TomAiello

F111 PC's definitely oscillate less than ZP. The issue is a little more complex than that, though. F111: Dampen oscillation better than vented ZP (in my opinion). Vented ZP: Last longer, stay in trim longer, inflate more consistently and faster. In my opinion, F111 PC's are generally better except for very low exits or very low deployments, and only if you are careful about gear maintenance, and are willing to replace them relatively frequently. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

QuoteAlright you non-BASE jumping, college going, soon to be journalist. Just for accuracy, I wanted to say for the record that Dwain Weston and I jumped a building with skydvr18. I'm not sure where the bit about him not jumping came from, but it ain't the case--and I've got the video to prove it. And that will be the last word on this topic. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A user search shows that there are 2 active users of these forums listing BASE as their primary discipline and "Las Vegas" as their home. There may be others not listing their location, or listing a suburb with a different name. Why not start with the guys who are obviously posting here and who openly list that location? You could just ask them if they can hook you up, or point you at someone else who could. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It definitely sounds old school to say it that way. Tom Manship was the only guy I knew who called them "chutes" and he was almost as old school as you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

He didn't use the persons name, or identify them. There might have been other people with similar thoughts or questions, but who hadn't asked them. He shared a fairly good bit of useful information that would help people in the same situation, but who were not the original sender of the PM. So, I'd justify it by saying he was trying to share information more widely than just a PM, and doing so without sharing the identity of the person who asked the question. I actually do that quite a lot, when I start a post with "one of my friends asked me..." and go on to post the discussion that I had originally just written as a response to them privately, but then decided that others might also find it useful or helpful. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Does anyone have the actual cartoons? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ray, Josh, I've banned you both from this forum for 14 days. I know it's friday night, but come on. Surely there's something better to do than yell at people on the internet? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Geez, people. Can't I even be off this forum for a few hours? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Talk to Pete. He's the rigger at that DZ and a longtime jumper. If he's not going out, he can put you in touch with whoever is. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's the next great wingsuit advancement: stilts and canes! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I concur. My experience has been that the absolutely tiny people can pull out more performance than the tall, skinny people. I'm not sure why this is, because I'd expect the tall skinny people to have bigger wings, and hence better wingloading. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Shane originally called them "rollovers." I named them "McConkeys," partly to bug him, and partly because he was the first guy do do one with BASE gear, so it seemed appropriate. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The difference between a wise man and a fool is that when they meet, the wise man learns something. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

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

You'll probably do better posting this onto the UK board. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I understand that the article was written by Robin Heid. I suppose that this doesn't surprise me very much. If you're interested, you might do a search of the BASE forum for Robin Heid. A search of the BLiNC forums for his name also turns up some interesting, and rather sordid, tales. Suffice to say that it's unlikely anyone familiar with Robin's history is going to be very surprised by the content of the article. I'll see if I can find a copy of the magazine and read it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Who was the author of the article? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Warning to all: If this devolves into a religious debate, I'll either move the entire thread to Speakers' Corner or delete a significant portion of the posts. Let's not do that, ok? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Even though it is of no use to me at this particular moment, I need to know. How does one pack a total? By not leaving slack above the pin. It's possible to trap the bridle into the pack job, and leave no slack such that the pin cannot be extracted (the bridle tension is pulling against the flaps of the container, rather than the pin itself, and without the pin being removed, the container flaps won't move, and if they won't move, the pin can't come out...). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

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

See my post above. Short answer: if you're going to use them, I'd get the High Puller Big Grabs from Morpheus. I wouldn't stress too much about getting them, though. I like dynamic corners. They make packing a bit trickier at the very first, but you quickly get used to them. If you have a wrap around corner over them (like Morpheus, for example) they're even better in terms of looks and airflow (although that's not a major consideration). Enclosed corners might make packing a touch easier in the beginning, but I think the dynamic corners are worth it. Ask the manufacturer of your canopy what they recommend. When you are starting out, just go with that recommendation. If you want to skydive the canopy for practice, you might consider buying a sail (F-111) slider to use out of airplanes. The .73 is closer to textbook, and might be better for a beginner with good landing areas. If you're likely to have tight or rough landing areas anytime soon, I'd go with the .675 wingloading, especially being a bigger guy. Be aware that the "size" numbers given by the manufacturers don't necessarily match up from one manufacturer to another, so you shouldn't switch canopy types thinking "well, this canopy comes in a bigger size." It may be that the largest size from one manufacturer has a smaller number, but is actually larger if you lay them out on top of each other. Pick your canopy for the canopy, and then just get the size that is closest. Don't pick your canopy for the sizing. I personally use vented 46" PC's but unvented 48"s. If I'm down under about 250, I figure I'm going to be throwing up and centered anyway, so the advantage of venting (damping an oscillation from a sideways throw) won't matter. Regardless, I'd go with the largest size PC you get as an unvented, because you'll be using it on the lowest stuff, when you ought to be using an upward (and centered) toss that doesn't create much (if any) oscillation. I like velcro better for most beginners. Pins are much more popular though, and I don't think it's a huge deal either way. Just be sure that you know and understand the use of whatever container you select, and you'll be ok. I've back tracked at terminal with a velcro rig and had no problems. You just need to be sure your velcro is well maintained. Pin rigs have their own set of required maintenance and extra considerations (like the very remote possibility of packing a total), so it's pretty much a case of "six of one, half dozen of the other." Hope that helps. Definitely gather as many opinions as you can. If there's one thing I know, it's that no one has the answers in this sport. The best you can do is get a bunch of opinions and use them to educate yourself and form your own opinion. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Some thoughts on line release toggles: When using them, I prefer a one handed release, where all you do is grab one tab, and pulling it releases both (a) the line from the toggle; and (b) the brake setting from the toggle stub. (a) The old Gravity Sports SuperToggle was a 2 handed release. You had to pull the toggle off the riser, and then release the line from the toggle. If you just pulled the tab, the end of the line released from the toggle, but the brake setting remained set to the toggle stub. You had to pop the toggle to release the brakes, requiring you to either (a) do it in that order, or (b) use the manufacturers recommended procedure of releasing the toggle with one hand, then bringing the other hand up to the toggle and pulling the tab to release the line. Personally, I thought this process was too cumbersome. (b) The WLO (What Line Over?) toggles, from Apex BASE, are a pin style toggle that allows a one handed release (you pull the tab, and the whole thing--brake setting and toggle--is released from the line). This is much faster, and also makes it easier to keep your toggle when you fire the lines off, because the toggle stays on the riser. Unfortunately, my experience with pin stub toggles has not been entirely positive. I've seen at least 6 premature toggle releases, in person, on this style of toggle, and I'm personally not willing to jump them off any serious object. I've heard of several other cases of this happening, but haven't seen them in person. I prefer the toggle stub (the part that locks the brake setting) to be stiffened cloth, because I believe it has more "grab" and is less prone to premature release. I've personally never seen a toggle of this style blow prematurely (I'm sure it's happened, I've just never seen it in person). (c) The HPBG (High Puller Big Grab) line release toggles, from Morpheus, are apparently a cloth stub style toggle with a one handed release. The tab is designed to stay attached, and the second part of the pulling motion peels the toggle stub back, releasing the brake setting. Assuming these work as advertised (and I have no reason to believe they do not), this is the only style of line release toggle I'd recommend. Note that I own, and have tested, the Gravity Sports SuperToggles and the Apex WLO's, but have not jumped the Morpheus HPBG toggles. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This is not neccessarily true. BASE canopy manufacturers choose the sliders for their canopies based on a range of considerations, including the canopy trim, the slider size, and the slider material. It's not necessarily true that you can generalize about the use of a particular slider material for a particular delay. Your best course of action in determining what slider you are using is to contact the manufacturer of your particular canopy, and ask them what they recommend for any particular delay, and for the specific canopy. Some of them will recommend small mesh for all delays, and some may even recommend large mesh for terminal (although, off hand, I can't think of any that do that, at the moment). At any rate, be aware that if you are switching sliders to something that is not the manufacturers recommended (and tested) slider configuration, you are a test jumper, with all that entails. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hey, A couple people had trouble playing the DVD's that I sent them. If this applies to you, it appears the problem has to do with region encoding and newer, higher end DVD players, generally Sony players. If you stick the disk in a cheap player (you can get one at Walmart for 30 bucks or so), it should play fine. As far as I know, the VKB original disks don't have this problem, so you might just want to get one from them, instead of buying a DVD player just for this disk. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

All of them. In fact, pretty much every instructor is willing to take phone calls and answer questions from people who didn't take their courses at all. I've never called up anyone--Apex, Asylum, Morpheus, or whoever else--and had them say "nope, you didn't take my course so I'm not going to offer you any advice." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com