MagicGuy

$2500 for AFF? Where are you jumping?!? That seems awefully high.

Well shit since I can levitate I guess there's no risk in me going in, right? More reason to jump!!

I could argue points about Michelle but it's not my business nor do I really care about arguing what she does or doesn't do. I'm happy that she is jumping. It seems to make her really happy and I'm happy for her. At least she'll actually talk to me about it Just kidding, mate. No hard feelings dude. I know the deal about the area and I totally respect that. But being involved with BASE and getting my feet wet doesn't necessarily have to involve me actually jumping.

Maybe it's me but.. the neck liner on a Z1 is pretty tight as it is, and adding an audible to the game sounds really uncomfortable. Honestly dude, when they designed the helmet and put the pockets on the inside, they probably did it for a reason. I have an old Bonehead Mindwarp with an outside of the helmet audible pocket and I hate it. It doesn't seem all that secure and there's a higher chance of it A.) snagging and B.) getting hit and/or broken. Just wear it on the inside!

And that, my friend, is the $64,000 statement. I can do a FJC from all of the gear manufacturers and a 15 minute briefing from every BASE jumper out there, but if I don't have the inside info from someone who's familiar with the object, what's the point? I also agree with the statement made about 'feeling special'. When you don't BASE jump and people look up to you for it, you're special. When that's not the case anymore, the special feeling goes away. I think there are too many BASE jumpers out there that hate to see that special feeling go away..

Tom, I appreciate your reply to my post and I'd like to address a couple of points that you mention. I completely and totally understand all of the disadvantages that you mentioned in your post. More jumpers = more heat. Easier it is to get into the sport, easier it is for people with shitty skill to start jumping off of things. But on the other hand, look at it from another point of view. I can say that I started skydiving with BASE in mind from pre-jump 1. I wanted to BASE jump before I started skydiving. I've done ground crew and I've learned as much as I can about the gear by reading these forums and catching quick glimpses of friends' gear and whatnot. I've even seen a friend have a BASE malfunction and pound into the ground with some serious force. I've always expressed a genuine interest and now that I'm racking up more skydives and getting closer to being able to jump (according to BASE FJC guidelines) it seems like noone really wants to give me the time of day. While knowing that I can go travel to the Perrine and do a FJC and probably learn a whole lot and make some good supervised jumps, I believe that someone local who knows the ins and outs of the objects in the area, what the winds need to be like and the general stuff that needs to be known is important. If BASE jumpers don't want the sport to grow, how am I suppose to gain this valuable information? I'm determined to get myself into this sport, regardless of what I have to do. I just think that BASE guys should take into account each individual person's goals and attitude and act accordingly.

I've been asking myself this question a lot lately, and the more I think about it, the more I realize that I think the answer to this question is NO. I'm curious to hear some of you experienced BASE guys opinions on this, yes or no, and why or why not. Not looking for any arguments, here. Just some different opinions on the topic. Thanks guys.

The handle on my Wings looks like it would be a pull-out, but it's got about a 1 inch piece of binding tape connecting it to the PC, regular BOC style. Great pin protection, takes an extra second to grab but a pull-out will, too. Just another option for ya. I've had no problems with it so far and plan on keeping it.

I agree with yardhippie. Can't go wrong with Jack. To those who are his friend, he will be a friend forever. Single Barrel Jack Daniels, if you wanna spend an extra $10 for the same size bottle, has a higher alcohol content and (I think) tastes better. Crown Royal is also good stuff.

How about fun exits like tubes and leg locks? Practice diving out after someone. 360s, tracking, fly arounds. There's lots of stuff to do in freefall. Go watch some skydiving movies and you'll see!

LOVE doing high pulls. Did a high pull at 10,000 for my 100th in Lake Wales. Was a great time to check out the scenery and look back and reflect at my skydiving career over the past 6 months (at the time in January). Keep an eye on the winds, if possible get someone else who's more experienced to do one with you to have a good point of reference, and have fun! They are a great learning experience and a great time.

Actually it was kind of cross wind. Wind was at my side and DZ was straight ahead.

I can get a little surf on my Tri 160 loaded at .9ish. Other than that, I can't say that I really enjoy the canopy. It was good when I had 30 jumps, now it's just a bus. I suppose if I was loading it higher it would be a little better. I wear 10 pounds of weight whenever I jump it to try to squeeze a bit more performance out of it. Long spot, good luck. Landed off the airport for my first time on Sunday while jumping the Tri. Probably would've landed off on a smaller canopy, but I landed WAY off because I get very little penetration, even with the most rear riser input and loosened chest strap I can give that thing. But it's great for beginners! And I'm sure it's nice for CReW, too. To each his own, I suppose. Mine is a '98 and I believe it has had the mod.

I have a friend that has a sweet Odyssey, but most of the rig is Diamondback and it is showing significant wear. The closing flap has threads fraying all over the place and overall the fabric just doesn't hold up like cordura. If you decide to use it, just be cautious of where you put it. On the reserve container it looks nice, i.e. the rig that is posted in this thread. But I would stay away from main parts of the container, ESPECIALLY the main closing flap. Diamondback has the durability, if not less than that of Parapac. That stuff just feels cheesy and cheap to me. For the money that gear costs, I'll stick with Cordura.

160 pounds before gear means that you'll be pushing 185 - 190 with gear. Might want to think about trying to get to that 150 by Summer, unless you plan on really jumping a ton and getting some coaching in-between. Right now you are probably 1.1 - 1.2 on the 170 as it is, which at your jump numbers, you should be good on for a while before wanting/needing to downsize. If you jumped a 150 right now.. you'd probably scare the shit out of yourself. With your gear, think about what's good for you right now. It should keep you happy for a while. Have fun man.

Last weekend the winds were 15 gusting to 18. No jumping for me. If it was a steady 15 or a steady 18, I would've jumped. But I'm not a big fan of gusts, especially when the wind is already blowing pretty good.

If that makes you an alcoholic than I'm FUCKED. I'm gonna go grab a beer to solve my problem. Anyone else want one?

That came out nice! The tattoo that is..

This topic makes me laugh, because the other day I was thinking about this and actually put my rig on and went through how I "throw" my pilot chute, along with watching videos of deployments from some jumps I did with a coach in October. I used to think that I was really throwing that thing out there, but as soon as it leaves the pouch it just gets whisked away by the air. I feel lately that I have really been extending the arm a lot more than I was previously, but thinking about it, what I did in those videos seemed to work just fine. Intersting topic. In sub-terminal BASE jumps the pilot chute is definitely thrown. Watch any Bridge Day or low object BASE videos and you'll see that. So I guess getting the "throwing" thing drilled in and therefore going through the motions is a good thing, especially when planning on transitioning to BASE.

Yeah, this stuff should be figured out before boarding up the plane. It clears everyone's mind once actually on the plane. But that doesn't mean that you CAN'T discuss it on the plane, especially in a case like this.

You make a good point about the deployment altitude. I think it makes sense for those wanting to swoop to maybe pull a little higher, give everyone else their room to land and then come in for the swoop. I know with the exit order it's not always possible, but definitely something to consider when it is. There's also the option of landing in a different part of the landing area if the dropzone has the room to do so. Of course, the primary thing here is to keep your head on a swivel at all times and be aware of who else is around you, from the time you delpoy until you are safe on the ground.

Just coming from the perspective of someone with a few tattoos, I think that might be a little overkill on the script. It's a great quote, but I don't know how it would work as a tattoo. Unless the script is REALLY small, which then might make it look like shit or a big blob, this tattoo is going to have to be pretty large dude. That's a lot of words to tattoo. If you aren't looking for a large tattoo, I'd suggest coming up with some other ideas. You could always consult with some tattoo artists in your area to get their opinion, but I have a feeling they will agree.

Sounds like a decent deal to me. Although, kind of odd that the reserve is smaller than the main

I'm not an old salt by any means but that was a hilarious post! Gucci jumpers.. I love it.

That's great that you're impressed. Wait until how you feel after that first jump. Man, that's a feeling that you will never forget. You will have a blast. Just remember to breathe! That's a common thing that some tandem passengers tend to forget