NickDG

There is more than one tower there and one of them is posted like I've said. I just assumed it was a local ordinance, but who knows? NickD

What's really ironic is just last week the big worry is Greenie was getting hot . . . NickD

>>This video report is terrible.

The USPA holds most of the STCs for wind deflectors on Cessnas. You can get the info from them. NickD

Or, hang a sauce pot around your neck with a big fat dildo in it and go as "Peter Pan." Woman, and not a few men, won't be able to resist touching it! NickD

Be careful on this slippery slope. With some new DZOs doing all they can to eliminate staff members (a big cash drain for them) how far away from UAV tandem rigs are we? Watch how fast the "jumpmaster" rating comes back when one JM can toss 15 solo tandems out of an Otter . . . NickD

The St. Louis "Gateway Arch" is celebrating its 40th anniversary today: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_St_Louis_Arch.html Would not BASE jumpers, a symbol of humankind's progressiveness in itself, have added to the festivities? The Arch symbolizes the westward expansion of the United States but it seems progress is no longer being celebrated in this country. If anything we are starting to go freaking backwards . . . NickD

Kleggo, I, and many others who have been around for a while sometimes just sit in disbelief at what's happened in this sport. We all knew this would occur when BASE went mainstream and I remember 20 years ago Moe Viletto saying the day is coming and it's not going to be pretty. Well, here we are . . . The only weapon we have against this sort of thing is the only tactic we've ever had, peer pressure. While not an advocate for violence a good punch in the nose, or a bucket of tar, is how site burners and glory hounds used to be handled in this sport. Are we going soft? I know it's a delicate balancing act between freedom and responsibility and I remember smart BASE jumpers in the old days saying about guys like these, "Yeah, but how do we know "we" are doing it right?" And they had a point at that time as we all are just winging it too. But now, all these years later, we do know what works and what doesn't and to ignore that knowledge is almost criminal. I'd like to see a worldwide BASE gear shit list for these people. Play the game right or no gear for you. These folks needed to be "outed" and ostracized from the BASE community. You can even look at it as we aren’t hurting them – we are saving them from themselves. I think we all need to remember how it was when we (me and you) started BASE jumping and how ignorant we were. It is so very easy to see the fun and the glory without understanding the consequences. We actually do a poor job with that in general. Some can read the fatality list, sit in a good and thorough first BASE course, and even know someone who was hurt, but still it doesn't register. It's an old saw by now, but we know no matter how many are injured or killed, no matter how many sites are burned, and no matter how many times we just shrug our shoulders and say, "what a jerk," BASE jumping is going to continue forevermore. So our real responsibility is to the youngest and dumbest among us. We didn’t ask for that job, but from writing about BASE, making videos about BASE, and allowing ourselves to become "names" in BASE, we have foisted that job upon ourselves. Like teaching a child too young to realize the danger of running onto a busy street sometimes a measured amount of spanking is a good thing. I'd love to hear of an experienced BASE jumper telling a story about someone messing up and after asking them what they did about it finding out they "confiscated" the gear. We could even keep score and award a plaque at the end of the year to the "Biggest Confiscator." If Tom (not laying this all on you, brother) told me he took someone's gear away I'd back him to the hilt with no questions asked. We don’t have to make it impossible for bozos to BASE jump, we do, however, have to find a way to make it "just a little bit" harder. If we don’t do these things, we are exactly what our critics say we are, a bunch of self serving assholes . . . NickD

I had words with "Burton" years ago concerning this same kind of thing when I was at BR. They don't care. All they are after is getting their name and logo out there. Some reading this thread have never heard of Burton, but they have now, see how that works? They'd like nothing better than a high profile BASE rescue live on CNN that shows their logo flapping around in the wind. That's the rub, the more obnoxious and unqualified the sponsored jumper is the more chance there is he/she will make the news. In fact the more we write to them complaining about it the more they see their strategy is working. BTW, John's being shown over and over on CNN headline news (Friday morning) right now. NickD

I mentioned this in the bonfire thread, but this particular site, like a few others across the U.S. is posted with signage that says, "No Parachuting by Law." (Or at least it was the last time I was there). There is also a certain R/R bridge in Texas that's posted likewise. I believe these are local ordinances, but none the less . . . NickD

In addition Type-8 (large risers) with mini-rings installed are no bargain either. The last time I had a berserk Stiletto overhead I was seconds away from dumping my reserve into it, as I couldn't at first, budge the cutaway handle. I strained so hard to get the cables out I landed with busted blood vessels in my eyeballs . . . NickD

>>get it right people, it is trespassing that is illegal

Gee, don't you guys carry one of these when BASE jumping? NickD

>>What is wrong with a standard riser set-up that the reverse risers improves upon?

I'm so glad to see body armor has reached this level and people are using it. Back in 1989 I wrote an article trying to get BASE jumpers to wear helmets and pads in a time when people are jumping barefooted never mind anything else. In those days we called this stuff, "battle gear." It was an uphill fight due to my generation being so anti-helmet in general. In those days wearing a helmet at the drop zone marked you as dangerous, a meat missile who couldn’t be trusted to control themselves in freefall (hence you needed the extra protection) and it made bareheaded or frappe hat wearing jumpers wary of you. What a difference twenty five years can make . . . NickD

I'll never forget the woman who landed from an antenna and proudly showed me the steel grating marks on her butt . . . NickD

Someone saying a big wall is okay for a first BASE jump because they did it that way only shows an overall lack of BASE knowledge. Just from a numbers standpoint, take another look at the Fatality List. There are more than a few 1st BASE/cliff jumps gone bad and some of these are done by very experienced skydivers. Most of them, admittedly occurred prior to the object specific first jump courses of today, but one did happen to a woman who took a well thought of course and then she hit the wall in freefall anyway. To this point most fatalities still seem to involve hitting the object just jumped from, mostly under canopy, but sometimes also in freefall. Yes, it's very possible to make a big wall jump a first BASE jump. Just look at the mountain in South America, or all the first jumps made at El Cap. But it doesn't pass the "relative" test. If it were my son or daughter there's no way a wall, or any "hard" object, would be used for a first BASE jump. Mentors should always remember that everyone is someone's son or daughter . . . I don’t like the term "safe BASE jump" as there's really no such animal, but a span with a water landing option is as close to "less dangerous" as you can get. NickD

I'm not entirely sure if Night BASE, and the other offshoots like Screw BASE, Naked BASE, State or Country BASE, and the El Cap numbers are being kept anymore. Check with the Harrisons. What's funny about Night BASE is Day BASE used to be the tough one to earn . . . NickD

Going solo is something many will do once in a while and it's part of the sport. However, it makes more sense at some objects than at others. I wouldn't launch a back country solo where it's possible I'd have to fight off bears and coyotes with a broken leg. But I would, and have, launched from the Flatiron Building downtown all alone as I know someone will stumble upon me before I bleed out. Some sites are so high profile two or more jumpers climbing a fence, or two or more canopies in the air, are just too much to maintain secrecy and security. I don't recommend solos for most people, but for some there's a special quality and a cool dynamic to planning it, getting in, climbing up, standing there looking down, gearing up and actually doing it, and all by yourself. It harkens back to a time when we BASE jumped for ourselves and not for the show. Another thing in favor of an occasional urban solo is if you are a well know and experienced BASE jumper you always end up the "senior" dude on the load and the others will be wide-eyed and looking to you for the answers. That's fine, and something I enjoy most of the time, but sometimes it's a responsibility that overshadows the reason you BASE jump in the first place. We always said in the earlier days of the sport we did it to be independent, to show we needed no one's permission or support, and BASE jumping alone has that spades. In the end, BASE is sport full of dirty little secrets, and in the end, when it's all said and done and you're sitting on the porch of the Old BASE Jumper's Home , it's nice to have a few dirty little secrets of your own . . . NickD

>>One passenger said "cool if the plane goes down you can jump out"

Thank's Mike, Johnny already sent me the photo so I'm all set . . . NickD

>>Good point. Naming a site could cause someone living nearby to say "I can do that", go out and buy surplus military gear at a flea market, then get hurt, or worse. The incident will then be reported in the media as "BASE jumper....", damaging the image of your sport.

>>are they all the same for the most part?

It's pretty normal for some space to exist between the top of your shoulders and harness when you are under canopy. An inch is nothing to worry about and is a function of how long the main lift webs are. (These are the parts of the harness that run down the front of your body). If it's way more distance that that, like 6 to 8 inches between your shoulders and the rig there's a potential you can fall backwards out of the rig. If you are really worried have an Instructor help you hook up your rig to the DZs hanging harness (the thing you practiced cutaways in) and see if you can wiggle out of the rig. NickD

Did anyone get a photo of Mike Pelkey's Bridge Day jump? If so please send it to me with the proper photo credit. base194@aol.com Thanks, NickD