lifewithoutanet

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Posts posted by lifewithoutanet

  3. Quote

    It is just an idea and I would love to hear others input on this. If the NPS allowed permits to jump the permit holder would have to have some kind of certification that would prove that he or she was competent enough to BASE jump. Maybe a Base number would be sufficient.



    No certification required to climb big walls, hike the trails, paddle the rivers...why should we have one to jump them? Treat us like any other backcountry activity. If getting there requires a permit, fine...but keep the FAA and the NPS off my canopy.

    Quote

    In theory this would encourage some kind of education program similar to the license progression set in place by the USPA. I am sure this has been discussed here before but I haven't found it in the forums as of yet.



    I'm all for education in BASE, but the thing to kill BASE may well be a skydiving mentality.

    Just my $.02. Take it or leave it.
    -C.

  5. Quote

    Think about it... It's the tensioning of the right lines prior to the left lines during the initial inflation, IMHO.



    Agreed, if the off-heading is not a result of the packjob twisting prior to linestretch.

    Jaap hijacked your question and was pointing out examples where the packjob has turned before any input from the riser. I let him drag me down that path.
    -C.

  6. Quote

    Assuming you are correct in this (which I'm not convinced of, nor am I of the contrary), then what are you actually contributing the offheading to?



    Good, 'cause I'm not convinced either way, either.

    Quote

    Hey, I like that one. You mean the side-walls of the container scraping past the packjob perhaps?



    Yes. I think the angle is only a factor when it reaches a point where a part of the container inhibits extraction from the tray.

    However...at terminal or close to terminal speeds, I could see where air slipping between the container and packjob on the side w/ the lower shoulder could effect the heading performance.

    -C.

  7. I muddled my point by including that statement. I've since stricken it from the post.

    Still, I maintain that if a shoulder is dipped and there is no crosswind or oscillation of the PC as a factor, except in extreme cases (i.e. the shoulder is more than simply 'dipped' a little low), and before line-stretch (in which case loading one riser before the other occurs) the angle of the packtray will have little effect. In cases where it's more than just dipped a little low, I'd worry more about the container distorting the packjob as it leaves the tray than on the simple angle alone.

    Am I making sense now?

    -C.

  8. Quote

    The packtray is not presented in a laterally horizontal way, this means your packjob will come out tilted to one side.



    Quote

    largely based on my observation that offheadings happen long before the lines are taut, so long before riser-loading comes into play.



    But you must take into consideration other factors that could contribute to this, such as the direction of pull by the PC due to oscillation or wind conditions.

    I'm skeptical that the angle will really play as much a factor as you think when the bridle is extracting the packjob from the tray from a single point (except where a multi is in use).

    I'd say the direction of pull from the PC would play a greater role than the tilt of the packjob and tray.

    -C.

  10. Quote

    such a creative young mind in the world



    I second that. A lot of people may look at what he and his buds have done and say "They've got balls", but it's the brains that have brought them through this. I've got a lot of respect for them and these days, am rarely surprised when I hear of something else Matt's doing or has done.

    -C.

  12. Quote

    Dang Matt, as a pilot I thought you would have known not to launch at Wonderland with western winds.



    Remember... 1.) She was quoted by the media and 2.) winds change.

    I spoke to one of Matt's friends who was there a little while ago. They were launching into a headwind and even had a couple of short flights earlier that day.

    I was flying on Saturday (obviously a different site) and on our way to the top, got word that the wind was blowing up from the back. We went anyway, got to the top and the wind changed twice. I launched when I had a headwind and had a great flight. Let's not let this delve into speculation about what he did wrong when most of us aren't paragliders anyway. Neither of us were there.

    But to add some good news, there's no spinal damage and Matt has no more holes in his head than before he got to the hospital. While still serious, his docs are very optimistic about his condition and are already talking about his recovery.

    Heal up, Matt.

    -C.

  15. I just had a short conversation w/ the jumper in question. If anyone would like further details or possibly his phone number, PM me. I'm happy to give it out.

    He doesn't seem to get where his actions cross the line in BASE jumping... I quote, "Fuck you guys. I'll jump and do whatever I want." He told me if I wanted to do something legal, I could stick to skydiving. None of us have any issue w/ the legallity of what he's doing. We have issue w/ his ability to attract law enforcement and the wanton disregard he shows by his actions.

    I'm not one to stir shit up for anyone, but he's really pissed a lot of us off down here. I'd prefer we straighten this guy out to him doing something more to F shit up down here or anywhere else. I'd rather his bad history in BASE stop know and have him clean up his act.

    So, if anyone wants to give him a call, let me know.

    -C.

  18. This is directed at one particular jumper in Southern California.

    A reliable source informed us about your little photoshoots gone-wrong. Thanks for the additional heat. It hasn't been warm enough around here already w/ a couple nighttime busts and the "missing jumper" fiasco. Reports are that you decided to dayblaze two objects, at least one of which has been a regular staple far before the current crews started jumping them. Show some respect. If not for us, for the guys who handed those objects to us and managed to preserve them for this long and still jump them themselves.

    We all know your name and know this isn't the first time you've pulled shit like this. Even if the details are slightly off, your history took away any benefit of the doubt we might have offered. I've heard of your other 'plans' in order to get sponsored. How about you work on that without fucking it up for the rest of us. We shouldn't pay for your 15 minutes of fame, asshole. This kind of bullshit is not appreciated.

    -C.

    Edited to correct some details and add some profanity.

  19. Quote

    I think landing on the back or side of body would decrease the injury chances. it spreads the impact to a larger area of your body instead of focusing all the energy to your feet.



    I'd think that type of energy dissipation, with that amount of energy and surface area could lead to more internal injuries, or at least a greater risk of internal injuries.
    -C.

  21. Quote

    C'Mon, who's gonna pay the price? You or the idiot that does it.



    Okay, you weren't trying to buy the rig, but still, you got bent out of shape about it. What would you think about someone who WAS trying to buy the rig and got bent out of shape?

    The person who is more eager to buy gear than they are to prepare for BASE by lining up the proper training is someone who's going to be writing checks the rest of us are going to have to pay. They're not "paying the price" if they go in. They're transferring the debt to the rest of us in the form of pressure from family and friends, not to mention law enforcement or the authorities who may become involved and may as a result become a little more focused or biased against what we do.

    If your point is we shouldn't be trying to protect someone from themselves... Okay, fine. What we're doing by asking for references is to protect the rest of us and our sport. This is analogous to qualifying the buyer of a high-performance canopy before putting someone under a wing they shouldn't be under. In our case, it's called self-regulation and this is a responsible example of such.

    -C.