Zennie

My personal view of BASE is that it is another dimension of parachuting. And I very much enjoy parachuting. The thrill factor is obviously appealing but I think the thing I really like about it is the intellectual exercise. I have learned far more about gear, flight dynamics (body & canopy) and wind effects in my short time studying BASE than I have skydiving. Nope. I just see it as another source of information. Blinc is another. I think this is a very legit issue. There's a growing trend for people to try more advanced things way too early in their skydiving careers. I didn't strap on a camera helmet until I had ~400 jumps. Did my first BASE jump at around 425 jumps and just moved to a 1.5-ish wingloading at around 450... and I've swooped my landings since about jump 150. I personally think I have adequate skydiving experience with those numbers to take up BASE, but I honestly don't think a person with less than 200 jumps is really prepared. But that's my personal opinion. Oh man, I'm gonna get reamed for saying this... but... yeah I think I could... particularly with the info off Blinc. Would I last as long as someone who had a mentor to guide them through their first 50 jumps or so? No way. But could I? Well, in the early days many folks jumped solo because they didn't have anybody else to jump with, let alone mentor them. And there were no FJCs. And what's interesting is that this is by far the worst year for fatalities in BASE. The pioneers couldn't rely on high tech equipment to survive. They had to be creative and exercise good judgment. And it did a pretty good job of keeping them alive. Maybe not in one piece, but alive. So do I plan on doing solos anytime soon? No. I still have way too much to learn. And quite frankly I enjoy jumping with my mentor. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yup. Wellbutrin, in addition to being an antidepressant, also tends to alleviate ADHD symptoms as well. Interestingly, Adderall can help alleviate depression. So they are a popular combination with people suffering from ADHD and depression. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

They might be useful if you're flying a highly loaded elliptical. It would be interesting to compare the number of spin-ups with and without vented PCs. One BASE "gizmo" which I think would be quite useful in the skydiving context are the WLO toggles. At first I was thinking for mains, but I think they would really be a boon on reserves. Have a reserve lineover? No prob! PLOINK! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Yeah I got Websense'd again last week. Haven't heard anything from my boss and our secretaries surf like mad so I usually just throttle it back a tad. I like the VNC workaround though. We have a second NT domain specific to our group. I've half considered logging onto that domain for surfing, since I know we don't have Websense. Dunno if the HTTP requests are still handled by IT. Anyone know how to determine which machine handles HTTP requests? I'm assuming Websense is installed on the firewall machine. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'll second that. Not like I have to worry about getting into trouble anymore. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

You rang? Heya sis! Thanks for the compliments. I'll take all I can get these days. But ya, I'm keeping things simple for a while. Maybe once I get my riggers ticket, a couple hundred BASE jumps and my Millennium award I'll chill out.... Nah. I'll PM you my addy. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

True, but sample size will affect the reliability of the statistic. Especially very small samples. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

There are an awful lot of psychiatrists (M.D.s) and psychologists (PhDs) who would disagree with you on that. Pick up the DSM-IV sometime. Stimulants have the effects that you describe with non-ADHD people. Their effect on ADHD people is exactly the opposite. And in any event, stimulants are no longer the only medications used to treat ADHD. Eli Lilly just received FDA approval for a non-stimulant ADHD drug called Strattera. Granted, ADHD is often over/mis-diagnosed, especially in children, but the condition is very real and accepted in the medical community. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult (actually right when my Ex & I started marriage counselling) and am on Adderall. I asked the shrink if ADHD could be adult-onset. He said "Nope, you've probably had it all your life.". So then I started thinking back about things I've always done, like constant hand fidgeting, losing stuff all the stinkin' time, etc. In my case no one really thought much about it because: a. No one knew what ADHD was when I was growing up; and b. I did well in school. And yes, you can be severely ADHD and still do well in school. I just developed a number of coping mechanisms without really knowing it. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Actually, it's more likely the opposite. There was a really good documentary on The Learning Channel a while back called "Understanding: Risk Takers & Thrill Seekers". They profiled people participating in "high stimulation"activities, including skydiving & BASE, and interviewed some researchers in the field. The upshot was that thrill-seeking personalities have fewer dopamine receptors in the brain than the average person. Thus, in order to feel "normal" they need to engage in activities which produce greater amounts of dopamine... BASE, skydiving, rock climbing, surfing, etc. I have a correllary theory that a large percentage of people who engage in these activites also have ADHD. I could on & on as to the dynamics of this, but the short reason is that ADHD people have a decreased dopamine uptake ability (thus the need for stimulant medication) and frequently seek out high-stimulation activities which promote hyperfocus. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

And a big thank you to 460 for digging that out. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Just to turn the question around a bit. If we could erase history, and you had never BASE jumped before, would you take it up now? I wonder if there's an actuary somewhere that has fatality/injury statistics per year, per... say... 100 participants. I mean, how many times does the subject of "How dangerous is skydiving really?" come up? All of those that you mentioned are actually quite dangerous, especially at the advanced levels. Same goes for skiing (which I'm doing in Feb., BTW ). But to say one is more dangerous than another without numbers is sort of difficult. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Hey Tiff, congrats! And glad to hear that your hubby is taking to the transplant well. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Lessee.... SCUBA, snow skiing, golf. I used to follow my Chicago Bears religiously, but I don't have DirecTV right now. Plus I'm not missing much this season. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Tom can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think he's saying women shouldn't BASE jump. I think he's saying don't mix business with pleasure. Especially when the stakes are high. You want someone who is willing to say things that you don't want to hear. If you're romantically involved (or are trying to be) you are less likely to do that for obvious reasons. And that can lead to disastrous results. So if you're romantically involved with someone and they really want to take up BASE, send them to a qualified mentor that you would trust their (and your own) life with. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm not trying to start a flame war either. I see this as a healthy discussion. We only learn by having an open mind and discussing things between mature adults. Please don't take what I say personally. What I'm supposed to do on the jump, and how I'm going to react if I have a 90, 180, etc. I think about getting a good launch, getting the delay right and pulling/throwing stable. In other words, I think about getting the job done. Nothing else. I knew my comment was going to be misunderstood. That's the problem with web boards. It sometimes takes a couple of exchanges to articulate what one means fully. I'm guessing that some of the things I say here will be controversial and misconstrued as well. Let's start with what I'm not saying. I'm not saying is that I, or anyone else should ignore the very real dangers that BASE presents. I'm not saying one shouldn't prepare for the worst... they absolutely should. I'm also not saying BASE can't kill you. Hell, it's probably the thing most likely to kill me (besides driving on Houston highways ). I'm also not saying I'm not scared before a jump. Damn straight I'm plenty scared. Let's face it, that's part of the allure. Naturally I've talked to my mentor about this a lot. He thinks it's fallacious to just assume that BASE will injure you or will kill you. It doesn't have to. It can, and the odds of it happening are pretty damn high, but it doesn't have to. But to take the attitude that it will hurt or kill you only serves to put one into a negative mindset that is more likely to actually wind up hurting or killing you than if you say "It doesn't have to if I prepare for the worst." Note that that's not saying it won't, it's saying it doesn't have to. A lot of folks underplay the importance of positive thinking and visualization in succeeding at something. If you go into something with a negative mindset, or think about all the things that you will do wrong, you are far more likely to actually do the wrong thing because your mind is focused on it. If you think about what you will do right (and that includes reacting to mals), you are more likely to respond correctly. Being positive does not mean ignoring danger or being pollyanna-ish about something. It also doesn't mean refusing to consider everything that can go wrong and failing to prepare for it. Quite the opposite. Being prepared means being honest with yourself, your capabilities and the situation and honestly trying to consider and prepare for every contingency. In BASE, there are a lot. And I doubt anyone can prepare for everything. But once the preparations are done and it's time to perform a task, the only thing that should be on one's mind, and the only thing that is on my mind, is to complete the task as planned. I mean, once you're actually standing on the rail or the edge and you know you're going to go off, what's going to happen injury or death-wise is sort of a moot point. So why think about it? All that matters is what needs to be done. In other words, be focused on the task. Not the results. And again, I am not saying BASE isn't dangerous or that the odds aren't high that you will be killed or injured. We all know that they are. I'm just talking about the importance of taking a positive, honest, studious, methodical approach as opposed to a fatalistic attitude. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm sorry, but I just don't buy this. Can BASE kill you? Absolutely. And quite easily at that. But that's a far cry from saying BASE will kill you. And the problem with that sort of fatalistic mindset is that they often become self-fulfilling prophesies. I'm not saying pretend that the danger isn't real... it is. But I also wouldn't take up BASE if I was absolutely certain that one day it would kill me. I mean, the last thing you want to have in the back of your mind, even subconsiously, is "I wonder if this is the jump that's going to kill me." - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

One criticism of the Fox Vtec that I've heard from a couple of people is that the flare is fairly "mushy" due to the vents. What's been your experience as far as the flare goes as compared with other canopies? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Maybe we're thinking about two different things here. I added that you should add about 2 inches so you have some slack. Or are you talking about when you run your hand down the bridle to get the initial length? This reminded me of another thing I was taught. When you have B-12 snaps and are going hand-held, make sure you have your PC stowed or your bridle otherwise out of the way before you start setting up the PC. Snap your B-12 around the bridle and... well, you probably have a pretty good idea. I snap mine up before I do anything else. In any event, follow up with a gear check just to make double-sure. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Just to clarify I haven't had to deal with unstability (other than the usual newbie head-downs... and those I just ride out), so maybe I would react correctly, but I think it's a legitimate concern to keep in one's mind. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

That sucks. What happened to it? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm sure others here can offer their insights but I was taught to do it this way (which is the way the Basic Research & Vertigo folks taught it at Bridge Day)... * Take the bridle & PC completely out of the BOC pouch if you have it stowed. * Place the bridle in between your thumb & index finger (fingers facing up) and extend your arm out as far as you can to your side. Start at the base of your rig and extend outward. Basicaly what you're doing is determining the length of bridle needed to cover your arm's reach. Also, but placing the bridle in between you thumb & index finger (facing up) you orient the bridle such that if you go unstable or inverted, you can still pitch without the bridle hanging up on your arm. * Once you get this length, take in a little extra (maybe 2 inches or so) so that you have a little slack to cover the throwing motion, but not so much that the bridle could catch on you or your equipment. * Now that you have the bridle length set to cover your throwing motion, and with the bridle still in between your thumb & index finger, s-fold the portion of the bridle between your right hand & PC into your right hand. When you reach the mesh of the PC you should have a neat wad of s-folded bridle in your right hand and the PC in your left. * S-fold the bridle mesh into your right hand. * Take the remaining PC topskin & fold it into your right hand as well. What you should wind up with is a "layered"PC & bridle in your right hand... bridle, then mesh, then topskin. Test to make sure you have the bridle slack correct by doing a couple practice throw motions with your right arm. You shouldn't get any tension in the bridle when you do this. If that's all OK the only other thing to do, if you have it, is to attach the bridle velcro tab to your rig's velcro tab (this helps avoid bridle hang-ups on your rig). Get a gear check & then jump & pitch! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

True. But Tom has a good point about not instinctually going to your belly for stability. It depends on the situation, but my instancts take me into about every position but my belly. I've long since drummed that out of my head. I can see how that would be an issue if you're unstable and need to react without thinking. He's also right about the tendency to swoop. I'm a swooper and those instincts put me in the water at Bridge Day. I've been doing practice hop-n-pops just to learn different canopy flying skills. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

DOH! Maybe that's why she threw the peanuts at me. Funny thing is, she was probably the most freaked person on the plane. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

My experience has been similar to yours. For better or worse, I've never really hidden what I do to anyone (don't say *where* I go to do it, but I don't hide that I do it). At the DZ, I've found that the older jumpers are far more likely to have a "you're nuts" attitude than the newer jumpers, who frequently say "someday I'm going to try that". I've also noticed, for some reason, that the freefliers are far more receptive to BASE than the belly fliers. Not sure if it's the fascination with speed, the openness to trying new & different things or what, but that's been my experience. And I'm one of them. It's not terribly uncommon to see BASE jumpers packing their chutes in the packing area after-hours at both of the DZs I frequent. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon