angryelf

Thanks to all who replied. I kind of went the wrong route and made it sound like I wanted to do a BASE tomorrow. I have recieved messages from a few of you and am learning a lot-which is what I needed to do. With what I have now-I WILL be waiting for a while and at this point would like to make my skydives count towards a future in BASE. I did make the statement that I wanted to forgo gaining another 125 jumps (when I now know that another 400-500 would'nt hurt things). I hope I didn't piss a bunch of people off-I'm trying to gain a little better perspective of what BASE is about. While a part of me certainly resented being refered to as a "lemming"-I'm sure I deserved it and it made me mad enough to consider what I was looking at getting into, and compare my mortality to my current level of (limited) experience. I also appreciate the tips on my "friend " who offered to help. I'm now getting the picture that his offering to teach me to BASE jump would be simular to me teaching someone to freefly. I would, however like to continue to learn more and possibly find a more experienced BASE jumper to fill an apprenticeship with when I am better prepared to start in the sport. I might very possibly be commiting another BASE faux pas here by asking, but--How do I (as safely as possible) learn more about the sport and find an experienced BASE jumper who I can learn from? "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Thanks!! "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

I got an email from Danny a few weeks ago-he said that he plans on being back in early March-he'll be at Dublin I'm pretty sure... "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Thanks, greatly appreciate the reply. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

I've been jumping for about year and a half and have about 75 jumps (counting 5 static jumps from 1000 ft, 33 MFF w/equipment and a few civilian jumps on my PD 190). Understand that to learn something new you have to follow those who have made (and survived) a few mistakes. I am planning on working up from groundcrew, do a few plane jumps on a BASE rig (and learn to fly it), then progress to the real thing with the help of a guy I've been talking to who has 150 BASE jumps and is willing to mentor me in my pursuits. I am used to "sinking a canopy in" @ 1/2 brakes and have reasonably good accuracy on landing. The little bit of research I have done suggests 200+ skydives, but I would really like to move on now and would like to hear any thoughts, suggestions, etc on the matter and what I can do to get the most out of it and survive my first few attempts. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Probably a dumb question-I'm taking my PD 190 out of a Vector II and putting it in an Infinity, is it possible to use the Vector D-Bag temporarily until I get an Infinity D-Bag to replace? Picked up a used Infinity and the rig is solid but the D-Bag is marginal and would like to get a few jumps on it while I wait for the new D-bag to come in. Thoughts? "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Danny Page in ATL area-(Thomaston Airport). Master Rigger-good prices. I think he is deployed right now but you should def check him out if you need work done on your rig. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Just depends on the DZ. Did a jump today at 18kt winds gusting to 25kts. The DZO tried to talk me out of it-but I let him know I was ready to go and wound up having a sweet jump.(didn't want to land with the plane b/c the winds were cross wind to the runway). Most of the Drop Zones I've been to-it is up to the jumper as long as he/she is licensed and wants to get out. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Good place to jump if you're visiting. Not a lot of Free Fly, CRW, or any thing beyond belly flying. A few of the regulars swoop, freefly, etc. but most people are just chillin'. Scenery is pretty sick-Land on a Mesa between two desert rivers! Not a lot of funding for the DZ so if you plan, are forced to rent-pick and choose what you put on...

You know your done for when you call your skydiver ex-girlfriend and ask if she wants to dress up in suits and rigs and dirt dive two-ways for a while-then spend the rest of the night watching allready-seen way to many times jump videos together b/c it is cold, all the DZ's within 400 mi are closed and you just could'nt stand watching them by yourself! Oh yeah and you hate her-but hell-everyone had listened to you say-"look at this exit-that's sick, right?" and what other options did you have? "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Is there any one from around the Kirtland AFB (albaquerque) who jumps @ Skydive New Mexico (with wheels) that I could maybe give gas money (or a couple of pack jobs) for a ride to the DZ? Just moved out here from Skydive Greensburg, IN and I want to really want to jump! W/o transportation (other than my bike) right now and thought I'd see if I could bum a ride b/f I set out on a 3 hr ride w/ my rig. Hoping to go check out the DZ this weekend (27th-29th of Jan). Thanks-let me know-much appreciation for any help. (And if you're a hot, single sky dive chick definitely look me up!!!) email me @ [email protected] or give me a call @ (502) 435-0723. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

I'm still very inexperienced with less than 100 jumps myself, but I did what you have-bought a PD190 (F-111) after jumping student 230's and 220's. (And several jumps on MC-4 360's with combat equipment.) My first jump on the 190 was a little bit hairy. I had about 28 jumps at the time and scared the hell out of myself the first 5 times I was under canopy. I had some pretty serious brake line problems (they were too short and I was too inexperienced to notice it) and always had hard landings. I almost broke bones TWICE b/c of the brake problem and would probably be laid up right now if someone had not looked at my rig and told me to lengthen my lines. Even with the line issue straightend out-it took me another 15 jumps to get confident under my canopy. I now have about 40 jumps on the 190 and put a collapsible p/c on it 10 jumps ago. Canopy perfomance is much improved and my landings are better b/c I get a little more forward speed and can flare more effectively. Definitly put a collapsible on your rig-but get another 20-30 jumps on something bigger (220-then 210), have an experienced jumper (who is of simular build) check ride your rig b/f you ever step on a plane with it, and when you do jump it-be conservative and don't plan some crazy dive flow-do a simple hop n pop at 6 grand or so and get as much time as you can to experiment with it at altitude. And lastly-don't take what I (or anyone single person says) for gospel. Once again-I'm still very inexperienced my self and want to share my experiences with downsizing too quickly in the hope that you don't get discouraged at being told to stay on bigger stuff, but that you get to the ground safely every time you exit. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

oh yeah-and you can be in the military and NOT be a soldier... "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

interesting topic-thought about it a few times myself-cool-the results so far kinda suprised me... "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

ck out www.skydivegreensburg.com. the dz is about 70 mi from indy but they have a good staff and a caravan or an otter (usually). haven't jumped at jumpindy yet (-they are opening this summer-) but everyone tells me they will have some good planes there too. def. wait until it warms up-there are a couple of places open now but they are cessna dz's and won't help your confidence level much-if you go to g-burg ask Phil to help you out-he will keep you feeling safe. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

no idea-probably very many-the canopy has been used a lot. some surface fuzz from slider travel is visible but they appear relativly solid. the whole rig was just inspected and repacked by a rigger two weeks ago and he judged them to be usable. "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

dont forget to add 50-100 lbs of ruck, weapons, O2 and all the other heavy crap that thing was designed to be jumped with. sucks to get on the plane with, freefall with and generally deal with-but makes that 360 sq ft canopy fly better once you pull the ripcord! "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

will try the slider in front of nose-no one else has suggested that-thanks! "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

Have a friend who gets rocked by her Sabre every time she opens-she is on a well used 150 sq ft with an exit wt of about 145lbs. have tried various nose roll and line stow techniques to slow the opening-as well as burying the slider as deeply in the canopy as possible-any suggestions on how to extend her openings beyond 200 ft from throwout to filled canopy? "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

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Moving to Albuquerque in the near future-any sugestions on which dropzones to check out? Who do I need to be talking to when I get there and what are the disciplines of interest at dropzones any one can sugest? will apprecaite any names of DZ's-thanks "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

yup there's a story-maybe I'll meet you out jumping someday and tell you about it! "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

I went to Airborne in Feb of 05-you're in the army so you know the system already-be prepared to run a lot and find the lightest full-leather boots you can. you WILL double time every where-so have fun with that. as one of the other guys said running is running but make sure your cals are flawless-you only have to do like 45 pushups so just do them right the first time. Don't concern yourself with PLFs before you go-you do the damn things for a week straight there. As far as slots, I'm not an Army guy but everyone I've run into from Bragg that wants their wings can get them pretty easily. And lastly do not tell them you are a sport jumper-the riducule will be constant! Any questions just let me know @ [email protected] "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."

I have approx. 20 sitfly jumps and would like to improve-any suggestions on reading material or videos to check out? also want to kneefly-thoughts? Just getting started into freefly...don't want to get real crazy just yet b/c of my current container (Vector II w/ velcro riser covers-container has been very secure on video thus far during sit flys, but really dont want to push my luck...). I would appreciate any suggestions--thanks "Sometimes you eat the bar, and well-sometimes the bar eats you..."