jalisco

It's ok, Ganja. We're not from East Carolina (props to peterk), we're from South Carolina -- I'm sure it'll be immediately obvious to the rest of the world that we're from a completely different place.

I'm no expert, but I wouldn't call this "oscillation". The pc looks grossly asymetrical, causing it to kite around, maybe due to design/construction flaws, or due to being connected incorrectly. It certainly has a lot of horizontal drive. hmmm... what do you suppose would happen if you larks-headed your bridle around only one load tape?

I hope yours isn't too easy to break, in case you need it one day. BTW, my nice one came with my rig, too (Asylum). Maybe you can trade yours in for an Apex model...

I think of BD as a public event -- it's legal (thanks to the efforts of a few BASE jumpers) for anybody to jump off of it during that event. Jason et al aren't "inviting" people to jump off of it so much as managing the distribution of the limited number of slots which are available -- limited due to the exigencies of security screens, the limited time period, etc. Looked at this way, they're going above and beyond the call of duty by trying to make sure that nobody goes off with, like, a patio umbrella or something. People show up with all kinds of equipment in various states of repair, and any first-jump and/or packing instruction they get is often much more than they might otherwise get. (Of course Jason and crew do much more than this for the newbies and the experienced alike -- platforms, contests, awards, transpo, stuff, etc.) It's a legal object (for those few hours) like the potato is. If you want to jump off it, you can. If you think you might want training first, well that's an excellent idea. From a BASE perspective, my first experience there, as I recall, was not unlike any other first BASE jump might be in that I got BASE-specific gear and training well ahead of time, thanks to mentors whom I had sought out, and spent some time under my BASE canopy at the DZ first -- an old-school FJC, if you will Of course, the age of the event, traditions, mix of people, public attention, reputation among the skydiving community and overall vibe certainly make it very different from what one might normally think of as BASE jumping. Boy, that bridge sure looked low the first year. When I went back it seemed so high.

The wife/girlfriends will love that... or do you have the whole thing to yourself now?

well, i've been scheduled on a last minute business trip ... i can send my gear via a friend, and then i'm hoping i can get a flight into Charleston, WV on Thu evening, and find some way to Fayetteville from there. anybody got any suggestions? Thanks!!!!!

So, it's about time in sport (skydiving) more than jump numbers/currency? Does skydiving generally put less emphasis on gear knowledge and packing today than it has in the past? On the time-vs-numbers thing, I know when I take it easy at the DZ, I'm much more likely - while others are on a load - to find myself talking to packers and elders about gear, or watching people pack strange rigs, or helping somebody do a line check or fix a step-through or swap canopies (or packing my BASE rig(s))...

Dislaimer: I'm no more of "an ethicist" than anyone else, I don't imagine. (1) I don't know that anyone is trying to keep BASE jumping a "secret" -- plenty of info is available for anyone motivated to look for it. (2) Maybe "mainstream" isn't the issue...I'm around enough BASE jumpers enought of the time that I'm not sure I could tell the difference (is it already mainstream?). However, someone might have a problem with media attention if it increases the vigilance of our fine men and women in uniform and - maybe more importantly - of object owners and managers, thereby reducing our access to objects. Even if this "mainstream" thing were to eventually get the police to relax a little, it might get otherwise mostly oblivious object owners to thinking..."don't need a bunch of them punks jumpin off the roof -- maybe we should strengthen the doors and locks and get some video surveillance on the roof". But, hey -- good luck to him with the "outlaw" film marketing scheme. Maybe once he gets rich and famous, he can set up a fund to organize legal BASE events at selected objects so they can still be jumped by someone occasionally...

appologies to Yuri for not saying thanks. having always heard "wind down a wire is bad", the original post was an eye opener...

***In a strong wind (at or above you canopy's speed) exiting almost parallel with the upwind wire (0..30 degrees off) gives you the most safety margin: 90..120 degrees free sector on the downwind side. Hmmm.... Seems to me that the optimal exit is 90 degrees from the down-wind wire under these conditions, and not anything more. A 110 degree exit is similar (with respect to the downwind wire) to a 70 degree exit, in that your separation from the plane of the downwind wire is the same, putting you that much closer to collision in the event of a 180 (or, to be precise, a 160 degree opening, facing the plane of the downwind wire). Also, note that with a 110 degree exit, openings greater than 70 degrees in the direction of the upwind wire (more than directly into the wind) may give you resulting vectors that actually intersect the upwind wire (see attachment). The closer you are to the upwind wires, the dicier this situation becomes.

Absolutely -- it'll open right practically every time... And if not, you can always ... um ...

A Two-Fisted McDaisy

Agreed, I suppose. Perhaps I presume too much, but my dogs have never seemed to have much trouble letting me know what they wanted (and when they didn't want something). Most have seemed to want nothing so much as just to go wherever the hell I'm going.

Another option which my mentors seem to use (if I'm not mistaken -- which I certainly have been before) might be to firmly hold a bight of the end of the bridle right next to the pilot chute, allowing the pilot chute to hang from the bridle attachment below your dominant hand. Then, you can hold several s-folds of the bridle loosely in the other hand (or rubber-band them loosely with an ordinary thin rubber band) so they can play out without entanglement. This, it would seem to me, could have pros and cons. The main thing is that, since you're getting full bridle extension, your deployment is a little lower. For really low objects this might be a negative. Barring this consideration, however, getting full bridle extension prior to deployment seems like a good thing on anything not significantly and sharply overhung, since (a) you'll be that much further from the object, (b) your canopy will be that much further from the object, and (c) your lines will be that much closer to vertical on deployment, reducing the amount of possible correction/ocillation that might happen after deployment. Does this make sense?

nice!

Got video? I'd like to hear the "Farmer McNasty" story sometime...

Judging from my (extremely limited) experience, I'd guess this was a contributing factor...

I'm more interested in the difference between a canopy packed 3 hrs and one packed 3 wks...

that was all I needed to hear...

Direct bagged? Who was holding (or was there a tree involved)? Was he using a trampoline?

Or, it's warmer up there because you're closer to the sun.

...and we could'a, too!!!

By "dos" I meant "Denial of Service" (geek out, yall). Not that I don't have "the magic touch" mind you... 918

hmm sad i just wanted to call you and sponsor 500000dkr to the project... Perfect!!!! Jason needs a server farm, a T3, and a phone bank...

Definitely not. Instead, we should all just call his cell-phone every couple of minutes to check on his progress...