TomAiello

My mind totally leapt to the wrong conclusion when I read "Got my A!". Congratulations! Next time, grab the jumpmaster before he grabs you. Oh, yeah, have you ever had a license before? So, this would be your ____ skydiving license? What's that mean? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Um, I was mostly addressing your "what do you mean by levelling the field" comment. Sorry if you took it personally. It wasn't meant that way. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That's why I hope my mother/girlfriend/wife/daughter has access to a firearm when a reasonably big guy like yourself tries to rape/kill her. So that none of his size matters. Maybe that's not much of an argument to a big guy like yourself. But it sure matters to me that the people I care about be able to protect themselves from the bruisers of the world. Heck, one day you may find yourself injured, disabled, or just plain old. When that young, big guy wants to take your wallet then, I bet you'd rather have a firearm. It's not about leveling the playing field for people like you. It's about leveling the playing field with people like you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

See: http://www.ahapoetry.com/haiku.htm Particularly the first essay, "Haiku Techniques", by Jane Reichhold, for a discussion of the evolution of English Language Haiku beyond the static 5-7-5 model. In general, it has been accepted practice in English Language Haiku to diverge from the 5-7-5 model since the mid to late 1980's. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Some people would say you're not a skydiver until you know what uppers and downers (and maybe hallucinogens) do to the spot. "If you can't jump drunk and stoned, you shouldn't ought to be jumping at all." -- Muff Brother #1 Oh, before you flame me, that's a joke. I've made a total of one jump in my life with any kind of substance in my system, I'm unlikely to do it again, and I think it's a very bad idea. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What about someone who made lots of skydives years ago, but hasn't for a while? Still a skydiver? I've started discussions at skydivers parties before by saying that I wasn't really a skydiver. I'd guess that being a skydiver is either about: (a) Mentality--either you're a skydiver or not, depending on how you view life. Whether or not you've jumped from a plane is entirely secondary. or (b) Experience and Currency--you have to have a certain number of jumps, and jump at regular intervals. At the DZ I learned at, there was a feeling that you weren't a "real skydiver" unless you jumped every weekend, and made at least five jumps each day or so. Obviously, the DZO encourages this mentality, as it helps line his pockets. I'm big on choice (a) since it seems less elitist to me. But choice (b) probably encourages a higher quality of skydiver. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Not so. I am willing to pay the same price (risk to my own or my friends' life/health/safety) for my freedom to own a firearm as I am for my freedom to jump. The price (the risk, not the harm itself), is shared by us all. I do think it's interesting that pretty much all the pro-gun people in this discussion have been Americans, and all the pro-control people have been from countries with gun control. I wonder how it would shake out if we make it another risk v. reward freedom topic? Drugs? Sex? Would the Americans be more pro-freedom in all categories, or is it really just dependent on which freedom is more acceptable to a particular national ethos? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You're probably right. I've had several long discussions on the BASE board, as well as with Morpheus (the Troll dealer in the U.S.), and several of Atair's original Troll test jumpers. I was just hoping that I could find some new insight here, when someone mentioned that they had good experiences with the canopy. Maybe I'll try to give Dan a call. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Do you jump a Troll? I've got 63 jumps on mine now, and it gives me the worst slider down openings I've had since I Vteced my FOX. Do you have any advice on getting better openings from it? I love the way it flies and lands, but the 15 seconds after opening are the real critical safety window, and I've had quite poor performance form it there. Can you help me? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I am willing to pay a large price for a large freedom. It's the same decision I make when I jump. I experience extreme freedom at very high potential cost (death). Why would I make the decision for freedom in one area of my life, and opt for safety and comfort at the cost of freedom in another? Those who give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. - Benjamin Franklin -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Danger! Jumping a BASE canopy with limited or no crossports would be potentially fatal. A BASE canopy intentionally designed in such a way would be a DEATH MACHINE. If you have one like that, send it back to the manufacturer right now--it was made incorrectly. Crossporting is critical to BASE openings. All purpose built BASE canopies have triple crossports (more than most skydiving canopies), some even have additional "triplet" crossports, which, in my opinion, promote faster and cleaner openings. The multi-staged Cobalt opening is (I believe) intended to slow the opening in case of high speed (i.e. head-down) deployment. Slow openings are not desireable in the BASE environment. Sorry if I sound like a condescending ass here, but seriously, if you've seen a BASE canopy without crossporting, it had to be a manufacturing error. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's also illegal to own firearms in Northern Ireland. How are their shooting fatality statistics? It's illegal for private citizens in the Palestinian Authority to own firearms. Seems to be working there, as well. Perhaps America suffers from an overabundance of freedom (of all kinds). But, to quote Jefferson "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." Skydiving claims innocent lives every year--perhaps we ought to ban that as well. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

How often do you recommend doing that? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Freefall computer and audible altimeter. It records your freefall speed and time, and also beeps in your ear when the earth is getting too close. They're great. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

My personal training progression went something like this: April 25: Tandem May 1 (Sat): S/L class, 1st S/L jump May 2 (Sun): More Class, 2nd S/L May 3 (Mon): 8 FF jumps, progressing to full height May 14: A License exam June 10: B License exam July 15: C License exam August 23: D License exam I made just over 250 skydives between May 1 and Sep 1 that year. If you really want to do it, and have the cash flow to support it (and a busy enough DZ), it's pretty easy, actually. The major issues are cash and time, and I had the lucky coincidence to have both at the same time. But, I was pretty much at the DZ 5 days each week (and long days on weekends). As an interesting postscript, I made my first BASE jump (which had been my real goal in all that) on September 1st that year, and in the subsequent two and a half years, I've only made around 100 skydives (550 BASE jumps, though). My advice (which you can promptly ignore) is not to set those kind of numerical goals for yourself until you've made the first few jumps. It just might not feel right to you, or you might be too exhausted or stressed to continue. If that happens, take a break. The DZ will still be there next weekend. Have fun starting your adventure! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Score! I'd love to get diagnosed with ADHD. Free lifetime supply of prescription amphetamines! If you don't want them, I know several people who will happily purchase them! Those things are super handy for all night drives, third night of the boogie parties, and long hikes to wilderness exit points. Plus, if you are still in that part of life where you have to take standardized tests, you can get extra time. Nice! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That is the most useful piece of information I've seen in this thread. I'm pretty sure that the canopy design is far more important than the size, or even the material (F111 or ZP). I typically jump canopies loaded around .6-.75. I'm pretty sure that if I could get high performance canopy at that loading, it'd still fly a whole lot faster and "swoopier" than my canopies. The design of the wing is a very important factor that seems to be getting overlooked in a whole lot of discussions about canopy progressions. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Do you really jump a sorceror? I'd be curious to ask you some questions about it. Can you drop me an email or PM? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Tell them their practicing for BASE jumping. All the young jumpers seem to think it's cool to BASE jump, and we load our canopies at .65-.75. And as we gain experience, we size UP, not DOWN. I started on a 265, and now I'm up to 290's and 310's. Seriously, the "tiny canopy" mentality gets lots of people hurt when they start BASE jumping. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Quit my job May 1st to go jumping for a year, so I have Friday off, as well as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... It's always a holiday somewhere! Sorry, I just couldn't resist. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

BASE rigs are manufactured with three rings because there have been several BASE fatalities (offhand, I'd estimate five or so) related to drowning. Jumpers landed in water and could not cut away canopies. It's also handy to be able to cut away in a "jump and run" situation, or when hung up in a tree/lamppost/etc. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I am aware of two cases within the past year similar to this one: http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/board/3920.html Basically, the problem is one riser releasing on opening for no apparent reason. When reviewed, the gear appears to be correctly manufactured and assembled. Has anyone seen a malfunction like this? Does anyone know what can cause it? This is an extremely worrisome problem, as it is creating high speed malfunctions in a no-reserve environment. Can anyone help me out here? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Two things: First: It's never really that simple. My motivations are complex. I don't actually, skydive much at all (last skydive was, let's see, June 12, 2001). I do, however do a fair bit of that fixed object parachuting stuff. And my reasons for doing that are, well, complex (it'd be a much bigger discussion, and one I'm not really willing to have on-line). Second: The way to meet/hang out/party with the people who do something is to do that thing. Imagine if I, a total whuffo, tried to join in at a DZ party. Kind of weird. So, I do it because that's the way to find the people I'm interested in. Also, because guys relate better to people they do things with, generally (girls tend to relate better to people they talk with, in my over-generalized opinion). But right now I'm riding that line where I can still roll into DZ's, boogies, etc, and hang out. I can talk the talk, at least, even if I haven't made an actual skydive in over a year. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Condolences. I had a very similar fracture on May 16th, and I'm already walking. I expect to be jumping sometime next month. I bet you'll make it before two months. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

When I first started BASE jumping, my instructor, who at age 19 had 260 BASE jumps (remember sneaking out of your parent's house for keggers? this guy snuck out to jump the Sydney Harbour Bridge), shared this wisdom with me: "BASE," he said "is like Heroine. It's dangerous, it's illegal, and it's addictive. Worse yet, the more you do, the more you need to do to get the same high. And the purer it has to be." Generally (ok, except the bit about illegality, and to a lesser extent danger), that applies to skydiving, too. I got into such a plunging cycle of addiction that I needed to BASE jump (no joke) 20 times in a week (sometimes I still do, but that's another story). Worse, the jumps had to be more extreme, more dangerous, more plain "out there" to get the same rush. It got so bad that 175 ft freefalls weren't getting me back to the feeling I had on my first tandem skydive. I realized that something was totally wrong when, one day, while tracking down a 3000' wall near my home (yes, that famous one in Northern California), I realized that I had that bored malaise--right then, in the middle of the freefall. Here's what pulled me out, and saved me: The People. I'm now at least as interested in the fascinating, unique, worthwhile people I jump with as I am in the jumps. Jump went poorly? No rush? No problem. For me, it's all about who I'm doing it with. I've found that jumping is worthwhile just for the people you do it with. Now, I'm more interested in the conversation/party/people than in most of the jumps. The people who are drawn to jump are SO much more interesting than the majority of people I meet. Even better, when the weather, wallet or winds don't cooperate, the people are still there. I can sit and talk (on line, via telephone or in person) any time. My advice: to bring back the feel good stuff, focus on the people, not the jumps. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com