Zennie

OK. What self-respecting BASE jumper would *not* know the status of Jean Boenish, one of the co-pioneers of our sport? Sheesh! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

With explosives? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

This is sort of the phrase that I still have questions about. Sometimes it's easy, but sometimes it's unclear or very difficult to determine who the "acknowledged" contact person is. I do my best to contact the up jumpers who seem in the know about who is where... and post on the BASE Board, but not all jumpers are net-savvy. I had a situation like that a few months ago. Me and my mentor both tried our best to contact a local for a fairly famous object but couldn't get hold of anyone. I scouted the crap out of it and wound up jumping it as discreetly as a could (without incident), but I still didn't like the fact that I was in someone else's "territory". I'd like to hear people's thoughts on how they'd handle a similar situation... i.e. you're travelling, you can't contact the locals and there is a nice object available to you. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

This reminds me of the recent story of Aron Ralston... the climber who was pinned under a rock for 5 days and wound up having to amputate his own arm (the specifics of which still make me cringe) in order to save himself. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Have you asked around your dropzone to see if anyone knows any local BASE jumpers? Try to get a contact or two and touch base (no pun intended) with them about learning & ground crewing. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm currently just a computer geek, but I used to be a lawyer. I hated being a professional asshole so I decided to go amateur. Hey Jason, remember dinner Memorial Day night at TF? I think you commented about how half the table were computer geeks of some sort. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

That and when you swing your leg over the railing for the first time. MAN was I scared! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I agree with you. Even though people like to say that there's no shame in climbing down, there is still that little bit of pressure (self-imposed) not to disappoint our peers. When I'm by myself I have no one to impress or disappoint (including myself). Both me and my mentor agree that our thinking is clearer, more focused and less distracted. I've climbed down FAR more solos than I've actually done because I didn't feel conditions were right. Yes, it is also true that I don't have anyone to immediately help me if something goes wrong. That's where letting people know where you are and what you're doing comes in. I call right before I jump and then immediately after. My friends know who to call and where to send help if I don't call back. Oh, just make sure your cell phone batteries are charged. It would be kind of embarassing to call saying you're going to jump and then have the cell phone batteries go out. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

You should be just fine with it. Good for you for knowing when something doesn't feel right and listening to your instincts. I'm convinced that we have a 6th sense that alerts us when things aren't right. A self-preservation instinct of sorts I suppose. Listen to it. And learning to live! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Aviation sectionals and TACs are also very good for researching potential targets. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

People are sort of like clouds. We get to admire them for a brief period of time, but they eventually move on. But just because we can't see them anymore doesn't mean they don't still exist. They've just drifted somewhere beyond our view. My condolences to Rook, Missy, and all of Roger's friends and family. BSBD - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I've done an "A" completely alone (though I did have a cell phone and let people know where I was) and an "E" sort of alone (I yelled down and asked some passing bikers to stand by, just in case things went wrong, they were more than happy to oblige ). We've sort of had this "To Solo Or Not To Solo" debate before. My opinion is that the whole sport is about comfort levels. Each person has their own and I like to think most people will respect it and not push someone to go beyond their personal level. I personally enjoy solos. It's quality time with myself. I feel a greater sense of accomplishment when I do something completely by myself... prepare on my own, assess conditions, decide whether to make the jump or not (and yes, I have climbed down from solos many, many times). But that's just me. YMMV. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I dunno. Jumping an irregular BASE rig might be kinda fun. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I have some old video of Carl Boenish & Phil Smith jumping off a once-legal-now-illegal E with stilts & a pogo stick. They had a rope tied to them so the "jumping aids" were just hauled back up after they went off. Funny, funny video... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

DOH! I'm sorry. Just the B, and I have my eye on one right now. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Getting my E off of a legal cliff in Southeastern Utah. Biggest rush of my life... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Well, I didn't quite say that, because I don't know exactly how each manufacturer tests their gear. So I'll retract that part of the statement. I think it's fair to assume that one cannot optimize for everything and everyone, so a manufacturer will natrally favor their own products. This is an assumption, I have no facts to back it up. Still, I think the question is valid... if you had the choice, would you favor a unified or a mixed configuration? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I can vouch for this. I'm totally convinced now that my heading issues were related to how I packed the rig. I did 20 slider-offs the past week and every single one was dead-on heading. All I changed were a couple of things in my pack job. This brings up an interesting question though... what are people's thoughts on doing an mix-n-match approach (such as my CR Ace in a Vertigo Warlock) vs. staying with a particular manufacturer for the entire rig (e.g. a Flik in a Reactor, a Dagger in a Warlock, an Ace in a Perigee). Intuitively, it seems the latter would be preferable, as the manufacturer would be using their equipment to all of their design, testing & tweaking. Would it be reasonable to assume that this would lead to a more "optimized" configuration? Thoughts? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

OK, got it wrong again. I'll just shut up now. But the reminders are still legit. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Whoops, wrong issue. But still a good practice to be in. Check your p/c's too! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Amen brutha. I'm habitually tugging on all my lark's heads now. See ya starting tomorrow! Woohoo!!! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

So Steve S. got hooked up again? Right on! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yeah I guess I should add that access to tall objects isn't an issue, so both schools of thought use those for training. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

My mentor and I have had this discussion a few times and I'd like to hear thoughts from those of you that regularly train students. In our town there appear to be two schools of thought on which is the preferred method for introducing a student to BASE. The first school of thought is to put the student off high... like in the 1700 foot range, stowed, with about a 9-10 second delay. The thinking is that a first-time is already terrified when doing his/her first BASE jump. So if you keep the first few as straightforward and familiar to skydiving as possible, you reduce the chance of them being overwhelmed. Also by putting the student off high, you have more cushion for them to correct a poor launch. They also have more clearance from the object, so an off-heading opening will not be a very big issue. The second school of thought is to put the student off hand-held, "lower" (around 900-1100 feet) with about a 2-3 second delay. The thinking here is that BASE is a different sport from skydiving, so the student should learn fundamental BASE techniques, particularly getting a good launch, right off the bat. 1100 feet isn't particularly low. If you go hand-held you keep the deployment issue pretty simple and less prone to off-headings. Also by doing a short delay you still have plenty of sky to fly your canopy but still get a taste of what ground rush is like. You also need to assess wind and landing area issues more closely because you won't get the same amount of object clearance as if you started from higher up. I tried to keep each methodology as positive as possible so as not to skew thinking. For the same reason I haven't said which one I've trained under. Thoughts? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon