evilivan

...not the intended discussion, but one certainly worth following... I think the ball is currently in Tom's (and I guess possible Nick's) court right now - next reply please "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Always used to refer to "pack opening height", but not sure if that has been clarified over the years (sounds like not). "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

....swiss valley seems popular at the moment... "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband was not in their bed. She puts on her robe and goes downstairs to look for him. She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a hot cup of coffee in front of him. He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall. She watches as he wiped a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his coffee. "What's the matter, dear?" she whispers as she steps into the room. "Why are you down here at this time of night?" The husband looks up from his coffee. "Do you remember 20 years ago when we were dating, and you were only 16?" he asks solemnly. The wife is touched to tears thinking that her husband is so caring and sensitive. "Yes I do" she replies. The husband paused. The words were not coming easily. "Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car making love?" "Yes, I remember" said the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him. The husband continued, "Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in my face and said, "Either you marry my daughter, or I will send you to jail for 20 years?" "I remember that too" she replied softly. He wiped another tear from his cheek and said,"I would have gotten out today." "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

A PLANE IS ON ITS WAY TO HOUSTON WHEN A BLONDE IN ECONOMY CLASS GETS UP AND MOVES TO THE FIRST CLASS SECTION AND SITS DOWN. THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT WATCHES HER DO THIS AND ASKS TO SEE HER TICKET. SHE THEN TELLS THE BLONDE THAT SHE PAID FOR ECONOMY CLASS AND THAT SHE WILL HAVE TO SIT IN THE BACK. THE BLONDE REPLIES, "I'M BLOND, I'M BEAUTIFUL, I'M GOING TO HOUSTON AND I'M STAYING RIGHT HERE." THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT GOES INTO THE COCKPIT AND TELLS THE PILOT AND THE CO-PILOT THAT THERE IS A BLONDE BIMBO SITTING IN FIRST CLASS THAT BELONGS IN ECONOMY AND WON'T MOVE BACK TO HER SEAT. THE CO-PILOT GOES BACK TO THE BLONDE AND TRIES TO EXPLAIN THAT BECAUSE SHE ONLY PAID FOR ECONOMY SHE WILL HAVE TO LEAVE AND RETURN TO HER SEAT. THE BLONDE REPLIES, "I'M BLONDE,! I'M BEAUTIFUL, I'M GOING TO HOUSTON AND I'M STAYING RIGHT HERE." THE CO-PILOT TELLS THE PILOT THAT HE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE THE POLICE WAITING WHEN THEY LAND TO ARREST THIS BLONDE WOMAN WHO WON'T LISTEN TO REASON. THE PILOT SAYS, "YOU SAY SHE IS A BLONDE? I'LL HANDLE THIS. I'M MARRIED TO A BLONDE. I SPEAK BLONDE." HE GOES BACK TO THE BLONDE AND WHISPERS IN HER EAR, AND SHE SAYS, "OH, I'M SORRY." AND SHE GETS UP AND GOES BACK TO HER SEAT IN ECONOMY. THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT AND CO-PILOT ARE AMAZED AND ASKED HIM WHAT HE SAID TO MAKE HER MOVE WITHOUT ANY FUSS. I TOLD HER, "FIRST CLASS ISN'T GOING TO HOUSTON" "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Two blokes are pushing their shopping trolleys around a supermarket when they collide. The first bloke says to the second bloke "Sorry about that. I'm looking for my wife, and I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." The second bloke says "Thats OK. It's a coincidence. I'm looking for my wife too. I can't find her and I'm getting a little desperate." The first bloke says "Well maybe we can help each other. What does your wife look like?" The second bloke says"Well she is 27 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall, with blonde hair, blue eyes, big jubblies, long legs and is wearing tiny little skirt and a crop top. What does your wife look like?" The first bloke says "Doesn't matter, let's look for yours." "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Roger that! Scared the living crap out of me. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

That's a bit of stretch!! You are jumping to some huge conclusions there, buddy. There is no way you can infer that from the facts that are out, you can't even infer that that there was no phone GC (what if they didn't answer phone when he called?). I would be very careful about making assumptions if I were you - and even more careful about posting them. And please don't take offense to this post - I don't mean to be anything other than surprised at how you came to that conclusion. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

FYI (this info is second hand, but from a reliable source): BASE specific gear; 180 opening. If you didn't know who Sean was, I understand why you ask the question... However, I agree with 980 that there is really nothing to learn from this; shit happens in this sport, and it can kill you. This incident underlines that point. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

I seem to remember the final ruling was it was a suicide. From some evidence that was only found at a later time it appeared that Mr. Hilder sabotaged his own rig. In the Stephen Hilder case the police investigation concluded that it was suicide, but the coroner gave an open verdict. In my opinion the coroner is far more objective and has no reason to neatly close the case... And almost anyone who was close to Stephen Hilder (and was prepared to talk to the media) said they didn't believe it was suicide. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

No shit sherrif! You are a brave man - stupid, but brave

'kin oath... he really knows how to take a picture... "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Blimey, two year old post.... Thanks both, although I can't remember who I was asking for now. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Congratulations, you win the prize for the most unlikely post title ever. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Sounds like 621 (in his weekend outfit) "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Couple of things. Ian is about as "local" in London as anyone can claim to be; I reckon he would have a better-than-most idea of what is and isn't getting jumped. Of course this is merely my opinion. Two things going on in this discussion; separate them and the issue goes away: 1) Did Gary execute an exquisite plan to get himself off a very technical object? Hell yes. 2) Did Gary then go and become a media whore to further his career? Also hell yes. You can argue point two as long as you like, but it doesn't take away from point one. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Not sure if its a BPA rule or a dropzone rule, but last time I did night jumps you weren't allowed to make it your first jump of the day... although I'm definitely not a huge fan of rules etc, this one does seem to make sense. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Broken tib/fib (inc dislocated ankle) Shattered femur Both ACL's Both meniscus (right knee) It seems I'm a little bit clumsy. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

You missed a bit: "....often entertaining, its just unfortunate that in our world the subject matter is often very emotive e.g. serious injury / death" I guess I didn't make it clear; I meant that forums in general are often entertaining, apart from in our case where the subject matter isn't... If you see what I mean... "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

Perhaps I worded that wrong; it can only generate speculation and assumption - there are no facts, only what "someone said" (sometimes verified by "what someone else said"). I challenge you on the first, agree with you on the second. "Hard cold facts?" How do you know? You can only measure what you read on here in probability, its rare we get a truly hard, cold fact (just ask Nick how often he goes back and edits details on the list...). On the other hand reputation and experience bear a lot of weight here, and opinion is a valid & educational currency. Agreed - although your subjectivity colours your results. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

...but that's the internet - the fault isn't with the people jumping to assumptions, but that they took the information on face value to start with. What the internet community is good for: gradual knowledge growth through constant re-evaluation (e.g. Wikipedia). What the internet community is bad for: accurate evaluation of very recent events. People say it again & again: please wait until the facts are posted. I disagree. The only thing a forum is good for is speculation and assumption - and I don't think this is bad in itself, in fact its often entertaining, its just unfortunate that in our world the subject matter is often very emotive e.g. serious injury / death - I include BASE and skydiving in that, as the same thing often happens in the Incidents forum. Oh well. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

And a beautiful demonstration of the value of speculation and assumption; two pages of opinionated posts dedicated to something that didn't happen. I love these forums. Edited for spelling "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous statement. "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

....perhaps I should have been more honest: I can't bothered spending time editing them "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent

PM'd "If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation." David Brent