Open minded???

[skyjules 0]

I'm confused about some stuff. I started skydiving because I had an interest to get into base. I was told that having a couple hundred jumps would make base jumping easier to learn. Also I always thought of skydivers as being open minded but lately i'm getting the impression that most skydivers don't like base jumping or even talking about it. I really want to learn more about it, is there another way. As much as I love the rush of skydiving, if it's not getting me to my goal I think I'd rather be paragliding.

***Free bird Forever

[980 0]

skydivers are people too and therefore not always open minded

skydivers are to basejumpers what whuffos are to skydivers

where skydiving gets you is up to you, not the skydivers you know

paragliding won't teach you about deployments like skydiving will (que some smartass paraglider with almost no skydives to tell us how much better base canopy pilots zero skydive paragliders are than thousand jump skydivers...)

look around some other dropzones in your area and you will find skydivers that like basejumping and actually do it too

cya

[d_goldsmith 1]

__________________________
I was told that having a couple hundred jumps would make base jumping easier to learn.
__________________________

Having skydives gets you experience flying your parachute.

I recommend getting your parachute experience under a canopy that is as close to your BASE canopy of choise as possible. Big 7 cell.

Edited to add: This is what my mentor told me when I investigated getting in to BASE about a year ago.

[skyjules 0]

I know that paragliding won't help me get into base but I tried it last year and really liked it for an alternative sport. I don't know if skydiving is for me, i'm not that interested in formation skydiving, I prefer the rush and flying through the air, tracking. I'm not at all putting down skydiving, it does make me happy but I think paragliding or base jumping would do the same.

It's just that other skydivers think it gets boring to always jump alone, so it's necessary to work for your B minimum, i'm not shure if that's what I want to do, i'm a little confused

***Free bird Forever

[skyjules 0]

Quote

__________________________
I recommend getting your parachute experience under a canopy that is as close to your BASE canopy of choise as possible. Big 7 cell.

Edited to add: This is what my mentor told me when I investigated getting in to BASE about a year ago.

I've been jumping a sabre but this year I also did a jump on a triathlon and I get them mixed up...which is the 7-cell and which is the 9-cell?

***Free bird Forever

[brabzzz 0]

Freefly, tracking, flocking and 'multiple orientation' dives will be right down your street, as will wingsuiting and that gps tracking derby thing...you just have to get good enough to be on them!

In all seriousness, FS skills are also damn useful. It's rare to see base jumpers in headdown...they're nearly always on their belly. It's worth being good at, for both the sake of your skydivign AND base jumping.

I don't think you're disillusioned with how skydiving fits into base. I think it's the 'post-AFF-WTF-now?' early skydiving life crisis most pople find themselves in. You gotta plough through it, preferably by getting onto high quality jumps and getting as much coaching as you can afford.

Paragliding is cool too. Do both. Chances are, wherever you find an 'E' to jump will probably be prime paraglider territiory too.

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Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club
www.skydivebristoluni.com

[PhreeZone 15]

Ask around your local dropzone more, there are BASE jumpers lurking on almost every DZ out there.

Most BASE jumps are subterminal with only a couple of seconds freefall if any at all in the case of throw and gos. I like terminal freefall too much to get into BASE. The videos you see of terminal cliff jumps and tracking are not the every day jumping that most BASE jumpers do, instead they flik their local A's S's and B's.

If you like the tracking feeling look into getting enough experience to fly a wingsuit. The PF Prodigy might be perfect for you at your current experience level.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[brabzzz 0]

Triathlon is 7 cell.

Controversial here, but don't bother with the big 7 cells until your a lot closer to actually takign the plunge and considering base. If you 'like' speed, a big 7 cell will bore you rigid. Smaller and faster canopies are fun (as long as you're ready for the downsizes), and topping that off with a couple of dozen big7 jumps before you go seems more fun than doing 300+ jumps on a 200+ sq.ft. teabag.

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Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club
www.skydivebristoluni.com

[d_goldsmith 1]

Yah sabre is 9 Triathalon is 7. How big was the Triathalon and do you still have access to it?

You want as much experience as possible on a big 7 cell so that you can handle BASE specific situations with your big BASE 7 cell. Imagine having only 150ft of altitude with a tail wind at your back, trying to setup a landing into a 30ftx30ft box. Lets see you do that with a little parachute without plowing in.

This is great stuff to practice under a big 7 cell
http://asylumbase.com/adobepdf/fjccanopy.pdf
NOTE: Some of this stuff will hurt you under a small canopy.

You should also look in to an FJC. I recommend http://snakeriverbase.com/

Freeflying experience isn't going to be imperitive in BASE, but it will be important on terminal jumps.

I'm hoping some experienced BASE jumpers come in to this thread soon and give you some more info.

P.S. Don't take BASE advise from people that don't BASE jump.

Edited to say fix:
Freeflying experience isn't going to be imperitive in BASE, but it will be important on terminal jumps.

I meant belly flying. You might need the ability to move away from the wall, and make sure you don't back slide toward the wall.

[LukeH 0]

Quote

Most BASE jumps are subterminal

you are living on the wrong continent

[skyjules 0]

Flying a wingsuit sounds like a good idea, thanks

***Free bird Forever

[skyjules 0]

What is gps tracking derby?

***Free bird Forever

[d_goldsmith 1]

If you into wingsuits, more power to you, but in terms of BASE I think you should add complexity to as slowly as possible. You probably don't want to get in to wingsuit BASE to soon.

[skyjules 0]

The triathlon is a 150 that I probably could borrow again, but if i;m going to practise accuracy with it I should probably look into getting my own.

***Free bird Forever

[brabzzz 0]

http://www.trackingderby.com/

You can participate at one of their events or use your own gps receiver anywhere. Integrates to google earth and gives you a reakdown of most important details of the freefall and canopy flight. Might be good for optimising your track - tracking dives, whilst fun, are often too steep for that.

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Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club
www.skydivebristoluni.com

[skyjules 0]

I agree, it just seems that alot of people think I should get more skydives, and flying a wingsuit would probably give me the illusion of flying instead of falling.

***Free bird Forever

[d_goldsmith 1]

150 is way to small for BASE. Some people say you could use it for BASE, but I think it's a bad idea.

BASE canopy flight is not only accuracy, but soft landings. Sometimes the ground your landing on isn't ideal and the softer the landing the better. What if wierd turbulance messes with your canopy 10 feet up. More material above your head means softer collision with the ground. What ever your ground may be.

[d_goldsmith 1]

I have no wing suit experience, but since I don't think RW is that important in beggining BASE knowledge, I would assume learning to wingsuit fly now wouldn't slow your BASE knowledge growth. It might impare your canopy flight learning though?

[jakee 1,254]

Quote

I've been jumping a sabre but this year I also did a jump on a triathlon and I get them mixed up...which is the 7-cell and which is the 9-cell?

If you don't know how many cells your canopy has you probably don't pack it yourself, right? I would think that being comfortable packing would probably help when starting BASE and learning new techniques.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[stitch 0]

Quote

The triathlon is a 150 that I probably could borrow again, but if i;m going to practise accuracy with it I should probably look into getting my own.

***Free bird Forever

If you're considering purchasing a big "7", you may want to look into a Raven (generally considered a reserve, but has attachment point to be used as main), it is made of F-111 and costs about 1/2 of what a Triathalon costs. Even with a mesh slider and tailpocket installed. And although I'll probably get some flak, you could use it as a beginner BASE canopy.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[stitch 0]

Quote

150 is way to small for BASE. Some people say you could use it for BASE, but I think it's a bad idea.

BASE canopy flight is not only accuracy, but soft landings. Sometimes the ground your landing on isn't ideal and the softer the landing the better. What if wierd turbulance messes with your canopy 10 feet up. More material above your head means softer collision with the ground. What ever your ground may be.

Actually, by the wingloading posted in her profile, a "150" with a BASE exit weight would be fairly close to ideal.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[d_goldsmith 1]

I didnt' think to look at her wing loading because that seems so small. I wonder if she took gear in to consideration when putting in the weight.

I no a few pretty small girls that are experienced BASE jumpers, and they probably wouldn't recommend a 150 for BASE unless you way 80-85lbs

[lifewithoutanet 0]

Don't take this too out of context, folks...no need for anyone's taint to get too chaffed by what I'm about to say. But this is an awful lot of "advice" being tossed about by people w/ little to no experience in BASE.
-C.

[d_goldsmith 1]

I agree. Where are all the experienced BASE jumpers at. Out jumping or something...jeez. hehe

Hopefully soon there will be more experienced BASE jumpers reading this thread to review the information already provided and correct any misinformation and provide additional valuable information.

[wwarped 0]

Quote

Hopefully soon there will be more experienced BASE jumpers reading this thread to review the information already provided and correct any misinformation and provide additional valuable information.

plenty has already been posted on various threads, BASEwiki, etc. be inquisitive and do your own fact checking!

or get a mentor. helping a newbie wade through all the information is the job of a mentor. the mentor ensures the information is understood in context.

the moderator attempts to quell outlandishly bad advice.

DON'T PANIC
The lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
sloppy habits -> sloppy jumps -> injury or worse