base311

Depends from where you jump... The only time I make a distinction about an object is when logging it. There's basically three sections dealing with the object: B__A__S__E__O__

cool, thanks as yet undecided.... I'll surf blinc and see what I can dig up. I really should have posted this over there. chalk it up to brainfart. gardner

Hey, Anybody have any numbers (or hell I'd even be interested in pure supposition) on how much a canopy's glide performance would be increased by removing the PC and bridle? Scenario: Got an object with 3 possible LZs and only trees for outs. LZ 1 calculated necessary glide ratio (without counting turns - in other words straight from exit point to lz) is 1.86:1, LZ2 ratio is 2.05:1 and LZ3 is 2.36:1. These numbers DO already account for a conservative necessary opening distance (150' to allow for a fully open and pressurized flying canopy corrected to LZ heading), and the remaining calculations are conservative estimates based on solid altitude measurements. If one removes the PC (and let's just say for the sake of convention the PC being removed is a non-vented zp 42") and bridle, how much do you THINK (know) that the glide performance would be increased?? I mean are we talking 100ths place behind the decimal? or could we see a tenth of a point increase? two tenths? Math wizzes? Jumping a mojo loaded @ ~.75:1 It's one of those situations where 'more than likely you're probably gonna live,' but I'm now curious about the PC removed scenario and don't have any answers. BTW, the LZs are not visible from the exit point - everything just appears to be a sea of trees. thanks, Gardner

babelfish translation - not so good, but gets the point across: ___begin___ Base-jump: a 36 year old French kills himself in Oberland bernois LAUTERBRUNNEN - a 36 years old French killed Monday as a practitioner base-base-jumping in Oberland bernois. Its parachute initially opened correctly, before carrying out a rotation of 180 degrees and projecting the man against the rock face. [ ATS ] - It then fell in the vacuum, specified the cantonal police force bernoise. At the beginning of June, two other followers of this extreme sport had been seriously wounded at the time of a jump close to Lauterbrunnen (BE). The "base jump" is a form of parachuting which consists in jumping into space since a building, an antenna, a bridge or a cliff. This sport at the risk was born in the United States. ___end___ Condolences to the jumper's friends and family. bsbd, Gardner

You need to read about The Pact If he was a BASE jumper when he met you, he'll still be a BASE jumper when you're gone. There is a common misconception that just because it's a bridge, it's a safer BASE jump. Under the right circumstances, a tower can be every bit as safe (if not safer) than a bridge. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that just because it's a bridge does not necessarily mean it's a safer BASE jump, and I do include The Bridge in that statement. bsbd, Gardner

1. Start now. 2. Try to get your rig together right away and skydive the canopy (setup just as you would for a skydive) you plan to use a few times to dial in your ldgs. It's not a terribly small lz (unless the water is up), but it can be ominous, especially when coupled with the other concerns. 3. Attend the first jump seminars put on by the BD staff. They provide this service freely - take it. 4. Practice head-high exits into the pool. You should hit the water knees, waist, chest, arms, head. 5. Be ready the night before; do not go to bed without having all of your shit together - the day starts early, and you'll be out all day: plan for taking only what you need, but all that you'll need. As other's have said, try to get some sleep; afterall, you can party like a rockstar on Sat. night after BD when everyone else does. 6. Of course you're going to be watching other jumpers while you're waiting in line, but try to watch for errors in exit body position that result in head-down attitude at deployment time. This is the single most common mistake of the 1st time jumper. 7. Keep informed of the current wind conditions while in line; make a mental note of canopy flight paths that appear to be working well for others and consider mimicking them. Develop your own flight plan before you're standing at the exit point. Consider your delay. 876' is a lot of altitude for a BASE jump, but remember that you need some altitude to make the landing. Much more than 4.5 seconds of delay and you're gonna end up out of altitude to make the lz. Consider where you'll take your outs should you have a problem. Wear a hooknife. If you get in line twists and end up way off to one side or the other before clearing them, maybe consider the rr tracks, but don't hook it into the tracks - a steady, straight-in approach works fine. IF you have an off-heading opening, please immediately correct your heading. If you fly under the bridge, everybody has to wait on you. If you have a 90 degree right off-heading you're looking at rappelling ropes. Please correct this especially asap. You dry faster than you heal. Unless the water is raging, you're better off taking the water than hammering a poor canopy flight in on the rocks. The presence of the boats adds to your health and safety; if you do take the water, be _prepared_ to cutaway, but only at the request of the boat people (or, should you end up horribly far away from the boats, cut it away and don't worry about the canopy!! The river _WILL_ kill you). The boat people know what they are doing - listen to them. 8. If you are going hand-held, try to have your pilot chute out and properly folded before you get to the gear checkers so you're not fumbling about with it in the staging area. But don't fold it so far in advance that you've turned it to brick with palmsweat and a death grip. 9. After your gear check, start breathing and focus. When you are in position, wait until the jumpmaster gives you the signal to go. If you're going poised (standing with your toes hanging over the edge from a standing position), make your way to the edge. Make one final survey of the ground and airspace, imagine your flightpath. Enjoy the view and contemplate your existence. When you are ready, look up with your eyes on the horizon. DO NOT LOOK DOWN! Jump like you're trying to grab onto a bar that is five feet in front of you and ten feet high. Try to put your teats on the horizon. Once you're in the air you can look down with your eyes to enjoy the view. 10. Warp factor five Mr. Sulu. Enjoy the acceleration. Pitch at your intended delay. Try to land as planned. Try not to break yourself. Lather, rinse, repeat. Meet back at the Holiday Inn for the post jump party. Have fun! bsbd, Gardner

Yup... baby got gap. Gardner

I concur. What's that vertical bit off in the distance??? Looks like a promising area for sure. Gardner

Dang that sucks, dude. All kinds of things have been falling lately.. lots of towers ('specially nebraska). Look at it on the bright side - nobody can burn it to the ground, now. Do they have any intentions on restoring it? Hope you're doing well. Gardner

Viking: find your nearest local American Red Cross donation center... http://www.redcross.org/donate/give/ Wow Sparky... 10 gallons is waaaaay commendable.... you've been at this a while, huh? More power to you. Makes my measly 2+ gal seem wimpy by contrast. Awesome! Gardner

Hey Sexy, Y'know I'm thinking that the tower would act as a faraday cage and the person wouldn't feel a thing... bet your hair would stand up, though. I bet the sonic boom would scare the snot out of ya for sure. holy shit. speaking of electricity... anybody ever done a stack in the morning/evening (low light situation) and had st. elmo's fire (blueish plasma-like substance - whatever it is...) all over themselves/their hands?? Once, redfern and I were atop a 1000' foot stack at sundown and the static was bleeding off of our hair (standing straight up like while touching a van de graf generator) and fingers.. we waved our arms around and played sorcerer's apprentices for a while before we fell off. Our hands would sizzle and pop when we held them up in the windflow. That was one freaky, memorable jump. later, Gardner

Yeah... what Tom said. This really is a large part of what finding a mentor/local jumpers is all about. Every case is different, and sometimes a single case may be different from night to night. This is where you have to develop your stealth attitude/abilities. Look up what Kevin Mitnick and the hacker community call 'social engineering'. Recommendations are to stay out of the city limits for a while and work on your base skillz well before you go downtown. There's already enough to think about in the middle of the night out in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere on some obscure tower. contact the locals... and go from there. Really. Gardner

also: kmoore@grbtv.com btw, seems he's a she...

my biggest gripe is how the NPS glamorizes BASE, on the one hand, by showcasing the Bridge Day event - but, on the other hand, so vehemently chases and prosecutes BASE jumpers anywhere else. This dichotomy is akin to praising and punishing a child for similar acts of behavior. One day I'm rubbing shoulders with the Rangers sharing smiles and laughs; the next day I'm getting my wrists cuffed and my gear confiscated. How does this make any sense? As Nick said... all of the problems and concerns can be managed. This is long overdue. Gardner

Hey dude congratulations to you and C! I see you got yourself a computer with a net connection. Oh hell watch out. Are we gonna see you two at the bridge in Oct? Hugs and Kisses, Your favorite redneck

send him to hang out with scotty carbone for a couple of months. gardner

bump. VOTE!!!!

heh heh... okay... I'll watch you and if you do okay I'll be right behind you. gardner

no, that was me. I have the bridle and velcro pieces cut, but have been waiting on pins from paragear(I was fresh out). They came yesterday so I'll have it built by next jump. After some more thought it occurred to me that if one uses a fairly sizeable length of velcro strip double-sided(say, 6-7 inches for a total of 12-14 sq in. of velcro surface area for ~60-70 lbs of pull force), then one can adjust the pull force based on how much of the velcro length one engages when setting it up... adjustable breaking force. Then just mark points based on pull force measurements for future ref. Lather, rinse, repeat. I'll let you know the results when I've tested it. Gardner p.s. in hindsight, though... dexter's design is a fair bit simpler - and would probably be less likely to snag - especially if the rapide is eliminated. these things will only work around round railings, small trees and maybe angle iron, but you couldn't run this velcro design through a piece of 12mm static rope loop. Well, you could, and more than likely you'll probably live.

There is simply no substitue for a usda prime angus steak. Red meat kix azz. Gardner

fundgh, See THIS THREAD bsbd, Gardner

I call that a windfall.

HAH!!!!!!!!!!! Now I have it in writing! I love you too sweetheart I'm one blessed, lucky sumbitch. Gardner p.s. it's weird to hear the words 'conservative' and 'base jumping' used in the same sentence, but it can be done.

it's been my experience that there is almost always some shift as one climbs. I always assess what the winds are doing at opening altitude and keep that in mind as I'm climbing. generally I haven't experienced a situation where the winds do a full 180, but also I generally only go to about 500feet and slider down when climbing. When there's an elevator, it pays to stop at opening alti and get out and see what's happening. you can't tell what the winds are doing when you're inside the elevator. If the elevator is one that is so sensitive and fickle that you're afraid to stop it once you've got it going, then you probably have someone riding on top of it anyway and that person can check the winds. I'm wondering if this might not be what happened to the fellas mentioned in the darwin candidate II post where they exited and opened on the upwind side... they may have actually been exiting with the winds on their backs or down the wire - only to have it become a headwind at opening. I don't know for sure, but without stopping and getting out of the elevator at opening alti, there's not much way they could have known (unless they went against the flight pattern that prior loads had used - which would have been cause for alarm for me) what the winds were doing there. Yes, it's typical for it to be nil on the ground and downright breezy at alti. I've jumped in winds of perhaps 30-40 (maybe 50) mph on my back at exit... perhaps 15-20 at opening and zero on the ground. I'm more concerning when there is no wind at all at opening alti. On towers it is good to have a tailwind splitting the sector in which you'r'e jumping; that helps you when there are off-headings. If the wind is down the wire it has been theorized that even that is better than no wind at all (see outrager's post on blinc mention in another thread), though I'm much more cautious of winds down the wire... usually opting out or altering my exit heading - exiting so I'm facing more toward the wire on the opposite side away from the downwind wire - putting the opening more crosswind hoping for an off-heading away from the downwind wire (most times it works). YMMV bsbd, Gardner

For what it's worth... This story made the 6pm and 11pm evening news on the local Atlanta Fox affiliate. About 30 seconds worth... Later, Gardner