Trae

in reply to "Animosity .... Why?" ..................................... I get the strong feeling that a large proportion of people who exhibit irrational hostility are the victims of abuse themselves and simply passing it on. They don't know any better is my guess.

This is not easy to write but comes from the heart. If I upset anyone I apologise for your sensitivities. The last two BASE jumpers to die in Norway as far as reported have been non-indigenous and Australian. Both of the deceased were highly respected and at the peak of achievement in their chosen disciplines. If these guys were the best at what they do then what can we all learn from their demise? It's my strong feeling that they have shown us where the limit is at least for now. Unless you are inclined to follow them jonathon-like then some degree of backing off is called for (in my opinion.) This may mean to just give yourself an extra second for opening or to invest a bit more in some up to date gear. From the outside this would look like maturity and common sense. It seems highly likely that both died because they had NO margin for error and they made a mistake whether fumbling or just over-estimating their own abilities. Those cold places are not so natural for hot blooded aussies. Both these people pushed themselves PAST their limit. Do you know your limits? Will you die finding them? One way to show respect for the dead and our highly skilled superiors is to listen and learn from them and actually apply what we learn. This is easy enough if you recognise in yourself the uncaring attitudes that WILL kill you. Hopefully no-one else will bounce due to a pathetic split second pud fumble. If they do I sincerely hope it is not another Australian. Perhaps we need some other nationalities to show us how it can be done long , well and in relative safety. Some of us are here for a long time as well as a good time . I dare to say "back off you bounce happy bozo's" look how the locals play they don't have to mourn so much. Live to play another day For the friends I never met

in reply to "Stilleto as a Student Canopy " ................... Going back to roundies would be better than forward to stilletto's (in my opinion )

in reply to "What other factors would you consider? " ..................... Just wondering ..... if you were a BASE jumper how long would you leave your BASE rig packed before using it or repacking it?

in reply to "I am overconcerned about safety issues and to me that kind of waiver sends the wrong message because, to get back to my example, when I hire a packer I have only the faith in his abilities at my disposal and nothing else. A limited liability for the service performed is necessary everywhere in any industry. " ...................................... Phew that was some read Many skydivers are prepared to place their trust in others to guide and protect them. Unfortunately not everyone involved in skydiving is worthy of such trust. The less trustworthy types can create hidden dangers for all of us not just themselves. It is a concern of mine that some of these untrustworthy types hide behind the waiver. The waiver is a one way street in place to protect the established skydiving aithorities -- right or wrong . It is not in place to protect us against wrongdoing . I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong but not once do I recall seeing the word TRUST in this thread. I skydive because I still have trust and faith in my fellow skydivers . When I lose that trust I'm going back for some more feral animal eradication . bugger the bowling.

in reply to "DZ where tandems open at 3000 feet Just wondering what people think about this?" ----------------------------------------- Regular low openings by TM's (eg below 4000') can reflect several things. eg* often low tandem openings mean low exit altitude.. this may be without the passengers full awareness. ie part of a systematic customer rip-off. *it may be the TM wanting to get on the ground quicker to race other TM's for more work. * it can show irresponsibility and unprofessional behaviour on the TM's behalf. * highly experienced TM's may think general safety rules no longer apply to them * the TM may be trying to give themselves a bit of a rush due to boredom * making $$$$ may be being placed over safety . If such behaviour is officially sanctioned eg by CI or DZSO's then the question arises about who is keeping check on such irresponsible and perhaps illegal behaviour. If such behaviour results in injury or death then it may be simple criminal negligence.

in reply to "having 2 pilot chutes, one that could get in between your line groups and give you a bag lock? well that really sucks. I wish that that never happens to anyone. " .................... What sucks even more is having a horse shoe on a free-bagged reserve and there not being enough drag on the reserve bridle to lift out the reserve. The catapult is a proven method of overcoming this potential problem. Other manufacturers must look and weep or pay some royalties for this hot idea. Most rigs apart from the Reflex have NO such effective anti reserve horseshoe safety system as standard issue relying instead on anaemic bridle pockets. The fact that the reflex is also a poptop =

in reply to "Pull-Out reserve pilot chute." ------------- "Been done - it was called a Woomera. I've seen one covered in cane toad skin ." ------------ "I thought that was a throwout. " .................................. The early Woomera had a hand deployed reserve pilot chute and it was a pull-out . The loop pile velcro pud was attached to the bottom of the P/C and activation popped the reserve pin as well as pulling out the P/C just like in a main pull out system. It was popular amoungst experienced conscious skydivers and CRWers for some time. CRW ers liked it cause they could manually put the reserve P/C thru a hole in a wrap if required unlike a spring loaded . AAD's sorta made the Woomera obsolete although there was a spring loaded reserve version. This was a very good Ozzie rig in its day and all the hot aussie skydivers had one. Fun to use in an emergency as well.

IN reply to " Still what a fantastic activity skydiving is, eh? ...................................... Couldn't agreee more.

in reply to "the risers were completely straight coming off my shoulders, but there were 4 complete twists in my lines midway between the top of the risers and the start of the cascades, and my slider was hung up in them. i tried to kick out of it, but i could only get about half a twist out before it snapped me back around." ................................... I'm wondering if the slider was holding the twists as a makeshift knot. The midway location of the twist /snag /knot suggests the twists developed as the slider was coming down and trapped it twisting around it. This would create a different situation than if the slider was above or below the twists and may be why you couldn't kick out.

WOW what a gal ! Condolences to all who knew and loved her. If you believe in an afterlife then you've got something to look forward to now. She's in fine company.

in reply to "When does the list get too long? How many is one too many? And what do you about it when one too many happens?" .......................... The list gets too long when it's your own name on it. Every death in this sport is one too many. You do what you can to try and not repeat the same old mistakes time and time again... even if it means upseting the apple cart a bit sometimes. Some newish people in this sport get too complacent in their own sense of self awesomeness . It surprises me how sensitive the modern skydiver can be when presented with some cold hard reality. Some even seem hell bent on stifling some hard truths about this sport. Something to do with protecting their investment perhaps. I hope its not a trend I'm noticing but a large proportion of the fatalities of late have been famous well loved skydivers at the pinnacle of their chosen disciplines. I'm hoping that their deaths don't reflect a disredgarding of old lessons learnt the hard way. Death is all around us in this life if you open your eyes and see. If skydiving can teach the blind hearted amoungst us to recognise that everyone and everythings life is special then it is a wondrous thing.

Impressive.

in reply to "only to find I am wearing .... the 'ghostbuster pack' backpack vacuum cleaner thingy I use at work! By which time I figure its too late to worry about it and go anyway! (I never remember dreaming about the freefall or the landing-thank God) .......................... If I start having landing vaccuumm dreams I'll know who to blame. My wierdest skydiving dreams are watching multiple bounces as in big ways going in. Recurring sometimes from different angles. Often in these dreams there is partial cloud cover, I have a panoramic view and the big way breaks the cloud partially broken off with heaps going in at line stretch but many tracking in with no pull. I've had so many bounce dreams now that I look away in the dream. The closest one bounced right next to me on the way to the plane. The people I'm with and myself don't even break step but we laugh and say 'that'd ruin your day'.

in reply to "Beck Weathers was rescued from Camp 2...above 22,000 feet" ........................ What a survivor that guy is. Saved himself despite being abandoned overnight on Everest. He'd probably make a very good motivation speaker. Some of the stories I've found are so tragic and brutal but show immense human spirit. Hope the current crop of climbers aren't trading their humanity for a view from the top. More saving less abandoning =

in reply to " What is Wavier?" ....................... Basically signing your life away ...saying no matter what happens you won't hold anyone but yourself responsible for any injuries, loss or death . Apparently the waiver can be beat ....you would have to prove that grossly negligent acts caused your injuries , death etc..

in reply to "What kind are good? And also how do you test them and see if they work? lol " ......................................... Most if not all modern rigs in current general use are good. Some are very good. Some of the new designs are VERY nice bits of kit. For your money you'll usually get a well developed piece of equipment. Try searching around the different manufacturers sites to get a clear idea of what's on offer . The feature set may vary a bit eg skyhooked reserve, Some are better at some things than others. eg the newer designs tend to be more freefly safe than some of the older designs. Most skydivers have their favourites and some advice re rig choice could be seen as brand loyalty bias sometimes. I particularly like poptops eg the , Racer, Reflex, Javelin . There is quite a large choice besides these so it'd be worthwhile educating yourself about the various features. Even if you don't become a skydiver you may find the research interesting. Have fun

in reply to "This seems to be a particularily bad year on Everest (like '96), but climbers are dying on it every year and will continue die now that commercial climbing operations market Everest ...." ..................................... Just wondering what happens to all the bodies. One report had them lining the path to the top. How many dead bods are doted along the way.? Apparently it's just not feasible to retrieve them?? Leaving people for dead in such a place becomes understandable if saving some-one who was under prepared is likely to kill a rescuer/ fellow climber.

Retreating armies burn bridges to slow down the enemy and create natural barriers that can't easily be crossed. If you need a bridge it means you can't fly.

You know you're a real Wingsuit flyer when ... - the freefliers start asking you for pin checks. - the pro tandem guys ask for flybys. - students tell you they're only doing AFF so they can fly wingsuits.

Keep pavin' the way dude.

Nice leetle toy

in reply to "Can anyone recommend some good dropzones to visit ? " .................................. The APF has a DZ directory on their web-site. The weekends are pretty big at most places if the moons out. There's three main DZ's ( OK possibly 4 )on the east coast where you'll get to do regular midweek fun jumping outside boogies. There are fairly regular events around the country- check the APF's calender of events on their web site. Picton NSW has the biggest range of turbine aircraft .(Otter , Skyvan , XL , Beaver .) Ramblers QLD is warmest in the winter. Nagambie VIC is a fun place to jump with heaps of character. . All these places usually get 14000'.

in reply to "Has there ever been a BASE jump made from a moving train? " .................................. There was a story did the rounds in Oz in the 80's about the last guy to jump from a train . The train doors used to be easy to open not like now. The jumper has to time the exit to go between posts lining the bridge. The bridge itself is not high but is over water. The non vertical opening providing 'extra height". Said 'last' jumper had a badly timed exit from the moving train , with PCA which resulted in part of his opening canopy striking a post. From memory the bridle got a bit caught. This flung the jumper further in the direction of the trains travel causing him to miss the water but hit the road under the bridge on the far side. The story went that he was then struck by a vehichle driving on the road. Apparently the guy survived his injuries to get dead later. Any-one myth bust this or otherwise ??

in reply to "I think something is being lost here. The post that started this speed discussion implicitly assumed that my Spectre was slower than the other guy's Stiletto. That is clearly an unjustified assumption since WL was never mentioned. Given our respective canopy sizes and our masses, I suspect the speeds in straight unaccelerated flight were actually very similar. ........................................... implicit assumption.. " Just wondering now if going to a slower canopy is still the idea to reduce risk. ?? ". Bit clearer now on the issues thanks to previous discussion. Perhaps smaller faster canopies are relatively more dangerous than larger slower ones. For now I'm sticking with it 's better to have the range than not . in reply to " I would like to emphasize that I am really glad I had my Spectre in my rig, and not my Stiletto, when spun around into line twists with both end cells collapsed at around 100', maybe lower. The canopy reinflated right away and kept flying straight. " .................... That's the best news. I'm wondering how other similar canopies would respond to such treatment . Comparison collision test ? Are some canopies known for stronger pressusisation and self righting qualities?