JaapSuter

Couldn't find an answer to this one in the original discussion, so I'll ask it here. You seem to go for toggles instead of risers. Was this a deliberate decision or a instictive reaction in the rush of the moment? Consider the hypothetical situation where you had known in advance you would have had a 180. Would you have gone for risers, fly backwards and then turn it around, or would you still push yourself off the cliff to try and keep the canopy inflated as much as possible? Great work on the coming out of it alive! Especially the part where your feet are pointing to the sky looks "interesting". Thanks for sharing! Jaap Suter

I have an idea what that could mean, but I'd love to hear you explain it anyway. It sounds like you might have an interesting theory here. Maybe start another thread? Cheers, Jaap

While we're all anxiously waiting for Nick's book to arrive, here's a sampling of some of the greatest posts by Nick DiGiovanni. These posts alone, if printed and bundled, would make for a great book. Thanks Nick, keep 'm coming! Mexican Base - Pre Hole Dead is... F-111?... Fast Advancement Of BASE technology?? Base and Military application Climbing towers makes your jaw tired... On Base and Mainstream Base jumping is not a crime The Tool August 8th 1978 Rig before rating.... The story of the acronym BASE Dwain's Malibu Memorial Old School at Bridge Day Twenty Six Years Ago Be Franklin The first BASE board Life, Death, BASE Spotting from a crane... Base history on a rainy day Older Pickys Happy Anniversary to Me

There's more to base accidents than the fatalities. There's losing limps, wheelchairs, extended hospital stays, casts, and a multitude of 'minor' inconveniences. Unfortunately we rarely hear about those accidents, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a stronger correlation between the 'minor' incidents and jump-numbers. It's often a tricky landing that causes these accidents. This is just my two cents. I'm not even following my own advice, so I'd do better to shut up. In fact, I'm distracting from the original discussion, so maybe the moderator should split this thread. Then again, we've seen this topic a million times before. On the subject of velcro vs pin. I have no opinion. It's more important to know the limitations and contexts of either system. There's never a straight and simple answer in base. It's too context-sensitive. Just get both . Cheers, Jaap

I'll second this, based on very recent experience. The lure is huge, especially once the confidence in your packjob increases, and even more so once you have made jumps at forgiving sites (the legal span or from a paraglider). Remember, a base jump isn't hard until shit hits the fan. Then it can suddenly become the most difficult thing you'll ever deal with. I won't comment on your jump numbers, especially considering I started base early too. I would highly recommend buying a canopy before buying the container though. It's what I did, and the recent skydives with my base canopy have been heaps of fun. First of all doing accuracy with a seven-cell is a whole new game and it's very enjoyable. Secondly, start packing yourself minor malfunctions (line-twists, toggle-releases, use the LRM with a toggle release, etc.) after discussing it with experienced skydivers you trust. This will make your skydives more exciting, in case you're bored already. Two cents, Jaap

Hey, I just saw The Bird People In China yesterday. More information on http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142181/. It's not a movie filled with wingsuits. In fact, it has hardly any flying in it at all. It does feature some interesting wing-like contraptions (see images below). Highly recommended! Don't watch it expecting a skydiving movie. Expect a movie about beatiful and unexplored China and how people everywhere dream of flying. Jaap Moderators: please move to bonfire if inappropriate for wingsuit forum

Here is an excellent post by Bill Booth about pilot chute construction. It turns out I was measuring wrong, and after doing it properly my PT pilotchute was 42 inches. I was also contacted by Paratech rigging after posting this and Colin gave me some very useful information. Kudos to them for taking the time to call me. Cheers, Jaap

Because he stayed up way past his bedtime to experience 3 minutes and 45 seconds of phone silence. I don't want to go into too much detail, but I can tell you that seeing a police car pull into the parking lot as you're halfway up on a 300ft ladder is pretty damn scary. The car just stayed there -with the engine running- for about 10 minutes, and then drove off again. Talk about noticing your heart beat...

Major thanks to SabreDave for staying awake way past his bedtime to help me with a little special project. If anybody ever has a chance to jump with this guy definitely do. You won't regret it. Dave; looking forward to your visit, so I can buy the due beer. Cheers, Jaap

Can you elaborate on this? With stability I'm assuming you mean body position, e.g. velcro in headdown position is harder to come off than in a stable belly to earth position, even if with a shrivel flap. Or are you talking about PC stability and oscillation? What about construction parameters? Are you talking about ZP vs F111, vented vs non-vented, number of spokes, etc.? What are the 'right' parameters according to you? I can imagine some people could write a book about this, but if you could write some thoughts on the general idea of what a good 46er would look like according to you, that would be great. Links to other material would be cool too. Thanks, Jaap

Mmmmmm, meat.

http://www.johnnyutah.com/supermushroom.html

No, the rubberband is too small for that. It's in the same location where the slider stow would be, but this rubberband is just tight enough to larkhead around the line and then keep the tailgate in place. Except that there is no fingertrap. Not sure why though. It seems like a fine attachment to me. It definitely doesn't look like it'll come off or slide down. Nope . Interesting! I guess that would work the same way. Not sure what my concern was. More curious about why this practice has been discontinued in favour of the finger trap. Thanks Treejumps, but this canopy is not actually for jumping (nor is it mine). My own canopy has a modern tailgate. Thanks for the replies everybody! Cheers, Jaap

Hi, I search didn't give me much, but correct me if I'm wrong. I have a Paratech 42 inch PC here that when measured is on the lower side of 40 inch (ZP fully stretched). Is this considered an acceptible margin of error? What kind of differences have you noticed between the manufacturer claim and the measured size? Any standard deviation gurus out there? Cheers, Jaap Suter

Hi, I have a borrowed Mojo here from 1997 with about 20 jumps on it. I guess that was the pre-tailgate age, because it doesn't have a tailgate insert point on the center left C-line. As an aside, when was the tailgate invented? I know it came from Basic Research, but their manual and website don't mention when it was invented afaik. Anyway; instead the previous owner larkheaded a small rubberband right above the knot where the C-line conects to the canopy tab. He then pushed a standard tailgate through this rubber-band, and then used it as a regular tailgate. As long as you make sure all lines are on the inside of the tailgate, I don't see any problems with this method. I'm probably overlooking something, because it seems easier to manufacter than the current tailgate practice of creating a trap in the C-line, thereby creating a weak point in that line. Has anybody else seen this method, and is anybody aware of any drawbacks? Is the position where he put the tailgate (so close to the canopy) too high, considering a modern tailgate is usually about an inch lower? Thanks, Jaap

Klotezooi . Once again my mediocre understanding of the many subtleties in the English language gets me in to trouble . Mmm, maybe I should take an umbrella and huck myself a BA tonight, just to try and get 1000 .

Dude, you're not getting away that easy . More details please . Congratulations! Cheers, Jaap

www.jimmyhalliday.com/index-3.html

Was this much trouble, or simply a matter of sending it back, and getting the back protector and a partial refund? I'll try the body armor myself, but restricted arm movement is obviously not an option. I wonder if it's possible to modify the gear a little (take off some padding or cut off the sleeves) to improve movement. Then again, that would void a return. Ah well, I'll just wait and post my feedback here once it arrives. Thanks Jen! Jaap

In this post JeNnEjEnN mentions that she uses the High Velocity back protector. I believe that is the same shell that comes with the full body armor set. She doesn't mention the thickness as a problem. Yikes. I guess we'll find out when I receive my armor.

Tom; I'm not sure what the rules are for product-marketing on this website, so please remove this post if it's not appropriate. Having said that, I'm not affiliated with High Velocity in any way. I just ordered a set of their body armor (more information) and will throw up a review as soon as it arrives. The reason I'm posting this is because I stumbled across a nice deal after some Googling. If you order through their regular website, the armor is 170 US dollars, but if you order through this link it's only 130 US dollars. Make sure you order through that specific website though. I'm not sure how long this offer will last now that other websites besides Squidbusters know about it, but maybe somebody will find it useful. To get the proper size, compare the drop-down menu contents on the Squidbusters website with the size-chart on the High Velocity website. Measure around the chest, underneath the armpits. Breathing in or out doesn't matter (according to High Velocity). Cheers, Jaap Edit to fix url.

Just to up the bonfire level a little; your story didn't go the direction I was hoping for. Cheers, Jaap

Count me in. If you have a specific weekend in mind, let me know because I still need to decide which one. If whatever you have in mind is suitable for a beginner, that is. Ofcourse, Heineken always is . Hey DexterBase, do you usually drive up to TF or fly? How long does the drive take? Cheers, Jaap Suter

And to those that suggest a certain canopy, can you include what other canopies you have flown and corresponding jump numbers on them? I'd recommend a Rockdragon, but that's only because I own one, and I don't believe the six jumps I made on an unvented Mojo give me enough material to make a good comparison or recommendation. Whatever brand you go with, just make sure it's pink . That's the most important thing.

If you're now going to tell me you were born in 1980 around 1pm, I'd get scared. We should do a birthday jump. Probably over the cellphone, as I won't be in LA that month. Cheers, Jaap