TomAiello

I've cleaned up this thread. All, please remember that this is a topical forum. If you want to bicker, I'd appreciate you doing it somewhere else. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That edition of my "First Rig" article is a little outdated. A more current copy can be found as a downloadable .pdf on my Personal Web Page, in the public folder (public folder download is down at the end of that mess of title links). Apologies for the disorganization of that page, it's just somewhere that I throw stuff up temporarily to link to. I'd attach it to this post, but it exceeds the attachment limit for DZ.com. If anyone wants me to email it to them, drop me a PM or email with an address where you can take a 150k attachment. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

"Inlets" is more accurate. Inlets = vent or valve Valve = one way airflow (in only, like PAC valve, MDV, or vtec with covers) Vent = 2 way airflow (in and out, like vtec with no covers) In this case my comments apply to vented or valved canopies, hence I used "inlets" to cover both possibilities. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

We all thought that, at the beginning. As of right now, since the onset of the "wingsuit era" in BASE, exactly one third of BASE fatalities have involved a wingsuit. See The List for details, but of 24 BASE fatalities since the first wingsuit BASE death (# 68), we have had 8 wingsuit fatalities (numbers 68, 69, 70, 76, 81, 82, 83 and 88) and 16 non-wingsuit fatalities (numbers 71. 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90 and 91). I will not make any real speculation as to the underlying wingsuit/non-wingsuit jump ratios, but I will say that I believe that they are much less than the 1:2 ratio of deaths, meaning that I think statistically you are far more likely to die jumping from an object today with a wingsuit on than without one. What it looks like is that we have managed to trade a well known danger (object strike) for a whole host of less known ones (equipment complexity, additional malfunction possibilities, stability problems, throwing off our visual pull reflexes, etc). And to make it worse, we've thrown object strike right back into the mix, by making an increasing number of flights that are impossible without the wingsuit--in other words we are opening just as close to the walls, because we are just flying more and more underhung objects. In fact, if you look at a couple of incidents, you can see that people have impacted objects that they did not jump from, and that the wingsuit may have had a role to play in getting them close enough to hit it. Further, we have a couple of freefall object strike fatalities that are the clear result of a wingsuit-equipped jumper trying to outfly a ledge or other obstacle in a manner they never would have attempted without the suit. Apparently, what we've done is classic "risk shifting", where we have found a new set of risks to stand in for the one we thought we got rid of, but as a bonus, we haven't really even gotten rid of that one risk. Bottom line: Wingsuit BASE is statistically much more dangerous than non-wingsuit BASE at this moment in time. A piece of advice: If you are thinking of getting into wingsuit BASE, become very proficient at both BASE and wingsuit flight before combining the two, and definitely read James Boole's excellent article Starting Wingsuit BASE which is available for download from the Phoenix Fly Web Site. The additional risks largely stem from 2 things: 1) Added complexity: We have some added handles, some extra fabric in freefall, a bit more difficulty making a stable launch, an extra step before getting control of the canopy post-opening...the list goes on. 2) Changed perceptions: Our perceptions about the jump change. We change how we approach and evaluate the jump, thinking that the wingsuit somehow makes it "safer" (when it actually makes it more dangerous, statistically). Also, and importantly, it changes the visual perception of ground rush at pull time. The relatively slow downward speed of the wingsuit can greatly reduce the ground rush (and associated perception of lowness) at low altitude. This can fool people into pitching too late. Hope that helps. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

My comments refer only to slider down opening characteristics. This is based on my personal experience jumping wingloadings down to around .55, and observing other jumps made on canopies loaded as low as .49. As you reduce wingloading, the openings become somewhat less consistent. You can expect to see some jellyfishing, slower openings, and weird pressurization issues. End cell closure can become very common. Two things to keep in mind: 1) This effect is much more noticeable with larger canopies. 2) This happens much less on canopies with bottom skin inlets. So, you can get cleaner openings from very lightly loaded canopies in two ways: jump vented canopies, and be a very small person. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In all honesty? 90% of the time they wouldn't even blink. I once got pulled over in the park, with 2 unpacked rigs in stash bags, and one packed rig not in a bag, all on the back seat. The rangers thought we were smoking pot or something, hassled us for a while, and then let us go. I think a lot of jumpers overestimate how aggressive the NPS is about chasing us. Once you're busted, it's a different story, but in recent years the amount of full on harassment hasn't been too out of control. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

My experience has been that the Parisians are much more insular than most of the other French I've met. I know other French guys who have trouble getting along with the Parisians. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Check out BASEjump.hu. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

AM towers use the entire structure as a transmitter. Essentially, when you hop onto one (and you do, literally, hop), you are climbing a live wire. It's possible, but not too much fun, and many people prefer to avoid them entirely. It's easy to figure out if a tower is AM or not by inspecting the places it touches the ground. If they don't have big insulators, it's almost certainly not AM. But I'm sure you knew that, because it's discussed in another thread on the first page of this forum, and if you're interested in that kind of thing, you'll certainly be doing your homework. I'm sure you've probably also seen, and read, the "jumpable antenna" discussion (on the first page of this forum) for clues as to what kinds of things people consider in making their decisions. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This is pretty funny. In BASE, you would have started a huge line of chatter. I move it to Bonfire, and you're not even cool enough to get a single reply. On the other hand, I guess this opens up a way to create a "BASE Bonfire." I can just move threads and none of those nerdy skydiver types will reply to them... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Faber, can you explain this more? It is my opinion that a shallower brake setting will create more, not less, opening surge. Are you talking about surge when you pop the toggles? On a very low jump you shouldn't be popping the toggles to full flight. It's better to bring the toggles all the way down when you release them, and then ease them back up, to prevent surge, which also allows you to flare at any point (so that you just flare back down when you get to the ground, and take whatever flare that gives you). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've split this off the "Moab" thread because it's a totally different topic. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I believe they do. I saw a show on the history of ski jumping some time ago, where they talked about how the current clothing evolved. At one point they were wearing stuff that looked kind of like tracking suits, and it apparently got banned. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That'll do. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

How did I get to be the grown up in this situation? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm curious if you have seen The Ground is the Limit and what your opinions of that film were? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Recreational Equipment Incorporated. It's a giant outdoors retailer. Other, similar stores include Campmor and MEC. I've found that Sierra Trading Post is a great place to pick up outdoors clothing and such for super cheap, if you're patient (willing to wait for them to get something that you want) and not too picky about fashion. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Look into windstopper fleece. If the wind is the major issue, windstopper fleece is lightweight, breathable, and usually non-binding. It's good stuff for tower climbing. I've got a reasonably cheap windstopper jacket I bought at REI about 10 years ago that has made more BASE jumps than most of the people I know. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think that whenever a new username is registered, you should be required to complete a mandatory course of instruction in the use of the Search Feature prior to posting. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

When I started jumping it was 50. I think that came from the IPBC requirement for entering the competition there. Somewhere along the line it went down to 30 (I think that was a number set for participation in the Turkey Boogie). I understand that the consensus (again, based on Turkey Boogie requirements) is moving back up closer to 50. In all honesty, I think that doing some good object avoidance/canopy control practice jumps in Twin Falls is more important than total number of jumps. I've seen people with 200 jumps who I didn't think had a prayer of getting a 180 turned around, and I've seen people with 15 jumps who were practicing a bunch and probably had a better shot at it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I mostly to route bottom-top to reduce the amount of bridle that's out there to potentially flap around. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If you will swear never to jump that skydiving gear off an object, I will loan you my Gargoyle and largest size Troll for that week in early May. But you have to promise not to jump at home until you have real BASE gear. What do you say? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I was totally unable to recreate this bridle-thumb snag. I tried for about half an hour. Is it possible that the snag was actually a loop of slack bridle below the hand, that came up and around? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Do you have the bridle tucked in at the top as well? I generally prefer to tuck the bridle into the top of the side flap, or the riser cover flap, to control it. I like the velcro to be up on the shoulder (the Vertigo style) if it's there. Also, are you placing the pins top-bottom (standard) or bottom-top, for hand held? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What about unhooking your rig to put the wingsuit onto your BASE/skydiving rig? Is that polygamy, too? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com