K763

Nice to hear from you Feral! I was just at the staff apt. making coffees the other night, and it just seemed wrong not having Darcy in there in the kitchen with me as I made them Feral style... 1\3 espresso, 1\3 steamed milk, 1\3 froth, and one sugar. Your coffee machine is fine even though I had trouble with the steamer the next day...maybe didn't heat it up long enough... Darcy would be happy to read your post, but he would correct you on one thing...it's DIRTY GREEK B@ASTARD... Love and peace, K PS hope you're hanging ok, everyone misses you over here.

OK Kev... BS!!!! You mean your basketball sized knees after that low bridge deployment doesn't count as an injury???? Maybe I'm Mistaken, and hello from Norway... Love to Amber and the dogs K

We'd have to have a 2 or 3 year calendar to include all the BASE babes I know.... Marta Anne Karin Anniken Karina Elin Amanda Lica Brit Jen Nancy Ginny Seven Geraldine Vibeke Winnie Amy the list goes on and on...

Support our troops; bring them home where they belong (and not in body bags!) Condolences to Jeff's family and friends. Thanks to Jeff for fighting for us all. Peace, K

Only the good die young; Darcy was absolutely the best. Best wishes to his brother and family and his father.... I still can't believe it... The Silver Bullet is flying free... my heart, Karen

Small mesh slider, normal tailgate. K

Nick, you are too sweet! I'm finally online for the first time and was quite anxious to see this thread...Anne had told me about it but I was at home with lousy internet connection plus missing a piece of a finger...not very agreeable to getting online... Yes, the damn dog took the tip of my right middle finger clean off...well, the surgeon said there was a lot of damage so I guess it wasn't so clean. Infection was a huge issue so I sat in hospital for 3 days 2 nights on iv antibiotics and morphine...hooray for morphine. I was trying to break up a dog fight and the chow decided to show me his prowess...he could have taken my hole finger or mangled my hand but instead he just took the tippy tip. Lucky for me one of my best friends is an RN with a cellphone and was able to take my call to get me and my parts calmly to the e.r. "Buddy" will be euthanised (sp) this week. I wanted his right ear but then thought that would be too gruesome. I guess having the tip in formaldehyde in a jar is gross enough. I'm off work for 2-3 weeks while I heal and adjust, and am feeling much better now than I did a week ago. Thank you all for you love and support. I can't tell you how much it6 helps knowing you all were thinking of me and sending me strength. I'll be asking for a 10% discount on my next manicure and if you have problems getting massage from an amputee then I'll offer you a 10% discount. I guess that's only fair. More later, this took way too long to write! Thanks Nick, and F*ch them, we'll form our own pieces of 8! BASE pieces of 8! We need six more, any one missing any parts??? xo Love you all Karen

I've only been on a few illegal jumps, and on my second one I hit a tree, landed hard, and shattered my right tibia. I don't think the guys I jumped with had any thought of leaving me, just as I had no thought of calling 911. They helped me out of my gear, out of the street, and to the nearby emergency room. It all turned out fine, no busts, even though we hadn't discussed this before hand. I ground crewed recently for another illegal jump, and as soon as the jumpers were over the fence the local said "in for a penny, in for a pound", and we all three agreed that if something unfortunate happened we'd stick around and see it through. Now I absolutely have the presence of mind to discuss this with the people on the load before jumping. Some people say "get the hell out of here, one of us going down is enough", and others of us couldn't imagine leaving an injured or dead jumper to lay there alone. I'm with Tom; I'd be the one staying while the rest bail with the gear and cameras, unless someone else on the load wanted that slot. The important thing is having it all organized before hand. Another good thing to do is have your personal desires written up and signed and in your wallet. You know, a disclaimer or waiver to let authorites know that you did this of your own free will, you do not want any entity sued for damages to your person, a DNR if that's what you prefer, no heroic measures or life support, and your blood type and medicinal allergies. Recently there was discussion on a thread about what people thought their chances were of getting hurt or killed on a BASE jump. I was amazed to see how many people think they are bullet-proof and don't need to plan ahead or take measures to ensure no major fiascos ensue. Every time you jump you take your life into your own hands, and if your skill or luck run out, you're in a world of hurt. I think one of the best things we can do as BASE jumpers to help our activity avoid so much discrimination and supression is to be responsible for ourselves and make our arrangements ahead of time. This includes preparing your family or next of kin, talking to the jumpers on the load before the jump, and having appropriate insurances to avoid costly bills for yourself, your loved ones, or the government to pay on your behalf. If we take these simple but important steps, when the inevitable incidents occur we can avoid looking like crazy freaks with no regard for the consequences of our actions (even though many of us are quite proud of being crazy freaks)! Ok, I digress...this is a good thread and a great discussion. Be safe, have fun, and soft landings! Karen

The Havly does give BASE discounts if you tell them that when you make your reservation and check in...at least the last time I checked. If you go bar hopping you may just end up sleeping in an alley anyway.. Peace K

Got it, thanks! Johnny 9-lives is alive and well!

Hey Russel! Tell Jaap to give me a shirt! (Can I have some cheese with my whine????) K

Hey everyone... If anyone knows how to contact Johnny A. (9-lives) could you please tell him to call us here at Apex? The number we have on file is not working and we need to talk to him about a request he's made of us. Don't worry, it's all good! Thanks, Karen Apex BASE Perris 951-940-1324

So Jaap, did I win a shirt??? I really REALLY want one... And I've been meaning to catch up with Abbie...he's been going hard here in my area and I haven't even met him yet! Peace, K

I BASE because my mother told me to .... She said "if xxx jumped off a cliff would you?" Mother - the answer is YES .... Yeah, what he said... and besides, it makes me wet. K Do I get a shirt?

Amen, Brother! If people really knew what they were doing with their gear, we would have had a lot less "close calls" and actual injuries, let alone fatalities. I can think of two deaths, one p/c in tow, and several serious injuries due DIRECTLY to incorrect rigging/packing. This stuff is completely avoidable. It's completely moronic that this stuff happens and then people have the nards to COMPLAIN!!!! The easiest way to be a safe and happy BASE jumper is to KNOW YOUR GEAR INTIMATELY!!! Know what you're doing with it. Understand how it works. Learn how to think things through. OK, I've had my rant to add to Space's.... Peace, and be safe everyone. K

Hi Jaap... If you do decide to pack yourself an intentional line over, please make sure you have a belly-mount reserve as well as your normal reserve. This is a requirement by USPA for any intentional cut-aways, and if you don't do this and the dz gets wind of it, they could ground you or worse. Intentional cutaways have their place in the scheme of things; just make sure you've covered all the safety aspects to ensure your survival. We want you to live! That being said...if you want to pack a line over, what step of the packjob would you skip or even reverse? (This is a test...) Peace, and BE SAFE! Karen

Tailgates cost $1.10 in bulk. You paid how much to wash one? Silly boy... K

Well, good luck with the cinna-orange tailgate. If you're really concerned, look up Jimmy and Marta. They will probably have a field kit with some tailgates in it... Don't you people carry spares? What the???? Peace, K

Hi there... First of all I commend you on making this statement...it's tough to be the guy admitting "I'm not standing up my landings" and I think you are a Real Man...not afraid to expose a perceived shortcoming in order to learn something new. My first suggestion would be to get the valves installed on the Vtec. These valves seal off the vents when the canopy is pressurized and allows you to get better glide and way better flares. The 5th upper control line can also add a lot of power to your flare. Personally, I'm the butt-slide queen. I could blame this habit on having broken my right leg pretty severely, and that would be marginally true, but actually I've always done the butt-slide when in doubt about my landing. I realize this is very dangerous for the tailbone and lower back, so I'm also re-training myself to either stand it up, or PLF. I was also pleased to notice that while I was sliding in under my 293, I have been able to stand up every landing on my 266. The higher wing loading does add to flare performance, just like they teach you in skydiving....doh! And of course, one obvious question is that after you've flown yourself to target, do you still have time to return to full flight before flaring? The only stupid question is the one you don't ask. Peace, K

Hi, sorry to hear you're having issues with off-headings these days! Yes, you certainly should check the trim, or have it checked by someone proficient in this task. The specs for the canopy are readily available and it's easy enough to see if one side has stretched or something similar. If the trim all checks out fine, then you know it's not the parachute and more likely your closing or other factor. If you need detailed instructions on how to accomplish this trim check, please e-mail to toddATapexbase.com (where AT = @) He will be glad to help you with your technical questions. Be safe, have fun, and soft landings! Peace, Karen Apex BASE Perris

Please go to www.basekjerag.com and read all the pages. There are some specific guidelines there that you MUST know before arriving at Kjerag, such as "skydiving gear is not allowed, you must you BASE-specific gear at Kjerag and Smellveggen". If you really prefer a 2 parachute system, the Scorcerer is the only one you will be allowed to use there. Please note, people, that Stein Edvardsen has put a LOT of work into creating the baseKjerag website to help people come to Norway informed and prepared. Please take the time to read the website fully and contact Stein or Vibeke with any questions you may have AFTER reading the website thoroughly. I'm amazed at the amount of people that go over there without doing their homework. Just yesterday a man came by the shop and said he was going to Norway in June, and wanted a POD for his skydiving rig.... Peace... K

Please go to www.basekjerag.com and read all the pages. There are some specific guidelines there that you MUST know before arriving at Kjerag, such as "skydiving gear is not allowed, you must you BASE-specific gear at Kjerag and Smellveggen". If you really prefer a 2 parachute system, the Scorcerer is the only one you will be allowed to use there. Please note, people, that Stein Edvardsen has put a LOT of work into creating the baseKjerag website to help people come to Norway informed and prepared. Please take the time to read the website fully and contact Stein or Vibeke with any questions you may have AFTER reading the website thoroughly. I'm amazed at the amount of people that go over there without doing their homework. Just yesterday a man came by the shop and said he was going to Norway in June, and wanted a POD for his skydiving rig.... Peace... K

Congratulation, Jaap! Way to go, you're well on your way! Peace, K

Thanks, Nick! That's a peach... How ya doin, mate? xo K

I gotta know....who the hell wrote that???? Friggerty bonkin' slang outta faberfried vocab land! You said you like new words, Jaap....guess you got plenty! Go voraciously defenestrate someone! K