jimjenningsmpa

>What I "think" isn't of relevance here. Yeah, so shut the f.u.c.k. up! >Anybody who hasn't discussed the details of this fatality with me firsthand doesn't have anywhere near enough data to have a substantive opinion on this issue. Oh, I see, they need you're "self(ishly)" created data to know the "real truth?" >It is sad when something like Dwain's death is turned into a circus of argument and conflict; that's why I just stopped talking about it with other jumpers. Well...you didn't stop talking about it soon enough... and amazingly...you still keep talking about it! >Though, I'm certainly not the only one who knows what actually happened in Colorado - your unawareness of that further lays bare your relative removal from the situation. Well, I was there...you were not...and DW shared with me his thoughts about you... If anything, he convinced YOU to think if he happened to die that day (cause he knew weeks ahead of time he was going to make a do or die jump) you would live a life of self torment in the event of his death. Think about it...he played it up oh so well... Ha ha ha! how do you like them apples???!!! >However, even if a big chunk of the herd convinces itself that the sky is green, it doesn't make the sky any less blue. It's often a thankless task to work to set forth a truth that few want to hear, and quite a few would prefer to keep under wraps. Add in the emotional cost and wounds to those of us close enough to know what really happened, and nobody's really going to "argue" with the uneducated masses about it. The sky is green doug! >So, "believe" what you will; heck, believe that gravity doesn't work, for all I care. That won't change gravity from working, and it won't change the facts of Dwain's death. Gee, I hope not! Never thought I would post again on this retarded forum...but I couldn't help myself...like I could give a shit anyway... and gee Nick...where do you fit into the "three types" and where would I fit in??? JJ

Thanks for the compliments guys...you were practically already BASE jumpers when you arrived. JJ

No don't do it Avery, don't bring up the "DEATH MONGER!" I still stand behind my beliefs. IMHO, there's a big difference between using death footage with the intention to teach/scare wanna be BASErs into being safe and helping them realize what they are getting into, or trying to make BASErs be more safe, and trying to use humor/cliches to catch the eye onlookers. Especially when the poster is assumedly a non-BASEr. Enough said. JJ

>Now if this comment came from JJ, I wouldn't even flinch. Folks that have been there can use black humor, folks that haven't..... Jesus Christ! Even I have a little more class than that. I flinched when I read that title today and hoped the moderator would either change the title or erase the thread. I knew Gabbi pretty well, hanging out with her in the red bus and jumping with her in the valley. My sincere condolences to her family and friends. Reading the title of this thread pissed me off and my first thought was the guy who wrote this sensationalist titled crap must NOT be a BASE jumper. I used to sort of like this site because it brings in the "not so serious BASErs" and "wanna be BASErs" but after spending some time here, reading the replys (like on this thread), my dislike for most dropzones and skydivers, and seeing the lame shite some people use to represent themselves when they post, I'm beginning to think I'll stick to the "BASE only" sites - Cause skydiving aint BASE jumping! Skydiving is soft and squishy...but BASE is (for the most part) HARD. MD #4

Yo! Ok, here's the correct info for the board - we cannot post from here :( It's probably for base forum, edit and post it for us! :) Robert and i had some sweeet flights in the last 3 days. About the same glide, Robert covers it a bit faster. We decided the time is really meaningless by itself, but still a number is a number :) Anyway, raw data: 3.2km flight from a new 1730m spot, time is presently unknown, video loses it at 1:38 mark but may be visible on a big screen. Average glide ratio is 2.1 Today, 4.3km flight from a known mushroom spot, 1950m altitude gained (lots of room to work on :) exact time is presently unknown but is about 2min. Video loses it early, will check a big screen later. Average glide is 2.45 An important note from the last flight - my arm got so tired holding a wingtip that i had a very weak pull. Something to watch on those long flights! Robert says after a minute and half he couldn't hold it at all. Let's get strong! :) We will play a couple more days and then off to Norway! :) bsbd! Yuri.

I am trying to reduce the chance of my friends and myself hitting the object on subterminal slider up jumps by reducing the probablility of severe off heading openings and/or openings with line twists. In light of some new evidence... I have a few theories bubbling up in my head. In order to develop and test modified equipment I could use your help. To confirm these SLIDER-UP theories and move forward in the testing phases, I would appreciate some feedback on the following severe off-heading and/or line twist questions: I. EQUIPMENT CONFIGURATION (slider up only) - 1.) Slider size (was it a larger/smaller than recommended by the manufacturer slider) and type (small/large hole mesh, sail/modified sail)? 2.) Slider Control? (single/double rubberband direct control, indirect control)? 3.) Canopy brand and type (vented/unvented/ZP/F111)? 4.) Pilot chute size and type (ZP/F111/Vented/Unvented)? II. MALFUNCTION (slider up only) - 1.) Malufunction (Severity of off-heading, number of line twists)? 2.) Outcome (Object Strike? How was the sitution dealt with?) III. WIND CONDITIONS AND OBJECT SHAPE - the goal here is to try to determine the effect of wind during the opening i.e. were rotors or turbelence a significant factor by figuring the... 1.) Strength of wind (mph)? 2.) Quality of wind (turbulent/clean/consistent)? 3.) Direction as it relates to the object? IV. THE JUMP 1.) Length of delay/useable altitude ? 2.) Stability, or body attitude, at deployment? For instance...A few years ago I jumped a nice little 800' cliff in the AZ desert. I was jumping a vented 265 FOX test canopy outfitted with a multi and a normal size (for 265) large hole mesh slider directly controlled on the C lines - each doubly wrapped. I had a 38 inch zp pilot chute. The constant 10 mph wind was from the NE hitting the cliff face at a 45 degree angle coming from my left. The cliff formation has a buttress jutting out about half way down on the right hand side that continues to the bottom. After sitting up top for nearly two hours, the wind appeared to be declining,and wanting to get on with the trip, I decided to jump. I chose to do a shorter delay to avoid being pushed downwind into the buttress on my right in the event of an off heading in that direction. I did a 3 second delay flat and stable, deployed and looked up at my canopy as it opened into a 450 degree off heading to the left. My body coninued to spin as I was heading directly toward the buttress downwind. I impacted the top of the buttress with one full line twist about 4 or 5 seconds after inflation, pulling on the brake lines through the twist to lessen my inevitable impact. I continued over the top of the buttress and into another cliff area, unspinning, bumping and scraping my down the sheer cliff, landing at the top of the talus without serious injury. After studying the cliff shape, the winds, and my experience. I determined a "whirlwind" was created by a combination of the shape of the object and the winds from that angle, causing the severe offheading with line twists. In hindsight (as pointed out to me by some more expereinced jumpers), I should have taken a longer delay to avoid the whirlwind, or not jumped at all. Equipment configuration may have played a part in the severity of the off-heading. Ironically, about five minutes after I jumped my partner up top reported that the winds had died down to nothing. The canopy suffered three cells and the stabilizer ruined and three lines broken just below where it attaches to the canopy. I landed with only one bump on my foot from the initial impact on the top of the buttress. Helmet, knee, and elbow pads definately helped reduce injuries. By investigating malfunctions we can hope to reduce their occurence. Please take a few minutes to tell us about your sub-terminal slider up malfunction experience. At the very least, please list canopy size, brand, and configuration. Thanks, JJ

Yuri Kuznetsov breaks two minutes from the Eiger... Atta boy!

Damn straight! He had a nice clean exit, near onheading opening and a loooong canopy flight. Nice jump! It's always good to feel the fear of a friend. Took a seven as the low man on a two way... FYI, this E is capable of a shallow eight, in the right weather conditions... without a wingsuit. JJ

QuoteIt can't hurt nor for W/S jumps nor for any other type of BASE jumps. Definately agree! >Opening is slightly faster but so what!! Benefits of having the vents may help in serious situation always. Very good point. Let's take this discussion in a different direction. Thus far we have been speaking of the benefits, or not, of bottom skin vents in an ideal situation - flying the suit as it should be flown with no critical problems. What about someone flying the suit for the first time in BASE and experiencing flight issues i.e. flying in a stall or not able to fly straight, or openings that are low and next to a hillside, or whatever object, where a 90 degree opening could be ugly, or unstable exits that spiral headdown? Last summer I saw all of these situations and for sure vtec helped Rob Tompkins when he opened extremely low and parallel to a steep hillside, had a one/two second canopy ride, and flared into a tree. Without vtec his canopy likely would have taken longer to inflate and he very well could have hit that rocky hillside much harder. What if someone opens very close to the object with line twists and bounces down to the bottom? With vents the canopy will be more inflated as it descends straight down. Food for thought...Because we all know BASE jumps don't always go as planned JJ

>Yes, my openings are usually hard, but I rather live w this than with hesitation of my PC or canopy. Yes, hesitations of PC or canopy suck! While jumping Kjerag last summer with my S1 I had a few low pulls mixed with pc or canopy hezi's and they scared the shit out of me! I was doulbe stowing, doulbe masking taping the steering lines, using small hole mesh slider, 36" F111 pc, and rolling the nose - and collapsing the wings and then reinflating as quickly as possible. This was making for some very comfortable openings, but the hezis were frightening! So after the hezis, I switched back to large hole mesh sliders, 38" zp, collapsed the wings for a second more, became a strong proponent of vtec for wingsuit BASE and lived with the harder openings. Actually, I have never used a non-vented canopy for wingsuit BASE, so I am not to voice my opinion on that matter... Logically, I assumed vtec was good for inflation purposes, but that's coming from someone who flys the suit in a horizontal fashion, poorly (I've actually stalled out my classic on a couple of BASE jumps and basically fell straight down at about 45 mph average), but the S1 was better but still not that great in terms of forward speed. So with a vertical decent speed of about 50mph mixed with a forward speed of about 50...isn't that about 75mph fall rate or 5 to 6 second delay speed (I'm not much of a physicist or mathmatician)? Looking forward to the S3 on a BASE jump this weekend...since the forward speed is unbelieveably faster! Speaking of hezis...has anyone seen the vhs tape at the white house of a nasty hezi at Kjerag (somone once told me it was Jari). The guy was kicking and flailing and when he turned to his side the canopy eventually came out - great video of a wingsuit jump almost turned fatal! be safe jj

>I have to disagree here - while the speed will vary quite a bit depending on a pilot and a suit, the average is quite faster that 3..4sec delay. Yeah, you're right right to disagree...for you. I was only speaking of myself. I flew my S1 and Classic so poorly I hardly had any forward movement so I didn't count that - only the vertical speed - and when I deploy my parachute, I collapse my wings for at least a couple seconds so I actually reach about 5 to 6 seconds equivalent vertical speed. I liken it to a sub-term slider up opening. >I usually fly slow, and my Classic opening were comparable to 6..8sec delays. Most people (and Skyflyer suit variations) fly faster. My skydiving opening on the S4 prototype feel almost terminal. To quantify this: on a reasonable flight (40mph vertical, 80mph horizontal) your total airspeed is about 90mph. You can flare a suit, but it won't slow down much. You are not the norm in wingsuit flying... >If anybody has developed such balls, they will stretch to a watermelon size by the very first slider-down wingsuit opening ;-) This is going to hurt more than landing a wingsuit without a parachute. Well...at least you would likely live if you opened slider off/down. >On the question itself: i believe that vents are irrelevant in case of wingsuit deployments. They don't cause any problems nor do they have any benefits here. I disagree. The canopy does open quicker because it inflates quicker. If you're opening low - like in the basement - IMHO vents could be of benefit. At any rate, regardless of canopy brand, vents are nice to have. JJ

I discarded my non-vtec canopies about 4 years ago. I prefer vtec because no matter what you are jumping - wingsuit, static, super low go and throw, 1,2,3 second, sub-term slider up, terminal - vtec will inflate quicker (so the openings may be a little harder) and give a better wing in less time. To answer the question... Wingsuit airspeed at deployment is equivalent to a 3 to 4 second delay slider up (depending on how long you collapse your wings to deploy) and therefore vtec will help to inflate the canopy quicker, providing a steerable wing in less time (but ideally you are not close to any objects when deploying). I prefer large hole slider up for wingsuit BASE (seems to inflate a hair faster) although the difference is hardly noticeable and may only be my imagination. Very curious to know if anyone out there has developed the balls to wingsuit BASE slider off/down? And if you have, please give a full report... Could you imagine the possibilities of deploying out of a wingsuit slider off/down? Who's gonna be or has been the first??? JJ

Tom the Alabama man, >When BR was testing the first Vtec canopies, we tried several locations and sizes before the final design was decided upon. I was there when BR was testing the vents...I guess that makes us "we" because we were at the test site at the same time, I videoed the initial test drops, and I threw in my 2 cents on where I thought the vents should be located. I way in no way compensated for being there... Does that make us "we" or not? Slight grammatical error and thank you for pointing it out. I really should re-read these things before I post them... JJ

Adam, Thanks for the compliments, although I feel the article was rather hastily written and should have had a tougher edit before I posted it. I've heard about CR's claim to a vent in the late 90's. Maybe I should have been a bit more specific by saying "BR was the first to offer vents in the marketplace." With the obvious improvments to canopy inflation, one has to wonder why CR did not offer the vents after testing them. Again, maybe I should have been more specific by saying something like "the blackjack and troll came out with vents of slightly different design and location than the FOX vtec, but are essentially the same in regards to performance." BR's products are not my products. BR does not pay me for testing, only instruction. I am "loaned" a canopy to test and report feedback and eventually I have to return the canopy. I wrote the article because I like the FLiK and see it's design as an improvement of the FOX canopy and a superior design in regards to BASE specific canopies. This is only my opinion after jumping the FLiK, FOX, Dagger, Ace, BlackJack, Mojo and Troll. >To clarify: BR certainly popularized the concept of lower surface vents. When we decided to answer the market's desire for such a feature we did not copy anyone. We built on our own knowledge and then completed the concept with a (patent pending) valve. BR popularized vents in BASE specific canopies, that I can agree with (since they were first introduced and used for accuracy in skydiving), and thankfully somebody did. Again, sorry, my mistake, I was not aware that the BlackJack bottom skin vents, so similarily sized and located to the Vtec FOX, were not copied. As I said, I did hear well after the Vtec was introduced into the marketplace that CR, at one time (I am relatively young in the sport of BASE - only 5 years), developed and tested some bottom skin venting, but "scrapped" the idea due to undesireable performance. But, for all I know that could have only been rumor. Did CR discard the original idea because the venting was improperly placed? Just speculation - I don't know. When BR was testing the first Vtec canopies, we tried several locations and sizes before the final design was decided upon. >We built on our own knowledge and then completed the concept with a (patent pending) valve. Help me understand why a BASE specific manufacturer would ever want to patent a life saving/injury preventing innovation. !!!TO ALL BASE JUMPERS AND THOSE INTENDING TO BASE JUMP!!! Any life saving or injury preventing device or design should be shared and people should not care who came up with what or when - INMO (In My Humble Opinion). We should thank those who came up with/introduced into the marketplace new ideas that minimize BASE related injuries/fatalities, and we should continue to try and understand how canopies work and how they might be improved - I know BR is always open to suggestions and theories (but be ready to fully explain your theory with evidence) - and all other manufacturers should be too...IMHO. >A vent with out a valve is like a seatbelt without a buckle. That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. I flew the Vtec without vents for nearly 400 jumps and did not experience any problems fitting to the analogy "a vent without a valve is like a seatbelt without a buckle." I did however notice an improvement in performance in glide ratio with the Vtec covers. JJ

What does the 'mpa' in your username stand for? I have a master's degree in public administration JJ