the third person to die since 2002 while jumping from the Perrine Bridge when she slammed into the Snake River on May 29 after her parachute failed to deploy. Since 1981, there have been at least 99 BASE-jump fatalities around the world, according to the World BASE Fatality List, a Web site maintained by a BASE jumper. Those risks haven't kept about 1,500 BASE jumpers around the world from making an estimated 40,000 jumps annually, said Martin Tilley, owner of Asylum Designs, an Auburn, Calif., company that makes equipment for BASE jumping. "BASE jumping is never going to go away," he said. "You're never going to eliminate the desire for people to thrust themselves off fixed objects and float safely to earth with the aid of a parachute." In Twin Falls, jumping already has resumed since Dean's death, said Tom Aiello, a BASE-jumping instructor. "I wouldn't exactly say it's business as usual," Aiello said. "But things go on." Twin Falls officials have quietly encouraged BASE jumping since it began there in the 1980s, in part because the estimated 5,000 jumps each year bring cash into the local economy. But in most of the United States, jumpers often face arrest. The National Park Service doesn't permit BASE jumping, including from the monoliths of Yosemite National Park, where six people had died, including a woman who was protesting the ban. An 876-foot bridge over West Virginia's New River Gorge is open just once a year. BASE jumping has been forbidden for years on 730-foot Foresthill Bridge in Auburn, Calif., where a stuntman in the Vin Diesel movie "XXX" used a stolen Corvette to start a memorable BASE jump. (The film crew had a permit. Diesel's character gets arrested.) An estimated 50 people jump each year anyway. Park managers issue about three $250 citations annually. "One guy bungee jumped, and as he got up to the top, he cut himself loose, and BASE jumped down," said Mike Lynch, the area's supervising ranger. "He was cited. Or as we like to say, given his 'certification' on the jump." Officials are considering requests to loosen the restrictions. But Lynch said nothing is decided, and the existing ban will likely remain. A new draft of National Park Service management policies released in October had proposed striking the provision banning BASE jumping. The final version is due out later this year, but officials in Washington, D.C., say it would still be up to park superintendents whether to issue permits. So far, no park officials have expressed interest in doing so. "It would probably take a lot of courage for superintendents to propose allowing BASE jumping because it has had such a difficult history in the parks," said Chick Fagan, deputy chief in the NPS's office of policy. Although leaping from bridges and other easily accessible sites is largely forbidden, jumpers can spring freely from remote cliffs on Bureau of Land Management territory, including hundreds of sites in the Utah desert. Unlike the National Park Service, BLM officials say their mission is to promote "multiple use" of public land, including cattle grazing, hunting and BASE jumping. They do, however, encourage etiquette to reduce conflicts with others on the land. "We don't like people to jump into campgrounds," said Maggie Wyatt, BLM field manager in Moab, Utah. "It tends to alarm the campers." Marta Empinotti-Pouchert, 41, who teaches BASE jumping to experienced skydivers in Moab, was in Twin Falls the day Dean died. "It's always devastating," Empinotti-Pouchert said. "But as a jumper, you think, 'What's the option?' To live not fully? To be afraid of living? Because people like us — we need this." Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

You know it would be great if David Blane jumped from the TF bridge and tried to pick a whole set of handcuffs and other restrictive devices and deploy his parachute before impact! Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Yo, how do you rig that thing? Do the risers have a regular length? Is it pretty much "just stuff the canopy into the container" sort of deal? Does is it really make that much of a difference on flights? Are you selling them? blue skies, Chris Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

In some cases, it has been people using 42 ZP PC's doing 4 second delays with the pilot chute highly exposed. In other cases, it's been with 52 inch F111 parainnovator pc's. It was with either velcro closed rigs or single pin skydiving rigs. The point being is that a highly exposed pilot chute can torque the jumper and lead to uneven shoulders, which can be a significant hazard on some objects. I have done terminal with a 42 inch ZP PC and 38 inch ZP PC in my hand many years ago. This was when I had a BASE rig from 1984 (Steve Morrell's rig, BASE 174) that was a converted Wonderhog reserve container. It had no spandex pouch so going stowed was not an option. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Yes Tom. I knew something was up with the choppy interview of you saying "all base jumpers are fools and I eat small children when I am not base jumping!" Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

This is not entirely accurate. One of the main reasons to use longer bridles was to increase snatch force for opening velcro rigs. The original rigs were skydiving pin rigs. Short bridles led to weak snatches and pilot chutes riding in the burble. Hence, longer bridles were the obvious conclusion... Look at the Bridge day 1983 video... very interesting. And the Steve Gersting incident in 1987 at Bridge Day. Be careful people. Yes, I completely agree with Jeb's conclusions. The only reason to go stowed is if there is a compelling reason, like aerials, long delays, or a very difficult exit point. A caveat regarding long delays - I have done long delay where I prefer to go hand held. Specifically for low pulls. This must be done carefully with a proper pilot chute folding to minimize the pc catching air while in your hand. If done poorly, the pilot chute can drag while it's in your hand, resulting in the jumper being barrel rolled, which has happened and nearly led to fatalities. The way I fold it handheld causes the pilot chute to literally spring open, which requires particular types of top skin tapes. While stowed, the pilot chute material has memory. That's why jumpers generally repack their pilot chute not too long before their jump for consistent pilot chute inflation. I personally am terrified of exposing the bridle to the spandex pouch. I stow my bridle within the pilot chute. I have included a write up by Adam CR about going stowed. Note that it was written 9 years ago. You guys need to rely upon the hard earned acculumated knowledge of the established BASE community. Remember this: No task is so simple that it cannot be done wrong! Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Wow Skin... This is incredibly well articulated. Kudos. Chris Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

My condolances... Something like this should be put on her tombstone: "This is only a temporary setback!" Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

From experience being with a Puerto Rican woman, I cannot imagine how hot headed a Columbian woman could be!!! Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Fortunately, it appears the waste has not yet reached the Snake River. An early cleanup should prevent this... Judge: DOE must remove nuclear waste [from Idaho] By CHRISTOPHER SMITH, Associated Press Writer Fri May 26, 12:35 AM ET BOISE, Idaho - A federal judge ruled Thursday that the U.S. Energy Department must remove all high-level radioactive waste stored at federal nuclear research compound in southeastern Idaho. U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge rejected the DOE's argument that a 1995 agreement with the state only covered waste that had been stored in barrels on asphalt pads at the Idaho National Laboratory. The federal government had claimed it was not required to dig up and remove other rotting containers of waste that was indiscriminately dumped into open pits and buried prior to 1970. The judge said the waste — whether buried or stored above ground — has to be shipped out of state for disposal by 2018. He wrote, "The words of the contract could not be clearer." The DOE said leaving the buried waste where it is may be safer than trying to exhume it, since some of the radioactive materials can spontaneously explode when exposed to oxygen. State leaders have said they oppose abandoning the waste, since some studies have shown that buried radioactive materials are seeping toward the underground aquifer that feeds the Snake River, which runs across and almost the entire length of Idaho. Jeremy Maxand, director of the Boise-based nuclear watchdog group The Snake River Alliance, hailed the ruling as a victory for Idaho's residents and farmers who depend on the river aquifer for drinking water, recreation and agriculture. "This is a step in the right direction to getting some accountability and cleanup at the INL burial grounds," he said. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

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I find extensive praactice at ski jumping to be very useful in my base tracking skills. Go on some tracking dives with some good skydivers. You'll get good with a little practice and some of it does transfer to BASE. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Yeah, where does one get a suit like that? I totally agree, but I will make it out to TF soon enough. Never jumped there but I will sometime this year. Seems like a nice mellow party. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Yes, does that jumper eat A LOT OF FOOD? Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

All of a sudden I'm reminded of the movie "The Lonely Guy" with Steve Martin. When he'd walk into his house, it would be filled cardboard cutouts of people he pretended to be his friends. It seemed kind of creepy. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Did someone say crack? Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Tim, is that for vented or unvented? Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

John and I wish we could be there. In our absence, we will provide life sized cardboard cutouts of us to place at the exit point and landing area. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Now I remember. I had that footage of Jimmy's flatbed truck jump. From what I recall, he had a smoke can attached to his feet for show. I also had footage of Jimmy jumping from a plane without a rig. The rig was thrown out first. He dove down, climbed into it, and dumped. No magic tricks, just a really fargin dangerous and scary jump in my opinion. Brave to the point of suicidal if you ask me. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174