GreenMachine

Michael Jackson meets BASE Is that a handle on the PC in photo #2? Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

To get experience flying a BASE canopy I cutaway my main, hooked the risers of a used Mojo280 to my rig, packed the canopy using clamps and bungees, placed it in a Publix shopping bag, rode to 3,500 with the bag on my lap, hopped out with my back to the relative wind, ripped the bag, threw the canopy away from me, and hoped for the best. This worked amazingly well three times....the fourth and final time I got distracted by numerous questions from bystanders during the pack job and accidentally left the slider down. The instant I threw the canopy away from me I saw my mistake and in less than a second I was hanging the harness moaning in pain and wondering why those little birds were flying around my head

Blue Skies & Happy Birthday Joy!!! Thank you for all of your hard work.

Larry, first thing I want to do is agree with you about something. Every canopy pilot has a responsibility to NOT become a hazard to other jumpers in the air or spectators on the ground. I have seen a few mishaps where swoopers came in too hot, their lines snag a flag or something, and next thing you know somebody is on the way to the hospital. This is completely unacceptable! I think anyone who does that should have to pay for the person's injuries and be grounded for a month. On the other hand, you are a skydiver with over 1600 jumps so you must understand the concept of accepted risk and perceived benefit. Yes, there are some marginal increase in risk for a variety of skydiving disciplines. Freeflying has some risks that RW does not. Fully elliptical canopies have greater chance of malfunction. Swooping increases injuries from landing. And so... Last thing we want is for the thoughts of the majority to control the actions of the minority. If we did that then of us would ever get to jump at all. Oh, and your comment "bring your own emergency services, have insurance, and don't raise my taxes" was lame!! If American really worked like that then fast food and vending machines in public schools would be illegal because of the obesity epidemic. I honestly think having to routinely check 12 year olds in school for type two diabetes is costing me more tax money than the occasional uninsured swooper who biffs. Lastly, just so you know, I am not what anyone would call a big swooper. I have almost as many jumps as you and yesterday after work I did 4 jumps conservatively flying my Sabre2-150. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

As a canopy pilot and an instructor I love it when there are designated landing areas. Experienced pilots are better at handling funky winds coming off the hanger and do many more jumps in a day. While novices usually need more space to feel comfortable, make less jumps in a day, each jump amps them up more, and the long walk back gives them time to revel in the experience --- of course they still need to keep an eye out for all traffic...other students, planes, swoopers, pickups, etc. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Faber, Regarding the idea that jumpers subconsciously turn into high winds under canopy and while in freefall... The canopy part make obvious sense and may be a conscious action. Do you think the desire to do it in freefall is because one's body wants to use/fly the relative wind for stability? Definitely not arguing, just curious cause I have no experience with this. Thanks. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Hey Tom A., I had not read the whole thread in the skydiving section, honestly I don't read much in there...but after your post I went and trudged through all 5 pages of it. Damn, not only was there a lot of shitty attitudes towards BASE jumpers, but an amazing amount of igorance in general about different types of gear.... I guess since I had never personally heard a skydiver ever say anything about BASE other than 'those guys are crazy', I thought it was more one-sided. Of course I am still pretty new to skydiving and even newer to BASE so I have a lot to learn. In the future I would love to see both groups appreciate each other and realize they compliment and benefit each other. We all know that learning to fly a parachute in a huge, open airport is easier than in a canyon or downtown. Most know that improvements in BASE gear will ultimately provide ALL PARACHUTISTS with safer, more reliable gear. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Good Morning Gang, I was reading the thread "Rat in the House" and it made wonder about something....why the animosity about different kinds of Parachutisting? I can understand joking about groups for fun but to seriously hate a whole group of people makes me laugh and cringe. For example: I freefly & do RW and hear jokes about each --- freefliers having improvisational dive plans --- flatfliers getting dressed 10 minutes early to dirt dive 20 times. However, neither group really has any problem with the other. In contrast I have read, heard, and even received some harsh words from BASE jumpers about Skydivers. During my FJC we discussed the differences in culture and mindset which I understand and can appreciate. Honestly, all of my skydiver friends were very supportive of my 'Visit To The Darkside' I am not looking for a bunch of emotional replys about how some groups are pussies and other groups are tough as nails. Just some basic reasoning to support the frequent need to differniate. I once heard it said you are not a Real BASE Jumper untill you jumped an object by yourself, went home, and never told anyone because it is just something you do. If this captures the essence of doing what you do for yourself then telling some putz in a pink RW suit that he is a fag should be a waste of your time. Lastly, that Rat was completely in the wrong!! Taking a BASE rig off of a balloon is a hell of lot safer than most of the things I saw or even did at WFFC in 2003. If he had a problem with it he should have take it up with the jumper, not the FAA. In my opinion, the only time to get authorities involved is when a person is directly in immediate danger and you can not save them yourself. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Real sorry to hear this bad news man... Your friends can now fly for free. All of us wish you a string of better luck! ~Tom

How intense should the theory be ??? I think Tdog/Travis raised a good point about not overwhelming them with too much information so I would skip a discussion of aerodynamics. However, whenever I teach packing I explain why to do something a certain way. Possibly preventing malfunctions is a great way to keep their attention and gives the information context. Before I start I explain the three basic concepts and why: symmetry, line tension, and lines in the middle with fabric on the outside. I always include my personal pet peeve, which is when people spend a bunch of time flaking their canopy and then basically throw it down instead of kneeling and setting the canopy on the ground. Lastly, I also think it is a good idea to tell the students that they will see people packing in many different ways (side, flat, psycho) and that those can be good ways too but for now stick one method, the standard PRO pack. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

>>>How can tight or loose stows effect how the canopy opens if the canopy is still in the bag? This is mostly my own theory so I could be totally wrong...you have about 1,200 more jumps than me so Babi should probably listen to you... I've never had one myself, but 'bag lock' is when the pull force created by the drag of the pilot chute does NOT exceed the restriction created by the rubber band (of course a knot around the bight can do it also). Now I have had a few slammer openings using regular rubber bands with a single wrap on microlines. (yeah, I know, dumb but I asked every skygod on the DZ then and none of them caught it either). The first stows are usually fatter than many of the others, to the point that some people use regular rubber bands there and microline bands everywhere else (especially Aerodynes). So what I am getting to is that the force required to deploy 8 bights of line has some marginal affect on the velocity of the jumper consequently slowing them down ever so slightly before the locking stows give way and the canopy is released. While my theory might be plausible I agree that the net affect is small, however, instructing newbie packers to take care with ALL of their line stows will probably help them avoid other problems. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Good Morning Bart, Whenever we are real slow or on a weather hold I end up showing a newbie how to pack. However, if a student wants a dedicated class on the subject I usually offer people to come to my house on a non-jumping day . I think people learn better when there are no distractions AND they write down the steps. My one-on-one classes go like this: I pack my rig and explain every step while they watch, ask questions, and take their own notes of the process. I then allow them to pack my rig as many times as they want to. During this time I will watch, then go do some chores around the house, come back, watch some more, answer questions, etc. If you will be teaching at your DZ then you could probably have one rig per student which would speed things up. As for how many practice packs before you'd let them jump their own pack job.....well in my opinion that would be based on their comfort level. If they understand the prcoess well enough to complete it without any questions and are willing to jump it then chances are they have the basics down. Just be sure to stress the crucial things. Good Luck! Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

what do you want it for? To get small of course

I don't know how hard the opening shock of a reserve at terminal is but it sure beats impact.

I agree, line dump prior to line tension is bad news --- however, I believe that having all of the line stows snug helps make for a nice, orderly, and staged deployment, which usually means a softer opening. Plus I don't think any of us should tell a new packer to pay attention to only the first two stows and feel free to slop the rest Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Very entertaining and well edited!! Looks like I am not the only fan of 'Snatch'.

The article Gus included is a geat one, and as Ken mentioned, many times it is the lines stows. PD's article says: Replace Tube Stoes or rubber bands that appear worn. Do not wait until they break! I replace all of the rubber bands on my D-bag about every 25 jumps or so. Also be sure that you are using the correct sized rubber bands....This might sound obvious but on my first rig (5 years ago) I got slammed several times...to the point of accidentally biting through my lip and coming down with a lot of blood on my face. I even had up-jumpers watch me pack. I finally realized on my own that I needed microline rubber bands for the microlines of the canopy (a PD210) instead of the larger bands I was using for the student gear with dacron lines. Keep in mind, hard openings can lead to malfunctions. Good Luck!! Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Yeah, I'd say learning to swim is a whole lot easier, cheaper, and safer than learning to BASE jump

A few months back I was buying a new reserve and was debating on what size to get...after some discussions with my rigging mentor and the PD rep. I learned that their 143R is really more like 150 square feet. I thought this was odd, but later heard about the difficulties in accurately measuring 3-D objects that are only full size when inflated, how many people with limited experience buy canopies by the model numbers, and how some numb-nut skydivers always think smaller is better. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Any chance of you putting together a compilation DVD? Kind of like what the FreeflyBoyz do after one of their film festivals? I'm sure some of us who can't make it would be happy to pay a few bucks for a dub. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Thanks guys for the stories & advice. I will probably get some cargo pockets put on a set of tandem pants --- put some sick bags on one side with a rag and a pack of gum on the other side

Good Morning Ton Lammerts, At the moment I have a Sabre2-150...but I am in the process of ordering a Sabre2-120. Yes, I have done 360s on the front of a tandem and it is definitely different than doing them alone on a sport rig. Yes, the passenger was helping steer with me. The funniest part was that he was on some extreme bike team and specifically requested me to take him for a wild ride. I agree with you, I always ask the passenger(customer) if they get sick easy, if they say no I usually give them one gentle 360 and then ask them how that felt, then fly the rest of the canopy descent accordingly. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Thanks Jeff, appreciate it So what kind of beer do you want Saturday...oh, never mind, you seldom stay late enough to drink it Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

The "Wake Up" comment was not meant to imply they were really asleep (or unconscious) but more like they weren't paying attention. And yes, I agree with you, muscle memory/habit to go for the main first is very strong. I once had a guy pull right under me, the near collision freaked me out for a good couple of seconds, when I looked down and realized I was real low I should have pulled the reserve for sure but dumped the main -- no wave off of course Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM

Don't know how many jumps your sister has or how hot she is but honestly, stunts can really increase the risk and hence should only be attempted by jumpers with a fair amount of experience. As for this particular stunt, I have tried it 4 times and never quite managed to stay on for the entire deployment. However, I did get a nice black eye from one attempt. Rigger, Skydiver, BASE Jumper, Retired TM