TomAiello
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Everything posted by TomAiello
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Very low altitude. I've done it, but not from an airplane. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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When I compared it side by side to several other suits, it seemed to have among the flimsiest spine protectors. I like the Dianese better, and I liked the Fox Racing the best, in terms of spine protection. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I'm not personally a huge fan of this brand, but I saw that Sierra Trading Post had a pretty good deal on 661 body armor, if anyone is currently looking for some, and on a budget. Here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Does anyone know the mechanism of this law's creation? The spokesman quoted in the article calls it "a much needed law" but I had always thought laws required an act of the legislature. Perhaps I'm unclear on the way that laws are created, but I seem to recall something about them being "just a bill, sitting here on capitol hill" first, and then being passed by Congress or something like that, followed by a signature from the president. I don't seem to recall that little bill from schoolhouse rock every bypassing the that process because the Army Corps of Engineers, or the National Park Service decided he didn't need to go through all that troublesome legislative process. Maybe schoolhouse rock just missed that part. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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There's a saying amongst climbers: "At either end of the social spectrum, there lies a leisure class." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Yes. I usually loop the break cord on top (for easier visibility while rigging), but I don't see any functional difference. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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We've got an Apex DP H20, and a CR (not Asylum, so not the newest design) Perigee W here in TF (if it had been last weekend, we'd have had 3 newer Asylum rigs to compare). Jay and I are already planning to meet up and do some side by side comparisons with photos next week. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I hereby nominate Hank Caylor to moderate the chit-chat forum. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Wow. I think the last time I saw your daughter she was 10 years old. Time flies. Congratulations to you and her! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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So why would somebody want a Gargoyle over the He at this point? Articulation? Durability? Comfort? Looks? All of those things can be enhanced by adding extra material, padding, parapack liners, etc. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Not quite. The PC and the remaining bridle need to hang over the edge, so they can't snag and/or tear being whipped around after the break cord separates. You can also put in a rapide link (or carabiner) at the forward knot, and tie loops in the trailing knot, at home, to make setup faster at the exit point. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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You are _so_ not alone in that desire. I've been hassling Sangiro to do that for quite a while now. I think the technical hurdles are significant enough that it's going to take a while, though. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I'll try to do it after lunch (a couple hours), but I probably want to write it up and attach some photos. Maybe someone can do a better job explaining it before then. If not, I'll get back to it later today. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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In that situation, I prefer to larkshead a sewn climbing runner onto the attachment. However, that requires that I retrieve the runner later. The best method I've seen so far is the Tattoo Buckaroo method, which basically uses two overhand knots in the bridle to wrap the anchor point, using no additional pieces and using the bridle as the "sturdy" piece, with the break cord itself hanging in midair. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Is there a BASE specific round available with it? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I think it's personal reference. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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The only permits I'm aware of in recent years are: (a) the Bridge Day permit (for BASE) issued every year, which I'd bet the NPS would like to get rid of, but can't for political reasons; (b) a demo done by Team Fastrax (for skydiving) landing on National Park land near the statue of liberty; (c) a demo done every year in St. Louis, landing on the National Park land under the Saint Louis arch. The St. Louis demo is part of a permit issued to the county for purposes of conducting a larger airshow. I don't know about the Statue of Liberty permit. Bridge Day, I think we all know that story. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Do you know how much the option costs? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Tony, Remember that you are the one bringing names and personalities into this discussion. Everyone else was leaving those things out (I thought wisely). My thoughts on the accident come from (a) viewing the photos, and (b) talking with another jumper who was about 2 feet away, at the exit point, during the launch. I'm not sure why you want to bring up last year's incident. Can you explain what bearing that accident has on this one? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I was actually trying to avoid that, because they clearly identify the jumper, and I was hoping not to turn this into a personal discussion. I guess some other folks didn't share that view, though. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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The two forums will still be linked to each other, at the outset. There has been some discussion of creating a unified login (same login for this forum and that forum, and potentially even for RC.com, with one user database). Some advantages of this approach include: 1) Bringing in different moderators (hopefully with the result of reducing complaints about bias). 2) Splitting the BASE forum out into sub-forums (like a technical forum and a chit-chat forum) to hopefully clear some of the channels of communication a bit, while still allowing enough banter for people to inject some personality into their postings. 3) Creation of other potentially useful functionality (like a voluntary database of local contacts in various regions) that wouldn't really fit into the DZ.com framework. edit to add: 4) Clearing the ban list, and starting from scratch. This can be a new forum, with everyone getting a fresh start. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Perhaps a bit of both. There doesn't appear to be too much slack in the launch photos, but they only show the jumper and a few feet of lines. I'm not sure if it was his intention to maintain line tension during the roll, or if he was trying to induce line slack. According to another jumper who was at the exit point, the canopy appeared to invert prior to launch (due to a wind gust), and the guy at the launch point shouted something like "stop! don't do it!" but unfortunately the jumper thought that was a joke and launched immediately thereafter. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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It's very easy. The train from Singapore-KL (at least when I rode it) was pretty cheap, because it's primarily intended to bring Malaysian labor into Singapore. Do check into getting a commuter flight (tickets can be purchased in the airport), though. At one point, they were very cheap (much cheaper than purchasing them from a computer in the US). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Photo attached. The jumper spun into the trees, and thankfully the trees broke his fall, and he was relatively intact (I heard a rumor that he might have broken a rib, but I'll class that with dead Jason and bionic bunghole stories until I know better). I think JP has the important point here, which is that there were no serious injuries. Even if this was a result of dumb luck (imagine if this jumper had hit the ground or the rocks, rather than crashing through relatively soft treetops to break his fall), I'll take it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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To clarify: This course has no hard and fast pre-requisites. Admission is competitive, which means that I take applications, then pick the ones that I think are the most qualified, and best fit for the course. I typically receive around 30 applications for the 4 or 5 spots in the course, and historically a typical student that I accept has closer to 1000 skydives than 150. In this course there was one student who was actually right around the 150 skydive mark, but he had significant additional canopy flight experience (resulting from the fact that he has been flying hanggliders and paragliders for approximately as long as I've been alive). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com