TomAiello

Also Beyond Extreme, available in the US from Apex-Perris, has a ton of Dwain footage. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In 1990 (for example) doing 200 skydives meant, at a minimum, spending a year or so heading to the DZ every weekend, hanging out and talking to (and learning from) people, seeing things happen, and potentially having some things happen to you (since the gear was less reliable). Today, you could crank out your 200 skydives in a month, given appropriate funding (if you could just camp at Eloy for a month, for example). I'm not sure this would give you the same kind of perspective that you'd get from that year back in 1990. But I agree that what you do on the skydives is far more important than how many of them you make. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Does anyone know what the GPS with the smallest track interval available is? Or what the minimum track intervals are for the various GPS units on the market? If you could find something that could record in very small intervals (10ths or 100ths of a second, I'd think) you could do some interesting stuff with openings. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Can you elaborate? Are you talking about creating a loop under the knot? To clarify, the knot method doesn't tie the toggle to the line at all. You tie a knot in the line itself, then use this knot to backstop a loop of line that you run around the toggle. I feel like there must be some old school "tie the toggle to the line" knots running around, and that's not what I'm talking about here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Huh? The ease of switching is the number 1 reason I went with the knot method. Maybe we're using different knot methods. Remind me to show you the one I use when you're out here. It's far easier than switching with a sewn loop. It also has zero possibility for the knot slipping into the keeper ring. Can you explain how this could happen? edit to add: I've got two rigs on loops and two on knots right now, and I far prefer the knots. Whenever I get the lower control lines replaced on the ones with loops, I'll definitely just leave the line long. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If they are going to set a minimum, they have to just pick something. Remember that they are in the business of making money (as well as BASE gear), so the more stringent the requirements, the less money they make. If they make so little money that they go out of business, we all lose, since they no longer provide instruction (or gear) at all. When I originally started into BASE, I was told 200 jumps (not 150). I believe that the 150 was the BR number, and 200 was the CR number (if I recall correctly other manufacturers had set different numbers). As I recall the 200 was set as "D license or equivalent", so the 200 really came from the USPA requirements. I totally agree with you about the mindset being the important thing. In my view, the "teens" theory fits really well. You need to go through your "teens" doing something else (preferably something safer), so that when you get to BASE, you've already had that (life threatening) stage. I think the current problem is that 200 skydives has moved from being "post-teen" to being "teen", with the current state of skydiving. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I had more thought of the toggle as sliding down to the knot. But I agree that "sliding knot" is a poor description. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yes, if I understand you correctly. I tie a knot into the line, then use that knot as a "backstop" to loop the line around the toggle. I'm 99% sure this is the same system you use, as you are where I originally got it from. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I really prefer using the sliding knot option. Sewing loops in the end of the lines limits your options too much, in my opinion. Advantages of the sliding knot (when compared with sewn loops): 1) Easier to attach and remove toggles (honestly, this is the biggest one for me). 2) Much easier to change toggle setting (either for slider up/down or to try different toggle positions for flight/flare) I've seen too many people with obviously incorrect toggle settings sewn into their lines, who just couldn't be bothered to go get them changed. With a sliding knot, this can be changed in 30 seconds while packing, allowing for infinite adjustability on the fly. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Dynamic corners and specific rigs: Dynamic corners are best used when they have been designed as a feature of the rig from the beginning. For example, I had a Prism 1 that I had dynamic corners installed in, and I eventually removed them because it was nearly impossible to get the container to close properly. I understand that they have been designed into the Prism 2, however (a 1 pin rig). The manner in which the container is closed (and direction the flaps are pulled) is going to determine how well the container closes with a dynamic corner. Not all containers/closures are going to be well suited to dynamic corners. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Dynamic corners and velcro: If the bottom flap slips out (remember, it's just held in place by a 2x2 (or smaller, in some cases or when poorly closed) piece of velcro), the BOC will flop down against your legs and be covered by the flap. This could lead to a situation in which it is impossible to reach the PC at all. See Dwain's post in this thread, reproduced below: -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Remember that you don't need to jump, even if you've travelled a long way to be here. And you certainly don't have to make any particular jump. If it looks too windy, it probably is. Better to stay on the ground than hurt yourself. In wind, take the upper landing area. Stay in the middle of that area. Both of which mean, take a shorter delay, don't use a slider, and give yourself time to set up the landing. Have a boat in the water (Don will be on hand), and don't be afraid to take the water out if things look squirrelly. Under no circumstances make a panic turn. It's better to land downwind and break your leg than toggle yourself in and die. And remember that drinking beer is always a good option. The Outback has happy hour all day for BASE jumpers (2nd drink is a penny), so if it's windy, there's always party options. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Can you clarify? By "2 different line settings" do you mean two different brake settings or two different toggle positions? If the only thing you need to change is the toggle position, and everything from the brake setting on up is correct you ought to be able to adjust the brake setting and just re-stow the excess. If you have to change the brake setting as well, I'd definitely pull it out to line stretch. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If they are found not guilty, I believe the law should treat them as innocent. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Are you talking about the brake setting or the toggle position? As Tim said, take it out, pull it to line stretch, correct it, then re-stow the lines. If you are in any doubt at all, I'd recommend just repacking the whole business. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Honestly, I think it's going to depend on how you define "some" and "lots" of experience. I'd prefer to see people do a structured skydiving progression including CRW, tracking, rigging, accuracy, and more CRW, preferably all on their intended BASE canopy. If someone had done something like this, it took them 100 jumps, but that was all the skydives they'd ever made, I'd feel more confortable with them than I would with someone who had 1000 skydives of which 50 were big F-111 7 cells, with no particular set of skills or learning progression. I guess what I'm saying is that in this, as in many things, the quality of those jumps is going to be at least as important as the quantity. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've found that the memorial videos are usually better "wake up calls" than the actual death videos. It hits home a lot harder if you see the person's whole life, their family, the people who loved them, etc. If you just watch the carnage, it's too easy to see it as a "video game" and disconnect it from reality. The point of showing the footage ought to be to get people to connect the reality of the sport with the reality of their life, and understand that the consequences are real, and can really affect them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Some disclaimers: 1) I know next to nothing about canopies as small as the 106 under discussion here. What I've learned from larger canopies may be applicable, but it may not. 2) I'm not an expert on skydiving. Skydiving and BASE canopies vary quite a bit in lots of particulars (in this case, BASE canopies are made to open quickly, where the skydiving reserves in question may not have this as such a prominent design criteria). 3) While I'm fairly confident that this all applies to slider-up (i.e. using a slider to reef deployment) BASE canopies, my knowledge is primarily based on slider down deployment observations. The observed differences in slider up canopies are much less consistent. 4) If you are talking about a very subterminal slider up deployment, the variations in individual deployments are likely to be so great that individual deployments are barely indicative of average opening speed. Why? My observation has been that, all else equal (i.e. same canopy design, same jumper, same conditions), smaller canopies will open faster. I believe there are several reasons for this: 1) Less fabric in the canopy means less time to "unfold" the pack job. 2) Less internal airspace in the canopy means less time to full pressurization, assuming air inflow occurs at roughly the same rate. 3) Shorter lines means less delay between container opening and line stretch (hence the start of bottom skin expansion as a precursor to cell inflation). On separate, but related issues: 1) Canopies with higher wingloadings will tend to open slightly faster than canopies with lower wingloadings. This effect is not nearly so great as the pure size difference in the canopy, though. 2) Canopies need time to decelerate the load (i.e. jumper). This means that a lighter jumper will reach full deceleration (and full canopy controllability) sooner. This is because a heavier jumper will still be decelerating when the lighter jumper has finished. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What's your priority? Max time jumping? Cheap? Getting to heli-boogie and Italian Terminal Wall on the same trip? Best jumping trip? If you've got the cash, you'll do more jumping by flying everywhere and then renting a car. But there are lots of other options. If you are flying direct to Stavanger, you'll almost certainly go through Amsterdam, so be sure to schedule a stopover there if you want to see the local sites. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I had just meant by total number of jumps. If you are talking about total number of objects jumped, or what each jumpers majority of jumps are, or anything else, then there are going to be different things you observe. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I like Oziexplorer, but there are lots of GPS software packages around. I think that one of the jump log software makers even has a GPS download package in beta--check the threads in this forum. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The rest of us would love to hear the answer, too.

Hey, cool. Thanks for letting us know! Now if one of them was just a bit closer than the 8 hour drive to Vegas... Check my sig line quote... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I surveyed a sample of jumpers, and their logbooks. My samples aren't really large enough to be super convincing, but of the ones I've been able to catalog, it's actually more like 75% coming back legal. I think the big thing that people overlook is that folks will make 10 jumps in a day off legal stuff, but only 1 or 2 off of illegal sites. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

[replyMaybe if you take the entire world into account... Re-read what I wrote, particularly this bit (emphasis added{: -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com