tfelber

Ditto... Get one with a light otherwise it's not that useful at night or low light.

OK, now that I have taken my pain medication and realize this was for BD and not post BD, I've put my riot gun back in the closet and stopped looking for a cheap flight to where ever that picture was taken. But that shit really does irk me. Pet Peeves: 1. People in a position of control for no apparent reason making decisions that negatively impact the very people who are paying their salaries. 2. The whole electoral college "We need to vote for you because you're not smart enough to vote even though you voted me into office" bullshit. (That may be the same as 1 above) 3. Illegalization of drugs which when used responsibly don't impair you nearly as much as alcohol or kill as efficiently as cigarettes.

What a bunch of SMACK! What, are the dead leaves getting overturned or carried off by people's pack jobs. WTF!!! I'll pack anywhere I feel like and Ill fight any charge brought against me to fullest extent! FUK you bunch of overzealous controlling bastards!!! (Is that considered a personal attack?) If it wasn't for my tax dollars you FUKs would be working in a soup line or digging ditches. FUK THIS SHIT!!! BTW, I'm not trying to be funny. This is ridiculous. Tell me where this is at and I'll go there with my broken leg and pack all my canopies. I dare them to try to arrest me for aerial delivery. Besides only faggots pack chutes anyway...

It's just funny how high people THINK an object is and where they got this data. This bridge is jumped quite a bit by people from all over, so I was wondering how tall people think it is. When I jump off something that is 300' to impact but 1200' to the landing area I don't let people think I jumped off a 1200' cliff and took a 2sec delay and I definitely don't think it myself. When some jumps a 250' object and lands on a hill 20' higher than the area of impact they probably shouldn't be thinking it's a 230' object. You take into consideration that the landing area is 200' away and it's completely different than jumping off a 230' object. BTW, this has nothing to do with my accident. It's just an object I've heard a lot of different perceptions about, that's all. The other thing I find odd is of all the people telling me how high it is only a couple have ever taken a laser range finder out there and measured it. I am one of those! I'm not saying whose wrong or whose right. I'm just intersted in the discrepancy. If nothing else comes from this it should have people think about the exit altitudes of their favorite objects and not just assume what you're being told is correct, especially lower stuff. Just odd, that's all, especially in a sport one would think is very precise...

So I haven't received many responses to my question, but for information sake I lasered from directly below the catwalk where we were exiting. On my Bushnel Yardage Pro Scout Model 20-0001 with accuracy to +/- one yard in scan mode to ensure I was getting the correct reflection, I measured 84yds (252ft). I was standing upright so add another 5'8" to that and we have between 254 and 260 feet to impact. The landing area is probably about 5 feet above where I was standing if you land on the trail, but this is also offset by horizontal distance, aka canopy time. Where I impacted was about 4-5 feet above the trail. So I really gotta wonder where all the crazy distances come from. I've heard everything from 230ft to 260ft. That's a pretty big variation for such a popular object.

Now that you've spent $70,000 and you are making $3,999,700/yr just in interest from leaving it in your checking account, what would you really do??? BTW, that's $76,869/wk. Why don't you just pay me to be your accountant/investor and we'll both be extremely happy for the rest of our lives. Shiite I'd even move to Texas.

Most people know the bridge I jumped when I broke my leg a couple of weeks ago, however I am hearing a lot of conflicting data bath before and since my accident. How tall is that object and where are you getting your data?

You might feel a tingle or heat. I think they may even have indicators letting you know if they're on. They are highly directional so just stay out of the front of them.

I believe those are microwave transmitter/horns. They are most likely inactive or only turned on periodically. You can probably feel the energy from them if they are on. Otherwise they should be safe. Probably about a 350 footer, right?

Joy, Careful what accusations you make without anything to back it up. You may be pissed but this is a very, very small community and making statements like the above on a public forum whether they are true or not may get you ostracized by even the people who are on your side. It's probably in your best interest to drop the whole thing and come back next year ready to jump. I would say Jason has the right to pull anyone's jump ticket at anytime for any reason. It is his show and until that changes he is the authority. Tony

One of the reasons my deaf friend was brought up is Joy was saying she couldn't skydive or BASE jump because of her hearing disorder. It's kind of ironic however that he doesn't have the minimum number of skydives to jump at BD even though he has over 200 BASE jumps. I'm sure this would have been considered had he showed up especially since the people who trained/mentored him are rather well known. Even more ironic is he only has 15 jumps because he decided recently to get his A license. Before that he only had 2 or 3...

And he now has about 15 skydives working on his A license. So I'm not sure what the problem is?

So true. I talk people into going skydiving all the time. I would never talk someone into BASE. BASE is something you need to decide before you buy. It's one thing to make some jumps off a nice bridge. It's another entirely to be a BASE jumper. No bragging or anything like that, just a realization.

I've heard this comment several times and it seems pretty simple to me but I'm a BASE jumper and a Skydiver. The closest resemblence in skydiving is a balloon jump. The landing area is not a cleared area with wind indicators and a pre-planned landing pattern. You look from altitude for a reasonable place to land, exit, and deal with the situation. However, you can wait a bit and find a more appropriate place if you'd like. With BASE you pik the exit point and then determine how best to land. You can choose to not jump, but you can't wait a bit and hope the landing area looks better. Secondly, even from high altititude jumps like Norway and such. I step over the edge on skydives pulling in the 1500' range frequently. Here again I have a known landing area and the only thing that makes a jump like that similar to a BASE jump is a malfunction that puts you at a different altitude and different position in space than you intended. At BD the object is fairly tall, but you're not pulling at that altitude. You're actually waiting until around 400-600 feet which is nothing like a skydive. However you are landing in a predefined landing area with a wind indicator. How many people actually hit that landing area? How many times have there been chase boats in the landing area of your local DZ? Third is the redundancy. There is very little opportunity for redundant system in BASE. If your packing a BASE canopy and you don't feeel right about the pack job, you repack it. I can't count the number of times I've put my skydiving canopy in the bag sloppy and hoped for the best knowing I had a reserve and the altitude to use it if I needed it. There are other things, but these three I believe should clarify it for most.

That shorty is definitely an eye-opener. No, I'm not talking about hydro...

I was wearing a good pair of Merril boots. I have landed hard in them a couple of times and they have really proven their ability. I would have still broken my one leg wearing Hanwag's or Crispi's. I had a screw in the ankle from a previous injury racing motorcycles and it bent the screw. The Dr. was completely bewildered that I could impact hard enough to bend that screw. Five things may single-handedly prevented this accident. There may even be others that I have not yet discovered. 1. Don't jump 2. PCA or SL 3. Exit in a different direction 4. Toggles instead of risers 5. Turning left instead of right All are options I didn't take.

Sorry I missed out on Friday and Saturday night but I assure you you don't want to be as fucked up as I was those two nights...

I would say about 100 feet. From the video it looks like about 3-4 seconds from inflation to impact had I not turned. It was definitely an object of intense concentration for a couple of seconds. In my video with a .6 lens it was all you could see for a second or so.

Yeah... It was just one of those things. You deal with the shit on your plate until you run out of altitude and then you deal with that. I wish I had swooped the landing dragged my leg and yelled yee haw as I stood it up next you guys with a smile on my face, but that's not how it happened this time. I did still have a smile on my face. And as I said previously I don't regret the jump and next time I'll know an object the distance of that pillar can easily come into play.

Thanks for the info Sam. I agree with most things you said. You even mentioned we were closer to the pillar I ended up aimed before you exited. The one thing is the altitude. From directly under the exit point I lasered it the day before at 84yds or 252ft to impact. The desired landing area was about 5 to 6 feet higher than that. Where I impacted was probably higher than the preferred landing area although I don't know how much because I didn't consider the possibility of landing there (see Lesson#3 I believe) As for the jump itself I do not regret my decisions I would like to try it again. I knew how high it was and understood the added risks. I didn't take into account the distance to the pillar and didn't have the altitude necessary to recover from the evasive manuever.

I didn't get a chance to thank everyone who helped get me out of the predicament I got myself into. The break was pretty severe, compound tib/fib on me left ankle. I also have some damage to my right ankle but am unsure of the extent. Lesson #1 - If you get injured jumping around Beckley, WV suck it up and spend the extra time going to a Charleston hospital where they have more than one doctor and an emergency room staff that doesn't cringe at the sight of blood. If you want more on that experience PM me. Regarding the jump itself... I went HH from 250' but rather than dropping straight down as I had seen others do I launched diagonally to give myself more head room. I had seen others launch this way also, but they were PCA'd or SL'd. Launching in this direction brings a cement pillar into play should you experience an off heading left. I didn't really think I would reach the pillar even if I experienced the worst-case off heading, which I did. Lesson#2 - If there is a chance of hitting something have a DBS and use it. My Flik didn't come with a DBS and I have not been proactive about installing or testing one. I felt the need but always let other things interfere with the endeavor. Upon opening I was staring at the cement pulling on my right rear riser yelling F!@k, F!@k$, F!@k. I got it turned but was out of altitude and had no forward glide. As my body swung back under the canopy I impacted the ground. I definitely wonder if toggles instead of risers would have turned it around quickly enough with less altitude loss. I only needed about five more feet to have a landable situation. Lesson#3 - This may be completely obvious but always consider the landing area that you may be faced with if the jump doesn't go as planned. I've found myself more than once planning for things going well and missing a major landing issue should something not goes as plan. Thanks again to everyone who carried me out and got me to a hospital. I hope I never have to repay the favor but gladly would.

Biiaatch, I'll take one hooker, but if your entourage gets busy I'll gladly do you or your girlfriend...Which one makes no difference!!! Cya in a couple of days!

John"ie"... You can take as long a delay as you'd like. Too long and the river will not be very forgiving. It sounds to me like 9 seconds is TOO long... If you plan on deploying your canopy within that 9 second window you must understand what may happen. If you don't then I wouldn't advise stepping off the platform. Some people will be flicking some crazy shiite off that bridge. If your profile is correct, I would NOT advise you doing the same. Be safe, have fun...Don't be stupid!

Sorry to hear you're not with Apex anymore, Nick. I hope the split was amicable... It's hard to believe that someone would take the chance this guy took given what is known today. At the same time, I've had people ask me if they could go jump with me using a Sabre190 knowing I had less than 50 jumps (which wasn't that long ago)...I politely told them that was not a good idea. When people try to convince me it's just like a skydive I let them know the only thing it has in common with skydiving is you use a parachute and the toggles are still used for turning and braking. Other than that it's NOT the same. If I met someone I didn't know at an exit point with inappropriate gear or attitude, I would tell them it wasn't a good idea and then I'd step back to a good vantage point and turn my camera on. It's their choice. I'm not going to make it for them! If it was a friend I would pretty much do whatever, short of kicking their ass, to convince them not to jump. If they still decided to jump I'd step back to a good vantage point and turn my camera on. Again, it's not my choice... If I was going to jump something that people were telling me I shouldn't or telling me to do it different then I planned, it would be my decision to listen or not. Anything beyond advice would just piss me off and make me want to prove the person wrong! For the most part the BASE community realizes they don't know it all and they really don't want someone's death on their hands because of their actions or inactions. Does it really make sense to resort to physical actions to stop someone from doing something because you think it's a bad idea or the result may prove fatal? Isn't this what the government (NPS specifically) is doing that we are all pissed about? I feel people have the right to live, or die, as they see fit. If they choose to live their life in ignorance and not heed useful information that is readily available, perhaps being yelled in their face, so be it! I also have the freedom to choose whether I help clean up their remains or not...quite truthfully, I probably would!!!

PCA'd jumps are a good thing to have experience with, both giving and receiving, if you're really BASE jumping and not just jumping from the same object with the same exit over and over...And PCA or StaticLine are by far the safest exit you can do given there is no object to run into. So requiring it in a FJC is not a bad idea no matter how good the fit...