JaapSuter

Dude, you can't believe how jealeous I am of you. I have been fully geared up and ready to jump 38 times now and only four times have I climbed down. All four were because of sub-optimal wind conditions. I'm looking forward to the day I climb down because I'm too scared or something just doesn't feel right. I think that a high bail-out ratio can only be a good thing. It worries me how gung-ho and eager to jump I am. I'm definitely scared every time, but not nearly as scared as I figured I would be before I started. Maybe it's because I have zero tolerance for superstition in my jumps. Or maybe because I don't even bother gearing up if the conditions aren't promising. Then again, I haven't jumped since two weeks ago, so my next jump should be interesting. You did great! And don't forget that you still got to appreciate the hike up, the environment, the view and your friends jump. That's worth as least as much!

How to pack a tard

I can't wait. Maybe I should place that order for the Prodigy now. It might arrive around the same day that I meet the minimum requirements to start wingsuiting.

Pilotwings, yeah! Regardless of whether such a system would keep you in tune with nature or not, being able to objectively measure the quality of a wingsuit flight could mean a lot to the progression of and R&D in wingsuiting. That said, I've never actually flown a wingsuit, so I can only dream of doing cloud flybys at the moment. Drool... Cheers, Jaap

On the other hand, an poor tard by an injured person can complicate matters. Tards scare me, so I can't really judge them, but I can easily see a tard making things worse when a simple wait for a rescue helicopter would have sufficed. I guess having the option is nice, as long as injury and isolation doesn't cloud judgement. All the more reason to always carry a radio... Cheers, Jaap

Hi, Does anybody know if there are existing projects that investigate the use of augmented reality in skydiving? I'm talking about projecting virtual objects onto a visor during a skydive for whatever purpose. Imagine, for example, a set of rings in the air that a wingsuit pilot has to steer through. Obviously there are safety issues that need to be taken into account like other skydivers in the air and altitude-awareness, but it would certainly make for interesting and challenging wingsuit flights. The positioning system wouldn't be very hard, either using a high-quality high-frequency GPS system or maybe a couple of low-cost transmitters on the ground for triangulation purposes. The computational aspects and the rendering wouldn't be very hard either. The hardest thing I see is coming up with the hardware that will effectively project the rings on your visor, as an overlay over the background/sky. So far, most of the augmented reality helmets I've seen are very heavy and big. Certainly this can be optimized though. Maybe I should start collecting some electronics and fire up my solder iron. I'm not very big on competitions myself, but slalomming through virtual rings would certainly be an objective way to test wingsuit skills. Cheers, Jaap Suter By the way, thanks to Denise for telling me about this idea.

I'm a geek. I make 'm, but I never play 'm. I rather play outside.

In a desperate attempt to get this thread back on topic after Abbie's and Cygnusbase's interventions, let me share that the cold-shower theory is holding up greatly! I talked to my parents for another hour or so today, and it seems the initial shock is gone. They're no longer mad and upset. They're now back at being greatly worried, but interestingly enough mildly curious as well! What a relief... My mom actually asked if she could see some video next week. I'll have to browse my video collection for some good footage. Preferably some cliff-jumps (nature is always good), mellow music, nice landings, nothing too extreme. I think Continuum 2 has some good footage like that. Any other recommendations? Too bad I don't have video of my last base jump. That would have worked great!

"I'm from Holland, isn't that vierd?" I may be European and open-minded in the bedroom (and outside of it); that doesn't mean I would ever consider doing felatio on a Zebra. I'm a vegetarian, remember? Now plants on the other hand... I'm honoured! Sorry I tend to be a little quiet in the morning, but you make so much noise that there's little more I could do than shut up. Ha! It was great to meet you, and I'm looking forward to visiting you in Alberta and do some skydives and basejumps. Say hi to Pam and your parents. Your dad can always call me if he needs somebody to crash his Challenger again.

I was going to wait until we got married, and then we could present ourselves at the same time. I'll be wearing the leather thong and then you can wear the gag-ball and be the gimp. Oops... Congratulations again dude! Getting voicemails like that is almost as good as jumping yourself! I'm still stoked....

I have two brothers. One is two years older. He has his doubts about the risks in basejumping, but he is a serious mountaineer himself so he understands the adventurer's blood. The other one is four years older, doesn't participate in any risky sport, but strongly believes that one should enjoy life to the fullest. They both support me greatly.

Hey, I finally managed to scrape the courage together to tell my parents about base. Funny how doing that is scarier than any of the base jumps I have done. I decided that a complete and honest approach was best, but they did not take it very well... I'd love to hear other people's experiences. I know there have been a few threads about this in the past, but perhaps there's new advice out there. I recently read that conflicts are like a cold shower. It sucks while your in it, but once it's over you feel better. I hope that's true in this case.

Hi, I'm looking for some CRW coaching, but my local DZ doesn't have any CRW people around. Are there any dropzones in lower BC or Washington with people that do paid coach-CRW jumps? I have a 7-cell vented base canopy that I'd like to use if possible, but maybe I'm better off using a CRW specific canopy? Thanks, Jaap

Tell him he needs to stay in the hospital at least two more days, because his get-well-carrot is on its way. Not a very manly gift, but I'm not the guy to mess with traditions. Also, ask the doctors if they can install some rings directly onto his new hip so we can attach some three-rings and risers. That will make landing on land a lot easier. See you in May, Russel! Cheers, Jaap

My fourteenth base jump was with Chris Muller. It was a skibase and my first cliff jump. Chris had jumped this particular exit point before on a snowboard, and his calm at the exit point managed to instill the confidence in me that I needed to enjoy this adventure to the fullest. It didn't take long to realize what a great guy Chris was. It seemed that every single second in his life was about living it to the fullest. Even after the jump when we were sharing stories in the bar, I noticed that every single thing he did was about enjoying life and getting the most out of it. And he certainly did. Chris was a world-class paraglider. See this video to get a taste of his incredible skills. Chris was the last to jump that day and when we were watching his descent, we saw him do turns with a parachute that I have never seen any skydiver do. I was even more impressed when I found out that after he started base jumping, Chris decided that it would be good to get some skydiving experience. He got his AFF/PFF in a record low number of jumps and continued jumping to improve his canopy and tracking skills. He admitted that he wasn't a big fan of all the rules at dropzones, but he agreed that the jump experience itself was invaluable to base jumping. I only spend one day with Chris, but it was easily one of the best days of my life. I was looking forward to joining Chris for some days this summer and jump from his paraglider, and maybe even make a couple of paraglide rides myself. BSBD Chris. My next jump is for you... Jaap

Hey, I have decided that besides working and the egotistical pleasures I derive from skydiving, base-jumping, rockclimbing and running, I need to start doing something more useful with my life, to maintain a level of sanity. I've been researching different types of volunteering, and so far the Big Brother program seems like it would suit me. Does anybody have any experience with this type of volunteering? I'd love to hear about some experiences. Thanks, Jaap

I recommend the Motel 6. If you book online or ask for the jumpers-discount, you only pay 32 dollars per night. It's close to the bridge, very friendly, and they let you pack in the lobby. Not a very big packing area, but better than your hotel room.

Happy birthday Julien!

This is it. The beginning of the end. I blame you GFD! She said fart! Girls don't fart, and when they do, it smells like roses...

Hi Jimmy, thanks for joining. Yeah, we considered that, and normally I actually leave out more than what I showed in the video. However, my problem with that is that I wonder where to put it. Do you just put the PC into the pouch, and stow/fumble/squeeze the slack bridle into it afterwards? I don't want to route/stow too much slack bridle underneath my flaps, for fear of a hang-up there. Thanks! Jaap

Neither of these can be entirely ruled out I'm afraid. However, the person who gave me a pin check right before climbing over jumps the same type of container (Warlock) and has close to 200 jumps. He checked my pin-tension as well as my bridle-routing. My pins were primed halfway, with the connection point pointing down facing away from the flap. Pin-tension was not too high afaik. I don't think your suggestions can be ruled out completely, but I do believe I did my utmost to prevent them. Cheers, Jaap

Admittedly I'm relieved I'm not the only person out there that packed this way. Most of us agree that there was probably more going on than just a particular packjob. One theory is that the pilotchute left my hand too early. Maybe the packjob has nothing to do with it at all. Nonetheless, for me the demonstrated tug-point is reason enough to switch to a different packjob. I would love to see more experienced jumpers join and share their thoughts. By the way, does anybody have the Vertigo packing video at hand? I lend mine out to somebody else, and I'm curious about what they demonstrate. I'm still trying to find out where I learned this packjob.

Crosslinking this thread to the video of my PC packjob.

Here's a video of what I now call the Dead Jaap Pack. Not really related to wingsuiting, but we're talking pilotchutes, and maybe it's useful for somebody. For the record, this video display my thoughts on how not to pack a pilotchute. It doesn't show how to do it properly.