TVPB

Confucious say: "Man who cannot learn from a fool, is a bigger fool himself". One of my personal favourites. Why? Because I try to teach people things. And if you don't learn from me, you're the bigger fool!!!! Tom - do I get into trouble for calling myself a fool??? Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Roberto Heidolloni was the guy jumping the Sabre!!!!!! That's Robin's 14th generation cousin. Robin comes from a family of spice sailors and pirates who landed at Perris (tidal wave pushed their boat inland). Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

That sounds too much like you have put a lot of thought into it???? When do we get to see the video? Frogger BASE. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I am really sorry to hear that. It was a beauty. I remember jumping that in the late nineties. I came back for my third of the evening (acutally early morning),and I could see two suspicious looking characters standing below (BASE jumpers of course ). So I pretended to be a security guard and started getting up them. After about 5 minutes I pulled out my stash bag and asked them if they wanted to join me for a jump. You should have seen the expression on their faces. PRICELESS!!!!!. Back to the point. I agree with you wholeheartedly. I have posted my thoughts elsewhere in this thread. Freedom is for everyone, not just for one. Their selfish behaviour has stolen an object, jumps, good times, a better learning environment for newer jumpers in that area of the world, etc, from others. Stealing is a crime. There is consequence to crime. Waving the flag of freedom around as the object owners are putting the final touches to a new high security system IS FUCKING BULLSHIT. It is NOT and never will be freedom. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Ouch!! Someone wants told me "sarcasm is the lowest form of wit". Then I thought, I might be dumb, but I'm having fun. Seriously, regarding good advice and ignorance. Its all a personal choice. Probably best left for personal conversations. But it is also beneficial to have this in the forums occassionally. Why? Because there will be more people who just don't want to listen. If they have some subconscious need to belong to future BASE society, they may actually heed the advice purely to belong. This may save a life. Then there will always be those who just don't give a f%^%. And I don't care what anyone else says, when the eulogies are rolling and "he was always a safe guy" is spoken, I'm calling bullshit!!!!!! But I am not going to worry too much about it. CHOICE WAS MADE. CONSEQUENCE WAS HAD. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I thought DK was a long way North. A bit closer to Arctic than Tropic!!! And what is wrong with fat people??? You skinny blokes will never realise that wing loading is great for improving the performance of your canopy!!! Faster, faster, faster..... Except in those tight arse landing areas with deep braked approaches. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Well said. As much as I hate regulation. Fact is, as time goes by and people become more ignorant and more hurried, they need to be managed. So we either have lots more people and regulation. or we have less people and no regulation. The juggernaut is rolling. The second option is gone. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

So, if I am feeling suicidal, I have every right to just jump in front of a train . . . . . . . .and fuck up that drivers psychology and life forever??? BULLSHIT!!!!!!! What if I want to knock down a building full of people. I have the right to fly a plane into it. BULLSHIT AGAIN!!!!! Certainly, if you want to end it, it is your choice. But you DO NOT have a right to do it how you please and when you please!!! Other people are involved. Just as it is selfish and a pain in the arse to stop people from doing something (i.e regulation), it is just as selfish to force the outcome of your actions on others. As you said, you would more than likely hang around to pick up the pieces, as I and many others have done. But sometimes the person just do no deserve it. Freedom is for EVERYone, not just for ONEone. ps.. this is not directed at you, it is a general comment for all. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

In the past, people wanted to know why. People accepted responsibility. People wanted to learn from other people's mistakes. Today, people want to blame other people and other things. They want to make excuses. They can't just say "I fucked up and I am an idiot". They say, they knew the dangers all along and blindly accepted that they may die. Without really understanding the dangers. They believe the media - BASE is a stupid extrememly risky activity. Instead of taking pro-active steps in mitigating that risk. They believe they are not responsible and have little control over their destiny. Why fight it? Why bother making an effort to make myself safer? Im going for it. That is society for you!!!! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I didn't hear you say, "If I did some s/l first and spent some time ground crewing. And then I went stowed slider up, and then I . . . . . . . after 50 jumps I chose a well overhung object to do my first aerial. . . . What I think Nick is trying to say is pretty much confirmed by your comment, too much emphasis and importance is placed on banging out the tricky / loopy / flashy / exciting / scary / unconventional / etc jumps by modern day jumpers . . .and stuff all emphasis is placed on the FUNDAMENTALS!!!!!! Look at USA skydiving. There are people who clock up 500 jumps in their first year and they do not pack or know how to pack their gear. It is not about jump numbers, it is about quality of jumps, logical / sequential progression, picking up and "perfecting" fundamental skills, learning the right things at the right time, time in the sport. learning from the mistakes of others, etc. More jump numbers are better than less jump numbers . . . if all else is equal. Currency is very important. But the most important thing is what you learn. A person that bangs out 50 in a week and then comes back in two months is less current and at greater risk than someone who does 3 per week. A person who only jumps off one object becomes very current and competant only on those skills that are utilised at that object. It does NOT make them a complete jumper. If you look at the greater skilled jumpers in our sport, they all seem to have a great range of objects and jump types under their belts. This is what has made them great. As an example. You may be great at timing a deployment, but if you can't land a canopy for shit and you have only experienced one landing area, you are a danger to yourself when jumping unfamiliar jump sites - especially if the landing areas are tight. Quality . . . . Not Quantity. . . . . That is your choice if you only have one. If you have both choices, then do a whole lot of quality jumps. Pls remember that I am supporting the notion that more jumps are better than less. But I temper that with the fact that your skill range is highly focused (i.e narrow . . i.e not broad). Don't kid yourself that 50 jumps off the Perrine in one week makes you an all round competant BASE jumper. Don't kid yourself that It is just the start. - - - - - BASE is heading down the path of skydiving. 30 years ago, skydivers were canopy pilots first, and freefallers second. Now you finish AFF, and if you are lucky you may pick up some canopy skills. BASE is similar. 15 years ago you were a canopy pilot first, and a freefaller second. Now you start thinking about gainers with those nicer landing areas and there is a diminishing focus on canopy skills. This to the detreiment of the new generation. At least some members therof. In the end, the information on how is well established. Anyone can access it if they so desire. But modern jumpers need to focus on the why. Why are they attempting such a jump with such complex skills, without adequate such experience. People get on the list generally due to fundamental mistakes. Focus on the FUN . .not DA MENTALS. Bad motto - but this is what modern day participants are doing. Everyone jumper should be focusing on both - mental preparation and having fun. Stay Safe Have Fun Good Luck p.s Nick, just in case, you do not have my permission to put me on that list of yours. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

You scare me Faber!!!! WTF - I just completed my first aid recertification. Lets jump. If you are ever in Australia, feel free to knock on my door. Bring your kids too, they can look after mine whilst we are jumping. CYA Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Whether or not someone thinks that a S/L is worth it or not is totally irrelevant. YOU BASE jump for specific personal reasons. If the jump satisfies YOUR criteria, objectives, goals, fantasies, whatever, then it is worth it. My opinion is that any person that says any type of jumping is not worth it has no business opening their mouth. Now, if they say that a specific type of jumping is not relevant for them, then I can respect that. In the end, those that think you should not jump, no matter what type your jump is and what type of jumps they prefer, are WHUFFO's. Why for you jump off/out/in/etc. . . . . . And we all know very well that Whuffo's should be tolerated but ignored!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do I like freefall on BASE jumps? Shit yeah! I absolutely love it. I prefer it to S/L. BUT, Do I think S/L sucks? Yeah that jump at MB / AGDM at 4800m in France really sucked. I hated that no end. So did that one off a certain religious landmark in Germany. So did that one on the internal side of a certain arched bridge onto a roadway somewhere, so did . . . . . . . . and the one to top them all off . . . . . my first jump. I will NEVER take that back. And it was a S/L. Hence, do what you want to do. Those that decline jumps are entitled to. Don't let them influence you adversely, or rob you of life experience and fun. Whatever style you choose. Just do it as safely as you can. Stay Safe Have Fun Good Luck p.s. people who think S/L is uncool are . . . . . . . . . . . attempting to overcome some sort of feelings of inadequacy!!!!!! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Someone in this thread said that BASE is about freedom. You can take this two ways: 1 - you are free to be a dickhead and jump without taking notice of ANY good intentioned advice that is generally based on hard won experience and . . . . . 2 - you can be free and choose to prevent an accident / fatality / negative interaction at your site. This would involve something like cutting the rig to bits before the guy jumps it. When he gets the shits, just shrug your shoulders in that SkyGod kind of way. . . . I am a BASE pirate / vigilante. Free to roam the world and stop people from bleeding on my cliffs!!!!!! In the end, if people like that die, who cares???? They quite obviously don't! Hence they are not entitled to hold absolutely no expectation that you should care for them. Freedom in BASE jumping is purely and utterly about being able to jump objects. IT IS NOT about being free to be a high risk / ignorant / selfish / inwardly focused arsehole. There are ethics involved. The ethics don't inpinge on your freedom. THey actually give you more freedom - - - - to live your life longer - - - - - - - and to share your wonderful experiences with others - - - - - more often - - - - - - and longer. Dying due to ignorance is NOT freedom - you have robbed yourself of further life experience (unless that is your intention). Making a site more difficult to jump due to acts of stupidity is nothing to do with freedom. That steals freedom from others. That is selfish. That is capitalistic in a metaphoric kind of way. Who is responsible for the inevitable accident???? The person involved in the accident. It is that simple. All people have equal and free access to information about BASE jumping. They also have access to opinions, stories, statistics, etc. They have enough resources available to be able to make conscious and correct decisions. They cannot blame video's, courses, FJC's, etc. If they choose not to . . . Who cares?????? They don't. Hence, neither should anyone else. Pull their reserve handles and cut their main suspension lines. Then charge double for your rigging services. The sport is different today. The participants are different. The attitudes are different. People are pulling multi aero's and doing low pulls and roll overs and . . . VERY EARLY in their jump careers. And this is all with a few practice jumps and watching some video's. There is NO humility in that. There is no common sense in that. There is no longevity in that. And if you need convincing, look at the f%&*ing list............. Yes, disassociation helps.... But not much. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

2000 Bridge Day Competition 1st - NH 2nd - DW 3rd - RS The sad irony. 2002 - NH 2003 - DW 2004 - RS It was and always will be an absolute pleasure. Thanks for Some of Life's Greatest Memories. CYA all in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . well maybe I'll just visit. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

My opinion too (or near enough). Lets cut the bullshit and tell it how it is. If you want to cut corners. You are going to bounce. Die. Be dead. No more jumps. Finished. Don't be a dickhead. Develop the appropriate skills in the appropriate way. That way you live longer and you do more jumps. You won't bounce (or are much less likely to), you'll be alive. Did I say more Jumps. Never finished. The choice is yours to make. Stay Safe Have Fun Good Luck Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Geez. You are sssssooooooo ssssssensssssitive!!! Anyone for a short straw??? Don't jump with an Australian then..... he ha haw p.s. photo is A B - one of the awesome Norgies........ p.s.s. BSBD - BSBD - BSBD bounce bounce bounce bounce.. On a serious note, there is no such thing as superstition, unless you are supersitious. YOU are the master of YOUR destiny. Not some other BASE geek with BSBD quotes. All the best of luck. Don't fuck up. Stay Safe Have Fun Good Luck

I'm sending some of DW's straws to the living dead!!!!.. Who wants the short one??? Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

You are SSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOO much a baby in nappies in the BASE world. That is the incomparable Dr Nik. God love him. "Up Ya Bum" Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Show me the data, and I will believe you. I want data, not opinions and comments!!!!!!! Your "equi-distance" theory is based on MANY assumptions. The reality of BASE jumping is that many of those assumptions are missed by certain individuals on certain specific jumps. What asssumptions: - p/c material - p/c size - p/c construction - p/c wear and tear - symmetry of bridle / p/c attachment point and knots - p/c packing technique - p/c holding and/or deployment technique - localised weather (wind / humidity / etc) - BODY position on exit and one second into the delay - container characteristics (pins v veclro, etc) - packing volume v container volume - etc - etc - etc e.g. a 50 in p/c deployed in a very specific way on a go and throw will perform much better than the same deployed poorly at 1 second. There is also the issue of consistency. F111 performs more consistently than zero P as the airflow is attracted into the p/c. To make a generalisation like: "a 1 second delay is better than a go and throw is downright dangerous in the wrong hands. What are "wrong hands"? Every new person entering the sport and/or every person who heeds your comment as advice. This may work above 300ft as you have some degree of a safety margin and you may / may not notice the difference in 25ft or difference in consistency, but at lower altitudes it is a dangerous thing to say. p.s. 250ft - conservatism is fine. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Wonderful effort. Now you're exhibiting some creative flair. An existential hurdy gurdy spinning around in the minds of those that see the underlying themes buried deep within the grains and brushstrokes of the original masterpiece. . . . . . I'm putting my safety hat back on. There may be some serious issues with over rotation on exits there!!!!!! Now, good launch, punch your chest out to the horizon (don't poke anyone in the eye - or rather punch them in the face), and for God's sake DO NOT LOOK DOWN. Your body tends to follow where your head looks. I guess she lent her rig to the person actually making the jump. You know, the one with the long chest strap. - - - Enough of this banter. Get back to those objects!!!! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Oops. Just read the rest of the thread. Someone beat me to the punch . . .line . . . .. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

You're biased!!!! I hear Nelson Mandela was OK. Still, its hard to compete with us CRW heads. What about sensuous satin in the evenings. Shame they can't make canopies out of it??? That would make a wrap SSSSSOOOOOO enticing (in a mixed team of course)!!! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Geez, where do I start. - Framing of subject matter leaves a bit to be desired. - The clarity and detail of the subject matter AND foreground / background is poor. Can I suggest a higher quality lens f4.5 is cheap (I should know ). - Exposure is a bit high on the background building below. Too bright. - People love to see people. Especially their faces when they are shitting themselves. A detailed face shot purveys emotions that the viewer can either symphasize/associate/alienate/ etc with. Perhaps the subject matter / talent / stunt double should put the rig on backwards and look up at the photographer next time. - Chicks look better in photo's than guys. Maybe a black and white nude next time with some soft focus spotlighting on particular areas???? - And the big one, whoever put that big sign right in the middle of the frame, it is distracting to the viewer. Not only that, it is downright dangerous and unsafe for the jumper. Can you imagine if his chest strap got caught on that on the way down. I understand the important of going for th money shot, but at the cost of someone's life???? - etc. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Are they???????? Based on what factors, characteristics, equipment configuration, etc, etc??? e.g. - if you had a bridge approximately 160ft, how would you deploy your gear????? Would you delay one second????? Or would you use appropriate gear configuration and use a modified go and throw technique? Or even a throw and go technique? Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Yep - that's what the caption says?? How are you going PD? Since when do pommies get 7500 altitude????? CYA Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.