Dd0g

Doug, I'm willing to bet a half-cooked hamburger that there are no more than 5 jumpers in the world that know this means "all other things being equal". I'll bet the pickle and onion they all went to the same college we did. Q.E.D. Reed is fun. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

I spoke with the aforementioned Kiwi about that Flik and he had nothing but good things to say about it. In fact, he liked it so much that he was too stingy to let yours truly demo jump it - which is pretty high praise! I'm about 225 (ok 215 after two weeks in the tropics and no lifting), and I started out on a 245. Moved to 265, then to 280 Mojos, now at a 285 Fox. Bigger IS better with BASE gear (as with so many other things in life). Remember, however, that the bigger canopies have, ceteris paribus, longer line sets and are wider to fly. The latter is important when sneaking into really tight landing areas - catching end cells in trees is no fun. The former - theoretically - increases the probability of tension knots. More lines, more knots. . . I'm pretty happy at 285. True, downwinders can be a bit rough - but more nylon (in my experience) doesn't help all that much with the downwinders. I've also heard people talk about this thing called "canopy control," and from what I hear it can help with landings. Don't know much about that personally Also, bigger canopies do weigh more. For low freefall (sub 180-190), that can have a material imact on canopy extraction speed and consistency (according to several fellows who have played that game quite a bit). If you play the super low odds, I'd suggest you get a smaller, ZP-topskin canopy for those types of jumps. I'd rather have a pressurized 245 over my head than a waffly, jellyfish 321 when I hit the ground. Oh, and I jumped this really nice 245 Troll off Petronas. Unfortunately, the fellow who was nice enough to pack it for me was sloppy (just kidding) and the resulting line dump was caught on camera by Gil: http://www.foolpix.com/folio.php?lang=fr&node=4241 Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is the WORST photo of line dump known to BASEkind. How it didn't turn into a tension knot that would have spiralled me into the dirt - slider still stuck above it - is anybody's guess. Anyway, that little 245 Troll sure is nice to fly Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Do as Tom says, not as he does! As usual, he speaks true - these unpacked games will result in fatalities sooner rather than later. No reason to hate them, but also understand that they are a dangerous game - as is all of BASE. For me, I'd not consider tards off hard objects until I see much, much more data on heading performace. So far, they seem to be great - even an idiotic old Dog like me won't bet my life to that tiny data set just yet. On low jumps, it's all about heading when it comes to injuries and hospital time, or walking away clean. Folks think of opening height as the driving factor - it isn't. For example, I'd rather freefall an 180 foot object with no object strike risk than static line an 180 foot object (like a certain low dodgy waterfall) with few options for off-headings. This is counter-intuitive for most folks not jumping alot, but I think it is all but axiomatic for folks who have had off-headings in "don't get an off-heading" situations and dealt with the results therefrom. . . . . . as in, opening a new 134 foot static line and getting a 45 leftie into the riprap, resulting in a badly broken heel that still (a year later) causes persistent pain and other problems. If there was 0% chance of off-headings in BASE, there'd be about 10 times more low objects that were safely jump-able. Even a 5% chance of an off-heading makes many jumps turn from interesting to Russian Roulette. And, as we all know from The Deer Hunter, over time nobody wins in Russian Roulette. . . Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Well, I'm not Tom (and I am sure folks are thankful for that small mercy in life), but I've seen Tards open about 20-30 feet higher than a proper PCA. Thus, I'd estimate a tard is flying and pressurized around 70 feet or so after exit. This, of course, depends on canopy venting and many other factors. I've seen photos of a disturbed Canadian tarding from 110 feet, but hey that's him not me! Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Tom speaks true in this. It is simply reckless to jump without protective gear - over time, one will suffer more injuries and worse injuries without armour than if one wears it consistently. The gods of fate seem to have a bad sense of humor with this - I know of several folks who ALWAYS wear gear but, one time, didn't and were injured that one time. If you do decide to wear gear, don't do it sporadically. I feel that it is best to either wear it all the time (and be used to it, mentally and physically) or not wear it and understand the price you WILL pay for not wearing it, someday. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Get vented PCs for anything smaller than 46 - it may well save your life. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Folks with more than 500 jumps have done some serious jumping and probably aren't a flash in the pan. Folks with more than 1000 are the elders of our sport - in terms of experience, if not age/years in sport. I was taught that the first 50 jumps a jumper does are really "on their mentor." That is, if they go in during this time, it is the mentor who bears much of the conceptual burden. Between 50 and 100, a jumper is stepping out on their own. After 100, they are jumping with their own judgment as their primary compass - even if they will always rely on advice from other jumpers, throughout their career. This is a really wide generalization, I know. A few folks with 100 or so jumps are so uncurrent or out of the sport that I'd hesitate to even call them BASE jumpers. Some folks with 60 or so jumps have opened new objects, etc., and really are quite competent in at least some areas of the sport. As others have said, number of objects jumped is a good second metric. Having lots of jumps is one thing, but having jumped a bunch of objects is probably a better metric of overall breadth of BASE skill and experience. I know several folks with 100+ objects; that's a pretty respectable figure. Finally, number of new objects opened is useful to think about. A jumper with 200 jumps, 20 objects, and no new objects opened is in a very different position than one with 150 jumps, 50 objects, and 25 of those newly-opened. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

There are some results posted at Gil's site, [url=http://www.foolpix.com]Foolpix.[/url] It helps if you speak French to enjoy the whole site, but the results and even the wonderful photos he took at the event are accessible to non-francophiles as well. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Ueli's a cool cat, and that particular object is a simply beautiful expression of his jumping philosophy. I know some Russian guys who have done it half a dozen times already, and it's quickly becoming a "must do" exit on the BASE circuit. I'd dearly love to get my hands on that print. If anyone gets a line on acccess for us USA types, please do share. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Personally, I consider anything below 230 feet or so to be "low" for freefall, and below 180 to be low for static line. Of course, this depends on landing area, winds, etc. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Mick, I'll submit some detailed feedback at the site. My apologies for the "drive by review" posted here - I just got back in the States and haven't taken the time yet to give you direct feedback that can be used to improve the site after the upgrade. In general, the text size I've seen from the new forum on several different browsers is very small - perhaps it is defaulting to a certain font that paints smaller than usual on the screen? Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

But how long do you use on a slider down?Sure im newbie and sure i jump slider down(29 of my 30 jumps).I normaly use 30-45 minutes on a packjob,and have repacked just becours i meant it looked sloppy... Just a Q: if slider up jumps easy could make offheading,wouldnt it then bee there you used that ekstra time? I believe that packing (more specifically, flaking of cells) has less of an impact on opening performance silder up than slider down. I do not have data to back this up. . . just a personal belief. Since the slider holds the unfolding canopy together, I think subtle variation in side-to-side symmetry are less likely to cause a true off-heading than without a slider to slow deployment and pressurization. Thus, I believe that body position is relatively more important as a factor in causing slider-up off headings than it is, ceteris paribus, slider down. In either case, it is super important - just that with the slider up, there is essentially one less variable (minor packing asymmetries) that really had any impact, and thus the total proportion of off headings caused by body position must by definition go up. Therefore, I spend less time fussing with the overall neatness of slider up packjobs (generally) than slider down ones. For slider down, I'd say my average is about 20 minutes - I carefully flake the bottom skin always, whereas I've come to believe that this has little impact slider up. Also, more of the objects I jump slider down are "survival" jumps in the sense of being quite low and unforgiving of off-headings. On average, I feel I'm further from objects silder up - either due to simply more time to arc away during freefall, or due to some tracking separation. Slider down, especially with a standing exit and doubly so with PCA/static line jumps, the object is CLOSE and I worry more about anything more than a 100 degree off-heading. Not sure if this makes sense to others. . . just my own personal packing cosmology. Also note that I have NOT run these theories by more experienced and more technically knowledgeable jumpers than myself, so take with a handful of salt. When the big boys weigh in and agree, I'll think my ideas are more than just idle speculation. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Interesting questions, and something I've been thinking on and discussing with others quite a bit of late. In Malaysia, I made 30 slider-up jumps in 8 days which equates to alot of packing. About half were from Petronas, with real object-strike potential. The other half were from KL Tower, very overhung. I experimented with things like flaking the bottomskin or not, general tidying of the cells prior to clamping to put in the container, being really careful the risers are perfectly equal with line tension, etc. Plus I did some rather fast (7 minute) pack jobs. Based on this and past experience, here is what I personally think - and what I do with own packing and jumping. I believe that: - much of the general "tidying" of packjobs that we do when turning a 20 minute job into a 40 minute job doesn't really help much on slider-up jumps. Symmetry is important, yes, but essentially if the canopy is "symmetrically messy" I believe off-heading probability goes up little, if at all. - making sure lines are tight and not tangled, and making sure the slider is cleanly packed, free of obstructions, stabilizers are not clogging the slider, etc. is very, VERY important. People die and get horribly injured from tension knots and sliders stuck for other reasons. I've had a good friend come very close to going in with a slider hang-up, and know of many other similar cases. Sliders are super dangerous - take the extra time to make sure it is clear, clear, clear. - Nose symmetry in the packjob is somewhat important. As one works backwards in the canopy, general cleanliness of the flaking is progressively less important. Tail flaking procedures are all but irrelevant. Don't waste time fussing with the tail, save to make sure it covers the packjob cleanly before putting into the container. - procedures for rolling, micro-reefing, or opening the nose do have an effect on opening speed slider-up. Experiment and come up with systems for nose packing that work for you, and make sense to you. - the more tricks you use to slow a slider-up deployment, the higher the chance of snivel (by definition) and off-heading/line twists. Others may well disagree with me on this. However, I lost a dear friend to a snivelly opening this year and I'd much rather have a fucking spanker of an opening than have a snivel that injures me for life. Of course, if we are talking about terminal openings far from objects, that's a different issue; I don't do much jumping like that - more of my stuff is "survival jumping" at heart. - procedures for settling the lines into the tailpocket are very important. Do this wrong - or sloppy - and tension knot probability goes up exponentially. Learn to settle those lines in fast but clean. Start the loops bigger than you end them, so that the loops at the bottom of the lines are too small to get all the way around the loops at the top, decreasing risk of entanglement (thanks to DW for this trick). - securely closing the tail pocket is really important - do this sloppy and you might have line dump. line dump can turn into tension knots, i.e. death. So basically this is my theory. I believe that it is essential to focus on those areas of a packjob that are really, really essential - and NEVER NEVER to fuck those up. Not once. But much of the rest of the fussing and flapping over making the cells look "clean" is essentially worthless in getting better openings. Maybe not worthless entirely, but very much subject to diminishing returns. If I take an extra 5 minutes on a 15 minute pack job, I get a cleaner pack - however, if I take an extra 5 minutes on a 30 minute packjob, I'm essentially wasting my time. Packing is a really personal thing; I know several very experienced jumpers who swear they'd never (never never) jump my "sloppy saturday night massacre packjobs" as one Aussie called them. However, I believe that I spend as much or more time when packing worrying about the really essential items as anyone else does. . . I just don't waste lots of time making the packing look all neat and tidy. Slider down packing, I think, has some different dynamics at play in some areas - but I don't know many folks jumping slider down that really need to know how to pack a bit quicker while being safe. Mostly, when we are on a BASE rampage it is on legal, slider-up objects (Europe, South Africa, Malaysia, TF which many folks jump slider-up) and it is here where learning how to safely turn 45 minute pack jobs into 15 minute ones can essentially triple jumping volume. I also think packing is much about a "flow" one develops from hands-on experience. I've learned lots of packing tricks from simply watching others pack, and thinking about how their techniques differ from others. I've also had super teachers to show me what they've learned in years of thinking about packing which I think is a blessing. Standard caveats apply: don't try this at home; your mileage may vary; some assembly required; professional stunt jumpers pictured; do as I say not as I do; etc. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Apparently, Mick has upgraded the forum software. To reach the forae, one must go through the "Forum" button on the upper left of the index (home) page. Then there is a redirect, then a menu, then the core BASE board with a couple of mandatory announcements pasted to the top of the list. I find the new design to be essentially unreadable, though perhaps there are others with super duper eyes who can puzzle out the tiny type and white-on-black contrast overload. Anyway, always an adventure. . . Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

I flat pack on the ground both slider up and slider down, with 4 clamps. I know a few folks who can pro pack a BASE rig standing up faster than I can on the ground (slider up), but not many - when really current with packing (and with enough space to work), I can pack a slider up rig in about 7 minutes. Not pretty to watch, but no critical steps missed. The faster one packs - with no change in overall quality and care of packing - the more jumps one gets. Truly sloppy packing is dangerous - there are a number of confirmed BASE fatalities resulting from packing errors - but a quicker clean packjob is really just more time to jump. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

There are several good, competent, friendly jumpers in Seattle. Email me and I can put you in touch with them. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

I hear what you are saying, but based on my limited experience (200 BASE jumps from 50+ objects), I respectfully disagree. I have corrected full 180s both slider up and slider down - well slider down was actually more like 150 rightie, but with a buttress on the right. From those experiences, I would not be willing to say that I felt I could correct "faster" slider up than slider down. Additionally, I have found a higher incidence if line twists with sub-terminal slider up jumping than slider down, and it is off-headings plus line twists that really scare me most - slider or not. For me, there are some jumps that are clearly slider up (over 600 feet or so rock drop, in general), some that are clearly slider down (sub-250 foot freefall or sub-200 foot static line/PCA), and then a "no-man's land" in the middle where much object strike risk resides. While you may have a super system for jumping with minimized risk in the no-mans's land, I believe I may have one also. In other words, different jumpers may develop different techniques (and corresponding different gear configurations) for this area of BASE with neither one nor the other being intrinsically "better," or at least not quantifiably proven to be be better on general, for all jumpers. Too, there are some jumps where the Russian roulette element is really there in regards to off-heading issues. A good example of this is a static line exit in southern France, ALS altitude about 13,000 feet. With this exit, any rightie more than 45 degress, I believe, would be catastrophic no matter what (current) technology, jumper response, etc. Perhaps someone, somewhere has a gear config and the traning and natural ability (and hand/body speed) to respond to a 90 right from that exit and not have object strike. I've never met that person, nor seen that gear. Thus, jumping that exit (even PCA/static line) simply is a roll of the dice. Whether the chance is 1% of the rightie, or 30%, so long as it is significantly greater than 0% then a jumper doing that jump with the current generation of BASE gear is rolling the dice. As a technical point, one need not (by definition) experience more "pendulum effect" slider down than slider up. That depends on the launch, and it is possible to soft launch slider down as it is slider up. True, a hard launch slider down from 400 feet might create more opening pendulum than the same launch slider up with the same delay, but in that case it is possible to jump with less push slider down, take a longer delay (since the opening sequence burns less altitude), get exactly the same separation on pressurization of canopy, and not get more systemic pendulum. At the extreme, it is possible to generate effectively zero pendulum with a straight drop PCA exit from a S; it is also possible to exit hard from a PCA and generate lots of pendulum - but there are exits where the latter may be much safer than the former (trying to clear a ledge at 100 feet, for instance). BASE, in my experience, militates often against "right" and "wrong" answers in many areas of consideration. There is black and white in BASE now - a set of things on which most jumpers generally agree, and the data support them - and then there are grey areas where either the data simply aren't there, or there are roughly equally valid approaches that come at a problem from different angles. Finally, there are alot of "it depends" zones, such as whether it is "better" to put a slider on for a 600 foot cliff jump or not. Well, that depends. . . I know jumpers that are very competent at correcting slider-up off-headings during deployment sequence; I've even got video of that from last week's Malaysia jumping. However, I'm not sure that makes me willing to say that slider up is this always safer for jumping for someone who has that skill at the level that I've seen it. In fact, the jumper most capable of those sorts of corrections is also the one I know who is most leery of sub-terminal slider up jumping and the resultant off-heading issues therefrom. There are interesting questions; I appreciate your dialogue and opinions on them very much - thanks. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

I agree with you completely on this. Particularly below five seconds delay, very few jumpers are able to make an effective transition to track that increases horizontal separation. Even those that can do not have 100% consistency. Far better to launch hard with no track, than it is to focus less on the launch, miss the track transition, and end up pitching head-down and closer to the object. Again, I agree with you 100% on this. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

would also be interested in views on this - taking a 5 or 6 second slider up - as object allows - would you rather go 3 or 4 slider off because of off heading potential??? - do you regard the slider up deployment between 4 to 8 as a hazzard for off headings with certain wind speeds? I'm feeling reasonably current on this topic, as in the last 8 days I've made almost 25 slider up jumps with delays between 4-7 seconds, and watched several hundred more. In a nutshell, there is absolutely a higher incidence of off headings with slider up deployments in this delay range. How much? I am not able to quantify, but I think it is increasing in a non-linear way as one takes delays lower than 7 seconds or so. By 3 seconds, the odds are getting pretty bad. Even going up from 3 to 5 is a big improvement in off heading potential, in my book. While it is tempting to say that the solution to this issue is to just pull the slider down and take 3.5, there are other considerations. With a good exit and some solid tracking skills, one can gain MUCH more separation after 5 seconds slider up than after 3.5 seconds slider down. A good exit and a good track can put a jumper far enough away after 5 seconds to handle a full 180 no problem - given proper brake settings, proper response procedures, and not a massive line twist issue. In general, I believe that the largest factor by far in off-heading causation is body position. For example, we had very few 180s while jumping Petronas this week - about 600 jumps, maybe 10 or so 180s. Exits were all flat and stable, due to the risk of object strike on that building. Moving over to KL Tower, with less object strike risk, we went into aerials. In several hundred jumps, I saw dozens and dozens of 180s - many with line twists. Of course, this is because we were often deploying in wildly unstable positions - head down, on our sides, on our backs, rotating, etc. No amount of careful packing is going to make up for a flailing deployment - whether one is doing aerials on purpose or just because one has bad exit skills. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

The problem (in my hands-on experience) with the US legal system today is twofold. One, even if you sign a wavier that says in big letters I WILL NOT SUE YOU IF I DIE, and you die, your heirs can sue anyway. Sure, a judge might throw out the suit on summary judgment (which is, nowadays, extremely rare even in clearcut cases - a smart lawyer will always add a few points of factual dispute and no summary judgment), but far more likely is that it will go to trial. Plan on at least $100,000 to mount a defense at a civil jury trial. This is even if you have a signed, notarized, legal wavier. Our legal system is so out of control that signed contracts are often ignored and it turns into a big pissing match at trial. Two, jury trials are a total crapshoot in the US. You MIGHT get a jury that is stable, intelligent, and fair - but more likely you'll get a group of people raised on Oprah and Jerry Springer. Put eleven of them together, and groupthink runs rampant. Basically, it turns into a popularity contest - juries are SUPPOSED to follow the law, but they can pretty much do what they want. Are you a cute white chick? Poor, but not too poor? Jury will love you, cha-ching! Not so cute? Not so poor? Too poor? Not white? Good luck, mate, as you'll need it. The foundation of the US legal system is sound. However, over the centuries the lawyers have tweaked it to their enormous benefit - lawyers love lawsuits, and in the USA lawyers write the laws that govern lawsuits. Guess what? Lawsuits are so easy to file, and so expensive to defend against, that everyone is hiding in bunkers just hoping some trigger-happy plaintiff lawyer isn't going to target them for an easy payday. This is why property owners in the USA don't allow legal access. Even with a perfect liability wavier, they could get sued, spend a few hundred grand defending the suit. Even if they win, they don't get their legal fees back - doesn't work that way in the USA. If they get a jury who decides they aren't so cute, they could get screwed even if they did nothing wrong. If you owned a building in the USA, would you put your family's entire fiancial future at risk to allow someone to jump off it? Only if you knew that person and trusted them - and their family - quite well, I'd think. Thus, us BASE folks in the USA get really good at getting on objects, getting off them, not harming anyone, and never leaving so much as a footprint behind. Not what we want to do, but what choice do we have in our "land of the free?" Peace from Malaysia, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

This year's event has been really spectacular. By now, over 1000 jumps and no major incidents. The Malaysians really are great hosts - they have really been fun to meet and have been really accepting of all the eccentricities that comes along with having sixty jumpers from all over the world in town for two weeks. The last two days of aeiral competition from KL tower have been spectacular. Lots of really solid work from a wide range of jumpers, along with th requisite amount of flailing, flapping, spinning disasters. It has been a great learning experience for everyone, and I am quite sure this event will prove to be very popular in the future. Off I go for a few more flops off KL; the combined effect of 30 or so jumps in 8 days are certainly taking their toll on my old body, but it is hard to sit out the time with a legal, 1000 foot, overhung building only a $2 taxi ride away Oh, and Gil has made available heaps of good photos at www.foolpix.com. He's a cool guy and a great photographer, and even got a jump off KL today with a solid delay! Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

Good video! The quarry static line is quite impressive - there are times when opening surge can be one's best friend. There's good footage in there (during several of the TF jumps) of what happens with non-vented pilot chutes. Violent oscillation- it is easy to see from this video why apex-mounted PCs are (or should be) absolutely standard gear for any jump where there is object strike potential. If you are wondering about vented PCs, watch this video and it will help to lay out the convincing case for this technology as a major improvement in BASE gear. Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

ZP foreskin. . . sounds pretty sexy Sorry Tom; couldn't resist! Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

In BASE, the Aussies have a well-earned reputation of being hardcore as jumpers. They have pushed the sport in several important areas (low freefalls, aerials) and several Aussie jumpers are at the top of the sport in their respective field of specialty. Equally importantly, though the Aussies get a rap for being next-door neighbors to reckless, the fatality statistics tell a different story: despite their hard-jumping ethos, Austrailans have also brought along enough discipline and talent to play the game and not end in a string of fatalities. Plus, they are always bloody fun to jump with! Never a dull moment. . . Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.

There are no fatalities on Beyond Extreme. And, as we all know, the prime instigators in BE have matured into safe, cautious, conservative jumpers. Yes, they're feeling much better now! As Tom says, there's no fatality footage therein. I don't know of any BASE jumper - anywhere in the world - who would include such footage in a commercial video. We may be a little unstable, but BASE folks do have ethics. . . Peace, D-d0g [email protected] www.wrinko.com +~+~+~+~ But this, surely, was the glory that no spirits, canine or human, had ever clearly seen, the light that never was on land or sea, and yet is glimpsed by the quickened mind everywhere.