TomAiello

I have seen a similar study (perhaps the same one?) from the US military. The conclusions were not quite the same as you've stated. Still, the difference between a canopy packed 3 months and one packed three years was negligible. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That'd be worth it, just for the company. 416 and 283 are a couple of my favorite guys. I've never had the good fortune to be in the same place with both of them at the same time. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I agree with you. However, there are a number of jumpers who disagree with both you and I on this issue. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that you don't know, unless you _really know_. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Not if you own BR gear. Remember, BR uses one brake setting on all their canopies, and their manual says not to customize the brake settings. I assume that's also what they teach their students. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'd never bring fists to a gunfight. It's not specifically covered by forum rules, but I'm not going to allow physical threats, with or without smilies. Either of you do that again, any you'll get to stop posting in this forum for a while. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

99% of the time, when someone says "obviously", it just ain't so. Usually, people say something is "obvious" or "everyone knows" so that they don't have to actually think through something. Can you clarify why this bit of logic is "obvious"? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'd first want to have some more confirmation than the one agent's investigation. I think we've learned that from the business at Waco, Texas. I'd then want to see if there was an easier way to arrest the leader without (a) a big conflagration and possible loss of life, and (b) a media circus. If the leader was given to taking trips into town for supplies (or perhaps to make a few jumps in Eloy), then I'd nab him there, and avoid the conflict. It would probably occur to the FBI to do this as well, since they've doubtless learned from the PR nightmare after Waco that less is more. Somehow I doubt that your final supposition (i.e. they arrive and are fired upon) would actually happen. It seems a bit unfair to suggest that it would and ask us to respond to a hypothetical so contrived. I'd suggest that they, in fact, _not_ arrive, and therefore not be fired upon. I'd also like to establish the citizenship of the folks in question. If they are US citizens, I'd tend toward a more cautious approach. If they were foreign nationals, this actually looks like a pretty clear invasion force, in which case the "glass parking lot" probably isn't such a bad idea. A foreign military encampment made without permission within US borders is, in my opinion, a de facto declaration of war. If that's the case, "shoot first and ask questions later" might be the right course of action. Isn't Arizona just one step removed from a glass parking lot anyway? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Troll! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've used 42" PC's for both slider down and slider up delays. In fact, I usually use a 42" for all my jumps off this little bridge here, slider up or slider down. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The Rock Dragon is reportedly a "low and slow" type canopy. Vented, made to sink into bad landing areas and flare hard for soft landings on broken ground. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Try PMing Kmonster. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The last big question was who would get 666. Rick and Joy kept things pretty under cover until after the number was awarded. I'd imagine they'll do the same this time around. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

When I started jumping, my goal was to get a number under 1000. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Tom must be shaking his head at the youngsters right now... The WAD was an early (perhaps the original?) unpacked jump. I've been told that WAD stands for Wild Ass Deployment. I've seen video of WADs being done at Bridge Day in the way back, and once read a long description that one of those folks had posted on line. I'm pretty sure that Tom was doing WAD's years before anybody made up the name TARD. A WAD is basically a "packed" TARD. The canopy is actually folded carefully, the lines are stowed, etc. It's a lot more careful than a TARD, and hence has significantly better openings that are perhaps a tad slower. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'd go with a Raven. Easy to come by, fairly cheap, but solidly built and reliable. My experience with Cruiselites (I own 2) has been similar to Ray's, but I'm an even bigger fatass than he is. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I was working the landing area at the time, and got to see it up close and personal. Veeeerrrry ugly. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'd guess that some kind of unpacked opening would be far better than a packed opening. But, my experience with those kinds of canopies is basically nil. Note that the jump I referred to above, which resulted in a large tear down the canopy was a VX McConkey'd off the Potato State span. The lines on those canopies are apparently short enough that they can't hang below the steel, even at the center of the bridge. This one apparently opened off-heading and caught the steel, resulting in a split second hang up, then tearing free. Considering the other possibilities in that situation (hang up all day, tear the canopy so badly it can't fly, and plummet into the water), I'd say he got off cheap. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In 2002 Marvin jumped a similar canopy, using a 42" PC in a javelin reserve freebag (in the main container). He ended up losing the freebag (it wrapped the lower steel), but the system worked well. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Kevin, what altitudes are we talking about here? I've seen noticeable hesitations on go and throw deployments with unprimed pins (heck, I've seen them with primed pins, too), when the PC didn't immediately extract a tight pin. Under 200', you can bet I'll prime the pins--and switch to spectra loops, and tweak the container, and even do a voodoo chicken fast-opening dance just before exit. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That's a very bad idea, unless (a) you're willing to take big risks, and (b) you really know what you're doing both with BASE and the high performance canopy. I've seen several near misses result from these attempts (as well as a few very cool jumps), and also a VX with a big tear down the middle. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The last BASE jumper in Birmingham (that's me!) left the lights on on the way out. The ATL crew can clue you in to the 'vators. I'll drop you a PM on some other stuff I found there. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hmmm. I do this as standard practice on every pack job. It hadn't really occurred to me that perhaps some people do not. Gabriel, do you know if this practice was part of the packing of the rig in question here? I could easily see how twists could build up over time (you see it in skydiving canopies, if people don't untwist the lines). If they weren't straightened out, and greatly increase the potential for this kind of malfunction. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Sure. I am not in the design/manufacture loop for Trolls, so I don't know about changes in the design. Mine was fairly early, though, so it could easily have been one of the earlier (smaller crossport) ones. As I said, since the installation of the MDV, I'm quite pleased with the canopy. I think Stane is very knowledgable on canopy design. BTW, what kind of delays have you taken with your unvented Troll? The problems seem to have gotten worse for me as the delays got shorter. Every BASE canopy on the market gets continuously revised throughout it's lifetime, as feedback comes in from the field. Usually, the manufacturers don't publicize the changes (I'm not sure exactly why, but I'd imagine that's a marketing decision). Bottom line: The unvented Troll that I reviewed was just that--the particular unvented Troll I reviewed. Other Trolls may behave differently (as any two Mojo's, FOXes, Flik's, etc may be different from each other). The best we can do is gather as much data as possible to generalize about canopies. In the end, being hand made and continuously developing, BASE canopies are going to be fairly unique animals. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I really think it's about what your basis for comparison. BPS and I did a 3 way with a German jumper from the Italian terminal wall about a year and a half ago. BPS and I were both thinking "wow, my (Tom's) opening really snivelled," and the German jumper commented "we all had really hard openings!" The German and I were both jumping (pre MDV) Trolls. BPS was jumping an Ace (if I recall correctly). I think the Troll does open soft. Slow and soft are not necessarily the same thing (nor does hard = fast always), but in the case of the pre-MDV Troll I think that the canopy was both slow and soft. I've also never found the Ace to open particularly hard. In fact, I've found the slider up openings very soft--but that may be partly due to the fact that I'm accustomed to vented openings. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Soft is not necessarily good. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com