TomAiello

It also exists to protect the visitors. Many times there are established protocols to help avoid bust or injury, or unknown hazards (for example, the rotation of security personnel at a site) and without that information the jump is much riskier (potentially in both a physical and bust sense) for the visitors. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's not always fair (or a good idea) to shut down everyone else's discussion simply because one person can't behave maturely. If PA's always resulted in locks, we'd probably see a steep increase in people throwing random PA's into discussions that they didn't like. Giving someone such an easy way to shut down discussions they weren't happy with would be counterproductive. For example, what if the discussion was "brand X reserve fails when fired at terminal", and the manufacturer could make the discussion stop simply by creating a troll login and posting "you're a jerk" to the last poster in the thread? Stopping the useful communication in the event of a PA seems to me to be simply caving in and giving the PA poster what they want. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

By my reading he was calling Donald Rumsfeld a "retard" in a sarcastic sense, as a rhetorical device. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I will disrespect the hell out of each and every one of my brothers on the List if doing so will keep any others from joining them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Please review the forum rules, in particular: Calling someone a dick is clearly a personal attack. Nic, consider yourself warned also. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

There's a thread in the suggestions forum about starting a GL forum. If you feel strongly about that, you might consider adding to that thread. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Second. Ground Launching discussions are cropping up in a bunch of other forums. I think it's about the right time and discussion volume to split them off into a sub-forum of their own. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

PM Sent. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

George Churchill, I have banned you from this forum for 30 days. I've also banned your "michael_j" username permanently, and will ask Sangiro to disable it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Corky Ferguson (the master rigger at the Taft, California, dropzone, and a longtime BASE jumper) has created a system that allows him to attach his paraglider wing to a BASE system, and then cut it away with a fairly standard cut away handle. He uses the paraglider wing to gain altitude and then goes back into freefall with the BASE gear. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I often don't. I've learned many different pack jobs. I am competent in packing without tools, and have done so many times, for a variety of objects, including buildings. Just because I prefer to use tools doesn't mean that I am unable to pack without them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Try a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. They're from New Zealand. There are several labels, most of them good, and typically running around $10-15. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I originally learned to pack without tools. I now use tools on the vast majority of my pack jobs because: a) They make it easier b) They make it faster c) They allow me to pack under a wider range of conditions Basically, they allow me to get better results for the amount of effort I put in, in terms of both efficiency and quality. The same is, in my experience, vastly more true for beginners, since they are already wrestling with the mental steps of the pack job itself, and don't really need to add in a physical wrestling match with the canopy. Tools are what set us apart from the animals. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I always use exactly the same pull up cord for that kind of thing (actually, I've recently switched to using a clamp, since it's harder to forget it in there). I mean _exactly_ the same physical pull up cord. If you stuck it in a bag of pull up cords, I'd be able to identify it. I've had people "borrow" it while I was packing, and I've ended up running around trying to find it, and not closing until I had it. I use that same pull up cord (again, exactly the same one) to close my top pin, so if it's missing when I close, I start looking for it. I had a friend who used to use a pull up cord to pack his PC (he died in a wall strike that was not related to this practice). He always used the same pull up cord, and he'd tie it around his MLW when he finished packing. Before exit, he'd look down, and if the pull up cord wasn't there, he wouldn't jump (no kidding, I once saw him back off because he didn't have the pull up cord, even though we checked his PC and it was fine--it turned out the pullup cord was in the trunk of the car). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

All, With the recent discussions of pedophilia, I think we all need to take a moment and review the Forum Rules. In particular, notice that the second forum rule (there are only four) is as follows: Also, please read the explanation given a bit further down that page: This means that discussions of actual, specific actions or real situations is permissible, but generalized jokes about pedophilia (and in many cases specific jokes about real situations) are not permitted. Feel free to express your opinion about real situations, or to discuss the legal, moral, or ethical ramifications of them. Please refrain from turning them into jokes, or posting short jests that add nothing new to tthe conversation. I have edited a couple of posts that contained these sorts of things. If you see a specific post that offends you, please PM me and point it out, and I'll have a look. Please consider this your warning on the subject. Henceforth, I will begin banning (with no additional warning) posters of pedophilia jokes. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Actually, you have to learn from that experience, and try to help others benefit from that experience. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm going to move this thread to General Skydiving, and leave a pointer in BASE. It's possible that someone with far more helicopter jumping experience will see it there and have something useful to add. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Where are you located? You might be able to just find someone local who's doing these jumps, and get some pointers. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

As with all altitude questions, that's pretty relative. In general, a Rollover/McConkey will open somewhere between a static line and a freefall. But there is massive variation, depending on how you prep and reef the canopy. In the case of the tightest possible prep job, I'd say you're likely to see inflation that's roughly comparable to a well performed ultra low freefall (go and throw). TARDs open noticeably faster. Again, some of that is dependent on technique, but I've seen successful TARDs allow time for a flare and stand up landing, from the 100 foot range. A typical "lazy" TARD (one basically done so that you don't have to pack, with minimal canopy preparation) will likely be noticeably slower (and with worse heading, which may be more important at very low altitudes) than that. That varies widely. It can be as simple as grabbing it and tossing it over the edge (very common out here, where people are trying to crank out as many jumps as they can), and as complex as basically doing a complete pack job and carefully lowering it into place. Every jumper has a different technique, and the degree of care people take with these differs greatly depending on both jumper and object. That's not a bad method at all. I'd also recommend using a tailgate. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What for??? I think Avery has one of each suit made, now... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

For skydiving use, I think it's fine. I wouldn't use kevlar lines for BASE, but for this application (skydiving canopy to train) I think it'll be ok. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In fact, I can sometimes find it and sometimes can't. I'm not sure exactly what is going on, or how to find it. I'll try to narrow it down a little more. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

When I add an event to the Calendar using the direct "Events" link at the top of the BASE forum, it doesn't show up the next time I click that link, although I can still find it if I search by month or activity type. It's listing the events as "BASE1" or some such--could that be the issue? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Word on the street is that the latest, greatest offering of the Australian BASE Association is now available. If you want it, PM Simon Plum or email him at "fallingplum at yahoo dot com dot au." The ABA video is regularly one of the best BASE videos of the year, since it's a compilation of the a bunch of different entries into the ABA video night. I understand that this years video is a 2 DVD set, because there was so much good stuff to put on there. Since it's also usually fairly cheap, it's pretty much a bargain. Definitely something I'd recommend checking out. More information is available here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Many more of Chris' photos of those jumps are posted here. Given the ensuing drama, my favorite has to be this one. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com