base615

Edit: Already posted

I've had a total where I went straight to reserve without cutting away and I would also do so for PC in tow as I've seen a high speed mal resulting in broken lines (long time since I've seen it so might have been a riser) on the reserve from the hard opening and the jumper only being saved by being able to fight the main out as he was spinning to the ground. This is just my personal choice and many would disagree with me. YMMV as there are all sorts of things that can happen but I'd personally rather two canopies out with all the fabric associated with that and an opportunity to get them apart than my worst nightmare of having a completely unworkable reserve and no main because I chose to cut it away.

You're better off using the accuracy trick.

I realise this is a little bit old but I’ve done tonnes of BASE jumps to terminal and not in a wingsuit. In fact, I’d say there is a subset of jumpers who’ve only done terminal BASE jumps. Also, the primary reason for burning it down is not for either of your stated reasons but to get just a little further from the object to avoid a cliff / building / dam strike which has killed and injured many more jumpers than pulling too low has (or at least when I was active. I haven’t seen the BFL in a while so maybe there’s a recent epidemic of low pull fatalities to prove me wrong)

I stand corrected. Still a death trap though :)

Yeah but this one has happened over and over and they refuse to accept it's a problem.

This can be avoided by not jumping the deathtrap Racer double RSL

I only jump in non-polarised (Oakley Gibston) for just that reason. Also better for seeing the surface of a swoop pond.

Double posted accidentally

No, I’m not, but a mate of mine recently did AFF and got his first 4 jumps done in a day including briefs and debriefs (excluding the actual ground course) so I still maintain some DZs are more efficient than others in getting through loads.

Depends where you jump. I'm often closing my container as the plane's landing and then stuffing my pilot chute in, gearing up and sprinting for the plane before it takes off without me.

Yeah, I think they all vary. I have great openings but I have mates who have slammers and regular chops.

Nice one. Remember the removable slider does open quicker than the stock one so, as long as you find the Katana openings with the stock slider comfortable, you should be good.

No worries on bigger canopies (135 and up) but on anything smaller, unless there’s some wind to land into, I generally just slide in anyway. I’m seemingly too shit to completely shut it down and I’m too old to run things out with 100% consistency. It doesn’t help that I have mutant feet and mostly limited to extra wide New Balance - not the slickest of shoes. If you are able to find skate shoes or similar to fit you should be good to slide on your feet until the speed is out of it. Another thing to consider is I think sometimes people have jumped cross braced canopies for too long to remember how much more lift they have.

Yeah man, as posted above, awesome openings on my Katana 120 with the VFX2 sized RDS I had on my Crossfire before (75cm wide by 64cm deep). I had it made by a local rigger and it's got the PD style connections which are pretty easy to reconnect. Takes maybe 2 minutes more to pack and so much easier to deal with after opening. IMO, the NZ Aerosports method is a bit more difficult to put back on but others prefer it so your mileage may vary. Depending on where you are, happy to share his details with you if you want him to make one to the same specs but, if you're not in Australia, you'll probably be better off finding someone closer to you. You'll get people telling you "You don't need a removable slider on a canopy over 100 square feet" etc. but they're just talking about performance and I don't think that's the reason for removing your slider. Like you, I hate stowing my slider behind my neck so I think you should ignore them. You'll never go back once you start taking your slider off.