crwper

I don't think they're actually calling it a "style ring". I think it's a "number 10-style ring". I like the term "harness ring". I suppose it should probably be called a "number 10 harness ring", assuming we're talking about the big ones. Michael

Looking at Paragear, it seems to be a "number 10 style ring", but I think more people would know it as the big ring in a set of 3-rings. Michael Edited to clarify the link

I'm 29 years old. I would say I've thought about my own mortality more than most people my age. Three months ago I probably would have argued that few people have a clearer picture of their own mortality than I did. Then I watched my brother go in at the Potato Bridge (and, incredibly, survive). Today, I would say, Show me a man who has accepted his own mortality, and I'll show you a man who will accept it more if the right events transpire. I guess what I'm saying is, I doubt any of us is ever really over the "bullet-proof" thing. So it seems a bit odd to look at a 16-year-old and say, "There is still some part of them that has not yet accepted their own mortality." Michael

It's interesting that at least two posters here have specifically said this kind of practice is useless because we all know how to kick out of line twists. If the first thing that comes to mind when you think "line twists in BASE" is "kick out of them", what do you think is the first think you'll do when they actually happen? Will you still be kicking when you hit the wall? It would be pointless to practice kicking out of line twists. But it might be very helpful to build habits like climbing above the line twists to correct heading. It's hard to do that if you've never tried it out in a situation where it matters. Michael

Videos are fun, but I don't think they're a good way to learn about the sport. If you're even thinking about getting into it, you've probably already been exposed to more than enough of the "cool" side of things. What most people here are encouraging you to do is look more into the technical/reality side of things. Forget about the videos for now. Read the fatality list. Read the archives in this forum. Check out BaseWiki. BASE jumping is not skydiving. You will not be able to use the same gear, and many of the techniques will be unfamiliar to you at first. Learn about them. Michael

It's already been described, sort of, but I think my technique may be slightly different since it doesn't involve sitting. Wearing any rig without a cord across the back of the leg straps, bend over and pull the rig up over your head. You don't have to be a contortionist to do this, but I doubt it would be a good way to put the rig on. Michael

I'm assuming here you have not done a lot of platform diving. If you have, well, you're one step ahead of me. If you can find a pool with a 5-metre platform (not a diving board), then just practice jumping off it. You don't have to do a BASE exit. (1) Try stepping off first, since that's easiest. (2) Then try launching hard from the edge, and land in the water feet first. How hard can you launch? (3) Try running off the end. Don't pace it out, just go to the back of the platform and run for it. Jump when you have no more steps left. (4) Try sideways and rear-facing "exits". (5) Try just hucking yourself off and sorting the rest out in the air. You have about a second. The general idea of all this is that you have an innate monkey-sense which lets you leap off one thing and ensure you're in a particular position when you land. We don't use it often, but it's there. Jumping from the 5-metre platform will build your confidence in that sense, so that when you do your first BASE jump, you won't have to rely on "head up, chest forward". You may also learn some other things along the way. I learned that if I do a positive launch, as opposed to stepping off, I am much more aware of my time in freefall. I also learned how to do a good running exit, without over-thinking it. A lot of others have said this already, but take your time getting into BASE. When it goes well it's fabulous, and this is what you see most of the time. But it can also be incredibly brutal. When it goes badly, it can go very, very badly. Michael

Beautiful! Does anyone know where I can order a Superswede action figure for, erm, my cousin? Michael

Found it! Michael

That's way better than the pic in your original post. Sweet building! Michael

No, really, where is the pic? Michael

Or here. Edited to add: "Man I was so enthusiastic about BASE jumping that inbetween shitting my pants full of excitement, I left no stone unturned. That article could have been hidden on a prime-number archive page, and I still would have found it." - Anonymous

That's what the monitor is for, stupid. Michael

A couple of things. First, I think most slider-down openings are considerably harder than terminal openings on skydiving gear. After four or five of these in a day, you can feel really beat up. The fit of the gear plays a major role in reducing that discomfort. Second, the fit of the gear can have a major impact on heading performance. If the gear doesn't fit well, you're going to have a hard time using your body to control heading on very short delays. I'm worried that you're asking about the fit of gear at this stage. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but usually someone asks about fit of gear if they're looking to buy, and it really sounds like you have a lot more research to do before you should even consider buying BASE gear. Please take your time on this one. Michael

You going to put any jumps in that logbook, Dave? Michael

That's awesome! I've only done a couple of flights, but I loved paragliding, and hope to return to it later on. Go Spence! Michael

I wear a Dainese Shuttle Pro suit on every jump. Never had a problem with freedom of movement due to the armour. Michael

With FM antennas the structure itself is usually not live. If there's a lot of hardware hanging off of it (dishes and such), then that stuff is probably doing the transmitting/receiving. The "antenna" is really just a tower. With AM antennas the structure is the antenna, so it's usually live. There will be no hardware hanging off the antenna, and the guy wires and base of the antenna are usually insulated from the ground. If the structure is not live, it shouldn't matter what kind of ladder you use. Michael P.S. Search the forum for "AM FM" and you'll turn up a lot more information.

Is the structure itself live? I assume you're asking because it is, but hey, you know what they say about assumptions. Michael

Looking at the Sport, I notice it doesn't have a scan mode. This is something I've found particularly useful for finding the shortest distance by scanning around a little, or for finding any distance at all on an object like a crane, which can be a bit tricky if you're just pushing the button and hoping you hit. Michael

Yeah, what's up with that? Oh how I yearn for the good ol' days when we would just sew a bunch of nylon together any which way, without regard for this "physics" bullshit, and take it out for a jump to see if we got it right. A functional parachute is like porn. You know it when you feel it. Michael

I use a Bushnell Yardage Pro Scout. It's compact and accurate. Only downside is that it has no backlight. This is usually not a problem, since you can push the button and quickly swing over to a light source in most situations. Michael

You say that like masturbation was a bad thing. Michael

When you say "low extraction speed", are you referring to airspeed when the pilot chute is extracted, or to the strength of the pilot chute toss? Michael

The motion of a pendulum could also be described as the sort of mode I'm talking about, so in a way we're talking about the same thing. However, I think when we compare pilot chute motion to a pendulum, we are iimplicitly saying that the pilot chute's momentum is important, which I think it is not. If we imagine a mass hanging from a thread, and a jet of air shooting from the side of the mass, we are much closer to the problem of asymmetric pilot chutes. In this case, the pendulum will start out being pushed off to one side by the jet, but its being balanced way out there on the jet is an unstable situation. It will rotate slightly, and now the jet pushes it in a circular motion. That's a very stable situation, and very similar to an orbiting pilot chute. But the motion is primarily caused by the force of the jet and the restoring force. It has little to do with the momentum of the suspeded mass. With a zero-p pilot chute, we can add other forces to the equation. When the pilot chute swings "left", it spills air out the right side, and generates a force which pushes it further in that direction. Like the suspended mass with a jet of air, it will eventually reach what would be an unstable equllibrium point, where small perturbations will cause it to move in some other direction. A similar phenomenon can be seen in Karman vortex streets, another periodic solution. This may seem like nit-picking, but I think the difference is important. If momentum was a big player, then the key would be to reduce the mass of the pilot chute. As noted above, an asymmetric pilot chute, or a zero-p pilot chute, introduce problems not related to momentum. As you point out, an F-111 pilot chute is much less succeptible to the second mode. A symmetric F-111 pilot chute is a pretty good solution to both problems. Michael