Zennie

I just went back and re-read every single post on this thread. Nobody called you stupid or even insinuated it... particularly Tom. Now maybe some of them said some things that you didn't want to hear... like maybe you ought to jump BASE-specific gear, and have a few more jumps and inquire into the BASE experience of the people helping you... but that is a far cry from calling you stupid. skypuppy made the only statements that I would consider controversial, but the sentiments behind them I think are legitimate. Bridge Day is an easy jump... that's why experienced BASE jumpers recommend it as a first jump. For many people it's their one and only BASE jump. In some ways I suppose it is the BASE equivalent of a tandem... for some it's a one-shot deal, and for others it's the beginning of their BASE training. And to reiterate, I have the exact same experience as you, yet I'm not offended by anything anyone has written. I certainly don't think skypuppy was calling me a chimpanzee because my one and only BASE jump thus far was Bridge Day. In fact, I thought his follow-up about keeping them from climbing up the lines was pretty damn funny. And I don't think it was a joke at your expense. It was just tongue-in-cheek. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Coming to Tom's defense here, I went back & re-read his posts and I honestly don't see anything in there that seems offensive. About the only thig I saw that could remotely be taken negatively is his inquiry into the BASE experience of the people at the DZ helping you out. And I think that's a legitimate question to ask. Tom & I have exchanged PM's on the topic of getting into BASE and I've always found his comments to be extremely helpful. He's never taken on a condescending tone with me, even when I asked some probably stupid newbie-ish questions. And if you do plan on taking up BASE, you probably should thicken your skin a little, because compared to what you've seen here, the people over at the BASE Board are ruthless. That said, the people that I've met in the BASE community are some of the nicest, most helpful, down to earth people you'll come across. You think skydivers are a tight knit bunch? BASE jumpers are even more so. I agree with other people that you really should get a dedicated BASE rig if you're going to seriously take up BASE. I'm only jumping a skydiving reserve (in a BASE container) right now because I have an 8 week wait to get my custom BASE gear. As far as Bridge Day goes, it is a relatively safe jump as far as BASE jumps go. No obstacles (except for the rapellers and some trees in the landing area), pretty high, boats to pick you up if you land in the water. It's a good first exposure to the BASE experience. But the real benefit isn't the jump, it's meeting and talking to all the people. It's a learning experience as much as anything. I'm no BASE God or anything, I have exactly the same experience as you... one jump from this year's Bridge Day. But I've talked to a lot of folks who I respect & trust (such as Tom) and this is sort of my take on it. YMMV. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

That's the SCR song. I guess I always thought that was the source of the phrase, but I'm getting the impression the "HIM, HIM..." part may predate it. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Just getting into it with around 450 skydives. Read as much as I could online (grabbed and printed out all of the articles on Blinc), lurked the BASE board, exchanged emails with some more experienced BASE jumpers. I recently hooked up with a mentor and have ground crewed a couple of jumps. I also began apprenticing under our local Master rigger. BASE jumpers are, sort of by necessity, very gear-conscious. Much more so than skydivers. If you lurk the BASE board for any period of time you'll see how incredibly technical some of the discussions become. If you can't do one of the first jump courses put on by Vertigo (Jimmy & Marta are great!), CR or BR, definitely try and do Bridge Day. I learned more in those couple days than just about anything else I have done. I met tons of extremely experienced BASE jumpers and got to pick their brains on just about everything. And they were all really cool and willing to help out. Plus you get to do a jump in a safe, as far as BASE jumps go, environment. That one jump & I was hooked. Hrm. Where have I seen that before? Oh, and equipment-wise, I jumped a Vertigo Warlock (2-pin rig) with a Dagger 220. I just ordered a Warlock and a CR Ace 220 (the consensus of people I talked to was thatthe Dagger is alittle too high performance for a first BASE canopy). - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I for one like the changes. Especially adding the BASE forum. It'd be nice to get some of the Blinc people hanging over here and sharing information as well. Keep up the good work HH! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Masters swimming? Wuzzat? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Have you considered a Vector? I personally prefer the Vector-style pin flaps (the kind that flip up over the pin rather than tuck under like the Jav). I've never had my riser covers, pin flap or reserve flap come open on me. In fact, 9x out of 10 my main pin flap will still be closed when I'm on the ground... my understanding is that it was designed to do that. I jumped a borrowed Jav up in Dallas and the reserve flap was open each time I got back down. I've also see way too much video of Jav main flaps flapping in the wind in freefall. Vectors are frickin' bulletproof and are designed to be that way. If I couldn't get a Vector my next choice would be a Mirage. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Man is this timely! I am just getting started studying rigging and was gonna have to dig all these up. Thanks Derek! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Wouldn't change a thing. I do it because it's fun, plain & simple. And like a lot of people have said, the thrill, for lack of a better word, is in flying your body. Doing things that you can't do on terra firma. The closest thing to fear or adrenaline that I feel now is when I do a swoop landing. That still gets my blood pumping. Gotta love ground rush & a nice long surf. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

LOL! Actually I've been feeling better than I have in a long time. The divorce being finalized was a big weight off my shoulders. And I'm enjoying the freedom of singledom. I just wanted an excuse to drink buckets of margaritas. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Ooo! Can I crash it? I'll bring the margarita machine. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I'm having a really bad Monty Python flashback... "It's just a flesh wound!" - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

It is so tempting to take this thread straight to the gutter. But of course I'm pure & innocent and would never think of actually doing such a thing. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Bling bling is basically over-the-top gaudy glitter-type stuff. I think requirement #1 for bling bling is that it must have no functional value whatsoever. Big gaudy gold chains, pimped out clothes, those funky lights underneath your car, 4" diameter wheels, TVs in the sun visors, those little curb feeler thingies with lights, chrome everywhere, rear spoilers that are bigger than the rest of the car, exhaust pipes you can fit a bowling ball in. You get the idea. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Way cool. I think you should integrate it into bling bling system #2. Got any pics of your previous system? - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Ooop. Missed that one. My bad. Just appeared on Slashdot so I figured it was pretty current. As you were... - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I started early and it was sort of downhill after that. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

You knew it was eventually going to come to this. The monitor mod is just over the top. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

And to further confuse matters, the contemporary notion of Liberalism bears very little resmblance to Classical Liberalism, which is more akin to Libertarianism. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Libertarian Answer: Exercise your right to defend yourself and your family. Go home. Do whatever you're inclined to do & don't worry about the Government coming in & telling you how to live your life (so long as it doesn't infringe upon the rights others). Oh. And don't worry about getting sued by the attacker's family, we went to a "loser pays" system a while back. Don't worry about paying income taxes come April either, we abolished the IRS long ago. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

"Vixen" has such a wonderful ring to it doesn't it? Much more appealing than "slut" or "whore". I'm partital to "frisky little minx" myself. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Heh. And that reaction is amplified if you tell them you BASE jump. Run away! Run away! - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

I could not have expressed this any better. I've spent quite a few CPU cycles thinking about this very issue over the last week or so. And this is exactly the conclusion I reached on the issue.... Yeah it seems like a sizeable chunk of women go for jerkwads... even when they know the nice guy will treat them better. So I could probably transform myself into an egotistical jerk and get tons of nookie, but I'd be sacrificing me and my principles to do it, and I'm not willing to do that. I've always been stubborn when it comes to sticking to my principles and this is no different. I believe that humility and kindness are good qualities to have. I've always held egotistical assholes in contempt. They're usually full of shit anyway. Why would I now want to become one of them? Fuck that. And like Cajones said, are the women who go for those types really the kind of person you want to be involved with anyway? Are they the types of persons you deserve to be involved with? What I'm working toward now is accepting the possibility that I'll be single the remainder of my life. If you can accept that, you are truly free. You can be completely, uncompromisingly yourself. And if you are being true to yourself, then anyone who does fall for you will be doing it for the right reason... because they like you for who you are, not some superficiality. And freedom isn't all that bad of a thing. Maybe it's easier for me because I've been chained down for the past 10 years, but I'm really enjoying my freedom right now. I'm doing things strictly to make me happy, not somebody else. And that's pretty darn nice. So I'm just gonna keep doing my thing. I'm having the most fun I've had in a long time. I'm doing all those things I wanted to do, but wasn't able to, while I was married. So in a way this is an opportunity to fulfill some goals in my life that I otherwise wouldn't have. Be yourself. Be happy just being on your own. If it happens, let it happen naturally. If it doesn't happen, have a ball doing what you like to do.

Ditto what Ramon said. You got my vote Max. For those of you who don't know Max all that well, let me just say a few things. And this is totally me talking, no one asked me to say this... Max has been down to Spaceland twice in the past year to do freefly coaching and organizing. He is an outstanding freeflier, coach and organizer. Extremely knowledgable, very personable and very down to earth. He is one of those rare people that can offer his opinions, suggestions and critiques and not come across as egotistical or confrontational. He is exactly the type of person I would want on the Board to represent active skydivers and freefliers in particular. Oh, and get the .3 lens. It totally rocks. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon

Heh, 'course not. There's just this little mileage issue. Next time in Fla I'll... Wait... parents in Naples, Naples in Fla... hmmmmmm. - Z "Always be yourself... unless you suck." - Joss Whedon