TomAiello

None of the gear is really designed for freefall deployment below around 200 ft (say 65m). If you are going lower than that, be sure you know what you're getting into before you do it. That said, the major problems that pin rigs experience hand held all occur with delays. Bridle flap at deep delays can extract pins, or a pin popped by over-vigorous exit will come loose and begin an out of sequence deployment. If you are hand held and do a go and throw (zero delay), you shouldn't have any problems with most pin rigs. In this situation, a pin rig will generally open faster than a fully sealed velcro rig. If you want more info on ultra-low freefall techniques, PM or email me. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

We're done here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've got to call you on that. The ACLU has a very poor track record defending "Politically Incorrect" speech, and has even filed several briefs supporting government action restricting speech, particularly related to conservative speech on university campuses and conservative political demonstrations. The ACLU used to support free speech. I lost faith in them several years ago, and they have done little or nothing to win back my support. Check out the Institute for Justice web site. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hmmm. I think the problem must have been when I shrunk the photos (the original images exceeded the upload quota). I'm using IE 5.2.2 on Mac OS X.2. I used Photoshop 7.0 to do the reduction. Give me a minute and I'll try again. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

And such suppression of important information is clearly a criminal violation, and further proof of the corrupt, crime riddled state that the Finns have sunk to. If the one Finn I know (a BASE jumper who eats light bulbs for fun) is any example, then Finland really is the world's largest den of corruption and debauchery. Too late! Begin panicking immediately! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Public Answer: The risk is very great, and no one, ever, ought to do that. Both of the people who did that had over 600 BASE jumps, and significant McConkey experience. One of them actually finished McConkey BASE (meaning, that maniac has also launched McConkeys off of a Building, and Antenna and a Span) with the Cave (Earth) McConkey. If you really want a discussion of specifics, PM or email me. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

To make a link clickable, put [_url_] before it, and [_/url_] after it. Remove the _, I just put it in so that you could see what was there. Click "Get Markup Help" just above the posting box for a complete guide. Flare's Reserve Ride. And to think, the last time I saw him, he cautioned me to be careful. Crazy Swedes! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I have just posted several photos from the 2002 Norwegian Cave BASE expedition. Cave McConkey Horny Gorilla Gainer Flat and Stable Front Loop Two Way Linked Enjoy! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I have just posted several photos from the 2002 Norwegian Cave BASE expedition. Cave McConkey Horny Gorilla Gainer Flat and Stable Front Loop Two Way Linked Enjoy! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

But Lisa, I've always wanted to know where "mouth" came from. Care to enlighten me? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hmmm. I'm not sure I accept it. I'm trying to tolerate it. Sometimes I like it. Sometimes, it just scares the bejeezus out of me, though. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Man, I am so with you. It's almost down to fifty degrees here. Talk about sub-arctic chill. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Used FOX's and Mojos are serviceable, and can generally be had pretty cheap because the new models have reduced their resale value (and put more on the market as people trade up). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You might want to post this to a topical forum, or to BLiNC. But the short answer is, no. The FOX is the last generation (Mojo/FOX) technology. Basic Research (manufacturer of the FOX) now has a new canopy called the Flik. CR's latest generation is the Ace and Blackjack. FOX's are still good workhorse canopies (tough, reliable), but for cutting edge BASE I'd prefer one of the next generation canopies. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This was a fairly interesting thread before it began to devolve into a discussion/gripe session/rant about rules. We do have rules here. If you don't like the rules, I suggest you PM sangiro, or post to Suggestions and Feedback with your ideas for changes. Sangiro is the rule maker on this site. If he wishes to change the nature of the rules, that is his decision. If you don't wish to abide by his rules, no one is making you post here. Might I suggest that your views on rules in general would be better aired in the Talk Back Forum than this topical forum. Thanks for starting an interesting discussion. If you want to continue a discussion about a BASE topic such as Low Pulls, feel free to start another thread. Let's try to keep the discussions here on topic. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't really know. Rumor is that Loic had some marketing/business type troubles with Parasport Italia, but that's just rumor. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't know the actual numbers (I've never been to that site, myself). I remember Lukas saying he though he was over 1000' when he crossed the river, and he was a very safe (i.e. conservative) jumper, so I bet he was over 500' when he pulled. I know that minute flights are happening off that cliff, so I'd guess the total exit to landing altitude somewhere between 5000' and 6000'. As I said, though, I've never been there, so I could be way off base (pun intended) on that. If you want to know for sure, I bet there are several people on headdown.net that know the site very well. If i had to ask someone, I'd start with Flare (who was the guy standing just behind Lukas in the video) or cpoxon (you could PM him on DZ.com), who posted the video. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This is a trend that many experienced BASE jumpers find very disturbing. Freefliers tend to be the skydivers who are worst prepared to BASE jump (minimal flat flying skills, no "flat is safe" reflex, little or no 7 cell experience, tendency toward swooping canopies [which are as different from BASE canopies as Pargliders]). There have been several funny/scary incidents involving master freeflyers trying to get into BASE (one swoop god broke his leg twice in his first ten jumps, trying to land a BASE canopy in a huge landing area, and the master of Freefly (TM) reportedly failed to make one stable exit in his two week stay in Norway [even though he brought along a camera crew to shoot footage for his video]). There are definitely some freeflyers (especially the older ones) who are fantastic BASE jumpers. But if I had to pick a 200 jump skydiver to take up BASE, I'd take a CRW jumper first, an Accuracy jumper second, an RW jumper third, a Style jumper fourth... You get the idea. The only people who seem worse prepared for BASE than freeflyers are canopy swoopers, and most of them were freeflyers to begin with. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The JJ mod is pretty new (JJ developed it after those writings). It basically involves extra stiffeners in the side flaps (to eliminate the hourglassing), and wider top and bottom flaps (to eliminate the canopy slop). As far as I know, there are only about five JJ mod Prisms in existence (JJ has the original, and the Norgies have some team rigs). Todd is resisting making them, since they involve more work for him. I think we all ought to gang up on him and pressure him into making them standard. I'd pay at least $100 more for the JJ mods (probably more like $150 if it became a price negotiation). Now, all the Prism needs is dynamic corners, and it will take back it's position at the head of my personal list from the Gargoyle. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Go to the skydivingmovies.com ftp server and have a look at the clip entitled FastestMotherFuckerInTheValley.WMV. Link to the thread referring to it (see posting by cpoxon). Estimates of forward speed on that flight were 200-250km/h (that's over 120mph). If you still don't get the impression of great speed, I can't help you. Blue Skies, Cold Steel. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The Crossbow is the "French" wingsuit. Designed by Loic, marketed by Parasport Italia. I don't think you can buy them new anymore, at least not without having a personal connection with the French guys who are flying them. The Crossbow is generally more stable, and easier to fly than the Birdman suits, but suffers from a bit lower quality construction. Because it has bigger wings, it gets flying a bit sooner (a huge plus for fixed object flights--especially for the heavies) and takes a little less skill/practice to fly well. It has about the same glide angle as a GTi (not quite as good as a Skyflyer, better than a Classic), but tends to move slower (less forward speed, more float) than a comparable Birdman suit. The wing cutaway system is quite outstanding (one handle, dead center on the chest, cuts it all away, and it takes about one minute to hook it back up). Notably video you may have seen of Crossbows includes: Some of the "Crosswind" footage. Flare getting his handles sucked into the suit, struggling to get them out, and finally getting his reserve open for a four second canopy ride (that was the scariest skydiving video I've ever seen--does anyone have the link? I think it's somewhere on headdown.net). The Little Aussie flying between the guy wires of a television tower in Texas. I kind of wish they were still marketing it. Competition spurs innovation and advance in any field. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If you have a fairy giving you 180's every night, I've got just one piece of advice: Don't start BASE jumping! Ok, that was a lame attempt at humor--but it was funny to me. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A few links to BLiNC on that topic: The CR article that Mick referenced, made clicky. And a couple of different threads on 1 v. 2 pin rigs from the BLiNC technical archives (definitely the best internet resource for this kind of information). http://www.blincmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=179&forum=DCForumID17 http://www.blincmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=49&forum=DCForumID17 One other random thought. If you end up buying a Prism (single pin rig from BR), be sure to get the "JJ" modifications. The JJ mod is a far superior version of the rig (it eliminates the canopy slop and hourglassing of the standard Prism), and I wish BR would make it the standard, and discontinue the old (sub-)standard Prism. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I still think what I said before: It is no longer a BASE jump when you don't need a parachute to avoid injury. Over water, I think we've already reached the limit. We can get low enough that a parachute becomes unnecessary. Over hard earth? We've still got a long way to go... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Dude, I didn't mean to snub you. I hope you didn't take it that way. Congrats on the jump. Be careful going that low on those funky two parachute systems. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com