JaapSuter

Legally speaking; in Canada as long as you wear a belly-mount. That said, every dropzone can have their own policy so it doesn't necessarily mean you can show up at any DZ and flick your BASE rig without a problem. Fortunately, I visit a very supportive dropzone.

It's a tensioned Phoenix setup. It sure as hell ain't VKB but I do think I'm hauling moderate ass. I've done regular tracking skydives (jeans and shirt) with my velcro BASE rig no problem, it's the addition of the Phoenix that has me slightly concerned. Jaap

Hey, Probably a Darwin award nominee question here, but I'll take my chances. Has anybody succesfully used duct tape over the top of his shrivel flap to lessen the likelyhood of a premature and consequent horseshoe on a tracking dive? I recall reading a wingsuiter doing something like that. The shrivel flap on a Vision doesn't tuck at the top unfortunately. The velcro is hella burly though. Yeah yeah, I'm getting a pin rig soon. Just curious... Jaap

If anybody is reading this at this between now and 30 minutes from now and has Steve Armstrongs phone-nr, please PM it. Nothing serious, I just need to wake his ass up asap. There are no winds...

, that's a classic.

When I wrote my original post I hadn't yet seen the video or realized this guy was working with only seven skydives. My bad. In light of this, I am now more inclined to agree with you. I see where you're coming from now. The angle I came from is that BASE has always had its share of younglings being introduced with ill-preparation. There are several sub-100 BASE number holders that can attest to this. So maybe not much has changed. In a way, I sometimes have more respect for the total loonies -that truly go ahead, unaware of what's going to hit them- than for the middle-of-the-road sheep that nod yes and amen when we speak of risk and dangers and do a half-assed job by preparing themselves seemingly responsibly (by taking an FJC) while still being whoefully ignorant. What category this kid (or his father) fits in, I don't know. The jury is out on that one. As for me, I fit the latter. I guess what I'm saying is, if you're going to be silly, at least be silly in a hardcore way...

, what an astute observation. That's some funny shit (even though I say so myself). Nice one Yuri!

Can you elaborate? One man's degradation can be another man's improvement.

Mweh, this is nothing new. Some of the earliest BASE jumpers started at a very young age and some even with zero skydives. I don't think it should be taken as a growing trend. How many people have parents that understand BASE jumping well enough to let their minor kid get into it? Fascinating. Does he have an interest in it and did you actively deny him (that would be impressive) or was he not really interested anyway (thereby somewhat weakening your point)? WTF? I thought we had seen the last of the black rubber bands. And for those that still decide to use them, at least I thought they knew to avoid the larkhead. BASE736 can tell you a great story about black band hangups that aren't over water... Perhaps so, but more important than the maturity is the point of no regret. At what age can you start in BASE and look back ten years later and not say: "I regret starting then, I should have waited a little longer." That point doesn't move much as you get older. However, the point is at a different age for every person. With the focus on the dangers of BASE, we may be overlooking the pace-of-life factor. If you're BASE jumping when you're 16, what will you have to do at 46 to keep life interesting? For some this could be an issue, ultimately leading to early disaster. For others, it can work great and they ultimately become the ones climbing Mount Everest wearing just a speedo, doing triple gainer BASE jumps of every 120 foot crevasse they fall into on their way back (or any similarly impressive feats).

I certainly won't argue that line-twist practice is among the most important things to do in preparing for BASE jumps. Heck, most have never done it and they're definitely safer jumpers than I am. A much bigger reason that I play around with this kind of thing is just because it's fun. Aerials in BASE scare me (and that's with three years of gymnast trampoline experience) and always flat and stable at the Perrine ain't all that either. So I find other ways to play...

Sorry I'm late. I was in a meeting... Anyway, I've done this several times at the Perrine as well as in skydiving. Just because I'm still alive doesn't mean you should try it of course, but a heads-up jumper ought to be able to pull this off without dying. On my skydives I've always done it without a D-bag, just freepacking my BASE canopy. I see no reason however why you couldn't do it with a D-bag. I can't recommend using small canopies though. Skydives give you lots of time while in linetwist to try and climb above it and steer by just pulling on line-groups. This is great practice. Ofcourse, you could also pack normally (without line-twist), open high, and then kick yourself into linetwist after opening. This is a safe start to get a feel for how your canopy flies in line-twist. At the bridge, I've done them at night, during the day, up to three full twists, near the canopy, in the middle, as well as at the risers. I've always been able to make it out on time and land on the beach without a problem. Just open high (go handheld). The most useful thing I recommend doing is using linetwist such that you'll open up flying underneath the bridge (a whole number if you do a floater exit, a whole-and-a-half number if you do a normal exit). Now try climbing above the linetwist and turn the canopy around before you kick yourself out of linetwist. Especially if you are a very experienced skydiver, you may have a built-in tendency to kick out of the twist first before you start flying. You want to kick that habit, climb above the linetwist, and start flying away from the object. I recall one incident where I asked somebody else to put in one linetwist (without me looking to make it harder) as low as possible on the risers. When I jumped the linetwist pinched my full face helmet down (slamming my chincup on my chest). I was flailing my arms above my head trying to reach lines but there was nothing I could do. I bailed, kicked out of linetwist first, and then turned it around (and landed fine). Fortunately that was at the Perrine, otherwise I might have had to spend some time on the wall again. That said, I don't think having linetwist that low is a common occurence. My own recollection of accidental linetwist, and having seen many video of them, is that linetwist tends to appear at the middle of the lines or higher. Bah, long story. Too long. To answer your question... Yeah, I've done it. Many times. I think it's a great idea. And while you're at it, toggle-releases are another great minor malfunction to practice in Twin Falls. Caveat emptor.

That would explain the forward (backward) speed on opening. I was wondering how well your SBS was tuned. Great job on handling it. You almost make it look easy. I was joking to a fellow jumper how it was the first object-strike that I would show my parents; "Look ma, he just tips off with his feet and keeps flying..."

Fixed. Apologies.

Awesome. The BASE newbie police just got a new recruit. And it's a woman!

No one is asking you to look up to us (except maybe Abbie). I think people would just like you to do some research first. One person already pointed out the articles at the top. You could also give BASE WIKI a go. Man, this thread one again demonstrates how awesome irony is.

How old are your kids?

, heerlijk.

Actually, I was already sitting on top of that tower before I had even heard about BASE jumping.

Actually, I'm quite familiar with it. Did you not read this post?

A silly question is quite different from a lazy question. I have asked my fair share of silly questions, but I challenge you to find a lazy question in my posting history. I have put a large amount of work into my BASE career, both in preparation and since I started jumping. I don't think that makes me a great jumper. On the contrary, I have made my fair share of reckless jumps and emptied my luck bucket a long time ago. However, there is varying degrees of greatness. On a technical level I am one of the worst BASE jumpers around. My reputation for being a dumbass is well known. But on a spiritual level, I would venture to say that I'm not doing too bad. Unfortunately it's a very subjective measure. The spirit of BASE jumping can mean something entirely different between two people, and what I may think is appropriate another person may not care about. My annoyance is not about the clutter on this forum. I participate in online communities for a living and I'm quite adept at handling poor signal to noise ratios. I get pissed off because I see people that expect things handed to them on a silver platter. Each time we give these people what they ask for, we reinforce their belief that this is the way the universe works. Mind you, this sort of behavior is not limited to prospective BASE jumpers. I see it all around me. It's been around forever, and I don't expect it to go away in the next ten millennia. The reason I get so worked up over it here is because BASE is precisely the activity where a silver platter philosophy doesn't work. It is the one sport where it is truly up to you, and you alone. Every time we hand-hold a person into the sport it is an insult to what I believe is the spirit of the sport. Which brings me full circle; what you believe is the spirit of the sport may be different. That's fine, I'll respect that, and I'll have a discussion about what BASE can mean any time of the week. But make no mistake, whenever one of the silver platter people hurt themselves they'll be the first to say: "Geez, I just broke my back. How did that happen? I didn't know I could actually get hurt doing this. I mean, I read about it. But not me. It can't be my fault. It must be the wind, the gear, the color of my pilotchute..." And that - that's not an insult to BASE. That's an insult to being human.

That's awesome. I snorted coke all over my keyboard. Thanks buddy! Edited to add: that's coke as in the Coca Cola variation.

Nice try Nick, but your writing is too eloquent and your spelling too good. Surely you must be a BASE jumper already.

Hello, Would it be possible to have a more obvious "Read This First!" on this forum? The recent string of visiting idiots, fuckwats and total cunts has clearly demonstrated that the current location is not adequate. The resulting noise is almost more annoying than Faber's spelling... Thanks, Jaap Suter

It would help if you explained why you are interested in custom rigs and what your intent is. p.s. Did you read what you wrote before you pressed the "Post Message" button?