HELLvetic

pm sent. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

Will be good to meet you guys

Thanks for your reply rick. I hope my initial did not come across as direspectful to the "BASE awards" as I have the utmost respect for them. I, personally will be darn proud to apply for one when I qualify. My post was to maybe get an idea of how many jumpers are anonymous jumpers and how many people actually jump (wether they have completed the acronym or not). To my knowledge the "base award numbers" are now around 1050 give or take a few. Which means just that, 1050 or so people have completed the acronym. But how many in the world are we to partake in the activity? I know there is asolutely no way anyone can answer that... so the question is certainly vain. But this question came to my mind sitting at the pub in the swiss valley for the last three weekend and seeing so many different people come through there. I know it's screwed up but it almost started to make me think this has become a "common" actvity... _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

Oh believe me so do I!!! I feel like a nobody compare to the the early pionneers. I mean crap... we were just talking about that last weekend with my friend, about how ballsy it must have been to huck yourself off some object with some modified, riggidy old modify skydiving canopy...with the lines free stowed in the bottom of the tray.... I know we have it easy and if I can do what I do today, it is because some people found out the hard way to make it "safer" for us new/newer jumpers. In my short time in this sport I have met so many incredible human beings...Being often in the swiss valley during the weekends I get to see so many groups of jumpers come through from all around the world. It so much fun to meet and chat with them at the pub. Some are really charachters! But all incredible and uniqe human beings. An immense part of why I am in the sport is for the incredible "extra-ordinary" people that partake in the sport. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

Well the purpose of the post was to see who from DZ.com will be there Everyone who is registered got an email with the list of people who are going to be there with their real names I am just trying to figure out which one of these peeps are DZ.com peeps. Would be cool to meet them and then be able to put a face on some of the screen names around here. Am I the only one with a nine to five job?? _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

My other post about the "Benne boogie roll call" only got two replies from other jumpers that post on this website...when I know for a fact that about 100 jumpers are registered and confirm. This leads me to believe that this site is surely a bit biased towards the american/english speaking community which is normal... DUH not everybody has the internet, care to post and speak english fluently enough to post. But this in my mind raises an interesting question. Are the BASE numbers issued after completion of all four types of jumps really representative of the number of base jumpers in the world or are they just a mere "honor thing" given to the mostly american/english speaking community who is maybe more aware that these number even exist. Personally, I usually jump with two other guys who merely speak no english and have absolutely no clue that those number even exist. So in your opinion...How big is the base jumping community truely? _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

yeah you are right, I posted before getting that email... so it looks like there are only indeed about a 100 jumpers registered AND confirmed. Should still be a heck of a load of fun with just a 100 peeps. what phases me is that out of 100 or so base jumpers that will be at the boogie only 2 so far are dz.com members. This leads me to believe that maybe this site is a bit biased towards the american/english speaking jumpers and not really representative of the "whole" base juming community. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

So who all gonna be around switzerland for the Benne boogie at "les diablerets"! I know for sure that there are at least 148 peeps that registered cause one of my jumping buddy got the registration no 148 out of 150!

Well, "mean" would not exactly be the word... But here is one example of what brought me to my conclusion about your attitude. when you had to video my grad jump (my jump no 7 or 8 not exactly sure... first jump from top altitude from the king air with all the confidence that this implies from a student who goes through the static program in lodi ) I asked you for a gear check before getting on the plane. You looked at me like I was a stupid idiot for even daring asking that... and here was your answer after a 1 second glance at me from 3 feet away: "looks fine to me" then during that jump you forgot to turn your cam on before exit... Which obviously pissed you off and I guess you had to take your anger out on someone wich turned out to be me. and here is another example of your lovely attitude: Making fun of an hearing impaired tandem student... to me is completely disrespectful and not cool at all. I am convinced that you ruined a bit his first and maybe only experience with the sky that day. To me that's immensly uncool, unprofessional and shows a lack of basic respect for another human being. So even if you are absolut kick ass skydiver and base jumper...(I am the first one to recognise that) your condescending attitude ruins yours skills and your videos. Frankly, i am not interested in seeing or promoting a video (although surely excellent) made by a guy like this. Dude! I don't get it! You have everything to be absolutely successful, but I firmly believe your attitude is hindering your endeavors. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

Nope! No thanks man! And Believe me, I'll make sure to spread the word around here as well. I am undoubtly sure it's an excellent video, but your attitude takes SO much away from it's quality. Dude! why can't you make these sick ass videos and be "Nice", somewhat respectful, and somewhat ethical... Believe me, it would take you so much further in your endeavors. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

Great then...you are golden! Have fun... don't die. Congratulations on your high school diploma! I was not aware that a highschool diploma was a prerequisite that would help your skills for base or even skydiving. To be frankly honest. Your answer is the one of a 16 year old! Nothing wrong with that... cause duh!!! you are 16! But to me, the association of base jumping with your high school graduation tells me you have the maturity of a 16 year old. Again, nothing wrong with being 16. We ALL were 16 once. But base and a 16 year old maturity is receipe for a not so good outcome IMO. oh and one more thing from Jimmy's post Must be really reassuring that this whole thing is just a "venture" to your mentor to "see if it can be done". Maybe you should think about trading spots with a guinee pig in a research lab! Your odds of survival might increase! Be smart. Take care. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

Way to go Jimmy! You just keep on getting more and more inspired on how to show the world you don't give a flying sh... about anything! Like you probably won't give a crap about this post! But i'll post it anyways so that other can get an idea of your lovely attitude, and ethics and the wonderful human being you are. When it comes to skydiving and base jumping, there is no doubt that you are way up there in terms of skills! But dude your attitude stinks. It stank so much that I nearly stopped skydiving because of it when I went through the static line progression in Lodi a few years back. It might not ring a bell to you cause my guess is that you are an ass to most students who come through lodi.(or maybe it was just me..."hey it was not my fault that you had to video my grad jump and that you forgot to push the rec button on your cam before exiting the plane guess you had to take it out on me) I also remember the day you were actively making fun of an hearing impaired tandem student who was there for his first jump. Again, Way to go man! I am convinced you ruined a bit of his experience that day. So yes you are a flying god! But you are also a flying...BLEEP! But knowing you, you will take this as a compliment! Take care man, I truely hope that 16 year old chick doesn't get hurt cause of your ego. Hope to never see you at an exit point. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

Clicky _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

From a newbie to another. Go for the stable exit first. If you plan on doing a running exit, make sure you got the manoeuvre down. I did my first runing exit at a terminal wall a while back... and screwed up the exit! Never got to the tracking part... I have the jump on video, but I am not really proud of it . But put it this way, I showed the video to a Finnish guy and his answer was "DUDE!!! you need to put this one on the web... and you should have played lottery!" So my two cents, go for the nice stable exit and then worry about the tracking performance. Tracking performance/efficiency should not be a decisive factor in the outcome of your first terminal cliff jump! _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

I concur... the gear I got from him recently is totally top notch and Marty is so helpful when it comes to customer support. Nothing but excellent things to say about asylum designs. Can't go wrong! _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

Just as a word of caution for other jumpers. Due to an undertermined misshap there recently (I am not sure of exactly what happened so I won't speculate...),I know from reliable sources that the local authorities are really out to catch someone there... I would not want to be that jumper and neither do you... So be extra cautious! Best would be to let it cool down for a while! _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

Not to hijack my own thread... but yes I know the low down of the situation there right now...Will start a new thread for it just as a word of caution. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

I thought I would post this for some other newbies who might do the same thing while packing their rigs...Luckly I survived my rigging f... up but only found out about it at deployment time! (no slider jump) What really happened is that on the previous jump I had not daisy chained my lines and stuffed everything in my stash bag... so I ended up with a big mess to start packing my canopy; toggles had come undone. So while sorting out the whole mess, flipping the whole canopy around, pulling the red brake lines to make sure both lines were free, somehow I managed to route my toggle through the my d lines on the right side. To make sure I had a clean canopy I did the same control I do with my skydiving canopy. I ran up the lines with the group in my fingers to make sure that everything was clear. Everything looked in in order, when in fact one of my brake line was routed right through the D lines with the only red line.... Bottom line is that I know I f... up! I was fooled by the fact that it happeard fine when I did the continuity check but in fact I had the red line of the D group with my brakes! It's a really crappy way to find out you screwed up when you jump a 330 feet S. Luckly the misrouting did not affect opening or the steerability of the canopy...but this could have easily turned ugly! Go head flame away if you want! Lesson to learn don't just assume everything is clear because it looks right and based on color of the lines... really make sure all the groups are clear of one another. or stow your brakes at the end of the pack job! _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

I work for one of those large financial institutions in Geneva Switzerland... you know the kind that keep all the money of all the rich, evil bad people around the world. Hey... I stick to the stereotype! I am banker, my house looks like the one "Heidi" lived in and all I eat is scrumptious swiss chocolate... _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

hey I am a newbie and I definitely went with a two pin container... It really seem that most jumpers I have seen are jumping two pins containers. The ones that still jump velcro rigs are the ones that are too broke buy a new pin closed container... (joke) No seriously I was really debating if I should go with a velcro container or pin for a first rig... In Tom's article about gear for new jumpers, he recommends a velcro closed container and an all F-111 parachute non vented preferably...like an ACE for example. I started looking based on these recommendations but after mucho research on my own talking to various people, i decided to go with a two pin (perigee pro) container, and a vented canopy (blackjack). I don't really adhere to the idea that a velco rig is easier to close and easier to keep the pack job neater when closing. I have seen a guy try to close his and he was fighting just like me trying to keep the pack job neat while closing the container. Although their operation is surely more simple and it would be hard to pack yourself a total mal with a velcro rig, I still think that a pin closed container is the way to go in the long run. And to be honest I think that if you are not heads up enough and your rigging capabilities are so weak that you can't figure out how to pack and close a pin closed rig correctly even before your first jump then maybe you should seriously rethink if base jumping is an activity you want to undertake...A little common sense is mandatory in this sport. But this is just my opinion though. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

In the short few weeks I have been in this sport and from the top of my 11 jumps. The only thing I really figured out is that base jumping is not an exact science! I thought it was when I started jumping! I asked a bunch of questions regarding gear before choosing mine. Whatever you choose you gonna find someone who is going to tell you to stay the hell away from it and some will tell you that it's the best. I honestly believe that all base gear manufactured by a reputable shop today is of good quality. I figured it's all preference and lots just based on opinions... and those are just that opinions! Read as much as you can. Ask as many questions as you can, and soon you will realize that the same questions asked to 20 experienced based jumpers will yield somewhat different answers. Like my instructor told me at my fjc... Go with whatever gives you that warm fuzzy feeling when you are standing on the edge! I know, I know... my post is not helping answering your question. But if your question had an exact answer, we would all be jumping the same gear, pack the same way... etc... again this not an exact science nor will it ever be i think... so go with what YOU think is right after having soaked the most info possible from all available sources. Peace. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

Did not get a chance to be on one of Tom's course but got to hang out and jump with some of Tom's students. I do believe his course his the shiznit, so if you have a the chance to get on one of his course, do it by anyway you can. Not because it's free but because I really felt like it was very comprehensive from what was described to me... Heck I even learn packing tricks from one of his students! Thanks for giving to the sport so freely tom. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

For some reasons I have a feeling what you just said is sooo true... but for now lets think positive. let's deal with the not so fun aspect of the sport in due time! Thanks for the welcome though. _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters

hey just a quick post to introduce myself on this forum. It was a lot of fun of meeting some of you guys at the potato bridge. Thanks Tom for the fat juicy steak I got to enjoy at your house before flying out. And to the british major I hope the rockdragon was all you expected to be! Bastard! I still have to pop the cherry of my new blackjack! All in due time... but you will regret making fun of me being weathered out the last day. To all who know me send me a PM with your info. I will return the hospitality to all the cool people I got to meet this last week at the bridge. Be safe. Have fun! _________________________________________ Signature Max Size: 4 lines, 200 characters