alright phil6086, skydiving and BASE are two very different sports...something i believe you dont have a grasp of after reading your 'explanation'. swooping a 9 cell at your DZ is nothin like sinking in a 7 cell. the canopys do share a few characteristics but when getting into base you have to go back to step 1 and progress if you want to walk away from every juimp. you generally only have one chance with base. skydiving can be a little more forgiving. think back to your AFF. did you jump solo and fly a 120sqft canopy to the ground? ... i think not. what i'm getting at is everyone starts at level 1 and progresses through, learning different skills as they go. generally in BASE everyone should do a PCA for their first, preferably off a bridge. if the object doesnt suit, it shouldnt happen. there are so many things that could've gone wrong with your jump. eg. bad body position could've led to your bridle catching a limb. your lucky to be still alive. your mentor's experience in skydiving should be no way compared with BASE. how many base jumps does he have anyway? it doesnt sound like he has too many. you might feel like he's helping you but it looks like he's doing the opposite. you (and mentor) seem to have the wrong attitude about BASE and are not treating it with the respect it should have. if something did happen you could've been a statistic, made it to the news headlines and given the sport yet another bad kick in the guts. no one is going to pat you on the back for doing a 4 sec handheld 2 way on your first jump. it's just stupid. in a way you are taking from the sport instead of giving. *** how can you support that? in terms of pushing the limits, yes, people are doing things that were perceived to be impossible 10 yrs ago. BUT, everyone has to learn from the start, not jump in the deep end. the learning process should be practically the same for everyone: a few PCA's then the slider down handhelds. if more and more people like yourself get into base the way you did there are going to be more accidents, more deaths, bigger fines, a bad public image and sites are going to get closed. i hope you reconsider your progression in the sport.
