TomAiello

I lay the canopy out flat on one side (like the first step of a flat pack), then fold it in in segments about as wide as the distance between the line groups. I usually fold the tail in and down (depends on if I've set the brakes) to keep it out of the way. I sometimes daisy chain, but more often just roll the lines at the bottom of the canopy, then fold the canopy around the lines into the pack tray. I fold the PC into the bottom of the pack tray, and then tie the rig shut (if it's a pin rig) or put the shrivel flap on sideways (if it's velcro). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

By "Field Pack" do you mean "packing while sitting out in a field" (as the previous poster seems to have interpreted it) or do you mean the more traditional "folding the canopy for travel or long term storage" sense in which that term is used? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've split this off of the "Maggot Camp" thread, because it looks like you're trying to ask a real question. Bridge Day is a fairly good time to make a first jump. The object is nearly ideal, there is a good rescue crew on hand, and there are many experienced jumpers around, as well as mandatory gear checks, the free Bridge Day Survival seminars, and the longer First Jump Courses now available. Bridge Day can be more difficult than some other first jump experiences, too, because there are many, many distractions, a fair amount of time pressure at the exit point, and the dry landing is relatively small for a student. More info about doing your first jump at Bridge Day is available on the Bridge Day Web Site. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

They really have. Bridge Day rescue boats are insanely fast to respond these days. I can try to digitize some video from last year, if you want, but I honestly think that Jason's estimate of 5 seconds to initial contact is pretty realistic. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You might want to check in with Oscar. I understand he was jumping an antenna out there with some friends and recently discovered that someone else was jumping it, too. Perhaps it's the same one. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't have a ton of experience with it, but I really wasn't a huge fan of the Prism 2. Which is kind of funny, because I really liked the original Prism, and I think the Prism 1.5 (the later modified Prism 1) was one of the best BASE rigs ever made. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

People don't just send you their gear because you have equipment, they do it because they trust you with their lives. While we're on that topic: I've heard that the original Ravens had problems with slider up deployments (things like very long snivels and sliders getting stuck up) on subterminal jumps, but that this was not a problem with the Super Ravens. Do you have any thoughts on that? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In my experience, the Ravens have worse pressurization slider down than any BASE-specific canopy yet produced (with the possible exception of the Mustang--but that's another story). When laid on top of a BASE specific canopy for comparison, the differences are quite evident. The stabilizer is a different size and shape, the crossports are differently sized and arranged, the trim of the canopy is not as steep, and the line trim is arranged differently. All in all, I think this leads to Ravens with noticeably worse pressurization than virtually all BASE canopies. Here's the kicker: This is most noticeable at large sizes, and verges on imperceptible on very small sizes. If you're small enough that a Raven I is the right size for BASE, you may just be blessed with an abundance of passable BASE canopies for cheap. If you're a big fatso like me, though, you'll find that the Raven IV really isn't going to do the trick. Bottom line? I'd stay away from the Raven IV for BASE. That's not necessarily the case for appropriately wingloaded Raven I's and perhaps II's, though. Oh, and to echo what Nitro said: Tune the heck out of your DBS. The last time I watched (from above) a Raven II with untuned DBS deploy slider down, the tremendous forward speed of the canopy shattered the jumpers legs on object strike, and eventually took them from him for the rest of his life. Don' be that guy on the next go round. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I have found that very few manufacturers actually use the same measuring method, even if they actually all claim to be using PIA spec. I tend to treat square footage measurements on canopies as "model names" rather than as "size measurements." The same can be said of pilot chute size measurements. One manufacturers "42" is not necessarily the same as another manufacturers "42." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Bartender, I'll have a line over on the rocks, please. And for my good friend Nick over there? Send him a tequila stuntman... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Isn't Consolidated Rigging the maker of the Ace and Blackjack canopies? Oh, and for those who don't know him, Blake really is an instructor for Asylum, as well as a heck of a good guy, and an extremely experienced BASE jumper. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I can say for certain that my Troll 290 and Tom Manship's Blackjack 310 were within 2 inches in both dimensions. I can try to lay out my Dagger 313 and Troll 290 and check them against each other, too, if you want, but I don't have a Rock Dragon to check against. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

There are still useful features of the site that you can use without ever logging into the forums. The Classifieds, for example, and the @dropzone.com email accounts, come immediately to mind. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

My advice: Read the first post in this thread. Note the physical location of the poster (near to you) and his experience level. Skip the rest of the thread, and instead send him a PM asking if you can meet him for a beer, or out at a local dropzone. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What makes you think that? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've got it. If you PM me your address, I can ship it back to you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Bottom line: Ask 10 BASE jumpers this question and you'll get 10 different answers. You need to try out the various options and decide for yourself. The best way to do this is to buy one of each, but that's rarely practical. Try to borrow, rent or demo as many as possible before making a decision. My personal preference: Blackjack in a Gargoyle. Your personal preference: ??? but unlikely to be the exact same as mine. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The technique I teach is to use rear risers to correct heading until you are no longer pointed at the object (no more than 90 degrees, usually), then to switch to toggles once you are no longer looking at something. Riser turns eat altitude very quickly. I like to use them when I'm in imminent danger of object strike, but immediately transition to toggles (to conserve altitude) once I'm no longer closing on the object. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

No, I don't think so. Properly made F-111 and ZP PC's will exert almost exactly the same drag force. The air has to vent out of both of them--it just vents out differently. With an F-111 PC, it vents out through the skin of the PC. With a ZP PC, it vents around the skin of the PC (over the skirt or through the vents). I once took a couple of F-111 and ZP PC's and tested this (I had doubted that it was true when Anne Helliwell told it to me), and it really did turn out this way when I drag tested them with spring scales. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I generally agree with Dave. I think the oscillation often starts because of the pitch--mostly because the initial PC inflation is way off to one side, which means that the PC is "sideways" a little bit because of the angle of the bridle pull. The PC bounces into the middle, and almost always past, starting a "pendulum" motion. In my experience F-111 PC's do not have this problem (they reach bridle extension, then move up above the jumper, and only then inflate while centered over the jumpers back). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If you send me a PM with your email, I can forward you an email I got from a friend who jumped it in the last 3 days. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

PM Sullyflyer. He showed me a pretty good way to fold the Vampire to protect the stiffeners. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You have to pass the security screening check, so if you have already done that in a past year, it's a great deal easier. Miss G8tordiver, consider just buying a pass, then re-selling it if you can't make it. That's going to be a much surer way to do things than trying to find a pass on late notice, plus you will get into the background check process from the beginning. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The Morpheus WS-Xtreme is the same way. I think it's to shape the container better for high speed airflow, by pulling the top in tighter (i.e. a narrower packed profile) for more of a wedge or teardrop type shape. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

To confuse people on the internet. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com