TomAiello

Is this the same OLN show that was on a while back? Or a new one? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Nah. The correct quote is: "Anyone who can step off a chair and throw a handkerchief out of their pocket can make a BASE jump. -- Glenn Singlemann" -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Can you elaborate on what advantages? I primarily like the fact that it fills the bottom corners better on some rigs, and that it gets the "ears" out of the way of the bridle. I think Leroy's got a good point that if you close the top flap first, it could also help keep the nose in position. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's a good thing Jimmy is probably the least insecure person I've ever met, with everyone making comments like this about his wife... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I use that sometimes. Dennis McGlynn taught that method to a lot of people over the years, so I'm sure there are plenty of folks doing it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Not just you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

With all this comedy in the media, soon there will be comedy in the streets! Perhaps Senator Clinton can help stop the comedy epidemic before it spreads out of control, and the entire nation is shut down by paroxysms of laughter. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I knew a guy who had an accident (major trauma) that caused some kind of weird hormone imbalance (due, IIRC, to a damaged pituitary gland) and caused him to put on more than 100 pounds. I'm not sure if such a thing could happen genetically (rather than via trauma) but I'd assume it's possible. Not real common, but still, possible. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

CR did a packing video, but I don't know if it's still available for sale. For that matter, I don't believe the BR one is still for sale, either. You ought to be able to find copies of both of those floating around, though. I'm not sure who else has made one. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The Vertigo Packing Video is available in both PAL and NTSC. It also has far better scenery... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't think they're quite "in place". The non-stalled portion of the canopy (the side you're not pulling on the riser under) has more forward speed than the stalled side (the one you are pulling on) has backward speed. In order for the turn to happen in place, you'd have to equalize those two speeds (i.e. the vector going backward on one side would be equal to the vector going forward on the other). In reality, the forward speed is usually noticeably greater than the backward speed, so you end up moving forward overall, throughout the turn. I wonder if you could do a "partial riser stall turn" where you pull one riser down a lot (to move that side slowly backward) and the other down a little (to slow that side's forward movement) and achieve the "spin in place" you are talking about? And how much altitude that might consume? perhaps something to test out... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In my opinion, it's really that different. If I have clear air in front of me, I'll let the risers up and pop the toggles. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

[replyAfter a strike there isn't much you can do. I tried taking a large portion of the impact with my legs as evident by the huge disfiguring scar real close to where it broke. While I agree with the general sentiment (that after striking, you're often just along for the ride), I do think that in many strikes, the jumpers post-strike responses are very important. People who have experience with things like high speed cliff rappels and climbing falls are, in my relatively limited experience, far better able to deal with the "bouncing off" part of a cliff strike. The most important thing you can do, of course, is to keep fighting all the way to the ground. Nothing will kill you faster than giving up. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Why...? Or rather.... whats the advantage of this methodology over just using risers to turn yourself away from a 'non' imminent strike? To simplify: Toggle turns use more forward space. Riser turns use more altitude. When making avoidance decisions, be aware of what your biggest danger is. If it's hitting the object, generally, you'll want to sacrifice altitude to avoid object strike (hence, use the risers). If it's not, then the next danger coming up is the canopy flight to landing, so you'll want to use toggles to conserve altitude. This is pretty much the same reasoning that tells us to use risers to avoid strike _only until no longer facing the object_, and then switch to toggles. There's no need to turn the full 180 on risers (and you'll spend way too much altitude if you do so). You just want to use the risers to avoid the strike, then once strike is no longer an immediate danger, move to toggles. That wasn't very clear, was it? Sorry. I'll try to clean it up and explain better if you want. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I know that I prioritize SC last, so if I have limited time, I read the topical forums I moderate first, and if I run out of time, SC is the one that gets overlooked. This might contribute to it being so unruly, especially as I would suspect that others treat it this way too. But, it does mean that it rarely consumes time and energy that I could be spending on other forums. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

We still don't know. Two loads this morning, though. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hey, Dinner at my house, Thursday night, post jumping (so, earlier if there is wind, but around 8 or so if conditions are like they've been the last couple days). Anyone in town, please drop by. If you need directions, drop me a PM or email. Abbie, we'll drink some beer for you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Didn't Malthus think that we'd all starve to death sometime in the 1800's? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Sure. But I haven't found a good way to address this one yet. The problem is not generally with the pack jobs they do when I'm standing there. It's with the pack jobs after they leave. Of the folks I've seen having this problem, none had it when they were receiving instruction (or at least, if they did, they were able to correct it when it was explained). It was almost always something that developed after instruction, or something they developed on their own while self-instructing. Note that I've seen people who took courses from other people (not me), and used pin rigs in their courses (and presumably didn't have this issue during the course), who I later encountered, and observed to be doing this. Generally, it was something they started doing on their own, when they were gaining confidence in their pack job on later jumps, and hence going a bit faster. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

For safety, I'd recommend pins. For better track, I'd recommend a wingsuit style rig like a WS-Xtreme or Merlin. Because it's best designed for working with PF gear, I'd give the edge to the WS-Xtreme. I'll try to write more later, but I have to meet my class at the bridge in 10 minutes. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Re-importing posts relevant to this discussion: grundleson: i am not going to jump the base rig of anything stationary, rather, i am going to take my first base rig jump from a 3500 ft ultralight flight for a few rides and get my pack job down. then at that i am going to jump off a paraglider in open space with nothing to strike and learn the basics of packing a BASE rig. before i decide to make a REAL BASE jump. i was told the hardest part is the pack job, the jump is the easy part. KevinMcGuire: GaryP : JaapSuuter: TomAiello What Kevin said. And I'm a "velcro for beginners guy." GaryP: grundleson DexterBase: grundelson DexterBase cornishe: TomAiello: -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I separated this from the "Velcro or 2 pin" thread, as it's a different discussion. I'll now go back and try to reinsert the parts that are discussing the orginal topic. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What Kevin said. And I'm a "velcro for beginners guy." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Can you tell us why you've ruled out the Prism (1 pin rig)? Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'll be here when you get here, but I'll likely be gone by the weekend. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com