sum1sneaky

I'm not sure you'd consider it new, but Vertigo's Warlock container has sure been reworked a bunch since last year's BD! I own a model 2003 and a 2004, and the difference is amazingly pleasant. I love the simplicity of the '03 model, and the new one is still nice and simple, but has velcroless riser covers, revised stiffeners and pin protection, a deeper seating bottom flap - which helps hide bridle better -, and a slightly trimmer looking profile. Also a little bonus that's on my '04 rig is big grab toggles - awesome for low jumps. Nothing really NEW - but a lot different and lots of thought going into the rig design.

I'm definately attending to jump and may consider entering the climbing competition.

A couple of bad ass videos are available here: TriaxProductions.com I've seen Continuum I and it's really swell... and Continuum II is going to be hard to turn away too! From past threads: I know Triax says they'll be on sale at BD and also online in October.

I'm using a Vertigo slider that has a "slider gate" loop for a rubber sewn onto the middle of the back edge. I leave the slider in between the brake lines and then wrap the rubberband around them so that the slider still keeps the sides seperate... I don't understand how you would get an unsymetrical stow there - maybe you have a different kind of setup, but I wouldn't think it would make much difference. I'll post a pic next time I pack.

clicky: [url "http://www.triaxproductions.com"]www.triaxproductions.com[/URL] Hey Kenyon, does this video "Continuum II" the one that has all that sick footage of your malfunctions?

Doesn't the acceptable altitude differ between jumps? I've PCA'd/SL'd about 200 without problems on one site, but wouldn't consider it on other objects with more technical stuff like hairy'er landings etc... I'm a BASE injury virgin and am knocking on wood right now to stay that way!

I would pay some, but not more than $15 per jump (that's about what each base jump has cost me when I average all the money I've spent base jumping and when I don't consider gear purchases because that is paid for with plasma). I would jump that balloon every morning if you'd fill it up near my house - and work extra hours for the jump $$. Is it a BASE jump though? NO!!! Balloons/blimps are aircraft - whoever thinks they're connected to the earth doesn't know what the word "grounded" means! I'm with Ray 100%, it's a skydive that you need base gear for. It's still fun. What about the difference between legal and illegal jumps - I know the bridge during the day is certainly less of a BASE jump than some of the jumps I've made at night!

yeah, but do black canopies open harder?!!!

How could I have copied you if I've had mine for weeks? www.vertigobase.com Please keep me posted though about your openings - I'm wondering if you have harder openings on a mostly black canopy. Mine have been a bit snappier than on my mostly blue one.

There's no need to off color the center rib - you hardly see it at all during a packjob. With a name like "spy", I'm suprised you're not going with something more like the attached:

WTF is with you two (JP & Lou)?!!! Can't you take your opinionated bickering over to the soapbox or someplace? I am really starting to like Mick's place a lot, lot more! More skydivers hijacking threads like this and I'll never look back.

Believe it or not, I just tied 12 feet of 6mm climbing rope to a 4 pound rock and dropped if off my balcony (a fall of 12 feet), it broke 80lb break cord tied in a loop (same knot as in test 1 above). I imagine the elasticity of the rope is a little less than that of the bridle plus lines and canopy etc - just because it was much shorter - but the rock also fell much less - so that would make up for it. I now don't believe there's any possibility of a jumper's fall being arrested by break cord - no matter what knot you use! I would try a smaller rock - but that would be for pure amusment and I think I'd rather use my cordage for a jump.

A "dull" thump - like the sound of my last post being deleted because it implied a threat of physical violence when comparing the thump the rocks made to other thumps that sometimes happen.

For those of you who are looking, here's pics of base689's setup I was doing a bit of testing with one I made out of 850lb dacron and found some interesting stuff about knots. I've always tied my break cord in a circle using repeated square (surgeon's) knots - and this is what I've understood base689 to be using in the setup for the carry-on SL system. This knot is pictured in the first image (sl-carry-knot1.jpg) and the second (test1_knot.jpg). In all the pics, I've substituted the the bridle with a carabiner for simplicity of loading etc. I then piled weight onto the setup, very slowly and carfully so that no acceleration except for gravity is applied to the system. In this first test, the breakcord broke just after I took the picture (test1_hang.jpg). Go ahead and make fun of my weights. Then I piled all this junk onto the scale = (test1_weight.jpg) and the weight was 105 lbs at break time! The carry-on worked flawlessly and the breakcord broke in the middle of the loop. That seemed like a lot more than the 80 lbs it's supposed to be, so I decided to try another method, thus test2. In this test, the breakcord is tied to each end of the carry-on rig, and care would have to be taken to make sure there's not a lot of friction at the bridle attachment point (or else the force would be doubled!). The knots are detailed in (test2_knot.jpg). The weight is applied (test2_hang.jpg), and just after the last rock was added and that pic taken - it broke (test2_break.jpg). This time, the cord broke with 98 lbs. (test2_weight.jpg) - 7 lbs less than the previous method. This method would have a problem if the bridle bound the breakcord in any way - where as the circle/loop method used in test1 would always be free to break at the attachment to the carryon device. I also though someone might try to lower the force required by tying one end of the breakcord around the carryon device and the other to the bridle - leaving just one strand of breakcord in between. (test3_knot.jpg) This would be a BAD thing however, as when the cord breaks - the loop will still be tied to both sides of the carryon rig (test3_break.jpg) and force will then be doubled or worse. I'll be using it with the first method because it seems to have the lowest propensity for error. However, I would prefer it if it broke with less weight - any ideas folks?

IMO, all it takes for a company to lose good will among base jumpers is to sponsor a bunch of ego hungry little boys and have them wear your helmets while raping a valuable legal object. No amount of boycott will get an object back after it's burned - and even if all the base jumpers boycott redbull it's not going to phase a company who's built an impressive international distribution system. I switched to go fast for personal reasons - it just feels better to support a company who hasn't been sponsoring media hungry idiots.

Anyone that has JT's contact info (email, home address etc.), could you please PM me - I'm trying to get in contact with him. thx!

I think it's possible to have a PC hesitate due to a stale pack job - so I repack that if I'm going stowed. The canopy should be fine, but who needs the worry if you have some time or an easier object. This is probably true, but what if someone has had a chance to sabatoge your kit! I ALWAYS double check the stuff that I can see without opening it: my bridle's attachment to the canopy and bridle integrity on through to the PC, the 3-rings and cutaway cables, the harness integrity, the PC, and if I really think there's a chance someone might have a chance to get to it I open it and check everything. You never know who might not think the world of you, I'd especially look out if you're a red bull jumper!

now I feel silly for asking: Videoalarm Superdome Outdoor Wall Mount. Jeez though, the prices on this stuff are amazing!

Yeah, there's three alright - and you can see in that first pic that they're mounted at the first parallel section of tower (the supports are shown narrowing down towards the base). I think you're right about them being canon security cameras: Canon VB-C10R I don't know if it's radiation because I didn't have my dosimiter that day, but there's definitely thermal HEAT coming down from above - I could feel the warmth on my face and the backs of my hands as I approached the tower - this is despite the 45 degree night and a 10-15mph wind! Also, after walking around this tower for around 5 minutes I felt a little dizzy and acquired a mild headache that lasted about an hour. Other strange stuff here: The signs saying stay out due to high radiation etc... were mounted on the fence to the area as usual, the weird thing is that this fence is nearly 3km away from the tower! There are no "no trespassing" signs anywhere - which I thought was a bit strange. There were 9 unique locks on the chain closing their fence, and someone before me who has a combo lock was a little lazy. But why are there 9 different groups of people that are distant enough that they can't share combos/keys? After the gate, there's a long road that sees lots of HEAVY truck traffic. I know this because I used to build roads and have been a tracker for some time. I know it sounds strange to track cars, but I do it and I can tell this road is approached often by heavy multi-axle trucks. It is constructed better than most county roads and has no organic material in the dirt - it's a high dollar rock road. At the top of the road is a large turn around followed by a huge leveled area on the mountain that is approximately 1 acre - the strange thing: it's solid stone that's been blasted away. The entire base is solid rock. Large above ground pipes (8-14 inches dm) run up the mountain and when they get to the flat stone area they become covered by a concrete shelf type thing that goes all the way into the building. The building is a little different than most too. The building is about 20 yards long, 10 yards wide, 15 feet tall, and it's made of steel! All the walls of the building are metal and have those protrusions to diffuse heat that are used in the big transformers you see outside big buildings. There are no signs on the building, they clearly assume all the danger has been disclosed at the entrance to the compound. Next to the big metal building is an array of satellite dishes - not like your little cable dish, more like the old ones. There were 5 or 6 different ones, varying a bit in size and look, and a couple looked like they'd just been put there temporarily (they were on portable tripod like stands with just a small insulated wire - sort of like the black cable tv wire - leaving and going into a large locked job box). Some of the wires all bundled together and were terminating in an inverted rubbermaid bin that had a hole cut in the bottom for the wires to enter - I have to say this had me stumped. One of the satellite dishes looked expensive, I don't know much about these things - but it looked way fancier than most I've seen and I just have this hunch it was super expensive. The tower is not insulated from the ground and seems a little over built. By looking at the base you'd think the thing was 600' tall - it's about 200'. There are larger diameter than the guys on my favorite 640'er, and there's 5 sets in 200'! The stuff up top looked really different than most stuff I've seen too, but my flash didn't reach that far to get pics and I didn't feel like hanging around enough to climb it. You'd think they're expecting 200mph winds or something. There was not an FCC# posted conspicuously - but I did write down a number found in one place and rubbed the logo found on a pretty fancy lock at the gate - I'll have to do some more research for this stuff. 311's right on, definitely no short budget at this strange tower.

Thanks guys, you've confirmed my suspicions. They also seem to have some sort of proximity function because they would emit clicking noises faster and faster the closer I'd get! I don't have a video camera but I don't think it's worth it anyway - it's super hot (radiation hot) up there - I could feel it from the ground! I was just curious if people had seen these things before. I agree they probably don't even watch all the tape those things generate - but it's strange they put them on this tower in the first place - it's just a strange tower all together I guess. Cheers, sum1

Three of these look identical and are 10' off the ground, one mounted to each of the three load bearing supports. At night there is a green led looking light inside each sphere. The bottom of each sphere thing looks gold to the eye - but my camera flash makes them look like clear glass. Cable TV type wire comes out of each one.

our balls are bigger too, but i'm not sure that makes us safer

They've moved them into the base section: 2004 Coppercanyon_2.mpg 2003 Copper_canyon_3.mov

conditions seemed ideal. wind speed, direction, and a nice moon all spelled get my kit and get the hell up a tower! good direction for my neighborhood tower so i grab gc and head. driving out there, i can’t see a bit of the nice moon we’re supposed to have tonight. maybe it will rise while i climb, or maybe it won’t matter - so onward i go. sneaking up to the fence, i notice some new stuff hanging around the base of the gem... i climb into their little compound and survey the situation. looks like someone’s been here recently and i figure they’re just doing maintenance or adding a dish again or something (that’s the only problem here – they keep bolting more and more crap onto it). it’s really, really, dark and hard to even see my arms – so i think twice about the little maneuver i’m up to. looking around and realizing the winds are ideal, i decide to climb and see how it looks from above. once above, i find a new stinger right below where i wanted to jump – plan modification time. i can hardly see the ground, so it would be nice to have plenty of altitude to setup and that would also provide a chance at flying around the guys and landing near the gc’s car headlights – but this friggin stinger is now blocking that plan. i could go way higher and free fall it, or i could just static line from where the stinger starts and land in the pitch dark. it’s heating up hanging out by this transmitter so i decide to get after it and go SL from 220’. the winds are cranking between the wires, perfect direction but a bit heavy. as i wait for my ride to light up a spot on the road nearby so i have a alti reference, i tie off my pc with breakcord and start wondering if when i let it inflate if it will be pulling close to 80lbs! i decide to just keep it collapsed until i’m outside with it between my feet, then i’d be ready and i’ve got enough alti for a free fall with this pc – i’d just have to downwind the landing. so my ride pulls up and i climb out and release my bridle, it immediately wraps itself around my leg and the pc slips out and inflates, whipping around and going crazy. i untwist my leg, climb another 6’ up and jump my arse out of there. it’s a nice launch and on opening i see the canopy is heading right @ 30 degrees – do to my proximity to the wire and nerves, i slightly overamp or correct too soon with a riser. so this slightly stalls my opening and i see tower flying by behind my feet – i get the toggles, let it fly for 1 second – now i’m clear pretty far with the winds – look down for my lz and can’t see shit. so i flat turn while focusing on the car’s headlights and i get about 100 degrees closer to being into the wind. however, there’s not with enough altitude to complete the turn, so i keep turning slowly from half brakes, looking down now for the flare but can’t see shit. I flare just from instinct but that’s a little too high, ooooooooo time to plf! sinking straight in, a bit crosswind and bingo, i feel the ground hitting me so i collapse like a rag doll as i notice my right foot is a lot deeper than the left and entering a friggin ankle eating gopher hole! the landing wasn’t too bad, but it was hard and i felt it in my back. my ankle was fine though! so this is why i’m really glad i wore the hanwags tonight! if you’re new to base and think your tennies will work – think twice, buy some ankle gear – some day, you may wind up really happy like me!

it's amazing how much a bunch of coyotes can sound like sirens coming for you when you really don't need any of either. that's my deep thought for the night, it's what happens when you're forced to study chickens.