base736

Inspired by a comment Tom made on the accident thread.

Scott is going to have his fair share of detractors, I'm sure, and God knows I was one of them at one point. Nobody will argue the fact that inexperience might have played an important role in this incident. But each of us takes his own path into the sport, and Scott has followed his. Red Bull is not to blame. Miles is not to blame. And pointing out that you saw this coming sure as hell isn't going to improve matters.

The locals have been getting a lot of unwelcome phone calls from the media on this one. If it's important to you that you know the details (such as they are known), you should PM me or crwper.

I should start by agreeing that knowing when and how to walk down is one of the most important skills in BASE. But maybe we need a better way to say "Sometimes you can do everything right..."? The point, I think, is that there are some incidents from which we, as BASE jumpers, can learn nothing except that BASE jumping is dangerous. Can BASE fatalities be prevented without exception by walking down? Yes. Is that always a helpful analysis of what happened, particularly for those of us who like to jump when the conditions seem good? I don't think so.

I used the back protection the very first time I wore my Dainese armour on a jump. It's worth noting that I wasn't even going to wear it on the jump, since I didn't really figure I needed it, except that I'd owned the stuff for a few months and thought, hell, I should wear it SOMETIME... The jump was a local 165' catwalk over ice. Everything was normal until I noticed late in the opening that it didn't feel like it had "finished" right. I looked up, and saw that the rear of the canopy hadn't opened. My first thought, having recently seen video of such a thing, was "tension knot". "Tailgate hangup" (the correct assessment) was quick on its heels. I managed to pump the brakes twice before I looked down and thought, "Enough with fixing the problem. I need to get ready for impact." I hit less than a second later moving down at about 30 km/h (timed from the video, a little over five seconds top to bottom) and backward at maybe 10 km/h (the front of the canopy had opened just fine). PLF's backward suck -- this one went something like feet-ass-head. I absorbed what I could with my legs, but took a lot with my back (which I found out some months later I had broken) and head (splitting my ProTec up the back). My ground crew was pretty surprised to see me get up at all, and I credit the fact that I walked away (or ever again) in large part to the armour I was wearing. You can check it out under "Tailgate.mov" on skydivingmovies.com. I got two more jumps that day thanks to a helmet loan from crwper, who I really can't thank enough. Scariest jump I ever did was that next one. Lessons learned... (1) Black elastics = black death. I keep the one that hung up (it was still holding on when we examined the gear later) in my pocket; it's the only one I've still got. (2) Armour up. Think this jump doesn't really call for full armour? Armour up anyway.

Awesome collection. Thanks for putting this together, and thanks (of course) to Nick for writing it all in the first place.

I'm sure somebody who's around here more could point you at a dozen or more discussions of armour. Still, I'm not that person. So here's my two cents... I can personally vouch for Pro Tec helmets and Dainese armour. My feeling on helmets is pretty straightforward. Without any exceptions I have seen (which isn't to say that there aren't any), skydiving helmets are meant to (1) protect you from knocking your head against the doorway, and (2) look cool. Anybody who thinks that a sixteenth of an inch of carbon fibre and a quarter-inch of comfy pillow lining is going to offer real protection is only kidding themselves. Any decent skate/ski shop will stock a half a dozen helmets which are more than suitable from a protection and line-snag standpoint, and onto which one can mount a camera with pretty minimal effort. I also jump wearing a Dainese Shuttle Pro suit. It's fantastic protection (everywhere -- including my personal saviour, the back protector), and it's more comfortable than any elbow/knee pad set I've tried on. It also costs about 10 times what a decent set of elbow and knee pads will run ya. If you're going the separate pads route, look for something low-profile where the plastic is sewn on, not riveted on (which creates snag points). I've got a pair of Bauer pads I used to use that are pretty great. If I were going to buy another pair of knee pads, I'd hunt down something with shin guards, which not only protect your lower leg but should also help hold the kneepads over your knees. Have fun!

I recall hearing from SabreDave that a certain very experienced paraglider pilot on your last foray together managed the sort of "helicopter spin" that's more typical of paragliding wings, but under a BASE canopy. I'm hoping to pick up this trick from said pilot over the summer; perhaps it might be worth your giving him a shout?

When a friend of mine got into BASE, another friend told him to get ready for some very high highs, and some very low lows. BASE can (obviously, I think) be very dangerous, so from time to time many jumpers feel that they need to sort out the benefits, to be weighted against the cost. The right reasons are the ones that you look at, when you're doing that weighing, and say, "Yeah. This is all good."

I jump the full-body Dainese Shuttle Pro suit. First time I ever wore it, I had a malfunction that I'm quite certain I wouldn't have walked away from without -- and likely wouldn't have walked again at all (search for "tailgate.mov" on skydivingmovies.com). I really didn't figure I needed it before the jump, and was only wearing it because what the heck, I own the stuff. I've only done one jump without it since, as the object wouldn't allow me to take my Dainese with me. The price tag is a little higher than just the jacket, but I've worn the suit for an entire day before without it ever getting uncomfortable. The suit helps keep the armor bits in place, which is a particular bonus for the kneepads, my experience being that regular kneepads tend to drift quite a bit.

I guess "The Letter" has always fallen, for me, into the category of things that I think are played up with more value than they've actually got. Also on the list is, e.g., carnage video. I like to think I'm completely realistic about what the possible outcome of a BASE jump is. I've seen fatalities and serious injuries in skydiving, and I've flown a malfunction to the ground in BASE (and, as it turns out, broke my back doing it). But at the exit point, all of that seems irrelevant. Most of the time. If the letter is intended as a personal exploration, then I suppose it has value in that. However... I don't believe there are "good" and "bad" ways to die, though there are certainly good and bad ways to live. Does my family know I live well? I think so. But if they don't, would it be more appropriate to correct that post-mortem with a letter, or while I'm still around to let them know personally? The value of "The Letter" to family is, I think, questionable at best.

If you could post said list, or PM it to me as well (if your plan is to PM it), I'd sure appreciate that. I've got the physics, but a suggested reading list from you would be gold. [email protected]

Just a note of caution on the "throw a rope up" deal... A couple of years ago, I encountered a similar situation with a silo. The bottom end of the ladder was low enough that I could get to it with a boost, so I did that. As soon as I touched the thing, I felt something release and suddenly I've got a handful of very loud ladder. There was a bottom part I hadn't seen, designed to be unlatched with a touch. Same problem as yours, I didn't want to bother the neigbours with the noise. Imagine yourself 10 feet up gripping two stacked ladders with your hands, trying to feed them down with your feet in the way. Anyway, I figure a rope thrown over would have released the thing, too. Watch that.

(Also posted on the BASE Board) Could anybody with experience getting 3rd party liability insurance for a BASE demo, preferably (but not necessarily) with a North American company, please PM me. Thanks! [email protected][email]