pBASEtobe

Really? Cool!! I didn't expect anyone to actually do this. I'd be very interested to hear how it goes. Edited for spelling

Yes you are right, my mistake. But I suppose when jumping slider down you could use either part 1 or part 2 for the DBS. It just depends how many finger traps you want on each line part. I will edit the first post appropriately.

I had this idea pop into my head this morning while getting ready for work. I’m not sure how my brain was even functioning at 5:15am but... My idea addresses being able to clear a slider-up line over. I hope I can explain this properly. Rather than having one lower brake line you would have two. One would be your SBS length with just a loop at the end (we’ll call this part 1). The loop at the end would be used as the finger trap. It would not be attached to the toggle in any way (other than through the loop at the end when stowed) so when you release the brake this line would come off and flap in the breeze. This line would go through the slider grommets and the keeper ring. This line is what would drive the slider down and is what would hold the appropriate opening SBS. The second lower brake line (part 2) would be just like your standard slider down setup. You would stow the brakes the same way except you might not need to do the LRT method because there would be no force on this line during opening. This line would not run through the slider grommet or the keeper ring. The only difference is that you would need to add a finger trap to make the line looser (only a couple of inches) or you might be able to just use your SBS on this line instead. The reason for making this line looser is to prevent the two lines from trapping the slider in between them. When the brakes are stowed you would have to put the toggle through two finger traps for slider up, one on each line (part 1 and part 2). For slider down you would put the toggle through the finger trap of line part 2 and the “L” part of the LRT for line part 1. If you had a line over (slider up) all you would have to do to clear it is just release the stowed brakes, just like you would slider down. There are a few benefits to this setup. First and foremost is the easy ability to clear a slider up line over while using standard cloth toggles. Also I think it would be easier to grab “Big Grab” toggles and pull than it would be to use WLO toggles and have to find the little tab to release the line, especially if the canopy is spinning. I must admit I’ve never had to do it or try it so I don’t know. Second of all, you would never have to physically move your toggles on the brake lines up or down because they would be the same whether you where jumping slider up or down. Lastly, flying slider up or down would be the same in the aspect that the brake lines (part 2) would never go through the slider grommets. There are downsides to this as well. A more complicated system, slack in the part 2 brake line may interfere or snag on something during deployment. Although I would only make it 2-3 inches longer, I’m not sure. Also if you were to blow a toggle on opening while jumping slider up there is a possibility that the toggle could get wrapped around the slider before it descends and could hold the slider up. But I’m thinking that a blown toggle would be a little less likely with this setup because you would have to put the toggle through 2 finger traps instead of just one, a little more friction. This in turn could also be a downside in the fact that because of the friction, releasing the toggle may be harder or it may be easier to have a hang-up. I know a slider-up line over can be addressed by using WLO toggles so maybe I'm beating a dead horse with this but I thought I'd post this just to share and maybe start a bit of a technical discussion I suppose. Do you have any ideas, comments, suggestions, or anything else about this setup? Edit to change DBS to SBS.

I received one response in the form of a generic letter.

Me too. It works grrrreat!

I know Apex BASE rents gear.

Nope, nowhere to land (i.e. water).

Doing these d-bag jumps I use my BASE canopy but I use my paragliding harness with wheels so I can land on the ground. This harness would be a disaster to take any length of freefall with that's why I always d-bag with it. Too many snag points and a high probability of instability in freefall due to shape and wheel sticking out. When I BASE I don't use anything to land with, hence all my water landings. I do ok in freefall but am working at getting better body position. So far the longest freefall I've taken is about 2-2.5 seconds with good results.

None what so ever! I was itching to do something fun when the doc gave me the "all clear". YES!!! It would not have been pretty or very safe. I was packed slider down and doing a d-bag so we discussed the fact that if we lost a lot of altitude from launch to the LZ I was willing to release as low as 200' if necessary or even a bit lower. Then the other two could land just like any other tandem would. Usually with no lift two of us can get to the LZ with ~900' so to presume 200' would be available seemed reasonable. We got there at about 700'.

Yeah, I know. Someone got it, it's just a matter of getting it from them. Next time we'll do the video right!

Just had to share this fun one with you all. I've done a few d-bag jumps from my friends tandem paraglider. This weekend we diecided we'd take it up a notch. I asked lifewithoutanet if he wanted to do a jump from my friends tandem. Thinking about it for a bit we came up with this idea and gave it a whirl today. It all worked out great. I started the day with a nice 1:15 minute solo paragliding flight (with a cool 45% collapse at one point) while lifewithoutanet went on a tandem ride himself. Then later on in the day we took a tandem paragliding wing and launched it with 3 people on baord. My friend the pilot, lifewithoutanet in front of the pilot like a usual tandem passenger would be and then me down below like I normally am when I do d-bag jumps from him. The first 2 launch attempts didn't go so well but when we finally got up all was good. We were even able to thermal a little. When we left the thermal we realized we were sinking like a brick with all that weight on the wing so we headed straight out to the LZ/DZ. I released first at around 750'. I had to go first because I was the low guy. It was a little odd to be flying and look up before releasing and see 2 guys instead of one. After I went the others did a second pass to lose a bit more altitude so the tandem pilot wouldn't have to spend too much time under a tandem wing solo. Lifewithoutanet jumped, took about a 1 second delay and had just a beautiful standup landing. It was cool launching 3 people under one tandem but only see one guy land it. Just wanted to share a fun day. Maybe Lifewithoutanet will chime in here eventually with his version of what he saw. P.S. I told ya the doc said I'm good to go so this is what we came up with first...

A good swift kick to the ass to get me off the platform usually works pretty well. Cornishe has been doing it recently but I don't think he'd mind relinquishing the privilege to you for a weekend.

Are you CRAZY!!! I know at least 25 paraglider pilots that would kill to fly the valley!! I'm sure there are more. Although I'm not sure the paragliding community is as willing to get arrested as the BASE community is. What do you guys think about me posting a link to this thread on a popular paragliding forum? Paragliders are banned from the valley because BASE jumping is (or vice versa) but they allow hang gliding. Why is that? I'm sure if BASE jumping was allowed they'd have to let people paragliding as well. Edited to combine 2 posts.

Since I made my first BASE jump I'm averaging 2.166 jumps/year. I know, I know, I'm thpeshial ("special" said with a lisp). Ok, at least I think I am.

That would be great, thanks! I just sent her an e-mail pretty much saying, "But the doctor said it's ok!"

Not sure yet I'll get back to you on that.

I'll see if I can have the risers done by then as well.

I'm all healed up and I can do whatever I want (I saw him yesterday). Woo Hoo!!! I specifically asked him if putting a load on my pelvis by wearing a harness would be ok. He looked at me, laughed and shook his head and then said yes you can do that. I got all excited, I don't think he did though. When I left he asked if he'd see me again. I told him it just might be possible. He laughed again. This means I will be jumping after all during my trip to Twin at the end of July. I look forward to jumping with Faber! Tom, is the platform with the bar still available or did we cannibalize it for parts for another platform?

Uh...71 jumbo jetliners. I hate to be an engineer but I don't think so. Quote from another site. "It is an engineering marvel with six-inch steel pillars that are drilled eighty feet into the mountain." Six inch steel just isn't THAT strong. If it's 80 feet into the side of the cliff and 60 feet out that a 0.75:1 lever arm at the end. Ok if you assume the force on the 80 foot side is in the middle then it's 1.5:1, even worse. Oh hell, you get the idea. Right?

Clicky

What do you say to someone when they call you crazy? People ask about my weekend so I tell them what I did...BASE jumping, paragliding, scuba diving or whatever. And they come back with, "You're crazy!" I don't know what to say to them. I don't think I'm crazy and I'm kind of tired of people thinking/saying that. I don't talk about these things because I want attention or try to act cool because I'm doing dangerous stuff. After they say you're crazy what the hell do you say next to keep a conversation going? If you say it's no big deal then you come off trying to look and act cool but if you talk about it more then it seems like you're trying to be cool because you do dangerous stuff. At least that's the feeling I get from other people. Any ideas for a good, simple comeback? I ask this because it makes it hard for a first impression not to come off as a dick.

Damn login required!!! I hate that! Edit to add: Thanks!

My disappointment wasn't with Skydiving for printing that. It was more with the people submitting it to SKydiving. My post wasn't very clear about that.

It really does look like you end up nice and stable when the ground comes back into view. Then all of a sudden you start to rotate again. Hmm, glad it all went ok though. Minus losing the lens that is.

I was wondering if it was just me that thought that was a bad idea to print that. Glad someone else here agrees. And hell I've never even MADE a jump in CA yet.