inzite

Which St. Petersburg?

Why didn't you get anyone to lick it off??? Especially if it's maple flavored....

My reaction to that line would have to depend on the context... For example, asking "is that all you've got?" upon seeing my 144-pack of Trojan ribbed condoms... well, I'd consider that one a compliment

Very cool. I wanna go for a ride!!!!

Congrats on not dying! I remember after my first cutaway, I let out the loudest "HELL YEAH!" after my reserve inflated. No fear, no second-guessing, just immediate action and follow-through on my part. Those 1001 practice cutaways that students do on the ground, just for the 1 (or more) times when they'll need to do it for real in the air, really do work. Of course, 20 minutes after landing I learned that my freebag had been stolen by passer-bys who wanted a souvenir ($200+ out of my pocket), and the owner of the house my main had landed by wanted $35 for the service of walking my main 500 feet back to the DZ. Still, I got off better than some of the other jumpers at our DZ. One PD main went missing for 6 months until jumpers learned some little old grandmother was using it to keep her cucumbers covered in her cellar. Apparently ZP is really good at keeping warmth in.

Hmmm, how should I open up this story, I wonder? Probably best to start at the beginning. So a cute female friend of mine come back to my place to smoke hookah before heading out for a night on the town. Thick smoke wanders through the room, dimmed lights, Dave Matthews playing in the background. The mood was right, we're both relaxing on the bed, passing the hookah pipe back and forth, and things start to get more "erotic". 2 minutes later various articles of clothing are flying across the room. 15 minutes later we're just getting started in what's promising to be an all-night rodeo. Then suddenly - CRASH!!!! The hookah hose was laying on the bedsheets, and with a few simple kicks of the legs it, along with the entire hookah contraption, red wine, smoking tobacco, and red hot coals comes spilling onto the linens! We both stare at each other and then continue what we were doing! I thought the hookah coals had already burned out. I thought wrong. 2 minutes later we're both quite startled by the unpleasant smell of burning 150 ct 50% cotton/50% polyester bed sheets. My partner in crime starts screaming - FIRE, FIRE, FIRE as I anxiously look around the room for something to pick up the coals with. By the time I've found an old rag, I return to see that Anna is picking up the coals by hand, and screaming "Ow, it's hot, it's hot!!!" She ends up screaming so loudly that my flatmates come bursting into the room thinking we're in serious trouble! Lessons learned: 1) Place hookah further from bed when inviting females over. 2) Ensure the hookah has stopped burning before removing clothing. 3) If the hookah falls, DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT 200$, and DO NOT IGNORE IT. Clean it up immediately. 4) By failing to follow lessons 1,2,and 3 above, you will forever more find it impossible to look your flatmates seriously in the eye. And the most important rule of hookah-induced sex: 5) Install a door that locks!!!

100% of what untamedDOG said is true.

I come from Florida myself, so everybody I grew up with knew how to swim. I don't believe I met a soul the entire time I lived in the US who didn't know how to swim. I just took a trip to Antalya, Turkey with a friend, only to find out she'd never set foot in deep water before - only in city pools no more than a meter deep. She was absolutely terrified of the water, and while she managed to force herself to wade in and swim a bit, the idea of jumping from the dock nearby was too much. As a Floridian, it's amazing to me that most of the world really doesn't know how to swim, and is generally nervous in deep-water situations. I've never given swimming a second thought, but even perfectly logical, level-headed individuals who have never been in deep water before generally harbor a sizeable phobia.

You know the sex was good when..... you have to quickly pull the car to the side of the road because your hands are shaking too much to hold the wheel!!!

I had the same experience about 7 months ago - my girlfriend (and parents) were all very concerned about my skydiving. So I gave it up...... and started BASE jumping instead. Oddly enough, they're still not happy - they want me to give up BASE as well. Lesson learned - you can never please everybody. Just do what feels right for you. The right girl will be cool with that (trust me, any girl who is so distraught about you doing what you enjoy ain't worth dating). P.S. I dumped my girlfriend just after the new year. She wasn't worth keeping.

What's up ronloz? Glad to hear you're coming to Russia. What cities are you coming to and how long will you be here? Russia's a pretty big place...as I'm sure you've noticed One question haunts me though...why are you coming to Russia to learn BASE? If you want a real course, you'd be better off heading to western Europe...BASE courses in Russia involve some instruction ahead of time and a hop off a local antenna. If you want to do base more safely, I'd highly recommend doing an FJC in western Europe from a bridge/the famous Norwegian cliff. If you're still intent on BASE in Russia, shoot me a message by PM and we'll chat. I can at least get you in touch with the locals (I haven't been jumping in about 3 months...a result of work and broken fellow jumpers), and we'll play it by ear from there.

One other thing...the wing loading for the jumper pictured is way off. For the settings shown on the screen, the wing loading should come out at 180/220 = 0,8181. Most BASE jumpers choose a wingloading between 0,6 and 0,7. However, there are jumpers who jump with higher and lower wingloadings as well.

Bad news. I just got back from the hospital, visiting katzurki. He managed to score a spiral fracture of his tibia Monday morning. He's been in the hospital since then, and will officially join the Titanium Club on Wednesday when he goes in for surgery. He'll be getting pins and a rod, so parachuting will be on the backburner for a while during recovery. The break occurred on a BASE jump from a local building. Unfortunately, he had to squeeze his canopy in between a road and a wall, and his leg smacked into the wall pretty hard. Naturally, I'm wishing him a quick recovery and, if all goes well, he should be back in the big blue sky late this summer. In the meantime, he's got a gorgeous, blonde, D-cup nurse who's giving it her all to fill his every need. Makes me wish it were me awaiting surgery.

To answer your question, if there is a full moon in, say, Toronto, the rest of the world should be treated by a full moon as well. This is because, while the earth rotates once a day (as far as I remember), the moon revolves around the earth only once a moonth...I mean, month. So, roughly speaking, the moon you see tonight is almost exactly the same as the moon that will be seen half a day later in Siberia. Another interesting tidbit...we only see one half of the moon. The face of the moon that you see tonight is the same face of the moon that you will see in 6 months or in 6 years. This is because the moon itself rotates at exactly the same rate that it revolves around the earth, keeping one side of the moon perpetually pointed towards the earth. This is an effect caused by tidal forces, the same force that powers the, uh...., tides. One day the earth will be the same way, with one side constantly facing towards the sun while the other side is always pointed out towards the stars, after Earth's rotation has been sapped by tidal forces. However, this will be in the WAY WAY WAY distant future.

I haven't said "chute" in about two years. Nor have I said parachute in about two years either. I just can't seem to get away from the word "canopy"...it has so much more of a technical, real-skydiver's-vocabulary ring to it.

yes

Ideally I'd get a tailgate installed, but since it's a friend's rig that I have on loan for only a few days that's not an option. I'm pretty sure the owner will have a tailgate installed in the near future. Somehow the masking tape idea scares me - images of the masking tape not breaking run through my head over and over. It's probably just paranoia, but I find it difficult to trust that the tape will break. I do like you're rubber-band improvised tailgate option. I think I'll go with that if no other options surface. As far as I can tell, though, the rubber-band stow of just the steering lines is the accepted practice in BASE circles here. I recently learned that my first 10 jumps were done with just such a stow, although I didn't pack them.

I've searched through the forums and haven't been able to find a discussion of this. I'm packing a borrowed rig that does not have a tailgate installed, and am uncertain as to what the best solution is to promote nose-first inflation. My mentor and packing instructor's recommendation is to take a 1.5" bite out of the steering lines a few inches below their attachment point to the canopy and create a tight stow using a standard skydiving rubber band. Note that this stow does NOT include the central C and D lines. The only lines stowed are the steering lines. Indeed, if the central C and D lines were included in the stow it would deform the pack job (unlike with a tailgate). I've also looked at the differential stow proposed by consolidated rigging in 1997 (http://www.crmojo.com/adobepdf/diffstow.pdf). My question is this: is a simple stow that only includes the steering lines sufficient to promote nose-first inflation and help lower the risk of a line-over? Would a differential stow be preferable when a tailgate isn't available? Are there any other techniques that are more reliable/preferable? Note that a primary stow is still being used at the tailpocket. However, this doesn't serve to encourage nose-first inflation. It simply stages the inflation, so that the canopy doesn't start to inflate until line stretch. Thanks in advance.

God the character in that game can track well. There's one part towards the end of the video where it looks like he's getting a 3:1 glide ratio!!! Alright, back to packing.

Thanks!!! Great images. I must say, I envy you all being able to jump in just a t-shirt and jeans this time of year!!!

I understand your point of view, and realize that different people will act differently in the case of a fatality. It is my personal opinion that, in the case when someone is definitely, without a doubt, dead, there is nothing wrong in leaving their remains behind as long as you make sure they will be found in a reasonable period of time. Notice I am not advocating leaving an injured jumper behind. The more I think about your response, the more I realize such a situation is very unlikely. In most cases the fallen jumper would be reached very soon after the incident. In such situations, resuscitation or other immediate treatments might help. In such situations there is no excuse for leaving a jumper - you call 911 and accept the results. However, I disagree with your argument that the repercussions will always be small. Aside from the obvious trespassing and potentially lost job, repercussions could further include criminal negligence, manslaughter, or even second / third degree murder. Imagine the case of an antenna worker providing lift access to a few BASE jumpers. In this case even a non-jumper could face severe repercussions from a fatality. What about if a jumper goes in while using my gear? What about if a jumper goes in intoxicated using my gear? I understand your argument that "if you do the crime you should be prepared to do the time". However, if I were to go in and it were absolutely 100% clear that I were dead, I would want my fellow jumpers to immediately do everything they could to protect themselves. Like I said earlier, there's no sense in their lives being ruined as collateral damage. And it makes no difference to me whether my body is recovered immediately or 3 hours later after an anonymous phone call. Well, that's my rationale for what I stated earlier. Even if you disagree, I hope you can respect my opinion. Disclaimer: I have very little experience in BASE, so take my comments accordingly.

While the idea of leaving a fallen jumper at the object doesn't seem to be very accepted by the BASE community, from my point of view it's reasonable. If that was the jumpers' plan, and they followed that plan, there's nothing inappropriate or illegitimate in it. If I and another jumper had agreed ahead of time that the best thing to do in case of a fatality is to leave the body behind, I would do that. The obvious reasons this may be desirable: 1) It helps protect other jumpers on the load from legal and other repercussions. 2) It may help protect the object from being lost to the BASE community (unlikely, but possible). If I were to go in on a jump, I would have no problem with other jumpers leaving my body at the site. Honestly, I would hope that they do everything possible to protect themselves from possible repercussions. There's no sense in my friends and fellow jumpers facing jail time, lost employment, etc. because of a jump gone terribly wrong. However, there is no excuse whatsoever for not informing the family and/or authorities where to find the remains. This can easily be done anonymously from a public telephone, or in a dozen other ways. Detailed instructions should be passed on to aid the family in recovering their loved one. There is no sane reason not to do this. It is the compassionate thing to do. It is the human thing to do, offering the family a sense of closure. Furthermore, failing to notify "someone" where to find the remains does a huge disservice to the BASE community. While any fatality hurts the sport, the complications of a fatality and a missing person / missing remains do much more damage than the fatality itself. If jumpers do agree that, in case of a fatality, the remains are left at the site, they must understand that under no circumstances does that release them from a responsibility to inform the family and/or authorities about the location of the jumper. This is mainly to give the family closure in terrible times, and also helps to minimize collateral damage to the sport.

Any pics from the Collegiate Boogie yet? I would have killed to make it this year, but the stars and planets just didn't align. It's a shame the boogie got moved to Palatka. I started jumping at Williston and still have a soft spot for the dropzone and some of the characters that jumped there. In my time at Williston, I never once witnessed anything that bordered on the line of unsafe - in actuality, Williston was in my opinion an excellent place to jump, with a nice small-DZ vibe that I yearn for at my current large DZ. Hopefully I can get back to school next year, get back in the air with the falling gators, and might even end up graduating. So if anybody's got 'em, show a gator far away some love and send some pictures/stories/video from the boogie.

Holy crap!!! I want one!!! Does it count as a BASE jump though?

Geez that is tough to see. I had to inspect that photo for a good twenty seconds to find the right jumper's bridle. It seriously looks like the center jumper is pulling high, while the right jumper is taking it down low with the left one. I was still partying outside of Moscow when this jump was done - now I wish I could have been there to see it.