Ten48

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Everything posted by Ten48

  1. Of course, you also thought lift was bad for flying. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  2. Right. I agree with that statement completely. I don't think anyone here is arguing that we don't need or shouldn't need to have insurance. It's a great idea, even if just to protect your personal finances. But the point of the article that was the topic of this thread is that the media and "public" get into a big uproar over what they perceive as being "too risky" and "too taxing" on rescue services. Their take on it is that we should outlaw all things THEY perceive as being risky and/or let those who partake in risky behavior perish - stand by and watch them bleed out. "Let's get a webcam out there so everyone can watch!" Nick's point is valid - who decides what's too risky? What do we outlaw? Who do we let die? The BASE jumpers? The mountaineers? Grandma walking to the corner to get a loaf of bread? (She shouldn't be going out alone at that age! Too risky!) Let's stop worrying about what's too risky for you, me, or grandma and go out and save some lives that are in immediate danger. When the climbers (or jumpers or grandma) are safe, we'll try to figure out how to pay for it. Hopefully for the climbers personal finances, they looked ahead enough to pick up some sort of insurance. Just like grandma. Part of a modern society is losing the barbaric attitudes. Part of the society *I* want to live in allows people to make their own decisions rather than writing thousands of stupid laws. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  3. I think that most of us agree that we should take responsibility for our own actions. The point here is that in a civilized world, society should do what it can to help people who's lives are in immediate danger. I know that I don't want to live in a place where society can help save someone's life, but won't, because the person can't pay for it or doesn't have insurance. How many ambulance drivers do you know that won't scoop someone off the asphalt and take them to a hospital even if they don't have insurance? Or how would you like it if an EMT is standing over you while you're unconscious and bleeding out but he won't help because he can't find your insurance card? Let's leave the worries about money alone until after the lives have been saved. And then we, as red-blooded Americans, can litigate until our heads fall off. Or we can just get a national healthcare system that saves lives without pointing fingers instead of spending all our time and effort on building a 700 mile fence on a 2100 mile border. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  4. You probably should have called someone. No point going up there and getting hurt or pissing off the residents when the AZ locals are so willing to take visitors to their objects. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  5. Ten48

    Breakcord

    When I static line I like to attach the SL as close to the shrivel flap/pins as possible while still allowing me to stand-up at the exit point. In fact, I'll bring several different lengths of static line to still allow me to attach close to the pins and still stand up. (ie - If I'm standing on a platform and tying off to the platform the SL needs to be longer than if I'm tying off to a rail that's right behind my back.) What to do with the extra bridle? The same thing I do on a handheld jump. I s-fold the bridle up to the pilot chute in my hand and execute a throw-and-go on exit. I pitch up and out to keep the bridle and PC away from the object yet ready to inflate if the break cord breaks prematurely. Why do this? The shorter the static line, the lower the shock-loading applied to it at SL stretch. It probably means more with a shrivel flap than pins, but at heights lower than 150 ft, anything I can do to avoid a premature breakage of the break cord, I'll do. Also, pitching the PC up and out puts it above and away from the object. I have video of this technique and the PC is inflated VERY quickly after the break cord breaks. Of course, canopy is inflating at the same time, but it sure looks like that PC is ready to do its job. (This was a 143 ft B with a 50 ft palm tree directly below and a 90 right required for landing.) It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  6. Since I was from the U.S., I brought a bottle of Jack and left it with a thank you note on the step of one of the farmer's barns. I was kind of hoping that Jack might be a rare commodity there, but with airplanes, ships, trade agreements and what-not, everything seems to be everywhere. The farmer was very accomodating and as long as we landed in the correct fields, he seemed to happy let us use his land. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  7. Ten48

    Arizona locals

    There's nothing in AZ. I've been there and it's crap. Maybe two A's and they both suck. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  8. Ten48

    Fatality: Swiss Valley

    I was wondering how someone can over delay and impact the rocks at LM. The least you can do is track a little bit and over delay to impact the trees. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  9. Annibal, A lot of "us" are afraid of heights. I didn't realize how afraid of heights I was until I started BASE jumping. Getting out to the exit point is the scariest part! It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  10. I must have gotten really lucky. About 2 years ago I found one in Amazon's used section, hardcover and autographed. Got it for somewhere between 20 and 30 bucks US. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  11. I'll apologize afterward, too. I'm sorry. I was wrong. Sure had me fooled, though. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  12. Is Base Rigger's identity really that much of a secret? Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure: - He lives in New York - Is friends with Magot - Name rhymes with dick I apologize in advance if I'm wrong. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  13. Ten48

    Bridge day info 411

    Many people say you should go to Bridge Day not necessarily for the jumps, but to experience the "circus" of the festivities. How many BASE jumpers do you think have not gone purely because of the "circus" atmosphere? It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  14. Aren't dryer sheets also called fabric softeners and aren't fabric softeners acid based? I'm not positive about this, or if it would even harm nylon for that matter. I was told this by a car show car guy who would never wash his car washing/drying towels with fabric softeners because they softened fabrics with acid and he didn't want the acid to transfer to his paint finish. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  15. Thanks, SBC. Seattle seems to be a front runner, right now. Close to BC, too, if Jaap and friends are up for showing someone around. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  16. I got my pick of a city for a business trip in the next month or so and need to choose. I want to make sure I get a jump while I'm out there, so who's got something cool? PM Me. Thanks! It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  17. Ten48

    New Video

    I usually use Windows Media Encoder. It's free and very good, though you'll probably get hate mail from Apple guys and Bill Haters. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  18. Ten48

    New Video

    How long is the video? 15 - 20 min? I did a 6.5 min video and it only came out to 40 meg and was still VERY good quality. Screw the T1, I'm on a 9 meg cable-modem connection in my house and it's still taking way too long to DL from skydivingmovies. On edit: It does stream faster than it plays on myspace, which is nice. On the video, it's a good "camaraderie style" TF video. Good job. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  19. So, every BASE jumper knows (hopefully) that a lower aspect ratio helps onheading performance, but where's the point of diminishing returns? Has a parachute manufacturer ever experimented with an actual square canopy (chord length equals span length)? Or how about a canopy with a longer chord than span? What would happen with those? It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  20. I use the "tape gate", but don't have many slider up jumps. 12 of them to be exact. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  21. Do a quick search in this forum, this topic has been talked about before. I use T-Mobile here in the US and my phone roams seamlessly to most other countries. Of course, when I'm in those other countries, my phone usage doesn't draw from my regular bucket of minutes. I pay a per-minute charge. Switzerland, Italy, France, and Norway are US$.99 per minute, but other countries, such as Russia, can be as high as US$4.99. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  22. The shot put hits the ground first because it has a higher terminal velocity. So when the tennis ball reaches its terminal velocity and stops accelerating while the shot put continues to accelerate due to its higher mass. Even if the tennis ball was polished smooth to equal the coeficient of friction of the shot put, it'd still reach terminal velocity faster, simply because its terminal velocity is much slower than the heavy shot put. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  23. It seems like the beef of the writers of the editorial is primarily the traffic congestion of Blue Lakes Blvd and the bridge. I have a comment and a question. 1) Everytime I'm in Twin Falls, whether it's a big BASE event or an off weekend where there's only two or three jumpers using the bridge, Blue Lakes Blvd has congestion and gets backed up. I can imagine a crane parked on the bridge would make it worse (even though that guy got permits and presumably had to pay for them as well as the "overtime" earned by the traffic workers during the event), but I can't imagine 2 or 3 jumpers causing the congestion. Twin Falls has a rush hour like every other city and on weekends it seems to last all day. Then again, I've only been there four or five times, maybe I was just lucky. 2) If jumpers paid $10 per day per jumper to use the bridge; how would that help the traffic congestion problem? It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  24. *bump* Because the Bonfire rolls like a muddaeffa. PS - And some skin for good measure? It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK
  25. Cool. I'll be arriving in the valley on June 23 then leaving on July 3. Maybe we'll bump into each other... again. It's time now! My time now! Give me mine. Give me my wings! - MJK