TomAiello

I used to work with a lot of different VCR's. We'd see that kind of behavior when we took a tape from an older VCR onto a newer low-end commercial model. The new one had a feature that scanned the recording and just blanked it out if the VCR though it wasn't "good" enough (usually by reading the sync pulse, and refusing to play anything that was too fuzzy--it also made copy protection on tapes very effective, which may have been why it started being used). I'd guess that the problem is that you used an old VCR at the DZ, then brought it home to your new VCR. If you want to "fix" the tape for your home player, you might try running it through a sync generator to give it a good clean sync. Since you probably don't have one of those, you're going to be stuck either finding someone who does that kind of thing, or sending it to a commercial service that can "rescue" it--that ought to cost around 20 bucks. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What's a pop-up? Aren't those the annoying self-opening windows you used to have to deal with when you used Internet Explorer? Seemed pretty silly to me. Fortunately, now we have modern browsers, so we don't have to deal with them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A friend of mine was the BASE instructor at one of the world's busiest cliffs this summer. He took his iPod on virtually every jump (so, about 5 hours of hiking and three BASE jumps per day). I don't know if this meets your definition of "strenuous", but the iPod seemed to be doing just fine at the end of the summer. I've owned an original 5g iPod since about a week after they released them (coming up on three years now). It's got lots of "character", and is still going strong. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If they didn't there'd be no point in getting them, would there? The Smoking Man is making $20 pants that out-track them pretty consistently--but unless you fancy girls from Texas the plastic and duct tape look ain't gettin' ya' nowhere. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Heck, if it's free, why not? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In my (limited) skydiving experience, the most fun thing is flocking with other people. Since this usually entails a wide variety of different flying skills and suits, I would guess that you'll end up flying your S3 "dirty" to flock. Since the odds are that you'll be flying dirty a great deal of the time, I'd skip the deflector. Why spend the extra cash to get a maxed out suit, if you never max it out? Of course, if you are going to be going for record flights, or having fall rate or speed contests with your buddies, then I'd get it. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What kind of suit? Forgive my ignorance if the option is only available on one kind. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You might get lifted up by an aircraft, when it smacked you. Playing over the runway probably isn't the best idea. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

More importantly, he's a dead ringer for Angelina Jolie! Seriously, I did hear a rumor that he and Angelina had gotten a bit, uh, friendly, during the Tomb Raider filming... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You can reach all your handles (PC, cutaway, reserve) without cutting the wings away. You do have to unzip the arms to reach the toggles and fly normally. Some people, in some suits, are able to reach their risers to steer before freeing their arms. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Have a look at this one. I believe the lesson here was "be sure you can reach the handles." I understand the jumper was wearing gloves, and also that his handles had been sucked inside his (old style french) wingsuit. He occasionally posts here, so maybe he'll add his thoughts. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You say that like it's a bad thing. Scaring students straight is one of the best things you can do for them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's really only possible to generate reliable statistics for two sites--the legal span in the States and the organized big wall in Southern Norway. At those sites, there are reasonably reliable statistics about number of jumps made, and number of injuries and fatalities. Based on those statistics, it's quite a bit safer to jump that span than it is to jump the cliff, especially if you are a beginner. For BASE as a whole, it's quite a bit murkier. Just using anecdotal (i.e. how many jumpers have I known, and how many of them have gone in), I'd say that if you are a "jump until I die" kind of BASE jumper, you have about a 1 in 20 (5%) chance of dying on a jump at some point in your future. If you uses a wider "how many do I think there have been", and look at the fatalities page, I'd still put the number around 5%. But, since every jump is different, and jumpers risk tolerance vary widely, I'd say that it's pretty much impossible to draw general inferences about a generic BASE jump. The only real value in the statistics is to see what the causes of accidents are, and try to address them--or to use the statistics to dissuade over-eager students. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In (email) conversation between three experienced (800+ jumps) BASE jumpers: Be safe out there. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I skydive with an ankle brace on my previously broken ankle. My thinking is that even if it just transfers the load up and breaks my leg higher, at least it'll be a part that hasn't been broken before. When I BASE jump, I use every bit of padding and armor I can scrounge--I look a bit like a football player. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Continue to worry. I had exactly that happen to me. I was in the hospital for around three weeks, and in a body cast (shoulders to hips) for two months, from an injury that the doctor told me "if you hadn't been hurt before, you probably would have walked away from this one." Bottom line: Once you've been hurt, be extra, extra, extra careful not to get hurt again. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Of all the crazy things I've seen him do, helicopter jumps from 500 feet aren't even in the top 100. Ask him about car skiing in Mexico sometime... Seriously, the idea of jumping a skydiving rig from 1600 ft scares me waaaay more than jumping a properly configured BASE rig from 200 ft. The BASE rig is designed for jumps like that. The skydiving rig, on the other hand--you get the idea. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

BASE rigs do tend to open much harder than skydiving rigs. Unlike a skydiving rig, a BASE rig is re-rigged for different airspeed deployments on practically every jump. For example, I'd use a different pilot chute, slider (or lack thereof), and packing style for a go and throw, or a terminal cliff, or a wingsuit flight, or a five second delay. Modern BASE rigs can be used for virtually any airspeed, from zero to terminal. While there may be some "low speed only" gear under development, none of it has hit the market yet. For that terminal jump I used both indirect and direct slider control, a small PC (32"), and a slider (large hole mesh, since I was worried about going too low--if it was a higher deployment, I'd have used small hole mesh, or maybe even a sail slider). In other words, it's the rigging and packing that determine the speed of the opening, far more than the equipment itself. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I once exited an ultralight at 3000', and pulled around 300' (I was watching my altimeter fairly closely, and pulled just as it crossed 300). I was using a Prism (single canopy pin rig--in other words, a BASE rig), a FOX 265 with a large hole mesh slider, and 32" ZP, large hole mesh BASE pilot chute. I'd guess that I had around 15-20 seconds of canopy time. Oh, and I'm no longer welcome at the DZ on that airport. I hardly think that's fair, since I wasn't jumping their aircraft, and I didn't land in their landing area. I did log the jump in my skydiving log book, though. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Try emailing robert@bird-man.com. I know he has taught first jump courses at a span in Southern Europe. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A well executed McConkey should open somewhere around the same as a static line--perhaps a touch slower. A TARD ought to open faster than a static line (or virtually anything else aside from a kited exit). I'd guess that the limit for TARDs will be somewhere under 100'. Please don't try either of these things without instruction and supervision from someone who has experience with them. And do your first 20 or so from a nice, forgiving object (like a span with water underneath), or perhaps a balloon. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

On a BASE flight, I tend to think that's a bad idea. A deployment during a forward flight will take place in significantly less vertical distance (because the deployment happens largely behind, rather than above, the jumper). I'm in favor of saving the altitude. That said, if you watch videos of Loic, he tends to use the "ball up" deployment technique, and he's definitely one of the world's experts (the rest of them all use the Outrager/RobiBird full flight technique, to the best of my knowledge). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Have a look at the Smoking Man's web site. He's a heck of a nice guy, and if you're just using it for a personal tattoo I bet he wouldn't mind. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Nope. That looks like a follow up discussion. He actually posted a multiple paragraph discussion which was more a "how to". And I still can't find the darn thing. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Reality check! That would be horrible gear for pretty much anyone, beginner or otherwise. It's a BASE jump. Use real BASE gear. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com