Is this a good shoe for BASE?

[pBASEtobe 0]

People say it's better to break your tib/fib than your ankle. Tib/fib heals faster and better than an ankle.
That's what they say, I don't know.

[lifewithoutanet 0]

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People say it's better to break your tib/fib than your ankle. Tib/fib heals faster and better than an ankle.
That's what they say, I don't know.

Friend of mine back in CO took a 40' digger off his roof while building his house. Shattered his talus and a number of bones in his feet. Three years later, he's had cadaver bones, multiple rounds of surgery and finally had his ankle fused together. Yeah, I'd take a tib/fib over ankle any day of the week.

-C.

[sonicboy 0]

Funny reading this discussion. I was actually looking forward to hearing the opinions, and i was wondering which would end up to be the elected best equipment for base : hard-high or soft-low ?

As i gather, of course, pros and cons in both cases.

So just my thought here...

Years ago, to go walking around in the mountains, to approach climbing spots, or for trekks, we all used hard leather shoes - 'moutain shoes', quite comparable to the Hanwags mentionned.

Then, slowly, we drifted. From hard-leather boots to soft-leather boots (sort of like the Salomon's mentionned). Then to High-ankeled-soft-no-leather, then to soft-low-ankeld-no-leather.

Ended up walking the alps trails to approach climbing spots in Teva's (i.e. tongs with heel-cup attach). So much, that at one point, the trend was even to climb the warm-up routes with your tongs and run down the access trails for the laugh!

So finally, i suppose it's, again, the question of the balance... what are you ready to loose compared to what you gain? Do you want to favour 'react-roll-run flexibility' or 'support against shock' ? favour 'lateral protection against impact', or 'movement-heat inconvenience during the approach' ? and so on, and so on...

Choose your odds, choose your balance... but anyway : have a pair of each, take each of them with you in your luggage, and choose appropriately regarding the precise expidition you're going to do : last thing to do is consider one equipment is better than the other whatever the external situation. And that is probably why every answer in this thread is correct, even if they are in opposition !

who says, 'just my 2 cents'? same here

[JaapSuter 0]

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Years ago, to go walking around in the mountains, to approach climbing spots, or for trekks, we all used hard leather shoes - 'moutain shoes', quite comparable to the Hanwags mentionned.

Then, slowly, we drifted.

I'm an avid scrambler and alpinist myself and I've gone through the same transition. I now consider myself an ultra-lighter, and you'll find me running over boulder fields wearing only sneakers.

However, the trade-off here isn't just because people think that you can roll your ankles better with less support. The real trade-off in mountaineering is that less weight on your feet makes the hike more comfortable. This justifies the risk to some, but it also alleviates some of it because you'll have more energy to spend on proper foot-placement and ground-contact.

[JaapSuter 0]

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It's a bit of a myth that a few cm's of leather (ie. Hanwags) are going to do anything to protect your ankle from an impact of bone- breaking force. You can flex that ankle area with your hands... can't you?

It's actually pretty hard to flex, plus even partial protection could still be better than no protection.

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The only thing that will protect you is your ability to react, roll, run, etc.

I'll admit that I'd love to see people do more PLFing just for the fuck of it. In fact, I remember one incident where Abbie himself slid on his ass and hurt his tailbone instead of just doing a PLF. Funny that...

But to say that reacting, rolling and running is your only protection is taking it too far. Than we might as well take of our helmets and dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge.

Helmets, body-armor, tailbone and knee protection, proper boots; they all help. There is no doubt in my mind. I've done some fucked up shit on a snowboard, mountainbike, motorcycle and other stupid shit. I've never broken a bone in my body. That's 80 percent luck, 2 percent skills and the other 18 percent is the protection I was wearing. I'll gladly sweat a little more as a trade-off.

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That being said, under sole cushioning is nice for those hard, but not dangerous landings.

Oh yeah... sideways impacts to your ankles from landed in large fields of nasty boulders, or hitting cliffs is a different kettle of fish...

Woah, you start your post by saying that you don't agree with Abbie and me, and then you say this. Like you say; there's more to proper boots than ankle protection, like there is more to your foot than your ankle. It's a sturdy sole, lateral support, toe protection, etcetera.

[pBASEtobe 0]

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Than we might as well take off our helmets and dodge, dip, duck, dive and dodge.

Oh, you didn't!

[Faber 0]

if breaking an ankel is worse than breaking fib n tib i hope i never break the ankel then..

it took me 8.5 months to get back up after a fib/tib and more than a year before i could work full time

i still aint good after 2 years...

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[nicrussell 0]

i jump in Teva's like all the cool skydivers!!!

[s.t.e.f 0]

A very good address to buy base equipment on the internet.

http://www.wickedweasel.com/[url]

:-)

stef

[Bazair2air 0]

Is there a vendor you would recommend for the Crispi Airborne GTX?

[lifewithoutanet 0]

It will be tough for you to find a vendor in the US. One jumper on here ended up ordering them from Torrey Pines Gliderport.
In any case, you're probably shopping online.
-C.

[base570 1]

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Is there a vendor you would recommend for the Crispi Airborne GTX?

I ordered mine from here.... so far I love them. Very nice boots.

Jason
570

http://www.crittermountainwear.com/index.php?id=boots

[Bazair2air 0]

Thank You -C. and Jason. These sites are both better than what I found on my search.

Have Fun! Baz

[AirCanada 0]

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http://www.crittermountainwear.com/index.php?id=boots

Critter is quite talented at making all sorts of air / mountain custom gear.

Comfy and packable gear bags are something he does well.

Josh

[colinl 0]

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People say it's better to break your tib/fib than your ankle. Tib/fib heals faster and better than an ankle.
That's what they say, I don't know.

True for me at least. I once broke both legs (tried "BASE jumping" from 10 meters with no rig ... stupidly fell in reality), one got the ankle broken and the other tib + fib. It required surgery on both legs, but 10 years later I still have less mobility in the one that had the ankle broken.

[mfnren 0]

I use salomons occosionally, lower cuff though. I prefer something light weight and with softer sole than hardcore hiking boots.i think they are better for climbing around on b's and a's and aren'tas akward to jump in.

[Calvin19 0]

Plus... Paragliders can MOVE. and I mean MOVE. Swoopers have got nothing on an aerobatice PG wing. Funnest Ram Air things in the world.

[lurch 0]

Robinson is rad. On the subject of good movement skills, check this out:


Hey. I'm an occasional practitioner of that art. Not too bad at it either since to date I haven't broken anything, although part of that is not having the balls for some of the wilder aerial moves.
What I want to know is, who the hell is THAT? And WHERE? Abandoned housing complexes? Heavy industrial environment? Railroad trestles pipes and shit? That is hands down the most incredible jungle gym I ever failed to find and have ever been looking for. Knowing my luck it will turn out to be in the Ukraine somewhere....

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.