TVPB

A person who is ignorant of the past and does not acknowledge or respect a lot of what went on, and then just repeats what has already happened is NOT a pioneer. He is only an ignorant, lazy, arse (ass for you Northerners). Wandering aimlessly around away from the masses it not necessarily pioneering either. That person might just be lost. It is kind of like the episode of the Simpsons where Lisa compares the intelligence of a rat with Bart. Bart keeps getting electric shocks whilst the rat learns to not touch anymore. There are a LOT of Barts in this sport. Look for posts titled along the lines of "lowest BASE jump ever - 246 ft". Punch in a few words into a search engine and you will know before you post where the current record may lie. Ditto for training youngsters and people with little to no parachuting experience. Sub 100 ft low jumps have been done on NUMEROUS occasions in the past. Advertising that feat in the 21st century and claiming to be a pioneer just shows that you have not bothered to do any research, communicate with anyone in the BASE scene, have ego problems, you are just plain dishonest, or . . . . some other reason. Similarly, BASE ethics have been developed for a number of reasons. History has shown that certain locations become very difficult to access due to a lack of respect and selfishness, people get injured repeating the same mistakes over and over again, etc. If you consider and follow a few simple "ethics/rules/freds", a lot of the heartache, angst, and pain can be prevented. This is beneficial for the sport. More importantly, it is beneficial for individual jumpers, their families and friends, and the community. I am sure that most jumpers would like people to consider then as an intelligent, courageous person for participating in BASE, not an idiot. Each one of us can influence perceptions by BOTH our thoughts and our actions. - - - - - - I do not know Jimmy personally and I am open to the possibility that he has/can/will make great contributions to BASE. But the information currently coming from dz.com media and his responses do not inspire any great confidence in this possible outcome. A person of greatness usually rises above the crap that surrounds him/her, he/she does not add to it. - - - - - - Regarding ethics - lets look at it fundamentally: Caveman: "you steal my food, I kill you". BASE jumper: "you steal my rock (building, antenna, span, earth, whatever), I will kick your arse (ass)". - - - - - There is a lot of talk about thought and action in this thread - knowingly doing something that others consider improper/unethical/wrong (or whatever semantic you want to choose), IS DIFFERENT to unknowingly doing it. Some examples: 1 - a soldier who kills because he honestly thinks he is fighting for freedom and justice versus a soldier who kills knowing that he is fighting for greed/power/control. 2 - a person who has sex with a minor who looks/acts/confirms that they are legally/psychologically old enough versus a person who has sex with a minor who tells them they are underaged. 3 - a politician who gives a speech/election promise based on data (s)he has available that is later found to be incorrect versus a politician who knows his data is incorrect but continues to make the same speech. 4 - 5 - . . . n - a BASE jumper who makes an error in protocal versus a BASE jumper who knows what the protocol is for a site but intentionally ignores it for personal gratification and gain. This is where the ethics debate comes in. If you think the latter is acceptable in the above examples, it just shows that your morals/values/ethics/freds (some other term you want to use because you do not like the word ethics) are on the extreme edge of the spectrum of society. Most people fit somewhere near the middle of the bell curve and you like living on the edge (of the curve idiot, not BASE jumping skills ). This can be either productive for society (such as in the examples of Edison, Newton, Marconi, Mozart + Boenisch, Weston, etc), or counterproductive (such as Hitler, Bush, Bin Laden + the naughty boys and girls of BASE). Typically, people who are inwardly focused and extremely self-oriented, live on the outer spectrum of the bell curve, etc, generally believe that ethics are a distraction or hindrance to their personal goals. Hence they will typically be opposed to them - rightly or wrongly (). For some, it is a game - akin to devil worshippers taunting Christians. For others, it is some way of gaining recognition or acceptance for actions & THOUGHTS that they consider outstanding. Pioneers need to respect the past and know something about it. They also need to respect other people, despite any differences of opinion. I agree wholeheartedly that the world needs people to challenge the status quo and to not accept everything they are told or believe. A reply along the lines of "with all due respect . . . I have considered . . . . and my research/data/etc show that . . . . . " is a lot more professional than something like: "f#$ck you, I will do what I want and I know that I am right". Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

What the hell happened to you Ray? RU Gay????? That was the most eloquent piece of journalism I have ever read from you. p.s. Tom A - I have been suspended from every sport I have played. Except. A BASE forum. What are the requirements to get suspended???? After all, I have a track record to uphold!!!!! You bastard....... Ray is gay. BASE jumpers are . . . . . . . You are all a bucnh of . . . . . . Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce . . . . Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

That's cool. I was just being full of shit as usual. If I have offended . . . . . . .toughen up, and just give it back to me ... Good luck with it all. p.s. To answer your question (being serious now ), I think that the absolute majority of BASE jumpers have not done any of the four prior to starting!! It's just a good idea to do them. And as someone else said - do as he says, not what he does. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

You have a few choices in life: 1 - be open minded and try to learn a bit from everyone you meet. It does not matter if they are right or wrong, more or less experienced, better looking or uglier, faster or slower, practiced what they preach or preach what they should have practiced, etc. Absorb, assess, assimilate, discard information as it is presented. 2 - be narrow minded, bitter and twisted, question everything, always look on the negative side, and try to discredit any information as it is presented. My suggestion, look at the advice and see what positives YOU can get from it. Don't worry about where it came from or from whom. Your objective should be to improve yourself. If you open your mind you will be surprised where help can come from. Confucious say: "Man who can't learn from fool is a bigger fool himself". Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Personally - I've got no major problem with the attention. Following are some thoughts and not necessarily my opinion. Why do certain jumpers have better reputations than others, and why are some liked whilst others are disliked? To me it is a combination of the character of the individuals being judged, and the morals/values/ethics of the people making the judgements. Perception is mixed in the process as well. For example, why does Felix have a poor reputation in the BASE scene? There could be a host of reasons. Some may include: - the motivation for the average person to get into BASE jumping may revolve around being anonymous, unregulated, independant, private, free, etc. They may feel that the sport is being pushed into a controlled situation by the attention that it is getting. - in society, there are extreme introverts, extroverts, and everything in between. Introverts can feel threatened by the behaviour of extroverts. - many people have had their local objects "burned" due to inconsiderate/selfish behaviour of jumpers who are chasing attention. The cost may be increased security and penalties. They may feel that their rights have been violated. - some people may be just plain jealous as they have not received the same attention/sponsorship/publicity. - some people are disappointed that jumpers who are genuinely talented do not receive the focus and rewards that their lessor skilled colleagues are receiving. - BASE ethics exist. Each of us have a different view or perception on what these ethics should be. Being humans, we sometimes tend to be more critical of others and have higher expectations of them. You know, do as I say, not as I do. - there are some individuals who isolate themselves from their colleagues. This does create tensions. For instance, Jeb & Iiro may be liked because they actually spend time with other jumpers. They learned their craft from others and openly communicted with them. Whereas Felix does not - he seems to maintain contact with ony a few jumpers. If you look at Miles and Shane - Miles is loud/brash, people are threated by his extroversion. He is controversial to some extent (even if a lot of this controversy is not warranted and is created by other jumpers), Shane has the McKonkey named after him. I think Miles is gaining a bit of respect afte his Most Jumps World Record and the fact that he involved a charity. There are a million other possibilities. Basically, if a jumper is sociable, has some degree of skill (which he/she does not overestimate), has achieved some degree of success, is not overly egotistical, has some level of respect for the BASE ethics, does not expose him/herself to excessive risk, respects the sport, etc - then that person is likely to be liked and respected by the majority of the jumping community. If a person is the opposite to the above, they are more than likely to be disliked. That is human nature. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

You are absolutely correct. If Felix is comfortable claiming records that someone else should rightfully own, good luck to him!!! It seems that he does a wonderful job promoting his product. Hats off to him for that. He bags a lot of high profile sites. Good on him. If he is happy lying to himself and the world about his records, he has his own conscience to deal with. I would have a lot more respect for him if he competed against other high profile jumpers. He would not have to win, just perform very well against them. If that is not his goal (obviously not), then that is fine too. Go Red Bull...... Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Cool!!!!!!! Now we need some teams to enter. Perhaps it should be made into a regional competition. Europe v Nth America v Sth America v Asia Pacific v Africa/Mid East v Rest of the World v Russia ( ) We also need to start spreading he word / joy / love / skills / video / etc for 2 way. That will get more people into the door -> this in turn, will get more to 4 way and 8 way. What does the IPC think????? Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Who's that girl in that photo? And who's heart is he driving that stake into? Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

The Gorge belongs to mother nature. The French are blessed to be keepers of that beautiful place. Exit point was Pichnibul. There were several two ways and Mick prior to Michelle's exit. Several suffered off headings a/c localised turbulence/wind at opening point. Michelle had a 180 and seemed stunned by her predicament and could only think of bracing herself with her leg. She then tried to pull the canopy off the wall and landed on a ledge. I was supposed to exit next but stayed on top to initiate rescue. What can I say. I was VERY impressed with the professionalism, diligence, and quiet manner in which the French performed the rescue. It seems that on many occasions, rescue's done in western / english speaking countries are a drama. If not is not due to inefficiency, then it is exhorbitant attempts to absorb costs at grossly inflated levels. The Frogs did a great job!!!! It was an interesting week. One fatality, three cliff strikes (one leading to long term brain damage), two tree rescues, etc. I witnessed too much..... p.s. she is a cool chick. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Sounds like someone forgot little AG!!! That Ha sounded like a real mother's HA. No worries Tom. She should be at College within about 20 years. Then you are a free man!! I'll be a couple of years ahead of you so I'll run you through the old man's refresher BASE course when you make your comeback. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I think Tom made the mistake of trying to outdo that little blond Aussie. He has learnt a lot since then. I did a low pull comp with him years ago (into water) and was very proud to walk away with my silver medal!!!! We did a series of jumps where we went lower and lower until we reached our limit. Each time, DW would do the exit count, and then leave a fraction of a second later so he could watch my p/c toss. Then he would pitch his p/c after me to claim the "victory". On the final jump, I smacked in with my slider arriving on impact and my body half way through the swing through. I was bruised up but I happy with my win. But when I stuck my head out of the water I heard a sordid moan from the distance. DW was lying in pain in the water with a mild case of concussion. The cheeky bugger had beaten me again. Hence my silver medal. Learnings: - don't do low pull comps with people who have mischievous grins and a habit of exiting just after you. Keep away from evil people and people with death wishes. Anyone who want to teach you surfing at a place called Dead Man's Reef is probably not a good opponent either. They probably have ulterior motives - their entertainment at your expense may be one of them!!! - swing through is not the greatest time to impact the water. Time your opening. - I recommend not doing it in the first place. But if you must: - use a bigger p/c to get maximum drag asap. Who cares if you get centre cell stripping or weird pressurisations. - make sure your deployment system is dry. Wet p/c get sticky and don't work as realiably and consistantly as dry ones. Consistancy is the key equipment factor. You need to have a system that is reliable and repeatable, otherwise you are playing Russian Roulette with mother earth. - there is lots of turbulence around waterfalls. The greater the volume and denser the water, the greater the displacement of air particles, etc. - broken water is better than still/flat water. Surface tension adds to the "hardness" of the water. - etc. Gotta go. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

My opinion for what it is worth. Unless you are 110% certain that the person is deceased, you have no business leaving the scene or trying your hardest to get assistance. Family MUST be informed (with an exception I'll mention below), and details given to allow recovery and psychological closure. This task should be performed asap and by a person who has psychological strength and empathy to complete the task in a humane way. Don't leave this task to the weak!!! It may not be completed. Regarding the authorities and penalties, this is a choice made by individuals in agreement with each other. Jumping buddies may have opposing views but as long as each are willing to act out the wishes of their buddy, then it is OK. If your jump buddy will not do what you want, find another. A pact is an agreement made between individuals and/or groups. Just because you do not like a pact, it does not necessarily make it right to act against it. There are situations/reasons where people do not want any involvment with their family (due to things like major conflict, abandonment, abuse, etc). Does another person have the right to challenge that???? It is a tough question. But for 99% of people, I believe the family should be informed. The punishment in many cases DOES NOT FIT THE CRIME. In fact, crime (r.e. BASE jumping) is a perception created by a minority of powerhungry folk who should be spending their time chasing terrorists, rapists, and murderers. Not people unfortunate enough to be at the scene of an accident that they, in general, had no affect over. I know of a scenario where a fatality occured, rescuers would not commence a rescue until the jumpers admitted to the police to being accomplices (hence accessories to manslaughter according to local law), and the jumpers then initiated their own S&R and were criticised for it. I know of an example where a jumper was bashed with a rifle butt because he would not tell the local authorities where his colleague was or who he is. The same group was also maltreated in a jail cell. I know of jumpers who have been charged nearly $10000 for two heli rescues. These operations were run so inefficiently that it makes me cringe. The jumper was overcharged for incompetance. Yet at the same time, other people were rescued for greater acts of stupidiyt but were not charged at all - discrimination against BASE jumpers!!!!! What do these scenario's mean? How do they affect the psychology of a jumper? They get scared. They are obviously being victimised and discriminated against, whether you want to recognise this or not - careers/finances/relationships/freedom are threatened. You can't travel to a lot of countries with any sort of criminal charge. You can't work in certain jobs. You could end up losing your own family and loved ones... This is a window into the psychology and thinking that may lie behind "The Pact". The penalty is greater for abandonment than for staying in this scenario. If it is proven that you were involved in grossly negligent acts, then there would be a harsher penalty. The problem for BASE jumpers in many areas is that BASE itself is considered a careless/negligent activity. Unless you are blatantly breaking laws, being with someone who is riding a bike is not. - - - - - - - If I go in and die. Take my rig, kick some dirt on me, learn from my stuff up, tell my family and/or authorities where I am, party on with the $$$ left in my wallet, and go and enjoy the remainder of your life. My soul/etc has gone to the "other world". I have no need for a corpse!!!!! I expect you to do this and will come back to haunt you (in jail) if you hang around for nothing. p.s. make sure that I have died before acting out my wishes. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Further to the deceitful lyers. They will not get better. They will lie more. They make promises that they break. They are prone to accidents. The more you molly coddle them into the sport the higher the chance of incidents/accidents/etc. Don't touch them with a ten foot pole. If they choose to jump without you (especially after threatening you or blaming you for not training them), don't worry. It is their decision and on their conscience. Sure, they might get hurt without training, but you have to live with your decisions and your sence of values and ethics. If you have told them that they need to fulfil a number of prerequisites and they should complete more skydives, etc, you have done your job. If they go without you, that is their decision. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Most BASE Jumpers are adults. A real BASE jumper is someone who includes perspective, the need for and ability to understand feedback (constructive criticism), a desire to improve, a zest for life in a way that keeps them in control, etc. If a person does not understand your concern, or does not want to listen, or thinks they can do no wrong, they have made a (sub) conscious decision to be like that. They are adults, they will live and die by their actions. You should try to articulate your concerns no matter what. A person who is offended by feedback is better than a dead person. Even if they did not listen and ended up dead anyway. Because they had the opportunity to incorporate the feedback into their jumping. And if they don't listen and end up dead. . . . .steal their rig and kick dirt on them... I agree with diablopilot!!!! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Absolutely. How else would you beat the Russians? Seriously though, obviously continuing CRW on a reserve is not a good/safe idea. A poor attempt on my part to get a personal opinion across. Doh! I'll chalk that one up to delirium and senility (not thinking clearly when typing)!!! I was attempting to emphasize that ripcords and snag points in general are things that I like to avoid in CRW (main and reserve). A modified Woomera does this quite well. . . . . . For me. Most modern rigs are more than satisfactory for CRW. I would not suggest at all that the general population rush out and buy a W. The top competitors around the world use modern rigs (I have been using a Jav for the last 5 years myself). My only point is that the W has relevance and is perfectly functional. My thinking was around lower airspeed extraction forces with shorter bridles and burble interference versus higher airspeed CRW canopy deployments on mains. I would prefer to have to relocate the "floating pud (pullout)" rather than have a pilot chute in tow (throwout). I am a strong lad who would have more chance of overcoming a hard pull than trying to deploy a p/c in tow as my strength is much greater than my flexibility. Some CRW canopies open too hard at/near terminal. Some people prefer reserve deployments over terminal main deployments. A p/c in tow is a complication in this decision process. Sometimes knowing that your container is fully closed before deploying a reserve is comforting. Anyway - my kids are distracting me whilst I am writing this post so it is likely to be full of crap. If it is, I am sure I'll be corrected. I agree. It is usually the "improper occasions" where incidents occur. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

As mentioned before, the Woomera is a great rig for CRW IMHO (this is my personal preference and I have also stated that the rig is not good for other disciplines - hence your argument is not relevant in most cases). You can have your ripcord on a CRW jump!!!!!!! I am not even going to try and provide a counter argument as to why this is a bad idea. I am also talking about very competiive CRW. You know, build a quad in 15 secs and then do 15 to 20 rotations or 8 to 12 sequ manouvres. i.e. no time to stash crap in jumpsuits and create extra snag points. The pull force on my Woomera is not high - I have actually tested it under quite a few scenarios when I first started packing reserves many years ago. It also has a curved pin. You may be correct about a percentage of the population not being able to supply suffiicent pull force on a pull out system. Hence my qualifier that the rig is not for everyone. I pack my reserve, I pack my main, I use the rig - the rig is NOT for a 45kg female who is doing freeflying. The reserve is easy to deploy, and can be safely done by an experienced person. It has its faults, as do most other systems. e.g. the Javelin Odyssey is a great rig. . . . for freefall. It is a piece of shit for CRW due to snag points. Hence in the right environment / application . . . . . . . . This is the same philosophy as a lab rat and an electric fence psychology experiment. The rat learns not to touch the fence after a few zaps. Why not teach the parachutist 50 lbs in the first place. You are limiting by repetitive reinforcement the operating range of the parachutist. For the throw out and your p/c in pouch scenario. What about horse shoe mals?? They are real world scenario. They happen. You can have that mal. Especially on a CRW jump with a CRW canopy.... If you want to know why, feel free to ask. What about root cause analysis? I go back to my point that many pull out incidents were because . . . . . people error. The system, if used, maintained, and inspected correctly is perfectly functional. c.f. the heading of this thread. Look at the photo's. The person peels the handle and pulls it up, the pin pops, the p/c is then extracted from the container, . . . . . . . . It is a _ _ _ _ out system!!!!! Remember what I have said before, this rig is NOT for everyone, and is certainly NOT appropriate for all skydiving disciplines. Like every system, it has its ads and disads. As jumper, you need to weigh them up for your scenario and make an appropriate decision. This decision should not be made by an inexperienced person (hence the E license requirement in Australia). But I affirm my strong conviction that this rig is appropriate for my scenario and the discipline of CRW. The initial post was for informational purposes only............ Back to the CRW forums........ Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

She is a cutie. Looks like she has her Mom's good looks!!!!! And don't all those jumpers look like absolute naturals holding AG!!!! : ) Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Considering most factors, I would pick hand deploy any time!!!!!! The only benefit a spring loaded p/c may have is that the spring may continue to allow air flow into the p/c when badly tangled whereas the same scenario may lead to a total collapse on a throwout or pullout. The Woomera is a pull out reserve system... That is what the linked thread says. YES. I have considered the pro's and cons and am very happy to be using a Woomera container system for CRW jumps. There were certainly more incident reports relating to pull out versus throw out about ten years ago on mains. I jumped pull outs for the early part of my career and NEVER had a problem. If you do read the incident reports, you will find that most incidents were due to poor maintenance, mismatching gear, improper use, . . . . A theme of people stuffing up!!!!. Now, I am not immune to stuffing up as I am a person, but this tells me that the gear is OK and the people using it may be a problem. I think throw outs are a better option for the general skydiving public. But pullouts are better in a number of situations. Toggles are similar. People lose/pop/drop them. When packed and maintained properly, I never lost my toggles. But there are other things that I have done that have led to mals/incidents - and I put it down to human error. YES. I would jump it and have jumped both the mains and reserve. It is no drama if done properly. NOTE: I must temper the above opinions/experiences/comments with the fact that I am a BASE jumper that uses a single parachute throw out system!!!!! A spring loaded pilot chute IS NOT required for a reserve, and I do believe it is more of a hazard than a help in the BASE evnvironment. What happens if you have a pin rig and the closing loop tension is too high??? A pullout would be a better option in this case.... These comments are all about the importance of balancing fact and risk when making gear decisions. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Hey Tom, I have a spare shotgun and chastity belt to keep those pesky BASE jumper dudes away from my girl. If you want, you can borrow one to protect yours!!!!! A daughter huh. I would like to say congratulations, but I have to be a bit of a realist and say . . . you are SSSSSOOOOOOOO in trouble dude. It is a statistical fact (at least at my place), that girls cost five times more to raise than boys. It seems that the female part of the species have either a recessive gene or some sub conscious thingy where they are compelled to say, "oooohhhhhhh, that little outfit would look absolutely gorgeous on Anna Grace". And no matter how strong Cheri is, she will have that problem. The second issue is you I am afraid. Big daddy just can't resists how ccccuuuuutttteee his little girly is in such and such clothing. I can see you melting already. Then one day she works out how to say "I wuv u dada". Then you're gone. GONE I tell you. Finished!!! Seriously though. BASE jumpers tend to have wonderful life experience. Your own child tops it all. Even when you feel like Homer trying to strangle Bart. All the very best of health, love, and a happy long life together. To Jason (428). How about some child care next bridge day? Seems like everyone is breeding.......... Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Interesting feedback??? It is old tech and I just added it in for info sake. But I am also interested in logical reasoning as to "why not", as opposed to the usual, "it looks scary, I would not touch it with a ten foot pole". Remember that the gear was used primarily by CRW jumpers in the latter parts of its natural life span. It gave options as to placement of the p/c, especially useful in wraps & entanglements. The reserve is easier to pack, the rig has less lower catch points and with a few mods the upper catch points are eliminated (the one in the photo's on this thread has not had the mods), etc. Of course, it has its disadvantages too. I am also a bit perplexed on the, "if it aint broke philosophy". I for example, love jumping Sigma tandems much more than say, a Strong or a Vector. The Sigma's have issues, but it is all about managing those issues!!! If you can fix it better, you should have a crack at it!!!!!. I also like the convenience of the mobile phone, but the landline was perfectly functional, if it aint broke. . . . Off track now... The Woomera is not an appropriate rig for most skydiving disciplines. However, I believe it is very useful for CRW (as long as several mods are made). Life and skydiving is a lot about managing risks. There are some things that are appropriate in specific situations and not appropriate in general situations. Sticking your head in the sand and being a full time generalist is OK, but. . . . . It is also OK that minority groups satisfy specific needs. I own/have owned Javelin, Vector, Talon, Racer, Atom, etc. I have also jumped most types of rigs. I rate the "Woombang" as one of my favourites!!!! Maybe I am just a sentimental fool.

Someone suggested throwing this info in the rigging section. Woomera Container Thread Vertigo also used to make the Sorceror container system which did similar things. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Fair enough. BTW - none of the defensive sounding Aussies are being defensive (3 on this topic), we are just explaining what the system is, what benefits it has, and the fact that you should always keep an open mind to other possibilities. Remember that it would be a piece of shit in terminal freefall situations unless modified accordingly. There has been a lot of high speed rig technology development since this rig was built. - - - - - - - Explanation of the attached pictures: Firstly, my Woomera is a piece of crap that is in poor condition and has not had any real mods done to it. In fact, it was stolen from my house, I found it a year later at a charity retail store. The reserve flap has oil stains and some of the gear was worn/damaged. But I still love her!!!! Deployment Handle - it is secured to the left lift web (velcro on this rig). Normally grabbed with the left hand, peeled off, pulled up, and then the pilot chute is released. The bridle runs under the reserve riser covers, above the risers and above the pilot chute to the pin. It looks on the photo like the large ring interferes with the bridle, this rig has been chucked together (i.e. not packed properly), it is actually fine when done properly. Back View - the bridle runs underneath the right side of the riser cover as you see it in the photo. From here it runs to a curved pin which locks a simple closing loop. It then runs back to the pilot chute. Hence the sequence again is: peel, pull out, pop pin and open container, extract pilot chute, place in clear air to your left/front side. ReserveDeploymentContents - shows in a messy way, what appears underneath. Note that the remainder of the pilot chute is packed underneath the left riser cover and the top left flap (if you look at the BackView photo). Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

J C Avery (oops, apologies for the blasphemy). Can't you write a few more words in your posts. I want a war and peace version of your philosophy. Yep, me miss too. Will see DW's mum this month as well as SS's. - - - - Crikey Ray. You are on your anto-globalisation high horse again huh. Before you know it, the BASE member ship cards will come with tracking devices so that the authorities will know if you are ever approaching a questionable BASE site. That way they can wait at the front gate, hit you up with a few taxes (I mean fines), then ruin your arse in a dodgy prison cell with Bubba Butt. - - - - I now have an identity crisis. What do you call it/me when I have jumped off Buidlings, Antennas, Spans, and Earth? Don't be rude... I think you may be incorrect Mr Tom. It seems that there is a direct statistical correlation between being an ABA official (esp Pres) or a close ally, and the afterlife. I have already warned Gary C. BTW - your sense of humour is a bit too Oz!!!!!! Someone might get a bit sensitive if you keep that up. Short straws anyone? This morbid sense of humour is catching. Classic quote!!!!!! or Nugget!!!!! Onya Mr Faber. Sadly, I understand both of you. Is there something wrong with me??? Ray - can I suggest. . . . . . sending in an application on his behalf!!!!! We did that to an old CRW dog who took us up on our first bigger ways. We made sure that we got a lower number than him and rubbed that in. He was already a World 8 Way CRW Champion and felt he did not need a number to validate him, so we got it for him. You should have seen his face when we presented the certificate to him in front of a larger audience. Priceless!!!! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Nothing to do with cool. I am not against numbers at all. I just don't want one. There are too many other numbers in life. Name, rank, serial number sir. License, pension, food bar line, bank account, employee, etc. No need for another and no need to be branded. I have left a mark on this sport (building kick off about ten years ago as well as some gnarly landing imprints ), and I don't need a number to validate my existance in the sport. I am also recorded as a part of the sports history. We all are. BASE#### Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Absolutely - There is a very old saying. . . cliche . . ."You will never live long enough to make every mistake". And another: "It is better to learn from the mistakes of others". Well done on sharing and surviving!!!!!! Pre plan your launch and have a logical reason for positioning, equipment configuration, etc. The kicking legs thing I think will actually be a negative thing on most occasions. Kicking your legs means you are also moving your lower torso. You are potentially twisting it. You twist it one way, then another. You may actually be contributing to a turn (similar to those occasions when you try to kick out of a line twist but actually make it worse). You are also increasing the probability of creating instability in your body by thrashing your legs around. The airflow around your body is being disturbed by the thrashing legs. Depending on the length of delay and the severity of the poor body position, sometimes it is better to know where it is at, make subtle attempts to ride it out to deployment, know the likely outcome of your position (i.e. left shoulder down may lead to left off heading), and then deal with it. This might be OK for a shorter delay when things are going just a little bit wrong. The flip side of this is that it adds to all the things you have to think about when jumping. Too much info and too many options sometimes confuses people. I have seen a guy freefall a 57m bridge and do an unintentional full 180 degree turn from exit to swing through. His launch put a very slight lateral rotation to the left and the momentum and airspeed sped it up. In your scenario, it is possible that you have hit sufficient airspeed with a little momentum in your body position to accelerate your rotation. It is also possible that your leg movements may have contributed to the rotation (refer comments above). Regarding the pilot chute snag theory, yep, it is possible too, as long as the pilot chute was inflated during the turn. An example of this is a building jump I watched from above years ago - the jumper launched flat but about 45 left of heading. He was p/c in hand and it actually started inflating in his hand as he fell. After about 2.5 secs, his body was now 45 to the right of heading, his right should/body was higher than the left on account of the drag force of the inflated pilot chute, and he started turning faster to his right. He released the pilot chute. The body heading right and the left dipped shoulder cancelled each other out resulting in an on heading opening (I have deliberately used the offset body heading / dipped shoulder strategy for certain jump conditions and locations). Almost anything is possible. Your head up body position seems to contradict this a little. The lower right corner of the rig is probably at a lower C of G. I think this would mean that a drag force applied to the area would cause your body to pitch forward a little. It may also lift the right side of the body. If these happened, then it probably would have contributed something to your rotation. Depending on your awareness level (sorry, but I don't know you), you may have noticed this. I think that a flatter position is good for stowed and a more head up position is good for hand held. When going hand held, ensure that the bridle runs from the flap/pins to the top of the rig, to the top side of your hand. As you have suggested, don't let it hang loose around the BOC. Wooooaaaahhhhh. There are different body positions for different situations and different people in different stages of development. You would not instruct a newbie to go head down in the early jumps as this leads to lots of potential snag and heading problems + more time required to regain control of heading / steering. In head down, when you dip a shoulder on one side, not only do you load the riser harder on that side, but as your body swings through, it has a tendency to turn on that point and start rotating - this could lead to line twists. Head high is better - you have to work on removing the snagging possibilities and not make your body position a band aid for gear configuration problems. Camera helmets should be flush and snag free. That is one reason I don't go for the side mounts. I have seen too many ripped off by riser slap and on average, BASE camera people are more likely to stick the heads in the path of the riser to get a different shot or better look at something during deployment. Head high loadings start on the upper main lift web (which is connected to the risers), then chest strap and then to the leg straps via the rest of the harness in between. It is at line stretch that the most significant impact for heading is felt. This is where the initial force is applied to the lines and corresponding canopy mass. The stuff afterwards just adds to the original affect. Harness balance is an important point. Experienced jumpers can control headings to some extent using harness weight shift. This is particularly evident on the very small elliptical skydiving canopies (I jump an FX104 and steer my openings using hips when jumping wingsuits!!!). Going back to the "head low, shoulders take first hit" comment. Theory is OK, but in practice, your body is more likely to be rock and rolling from this position during the swing through - you will actually have less control over the entire system if your body is wildy swinging through. It is easier to grab your risers when head up and moving about 90 degrees on a swing through than head down and swinging 180 degrees!!! Yes. But I recomment working on your bridle routing first. And you have to take into consideration potential body positions / scenario's for this - i.e. head up/down, on back, etc. WHen I am dialled in / current / etc this is sort of what I do. Experience and time will teach you what your body position is actually like in freefall. Then you will be able to make SLIGHT (don't overamp - think of a dampened loop control system here for all you engineer types) adjustments in freefall, or you will ride it out and know what the outcome is likely to be and be able to allow for it on opening. As my pilot chute is released, I move my hands up to the area that the risers are most likely to be (again - when experienced you can adjust your positioning when your body position is out of whack). As I am moving the hands there, I can already feel where force is being applied to my body via my harness and make an estimate of my likely heading (i.e. if the left shoulder has been whacked with a riser and the right is much looser, guess where I am going). It is here that I make the decision to follow through on the riser grab or just chill out and enjoy the on heading. But I do thoroughly recommend just going for your risers (or toggles ) on every jump. People make the mistake of actually putting their hands behind their heads, closer to the shoulders during deployment. This is where you are likely to grab the risers very close to the three rings. The risers are likely to travel slightly above and behind your head, and that is where you should put your hands. Practice whilst undre canopy, and do some swing throughs on a makeshift suspended harness (just a few ropes from a roof and your rig are sufficient to practice this). The spot is marginally different dependant on gear and person. This is not necessarily always the case. They do help, but it is also a function of aerfoil design, topographic characteristics of the object you are hitting, prevailing wind conditions, wing loadings, relative angle of object to canopy hitting it (in particular the nose), etc. How your nose is exposed during inflation (i.e. nose pointing down or forward), and how well the front top of the canopy stays pressurised will have a great affect on collapse versus inflation. i.e. if you are hitting a slightly underhung section of wall with lots of snaggy things on it (trees, outcroppings, etc), there is not much apart for luck that can help you. Work out your riser position via suspended harness and/or whilst under canopy. I would suggest a little further back than what you mentioned. Go head low only when you are in control / experienced. Focus on not snagging your gear and don't bandaid problems. Fix the root cause first. Try not to start kciking your legs - this is about correct body positioning. But for the rest of us not so perfect humans, you are right - try not to kick and thrash during deployment. PPE is good. p.s. do as I say, not as I do............... Once you have thought it through......... Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.