TomAiello

Is this from the specs for the material, or from experience? I know I met some Russian jumpers a while back who were using yellow cable instead of pins (I believe it was adopted from European freeflyers, who did that for skydiving believing the yellow cable to be more secure). They had used their yellow-cable equipped rigs without incident through the winters in Russia (which, I am given to believe, are fairly cold). I've never played with the yellow cable at temperature extremes. Maybe I'll try throwing some in the freezer to see what happens. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Thread in wingsuit forum here. The person you are thinking of is probably Yves Rossy who made the first powered flights under his semi-fixed (it's folding, see his web site for more details) wing on June 24th, 2004, achieving horizontal flight for around 4 minutes. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I know a couple experienced jumpers who've used them for years without incident. Personally, I think I'd only use them on a dedicated slider off rig. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I can't wait for definitions of "To Vincent" and "To Baumgartner"... Hey wait, let's add a definition for "To DiGiovanni" just for giggles. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've now gotten it on fairly good authority that John has been jumping for just under 2 years (since December 2003), with his major accident in October 2004 sidelining him for 11 months. That means he'd have jumped around 80 times in that first year, which sounds pretty reasonable. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Where is this quote from? If he started a year ago, that means his first jump was the solo B on which he was injured. Then he was here doing his "come back" jumps Labor Day. Which makes me skeptical that his experience is really the 80-100 jumps quoted in the other thread. Something doesn't add up, but I'm not sure which of these parts is correct and which is not. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've split this off into it's own thread. You can search through the forums for endless opinions on pins and velcro. My opinions are not necessarily representative of the majority of BASE jumpers today, but for what it's worth, here's what I think: A pin rig on a 430' A with 1 second delay is going to be fine. The areas where pin rigs are a little weaker than velcro are generally packing and closing (it's a bit harder to close symmetrically, which really only matter when you first start, and it's possible to pack totals if you don't know what you're doing [it's pretty much impossible to pack a total on a velcro rig]). I prefer velcro rigs for beginners for those reasons. I don't really think there are many problems with velcro rigs at terminal. I wouldn't use them for wingsuit flights, but for delays of 15 or less, I think that they're going to be fine. I've tracked on my back at terminal, wearing a velcro rig (without a tuck flap) and had no real fear about doing so. I'm uncertain as to where the "velcro is bad for aerials" thing came from. I can't really see a reason why this would be the case with a properly fit and closed velcro rig (same as with a properly fit and closed pin rig). In fact, with body position changes, the pull tension on a pin rig can vary dramatically, where the pull tension on a velcro rig will stay pretty much constant regardless. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't see one either, but I noticed that several links are not yet active, so I'm not sure if the absence of a velcro rig is because they haven't put the links in yet, or because they've actually discontinued the manufacture of velcro rigs. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Why don't you just tell her that you already made some plans, because you weren't planning on seeing her until later? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ok, that one is already posted in the "Our turn to hang" thread. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I can't find anything there--the link just goes to the ABC news home page. Can you be more specific? And, if this is yet another John Agnos thread, can you keep it in the ongoing discussion thread, rather than starting a new one? Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think I am very confused. Can you post a picture of your idea? I was still thinking the toggle went through the white loop. Just replace the first white loop (WL in your example) with a ring. Then 2WL (the one the toggle goes through) is still a white loop (now it's the only white loop). Or heck, why not just put a whole 3 ring system on the toggle, while you're at it? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Why not use another metal ring instead of a second white loop? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm not sure about the others reporting this, but in the three cases I had, it was much worse than this. I actually had the white loop jammed in the control line, and it took a great amount of yanking (both up and down to the full extent of my reach) to clear the brake setting. This once happened to me on a freefall of that popular little cliff in SoCal, and I proceeded immediately to Perris to purchase a new pair of risers. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Do a forum search for "Smoke Pants". That's what you're looking for. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Please don't judge BASE jumpers by this guy. If you want to get the general feel from the BASE community on him, read the threads in the BASE forum. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Be aware that climbers sometimes leave water at the top of routes, because it's precious on the wall, and common once you reach the trailhead. I'm not commenting on the wilderness ethic of the practice--just pointing out that jumpers may not be the sole source in some of these cases. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've separated this from the "guide ring" discussion. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm pretty sure his girlfriend encourages it. In fact, I think half of those rigs are hers. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I believe that's the accident at the legal building day in Oslo from 3 or 4 years ago. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yes. 3 times. I played with the risers after each incident and eventually concluded that it was a problem with the riser construction (the white loop was too thick, and not slippery enough, although I am unsure as to what materials would be good/bad in this application). In those cases (2 different sets of risers, neither set made by a major manufacturer) I replaced the risers and the problem did not recur. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

His entire apartment is dedicated to parachutes. If you looked just to the left of that photo, I'd bet you'd see a sewing machine, or a rack to hang canopies, or both. And that's the living room. I'm tempted to go hang all my rigs on the rack in the garage and take a photo. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Jaap, that's a discussion to have in Speakers' Corner, not BASE. Bryan, sorry to hear you won't make the Turkey Boogie. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Dude, why not chuck BASE jumpers instead? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

We've had tons of kids. I'm wondering if I'm going to have to run to the store to get more candy. Maybe it's regional? We live in a conservative, rural community. I wonder if the old traditions hang on longer out here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com