rfarris

No Prob Zennie. Wound up in Galveston, watched the tropical storm, ate some good seafood, came home. However, did find US a good mutual meeting place. I'll PM you with pics later. Rod

I had to share this..and don't mean to offend anyone. Be sure to download the track, it's a must. BaseJumpers edit: never mind. You'll figure it out.

If you is who I think you is, and I only met you once at BD, I visited an old friend of your's today in o.w.c.a

ditto on the email Rod

I too am married with children. There was a time when I had a guilt trip about this. You have to do a lot of soul searching to BASE(or skydive for that matter) and have a family. I've been on the edge waiting for that little demon to tell me it's time to jump, and then a thought of my family would flash in my mind. What do ya do? I guess you stay true to yourself and do what you and you alone, know that you should do. I understand how those who don't BASE, and say they wouldn't if they were married with kids, can see us as a bit selfish. We humans have been programmed that way. "When married, life stops. Begin new life. Have kids. Buy SUV. Get beer gut" My kids know I'm not like most other dads they see when they go over to their friend's house. And I think that's a good thing. When I'm with my kids, (they live with their mom by the way. Divorce not BASE related) I'm 100% devoted to them. I may drag them out to the DZ If I want to make a skydive once in a while, but hey, it's important that they are involved in things that dad likes to do to. I feel it let's them know that all though I love them, life is not always just about them. It gives them balance. I've remarried, and actually didn't start BASE until my second wife. She's the one who screwed me up. We live life the same. On the edge, or as close as we can get to it. One time I was on top of tower and I radioed down to her to start the video camera. This was gonna be my first video. I was stoked. Well, she calls back and says "I can't get it to work" It suddenly dawned on me I forgot to put a fresh battery on before we left home. But I wasn't gonna tell her that. So I throw myself off anyway, gather up my shit, and proceed to the car and gave her the silent treatment like it was her fault my special moment got ruined. I later fessed up. See, BASE jumping husbands are assholes too. The next weekend we go out again, fresh battery, she nails it this time. Get's a great video even it is only 10 seconds worth. I was happy, and that made her happy. Some advice to would be BASE husbands, if you tell your wife you're gonna do something like call her when you start climbing, just before you jump, and as soon as you land, DO IT. Little things like that mean a lot to them. And it's the little things that can make ya or break ya. Rod

To me it sounds like you are, and rightfully so. Keep up the good work Jason and crew. I too am a 30 jump wonder, who started at BD '02. Will probably never get another chance to return to BD, for various reasons. Each of us who made their first jumps there, have their own personal thoughts about the event, what it did for them, and how it relates to their continuing or not with BASE. What ever my personal opinions are (which are highly positive) about the event, doesn't reflect one bit on the event's reputation as being one of the nation's best yearly kick ass BASE event. If not the only one. You shouldn't be bothered by personal opinions. Just try to have it closer to Texas next year, will ya. Rod

Hi cow-poke. PM'd ya.

Please use the F-word respectfully. CLICK HERE

Ah yea, the old "ain't nothing free around my house, boy" Shit, now I'm starting to feel like an old man again. Rod

Oh, you are. It only gets better though bro.

Nuh uh.. Your supposed to be doing that other "said tower" next thursday at 5:37 pm, if I remember correctly. Shit bird.

Hell yea.. that's the ticket: RING--RING--RING--- "Hello...yea, could you please power down site #123456, me and my buds will be jumping it all day today. We will notify you when we are finished, thank you"--click. It could happen.

Go over to Blinc and do an advanced search on "antenna radiation", there is mucho information on this subject. Study up on it in BLINC and do search on YAHOO, I'm sure there is enough there to keep you busy all day. Bottom line, my approach to A's, if it looks like a human bug zapper, I stay away. I tend to favor the sticks with very minimal junk on them. And then, I don't linger around it when I climb. If there are stingers at the top, I don't go there. When climbing past a dish or array, I climb very fast. These things may or may not help, but they make sense to me anyway. edit: removed url link that didn't work

This reminds me very much of my first BASE jump. Well, actually my third jump because I still consider it to be my "real" first BASE jump. The first two off of the span with thousands of spectators just didn't do it for me. Not to knock BD, because it's one hell of a time and a "must do" for anyone wanting to BASE. After the bridge, I took a strong desire for BASE home with me. I've often heard that after BD, you either continue with a passion that consumes you, or you go back to skydiving and never BASE again. Well it wasn't long after BD I found myself on top of a freestander at 2a.m. It was much different this time. It was for real. Not that the previous two were not, but this one was scarry as shit. It was dark, I wasn't supposed to be on this tower, it was 320', the wind was stiff, there's no water or rescue boats below, and I had to be at work in 3 more hours. I wish I could describe in this post how I felt on this, my first "real" BASE jump, but you hit most of it on the head. It's about a whole lot of uncertainties. It's a chance to find out what you are made of. It goes well beyond that fear of heights, or roller coasters, or snakes. It's about tasting death and spitting it back out because you don't like the way it tastes. No skydive you have ever made, or will make, can compete with it. BASE is the ultimate. I'm not "anti-skydive", just very "pro-BASE". There's not really a good way to describe a BASE jump. It's one of those things you have to experience for yourself. I have to ask this Frodo... your dream. After you awoke, were you laying in a wet spot? If not, you weren't dreaming about BASE. Rod

Ah yea, it's definitely a comradery you will never forget. No, unfortunately I won't be part of the "Texans Invade Bridge Day" this year. Yall have fun.

Um, how about don't stay out til 3am the night before, drinking and partying and almost getting put in jail for speeding and DWI because you think you're invincible because you're gonna become a BASE jumper the next day. If you do get pulled over, just say "I'm a friend of Jason's", even though you've never met him. Chances are you'll go free. My intro into the wonderful sport of BASE: Jump #1 Still drunk Jump #2 Hung over LAMF Seriously though, there you'll be around some of the best BASE jumpers in the world, though you've never heard of them. They'll usually be the one's off by themselves doing their own thing, meticulously going over their gear. Pick their brains. Watch them pack. Ask all the stupid questions you want. If you need gear, like pilot chutes, risers, toggles etc... it will be there at the trade show before the jumping begins. If you're gonna keep BASE jumping after you come home, get as much gear as you can/afford ,there, while it's there readily available. That way when you get back home and find yourself needing a 38" vented PC like in a hurry, you'll have it already. Damn you're gonna have fun! Rod

Rfarris is right about wing loading.Quote If I may step in here for a minute.... I have to say the only thing I am right about pertaining to high wing loading and swooping is how it relates to ME, and my personal opinions or beliefs on the subject of which sport is more dangerous. RIGHT, I believe RFarris would be in more danger swooping a highly loaded canopy with the associated hook turns, carves, corners, plane outs, run outs, etc..., than I am jumping off my tower(s). The original question of "Which is more dangerous" maybe should have been asked, Which sport is most dangerous to you? But please yall continue. I'm learning a thing or two about statistics and probability here

.....and having zero swoops under a highly loaded canopy I'd not be qualified to talk about that sport either. Well, unless you consider .73 to be highly loaded. In response to the original post, I would say swooping a highly loaded canopy is more dangerous. The timing of the whole swoop has to be dead on or you are toast. It's fun to watch though. I would imagine making your first BASE jump would be similar to making your first swoop under a high performance canopy. You are just not sure how it's gonna turn out, and if it goes bad, you will know it real quick. I need a beer. cya Rod

I thought I was the only one with this thought. I answered YES to the poll. Or at least I think I'd still BASE jump if there were no risks. I don't consider myself to be "driven" by an attraction to risk. But I'm sure one visit with a shrink and I'd learn otherwise. Who knows, who cares. It's fun. On a side note, and I'm sure this will etch someone's glass, I feel I am at more risk skydiving than I do when I am BASE jumping. For me personally, I am more affraid of the things/risks I can't control than those I can. In short, for instance: aircraft failure, someone's reserve firing in the plane, another jumper crashing into me in freefall, canopy collisions, those types of things. When I skydive to this day, I still worry about those things. Things that could have a drastic outcome for me, but were not really initiated by me. For me, BASE presents a whole different level of risk, but it's a risk I feel I have more control of, and am comfortable with. Of course I could be wrong. Rod

The only true answer to a correct exposure is the "sunny f/16 rule". That is to say, on a sunny day, set your lens aperature to f/16. Set your shutter speed to what ever your film speed is. For example: if you are using 400 iso fim, set your aperature to f/16 and set your shutter speed to 1/500. (The closest to 400) This will give you good exposure no matter what. It won't always give you a dark blue sky though. You could do like the cheaters and use Photoshop to get the results you like. Or you could use a Polarizer filter. Using the filter is a hit and miss chance though. In freefall, more than likely you will miss. Your best results are going to be from using slide film, using the sunny f/16 rule, and shooting lots of film. To get a deeper blue sky with slide film, you need more saturation. To get more saturation with slide film, you need to under expose 1/2 to a full stop. Using negative film, your results are not going to be as good as with slide film. When you under expose negative film, you will get dull grainy prints, like the one's you are getting now. Next time out, load up some Kodachrome 100. You will notice the difference. It's all in the film. Have fun

Just wanted to say THANKS to all those who have posted and offered advice to my original post. On a side note, how and where is 80lb BREAK cord advertised? Where do I find it? ParaGear? WalMart? cya Rod

most especially the beer drinking part.

This was my point from a few posts up. I'm not all to concerned about littering, just wondering how to rig a SL with out leaving evidence behind. Some are concerened about those things. But like bps, my very first impression of your system was whether the break cord would actually break when it needed to. I guess my uneducated reasoning saw the thicker rope taking most of the load, and eventually transferring it to the smaller cord. I've never done a SL jump, hence the reason for this thread, so I could be wrong. Rod

So the cord will most likely break at the point where it is looped through the peice of suspension line in this example, right? Therefore leaving the remaing cord that is larksheaded to the structure? Would it be just the same to have the single loop attached at the structure and the larkshead on the supsension line so as not to leave trash behind? Thanks Rod

Thanks 704 That's what I was having problems seeing, I understood the explanations, just couldn't get the picture, but it's clearer now. One question though: Does it matter what type of barstool you use, I mean, probably don't want one too heavy, with the climb and all. Rod