Basejumper.com - archive

so, a little about me first. I only have about 112 or so skydives, but alot of tracking, and quite a bit of canopy flying thrown in. I started doing CRW at 30-40-ish jumps and have done quite a few crw jumps, some with 220 sq foot OLD ASS fury canopies. so, i have a bit of experience flying around making docks, and landing bigger f111 canopies. i know making docks isnt really that important in base but i figure having that skill to be able to fly around in proximity to somebody else may be benefitial for base canopy skills. uh.. what else. I've always kept base in the back of my head, so i do alot of canopy flying, my canopy is a spectre 170 at about 1:1, i've flown the shit out of it, going backwards, complete stalls and collapses, landings in quite small areas landing off, etc. I know it doesnt do any good to ask somebody to teach me about base, at my dz its more they'll come to you when you're ready, which i can understand i guess. Oh, and i also have a cutaway, i had a malfunction which is still uhh.. yet to be determined. that was at about 1,500-1,000 feet. doubt that helps at all, but i think that its somewhat helpful in terms of trusting your equipment and having the frame of mind to do something like that. aaaaaaanyway, i'm just bored, prolly gonna get flamed out the wazooo but maybe i'll get a few benefitial posts out of this. Oh, and i've GC'ed a couple jumps. i'd just like to know what else would make people think that i am "ready" for base. and yes, i've read the articles in Blinc, and i've seen the carnage vids, thanks Tom A.

There's a crapload of BASE jumpers at your DZ, have you talked to them?

yeah.. they feel that i should just go to Bridge Day, like most every other newbie that they have trained goes to. But thats such a long ways away. *shrugs*

go do a manufactures FJC........ this shows some commitment
go out and find objects instead of skydiving at the weekend..... this also shows some commitment.......

Ok, so you don't want to do Bridge Day, go talk to your local CReW dog, the crazy looking one, he sometimes does things differently.

the one that has an fishy name? he told me he'd teach me how to base off the hangar, i told him i might be crazy but i'm not stupid. i might get linestretch. MIGHT. hahaha. i think he was joking anyway. I might end up doing a FJC, if i can find one thats pretty nearby. Cant afford to drive all the way out to a far away location and then have to spend a buttload of money on a jump course. But it looks like that might be the only route i can take. *shrugs*

what do you want? sugar and jam on it????

you say you cant afford or its too far to drive??? fuck me man! I sold my skydiving gear and got into debt to pay for me to buy gear and a FJC in TF's - you know how far that is from the UK??? I spent approx £5000 (approx $9,000) in doing my FJC - so to say its too far to drive or you cant afford it is an easy way out - i risked alot in starting BASE jumping (which i did not even know was right for me) - if you want something that bad you make it happen, beg, borrow, steal, sell what ever it takes...........

sorry no sympathy as its far easier for you to get it sorted than for others......... so shrug all you like - you wont get sympathy here!

M

Yeah, but you are an extremely stupid bastard Mac....

Exactly. Who the hell talked you into doing that shit?

I often find it fascinating how nobody would consider learning to skydive from a friend, who has his own plane and 200 skydives.

But even after spending all that money on AFF and skydiving, and realizing how scary and dangerous skydiving can be, BASE should be absolutely free, seems like a no brainer, and a FJC is just too far, too much money, too something.

Just remember that it is your life, and nobody will tell you twice how you should value it and your health, much less the object.

If TF is too far, or you can't wait for Bridge Day, or you don't have money to buy descent BASE gear and have someone teach you how to do something that has very little to do with skydiving (but you still skydive $250/weekend), but can still convince people that you want it so bad, more than anything, then just figure it out on your own.

All I'm saying is that skydiving is not BASE, and BASE is not skydiving. You probably went for a tandem, and then thought about how you didn't have extra money to get addicted to skydiving. But you found the cash for AFF, skydive gear, and 112 jump tickets. BASE costs money too, and requires training, much like jumping from an airplane.

Simply, it is up to you to decide how unsafe you make it...

actually, i just sold my skydiving rig yesterday, i was just saying that if i dont find a course closer to me, then going out to TF will be what i do. *shrugs* wasnt trying to whine, i know base jumping is very expensive. but base is definitely what i want, i dont want to keep pushing the limits at the dz and getting kicked out because of low pulls and cutaways, i'd rather just base and get that same thrill while still being safe to a certain degree (trained, right equipment, knowledge, etc.)

 
Tribal Mate, stop now, before you get yourself in any deeper, "low pulls and cut aways". please.

Tribal. We are friends and always will be. I wish you the best bro but in the end, the fact is, you are dangerous.

Rules and procedures are made because people in the sport have established a sense of safety and security. The sport itself is dangerous, but your added danger takes it to a level of insanity.

There are guys that some consider "cool" becasue they push the limits, but none of them are 100 jump wonders. They have paid their dues studied the information provided, and most of all, many have respected the rules and guidelines set before them.

The difference with you is that you have not done this. You want to push an envelope that you can't even open yet. Taking time and studying the sport is not something you want to do nor is it something you will ever do. If you think Base is cool go do it but remember, being a Base jumper does not make you cool, and being a dangerous base jumper only makes you stupid. (not saying you are at this point)

Oh well, all your friends have told you this before but you never want to listen so, at this point, good luck and have fun.

what the fuck............. and you think this is a good way to get people to take you BASE jumping........ jesus man......... why the fuck are you low pulling on skydives? have you any idea of what can happen due to the complexity of your rig - you wanna experience a bag lock screaming through 1000ft at terminal then be my guest - hey but i guess you know all the risks, have assessed the risks and know exactly what you are doing........... I mean you have 100 skydives......

Damn Donny, and you wonder why people say you have a dangerous attitude...

Damn Mikey, sometimes you make it almost impossible for a person to hold his tongue. Old, over used, but very very apt:
Pot, please let me introduce you to kettle..........

Dam with 112 skydives you have done it all,. With 112 skydives you still do not know much of anything.
You have started to get your feet wet, my opinion.

If you want to get into base, contact Johnny Utah, learn from one of the best in the business.

Dude,

I don't know you, nor will I most likely ever get the opportunity to meet you with an attitude like this. Do your family a favor and pre-arrange your funeral.

Base jumping is not about what you seem to think it is about. I don't know a single base jumper that would just suck it down at the dz to get the thrill of ground rush. That is unsafe and just plain stupid. All of the base jumpers I know that still skydive are the safest skydivers I know. Get some more skydives under your belt, then hock everything you own to go to an FJC.

I remember being a 100 jump wonder too. I used to think I was 10 feet tall and bulletproof. You know what, I was wrong, and You are too. You are at the very most dangerous point in your skydiving career right now. You think you know it all, but if you'd listen to those around you, you'd realize your journey has just begun.

If those who know you thought you were ready for base jumping, they'd be willing to take you by now. I do know you, so I can only go by what is being said and by what I know about people in your jump range in general. I'd strongly reccomend holding off on base until you know more about the sport of skydiving.

BASE is mental, it is not about being cool and running around telling all your buddies. It is much more of a self thing. In many ways, to be the coolest base jumper on earth would be for noone to know you even existed....

Ganja "Off my soapbox" Rodriguez

lol, i figured i would get flamed, first of all, let me just say that i do not intentionally take a jump low. the lowest i've ever pulled main was at like 1,500, and that was about 70 jumps ago and a HUGE mistake, lost awareness on track dive, etc. ever since then i doubt i have ever pulled any lower then 2,000, and i usually pull by 3,500 or 3,000. *shrugs* it kinda got blown out of proportion there, i guess i worded it wrong. However, did i think it was fun? yeah! would i do it on purpose, nope. i know what can go wrong with a main/reserve. I spend hours and hours and hours online reading all kinds of skydiving crap and i spend almost EVERY single weekend at the dropzone just talking to people and picking up new things. so its not like i'm just some stupid ass newbie skydiver that wanders in every now and then and makes a jump and almost kills himself. And besides, arent skydiving and base two completely different sports? I for one really enjoy ground rush, and that is one of the main reasons why i want to base. I dont even care about being "cool" or whatever, fuck all that. In fact, if somebody told me that they'd teach me as long as i never said a word about base'ing to anybody, i'd agree to it in a heartbeat. Sure, it makes for cool stories, but cool stories isnt what my life is about. blake and tarek are guys from my dz, i think its kind of bullshit that they go off spewing that i'm dangerous and whatnot, but if you ask them about a jump that we do together, i'm safe as hell. thats my fear in skydiving, is hurting someone else. and besides, if we want to start talking about who has actually gotten hurt on a jump, i think tarek may be just a WEE bit ahead of me there. sorry for the long typing rant, but i wanted to clear a couple things up. yes, i'm crazy, but i'm not insane. insane would be me going off and trying base by myself without any help. *shrugs*

You know how I feel about you're attitude towards the sport and I dont "spew" anything. I simply said "and you wonder why people think you have a dangerous attitude". We talked about that on the way to the dz before, I'm not going to get into all this stuff on a public board.. I'll PM ya dood..

edit: Not judging you, to each his own.... Didn't mean it to come out wrong, just saying that its come off to people that way sometimes.

Ever wonder why skydivers who push the limits before its time get called either talented or dangerous? Some people get really good and lucky, push their limits, and remain just within their limits. The others push their limits, and exceed their abilities often, and become dangerous, an accident waiting to happen.

Not to dis on the 112 skydives, but I remember thinking I was a badass when I had 20 skydives, and everyone cheered for my A license checkout. I knew it all then. When I did my 100th, I laughed about how little I knew, and laughed even harder when I thought about my 20th. Every hundred skydives, I feel like I am light years ahead of the last milestone, and still don't know it all.

It isn't a thing if you can or can't. But the people that are telling you to chill either know you better than me, BASE jumped for a while and saw others like you come through and in, or went through the same thing you are going through now, and laugh about the way they were.

When I thought that it was a good idea to start jumping off things, I valued my life enough, and my comfort level, caused me to wait until I had almost 500 skydives. You don't need to shop around to all the manufacturers and fish around for who has a skydive limit at 100, or if you have to lie that you did 50 more in the last two weeks. You are very lucky that a lot of guys with huge nutsacks figured out a lot of the stuff that seems basic today. The thing is that when you are the only person out of 99 others who thinks you are ready, it isn't that you're the only person right. You should at least listen to the things that they are saying.

Think about the last time someone got hurt at your DZ. Out of the people that get hurt, some people are considered unlucky, since its dangerous, and it sucks. They did everything that they could to be prepared, but the black hand of bad luck swatted them. They get all the flowers in their hospital room. Others get hurt, and everyone talks that night about how surprised they are that it didn't happen a hundred times before...

Its your choice, your life...

Hey bro, I think you need to look at this from a different view point. I just think your actions are stupid and if someone else can read about the bad decisions you are making and possibly learn from them, then perhaps something good would come out of this.


<edit: Personal Attacks. ~TA>

*Shrugs* alright tarek. i'm tired of even thinking about any of this stuff now. You win. i'm done with all this bullshit. Forget i even asked about it.

Donnie,
I'm not bitching at you

Base even more than skydiving is a hand me down sport. The people that practice it today are alive becuase they respected their mentors and the pioneers that went before them (some of who died).

This sport rewards modest people who show a willingness to learn and a respect for experience. Others want to beleive that you won't be a liability or go in on their watch. That is a lot to ask and your behaviour (probably on the DZ) will dictate whether or not they want to accept that liability.

I know you are ambitous and this is a tough pill to swallow, but your actions in the community will speak louder than your words.

Ramon

Donnie,
I'm going to stand my ground on the bridge day thing, or a course. Its the only logical choice. You've got good awareness and such in the air, but in my humble opinion, those are your best options for picking up base.


And in response, then please consider keeping your current skydiving parachute and not downsizing so quickly. You're a friend and I don't want to see you hurt. Hence my suggestions on keeping it safe out there.

I wanted to take a moment to highlight the points that you made above. These points are probably one of the bigger make-or-break points I can think of in BASE. Word of someone's reckless actions, sub-par performance or other indiscretions (ethical matters that may be open to debate) travels like wildfire in this sport. Acting like an idiot and not listening when three people call you on the carpet about something grave will get you blacklisted in some places. Tough pill to swallow, yeah... bet it's easier to swallow than an earth-sized bite of dirt.

If you read this and you think I may be talking about you... I probably am.

Love and vomit,
Gardner