TomAiello

I do use this technique, mostly unconsciously at this point. I've never felt that it compromised my heading performance or body position, although Lonnie's point about reducing your rotational inertia is well taken. Another warning: I've sprained my thumb on 2 occasions reaching for the risers too fast (and having them slap across my hand). Be careful if you are doing this, and don't hit anything too far in advance. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yes. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've experienced a noticeable (3/4 second, perhaps) PC hesitation with my hands reaching for the risers, without my body position suffering unduly (when I then reached back and got my hand on the bottom of the shrivel flap, my body position was pretty much shot, but there you go...) -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Some very cropped photos (pretty much just the jumper and PC), as well as my analysis of the (full) photos and my report on the gear, are attached. Apologies for the low quality of these images. I had to reduce them quite a bit to size them for attachment on these forums. If anyone wants better quality images, feel free to email or PM me with an address where you can receive approximately 5mb worth of attachments. The electronic versions I have are still not full quality (they are scans made from the prints the sheriff investigator had, rather than the very large and detailed files that were created from the 35mm negatives, and which I do not have in my possession). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't know about that specific gear and/or any recall, but I do know that I've had LRM toggles jam the white loop and the control line into a virtually non-clearable configuration (I nearly landed with it stuck, and can see how someone could have been unable to clear it, especially under a spinning malfunction). The toggle had already been removed when the jam occured, and the malfunction was basically an entanglement of the white loop and the lower control line. I've seen this lots in a "self-clearing" mode (where you just had to yank the toggle down far enough to clear it) too. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Several years ago I talked to Martin Tilley about making a similar modificatin on a BASE rig, and some thoughts he had on that sort of system (including the possibility of running the release around the actual main container itself, so the canopy could be released directly). I'm not sure if he every played with it any more after that, though. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

All of my general advice on starting BASE is here. Quick answer: $1000-$3000, depending on what you get and if it's new. A list of classified ads with a good selection of used rigs is here. Price lists for new gear can be found all over the place. Here are some examples: Apex Asylum Morpheus (click on Products--Price List) There are lots more. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've had similar issues, and seen many cases of premature toggle fires on pin toggles. I'm personally just not willing to use them. They're just so easy to switch out. Even if it's 1 in 1000, what if you're the 1000th one, and you happen to be right next to a cliff when the toggle fires? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Many steel rescue 'biners fit around guy wires. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The List is the very first section of my First Jump Course reader, as well as being part of the topic for the first lecture I give in every FJC (the risks of BASE jumping). I think it's mandatory. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

TF is cold, but the winds aren't likely to be too bad. Last year I think we had mostly good conditions and temperatures hovering around freezing, or just below. I've got a FJC scheduled at approximately that time, so it's likely you'll see me out jumping while you're here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yes. The sheriff did so, and the coroner cataloged all items found with the deceased. A pull up cord was not found. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This is a valid point. Does anybody know if anybody saw the accident from the top? Yes. Two jumpers were at the top. One jumper on the top reported that the pilot chute looked "too small" and "about the size of a fist." The other reported that it looked like the PC was fully inflated. It is also possible that the PC was constricted when pitched, then wrapped the ankle later in the freefall. The constrictor may have popped off after the wrap, so people at the bottom saw impact with a fully inflated (but entangled) PC, while people at the top saw a constricted PC. The last photo showing a constricted PC (which is the last freefall photo) still shows the jumper a couple of hundred feet in the air. There was plenty of time for more developments in free fall. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Let's keep the discussion in the original thread. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Have a look at the sticky at the top of this forum. Check out the post called "Idaho Bridge". Point number 4 is fairly relevant to this discussion. Also, have a look here and here. The expectations are pretty clearly laid out in some very public places. It's not Bill's fault if people haven't bothered to look and read them. There's a very BASE friendly restaurant/bar right at the top of the bridge. It's called The Outback. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This is a subject of some debate amongst BASE jumpers, and is probably beyond the scope of this discussion. You might want to start a new discussion in the BASE forum to get more opinions on it. The vast majority of BASE PC's in use today are ZP, though, and the idea of using tools to pack the PC is generally more applicable to those. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Original thread. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I helped the Sheriff's office with the gear and accident analysis today, and had a chance to look at some 35mm photos shot by a tourist on the overlook. From viewing the photos, my conclusion is that there was a restrictive device of some kind tied around the pilot chute. The PC is clearly in a fully extended position (at bridle stretch, with mesh fully extended) but with the ZP gathered in a tight bundle, and can be seen towing behind the jumper in this position in two photos shot in sequence, with around 100 feet of freefall between them. Under digital enhancement, a bit of orange color can be seen trailing beside the black ZP (the pull up cord that the jumper used repacking his PC at exit was orange). I'll try to get copies of the photos from the sheriff's investigator, and post (scaled down to attachment size) copies here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

When local jumpers are sounding the alarm that we are on thin ice with our access to the bridge, why do you want to downplay that warning? Bottom Line: We (all of us who like to jump off the bridge) need to shape up in terms of our conduct around here. This summer we've had a lot of bad publicity, several accidents, and lots of negative opinions in the local newspaper. We can ill afford any more negative publicity, hard feelings or any other kind of conflict with the local non-jumping populace. Visitors can easily leave town after something like this. It's the folks who live here that have to show up later and apologize for their conduct, and try to make it right. You may think that "just this once" is "no big deal." When we have to try to defend, explain, or apologize for the conduct of group after group of out of town jumpers long after they've left town, it doesn't really feel that way. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Dave, I would never use that method, nor recommend than anyone else use it. Who taught it to you for use on BASE jumps? That packing method has been out of favor (for the reasons cited by 460) with the vast majority of BASE jumpers for more than a decade. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Reported as 65 prior to this one, as stated by the deceased immediately before exit. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A jumper from Iowa went in here today. We are not certain exactly what happened. Here's what I know: The incident happened around 4:30. The jumper was seen to repack his PC at the exit point, using a pull up cord tied around the PC to get it into the BOC. He did a full floater exit, and was slightly unstable, rotating head low. He pitched at approximately 2.5 seconds. 2 jumpers at the exit reported that his PC appeared far too small (one said it looked about the size of a fist). His PC was seen to be fully inflated just before impact (approximately 50 feet) by a jumper in the upper landing area. His container was completely closed at this time. Impact occurred at high speed with a closed container. The container burst on impact. The bridle was found wrapped around his ankle very tightly--so tightly that it had torn his clothing. There was no restricting device found on the PC when it was recovered from the water. News report here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Did you teach them to swim first, or just go straight to the SCUBA? At risk of digressing, I taught adult swimming lessons for 6 years. I don't have any SCUBA instructional ratings, but just from a water safety perspective, teaching a non-swimmer to SCUBA dive seems like non-starter to me. Why the heck wouldn't you want to teach them to swim first? Having seen first hand how much a person who can swim and has grown up around water and swimming can take for granted (I once had to perform CPR on a non-swimmer who didn't realize the diving boards were in the deep end of the pool, where the water would be over his head), I shudder to think what dangerous assumptions a non-swimmer might make in the SCUBA environment, or a non-parachutist might make in the BASE environment. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A better analogy would be teaching SCUBA to someone who had never even tried swimming at all before. Would you do that? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Knowing how to clear the line twists in the first place, and especially doing so instinctively, is pretty much a skill you can gain (and practice with much more safety) skydiving. I've seen people thrown off the bridge here with zero skydiving experience who have experienced line twists and failed to clear them before hitting the water. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com