SBCmac

It contains bandaids that have little BASE jumpers on them ... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

My vote is dependent on how you answer the below question... IS IT GOING TO HAVE GOOD DRUGS IN IT??? If yes, I will take two please ... OK... Seriously... I would definitely purchase a BASE specific kit... Awesome question/poll! BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Come down to Seattle... We'd love to have you join us, you're so close to us

What DexterBase describes is what happened to me... I had noticed regular off-heading openings to the left. It was 100% the way I was closing my pin rig. While synching down my flaps, I was pulling up the left nose higher than the right, therefore twisting the pack job in the tray. So now when I synch down my flaps with the pull cord, I place my hand over the left corner to prevent it from being lifted/twisted in the tray. I also take my time closing my rig, realizing that closing the rig is probably one of the most important parts of packing. Well I hope that helps… BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

I can't count how many times I have walked down... Yup... I went through the same mental game the first few times... And now, I won't hesitate a second to call it off. By being able to walk down and not beat myself up has made the jumps that I do decided to do even that much more pure! Pure being the key word because that's the whole reason I BASE... Because it is pure! My friend Todd turned to me once, when we were walking down from an object, and said "Wow... Boy have we matured with how we jump now...". Just an awesome comment on his part!!! Congradulations on growing with BASE ... Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Hi Katie ... I voted Engineer (database engineer), so I guess I fit into two categories, Engineer/High-tech type stuff. But as far as life goes, I have definitely been around the block. So I definitely feel your father is way off on what type of people BASE jump. Not to mention, every time you stand next to Chad at an exit point, you are standing next to the type of people who represent BASE. Do me a favor… To help explain your point of view to your father, simply print out the page that you’ll find at the below website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Star Don’t tell him why he’s reading it… Then once he’s done reading the Bronze Star definition/history, tell him that this is the kind of person that you BASE jump with... Tell him that you have the honor to jump with this person often. Your father knows that Chad is a Bronze Star recipient, so he’ll quickly connect the dots whether he wants to or not. Chad, and you, are awesome examples of what kind wonderful people we share exit points with. With that said, it would be awesome if your father eventually gets your point of view. But just remember, it is not your or our mission/responsibility to ensure that people understand why and how we live life the way we do. That’s an impossible mission …

See what you started Chad!!! You had to go and play a joke on everyone... So this is what you get, we're talking about your penis size ... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

So is this surgery an addition to his current member then??? .... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

I have four words to say about this post... BULLFUCKINGSHIT you are quitting..... We have too many journeys to share this summer for you to quit now FUCKER!!! Dude we're going to tear it up this summer ... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Hello Vandev, The biggest component that your missing about the "what if you have a bad exit" is that you are dealing with dead air when you exit. This means you need to nail your exit or you're along for one hell of a ride... Meaning that you don’t have relative air to fix the exit until you’re at least 4-5 seconds into the jump... Many of us have messed up exits... Even exits that are relatively simple. The same exit point is never the same, nor are the jumping conditions that surround it. This includes your physical and mental state… I like FrogNog's throwing a ball example... It hits the nail on the head... I have had one building strike as a result to slipping at exit point. The exit point was wet and I lost my footing when I launched. That slip had me doing aerials in a blinc of an eye, @ sub 250ft... So I pitched and hit the 5th floor right after line stretch. Ended up with a severely bruised spine, pulled and bruised muscles, and banged up internal organs... It took the hospital two days to stabilize the internal bang job I did. And it took months for the pain to go away… Anyway, the moral of the story is that you’re not simply pushing away from the cliff. You are doing your best to exit at a 45 degree angle to prevent a head-down or head-high exit. And again, the fact that you don’t have relative air to help you out when you exit, you’ve got what you’ve got once you have exited… Does that all make sense???

Did he have his rig on? No... But granted... Give the guy some credit, he was on a BASE jump... So, I have to ask... Since we're all wrapped around the freefall technicality part, what about this exaple... So you do a BASE jump and die from sudden impact, because you didn't deploy your parachute. Did you die BASE jumping or did you die after you BASE jumped??? If in that scenerio you in fact did die BASE jumping, why can you only die after a BASE jump, and have it count, but not before a BASE jump??? Furthermore... Is BASE jumping strickly the action of freefalling from a fixed object? Meaning Freefall and flying your parachute? Damn I hope not... Because if so, I have been doing it all wrong... I thought the action of BASE jumping was simply a small, very small, portion of the big picture of what BASE represents... If BASE jumping is simply the action of freefalling and canopy flight, I totally got into BASE for the wrong reasons... I got into BASE for what it encapsulates and not simply the freefall... Cause damn, I definitely get more freefall when skydiving... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Dwain wasn't planning on landing his wing suit on the bridge and then jumping again... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Now your thinking... Now your thinking... I like the way you think .... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Wow... Think of this... I could even put mats down on my bedroom floor and do aerials from my bed ... And when I'm feeling risky, I'll remove the mats ... BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Wow... I always find it funny how anal people get about "What Is" or "What Is NOT" a BASE jump. Yes he did exit an airplane on the way to his BASE jump. I’m sure you have used multiple means of transportation on the way to many of your BASE jumps, including an airplane. Should you remove those jumps from your log book? No, because you were on your way to those BASE jumps. And as far as whether or not he cutaway his main… Plenty of people jump on Bridge day with converted rigs… Not to mention, if I started BASE jumping with a Sorcerer, that has two canopies, am I not BASE jumping? Of course I’m BASE jumping… So again… Technically… He flew in an airplane to his BASE object… He landed on the BASE object… He exited the BASE object, not in the manner as planned… He went into freefall… And finally but not least, he deployed a parachute, in fact two (with one being a reserve)… Now I would understand the debate if we were asking this question about someone who hit the side of a barn during a skydive, but we're not… He died falling from the top of the BASE object that he intended to BASE jump from and did successfully deploy his reserve. In my book, that qualifies as a BASE jump... Damn since we’re getting all technical about it… I’m going to go jump off my bed a couple hundred times tonight with my rig on and throw out my pilotchute… I'll log them as “pilotchute in tow”/”Other” BASE jumps… ... Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Hello Nick... In my opinion, Yes, most definitely… To me, a BASE jump is the whole journey around the jump and not just the freefall & canopy flight off the object I’m pursuing. If the only reason I BASE'd jumped was for the freefall or the canopy flight, it wouldn't be worth the risk to me. But the journey, and the people on the journey with me, are what makes BASE jumping worth the risk to me... But now that I think of it… Technically… He did freefall from the object… And he did deploy a reserve on that jump… He just didn’t survive his BASE jump… But by all means, he did do a BASE jump… So in my eyes, I do see it as a BASE jump…

CRWPER (Michael), Thanks for your post... Your post put a smile on my face because I now know that I'm not the only one that struggles to make sure that I'm on the right path with BASE... I too have evolved my thoughts about BASE over time. I have experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly with BASE (good = amazing jumps, bad = I've been arrested and in the hospital, ugly = watched my best friend die on a BASE jump). With that said, all of my experiences in BASE have molded what I think about BASE today. For a while after watching my friend die, it took me a lot to step off of exit point. I had a hard time with BASE for many obvious reasons, but primarily because of the pain BASE causes other people, family and friends, when shit goes wrong in BASE. So for a very long time, my journey was to find BASE again, more or less meaning finding myself again. I don't know how we all get trapped in the #'s game we create around BASE and skydiving. But you’re absolutely right... "Jumping for fun" is my new approach to BASE… Meaning, I now BASE when I want to BASE and not because the winds are calm or because I think I should be doing it on any given day. All in all, I have found peace and the beauty in BASE again... It just happened one day on a train trestle that I was opening… It's a long story but it was with out a doubt a jump that will remain one of my most cherished BASE journeys. Not to mention, my new found peace in BASE has mainly come from the awesome people that I jump with and the people that I continue meet in BASE. I have to give special thanks to my friend Heather that helped me open that train trestle that day… I’m not sure she knows how much that day changed my life… Just an amazing day!!! And I have to thank KMonster (Katie), Dexter (Chad), Steve (A.K.A Heather’s HotMan), and TVHigley (Todd) for them being great people and sharing amazing experiences with me. And I of course have to thank Valentin (Christophe) for hanging out with me, Heather, Steve, and Brian at Perrine. Other than Christophe just being an awesome person, he stopped everything that day to help me fix my tear in my canopy. Cristophe saved my weekend at Perrine :)… Anyway, I have so many people to thank but I don’t want to write a book here… So one BIG THANKS to all my friends… Ok… I’m going to stop rambling now and just say… I fell like we are the luckiest bastards in the whole world to experience and grow with such an amazing sport like BASE… … Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Thanks Guys ... I've been so busy at work that I haven't been on dropzone for a while ... Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Tom, I just want to thank you for giving back to our sport... I so respect what you are doing! Thanks, Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Hi all... I just want to take a moment and say bye to Josh... Him and I shared some amazing jumps together and I'm going to miss him. He used to piss me off sometimes, but that's what friends are for. Your good friends have the guts to tell you how it is, knowing that your friendship is solid enough to withstand any indifferences between you. Again... I'm going to miss you brother!!! Your free now brother... See you soon, Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Awesome Post Barry!!! Those pics on the site you posted is exactly how I will remember him. Josh being Josh... Cool stuff... Again thanks Barry, Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

A pretty bad ass post DexterBASE ... I always thought it was funny how I swore to be a lazy civilian after I got out of the service... Not to mention, I told myself that I would never work or play out in the elements again... The first job that I got out of the service was a laborer job for a construction company in the middle of winter time. Then somehow down the road, I became a BASE jumper, someone who not only lives in the elements but seeks out the most challenging environments in which to play in. I told my friend once that I thought it was funny how I/BASE jumpers relax from a stressful work week. BASE jumpers at the end of the week say to themselves, “damn I’m glad it’s Friday, time to go play”… And so what do we do to relax, we climb up some big ass mountain, find our way to exit point and jump. The funny part is that, while at exit point, we probably experience more stress than you do in a year’s worth of work related stress. So I just think that it’s funny that we relax by putting ourselves in the most challenging situations and we love it… The mental journeys that we go through as BASE jumpers are just amazing … Thanks for your post DexterBASE… You made my day

badenhop I'm sure there is something that motivated you to make this post... So since I don't know your motivation, which of course is none of my business, I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you... If you are going through pain, or know someone who is, I wish that the pain passes soon brother... Keep your chin up brother... Michael BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

Since we're talking bible talk and all... It is only appropriate that I tell you how I really feel by using a biblical word... HOLY crap (punt intended...) you're funny … BATMAN - (A.K.A. SBCmac ...)

To all... Thank you so much for hearing me out and posting your thoughts... And yes, my thanks is to everyone, whether you support my point of view or not… This post has really helped me personally; it has let me vent and clear my mind. But most importantly, it has allowed me to take a step back and do a reality check… Like I mentioned in my first post, I can now go back to what I love, BASE jumping . I also now have the benefit of moving forward with my BASE career with a clear mind and reassurance from my awesome BASE brothers and sisters, that even though we all tick differently, that for the most part I’m going in the right direction. A very special thanks to Katie (KMonster) and Chad (DexterBASE)… With out a doubt, my BASE guardian angle (which to me is my life guardian angle…) has given me the greatest gift of all by blessing me with meeting you two. I wish I could bottle up the amazing energy that overflows from you two and give it to everyone on this earth to experience. Being around you two has been a life changing experience for me… You two are just amazing people… And a special thanks to Tom and Faber as well… Your posts, along with Katie and Chad’s, are just awesome and very motivating…