Zennie

Oh and I'd like to add that my rig now smells springtime fresh. *sniff* MMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Just wanted to report back on the rig cleaning thread I posted earlier. Yesterday I had planned on making a jump off of a new B. I pulled my rig out of my stash bag and was hit with a smell that vaguely resembled sweat socks that had been tossed in a dark corner and forgotten about for a few weeks. Didn't give me warm fuzzies about the state of my gear, so I decided now was the time to clean it. I cut away the main, filled the tub with cold water and some Woolite. I let the lines soak and then worked them about 3 or 4 times. Then I threw in the rest of the canopy. I can't even begin to tell you how nasty the water was in the first couple of rinses, but about 4 rinses later the water finally went clear and I hung it up to dry. The container got a similar treatment. I checked both this morning and they're mostly dry and they look almost like new again. The lines still have a few mildew spots, but other than that, it looks 1000% better. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I can attest to this. I've been on tall tower jumps, at a very familiar locale, and my heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest. Yet on my first (and only thus far) B jump, I was alone yet strangely calm. You just never know what emotion you'll feel when stepping up to the edge. It's different every time, and I think one of the things that makes this sport special.

Didn't Jeb once rent a high-rise condo for about a month? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Check your PMs

Hey Joy, you know 460 & I are thinking of you, Rick & Randy. My condolences to all of you. And if there's anything you need, give us a holler. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm sure they'd love to get their mitts on a lot of things. "The Book" comes to mind. *shrug* - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Ummmm.... my intention isn't to make it an American-only affair. (Marta, Anne Helliwell, Patrique anyone?) Similarly don't assume that just because an American happens to mention Americans (isn't NickD Italian anyway) that he/she is taking a US-centric view of the world. I'm certainly not. Carl is considered by most people to be the "father", if you will, of modern BASE jumping. The names I mentioned are BASE 1,2,3 & 4. It seemed like a reasonable place to start. Otherwise we'd have to go back to ancient Asia when entertainers were jumping off buildings with oversized umbrellas. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Instinctually, I answered "Depends on the Site". Bridge Day... sure. A bad pack job is probably going to result, worst case, in you getting wet. Elsewhere, such as Norway, it could possibly kill you. That said, look at what the use of paid packers has done in the skydiving community. I can't tell you how many skydivers are absolutely CLUELESS about their gear, how it's configured, how and why it works the way it does. They learn to pack well enough to check off for their "A" and from then on toss it to a packer for $5 a shot. This may work when you have a few grand to deal with whatever the packer threw at you, but in BASE it would be very hazardous to your health. Plus, packer-induced-gear-cluelessness would carry over into poor gear selection, again which would inevitably lead to less-than-desirable results. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I've had this discussion with a few folks. When look at BASE historically, you can kind of break the sport down into rough "generations", each with their own style, attitude, technology, advancements. You obviously have the "First Generation"... Carl, Jean, Phil Smith, Phil Mayfield, etc. Getting into second and third generations gets more & moire difficult. It would be fascinating to put together a "family tree" of sorts, outlining who learned from whom. And in particular, observing any consistencies in style, attitude, etc as you went down a particular branch. The biggest issue would seem to be preserving confidentiality for those who would like to remain anonymous. Using BASE numbers or nicknames (maybe even dz.com nicks heh) would be probably the best method in those situations. I've been mulling over making this a pet project of sorts of mine. Anyone have any thoughts? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hey Jason, thanks so much for posting this. I loved Moe's speech when he gave it and I told 460 about it when I got back from BD. I live near Rick Harrison and always love hearing from the "old schoolers" (who are not necessarily old PEOPLE). Their stories, opinions and lessons are priceless. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm just shy of 100 jumps and I guess I'd put it in the "rotuine" category right now. I don't mind too much while I'm doing it, but I do have trouble motivating myself to actually get started. And I've lost count of the jumping opportunities I've missed simply because I had sort of an "Ahhhh... I don't wanna pack" attitude. Usually this occurs during a weeknight when I've gotten home from work and just don't want to go through the 4 hour+ long process of packing, driving, setting up, climbing/riding, jumping, cleaning up and driving home. Weekends (when the weather cooperates, which has been rare lately) are a different matter. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Be careful about the quality (or lack thereof) of the pants that you purchase to make a pair. Tom had a rather interesting experience with the ones he made when he was here. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Check your PMs fab.

I have my suspicions as to who the mysterious Jumper X is and my bet is he's #5, with JV being #6 sequentially. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'll have to get the sound bite, but I think Carl summed it up pretty succinctly... "BASE is the celebration of life." - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Good catch Nick. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

The things to stay away from on an A are... 1. The stinger at the top. 2. Any 5-10 ft. rods that are hung out on the side (usually white). 3. Any array of curvy, sort of S shaped things off to the side. These are the major transmitting devices you'll see on an A. If you see them... keep climbing another 20 feet or so. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I used a standard side-mount freefly helmet and I'm convinced it's why my video camera is now trashed. The riser strikes are brutal. So if you're gonna do video, do yourself and your bank account a favor and go top-mount. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

No. I learned the old-fashioned way... through a mentor (thanks for being a great teacher and friend 460). - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Sounds like Johnny has his hands full this year. For those of you taking his course... Johnny is a great guy and incredicbly knowledgable. You're in good hands. Look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yo Johnny! Houston crew will be there (brits, myself & douggie), along with riggersam. Bring a pair of black earmuffs and all over it. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

460 learned that the hard way earlier in his career. 460 jumps a standard Vtec Fox and all of our jumps (well, most all) are 10-12 second terminal A jumps. Hard openings haven't been a huge issue withhim and he uses a large mesh slider. I'm pretty sure he uses direct slider control. He rolls the outer 3 cells and does not wrap the center cell. He just exposes it. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

And actually, just to follow-up & sort of echo 554, polls of this sort are probably slightly skewed toward computer/engineer types because we are computer geeks as well. So an internet-based poll will probably be omitting a sizable cross section of non-computer-oriented types. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I still find the prevalence of computer/engineer types intriguing. My personal take is that we tend to be gear-heads (and sometimes social misfits... heh) and BASE sort of caters to that. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon